Builders of the Church: Kepha et Paulos

Today we celebrate two great pillars in our Church. St. Paul is our greatest missionary and evangelizer and St. Peter is the first pope, if you will. Both men are martyrs; St. Paul was beheaded on Appian Way under the order of Nero and St. Peter was crucified upside down also under the order of Nero. Both men were so important to the early Church; it may not have survived without them. The amazing thing about both men is that they were quite different in personality, education, and even status. If someone were to venture a guess whom God would have chosen to be his pillars for the Church I wonder if any one of us would have chosen Peter and Paul.

Let’s take a look at both men and see who they were. St. Paul from what we know was from Tarsus, he was born a Jew but he was also a Roman citizen, scholars believe that was the case through his father. Later on Paul would use his citizenship to his advantage especially when he demanded that he be tried as a Roman citizen with full rights under the law, it bought him time, time to go to Rome and evangelize there while under house arrest.

Paul described himself as Hebrew, as a Pharisee, and one who advanced in Judaism beyond many of his peers. Paul was a very educated man, a scholar of the law and also very well respected among his peers. Paul never met Jesus during Jesus’ ministry, we are not even sure what Paul may have known about Jesus, but after the resurrection Paul knew enough in his mind that the newly formed Christians were a threat to Judaism. Paul was commissioned to investigate Christians and to bring them to justice and if need be to execution as heretics, as was the case when Paul took part in the execution of St. Stephen one of the first deacons of the Church.

When Paul was traveling to investigate more Christians on his way to Damascus, he received a Divine revelation from Jesus, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me, Paul asks, “Who are you Sir” From that conversation forward St. Paul would begin life as a Christian, a man who would give us almost half the New Testament, make three long missionary journeys and help shape Christianity forever.

St. Peter had a much different upbringing as he came from a family of fishermen (from Bethsaida) who were part of the working class and not well educated, though even the uneducated would have been familiar with their religious traditions and Scripture. From the accounts of his life we believe that Peter was a married man who had a family, especially since the Gospels tell us that Jesus cured his mother-in-law. Peter had his name changed, originally he was Simon, but in Matthew 16:16-19 Peter becomes the first of the Apostles (Bishops) when Jesus calls him, “Rock,” i.e. Peter.

It is amazing that Jesus would have chosen an uneducated fisherman from Bethsaida to be the first pope for all intents and purposes. Peter was one of those guys who spoke before he would think and this got him into trouble quite a few times, especially when Jesus rebuked him by saying, “Get behind me Satan.”

Nevertheless, Peter’s witness in Jerusalem, Antioch, and eventually Rome helped to shape the early Church and give it life. I am sure that Peter had to deal with a great deal amount of change in his life that of his own religious customs to adapting to foreign regions in which he lived. Like Paul, Peter offered the final and greatest witness to Jesus by offering his life in the faith.

No one could guess that a man who was having Christians brought to trial and executed along with a poor fisherman would be the ones chosen by God to lead His people. They were ordinary men, but they had extraordinary hearts filled with love for their brothers and sisters. You and I are ordinary people, but like Peter and Paul we too have been chosen for some reason\s to carry out the Gospel. Do not sell yourselves short, we too can be like Peter and Paul, saints. God can take the most ordinary of us and make us extraordinary; it’s a matter of belief. Paul believed it and so did Peter, the question that remains is, “Do you believe it?”

PS. I did a play on words in the title, "Kepha" is the Aramaic translation for "Peter," "et" is the Latin translation for "and"

"Paulos" is the Greek Translation for "Paul"  I chose Aramaic, Latin, and Greek to cover the languages of the Church, I know the Church speaks one language but these were the prevailing languages at the time of Peter and Paul, signifying that Christianity is a religion of unity and "Oneness"

FJ

The Eucharist: True Food and True Drink

Our understanding of the sacrament of the Eucharist comes right from our Lord.  In today’s Gospel of John Jesus clearly states, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.  For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” 

There are a number of misunderstandings when it comes to the Catholic understanding of the Eucharist.  The first is that people think we understand this in some cannibalistic fashion.  The second is that Jesus still dies and suffers at each and every mass we celebrate.  Both are not true. 

