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Daily Scripture

+ 7th Week of Easter

“Parting is such sweet sorrow.”

Readings: Acts 20:17-27 Psalm 68:10-11, 20-21 John 17:1-11

I am in the world no longer, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. [John 17:11]

Shakespeare ‘penned’ the phrase quoted above. I didn’t understand it as a student of Shakespeare in high school but I began to understand it when I waved goodbye to my family as I sailed off to Italy on September 21, 1963 for a three-year stretch in Rome. In fact, it has multiple meanings and applications that I appreciate now more than ever before.

There is another phrase that perhaps gives credence to my thoughts so poorly expressed and it’s this: “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Ah, that’s it. At times we need to separate from ‘the source’ in order to appreciate how important it is to stay connected.

The farewell speech of St. Paul in Acts and the farewell ‘prayer’ of Jesus in John’s gospel were more likely composed by the authors of these texts along the lines of the farewell speeches of great leaders of their times in order to attract the attention of Jesus’ followers.

The departure of Jesus and later that of Paul created ‘fallow’ time in the hearts of the neophyte believers that was absolutely necessary if they were to grasp the significance of Jesus’ message and the teachings of St. Paul.

We are once again in ‘fallow’ time as we prepare for Pentecost. It’s a time of discernment during which we are invited to ponder the words and deeds of Jesus so that in his absence, we may come to know his presence in the Spirit that remains within us and around us.

As we ponder, it is important to reflect on the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and reverence of the Lord. And the fruits of the Holy Spirit are qualities that are characteristic of a community living in Christ: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty self-control and chastity.

There is much to ponder as we wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time 'B'

Sunday September 3, 2006

We are traditional but not traditionalists.

The story is told of the newly married woman who was baking her first ham with all the trimmings. She had watched her mother on many occasions prepare the same dinner meticulously. At a certain point, her mom would cut the narrow end of the ham before placing it into the baking pan. It wasn’t a large piece — only about two or three inches. Assuming that this maneuver was part of the recipe and affected the taste she asked her mom why she cut the end of the ham to which her mom replied, “Because your grandmother used to prepare it this way as did her mother, your great grandmother before her.” Over the years it had become a ritual just prior to placing it into the deep oven pan.

However, on this particular occasion her great grandmother was among the invited guests. She decided to ask her why she cut the end of the ham off just before placing it in to the pan. Her great grandmother replied, “Because the pan was too small and the ham wouldn’t fit into it.”

Little did her great grandmother realize that her ‘shortcut’ would become such a long standing tradition that would pass from generation to generation having no effect whatsoever on the taste.

A portion of the current marriage preparation process that I employ is dedicated to what are called ‘family of origin issues.’ An increasing number of engaged couples come from mixed religious backgrounds. However, even when a couple is of the same religious tradition, it should not be assumed that their families observed that tradition in the same way. The diversity of religious traditions, cultures and ethnic compositions of families in these times can certainly have an impact on the expectations that each individual has for the other and makes for some very interesting discussions.

However, there are some basic rules that go to the heart of love and marriage and of life itself. Some refer to these as ‘core values’ or unbreakable, universal rules that bind all people no matter what their culture or religious background. Saint Thomas Aquinas among other scholastic theologians believed and taught that these rules originate in nature and in creation and that they are written on the human heart.

It was for this reason that Pope John XXIII of increasingly fading memory convened the Second Vatican Council in 1962. It was to be different from all the other councils in the history of the Church because it would deal with practical issues in which ordinary Catholics are involved every day. Pope John chastised ‘prophets of doom’ many of whom were cardinals and archbishops opposed to change and renewal which Pope John called, “Aggiornamento.”

It was his desire that the Church as a community of faith and a ‘people of God’ reflect the core values of the Gospel and that it shed the trappings that had accumulated over the centuries virtually obscuring the simplicity of the teachings of Jesus. The council was to confront a different kind of Phariseism that had crept in over time with the multiplication of rules and regulation many of which had originated in merely human customs and in some cases, a spiritual imperialism and the will to control even divine providence and divine grace.

Despite the attempts of prophetic preachers and teachers to keep revelation and religion pure, a new pharisaical hypocrisy and incestuous clericalism emerged resulting in religious totalitarianism: “Do as I say, not as I do!”—“Pay, pray and obey!”

It was in this kind of religious environment that Jesus challenged the Scribes and Pharisees in today’s gospel story. To be sure, the Scribes and Pharisees were not all bad people. In fact, it is quite possible that Jesus himself was reared under the influence of the Pharisees. They were learned in the law. They were deeply committed to ‘Torah’ and the traditions that had been passed down to them. Their weakness or failure was rooted in their lack of humility and their unwillingness to honor the voice of God in the people. In essence they had become spiritual ‘control freaks.’

Jesus took this opportunity to challenge them for their duplicity and hypocrisy — teaching one thing and living another, emphasizing’ the speck and missing the plank.’

True religion does not oppress but liberates the human spirit to do good with and for God. Remember, we are partners, not slaves of God. The core of truth is in the heart of God and the role of the theologian, jurist, and shepherd is to acknowledge that truth and translate it into human teachings and traditions that enable everyone to live in the rhythm of God’s life.

When I began studies in Church law in during the Second Vatican Council in 1963, there were over 2400 canons or statutes in the Code of Canon Law. That number was reduced to 1752 with the reforms of 1983. We’re making progress but we still have a long way to go! Oh, I’m not challenging the need for law and church discipline or even the need for sanctions to enforce laws established to protect core values and beliefs and promote justice within the community of the faithful. But laws can be manipulated not only by those who hold themselves above the law but also by those who hold the favor of law for example, Church officials, even bishops and pastors. Recently announced changes in the minutiae of liturgical discipline restoring old rubrics are not reassuring signs of progress and belong to the “world burns while Rome piddles category.”

There are times when after due consultation and study, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, in order to preserve the rule of faith and the purity of tradition, laws must be changed. Human traditions must defer to charity for the good of souls. ” Cura animarum, suprema lex”—care of souls is the highest law—the guiding principle of Church law and discipline.

Some Church laws such as mandatory celibacy in the Latin Rite Church and other ‘disciplinary’ laws though rooted in a time-limited understanding of the gospel and centuries old tradition are nevertheless human and institutional and therefore can be changed for the common good without denying the beauty of freely chose celibacy and the core values of divine revelation.

The rigid processes and procedures governing marriage and the dissolution of an intolerable marriage although also rooted in the Church’s traditional teaching on the permanence and indissolubility of marriage can be refined without denying the Church’s teaching on the permanence of marriage. There are other issues that pertain to human rights and the common good of the faithful that must be addressed such as the role of women in the Church their acceptance into the priesthood.

But on this Labor Day weekend, we also need to be mindful that the Church is not the only institution that can yield to hypocrisy.

“Outsourcing” has become a euphemism by corporate executives and industrial employers for the hiring of cheap labor in foreign markets ranging from manufactured items to customer service in the hi tech industry with the consequent loss of American jobs.

In a global economy, foreign markets do indeed have the right to compete for American jobs but there is need for a sense of proportionality. The global market can have a stabilizing impact on the American economy for the benefit of workers and consumers but it can also be manipulated by greed and the desire for excessive profits to the advantage of the few who govern the economy. Moreover, sweatshops local or global are unjust in any economic or circumstance or under any standard.

The scriptures challenge us this weekend not only to a new mindset but also to a new ‘heart-set.’

The size of the oven pan is not the sole determinate of the size of the ham or the quality of its taste. Common sense and a keen sensitivity to the heart of Christ is the greatest guarantees of divine guidance and providence.