Miracles, For Real

This Sunday begins the Bread of Life Discourse from the Gospel of John chapter 6 and will continue for the next four weeks after this Sunday.   For Catholics, John chapter 6 is a cornerstone of our faith, in and that Jesus will be with us always even until the end of the age through the Eucharist.

As Catholics we believe in the real presence of Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity when we receive Holy Communion.  As the weeks proceed we will get into that further.  For now though, it is interesting that Jesus, like that wise and patient professor who slowly guides his pupils towards enlightenment, begins not with the all out, “My flesh is true food and my blood true drink,” but rather, he begins with a sign so that the students (the people) will recognize the more difficult saying later as a belief that has credibility because the belief is based on the one doing the teaching, in this case Jesus himself.

The sign that Jesus offers is that he will first feed us earthly food and that he can feed us that food regardless of how much or little there is.  In this story of the multiplication of loaves and fishes Jesus does more than just give people a free meal.  He is proving who he is; he is also preparing this audience to accept what will be the greater miracle, that he will give his flesh and blood as true food.

There are many interpretations and sides we can go off on, but I want to stick with the “miracle” aspect here, since that will lead us into the next few weeks.  The traditional sense of miracle means that God brakes into nature through supernatural means for some purpose, i.e. to heal a crippled man or restore sight to the blind.  Over the last fifty or more so years some theologians have moved away from this traditional sense of miracle to what they call a more human approach.

One such way that the multiplication of bread and fishes happened was not that something came from nothing, or something from very little, but rather when Jesus prayed the people who were there were so moved that they shared what they had with their neighbors, hence the miracle here is the selfless acts of the people gathered.  This interpretation while nice, and containing a “feel good” sentiment actually does harm to the text because it goes beyond what is written and infuses an interpretation not within the text.  Allow me to explain.

The story of feeding the multitude occurs six times throughout the Gospels, in each case there is never a hint that people brought food with them.  There is actually the notion that they followed Jesus for a while and ran out of food and Jesus had pity on them because they had nothing to eat. (c.f. Mt. 14:13-14)  Another problem with the humanistic interpretation is if everyone brought a little they could have just ate what they had, no need to share.  Another problem is that people did not have the means to keep food cool for that long, as one person said to me once, “what did they do, pack coolers with tuna fish sandwiches?” 

All kidding aside, those are not even the biggest problems with the humanistic interpretation, the biggest problem is that is does not give proper due to Christ himself.  If you notice all of Christ’s miracles are done almost instantaneously, he never asks for help, and the command is quick and effective.  He does this for two reasons, one to heal that which is broken and to prove who he is, “God in the flesh.”  Jesus has power over nature, not to control it, but to guide and gently bring it to wholeness, i.e. holiness.

The more important reason for this miracle, besides proving who Jesus is, is so that the people will remember his credibility.  For soon he will make an even bolder claim, all earthly food is good, but it cannot keep you from the second death, separation from God, only my food can do that, and that is my flesh and blood.  You would think that the people would have been quick to believe, but they think him mad, i.e. “will he truly give us his flesh to eat and his blood to drink.” 

Stay tuned in until next week, same bat time, same bat channel (for the answer).

And by the way, Miracles are Real!

FJ

Come and Rest For a While

           

            

          I remember in Novitiate when I was a Pallottine we would have what the Novice Master called “Desert afternoons.”  We had these two times a week, for about 3 hours each time.  It consisted in going back to your rooms and praying, usually a meditative prayer of some type, e.g. Lexio Divina.  We were not to exit our rooms or talk to anyone; we had to observe sacred silence.  Very difficult for this former New Yorker – North Jersey guy, but I made it through and looking back I realized just how beneficial those dessert days really were since it allowed me to experience Jesus’ invitation to, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”

          The call by Jesus to rest for a while is not just for religious, for contemplatives or hermits, it is a call to all of us.  God knows how much we get caught up in the world and in our very lives and that is why God himself sets the example.  “On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.  God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.” (Gn 2:2-3, NABRE)  As you know there is a time for everything, be it work, play, or rest.  Sometimes, however, the work aspect gets the best of us. 

