Reading I Responsorial Psalm GospelPosted on 10/28/2003 7:00:42 AM PST by Salvation
Reading I Responsorial Psalm GospelReading I
Eph 2:19-22
Brothers and sisters:
You are no longer strangers and sojourners,
but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones
and members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.
Through him the whole structure is held together
and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;
in him you also are being built together
into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 19:2-3, 4-5
R (5a) Their message goes out through all the earth.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day,
and night to night imparts knowledge.
R Their message goes out through all the earth.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
R Their message goes out through all the earth.
Gospel
Lk 6:12-16
Jesus went up to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew,
Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
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--
St. BernardWho Is Saint Jude Thaddeus?, St. Simon, Surnamed the Zealot, Apostle
| Tuesday, October 28, 2003 Meditation Ephesians 2:19-22 Sts. Simon and Jude
Have you ever admired and believed in a family member so deeply that you were willing to devote your life to their cause? Many people find it hard to rise above old family rivalries in this way, but this is exactly what St. Jude succeeded in doing. Scripture describes him as a “brother,” that is, a near relative of the Lord. Unlike the members of Jesus’ extended family who at one point thought he was mad, it seems that Jude humbly accepted Jesus first as his Rabbi and eventually as his Lord. So little do we know about this apostle, who is usually paired with Simon and whose name appears just before Judas, that we aren’t really sure of his name. Matthew and Mark don’t even list a “Jude” among the apostles—scholars believe that “Thaddeus” was another name for him.
After the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples on Pentecost, tradition says that Jude traveled to Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), where he contended with sorcerers and magicians to preach the good news of the gospel, and finally was martyred by being clubbed to death. At some point, and for unknown reasons, people began seeking his intercession in matters that seemed hopeless.
The disciple who shares Jude’s feastday is also largely a mystery. “Simon”—not Simon Peter—is described as both “Simon the Canaanite” and “Simon who was called the Zealot.” The Zealots provoked a failed revolt against Roman rule in a.d. 66-70. Were they also active thirty years earlier, during Jesus’ lifetime? Or did the word “Zealot” mean that Simon was on fire with zeal for the gospel? We don’t know. Tradition tells us that, after preaching in Egypt, Simon joined Jude in Persia and was martyred with him.
All Christians today trace our faith back to those first disciples who were willing to leave everything familiar to share the good news with strangers. Today’s feast reminds us to pray for modern-day apostles who leave home and family and risk their lives to bring the love of Jesus to those still waiting to hear about him.
“Lord Jesus Christ, may those who leave home and family and risk all for the gospel be supported by your Spirit in the difficult task of bringing your good news to an often hostile world.” |
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Title: A Cloud of Witnesses! Author: Mark Shea Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.
The great thing about the "cloud of witnesses" Hebrews mentions here is that they are not schleps who are sitting in the stadium, lazily cheering for the team while they swill beer and wolf pretzels. They are the Team. Every one of the witnesses in the cloud has been down on the field where you are now. Everyone is a champion. That's why they are cheering. They know you can run the race of holiness in the Spirit because they did it themselves. Today, ask the heavenly witnesses, the saints of Jesus, to help you with their prayers and to join you in giving praise and glory to God, our heavenly Father.
Belief in God 10/28/03
Dear Grace, It never ceases to amaze me when I witness the way that some Christians live out their lives. They claim to believe in God and to love him, but the way they live does not seem to show it. I don’t mean to ask this in a critical way, but isn’t believing in God supposed to mean something?
Yes indeed, it is supposed to mean something. Unfortunately, words often come easier than actions. Saying “I believe in God” is one thing, but backing those words up with our actions can be quite another matter for some. If we stopped to think about it, however, we would realize that if all people who claim to believe in God fully grasped and understood what this should mean, the world would be a different place.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “believing in God, the only One, and loving Him with all our being has enormous consequences for our whole life” (CCC #222-227). “What kinds of consequences?” you might ask.
It means coming to know God’s greatness and majesty. Do we truly recognize God for who He is — the Almighty, the Incomprehensible, the Creator of all, the Lord and Giver of Life? How often do we take the time to gaze in awe at the wonders of creation and think of God? When we watch the sun rise, look at a magnificent mountain range, hold a precious newborn baby — all of these things should cause us to pause and stand in amazement at God’s greatness. He can do anything! All of creation is His. And yes, we belong to Him, but He loves us so much.
It means living in thanksgiving. Someone once said that “a life lived in faith is a life lived in gratitude.” How it would change our lives if every day we thanked God for all that we have. But, you see, many of us take so much in our lives for granted. Do we wake up every morning, for example, and say, “Thank you, Lord, for another day — another opportunity to show you and others in this world how much I love you”? Sadly, we fail sometimes to realize that we would have none of what we have if He did not wish that we should have it. Often, we spend too much of our life wanting more or that which we do not have instead of appreciating what we do have.
