Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Acting or watching

Jansenism is a heresy in the Church that - forgive my oversimplification - would make Calvinists of us. Jansenism professed that one could not receive the Eucharist without receiving the sacrament of penance first. Today's youth are a bit more sophisticated about it for they know not to receive the Eucharist if in mortal sin but the heresy seems to have redefined itself by convincing many young people that nearly every sin they commit is a mortal sin.

Jansenism's effect was to make reception of the Eucharist a once or twice a year event. It has only been since the early 20th century, when Pope St. Pius X, decreed frequent, daily communion the norm that we have known such a practice. I suppose Jansenism isn't all to blame. The practice of receiving communion infrequently dates from the early Middle Ages. Jansenism just codified it.

Eucharistic adoration has regained its popularity and rightly so. But occasionally there are signs that adoration may even be preferred to reception. Some young people will deem themselves unworthy of the Eucharist - not always because of sinfulness - and will spend long periods of time in adoration but will not receive during Mass. This is a particular problem for the scrupulous but scrupulosity isn't always the culprit.

Moreover, one has to wonder about the theological training and understanding of the young. Chapel visits seem not to be popular unless the Blessed Sacrament is exposed. And yet Jesus is just as present in the tabernacle as He is in the monstrance. Is our respect for the tabernacle to be lessened?

Every age seems to develop its own sacramental aberrations. The return of Eucharistic adoration has had a tremendous impact on the incipient faith of the young. But the Eucharist was not just made to be seen. One former theology professor is known to have exclaimed, "Jesus didn't say 'Take and look!' He said 'Take and eat!' " The lesson here is that reception of the Eucharist is an action that moves us to live our faith and not only savor the flavor.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Whose prayer is heard?

There are two prayers stated in the Gospel today. We just heard both of them. One is prayed by the Pharisee:

            ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity – greedy, dishonest, adulterous – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’


The other prayer is prayed by the tax collector:

            ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’


Jesus tells us that the tax collector went home justified but the Pharisee did not. But Jesus does not stop there. He reminds us that if we exalt ourselves, we will be humbled, and that if we humble ourselves, we will be exalted.


What is wrong with the prayer of the Pharisee? What is right with the prayer of the tax collector?


The Pharisee recognizes that he keeps the commandments. He is not greedy. He is not dishonest. He is not adulterous. Moreover, he fasts twice weekly. He tithes generously to the Temple. Why is this prayer not acceptable? Are you and I not to rejoice that we keep the commandments? Ought we not give thanks to God when we are tempted to lie, but do not; tempted to steal, but do not; tempted to commit adultery, but do not?


The difference, of course, is the humility of the tax collector and the pride of the Pharisee. It is one thing to be grateful to God for being sinless. It is another to claim that I have it under control. Notice, by the way, that the Gospel tells us the Pharisee is speaking to himself.


Which of these two do we recognize in ourselves? The proud Pharisee or the humble tax collector?


Today’s first reading is from the Book of Sirach, one of the Wisdom books of the Old Testament. It is a book of wise sayings. This particular passage begins with the writer acknowledging that the Lord plays no favorites, that He is a God of justice. The prayer of the tax collector suggests that God is likewise a God of mercy.


Our God is not unduly partial to the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed. Among the oppressed in the time of the Old Testament was ‘the wail of the orphan’ and ‘the widow who pours out her complaint.’ Neither the orphan nor the widow had anyone to speak up for them in the time of Jesus. They had no resources of their own because their society did not acknowledge them any rights of any kind. Someone had to protect them. God is saying that he will.


In our own time, who lacks rights of any kind? Who has no one to speak up for them?


A powerful image in this first reading suggests ‘the prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds.’ This prayer does not rest until it reaches its goal. It does not withdraw until God responds, judges justly and affirms the right.


The Pharisee fails to recognize his own need for God. But then, he seems not to need God at all.

How unlike the second reading is to the prayer of the Pharisee. The Apostle Paul acknowledges his years of work preaching God’s message, the Gospel. He recognizes that his time is coming to an end. He is grateful to God for all the work of God he has been able to accomplish through Him. He does not write as if he accomplished it by himself.


