« December 2011 | Main | February 2012 »
January 30, 2012
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time [February 5, 2012]
I have occasionally heard Christian friends of mine say: “You know, I have just about given up reading the bible.” “How come?” I say. “Well some parts of it are so earthy, so trashy, so sexy, so worldly, so ordinary. I thought the Bible was meant to help people think spiritual thoughts, lift up their hearts to the sacred.” Indeed, I imagine many people, good Christians, may skip over at least some sections of the Bible for that very reason. They have a sense that if the Bible is about God, it should give us a higher sense of spirit, holiness, whatever it is that is characteristic of God.
Admittedly, I do not have the final answer to those disappointing situations but, for my own part, I approach the question like this. Yes, the Bible is about God, but not entirely about God. Realistically, it is about God and us, we humans, the human race of whatever race, color and nationality or religious persuasion we may happen to fall. Given that assumption, we might well expect to read many events, many stories, and pieces of history that are not particularly spiritual and uplifting. The story of humanity is a mixed message: we are not totally good nor totally bad. The beauty of the Hebrew Scriptures, however, is that they describe the human condition just the way it is: the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. If human life were perfect, the Bible would not make for very interesting or inspirational reading
Given all those assumptions I have just made, let us consider the first reading for this Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time from the Book of Job. Some consider it (falsely, I believe) to be the most depressing book in the Hebrew Testament. It tells the story of a man (Job) who literally had everything going for him: rich lands, flocks of cattle and sheep, a large family, hopeful future. For some mysterious reason, however, all these treasures were lost through various tragic earthly events. Job’s friends tried to convince him that he must have done something unmistakably evil. Job was beside himself for an answer. He had always thought of himself as a good and just man.
So, here he is, sitting inconsolably on his manure pile, his so-called friends mocking him. It is the last line in the story, however, that clears up the dilemma of misfortune: Job replies: “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
One interpretation of the story is that all life is a mixture of evil and good, devastation and good fortune. The critical issue however is the conviction that God the creator and sustainer of all life has no reason to punish the human race despite their evil ways. As it is often said, life is messy, life is often so mysterious that we can only say: “Blessed be the name of the Lord. “
Interestingly, the early portion of the story portrays Job as a very depressed person, struggling with his misfortunes.
Here is selection of his complaints: “Is not man’s life a drudgery? Are not his days those of a hireling? So, I have been assigned months of misery and troubled nights. If in bed I say, ‘when shall I arise,’ but the night drags on. I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.”
It occurs to me that Job’s tale is a tale that many of us experience in our daily life: our days are often unspeakably messy; nothing seems to go right. Unfortunately, many of us cannot seem to leave our problems of the day at the office or wherever it is that we work. We cannot seem to unburden ourselves from the problems that, most likely, were not of our own making. So, sleep comes belatedly and the morning seems a long way off.
It should also be noted that the gospel for this very Sunday describes a moment in Jesus’ day when he had been overwhelmed with peoples’ problems. At the end of the day, the text tells us, “Jesus went off into a lonely place to rest. At sunrise, his disciples come and waken him: “Lord, everyone is looking for you.” So, what does Jesus say: “Let us move on so that we can proclaim the good news in other villages as well.”
The point of the selection is that Jesus, like all of us, needed rest in order to do the work that his Father invited him to do.
Could it be said, therefore, that sleep is one of those natural gifts of God that we must treasure after having tried to do the beset we could on an average day.
Finally, I do not wish to play psychiatrist and offer any quick and easy answers to the real problem many distraught people experience each night. However, if it would be of any help, perhaps good Pope John XXIII might have the remedy. After a long day’s work, he would often pray: Lord, it’s your church, you take care of it; I’m going to bed.” If it worked for Pope John XXII, perhaps there is a still a chance for the rest of us too. Sleep well!
The scriptures: Job 7: 1-4, 6-7; 1 Corinthians 9” 16-19, 22-23;
Mark 1: 29-39
Posted by Cindy Lentine at 02:35 PM.
January 25, 2012
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time [January 29, 2012]
I am sure there is a custom in most families to review occasionally the colorful characters in their ancestral history.
I must confess to one very jolly, roly-poly uncle in my family history who has always fascinated me: Uncle Bert as we knew him. A photo in an old album portrays him standing near a fancy new Buick. He is dressed for his “business:” Suit, nicely pressed, sporting a flat-topped straw hat that many dandy men wore in those times.
Uncle Bert was a man who did not fit the “agricultural mold” of our family. Rather he was a man of the road, a salesman and purveyor of schemes. Never rich, he nonetheless, enjoyed his lifestyle. What he was best known for was the “ability” to tell fortunes for a small fee. I’m sure this career did not last long inasmuch as many of his predictions and other schemes often came to naught as a hoax. Nonetheless, he was a happy man, working daily at his “career.” He thought of himself as something as a “prophet.” The title gave the semblance of weight and credibility to his “trade,” but my sense is that eventually he did not have a great fortune to leave to his heirs.