It means knowing the unity and true dignity of all men. If we say that we believe in God and that He is our Father, then we must believe that we are all brothers and sisters in the Lord. And this includes not only those we love and who love us, but also those whom we may not feel love for, or who do not seem to love us. This can at times present quite a challenge. We might say, “Some people are just not easy to love.” But do you know why? It is because we fail to see Christ in them. That’s why. It is said that the secret of Mother Teresa’s holiness was due to her ability to see Jesus in the faces of the poor, sick, and dying that she ministered to everyday. Just think about that for a moment. It is the reality of how things are — every human person is made in the image and likeness of God and therefore has dignity and is worthy of our love and attention.
It means making good use of created things. God, who is goodness itself, creates everything good. We, then, who proclaim to believe in God, are called to make good use of everything that He has created. And this includes other persons, the environment, and even ourselves. It is an injustice towards the love of God to abuse in any way that which He has created. The use of illegal drugs, sexual or physical abuse of another person, and even the mutilation or neglect of our own bodies are only some of the ways that we misuse God’s creation.
It means trusting God in every circumstance, even in adversity. This is another very tall order for us. Look at what happens so often when we have a problem or crisis in our life. We think that we have to worry ourselves sick about it. In doing this, we are essentially saying to God, “I do not trust that you can handle this, Lord, so I must worry about it until I can resolve it.” Do we think that God cannot come up with whatever it might be that we need? God can bring the solution from places that we never dreamed possible. And even though He wants us to use our intellect, wisdom, and knowledge in working out our problems, He wants first to know that we have faith and trust in Him, knowing that He can provide for all our needs.
But how can we do all this? It takes practice! We have all heard the saying that “practice makes perfect.” We must make sure that when we say “I believe in God” it truly means something in our lives. Then, people in the world will point and say, “There is a Believer.”
© Copyright 2003 Grace D. MacKinnon
Battle Plan for Your Family: How to Read Familiaris Consortio — Part Two 10/28/03
To counter the modern perversion of the human person, Familiaris Consortio confronts the dualistic tendency of our age by "going back to the beginning" and grounding our thinking in the original creative act. The anthropology the pope develops protects the essential dignity of the body and the human person.
In This Article...
Body-Persons
Male and Female
Family — The Ecclesial Community
Body-Persons
[Editor's Note: This is the second of a two-part series. Part One]
He writes: "In this way sexuality is respected and promoted in its truly and fully human dimension and is never 'used' as an 'object' that, by breaking the personal unity of soul and body, strikes at God's creation itself at the level of the deepest interaction of nature and person."
At issue is the value of the human body and its actions. Precisely because they have transcendent meaning, neither our gender nor our sexual relationships are without consequence. "Sexuality...is by no means something purely biological, but concerns the innermost being of the human person as such."
This is diametrically opposed to secularism's valuation of the human person and his actions. Love worthy of its name must involve the totality of the person. As Familiaris Consortio states, "Conjugal love involves a totality.... It aims at a deeply personal unity, the unity that, beyond union of one flesh, leads to forming one heart and soul; it demands indissolubility and faithfulness in definitive mutual giving; and it is open to fertility."
The nature of love, the nature of the human person, and the nature of marriage require the total engagement of our human nature and an openness to life. By reiterating these truths, Familiaris Consortio not only explicitly endorses Humanae Vitae, but also provides a cogent theological and psychological defense of it. John Paul II reminds us that the teachings of Humanae Vitae provide the way to engage our sexuality in a fully human manner. "When couples, by means of recourse to contraception, separate these two meanings that God the Creator has inscribed in the being of man and woman...they act as 'arbiters' of the divine plan and they 'manipulate' and degrade human sexuality-and with it themselves and their married partner-by altering its value of 'total' self-giving."
Sadly, it's precisely this cogent defense of the teaching of Humanae Vitae that makes Familiaris Consortio such a hard sell in a secular environment.
Male and Female
A second hard sell is the pope's rejection of modern reductionist ideas about gender. Society wants to force a sexless humanity (and the ubiquitous generic "person") upon us. In contrast, Familiaris Consortio develops the idea of incarnational reality — that is, the belief that the physical can be expressive of a spiritual reality and that these two realities are intrinsically bound to each other. In particular, the body can never be separated from the person. The body itself is expressive of the person and bodily acts affect the person at the most profound level of his being. Secularism's rejection of this connection has left many wounded in their bodies and in their souls. "As an incarnate spirit, that is a soul which expresses itself in a body and a body informed by an immortal spirit, man is called to love in his unified totality. Love includes the human body, and the body is made a sharer in spiritual love."