The Pharisee never acknowledges his dependence on God. Paul knows he could not have been a successful preacher had not God been with him. The Pharisee compares himself only to other human beings and he does so claiming his own superiority. Paul says that some of his own friends deserted him, but God never did. Paul speaks of the crown of righteousness being awarded him. The Pharisee speaks of his own righteousness as if he is responsible for it. Paul’s words tell us that his reward comes because he has kept pace with God. The Pharisee has kept pace with his own wants. He thanks God because he sees himself as different and unlike other human beings. The tax collector is different yet he is more human than the Pharisee.


The prayer of the tax collector was taken by spiritual masters and reformulated as “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.” This has become known as the Jesus Prayer and it fits all occasions. When we know not what else to pray, this prayer ought to become our own. We can pray it at any time of the day. It is easy to learn. The ritual has been to breathe in when we say the words ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God’ and to breathe out when we say ‘have mercy on me a sinner.’ We breathe in the life of Christ and we exhale our sinfulness.


Who is our own mentor – the Pharisee or the tax collector?

Monday, October 14, 2013

Cafeteria Catholicism

Cafeteria Catholicism was a pejorative term used to describe Catholics who pick and choose what they want to believe in. Some years ago it was applied specifically by conservative-leaning Catholics who wanted to describe left-leaning Catholics. I haven't really heard the term used much these days but the concept still exists. But the shoe is on the other foot. Now it is being applied more frequently by left-leaning Catholics to descrzibe conservative-leaning ones.

It is curious the difference a pope can make.

There are many conservative writers and bloggers who seem to feel the need to try to explain just exactly what Pope Francis means when he speaks. They seem taken aback by his spontaneity, or seeming spontaneity. In the past liberal writers felt the need to apologize for what they felt were Pope John Paul's and Pope Benedict's statements and encyclicals and letters.

The truth is we are all cafeteria Catholics on some points or issues. We like some things the church teaches but not others.

Pope Francis seems to me to be putting into practice some of the spirit of what Paul John Paul and Pope Benedict said and wrote. Francis is turning their theology into ministry. What were philosophical constructs to them are ideals to be lived to Francis. It is not enough to put words on paper or float ideas in discussion. Sooner or later those ideas, thoughts, constructs, etc., must become actions. If you look seriously enough, you will find the actions of Francis mirrored in the ideas of the two previous pontiffs. Nevertheless, it disturbs us when an idea takes shape as human interaction.


Sunday, October 13, 2013

Of earth and gratitude

Naaman the Aramean bathes in the Jordan River at the behest of Elisha the prophet to cure Naaman's leprosy only after an argument and the pleading of Naaman's retinue. He is insulted by the proposal. There are far greater rivers in Aram. Why should he bother with the small stream known as the Jordan? Still he does. He is cured. And now he recognizes the God of Israel as his own.

Jesus heals ten lepers who appealed to his goodness and ministry. Ten lepers obey him by going their way only to recognize healing within themselves. One leper is so astonished that he returns to Jesus in gratitude. Where are the others, Jesus asks? The one who returned is a foreigner. There is a note of disappointment in Jesus as he realizes that none of his own returned to thank him.

Naaman the Aramean recognized more than just his own physical healing. Naaman recognized that he had encountered the God of Israel. So he asked Elisha the prophet for the privilege of removing two mule loads of earth to take with him back to Aram. He will now worship only the God of Israeli earth.

The leper who returned to Jesus likewise encountered God, this time God as seen in Jesus Christ. He too acknowledged not only that he was cured but that he had also encountered someone more powerful and greater than he. He met Christ and that changed his life.

In the sacrament of penance we focus so much on our sins and sinfulness that we forget the most important aspect of the sacrament. Ridding ourselves of sin is only the first step. Too often we fail to recognize that we meet Christ in the sacrament, in this encounter. Too often we fail to grasp the mercy and consolation that Jesus brings to us when we give over to him our sins. Mostly we are anxious about speaking the words to the confessor lest we become known. Yet Jesus wants to know us, to know our sins, so that he can forget them.

When her confessor refused to believe St. Margaret Mary Alacoque's visions promoting the Sacred Heart, he asked her to have Jesus reveal what he told his own confessor in his last confession as proof of her visions. St. Margaret Mary returned to her confessor and startled him by announcing that Jesus had forgotten his sins thus convincing the confessor that St. Margaret Mary was truthful.

There is a kind of aberration within us. We are anxious about revealing our sinfulness and yet there is a part of us that wants the world to know our sinfulness. We know this from the hundreds of self-revelations we witness on various kinds of television talk shows. We strive to entertain strangers with our defects.