The thought of Bert, our “family prophet”, and his questionable profession came to me as I read the scriptures for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary time. Both, the first reading from the Jewish Testament of Deuteronomy and the gospel speak of the power of prophecy. In Moses’ day, the people were terrified that God might address them personally concerning their transgressions. “No,” Moses assures them, “a prophet will do that.” In truth however, the Jewish prophets often proved more critical of their peoples’ ways than God himself might have.
Jesus too often impressed his synagogue audiences with his authoritative preaching. He did not need the permission of the scribes to proclaim God’s word. He spoke on his own. People were astonished and pleased with his independent spirit.
All of which brings us to the topic of prophets of our own time. They are not fortune-tellers or seers, and yet in a sense they are “seers” inasmuch as they have the insight to “see” into their own times and speak to those times with the courage of their conviction.
I imagine we all have our own list of our personal and favorite prophets. I drew up a list of my own some days ago and on that list of only 10 (there are hundreds more.) you will find such people as Pope Benedict XVI, Rabbi Abraham Heschel, Albert Camus, philosopher and novelist, Dorothy Day, lover of the poor, Gerard Manley Hopkins S.J. poet, Henry David Thoreau, writer and lover of wildness, Daniel Berrigan S.J., Thomas Merton, monk and modern Augustine, Deitrich Bonhoeffer who was hung by the Nazi SS because he questioned Hitler’s vision of a future Germany. And lastly, George Carlin, humorist and philosopher. His vocabulary was not always easy to bear, but he could also say some things that could literally take your breath away.
All these prophets whom I chose often said hard and beautiful words. No fortune telling, just simple insight into their times and that is why I remember them.
Speaking your mind and your convictions with candor will often get you into trouble as it has ancient and modern prophets. Nonetheless, like Moses and Jesus, it is important to speak with the authority of our convictions when the occasion calls for it. Some folks may be a bit astonished by it, but better that than to be embarrassed bys not saying anything at all.
The scriptures: Deuteronomy 18: 15-20; 1 Corinthians 7: 32-35; Mark 1: 21-28
Posted by Cindy Lentine at 01:56 PM.
January 17, 2012
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time [January 22, 2012]
I am quite sure that, as I look back on my life’s history, I could say that I missed a lot of opportunities to do something or avoid something that could have made all the difference in the remainder of my life. Life is a great mystery, of course, and lots of things can go wrong, lots of mistakes are possible. We seldom have enough sight or insight to know whether we have made correct decisions. So, no matter what, we blunder on the best we can, never knowing what could have been. Perhaps it is fortunate that we do not know what we missed.
Nonetheless, there are instances in our lives that are critical, moments when we do have sufficient time to decide well about our future. The decision to continue our education, for instance, is critical, so too the decision to marry and have children or not to marry, yes even the opportunity to accept a position in another part of the country and move far from friends and relatives.
Of course, in many instances we have little control over our decisions. The world around us often makes decisions for us: An office, for instance, in our hometown shuts down and we are out of work. We have no other option than to look elsewhere.
In my own life, the decision to study for the priesthood occurred at a certain point in time, although I have no sense when that actually occurred. Indeed, I do not know whether I ever made a clear decision about it. It just sort of happened gradually, almost imperceptibly.
Even the decision to be Catholic was never a true decision; my mother and father made that decision for me and I am glad they did. I would not have made a good Protestant, good as those folks are.
One point that is clear to me, however, is that God places opportunities before us every day; they are not gigantic or world shaking, but they do count and add up to something very important.
Sometimes I just think the best thing to do on arising in the morning is to say: “Lord, right now, half awake, I want to do whatever it is you have in mind. Just try to make it clear, okay. I hope that will cover the day.”
Add to all this the fact that in many instances, unique people will come through our lives who will make God’s will very clear. If we have the good sense to listen to them, it may make a tremendous difference for our future.
Oddly enough when I read of someone who is in prison for some serious malfeasance of justice, I wonder if he or she ever imagined as a youngster that life would turn out like it did. Again, decisions, decisions.
We have several examples in our scriptures for this Third Sunday in Ordinary Time that outline the critical difference decisions make. In that lovely reading from Jonah the prophet we learn of the story of a man who heard God’s call to preach repentance to people he cared little about. They lived in the metropolitan city of Nineveh in a country foreign to Israel. The inhabitants were neither of his own culture nor his religion and yet, God felt that it was necessary to call on a Jewish person to be a missionary to these foreigners.
As the story proceeds, we learn that Jonah, in an attempt to escape God’s call, decided to go in a completely opposite direction than Nineveh. He was foiled in this attempt, however, by being thrown overboard by sailors and ending up in the belly of a sea monster that very unceremoniously dumped Jonah on the shores of the country where Nineveh was located.
“Oh well,” Jonah said to himself, “ Now that I am here I might as well try to preach repentance even though these people obviously have no desire to change their lives.”
