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August 30, 2010

Twenty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time [September 5, 2010]

As often as read or hear of an account in these recent days of young Moslem men or women who strap about their body a deadly explosive device and decide to kill themselves along with many other innocent people, I say to myself, “what drives young men and women to do such a dastardly act? What is the so-called “sacred” vision that gives them the reason to walk into their own death? Truly, not many American young people can bring themselves to such an end. Is there something in the Arab psyche that impels them to kill others who have no evident quarrel with them, nor any animosity? Surely, there must be some so-called dedication that drives them to interpret the Koran in such a violent manner. Is it their religious devotion that drives them or is it some political or cultural motivation? I am at a loss to say. Indeed, I believe most Americans cannot understand the motivation behind such violent actions.

Unbelievable as it may sound, there seems to be some deep-set religious intent involved. The Moslem people are deeply religious; indeed, I would say that they are, as a whole, more religiously dedicated to their faith than many Christians. Think, for instance, of the arduous yearly trek across the desert to Mecca or some other sacred Moslem shrine. How many Christians are willing to fall on their knees 5 times each day and pray to their God as Moslems do? Not many, I suspect. Indeed, in this regard, Moslem people seem more dedicated religiously than Christians.

I simply meant to reflect on these thoughts because the gospel for this 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time speaks clearly of our ultimate Christian concern, our dedication to the call of our God.

Let us begin by saying that Jesus himself was a Jew, a Middle Eastern citizen. With that, then, he inherited from his Jewish ancestors a sense of dedication to the vision to which he felt God had called him. Remember the scene at his baptism in the Jordan when he heard God call him to a special and unique task in the world, namely to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God. It seems clear, therefore, that Jesus was dedicated to this vision until the last moments of his life on the cross. Without any doubt, Jesus was a driven person, more so even than the other young men of his time. The prophets of old and John the Baptist were his only match.

It is not so unlikely, therefore, that we should hear Jesus say what sounds to us like outrageous overstatement: “He who does not set aside (hate) his own mother and father, his family and even his own self is not worthy following me. Jesus’ listeners must have gasped and rolled their eyes at that.

Truly, however, Jesus really meant those words. The vision of the proclamation of the good news of God was more important to him even than the closest family ties. Obviously, these words sound extraordinarily harsh to us but Jesus wanted his disciples to know that his vision was enormously important to him, indeed, he considered the vision of the kingdom to be the means to eternal salvation.

So what could all this mean to the contemporary Christian or Catholic? First of all, giving up all, including family for the sake of our faith is a bit extreme. Only very dedicated Christians or those called to monastic life can bring themselves to follow this difficult way. Obviously, of course, we can all name saints who have given up their life in the world for their faith.

But for ordinary Christian, folks like you and me, it would seem that our call to holiness is to discover how our Christian life and our secular life intersect. If they are at odds with each other, something has gone wrong. We should be able to be responsible laypeople and dedicated Christians at the same time. It does not seem to me that Jesus is calling us to set aside (hate) our secular calling, our work, our pleasures, and our responsibilities in order to fulfill our Christian vocation. Indeed, the Christian should be able to respond to the call of Christ through his every day work in the world, whatever that might be. Kneeling in prayer 5 times daily might be well, but for the most of us we have other secular responsibilities that in some fashion accomplish the fulfillment of God’s kingdom. The way of the Christian is not an either or way but a both and endeavor, both God and our dedication to God’s good world.

Could it be therefore that our Moslem brothers and sisters might learn something from our Christian dedication to the God who claims our faith? I surely hope so. Terrorism, of whatever sort, is not an answer to the fulfillment of God’s kingdom. Let us learn to understand each other better and live in peace.

Wisdom 9: 13-18; Philemon 9: 10, 12-17; Luke 14: 25-33

Posted by Cindy Lentine at 01:10 PM.

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time [August 29, 2010]

Taking the Heat

Most folks on Chicago’s South Side remember vividly the events that occurred at the Church of St. Sabina this past summer. Father Michael Pfleger, pastor there for the past 30 years, incurred the anger of some Chicago Catholics and the concern of the Archbishop for remarks he made at a neighboring non-Catholic church regarding the character of Hillary Clinton and her run for the presidency. Indeed, the situation became so heated that Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago, decided to ask Father Pfleger to take two weeks off to rest and reflect.

Several points must be noted here, however. First, Michael Pfleger is a Caucasian, although people say he thinks and preaches like an African American preacher.

However, Father Pfleger has worked tirelessly with the black community for thirty years to make the neighborhood safe for all. He’s part of them: He makes war on drug dealers, reports to the police incidents where liquor stores are making sales to minors; he makes constant efforts to prevent gun skirmishes between gangs; he fights discrimination of any sort. The Catholic population at St. Sabina, by the way, has risen from several hundred to over two thousand during his pastorate. They love him. The color of his skin is of no concern of theirs.