Fundamental to created human nature is gender; maleness and femaleness are not arbitrary but essential to identity. Any reductionism on this point perverts our conception of the person. As Eric Mascal wrote in Man, Woman, and Priesthood (1978): "We have come to look upon sex in far too superficial a way, as if there were a kind of undifferentiated human nature.... Humanity is, so to speak, essentially binary; it exists only in the two modes of masculinity and femininity, and we can only understand it by studying them."
This leads the pope to encourage the genuine advancement of both men and women, but never in a reductionist manner. A proper anthropology allows for, values, and protects the similarity and distinctiveness of each gender. He writes, "In creating the human race 'male and female,' God gives man and woman an equal personal dignity, endowing them with the inalienable rights and responsibilities proper to the human person." But this never collapses into a homogenous interchangeability. Only by respecting the uniqueness and irreducibility of maleness and femaleness can we secure the positive and rich dynamic that is at the heart of gender. "All of this does not mean for women a renunciation of their femininity or an imitation of the male role, but the fullness of true feminine humanity which should be expressed in their activity" (emphasis added).
This is the great disease of the modern world: the rejection of the truly feminine. An adequate anthropology would prevent this. Similarly, the nature of maleness is unique, and the pope hints at what this means: "In revealing and in reliving on earth the very fatherhood of God, a man is called upon to ensure the harmonious and united development of all the members of the family" (emphasis added). To lose the language of differentiation is to lose the language of love. Familiaris Consortio reveals that sexuality and acts proper to it are never only biological but are revelatory of both the human person and God's relationship with man: "Sexuality...concerns the innermost being of the human person as such.... Their bond of love becomes the image and the symbol of the covenant which unites God and his people." To nullify the value of the human body and its gendered specificity is not only to reject reality but also to diminish the way in which God's salvific will is communicated to us. Screwtape himself could not have found a better means of attack.
Family — The Ecclesial Community
The attack isn't only on the individual but on the context that brings the individual into integrated wholeness; it's an attack on the family, which is the most basic and essential of human communities. The family must figure prominently in any authentic anthropology because man is never an isolated individual. As the pope states: "The future of humanity passes by way of the family." The attack against the family logically proceeds from modernity's embrace of radical individualism, which pits the individual against any communitarian dimension of the person. Familiaris Consortio overcomes these destructive forces by discovering the original purpose and structure of the family. It urges "the rediscovery of the ecclesial mission proper to the family."
Just as the incarnate soul can discover its purpose and meaning only in its relationship to God, so the communitarian aspect of man, embodied in the family, is only intelligible by its relationship to God's will. "The family finds in the plan of God the Creator and Redeemer not only its identity, what it is, but also its mission.... Family become what you are. Accordingly, the family must go back to the 'beginning' of God's creative act, if it is to attain self-knowledge and self-realization in accordance with the inner truth not only of what it is but also of what it does in history" (emphasis added).
The modern attacks against the family will succeed if the transcendent nature of the family is not fully grasped. If the spiritual dimension of reality is rejected, and if, like the body, the family is merely instrumentalized, then it can and will be distorted and destroyed. But for Familiaris Consortio, this is a falsification of the nature of family. According to the pope, the true interior structure of the family is found in its relationship to the body of Christ, the Church. "The Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of the ecclesial communion, and for this reason too it can and should be called 'the domestic Church.' ...But it is through the Cross that the family can attain the fullness of its being and the perfection of its love."
The family cannot be understood as a social phenomenon subject to manipulation; to understand it thus is to distort its nature. The true purpose of the family lies in its relationship to the Cross and the salvation that was bought there. Indeed, "the Christian family is grafted into the mystery of the Church to such a degree as to become a sharer, in its own way, in the saving mission proper to the Church." Attacks against the person, whether in terms of the body, gender, or his corporate reality (in the family), are ultimately attacks on the divine plan.
We've been given a mission. Sadly, the secular mind (whether in society or in the Christian community) disregards it because it doesn't fit with the values of the age. The pope's insistence on the authentic value of the body, gender, and family as constituted by God is unacceptable to this mindset. That's why the first call in this apostolic exhortation is to conversion. Familiaris Consortio confronts us with one of the key spiritual struggles of modern times and asks what vision of reality will win out.
So, the question remains: Will we become what we truly are, families created to reflect and participate in the very love of God Himself? And will we love one another totally with a covenantal love, faithful until death, respectful of our fecundity, icons of Christ's own self-sacrificial love? A difficult mission indeed, but for the grace of God.
Joseph C. Atkinson is assistant professor of Sacred Scripture at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family in Washington, D.C. (This article originally appeared in CRISIS Magazine and is used by permission.)