          Everyone who is able should work as St. Paul demands, since work itself provides man with dignity and a sense of accomplishment and contribution.  But our jobs are not our only work, we have families, friends, clubs, fraternities, gatherings, sporting events, etc., that we must attend to.  Often times this other work spills over into the day that God has made holy and hinders or totally prevents us from going to that deserted place and rest for a while.  For a number of parents run into the following problem or one similar to it; little Johnny’s seven year old soccer club team plays on Sundays, and this team will prepare Johnny to become the next Pele, therefore we can't get to mass on the weekends.  And by the way, my little Johnny is the best there is.  So how can we rest on Sunday or even go to mass? Johnny can’t miss his soccer match, it's just too important to miss.  That is just one example of all the distractions in life.

          There are many other distractions in life that prevent us from resting in the Lord; we can call it noise as well.  You see, when Jesus calls into the desert he calls us to that quiet place.  Yet, it is hard for us to go there.  We have cell phones that stick to us like a real piece of our own bodies.  We are constantly on them, e.g. emails, calendar, photos, facebook, surfing.  We replaced boom box radios with Iphones and Androids.  Children are programmed with schedules, their days are filled from 7am until they fall asleep, they are bombarded with noise.

          All of us are guilty of living in the noise.  Some noise is not bad, all of us have to get busy with our lives in order to get things done, however like everything else, all things need rest and refueling.  Our rest and refueling comes from God.  How often during the day or during the week do I even take 10 minutes for myself to be quiet in the presence of God, can I even turn off my cell phone for 60 seconds or do I make the poor excuse, “I have children.”  Well, we didn’t have cell phones to call our parents when we were kids and lo and behold we came out ok!

          God calls us to quiet so that we can hear his voice, so that we may rest from our labors, so that we may be refreshed, so that we may escape the noise that is all around us distracting us from him.  All of us are called to be hermits for just a little while, trust me God knew what he was doing when he made the Sabbath a day of rest.  How often do I hear people say, “if only I can get 15 minutes of peace and quiet?”  The thing is, you can, it’s just a matter of wanting to and being able to let go of all the noise.  “Jesus said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”

FJ

picture from http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&biw=1185&bih=589&tbm=isch&tbnid=Wy6XB0hTyjdPTM:&imgrefurl=http://sacredspaces2004.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/sacred-spaces-326-jesus-in-the-desert-have-a-good-lenten-journey/&docid=F2snsW7l0I-PsM&imgurl=http://sacredspaces2004.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/jesus_praying_temptation.jpg&w=500&h=357&ei=eG4JUI3JB6Ls6gGvgrW-Cg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=526&vpy=142&dur=300&hovh=190&hovw=266&tx=145&ty=90&sig=100713746395602007020&page=1&tbnh=114&tbnw=152&start=0&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0,i:148

God is Enough

In this Sunday’s Gospel from Mark (6:7-13) Jesus sends the Apostles out two by two to go and bring the Good News to whomever the Spirit leads them to.  Jesus asks the Apostles to rely on God completely, “take no food, sack, or money with you” just enough to be presentable, a second tunic, sandals, and a walking stick.  Talk about total reliance on God!  Their main message was one of repentance, so this meant they had to talk about sin and how turn back towards God, again not an easy thing to do, and yet God demands the most and the best from us.

A reflection for us can be, have I trusted God enough that I am willing to take nothing with me except the bare essentials?  Granted not all of us or even a few of us can be Franciscans who follow St. Francis’ rule literally, nevertheless we can follow this Gospel rule in many other ways.

1)    When it comes to trusting God do I really leave everything in His hands or do I try and control every angle?

2)    Have I put God first, or have I queued him to the number 3, 4, or 5 spot in my order of importance?

3)    Do I preach repentance, first to myself and then to others?

Often times in our lives we feel that we must take control of a situation or situations.  I may be going on an interview and I prepare myself above and beyond the normal preparation.  Which is actually a smart thing to do, but do I keep God in mind as the One who is both helping me and preparing me for that interview?  What about starting a new family, getting married, or finding my vocation – does God take center stage?  Often times when people plan to get married they do not make the Church their first priority, rather the engagement ring takes the number one spot, then after the proposal family is notified or already know, then they plan for the place of reception –where they will have their dinner and celebration, and then fourth if He is lucky comes God, “oh lets go see the priest to reserve the Church.”

