Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'B'

Saturday February 25, 2006

If Not Now, When?

They were ‘quiet times’ compared to the times in which we are living. I’m referring to the mid to late fifties into the early sixties. Despite the cold war, there was still a certain euphoria over victory in Europe and Japan. The loss of thousands of American and allied forces was a high price to pay for the defeat of despotism and for the preservation of freedom in the Western world. Yet this did not dampen the resurgence of the entrepreneurial spirit of American genius in the pursuit of economic recovery not only in the United States but also in Europe through the Marshal Plan. In many ways it was a kind of ‘Pax Romana’ at least in appearance, a world at peace with itself and with its global neighbors, at least those with whom we shared the same goals and aspirations. The Korean conflict was not viewed with the same trepidation as the war that preceded it and Vietnam was not yet on the radar screen.

I’m painting a rosy picture, I know, but that’s the way it was ‘on the streets,’ as it were, for emerging middle class Americans. “To the victor go the spoils?” I’m not sure it was all that crass. Hagel, Lenin and his ilk may have viewed it as the beginning or the continuation of class conflict and in their pursuit of a dialectic were surely extreme in their theory of justice through revolution and the rising up of the masses.

At any rate, the Church was also experiencing a kind of ‘Pax Romana,’ at least in appearance, during those times. Vocations were on the rise. I entered the major seminary in 1956 with a class of over fifty candidates, most of whom persevered to ordination and when we left the seminary for ordination in 1962, the seminary was bulging at the seams. But in the words of the sage, “all good things come to an end” and “nothing lasts forever.” Sooner or later, the sweet smell of victory, the restless pursuit of power and the insatiable desire for creature comforts inevitably detract from more noble quests.

Humanism and the still burning embers of the ‘Enlightenment’ began to impact on ancient but frozen ecclesiastical dogmas and definitions with good and bad results. Religious people began to question the catechism definitions they had long since memorized as children. Long revered devotional practices seemed to lose their attraction—novenas, the nine First Fridays, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, and even the Rosary and Stations of the Cross.

The sexual revolution hit traditional mores like a tsunami and even had a dramatic impact on rigid Catholic moral theology and on specific issues such as premarital sex, artificial birth control, divorce, homosexuality and even abortion. Catholics in the pew were confused as their priests and preachers seemed to succumb to the prevailing winds and the opinion of the day. Kids came home from school telling their parents that “sister said” they don’t have to go to Mass on Sunday anymore. Of course in most instances, this was not what sister said!

At one end of the spectrum, many priests resigned to enter marriage and religious brothers and sisters were leaving religious life to do the same. Fewer were being attracted to the priesthood and to religious life. The first signs of a vocation shortage emerged and lay folks began to come out of the pew to take on roles and responsibilities previously reserved to clergy and religious.

Vatican II was blamed for the breakdown in traditional Catholic values and already on the horizon was the ‘reform of the reform’, which came to full bloom during the pontificate of John Paul II.

This brief run through modern history is simplistic, to be sure, and is surely an insult to a sociologist or historian of any rank but nonetheless helpful in order to appreciate the readings for this weekend.

In fact, Vatican II was not the cause for the breakdown. It was a saving response to the winds of change and through dialogue helped to sift from the bulk of theological opinion perennial truths that linked the modern world to the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ like a golden thread running through history. This observation too may be overly simplistic for some but had John XXIII never convened this extraordinary council, sooner or later chaos would have emerged from the intransigent ecclesiastical and clerical dominance initiated by Pius IX in his “Syllabus of Errors” and Pius X in his condemnation of modernism.

It is against this background that I suggest that we listen to the words of the prophet Hosea but I invite you to go back to the beginning of the Chapter Two of his oracle. It’s a devastating expose of the depth of Gomer’s infidelity that symbolized Israel’s unfaithfulness during the reign of Jeroboam. Israel had become a hoar pure and simple by its idolatry and exploitation of the poor, turning its wealth into gods and its worship into shallow rituals from empty hearts.

In truth, the Roman Catholic Church in the mid fifties and early sixties was not what it appeared to be on the surface. Things rarely are as good as they appear.

