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June 30, 2007

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Shouldering the Load

On occasion I hear young or middle-aged folks complain that they missed out on some of the quaint practices of the Church before the Second Vatican Council. They will ask me, "What was this or that custom all about? Why did they do that? I find it interesting that they want to hear about those practices because at the time they really did not mean much to us. It was simply the way Catholics did things.

There is a humorous little pre-Vatican II anecdote that has floated around for years about one such custom. It concerned what we knew in those days as the Humeral Veil. The humeral veil is something like a shawl, although heavily embroidered; it is wrapped around the priest's shoulders and used when he carries the Blessed Sacrament in procession, or blesses the people with the sacrament. There is a moment in a service called Benediction when the priest kneels and the altar server drapes this veil from behind over both shoulders of the priest. On one occasion a server who was just a little guy and new at all this, forgot that the priest would kneel. So, he tried to reach up, and failing that, he took a boy's solution. He flung the veil through the air several times until it finally came to rest over the priest's head and he lost his glasses in the process. We're not told how it all turned out, but I suspect the priest simply took over and rearranged the veil the way it was meant to be worn. I hope the little kid did not lose his job over all that. He meant well and nobody explained how he should do all this.

So, the point is, we all need a sense of humor, but this story is also about prophets and we also need prophets.

The first reading for the liturgy of this Sunday is about prophets and about the cloak or the mantle draped by Elijah over the shoulders of the younger man, Elisha, as a symbol of transferring his vocation. The gospel is also about prophets because all the followers of Jesus have a prophetic vocation.

The question, of course, is what does all this mean? Well, if one consults a biblical dictionary, we find a one-sentence description: "A prophet is a person who serves as a channel of communication between the human and divine worlds."

Prophets, therefore, are people who have one foot on earth and the other in heaven, or rather that they are concerned with both worlds and about how they are connected. But ultimately, prophets are flesh and blood people, which means, of course, that also suffer occasion for their vocation and work.

So, who are these men and women of our day who have taken the prophetic shawl on their shoulders? First, let me say that prophets are not fortunetellers nor are they doom and gloom predictors. They are simply human beings who see life a little differently that most other folks, folks who seem to see deeply into the human condition and have the courage to speak out about it. They would naturally be concerned, then, about issues of justice and peace, about terrorism, about violence, about human communication.

Let me offer two very different examples of prophets: I can remember, for instance, in college reading two books by the French author Albert Camus: One, The Plague, the other, The Stranger. They were both concerned about the problem of evil in the world and what we should do about it. Camus was neither a Catholic nor even a Christian, but he had a deep sense that there was something wrong in the world that needed to be righted. So, Camus, to my mind, was a prophet, perhaps without realizing it.

I think too of a modern day prophet His name is Samuel Ruiz and before his retirement some years ago he was the bishop of Chiapas in southern Mexico, a diocese that covers 137,000 square miles and contains 1.5 million people. He has only 55 priests and some 100 native peasants who are permanent deacons. There are also some 7000 catechists. The people are poor: They make a living growing corn, beans, coffee, fruit and graze some cattle in the dry hill country. They are a peaceful people and desire nothing more than to be left to care for their families.

But the Mexican authorities have been at war with Samuel Ruiz and with the peasants there in Chiapas. Mexican soldiers have killed hundreds of peasants. Ruiz himself has been threatened with his life. His aged sister was accosted and beaten up by soldiers.

But throughout all this Bishop Ruiz has defended his people against state violence at the risk of his life. The people of Chiapas think of him as a saint (and he's not even dead yet!) They don't call him a prophet, but that is what he is. He defends his people against violence and terror, all without guns or bombs. But he would be embarrassed to be called a prophet. "I am simply living and working with my people," he says. "That's what a pastor does."

So, we are back to the mantle of responsibility, the mantle of prophecy we talked about earlier. Whether we like to believe it or not, we are all prophets by our baptism. Whether we like it or not, we are all expected to speak for God and witness to our faith, whether in the marketplace, in the world, in school and factory and office, at the mall on Wall Street or in the halls of government. Remember what a prophet does: He or she communicates between the human and the divine worlds. For each of us that will be done in unique ways. We all live different lives and are "mantled" with different responsibilities. But one thing for sure: Christ flings the mantle of Christian responsibility across all our shoulders. How we wear it makes all the difference.

The scriptures: 1 Kings 19: 16, 19-21, Galatians 5: 1, 13-18, Luke 9: 51-62

Posted by Julie Galligan at 12:39 PM.