Cheers for Bishops! 10/28/03
Two cheers for the bishops! On Sept. 10th, the American bishops' 47-member administrative committee issued a public statement in favor of the efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution to prohibit homosexual marriage.
The committee stated that it firmly opposes “any legislative and judicial attempts, at the state and federal levels, to grant same-sex unions the equivalent status and rights of marriage — by naming them marriage, civil unions or by other means.” No equivocation there.
The bishop’s statement is in line with the July 31 pronouncement from the Vatican, which held that there were “absolutely no grounds” for same-sex marriages and warned Catholic politicians that a vote to legalize them would be “gravely immoral.” Sister Mary Ann Walsh, a spokeswoman for the bishops, said the bishops support the laws in 37 states that “define marriage as between one man and one woman.” No equivocation there either.
Then why do I say only “two cheers” for the bishops? Well, the leaders of the country’s nine Orthodox Christian churches took the position that they “cannot and will not bless same-sex unions” on Aug. 27, almost two weeks before the Catholic bishops spoke out. The Southern Baptist Convention, passed a resolution “steadfastly” opposing efforts to legalize same-sex marriages back in June. My question: Why did the American bishops take so long? This may be unfair, but I can’t help it: The timing of their statement leaves me unsettled. Did they feel a need for the cover of the Protestant groups? Or, worse, were they shamed by the Protestant groups into taking a stand they would have preferred to avoid?
But let us not linger on that question. It is unlikely that we will ever know what motivated the bishops’ timing. There are more important matters at hand. As the political debate on this question moves forward, we are going to be hit with the familiar charge that Catholics who unite behind the Pope and the bishops on this issue are “mixing religion and politics,” thereby violating the First Amendment rights of those who do not share our religious beliefs. We cannot let ourselves get drawn into that thicket. It is a bogus charge.
First of all, the First Amendment does not prohibit us from shaping public policy on the basis of our religious beliefs. That is not what it was all about. Come on: No one questions the legitimacy of laws prohibiting murder, robbery and perjury, even though these behaviors are condemned in the Ten Commandments. (“Thou shalt not kill”; “Thou shalt not steal”; Thou shalt not bear false witness against they neighbor.”)
Moreover, those who scold Catholics for violating the separation of church and state in the debate over legal abortion and homosexual marriage, were singing the praises of Catholics whose religious convictions led them to join marches and demonstrations to advance the cause of civil rights and end the war in Vietnam. Catholics do not get criticized when they repeat passages from the social encyclicals to support poverty programs or labor union militancy; Cesar Chavez’s boycott against grape growers back in the 1960s comes to mind.
When Catholics quote biblical passages in taking a stand against American military intervention in places like Iraq and Nicaragua, they are not taken to task by those who get up in arms when we become activists on abortion and homosexual marriages. You don’t find many ACLU-types rushing to find a camera to reprimand Catholics who back the cause of women’s rights because of their religious convictions about the dignity of women. They think it fine if Catholics organize to save the redwoods and the whales out of respect for God’s creation. They think it fitting when Catholics pray the rosary outside a prison where a convict is about to be put to death. You get my point: Catholics get attacked for violating the separation of church and state only when we take positions that conflict with the views of the leftists in the media and the academy. No hyperbole. That’s how the game is played.
Then what does the First Amendment prohibit? It prohibits the “establishment of religion,” that is the creation of an official church for the United States, just as the Anglican church was (and still is, in a technical sense) the established church in Great Britain, or the Lutheran church was in parts of the old Holy Roman Empire, or Catholicism was in Spain. The American Founding Fathers wanted to cut off at the pass the kind of religious wars that plagued Europe in the 17th century.
The clearest way to think of this question is to focus on the word “sectarian.” The First Amendment prohibits laws that are sectarian. For example, Catholics are not permitted to write laws forcing Protestants to go to Confession or accept the teaching of the Immaculate Conception. Baptists are not to write laws forcing Catholics to go to the river for baptism by full immersion. Jews cannot write laws forcing the rest of us to observe their dietary laws or wear yarmulkes.
But members of all religious groups are entitled to bring their consciences with them when they enter the political arena. The First Amendment does not prohibit that. We are not disenfranchised because our values are rooted in the Bible and 2000 years of Western civilization, while “gay” activists and feminists, with moral convictions formed by reading the deconstructionists or listening to the Beatles’ pronouncements, are left free to pressure their representatives. The First Amendment does not permit us to use the force of law to coerce others into worshipping as we do. But it leaves us as free as secularists to make our voices heard on important questions about the way our society will be organized. Whether we should abandon our civilization’s time-honored understanding of the nature of marriage is one of those questions.
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