Reflection on Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings"

This week I'd like to do something a little different then my regular routine of reflecting on the Sunday readings. Just a few days ago I entered into a good conversation with a friend concerning J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings." Many of you are most likely familiar with these books or at least have seen the movies. Doing a little research on the books one soon discovers that it is the 3rd most printed\sold book\s of the 20th century, behind the Qur'an and the Bible. The book\s have had such a huge impact because they in a very creative way tell a parallel story of the human journey and more importantly a history of salvation.

If one were to read "The Lord of the Rings' or watch the movies one would not understand everything since Tolkien wrote an entire historical back drop to the books, which today can be found in "The Unfinished Tales," and "The Silmarillion." Though this should not give one pause to read the books or watch the movie, one will understand enough without the back drop, but in case you become interested there are backdrop stories available.

Getting to the point there were two scenes in the book that my friend and I discussed. The first one was when Gandalf confronted the Balrog on the bridge of Khazad-dum. Gandald stands up to the demon of Morgoth and seemingly defeats him. While on the bridge Gandalf strikes the bridge making it collapse. The demon goes down with it. Gandalf then turns to rejoin his companions and the moment that he does such the demon sends up his whip and snatches Gandalf by the leg and sends him hurtling down into the great chasm below.

Why did Tolkien insert this into the story, was it simply to provide more action, more intrigue, or suspense? Yes to all of them, but more importantly I believe he was making a statement about vigilance. Just when we believe that we have defeated evil is when evil will catch us off guards. One must remain ever diligent in virtue, being on guard vs. vice. If we turn around too soon or forget it, that is when the whip snatches us and pulls us into the chasm of darkness and emptiness. Tolkien's point is subtle because we can miss it due to the action and suspense. However, the symbolism of virtue and religion in that scene is well done, much like a bible story.

Another scene we discussed was when Gollum ripped the ring off of Frodo's finger at the edge of Mt. Doom. He begins to dance near the edge in his jubilation of finally getting the ring back. In doing so he comes too close to edge and slips into the molten lava below. Even as he begins to sink into the lava he has no regard for himself, but rather does all he can to save the ring, eventually both sink and are melted away. Mordor and Mt. Doom are symbolic of hell and evil. Mordor = Murder, Mt. Doom = hell, this can be deduced symbolically from the imagery and language used by Tolkien to describe this desolate, dark, and lifeless land. But more importantly to our point is that Gollum entered into this hell, God did not force him to go. This speaks to my point from last week's reflection on Heaven and Hell. Gollum was so given to the ring and the evil that it held that he would rather see the ring survive even while his body burned, the same could be said for those who sentence themselves to an eternity in hell. God does not send anyone (even Gollum) to hell, rather people, if they choose to do so, go there of their own accord.

The greatest point of Tolkien's story is the ending, the redemption if you will. After the long struggle of carrying the cross, of so much loss, end unbelievable endurance of those committed to the struggle of good vs. evil finally prevail. Everything is made new again, the world lives in peace and undergoes a transformation, not much different then Jesus defeating evil and making all things new.

Enough of me, do yourself a favor if you have not read or seen "The Lord of the Rings," get moving, you will not be disappointed.

Fr. John
image taken from fanpop.com

Heaven or Hell

Conversations about who has to be in hell will at times come up, at family gatherings, with friends, at fellowship meetings, etc. These conversations, questions, or even matter of fact statements come out of our desire to see that justice is done. There are the more “grey” type of decisions on judgment when it comes to the more ordinary examples of people who lived in grave sin, i.e. being cold in their faith, living in greed and corruption, or living in adultery. With these types of examples people will not make up their minds on where a soul has gone to, since many people have committed grave or mortal sin to some degree in their lives. But when it comes to the people who live in total debauchery, i.e. terrorists, tyrants, criminals of the worst kind we can with greater ease punish them to an eternity of hell.