The leper returned to Jesus and was grateful to him. This is the most important part of the story. It is our encounter with Jesus that takes priority and not the verbal laundry list of sins we present to him.



Friday, October 11, 2013

Back to the past with respect

Forty-eight years ago on October 11 the Indianapolis Times ceased publication. It was one of three daily newspapers in the city at that time and its demise marked the beginning of a downturn in newspaper publication here. My father spent 26 years at the paper first as a police reporter and ending it as assistant managing editor. In high school I worked part-time as a copy boy. A brother worked in the composing department for a time.

A third brother joined the two of us today and a couple dozen other folks for the unveiling of an historical marker on the site of the Times building torn down many years ago. There is now a green commons area surrounded by the Hyatt Regency hotel to the east and the Westin hotel to the west. The marker is located near the center of the commons, a bit outside the actual former site, but close nevertheless.

Several former Times employees were present for the ceremony. Dick Mittman was a sports writer. George Totten worked in the composing department. Kathleen Van Nuys reported society news. Donna Mikels Shea reported hard news. Carl Henn worked at the city desk and Gerry Lafollette was also a reporter. Jeff Smulyan, who now heads Emmis Communications, was perhaps the youngest former Times employee present. He was a copy boy in 1963 while in high school.

I was very touched to hear Gerry Lafollette speak of my father as the "Monet of makeup." My dad's principal job on the Times was composing the design of each day's front page. Donna Mikels Shea worked diligently to see that my dad was recognized in the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.

The employees fondly remembered the hard work each of them put in  particularly when such tragedies occurred as the explosion at the Coliseum in 1961 and the Kennedy assassination in 1963. Though none of them was around to be involved in it, the Times is also remembered for the Pulitzer prize it won in 1928 for its two-year coverage of the Ku Klux Klan which dominated the corrupt politics of Indiana during that decade.

The hour or so we spent at the event was sobering. It was good to step back and to recall what preceded our present life. The Times building was not particularly outstanding in appearance and, as I remember it, seemed a bit ancient and in need of an update. Its location at 214 W. Maryland St. was 
then not a particularly pleasant one. It was a bit out of the way in the downtown area. Now it is very much in a high profile neighborhood with the Indiana Convention Center directly across the street. The historical marker sits in the center of the commons and it is hoped that it will survive the vandalism and weathering that a former marker suffered after first being installed on the street sidewalk in 1979.

The former employees are all survivors of a business that doesn't really exist anymore and one that is now difficult to explain. These employees were all professionals who believed it was important to report the events of city, state, nation and world. Their subject was the world in which they lived. Unlike newspaper and broadcasting today, the subject was not themselves. The generosity of their lives and work made reporting the news worthwhile and responsible.






Sunday, October 6, 2013

Rewards points gone wild

There must have been three or four of us waiting in the checkout line at Walgreen's this afternoon, waiting for one of two cashiers to open up. One man at the first cashier had questions about a sale price on some cigarettes. A woman with the second cashier had many questions about the reward card points Walgreen's offers. She had accumulated something like 14,000 points and seemed to think the points would double or possibly even triple at some point. Perhaps she thought she would be earning air miles but she wasn't very clear. After a time, however, it became clear that she assumed the reward points automatically increased.

I suppose this expectation follows from all the gimmicks retailers and others offer to gain customers but it seems to be working against them. If children are paid to study, or for taking an exam, when will they begin to demand payment for going to school rather than paying tuition to be schooled. The American psyche seems to expect rewards for doing nothing.

An advertisement for Dish TV features a woman proclaiming that with Dish you get more of everything including more channels. Car commercials have long touted the incredible number of cars available on dealer lots and tried to convince us we should buy from them and not the dealer across the street who has fewer cars. We are used to having just about every kind of food available in grocery stores much to the amazement of foreigners who can be overwhelmed by the variety of food available.  i recall many years ago hearing an Irish woman flummoxed when trying to buy some milk only to discover she had to make sense of the differences between whole milk, 2%, 1%, skim, buttermilk, and perhaps other variations.

The disciples plead with Jesus to increase their faith in Luke's Gospel for the 27th Sunday. We want more, they seem to say, while Jesus reminds them how much they could do with only a mustard seed size faith. For an American Christian, that goes against everything we learn as loyal citizens. If faith is any good, it must be splattered all over our Sunday morning worship like a movie with a cast of thousands and a pea brain intelligence. Let us have a faith that does miracles and we will all become believers.