When it comes to what we receive we believe that we truly receive Jesus at communion but we are definitely not consuming the “earthly Jesus,”  a carnal Jesus if you will.  We receive Jesus truly but in a supernatural way, i.e. The Resurrected Jesus.  If we were receiving Jesus in a carnal sense we would be cannibals and also there would not be enough of Him for all the communions we have celebrated over the last 2,000 years, which in itself proves we receive supernaturally. 

Supernatural, however, can be a confusing word, a word we cannot wrap our minds around.  Catholics love definitive answers and things to be simple and straight forward.  The Church teaching on the Eucharist is simple and straight forward; we receive Jesus’ body, blood, soul, and divinity – all of Him when we go to communion. 

When Jesus gave us the Eucharist during the Last Supper His understanding was a Jewish one, for the Eucharist is borne out of the Passover.  During Passover the Jewish people sprinkled the blood of a lamb on their door posts so that the angel of death would pass them over, now, however, the blood is no longer on door posts but inside of us, so that when God sees us He sees Jesus.  St. Paul’s beautiful words, “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.”

Another understanding would be like that of a marriage.  Husband and wife come together as one, they are no longer two but one.  This exchange occurs in their vows and in their intimacy of love.  It happens when we approach at communion.  We take our vows when we hear the priest say, “The Body of Christ.”  We respond “I do” in the form of “Amen.”  The act of love occurs when Jesus becomes one with us as we consume the Eucharistic Bread and Wine.  “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.”

The second misunderstanding we hear often is that Jesus dies and suffers again at each and every mass or that Jesus still suffers in heaven.  You hear all kinds of things, such as Jesus’ wounds still bleed in heaven when we sin here on earth.  Nothing can be further from the truth.  Jesus does not die again nor does He suffer any kind of earthly suffering in any way shape or form.

The author of the letter to the Hebrews makes this quite clear, “It was fitting that we should have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, higher than the heavens. He has no need, as did the high priests, to offer sacrifice day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did that once for all when he offered himself.” (Heb. 7:26-27) and “For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven itself, that he might now appear before God on our behalf. Not that he might offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters each year into the sanctuary with blood that is not his own; if that were so, he would have had to suffer repeatedly from the foundation of the world. But now once for all he has appeared at the end of the ages to take away sin by his sacrifice. Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, so also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him. (Heb. 9:24-28)

Sometimes we learn what a thing is by knowing what it is not and the Eucharist is not a carnal meal nor is it multiple sacrifices, it is only sacrifice.  This is what makes mass very important.  One must be present at the sacrifice in order for it to be effective, efficacious.  Since the sacrifice occurred two thousand years ago what would give us the means to be present at the events that took place during the Paschal Mystery.  It would have to be the Holy Spirit.  Those events are present to us right now, right here at this mass.  It happens by our remembering, “do this in remembrance of me” and also by the action of the Holy Spirit, making that sacrifice present here on our altar so that we can become one with Christ and receive forgiveness of our sins.  Today’s Solemnity is an important reminder of what it is that we do here.  We are partaking in the sacred.  How Catholics who place anything before the mass is hard for me to imagine? 

This (Jesus) is what we receive every Sunday, eternal life.  These are the means (the Eucharist) provided us by Jesus Himself.  Sure there are exceptions since God does as He wills and works out the Divine mystery of salvation as He sees fit, nevertheless He provided ordinary ways for this to happen and Jesus left it to us in the Last Supper, His crucifixion and Resurrection.  There is no more beautiful thing in this world than to be called up to communion in which Jesus offers Himself to us completely, “The Body of Christ,” and we respond, “Amen”  Truly, “Amen!”

Holy Spirit: Convictor and Healer

Today we celebrate Pentecost, a receiving of the Holy Spirit.  We receive the Spirit for many reasons, to teach us how to pray, what to pray for, how to evangelize, teach, how to discern, to be convicted of sins, to ask for forgiveness, to be forgiven, and a slew of other reasons, especially in making the sacraments present.