Granted much is going on in terms of excitement, so one can lose focus, also some couples do keep God first.  You see how easy it is to be worried about the things of the world, i.e. my money (to pay for the reception), my food (to give to those who come to my reception), and the sack (all my material things, especially the engagement ring, the dresses, the tuxedos, the limos, the camera and video, etc.)  I don’t mean to be a spoiler, all of those things are good and even fun, but were they decided with God in mind.  Does God want me to wear a $5,000 dress, pay for $150.00 plates per person, to buy rings that cost thousands of dollars?  If we are honest with ourselves, what would God say?

The same applies to me, do I need 100.00 slacks, 150.00 shoes, a brand new car which I must have because I deserve it, because I work so hard!  Actually I did buy a new car on May 1^st, but I planned for it for two years in terms of saving, researching and test driving different vehicles, and as much as possible allowing God to lead me to something that was acceptable for a person in my state of life but that would also last and be durable.  The same should apply for everything we decide and not just the big purchases. 

Again, not everyone is called to be another St. Francis in the literal sense, though all of us are called to live that spirit of poverty, we do it in order to obtain freedom.  Things weigh us down; they preoccupy us and influence us to desire more.  A famous lyric from Bruce Springsteen’s “Badlands” says, “Poor man wants to be rich, rich man wants to be king, and the king is not satisfied until he loses everything.”

We need to pray for ourselves and each other in order that whenever we make decisions that like the Apostles who went two by two, or saints have been called by God down through centuries (like St. Francis) that we will trust that God is enough and that He will provide for everything we need.  

Fr. John

images from http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS362&biw=1185&bih=589&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=NyVS6G0465_iaM:&imgrefurl=http://urbantitan.com/5-christian-mysteries/jesus-apostles-03/&docid=fxBhUYWArA02zM&imgurl=http://urbantitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Jesus-Apostles-03.jpg&w=800&h=600&ei=ekYAUIz1M8ahrAHQnM3GBw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=205&vpy=287&dur=642&hovh=150&hovw=203&tx=131&ty=89&sig=100713746395602007020&page=1&tbnh=122&tbnw=167&start=0&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0,i:104

Jesus' Promise "The gates of hell will not prevail against the Church"

The great mistake that both Nero and Diocletian (Emperors of Rome) made was to underestimate with whom they were picking a fight with. Granted both men were powerful if not a little mad, but they were picking a fight with the King of Kings, with their own Lord and Master, in some ways not even realizing it. The promise that the Kingdom would never be overthrown was made by the Master in Matthew 16:16-19,

“Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mt. 16:16-19, NABRE)

Not even hell itself can overthrow the Church. Right from the Church’s very beginning people crucified the Messiah thinking the movement would die, that “The Way” was finished; however, Jesus defeated death and rose again. Shortly after governments, notably the Roman Empire began to execute Christians for all sorts of reasons. In the process the Empire made the Church stronger, so as each martyr shed his or her blood – the Church’s sinews and muscles tightened, gained mass, and became more powerful as the Empire first divided and then crumbled, possibly the Greatest empire on earth was dust and ash while Christianity gained more members and truly was becoming Catholic – Universal.

Throughout the centuries foreign lands and different places were hostile to the Church, each one of those nations, kingdoms, tribes, villages, is long gone, and still the Church remains.

One would think that after 2,000 years people would learn the lesson, don’t pick a fight with Jesus, you are gonna lose! It doesn’t matter how old the nation is that picks this fight with him or how powerful they are because if you attack Christians you attack Christ Himself, “On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” He said, “Who are you, sir?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. (Acts 9:3-5, NABRE) Paul was trying to arrest Christians because he thought they were heretics. He was attacking Jesus himself in doing so. The same went for Herod, Diocletian, Nero, and all the rest throughout history and even those now who are trying to redefine Christianity into a religion that is very secular, modern, and does not have right compassion, but wrong compassion, i.e. turning the sin into a good, again for example, “a woman has the right to choose what she does with her own body,” a God given liberty to be able to choose as I see fit. That is wrong, because we do not get to choose the way we want without God, because God is the one who has all the rights over our bodies, c.f. 1 Cor. 6:19, “You are not your own, you have been purchased at a price.”

The attack on the Church is clear, though much more subtle than the attack that Herod, Diocletian, and Nero placed on it, it seems now it is more of an intellectual and spiritual attack, but an attack nevertheless.