In short Michael Pfleger has been the salvation of those who live in the neighborhood of St. Sabina. He is, without a doubt a social and religious activist.

Some say, of course, that he is also a “grandstander,” one who seeks attention by preaching like Black pastors preach. Of course, his own parishioners are predominately black. So, that tells a tale.

Michael Pfleger received a great deal of hate mail and threatening phone calls during this period over his style of pastoring and preaching. His response was that he had fought for justice and equality since the day, as a teenager, he heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak in Grant Park. That’s when his mission for justice first began.

My personal feeling is that Father Pfleger, despite his particular style as a pastor/preacher, is truly a prophet. He speaks prophetic words for which he often “takes the heat.” He’s ok with that. His sense is that religion and religious rites make little sense unless they are somehow connected to the lives of the people who live in the neighborhood. That was Jesus’ style.

The point, of course, is that if you are going to preach change, be ready for the “flack” that will come with it. Most people are seldom ready for change, especially if it affects their religious and even secular lives.

This model of prophecy and its results is precisely what we find in the scriptures for this Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Jeremiah, the great Jewish prophet, was so despondent at the heat he was taking from religious leaders and people of his time that he accused God of letting him get trapped because of the hard words that God Himself had asked him to preach. “You tricked (duped) me into it,” he said. “From now on I’m just going to keep my mouth shut. Ok?

But then Jeremiah begins to think over his decision and he decides that he cannot stop saying hard things. Preaching and the love of his God lie deep in his heart. He has to say something, no matter what people say, no matter the heat.

The point of Jeremiah’s decision is that if you want to be a prophet, if you want to breathe threats, if you want to be God’s preacher, your life may become messy and miserable. You’ll catch the heat.

So, Jeremiah goes back to work, preaching God’s hard words. He could do no other. By the way, he also got himself thrown into a dry well for his efforts!

The gospel today closely matches the Jeremiah reading. Using different metaphors, Jesus tells the people who want to follow him that the road may get rough. There may be some tough times ahead. “Are you ready to carry the cross that I will carry,” he asks? “Whoever is not ready to deny himself (take the heat) and follow me, cannot be part of my vision.” “Whoever chooses the easy way will ultimately lose his way.”

The point of both these scriptures is this: Jesus’ way is never the easy way, never has been. If we want to have any sort of impact on the world, it will ultimately cost us. People generally do not like to hear hard words; it may cause them to change their life’s ways and that is always hard.

That brings the question back to us: Are we ready for change? Are we ready to take a serious look at our life’s habits, are we ready to pick up life’s crosses?

Father Mike Pfleger was ready to do precisely that, despite the heat he caught. I’m sure he must often have said to himself: “How the heck can I live with myself if I don’t pick up the cross? How can we, by the way?

The scriptures: Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29; Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a; Lk 14:1, 7-14

Posted by Cindy Lentine at 12:03 PM.

August 16, 2010

Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time [August 22, 2010]

Somewhere in my personal “archives” I have a well-weathered photo of my grade school class dating back to the early thirties. Counting all eight grades, there were probably 20 youngsters. The boys were all dressed in farm overalls, the girls in cotton dresses. Some of us were wearing shoes, others were barefoot. (This alone tells me that the photo was shot in early summer)

At any rate, my hunch is that all of us were probably cousins. Most likely most of us were also Catholic, although I know for certain that there was at least one Lutheran family living in our area.

What I find humorous today is that we all looked so much alike, Caucasian, light skinned and light hair. All of this tells you that in those days we were a very ethically hetrogeneous group of young folks: Germans, Swedes, Norwegians, a scattering of Russians and East Europeans.

I know the reason for this ethnic similarity. Our parents and grandparents all came from Central Europe because of the unsettled social conditions at that time.

How different all this sounds when one considers the ethnic groups, say in Los Angeles or indeed in any metropolitan where one may find a dozen or more single ethnic groups worshiping at the same church. Our times were obviously different, but interesting, nonetheless.

Interestingly, Catechism classes, were not taught in school, probably because the teacher also happened to be a Lutheran; moreover catechism was taught in our own church during summer vacation! No problem, therefore, of the intermingling of church and state in those times.

Nevertheless, it never occurred to those of us who were Catholic that our young Lutheran friends would not be “saved” as we, obviously would be!! Any question of salvation for our non-Catholic friends was out of the question. It was simply assumed, Thank God, we did not even know how to ask the “salvation” question.

The reason I brought up the ethnic question is because both the first reading and the gospel for this Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time concern the issue of who is “saved” and who is not “saved.”

The first reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah must have seemed a rather astonishing prediction to any Jew within listening range. God, who is speaking through the words of the prophet Isaiah predicts that in days to come people from all over the Middle East and even from Africa and surrounding countries will gather in Jerusalem to glorify the Lord God along with the “chosen” people.