One such example is Adolf Hitler. What is factual and what we know objectively is that the man was a grave sinner, the blood of his victims still cry out from the ground reminding us of the atrocities that were committed by this man and those who followed his orders. No question, the man was a war monger, directly responsible for genocide, political crimes, and many other acts of evil. So when people speak of Hitler, it is easy to say he is in hell.

Another example would be terrorists, especially the ones who attacked us back on 911. How can persons that carry out such evil, plots of terror, and end innocent lives in the name of God not be punished and given a sentence of eternity in hell?

And finally the most used example is that of Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus and had him handed over for thirty pieces of silver. Judas compounded his sins; he began by stealing from the money bag, then lying about it, then betraying the Savior and for money. Not a good record of virtue.

To make myself clear, these acts are despicable and downright evil. However, it is not my place, nor yours to make eternal judgments, not now, not ever. "What are you saying father that these people could be in heaven?" My answer is the same answer given today by St. Paul, “This is good and pleasing to God our Savior, who wills everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth.” There is no exception clause that follows that statement, St. Paul does not say, “Except for the worst of sinners.”

One reason we do not put people in hell is already answered, we must desire what God desires. God desires that all be saved so too should we, unless we know more than God or have made ourselves God. St. Peter in his second letter also affirms what St. Paul wrote to Timothy. “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard "delay," but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

Does this wishing and desiring on God’s part and on our part guarantee that all are saved? Maybe, maybe not, because we have not been to hell we cannot say with absolute certainty who is there or who is not. The official teaching of the Church is that there is a hell and that the possibility exists that people can sentence themselves by their own free will to that eternal separation from God.

The second reason just as important as first reason, if not more important is that all eternal judgment is reserved to Christ alone. “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life. Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to his Son the possession of life in himself. And he gave him power to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of Man.” (John 5:24-27) And just to make sure that we do not miss the point from Matthew 25:41-46, “Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.' Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?' He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.' And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." In both these passages it never hints that you and I have the authority to make eternal judgments except Christ alone. And to make the point absolutely clear I will quote St. Paul from his letter to the Romans 10:8, “But the righteousness that comes from faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will go up into heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down) or 'Who will go down into the abyss?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)." But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we preach), for, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

I do not want to inundate you with biblical passages, but in summary from Jeremiah who writes, “Who knows the human heart more than God?” The answer, no one! Jesus taught that there is a hell and that people can choose to go there as is clear from many of his statements throughout the Gospels. If there is no hell then there are no consequences for sins nor does justice exist. The thing for us to remember is that our only business concerning eternal judgment is that we pray and work towards everyone getting to heaven, and more importantly having a relationship with Christ.

I began with St. Paul, allow me to finish with him. Before St. Paul’s conversion he was responsible for killing innocent people. He did everything in his power to crush Christianity and end the movement. He went out and found believers and had them executed, St. Stephen being one of them. He even allowed for false witnesses to enter into the hearings therefore creating a kangaroo court, giving St. Stephen no possibility of a fair hearing. I wonder where we would have had Paul going to, either heaven or hell before his conversion? If Paul, a murder or innocent blood, allowing for false testimony concerning someone’s life, could be converted I wonder if the same could be said of everyone, or at least that they have a chance. If they have no chance, then naturally we believe that sin is more powerful than grace. If they have a chance, than naturally and truly, grace is more powerful than sin! Which do we believe?

Fr. John Picinic
Image taken from http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.arielmarquez.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/judgement
Biblical quotations taken from USCCB website NAB translation

The Prodigal Son Returns

How often have we read and heard the story of the Prodigal son? Quite a bit I would guess. And yet, every time we do read it or hear it the Holy Spirit helps us see something new.

I believe the story itself is the thesis of the entire salvation history story. In the beginning the prodigal children move away from God, i.e. the fall of Adam and Eve. After the fall they seek to return to their Father, i.e. the People of God repenting of their sins and wandering and returning home.