I just want to talk about the Holy Spirit in one aspect and that is the forgiveness of sins which we receive in the sacrament of confession.  Jesus told His Apostles before His Ascension, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”  This passage has to do with people either accepting or rejecting the Gospel, but it also has to do with the beginning of the ministry of Confession \ Penance \ Reconciliation.

As Catholics we believe in the sacrament of Reconciliation, many other Christians do not; as they believe a person can go directly to God and be forgiven.  We believe the same as Catholics, that at the moment a person pours out their heart to God they are forgiven, but justice demands equal weights – it demands a penance not for the sake of punishment but for what I call “The School of Learning” or “The School of Faith.”  I am sure others have called it this as well.

The story of St. Peter undergoing the first sacrament of penance can be found in Sacred Scripture, at least in its foundational form.  Here is that penance.  When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”  He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”  He then said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”  He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” [Jesus] said to him, “Feed my sheep.  Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”  He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.” Jn 212:15-19

The Holy Spirit helped St. Peter to recognize that he had denied His Lord three times; you know the story, when Peter was confronted after Jesus had been arrested, and three times he denied the man who made him the Rock of His Church.  This conviction that Peter felt I am sure was very painful, both spiritually and emotionally.  Peter wept, as the Gospels tell us.  It was in that moment when he wept that he was forgiven, no question about it.  However, justice demands that in some way we make up for our wrongs with the opposite virtues, i.e. if I tell a lie, I tell the truth; if I steal I make some sort or restitution.  Peter made a threefold betrayal; justice demanded he make a threefold affirmation.

When we go to confession we have the opportunity to make up the wrong, we come full circle as did St. Peter.  Again, this is not done to make people feel bad but to give people freedom.  Peter I am sure caught on by third time.  He knew what Jesus was doing.  In that whole time all Jesus did was affirm Peter, “Feed my sheep, tend my sheep, and feed my sheep.”  He affirmed him as a man and as the Rock of the Church.  His penance was complete.

The same holds true for the sacrament today, Jesus says, “Do not be afraid.”  Many people are either afraid or don’t believe they need it, the sacrament that is.  My friends if St. Peter needed a public confession who are we to say we do not even need a private one.  How many times have we betrayed Jesus by our actions and yet His mercy never gives out.  He calls us to make peace with ourselves, with the Church and with Him.  Sure we are forgiven as soon as we ask when that asking is done from the heart, yet Jesus asks we go that one more step as He did with St. Peter, to make restitution for our wrongs, to be reconciled to the Church, and to feel true freedom and affirmation as did St. Peter. 

I encourage you to return to the sacrament, for the Holy Spirit is the one who guides us to it, it is the Holy Spirit that has given to the Church to help us make a good confession as did St. Peter and through His power to bring the healing graces to the penitent.  The Spirit is given to us for many reasons, but let today be about the forgiveness of sins.  Amen!  FJ

Upward and Forward Movement Towards Heaven

The great thing about living with other priests, serving with deacons, and in our case having the blessing of a seminarian living with us who is in the thick of his theological studies opens the door for many interesting and challenging discussions, ranging from hot button issues such as reforming the annulment-divorce process to asking, “Who is God?”  I love these types of discussions, I always have.  I can remember hanging out with the boys from Fairview when we were teenagers and sometimes “religious” stuff would be discussed and I always took the lead, I guess it was in me, to be a priest though not realizing it at the time.  My friends would come to me with Bible questions, religious questions, philosophical ones, etc.  The whole time I was thinking about marriage and making coaching my career.  Interesting how God has different plans. Anyway, back to some of the challenging “stuff” in our day.