The seeds for the abuse scandal that exploded in the late eighties and which continues into the present time were sown long before Vatican II. Though in truth, the sexual revolution did indeed have an impact on the seminary curriculum during the late sixties and early seventies, those who are familiar with moral casuistry and its subtle arguments in the seminaray prior to Vatican II will recognize these as door openers for license. In a kind of dualistic approach to moral reasoning—one for the clergy and the other for lay folks, it led to some of the aberrations among the clergy which surfaced only later. This was further complicated by the lack of transparency in the Church at its highest level of polity and politc.

The readings today are subtler than they may appear at first glance.

Using Gomer’s adultery as a metaphor for the infidelity of Israel, he lashes out at its idolatry to worldly power and its oppression of the poor as the prostitution of its ancient covenant with Yahweh. But Hosea presented a different view of the face of Yahweh, the face of compassion. The mood of the oracle swings from anger to mercy. The hand of Yahweh wants to lift up what was broken and to heal what has been wounded by sin. Through Hosea, God exposed what was hidden only to restore what was broken.

Mark’s gospel calls for a radical change of heart. Paul VI, successor to Pope John XXIII despite his caution and what commentatorstoward the end of his pontificate often referred to as his ‘Hamlet’ style of leadership called for a “new way of thinking” (novus habitus mentis) that would capture the essence of the Gospel and be reflected in a more pastoral disposition toward the world and a more even-handed discipline reflected in the Code of Canon Law—fewer mandates, many more invitations. His encyclical on evangelization called for a renewal of the heart rather than a crusade for world conversion. He seemed to have in mind, the words of Paul in his second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians: “Do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You are letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all, show to be a letter of Christ ministered by us.”

Even John Paul II despite his sharp criticism of a new modernsims spoke and now Benedict XVI despite his criticism a new ofrelativism, speaks often of the beauty of human love and the need for a complete renewal from within —putting new wine into new wine skins, not into old.

Vatican II opened the door of discussion to every one—theologian and catechist as well as the ‘faithful in the pew.’ It did not condemn the world but invited all believers of whatever race or nation or religion to join ranks in acknowledging what was beautiful in creation. In a real sense, it was a celebration of what Matthew Fox keeps referring to as “original blessing”—to become what we were destined to become from the first ‘moment’ of creation—long before the ‘fall.’

The words of today’s readings on this Sunday before Ash Wednesday are indeed a call into the desert or wilderness to be alone with God. They are a call to radical conversation of the heart and to integrity. They are a call to our Church to abandon hypocrisy and adopt a more authentic way of life in greater harmony with the Gospel of Jesus through an abandonment of power and materialism to which the Church itself has been tempted and to which all too often it has succumbed throughout the ages.

Jesus has been declared irrelevant by nonbelievers throughout the ages but I think that even we believers have unwittingly declared him irrelevant by our thirst of power, world dominance and spiritual imperialism.

To be espoused to God in Christ is to divest ourselves of hypocrisy and to accept a more simple or humble way of life that is less dependent on alliances with the politically powerful and the influential rich and which places greater value on the poor and disenfranchised.

The Church throughout the ages has absorbed both the good and the bad of its earthly dwelling place but it’s time for a major divestiture in the Church in order for it to return to the simplicity of its Master.

Let us go into the desert on Wednesday to be with the Lord and journey with him through the hills of Galilee and on the streets of Jerusalem right up to Calvary. Only then can we come to know the joy of resurrection and the peace of living in Christ from head to toe.

Recent Articles

Seventh Sunday of Easter 'B'

Living the Mystery at the town square As I walked recently to the Green in the center of Morristown after my…continue reading...

Sixth Sunday of Easter 'C'

In all things, charity It continues to astound me how the Scriptures come to life over and over again under different…continue reading...

Sixth Sunday of Easter 'C'

In all things, charity It continues to astound me how the Scriptures come to life over and over again under different…continue reading...

Fifth Sunday of Easter 'B'

Let’s stay connected. It’s not unusual to hear family members or close friends at the departure gates of life say to…continue reading...

Fourth Sunday of Easter 'B'

Watch out for the leopards! When my sister and I were kids, my father would whistle for us when it was…continue reading...