The Church will not bend; it will not kowtow or compromise its core beliefs, not even in the slightest degree. And just like Rome, or any other empire, kingdom, dynasty or even the United States the Church will remain while all others come and go, not so much because of us who are its members but rather due to the One who rules it, Christ the King. In recent memory Poland, Germany, parts of Russia tried to attack the Church as well and all of those Communist regimes are gone!  

When it is time for the Church to end its journey on this earth then Lord Himself will return to take her home but when that happens everything as we know it will change and that is the only time the Church will end for a lack of a better term, better put it will change – be made totally holy without spot or blemish.   

The most frustrating part to our new dilemma is that there are Catholics who serve this great nation and have agreed to the attack on the Church and have advocated publically for positions that are contrary to the Church’s teaching. We need to speak out as boldly as they do, but always with the hope that they will see the Truth.

Remember good Christians and all people who pursue liberty, justice, and responsible freedom, the Church isn’t going anywhere, because we do not even fear death itself, so how can a mandate frighten us, or possible monetary penalties? No sir, it’s just dust and ashes, and when they disappear the Church will remain and the stronger.  Amen

FJ

image from  http://freechristimages.org/biblestories/Jesus_before_pilate.htm 

Mary The Perpetual Virgin

Often times people will ask, “Did Jesus have blood brothers and sisters?”  Our Protestant brothers and sisters believe that Jesus did have blood brothers and sisters and will usually quote today’s Gospel, “Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” (c.f. Mt. 6)  Catholics believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary, i.e. she was, is, and always remained a virgin.  Protestants believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, a fundamental Truth that needs to be believed in order to be a Christian, but they go no further, believing Mary had other children with Joseph after Jesus was born.

As Catholics we believe in the procreation of the human species.  It is a natural and good desire for couples to want to have children.  However, we believe that Mary and Joseph choose the supernatural good, to live in some way in the next world already, not that they were opposed to or believed that procreation as something lesser, they simply choose another way to live out their lives.

How then does the Catholic Church explain these brothers and sisters of Jesus, as well as explaining another seemingly problematic passage where it states, “Joseph did not know Mary until after Jesus was born?”

The Church has interpreted two possibilities as to the so called brothers and sisters of Jesus.  The first is that these brothers and sisters are really cousins or extended family members, possibly even aunts and uncles.  Recall that Abraham does not refer to his nephew Lot as his nephew but as his brother or as his kin.  The word for brother was very loosely used to refer to extended family, which makes it a good possibility the Gospel authors were referring to Jesus’ brothers and sisters as extended family.  The second possibility is that these were Jesus’ step brothers and sisters.  Some believe that since Joseph was much older than Mary he may have been a widower and Mary was his second wife.  There is no clear and substantial evidence to that opinion, but it is a possibility as we find written in the apocryphal work of the Protoevangelium of James (one of the books that did not make it into our Canon of Scripture).  Some may not like this conclusion, that Joseph may not have always been a virgin, but his prior marriage, which ended through death of his wife, would have no bearing on his relationship with Mary and how the holy family lived.

Finally that last passage of Joseph not knowing Mary until after Jesus was born does not tell us that Joseph and Mary did not remain chaste or that they had other children, “Similar analysis can be used to dispel the inference drawn from Matthew 1:18, 25 that Joseph and Mary had relations after the birth of Jesus. (In these passages, reference is made to the time “before [Joseph and Mary] lived together” and to Joseph and Mary’s not having relations “until she bore a son.”) These passages merely assert that up to a definite point in time the marriage was not consummated, but does not speak to the issue of consummation after Jesus’ birth. St. Jerome cites many scriptural passages to support this thesis, including Isaiah 46:4; Matthew 28:20; 1 Corinthians 15:23-26; Psalms 122:2; Psalms 118:123; Genesis 35:4; Deuteronomy 34:5-6; Genesis 8:7; 2 Samuel 6:23.” (see for full article concerning Mary’s perpetual virginity http://www.cuf.org/faithfacts/details_view.asp?ffID=102) 

I pray this small lesson in apologetics helped clear the air a little and shed some light on our Blessed Mother’s Perpetual Virginity.  Mary, Queen of Virgins, Pray for us. 