June 23, 2007

The Birth of John the Baptist - Bothersome People

Of all the major personalities in the Sacred Scriptures that have fascinated me throughout the years (besides Jesus, of course), one stands out as a cultural icon and a religious misfit! John the Baptist!

The first question that may pass our mind is to ask, "Is this all he ever did? Was baptism his main calling? After all, he was not called, "John the Preacher," or John the Miracle Worker. He was a baptizer, period."

Every Advent season he appears in our Catholic liturgical calendar and, of course, we remember him not only for his baptizing, but also for what he wore and what he ate, namely, camel's hair and dried insects! That will tell you immediately that this was one tough guy!

Not only that, we remember him because he went around insulting at least some so-called upper-class people who imagined that they were religiously upright, telling them that they were a bunch of snakes hypocrites. Now, that takes a little "brass." I don't think I would have the "bad sense" to call my religious superiors "snakes," for whatever reason.

Nonetheless, John (which, of course, was his true first name) is better remembered for his title, "baptizer," because that, in part, is what he did, if not for a living, at least for a cause.

It should be pointed out, of course, that it was not simply a matter of pouring water or immersing some people in the Jordan River that John did. It was his message of repentance that accompanied the baptism that was his main cause. The baptism was only an external symbol of an interior disposition he was calling for.

However, some questions arise about the reasons why John decided to take on this rather peculiar life-style. What went wrong in his young adult life that made him so angry? He was, after all, the son of pious parents: His father, Zechariah was a priest at the temple. His mother was a devout Jewish woman. Even his birth was in some manner miraculous: His parents were advanced in age when he was conceived, say the gospels. What then could have made John so antisocial, so antireligious? Were his parents negligent in his upbringing?

I have no particular insight in all of this, of course, other than to say that he is an example of a justly angry man, indeed, so angry at society at large, religious and secular, that he was willing to risk losing his head over it, which, of course, he did!

What we are dealing with here, therefore, is an iconic prophet, a man who was not willing to admit that all manner of things in the world were going fine. On the contrary, to his mind, life was short and there was only so much time to put things back in order. In other words, he was an utterly serious person and not simply a "crank." He saw something wrong in the lives of the Jewish community that no one else seemed to be aware of and he was willing to talk about it.

Thus, we have the opportunity on this hot June Sunday to celebrate his birth in our liturgy and to think a little about prophets in general. We might like to believe that prophecy is not as frequent today as it was in biblical times. Nonetheless, prophets are present among us and there are still issues that they call forth for us to think about.

My sense is that prophets are important to every age of human society. A society without thinkers and critics is a society that is prone to propose simplistic answers to complicated questions. It is appropriate, therefore, that some individual or individuals should arise to call our attention to the misbegotten issues of our times.

Most of us, of course, might prefer to "live and let live." If something does not seem broken, why fix it?

The prophetic person, on the other hand, has the sense that some things in the world are, indeed, broken. There are always issues in the world that need fixing. It is the prophet who has the insight to call these to our attention. There are " broken issues" that affect us all, particularly the causes of the poor and the vulnerable of our society, those without advocacy. Prophets, therefore, are the ones who have the "brassiness" to speak out even before the rest of the community even sees the "broken issues" that affect us.

There is one characteristic that prophets also commonly seem to have: They think globally. They are cosmic thinkers. The entire human community is their concern.

So, under that definition, whom could we describe as prophets today? Realizing that there might be varying political sides on the following issues, I offer them, nonetheless, as worthy of prophetic consideration.

Scientists, for instance, who have been warning us for years of the dangers of global warming are, to my mind, prophets. It is only becoming clearer to us now, however, what destruction lies ahead of us unless we do something fast.

Scientists who warned the world. years ago about the AIDS epidemic that was sure to grow into a global problem are only now being considered as wise people who had the courage to speak out.

Pope John. Paul II warned the world about the danger of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. As we see now, he was a true prophet.

The bishops of the United States also spoke of the immorality of a preemptive military strike in Iraq. Given the chaos that has ensued in that country, they could well be considered prophets today.

So, there are issues that need critical attention, not simply by certain prophetic individuals, but by all of us. Perhaps the problem with the bulk of society is that we do not have the courage to speak out against problems that we know exist. Our sense is that our outcry may cause too much controversy. So, we would often rather let things go and solve themselves; not always a wise or helpful answer.

We may well be better off, therefore, for having prophetic folks among us. Although 1 admit that I myself do not always have the "prophetic stomach" for public criticism, I am happy to know that there are a few "crabby" individuals out there who are willing to disturb my peace and upbraid my lethargic conscience. I draw the line, however, at wearing camel's hair jackets and eating dried insects!