Throughout much of Jewish history the people of Israel imagined themselves a people, chosen and set apart by God to be saved. Hence, Isaiah’s prediction must have disturbed at least the more conservative elements in the population. Being a respected prophet, however, he could get away with that.

The gospel repeats the same theme of inclusion. The apostles, as always, have questions for Jesus. This time it was the same question people of our time often ask: Who will be saved? Initially, Jesus replies that only a few will pass through the narrow gate, but then he modifies that response by repeating all that Isaiah of old had said: “People from the East, South, North and West will take heir place at the feast of the kingdom of God, whereas many of Jesus’ own people will be left looking in from the outside.” It is a reference here to the long Israelite history of disobedience to the divine law, the Torah.

The implication here in Jesus words is that those who have been instructed in the Law of God will be held to greater responsibility than those who have never heard the word of God. So, we can draw two conclusions from these passages. Those who claim to be part of God’s kingdom will need to show responsibility in keeping the law.
Those who are not instructed in God’s law will have an equal chance of salvation. In other words, faith brings with it a moral responsibility.

Given all that I have said, I must say that I do not know whether my Lutheran schoolmates were instructed in catechism. All I know is that they were nice kids. I have no doubt that some day I will meet them in heaven if I myself can show that I have been faithful to the Christian tradition handed on to me.

Scripture: Isaiah 66:14-20; Hebrews 12: 5-7, 11-13; Luke 13: 22-30

Posted by Cindy Lentine at 01:16 PM.

August 10, 2010

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary [August 15, 2010]

My friends, today we have a summer break in the usual Sunday readings from Luke the Evangelist who is describing Jesus’ “on the road” instructions for the disciples. We celebrate the Assumption (the homecoming) of the Blessed Virgin.

Every Catholic and most Christians will insist that, next to Jesus, Mary is deservedly the most important and, indeed, the best-known person in the Christian scriptures.

Historically, we know very little of Mary’s life other than what has been handed on to us from the gospel tradition, particularly from Luke the Evangelist. From that source, for instance, we know that she was a young Palestinian girl, spouse of Joseph of Nazareth; we know that she brought forth into our world, Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God. Like any mother, we know that she and Joseph were particularly cautious regarding their Son’s safety. Remember the temple scene when Jesus as only twelve years old? Or the scene later in his life when rowdy crowds threatened him?

But think of this too, put yourself back into Mary’ historical setting: In those times, the mother of the family was responsible for the family’s religious upbringing. Could that be why Jesus was such a fierce defender of justice and rights of the poor? Could he have learned that from his mother? If the mother of the family provided water for the family’s daily use, could we imagine the strength of Mary’s neck and shoulders from carrying heavy water jugs from the common cistern?

In those times, even as today, the wife and mother provided bread for the family. Can you imagine, therefore the power of Mary’s arms and shoulders, muscular from lifting and dropping the heavy millstone to grind wheat or barley for bread at the evening meal?

Much of that work, of course, was done on the front porch of the house, which meant that Mary spent considerable time under the hot sun. No tanning salons necessary for her.

So, why am I relating all these historical assumptions of Mary’s life? I do so because I believe one’s devotion to Mary has a better foundation in imagining how life was for Mary than from admiring a beautiful painting by Botticelli or some other Italian Renaissance painter. Artistically beautiful as they are, they do not tell us very much about the “real” Mary, the spouse, the mother, the guardian, the homemaker.

A recent Catholic writer describes Mary as a “mench,” a Yiddish word that describes a person with the admirable characteristics of fortitude and firmness of purpose, someone who is honest, upright, responsible and decent. Not even pious writers or artists can do as well to tell us who Mary was and is.

Is it any wonder then that the Church should choose the first reading for this feast from the book of revelation with its beautiful symbolism, which reads:

“A great sign appeared in the heavens, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” What an image of the woman whom we call mother of the redeemer, mother of Jesus, son of God.

People who work in ecumenical relationships between Catholics and Protestants today say that many Protestant groups are now rediscovering Mary, glad to have a feminine figure in the bible worthy of honor and admiration.

I can readily understand why we earthlings have honored Mary in art, music, song and story. It is as though we just cannot say enough about her except by calling forth her virtues through of the best human gifts we can muster

Is it any wonder then that we call Mary Mother of the Church, indeed mother of all Christians?

“Blessed are you among women and blessed is the Son you gave us to find our way to God.”

The scriptures: Revelation 11:19; 12: 1-6, 10; 1 Corinthians 15: 20-27; Luke 1: 39-56

Posted by Cindy Lentine at 03:28 PM.

