• Bulletin Board, Announcements, Calendar
• Welcome and Website Protocol
• Editorial - Op Ed
• Article Archive

Print this page

Article Categories

• Book Reviews
• Open Letter
• Editorials
• Notes, Quotes & Comments
• Pastor's Study
• Project Millstones
• Sidebar Comments
• Weekly Message

Links

AMERICA Magazine
A balanced Catholic weekly magazine published by the jesuits of the United States for an intelligent Catholic readership. Go online to subscribe.

Liturgy
This link will keep 'parishioners-at-large' in touch with current creative liturgy sources and resources that respect a variety of 'traditions' within the Church.

Voice of the Faithful
A 'movement' of lay Catholics 'inspired' by the abuse scandal calling for greater accountability of bishops to 'Catholics in the Pew.'

Survivos' Network for those Abused by Priests or Religious
A National Network of self-help support groups for people abused by clergy or religious.

Bishop Accountability
Vital information about the disclosure of sexual abuse and related issues affecting Catholics in the pew and the manner in which Bishops continue to exempt themselves from accountability

National Catholic Reporter
A national Catholic lay newspaper covering events not usually covered or presented with a clerical bias in the local diocesan press or but of concern and interest to Catholics.

COMMONWEAL Magazine
A 'lay' Catholic weekly publication with an accent on an intelligent analysis and commentary on curent issues, trends and concerns of interest to Catholics.

Search

Daily Scripture

+ 7th Week of Easter

We are to be consecrated in truth.

Readings: Acts 20:28-38 Psalm 88:29-30, 33-36 John 17:11b-19

Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they may also be consecrated in truth. [John 17:18-19]

Read the Gospel very slowly and if possible, out loud and if necessary, three times! Although John’s literary style is quite complex, the farewell prayer of Jesus is as powerful as is Paul’s farewell message in Acts.

It is not likely that these passages are the actual words of Paul and Jesus. They are compositions that Luke and John or whoever wrote in their name and are based on the oral tradition of the sayings of Jesus and the preaching of Paul. They were written in the style of farewell addresses of prominent leaders of their times in order to win the attention of early believers to whom the message of truth was entrusted.

The ‘truth’ that is being proclaimed is not from a catechism nor is it a defined doctrine or dogma. It is the core truth about the God who spoke through the prophets and then through Jesus about the universality of God’s love.

During this time of immediate preparation for Pentecost, we are invited to think about our own responsibility to pass on the ‘truth’ of God’s goodness entrusted to us in Christ and how we are to live that truth in our daily lives, each in our own unique way. No one of us can do this alone and so we much join hands literally and figuratively within the community of believers everywhere.

To live the ‘truth’ is to live in the Spirit of Jesus Christ the fruits of which are charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, moderation, self-control, reverence, etc. I’m sure you memorized these ‘fruits of the Holy Spirit.’

These are the true ‘marks’ of our authenticity as believers.

Twenty-Ninth Sunday 'A'

Saturday October 15, 2005

Two Different Worlds…

“Two different worlds, we live in, two different worlds, we love in….” These are the lyrics of a popular song dating back to ‘whenever.’ I don’t recall the year and I don’t remember all the words but the song came to mind as I reflected on the Scriptural selections for this weekend.

Actually we live not in two but in ten different worlds: the world of family, the world of work, school and play; the world of politics, the world of commerce and the money market; the world of the media; the world of science and the world of art. We have multiple memberships in many different worlds.

However, though different, they are not really distinct or truly separate. They overlap and at some level depend on and enrich one another. Who can truly appreciate the breadth and depth of the universe without music, e.g., New World Symphony or the Grand Canyon Suite? And there is nothing like Mahler’s Symphony number 2 – the Resurrection Symphony – to accompany a meditation on that core mystery of Christianity.

The Scriptures this weekend deal with two different worlds, which at first glance seem to be foundational texts for the ‘doctrine’ of the separation of church and state.

Our founding fathers made it clear that there would be no establishment of an official religious institution or favoritism shown to one over another but that religious freedom would be guaranteed to all. This was in response to the theocracies of ancient worlds in which one religion was cast in the role of ruler resulting in religious tyranny. The principle of the separation of church and state has been advantageous for both. The demise of religious practice in Europe is not just the result of secularism but also the result of excessive interference by religious leaders into the political sphere.

Confronted with the dissolution of the Papal States, the ‘fathers’ of the First Vatican Council in 1870 defined the Roman Catholic Church as a ‘juridically perfect society.’ It was a statement addressed more to secular rulers than to church members in order to make it clear that the Church of God was not to be hampered in the fulfillment of its mission to the world. On the other hand, the Church had usurped secular rule that resulted in the establishment of the Papal States in the first place. This definition also led to a kind of intolerance within the Church toward legitimate theological dissent evidenced in the discussion on birth control in the late sixties and in the present by papal prohibitions on the discussion of optional celibacy and the ordination of women.

The Second Vatican Council re-defined the Church as the ‘people of God’ clearly distinguishing its primary spiritual mission from its political role. However, although separate from government it is not detached or disinterested in the common good, public or political. It is an instrument of a spiritual liberation that also affects the common good. In fact, it can be and often is an agent for social change, the defender of the poor, champion of peace and the sacrament of God’s love for all people no matter the political state in which they reside. We do indeed whole a dual citizenship.

On the other hand, the state can hold religious institutions responsible for ethical behavior and public morality and accountable in the application of just laws.

Extremism at either end of the religious or political spectrum is tyranny and can only lead to the abuse of power and violence of one kind or another and the end does not justify the means. Our God is not a God of tyranny.

God used the pagan king Cyrus to free the Jewish people from the political extremism of his predecessor and from extremist tendencies even among the Jews themselves during their captivity in Babylon. In fact, Isaiah tells us in the first reading, that God “anointed” Cyrus that in effect made him a messianic figure and a prototype of the redeemer. Is this an outrageous assertion or what!

In Matthew’s account of the exchange between Jesus, the Herodians and Pharisees, the issue is not the separation of church and state but the superiority of God’s dominion over all—secular rulers as well as religious leaders. There is no goodness in this world without ‘Godness.’

It is our mission as a Christian church not to rule the world but to surrender to the dominion of God under the guidance of Jesus who is our true shepherd. This makes us not subservient to any secular or religious institution but responsible to God for the wellbeing of creation and its resources, responsible for the wellbeing of our neighbors near and far.

The great Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador and martyr put it this way in his final homily at Sunday Mass on March 24, 1980:

“Our hope for a new world must not deaden but increase our concern (and our efforts) to improve this world, where the new human family is taking shape and which will, in some way, be a dim pre-figuring of a new age. Although we must distinguish carefully between temporary progress and the growth of the kingdom of Christ, the former, nevertheless, has a lot to do with the latter in so far as it can contribute to improving society… May Jesus whose body was offered up and whose blood was shed for [humanity], give us that strength to offer ourselves in suffering and in sorrow, just as Jesus did not for himself but in order that the world might know true justice and peace.

“God’s reign is already present on our earth in mystery. When the Lord comes, it will it will be brought to perfection [This] is the hope that inspires Christians. We know that every effort to better society, especially when injustice and sin are so ingrained, is an effort that God blesses, that God wants, that God demands of us.”

Within minutes of that homiletic challenge, an assassin snuffed out Romero’s life but his voice will never be silenced.

“This [remains] our faith; this is the faith of our church. We are proud to profess it in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” [Response to Baptismal Promises, Baptismal Ritual]