The scriptures: Isaiah 49:1-6, Acts 13:22-26, Luke 1:57-66,80

Posted by Julie Galligan at 12:26 PM.

June 16, 2007

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time - The Feminine Aspect of Ministry

I imagine most of us who go back a ways in our Catholic history and memories can recall visiting an "old time" parish rectory and being met at the door by the "housekeeper." Whether they were featured in Catholic films or novels of those days or simply remain in the recollection of ordinary Catholics, they always seem to be presented as the typical "hard-nosed" and officious combination of cook, executive secretary, director of traffic and general designate for the smooth working of the parish. It was generally understood that no one reached the monsignor's office unless she gave the "green light."

Those were the days, of course, when the business of the parish was conducted from a rectory that also served as the priests' residence. The aroma of freshly-baked bread or beef stew could often be noticed emanating from the kitchen. Obviously, these ladies were prime examples of what we today call "multi-taskers". They were skilled at many responsibilities and generally did an admirable job at fulfilling their pastoral and domestic responsibility. But, sadly, they were ordinarily just considered "the housekeeper."

For many people, however, the housekeeper would be their introduction to the world of the Catholic Church. Not a bad experience for the most part.

Unfortunately, however, they were more often appreciated for their efficiency and talent for control than for their feminine instincts and insights.

Much of all that has changed today, of course, many churches don't have rectories any more. Priests work in the pastoral center during business hours and then return to their homes or apartment at the end of the day. So, housekeepers, valuable as they once were, have pretty much disappeared.

Most of us who grew up in those times could never have imagined that at some point in our Catholic history women would play a different and more critical role in the Church. Indeed, without the support of women, our Church would literally collapse. For example, their gifts are spread throughout diocesan pastoral centers and parish offices. They are chancellors, pastoral administrators, pastoral leaders, executive secretaries, RCIA leaders, faith formation coordinators, youth ministers, parish nurses, grief and funeral liturgists, hospital chaplains, and spiritual directors. The list goes on.
In the so-called "old days", of course, many of those tasks and ministries were carried out by priests or nuns.

Given the diminishing number of clerical and religious vocations today, however, lay women have found a rightful place in their ministry to the people of God. We are all the richer for it.

Doubtless, women's roles in the Church will continue to grow as time goes on. It is difficult to understand how the Church has even managed to carry on its work throughout history without their gifts and talents. Alas, historically half of the Catholic human race has not been represented in God's kingdom.

I offer these remarks because the gospel for this Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary time contains some remarkable insights into the way Jesus thought of women and how they related to his ministry of preaching the kingdom of God. The gospel opens with a narrative describing Jesus' presence at a dinner at a Pharisee's home. A woman, of doubtful reputation or social standing comes in. She is in tears. She shows her love and desire for forgiveness by washing Jesus' feet and anointing them with precious oil. The men guests are aghast, insulted. Rabbis did not ordinarily allow their feet to be anointed by women, whatever their background or reputation.

Jesus, of course, could not let that situation pass. He does not get into an argument with the men; he simply tells a story of forgiveness that no reasonable and compassionate person could disagree with. It was a pretty brave action on Jesus' part, given the power of men in those times and the position of rabbis as well. Most rabbis would doubtless have thrown the woman out of the house, indeed, she would probably not have been allowed inside.

All this tells us something about Jesus' character: First, the male-female separation of the species in those days did not concern him. What astonished him was the woman's courage to come right into that enclave of men and anoint his feet. He could not let the incident pass without making some appropriate remarks not only about forgiveness, but especially about courtesy, good manners. This is a great example of Jesus' respect for the human person and his disregard for social customs that demeaned the character of women.

There are also several more lines in this gospel that tell us something about the general place of women in Jesus' ministry. A number who had been healed of various illnesses are named: Mary of Magdala, who, by the way, was the one who would give the first sermon after Jesus' resurrection, five words: "I have seen the Lord." Shortest sermon in Christian history! Then are listed Joanna, Susanna "and many others."

All that tells us that Jesus' ministry consisted not only of men, The Twelve, for instance, and The Seventy Two, but of many women as well. What did they do? We don't know. Perhaps some, like Mary Magdalene, preached or others "assisted him out of their means." I imagine even Jesus' ministry needed financial support in those days.

The more important point, of course, is that women in Jesus' time were assumed to be a natural part of his ministry, traveling the roads with him, assisting with their gifts in whatever way they wished. It must have been a great scene to see that variety of folks, women and men, coming into villages talking about that mysterious thing called The Kingdom of God.