Just the other day we had a discussion about heaven and hell, how hell is a backwards movement from God and heaven a forward movement towards God.  More importantly, for our discussion we asked, “Why do some preach and or teach from “hell’s” point of view.  For instance there are those who preach about black and white when it comes to morality, i.e. every moral dilemma can be answered and either you choose virtue or vice.  Moral dilemmas have all been defined by St. Thomas Aquinas and now we know beyond a shadow of a doubt if you committed a mortal sin or not.  Trust me, I am a big fan of St. Thomas and you don’t get much better than him except for a couple of others.  However, that kind of thinking is not from the Gospel nor is it based on anything the Church Fathers taught.  St. Thomas himself never taught anything like that.  It is true that I may know if I committed a mortal sin and mortal sins there are, but you can never know if I did or not, unless I tell you and you take me at my word.  It is the job of the priest to help a person discern what is venial and mortal, but even in that discernment the person was not sure therefore the sin was not mortal but may be so afterwards since the person now has knowledge.  Nevertheless that kind of teaching is not meant to be “fear based” i.e. you better get to mass otherwise you are under the pain of mortal sin.  That kind of teaching is fear driven, not based on relationship, one that starts with rules instead of persons.

Fear tactics never work people naturally rebel.  Tell a child you can’t have a twinkie and what will they do they will take one behind your back.  Tell a young person you can’t drink until your twenty-one and 99% of them will drink.   However, when a person is invited into relationship and knows they are loved they respond differently.  I am not saying we are not to have rules, there has to be regulation in all aspects of life, but that is only to keep us in check, it’s not the beginning point or the end point, that is a person and His name is Jesus Christ.

Telling people about sins, rules, hell, etc. must be done in its proper context and done with pastoral wisdom.  Why not begin with the man from Nazareth who only had TWO rules, “Love the Lord Your God with your whole heart, with all your strength, and all your mind, and the second is like it, Love your neighbor as yourself, everything else flows from these two commandments.”  We know have over 2,000 rules in Canon Law.  Rules and laws have their purpose, to teach us when we are within the boundaries of right and wrong, if those rules are used for any other purpose then the rules have become harmful.  “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” Jesus is referring to the Spirit of the Law, taking into account all the circumstances involved in a person’s life.

Are we not supposed to preach about a Gospel that invites people to relationship with Jesus?  Or are we supposed to be catechizing about rules and making sure we tell people “make sure you do this and don’t do that otherwise you are under the pain of mortal sin and you can lose your soul!”

I often hear Catholics say, “If I just make it to Purgatory I will be happy.”  Really!  Would you continue playing for a coach who says at the beginning of the season, “boys we are shooting for 2^nd place?”  Would you remain in a class where the teacher says, “Students we are aiming for B’s this semester!”  No, of course you wouldn’t, you would get the “hell out of there” (no pun intended).  We are supposed to aim for the prize, heaven, you want to aim for Purgatory; you go right head I’ll be waiting for you on the other side.  Am I being a little over confident, maybe, but it’s better than living in shackles and fear if I am going to make it or not.  I’m smart enough to know I will make it on God’s good grace and if I wind up in Purgatory then so be it.  “God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.  In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world.  There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.  We love because he first loved us.” 1 Jn. 4:16-19

Jesus died in order to win us, to take us to Himself.   Either you think He loses more than He wins because you believe more people go to hell than heaven, that is also against Scripture since, God “… wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Tim 2:4.  I know it is still undetermined, but our desire should be God’s desire? Shouldn’t we as Christians lift one another up, remind each other of the promises Jesus has made to us, how God has forgiven even the worst of sinners, murderers, adulterers, fornicators, perjurers, liars, cheaters, tyrants, addicts of all kinds, even people who left the Church?  Shouldn't we begin with heaven and relationship with Christ our Lord?  I think we should because then and only then do the rules make sense and we preach rules as a barometer between virtue and vice not whether one is saved or not, nor if it is the barometer in our relationship with Jesus.  Do parents stop loving their children when they make awful mistakes and commit terrible sins?  Let me be clear, a person can choose hell by not wanting repentance or refusal to bend the knee, if you will, to God, that possibility exists and even then God still loves them but respects their own choice, but we are spending too much time there and way too much time on the rules.

Let me end this with St. Paul’s understanding of the promise that Jesus has made to all who come to know and love Him.  “For I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand.  I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.  From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.” 2 Tim 4:6-8  This longing for his appearance is not just in the 2^nd coming but Jesus’ appearance to us each every day, an appearance in the heart that transforms and that elevates towards God, which is an upward and forward movement towards heaven and not backwards like those who still live behind the law and the rules.  FJ