August 02, 2010

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time [August 8, 2010]

Some while ago, my friends, I happened to be reading a feature article in the New York Times on Multi-tasking, the ability some people have to do several tasks at once. The reference here was to technology experts who can manage 2, 3 or more computers or other complicated machines at once. The author pointed out, however, that “multi-taskers” also have difficulty concentrating on specific individual responsibilities in their daily life. Their minds seem to be self-trained to concentrate on lots of things but not on the one important thing.

Actually, I have the same problem in a less professional issue, namely cooking. Occasionally in the past I have invited several people in for dinner and I usually made a point of having my main dishes prepared before the invited guests were expected. However, it often happened that one or two people would show up early, and here I was trying to entertain, serve snacks, drinks and try to make sure that all the parts of the meal were ready at the same time. Inevitably, the mashed potatoes or the asparagus got cold as I tried to divide my attention between the living room and the kitchen.

I’m always envious of people who can carry on a conversation, attend to peoples’ comfort and still remember how many spices to put in the turkey dressing? I wonder if that is a skill that is learned or will I be embarrassed for the rest of my life watching other people casually go about a multitude of their daily chores without missing a beat?

Ah, but I have accomplished one surprising “multi-task.” Each morning as I begin my hour on the treadmill, I first crank up my I Pod filled with good jazz and strap it to my ears. Hey, it works and makes the time go faster too; at least it seems so. Exercise and entertainment all in one; you can’t beat that.

Now given those mundane remarks, let me say that you will find some comparisons in the gospel for this 19th Sunday in ordinary to this problem of “multi-tasking.” Actually, Jesus is suggesting to the folks listening to him that it is always wise to be prepared at the very moment God seems to be calling us to some daily task. “Tighten your belt” he says “and have your lamp lit and ready at hand when the Lord calls.” (loosely translated!)

The point that Jesus is making is that God can call us at any time of the day or night with some important issue to attend to.

Now, do not be alarmed or imagine that some day you may hear God’s voice at the other end of the telephone line. Obviously, it does not happen that way. Believe me, however, when I say that I have heard what I thought was God’s voice coming at me in some ordinary daily experience. For instance, the very evening as I am writing this, a friend of mine called to say that his wife had only a few weeks more to live. She is battling cancer. There were tears in his voice and he simply wanted to talk in order to take away his feelings of sadness and desperation. He lives many miles distant from where I live and there is no way I could have just packed up and drove to see him. The telephone would have to do. We spent over a half hour in conversation. Actually, I listened mostly, but that was enough. God calling?

Now, obviously, I could have simply not answered the phone and gone on finishing this piece of writing. But as it turned out, that half hour on the phone was a sign of God’s grace for both of us.

In other cases, folks just want to chat, but there must be a reason why they want to do that. There may be some bit of news they want to share or a problem they want to explore. So, in such instances we simply “tighten the belt, light the lamp” and listen.
So, you see, in cases like that, we set “multi-tasking” aside and pay attention to the matter at hand.

I can also remember many instances in my life when I happened to be busy about something and suddenly some event in nature suddenly overwhelmed me: a sunset or sunrise, a fierce thunder storm, a sudden lightning bolt or simply something that makes one stop and say, “wow, how can that be?”

The point to all this is to say that “God experiences” happen at any time, in any place and perhaps when we are totally involved in something that we feel we can’t put down. Of course, unless we put it aside, we may be missing an experience of the divine clothed in human dress.

One thing we know for certain as we read the gospels. Jesus was an acute observer of nature and of human habits. How often he would stop and point out some purely natural earthly phenomenon and say, for instance: “See the birds of the air or the flowers in the field.” They do not “multi-task;” they simply do what they are created to do and nothing else.

A momentary aside here regarding what Jesus refers to as the “coming of God’s kingdom.” At the time of Jesus there was a strong notion that the end of Roman domination was very near. A (the) Messiah would come and restore Israel to its ancient status. Interestingly, people at that time imagined that Jesus was the coming Messiah and that he would restore the kingdom to Israel.

Jesus, of course, refused such kingship and insisted that the kingdom of God was already among them, that God could be experienced in many, many different ways simply by being alert, by having one’s belt tightened and a lamp ready to light the way.

What Jesus is talking about in these lines, therefore, is what he calls the kingdom of God within you, those experiences in this world that remind us that God is calling for attention. The sacred is always experienced through the human, the natural, the physical, the worldly, and the historical.

Yet, it is often difficult to notice the coming kingdom, the divine experience because it seems so ordinary, and it happens precisely when some other issue has our full attention.

Given all that I we will need to learn to be more perceptive regarding ordinary matters that happen around us. Some day we may be absolutely overwhelmed by what we notice and discover that it was all grace; everything is grace, or, as Jesus would say: “Be prepared for the kingdom of God is near, even at your very door step” or at the other end of the telephone line!

The scriptures : Wisdom 18: 6-9; Hebrews 11: 1-2, 8-19; Luke 12: 35-40

Posted by Cindy Lentine at 11:34 AM.