Well, obviously, lots of centuries have passed since that moment in history and in the meantime women have had to struggle to maintain their rightful place in the Church. I am personally happy that I have had the privilege to live in an age and time when women and their unique gifts have once again enriched our world and our Church. Jesus, obviously, started something big. We are living with the happy results of all that even to this day.

The scriptures: 2 Samuel 12: 7-10, 13, Galatians 2:16, 19-21, Luke 7:36-8.3

Posted by Julie Galligan at 10:22 AM.

June 09, 2007

Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ - Dining As Transcendence

I have found over the years that restaurants, in addition to being places of fine dining, can also be the setting for various human experiences. If you can take your mind off your salad for a moment, look around and envision the lives of the folks who are eating with you. Imagine what brought them there. Was it some special occasion, an engagement dinner, for instance, a birthday, a jubilee anniversary? Whatever it might be, and if you take the occasion just to watch them (when they are not watching you) you can learn something about human behavior, about what is going on while something else is happening.

Think, for instance, of the young couple that is sitting at table, smiling, holding hands and toasting each other with a glass of Merlot. You can tell immediately that they are at that table not simply for the food and drink, but to celebrate some intimate occasion, perhaps an engagement or a first wedding anniversary. No matter what the reason for their coming, the food, drink, music are only the setting for something personal, something more important.

I simply wanted to cite that example as a way of pointing out that one of the most important and frequent actions that we do, namely, eating, carries with it deep meaning. To eat is one thing, but to dine with someone is something completely different. In its best sense, eating can be a moment of transcendence, an exposure to mystery.

It is not often mentioned in scripture commentaries, but meals were very important to Jesus. Luke's gospel, for instance, has Jesus often going to a meal, coming from a meal or being at a meal with a variety of people. Obviously, this was not simply "freeloading" on Jesus' part because each time Jesus did dine with others there were other matters happening, particularly discussions of secular or religious matters. Moreover, simply sitting at table with certain groups of people was itself a sign of something, particularly when folks of certain social classes joined Jesus at table. The fact that Jesus did sit at table with social outcasts already tells you that he was making this meal a moment to comment on social justice issues.

The point is that Jesus did all this while eating because eating is a moment when we are facing each other and doing more than eating. We are discussing the issues that concern us deeply.

I am talking about all this, my friends, because we are gathered here today at a meal, as we do each Lord's Day. We are celebrating the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. What are we doing as we come here together, not only on the occasion of this feast, but each Sunday? First of all, we come to be nourished, we hear Jesus say to his friends: "Take this bread and eat it. Take this cup and drink from it. Do it all to remember me. So, this is a nourishment meal, food for the spirit.

Secondly, it is a feast that gives us the opportunity to stand in awe over the mystery of it all. We call it adoration, but we need to remember that there would be no opportunity for adoration if we did not have, first of all, the celebration of the Supper

But beyond all that, we also come here to get some sense that we are bonded to millions of other Catholics around the world, all who are doing exactly what we are doing. In other words, we become part of the world Church when we come to this table.

But there are also some other things that flow from the celebration of the Eucharist beyond adoration, many centuries ago, St. Augustine, the bishop of Hippo in North Africa, gave a sermon to his folks about Eucharist and here in part is what he said: "Remember, you are the body of Christ and its members. If, then, you are the body of Christ and its members, it is your own mystery that you celebrate, your own mystery that is placed on the Lord's table. It is to what you are that you answer “amen.” Therefore, be a member of the body of Christ so that your amen will be true.

I think that is all very interesting because Augustine says, "you become what you receive." In receiving the Body of Christ, we become the Body of Christ. What that says to me is that receiving the Body of Christ is not a private action, not some grace meant for me privately. It is food for the entire Christian world, all of us together. In eating together, we become family.

Finally, there is a quotation I can remember from my seminary theology days that seems appropriate here. It goes like this: The Church makes the Eucharist and the Eucharist makes the Church. In other words, in the bread and wine we bring Christ to the table and in turn Christ bonds us into his Body. This is all a great mystery and I'm not sure I understand it all, but I am willing, as you also are to do it all in Jesus' memory and that's enough.

The scriptures Genesis 14: 18-20, 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26, Luke 9: 11b - 17

Posted by Julie Galligan at 10:09 AM.

June 02, 2007

Most Holy Trinity - Beyond Words

Trinity Sunday is one of those Sundays of the liturgical year when any of you who are listening to this homily could as easily have given it yourself. Truly, I do not have any deeper insight into the mystery of God than you do. It is not something one learns in theology courses. Mysteries are not learned they are experienced. So, here I go once again brashly venturing into the Mystery of God imagining that I am saying the last word about it.