Jesus tells the story because he wants everyone, and I repeat, "everyone" to understand that they wander off the path and need to return. In the story he's making this point to the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes. In our own day he is making that point to us. You see, the older brother represents the group of people who believe they are righteous, and they may very well be, but they too stray. In this story the older brother strays because he has made himself judge, arbitrator, and jury when it comes to determining his brother's acceptance back to the family. He takes this position because he has been living rigtheously since childhood and his brother has not.

This story is relevant for us today because sometimes we become the older brother. When we hear the story there is a natural tendency to see ourselves as the younger brother, and that's ok since we admit our faults when we do that. It is rare when we see ourselves as the older brother, but we do.

There are times that those of us who do attend mass, help out quite often in the Church, who pray regularly, and that do many other things will at times make harsh remarks about those who do not attend mass, who do not pray as much as we do, etc. They are the younger brother. What would we do if someone was accepted back into the Church and then the priest held a party for that someone who was living the type of life that young man in the Gospel story was living? Would we rejoice or would we be upset, since we have been doing the work the whole time and the priest rewards this person who was living in debauchery? What if we have been working in the parish for 30 years and never were given a party and then all of the sudden here comes the sinner returning home and on that very day a celebration takes place. You can see why the older brother was unhappy. We are that older brother sometimes whether we admit or not.

Though the older brother is upset the great thing here is that the Father loves them both, the Father tells the older son, "Everything that I have is yours." He loves both of his sons. That is a metaphor for God loving all His children regardless if they have strayed and returned home or if they have been with Him for a long time. The story also shows the eternal patience God has for all of us. I mean really, who else could put up with us so patiently?

The story was told 2,000 years ago though it is still relevant for us now, because when Jesus told it He was telling an eternal story, the thesis of mankind's relationship with God and God's with us, a story of straying away from Him, but also a story of returning home!

Fr. John Picinic

Picture of "The Prodigal Son" is by Rembrandt and found online

Reflection on Luke 14:25-33 (23rd Sunday in OT)

In being Christian we know that there is no resurrection without the cross. We also know that there is justice along with mercy, as well as hardships of all kinds coupled with joys interspersed throughout our lives. Basically, there is always good and bad (and by bad I mean both physical evil and sometimes because of our wounded nature even moral evil).

Today Jesus tells us, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.” Part of that cross is not only in dealing with the hardships of life, but also offering our suffering along with Jesus as penance for our sins. Yes, there is still sin in the world and not just sin somewhere out there, but right in here, inside of me. We do not like to talk about sin in ourselves, we do not like to talk about God being tough on sin, nor use language of penance, sacrifice, obedience, humility, or what is considered “old church” theology. The problem is that sin does not change nor does righteousness. What was a sin 2,000 years ago is still a sin today, what was righteous 2,000 years ago is still righteous today.

Being a Christian is not easy. Being a Christian means that the cross should be visible on my person. If it’s not then I am not a disciple. St. Paul calls us co-workers with Christ. He did not mean that we were co-workers only during the happy and good times, but even during the tough times, and in a very real way when I offer penance for my sins. St. Paul tells us that we must fight the good fight, and part of that good fight is to keep getting up, even when the cross weighs us down. I can hear him say, “Up good Christian on your feet, finish the race!” We need to say, “Show me Calvary, where is it so that I may go and suffer with my Savior – together.”

As people we look not to suffer, we look for that loveable God who is tender, merciful, and kind. That He is, no question about it, but we must remember what love is in its totality, and that means if we truly love we will lay down our lives for our friends, and if Jesus is my best friend and brother, then naturally, logically, and most of all because of love I will lay down my life for Him.

None of us wishes for bad times or to suffer, but they will come, either through my own fault, through the discipline of the Lord, i.e. St. Paul is given a thorn in his flesh by God, or through nature. Suffering will come, so what will we do with our cross? Will we pick it up or leave Christ to carry it Himself?

Fr. John Picinic