The point of the unprofitable servant is that he expects to be rewarded for what he is expected and obliged to do. How much we seem to marvel when someone does a good turn and asks nothing in return. How is it possible that such human beings exist? The missing virtue is, of course, humility and it is consistently denigrated by the icons of our pop culture as well as the captains of modern industry. The meek don't inherit the earth, they proclaim, they inherit the dirt.

Pope Francis this week said, "Without the Cross, without Jesus and without stripping ourselves of worldliness, we become pastry shop Christians… like nice sweet things but not real Christians.” The Christian cannot enter into the spirit of the world, which leads to vanity, arrogance and pride, he continued. And these lead to idolatry, which is the gravest sin. “Our Lord told us: We cannot serve two masters: either we serve money or we serve God.…We can’t cancel with one hand what we write with another,” he remarked. “The Gospel is the Gospel.”

Our worldliness and demands for rewards are infecting and destroying us.



Thursday, October 3, 2013

Unique and original

In our youth we reject the advice and direction of family so that we may be different and stand out from the crowd as unique in the entire universe. Then we quickly fall into a sameness with friends lest we seem unusual to the crowd with which we run. In the eighth grade corduroy was the acceptable fashion for boys of the late 1950s and for some months the corduroy pants and accompanying shirt had to be pink and black. It could be a pink shirt or black shirt and the pants had to be the alternate color. But when the fashion trend began each of us had to have some combination of those colors. Otherwise one was not accepted comfortably among one's classmates.

The 1961 musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying featured a scene in which a secretary sang about the most unusual and original dress she had bought that day for a date with a junior executive only to discover that several other secretaries had made the same purchase. What made her unique had suddenly turned her into a carbon copy.

Luke's Gospel for today commissions 72 disciples as missionaries to the surrounding towns Jesus wants visited. He offers specific instructions and is quite blunt in telling these disciples what to do and what not to do. Most important in his bluntness is the direction that the disciples are to shake the dust from their feet if the Gospel preached in a certain place is rejected. And Jesus states that there is a serious price to pay for such rejection. It will be easier for the sinners in Sodom than for those who reject Jesus.

We too are sent as missionaries to our nearest neighbors. Pope Francis has made that emphatic in many of his homilies. Many of us want to let well enough alone and not disturb the peace among those who do not believe as we do. We want to fit in and not be seen as different. We don't want to stand out in our beliefs lest we be politically incorrect or offensive. Our goals and objectives in life aren't much different from everyone else's.

But Jesus calls us to be missionaries of his Gospel. If we can water down that Gospel, we gladly follow and perhaps even preach. It is more difficult to speak of living a virtuous life or loving one's neighbor or bringing peace to the world or living unselfishly or seeking justice than it is to indulge our senses and passions for our own personal pleasures. It is also easier to issue broad condemnations of one another. The Gospel still calls, however, and Christians are called to preach it. Moreover, we are called to live it. 

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Meaning and language

The Theatre of the Absurd produced a host of plays in the mid-twentieth century that seemed to underscore the decline of meaningful communication in Western society. Among others, Eugene Ionesco created dialogue for The Bald Soprano based on phrases, idioms and small talk he learned while studying English. Edward Albee began The Zoo Story with a man sitting on a park bench being confronted by another man insisting "I've been to the zoo!" Some analyzed Western culture in general and the English language in particular as losing any sense of meaning and the only meaningful thing to be the meaninglessness of both language and culture.

Language is always changing. Purists would like to believe there are unchangeable rules that apply to language but a simple study of grammar reveals this fallacy especially in the changing meaning of words. One example of this is the common usage of the word "awesome". This word dates to the 17th century and originally meant "profoundly reverential."  Since the early 1960s the word has tended toward the meaning "impressive." It does not take much insight to see the difference. Some things that are impressive are not necessarily reverential.

The Apostles, early on in their ministry, argue among themselves who is the greatest.  Jesus takes the steam out of their discussion by pointing out the qualities of a child. Whoever is least in the kingdom is the greatest, somewhat like an innocent and naive child who knows no more than to openly offer himself or herself without qualification. The word "greatest" has no meaning in the eyes of Jesus, that is, no more meaning than doing God's will innocently and willingly.

Do my words to the Lord have meaning or am I just reading lines? Am I profoundly reverential before the Lord or just impressive? Who is greater? Me for trying to communicate with God? Or God who communicates with me?