I must confess that as I approach the preparation of the homily for this Sunday each year, I do so with fear and trembling. Before I turn on the word processor, I stop and say a prayer that the Lord will spare me from heresy. (The professional word is "heterodoxy", saying something contrary to the faith.)

A theologian I once read complained that more heresies are preached on the Solemnity of the Trinity than on all other Sundays of the liturgical year combined. I find that statement a bit excessive because most preachers and theologians struggle to find words, examples and metaphors that will do justice to God, but alas, we sometimes fail in the process. So, I pray that at least I shall not draw the God of Mystery down to the level of senseless metaphors. I always hope that I shall leave enough room for the minds of my listeners to experience their God in the way God invites them. After all, each individual’s sense of God is unique, secret, sacred, unexplainable and even incommunicable!

Perhaps the best a homilist can do is simply to stand before his brothers and sisters in all humility and share his thoughts, hoping that they will be wise and humble.

Nonetheless, a word must be spoken. That is the task of the homilist. With that in mind I make no pretense of proclaiming any new doctrines, but simply saying how God appears to me.

Perhaps the best way to approach any exploration into God is to repeat over and over again those lovely lines from Godspell, that beautiful Broadway musical of the 70's lines which were originally written by bishop Richard of Chichester, England who lived from 1197 to 1253. "Oh most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, three things I pray: To see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly; follow thee more nearly, day by day." The musical sounds that accompany those words still run through my mind to this very day.

What that good bishop was trying to do with those lines was to say: "I don't know who or what God is, but I imagine God as someone whom I could see, love and follow. In other words, he speaks from the heart rather than from the Intellect. I think he could pray to a God of that description. I could also do that.

There is always something to be said, of course, about theological discourse, about a word about God. That is what the word theology means, "A word about God." People have been trying to utter a word about God since humans first learned to speak words. The reason for that is because the concept of God overwhelms most people. They cannot leave it alone. Their life depends upon it. There would be no point in living if one could not imagine that God were part of one's living.

Great scholars and many other reflective people have devoted their entire lives to thinking and writing about God. The question, of course, is whether we know any more about God after our thinking than we did before. The inner being of God will continue to be a mystery to us. That, after all, is the definition of God.

What we a left with then is to come up with human words that we believe will describe God for ourselves. Words are ultimately all we have to work with, words and thoughts. Words are what we do best; words describe our human, insight and intelligence. If then we can say something that we think is respectful of God, perhaps that is about as close as we can come.

A theologian I once read said that all God-talk is analogy, analogies and metaphors. People are crafters of words, but when one deals with mystery, you are also at a loss for words.

So, we are left doing what our Hebrew ancestors have done so well throughout history. Realizing that one cannot define God, they chose human phrases that they thought best described God: Rock of our salvation; Defender of the poor and the oppressed, Strong Arm, Outstretched Hand, the One who wipes tears away, Lion of Judah, King of all creation, Shepherd of Israel and many more.

Obviously, the author, the poet who penned those words did not assume that God was King and Rock and Shepherd. He just assumed that this must be the way God deals with God's people. Once again, they are analogies or metaphors that come about as close as you can to mystery.

My hunch is that the best kind of theology, the best kind of God-talk is the way we pray. If you pray the way I do, you probably have your own words and thoughts to satisfy your yearning to be in touch with God. Do they describe the inner being of God? Probably not, but that's ok. If we are going to talk to someone, we obviously need words that communicate. Perhaps the fact that we can even come up with some words that describe what is sacred to us, is the best we can do.

If you think that your prayer words are not very adequate in talking to or about God, think of Saint Thomas Aquinas. He is considered the deepest theological thinker in all of Catholic history. He wrote stacks of books about God. But the story has it that when he completed the Summa Theologica, his most prestigious and definitive theological work, he admitted that it was nothing more than straw, straw for burning. That was a great and humble admission of his human effort to write and speak about mystery.

So, if Saint Thomas felt that way, perhaps the rest of us are not lost in our efforts to say words about and to God. As long as we humbly trust our best instincts and intuitions about what is sacred to us, we will not fall into heresy. God is big enough to embrace everything we say about God. So, let us not be embarrassed to speak to God as Redeemer, Friend and Brother. God must surely know how we struggle to say something respectful to Him. If God wanted something more from us, I'm sure he would let us know. In the meantime, let's just keep doing what we have been doing. Pray and words will come.

The scriptures: Proverbs 8: 22-31, Romans 5: 1-5, John 16: 12-15

Posted by Julie Galligan at 09:57 AM.