Fr. John

picture from http://precioustreasures.com.au/blog/?p=53

The Healthcare Mandate: Liberty, Rights, Justice, and Morality

It has been a number of days since the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the HealthCare Mandate.  Many were surprised by the outcome, especially in Chief Justice John Roberts’ decision to uphold the mandate and also being the swing vote in what caught many by surprise.  Many assumed that Chief Justice Roberts being one of the conservatives, appointed by a Republican president, would not uphold the mandate. 

Chief Justice Roberts reasoning was that the mandate was a tax and that the Federal Government has the right to tax.  I am not a constitutional lawyer or an expert in the health care field.  I trust there are many more able individuals than I who can offer their expertise and rebuttals against those Justices who upheld the mandate and to comment on whether or not the mandate is beneficial or harmful, in regards to its political framework.

I never thought once that the Church was against the mandate in regards to there being some type of benefit for all, especially the poor.  All can agree, something needs to be done with the health care system in the United States.  It is not the position of a cleric to denounce or advocate political positions, though sometimes we all do (even us priests), there is no helping it, we are political animals, all of us have it in our very blood.  Anyway, the Church leaves the political nature of a bill, mandate, law, to the body politic, i.e. law makers and those they represent.  The Church advocates or denounces law only when it violates natural human rights, is harmful, or keeps the poor down trodden.  The Church’s concern and objection to the Health Care Mandate rested in the Mandates’ definition of Church.  It understands Church only as the worship building, viz. the building with the Cross and Steeple.  Hence, all the employees within the “Church” will be exempt from carrying healthcare that provides for abortion and contraceptive use.

The problem now rests in the dilemma we have with other Catholic institutions that do not fit this very narrow definition of Church, e.g. Catholic Universities, such as The Catholic University of America, Notre Dame, St. Jospeh’s, etc. as well as all Catholic Hospitals.  All of these employees will carry insurance that pays for contraceptive use and the coverage for abortions.  The Catholic Church cannot accept this since our very definition of Church extends to all our institutions, i.e. there are chapels in these hospitals and universities, they also have priests and religious who staff them, they live out a particular charism either that of the Universal Church or the religious community to which they are affiliated and or founded by.

Granted if the mandate would have been banned then the argument or point is moot.  I am sure that is what many in the Church hoped for.  There are also “civil liberty issues” at stake, because from some folks point of view they ask the following questions, i.e. why can’t I buy the insurance I want, if I own an insurance company why can’t I offer the insurance I want, are we not a capitalist society where we allow for free markets and competition between sellers/owners/consumers?  The Supreme Court did not think so and has upheld the mandate as a tax issue.  

What does this mean for Catholics in the United States?  Well, the issue is not over, a new administration may repeal it if successful.  However, if people in Washington will repeal it then they have to offer an alternative, for as I said before, something needs to be done with our health care and President Obama was right in putting the wheels in motion towards that end, though I disagree with him in the definition of Church and his personal opinion regarding abortion and marriage.  The other option is that the current law suits by the Church's institutions against this administration gain victory, on the grounds that the administration’s definition of Church is faulty, then no Catholic institution will be required to offer benefits that have abortion and contraceptives paid for by the insurance companies.  That will be a victory.  Though I personally believe and hope that no insurance company will pay for abortions or contraceptives since the use of such means are immoral.

In regards to the “civil liberties” questions concerning the mandate and the nature of politics, e.g. is the thing capitalist or socialist by nature I leave to you to reflect on.  The job of the priest is to speak on the moral nature of the subject.  If the law is unjust, as in this case it is on the following grounds, it offers to pay for the destruction of human life and it pays for the un-natural participation with contraceptives.  The law “COULD” also be unjust if it disproportionately taxes its citizens.   Though one must understand that if “we” do something so that every American is covered then we all have to chip in, the question and challenge is how do we do that without raising our taxes too high and still provide people with decent insurance?  That’s why we have smart democrats, republicans, and independents whom we have put in office, most of whom went to Ivy League Schools, are well off themselves, have many successful business friends, if they only put their minds to it without worrying about being reelected then just maybe they might actually get it right!  AMEN!

Picture is from the movie “A Man For All Seasons”, the scene is that of King Henry VIII pressuring St. Thomas More to accept Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Spain and to marry Ann Boleyn, as well as revealing beginning hints of Henry taking on the Supremacy of the Church in England.  As you know, More did not budge on grounds of conscience in both matters, something all of our politicians need to reflect on when making decisions, for they are the King’s good servant, but God’s First.

FJ