We all know the outcome, of course. The entire city, including dogs, cats and cattle, did repent. The moral of the story is that, at least in some instances, God will have God’s way, despite our reluctance to follow the clear instinct with which God has blessed us.
That same theme is the one Saint Paul preaches to his Christian converts: “The time is short,” he says. “Do not let the ways of the world overwhelm you so that you do not even recognize God’s call when it happens.
And finally, we have the well-known story of Peter and his brother Andrew who gave up their fishing business (and even perhaps their families) and follow Jesus, to go out and preach the good news of the kingdom of God. Leaving all, they followed Jesus. That short line describes a decision that ultimately changed the world. It’s called Christianity.
I am sure that most of the life decisions we make or shall make during our lives will not be as dramatic as those we just quoted. Nonetheless, God moves in strange ways and at unexpected times and in strange circumstances. Again, as we mentioned earlier, the ways of the world and the mind of God are a great mystery. Perhaps the old saying, better safe than sorry will fit our ordinary daily life. Choice is always a risk but we need never fear failure if we simply say: “Well, Lord, if this is what you want, I’ll give it a try. Just don’t let me fail, okay?”
The scriptures: Jonah 3:1-5, 10; 1 Corinthians 7: 29-31; Mark 1: 14-21
Posted by Cindy Lentine at 03:53 PM.
January 11, 2012
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time [January 15, 2012]
It often seems to me as I survey my past life that I have had very little to do with my future. Perhaps that is true of all of us. We seem to fall into professions that often turn out to be a vocation, or a vocation that turns out to be a profession.
Very few of us, however, find our profession or our vocation all alone. Someone, at some point in our life, entered into that passage and invited us to look at life again, perhaps in a completely different manner. In some sense then our futures are made for us.
I can remember at least two instances in my life when someone made all the difference in my future. One happened to be the mother of a girl whom I was dating in high school, a wise lady who helped me see my way through an infatuation!
The second person was a chaplain-colonel in the U.S. Army who took me under his wing and steered me to a seminary at the University of Notre Dame; the rest is history!
In some sense, however, both of those individuals were a form of divine grace that more or less sailed through my life and left a mark that has lasted until this very day. Indeed, I would dare say that very few individuals discover their future alone; some person(s), some event, some need arises to draw us into our future.
Among such individuals I would place the elderly, individuals of age, wisdom, discernment and sensitivity. Interestingly, they are often very quiet people; they say little, but what they do say is full of meaning and sincerity; they speak from long experience and, perhaps, from much pain and suffering. We will do well to listen to them carefully.
It also occurs to me that the process of discovering our vocation or profession can depend on the companions we keep. In some mysterious way we ourselves can be the source of discernment and wisdom for others who may be faltering or struggling with their future. It will simply be a matter of sitting quietly, listening, adding a word or two of encouragement and support. In short, we can often become a kind of divine presence to another without realizing it.
Such is the theme we find in our scriptures for this Second Sunday in Ordinary time as the New Year gets underway.
The first story comes from the Book of Samuel describing an occasion when Samuel, a young scribe was in training under the guidance of Eli, a man of age and great wisdom. The young Samuel imagines he is hearing the voice of Eli during the night. Three times the voice sounds. Finally Samuel goes to Eli one last time and asks: “Did, you call?” Eli, realizing that this was a divine call, simply replies: “If you hear the voice again, simply say: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” The consequence of this short interlude was the beginning of the career of a great leader, Samuel of Israel.
A lesson that all of us might learn from this episode when we are puzzled about the direction of our life is simply to say:
Speak, Lord, I’m listening as hard as I can.
Saint Paul also seems to be another Eli-the Wise. His very dedication to the work of evangelizing non-believers turned into one of the greatest missionary endeavors of world history. People listened to him because simply seemed “eaten up” with enthusiasm for the word of Jesus.
Finally, Jesus himself (gospel) seemed to his followers to be a wise person who spoke the word of God fearlessly. His very life itself was an invitation to discover the meaning of the kingdom of God.
Given all these references in scripture and our daily experience, we all might well say that there has been an Eli who has come through our life and made an immense difference in our future profession or our vocation, or is the other way round?
The scriptures: 1 Samuel 3:3-1-, 19; I Corinthians 6: 13-15, 17-20;
John 1: 35-42
Posted by Cindy Lentine at 09:47 AM.
January 03, 2012
Epiphany of the Lord [Janurary 8, 2012]
One of the great marvels of modern life is the pace at which news of the world spreads. One can access a piece of information that occurs at a remote place in the world in a matter of seconds. News reporters are stationed in places I have never heard of. If I want to know what is happening at the Vatican, I can click on Vatican Information Service, and “boom,” I will know within seconds what the pope and the Roman Curia are “up to.” Some months ago the pope himself was given an I Pad and wrote a message to the world on Twitter. (Can you imagine that?) There was a time when, if the pope wanted to send an encyclical to bishops around the world, some messenger would have to travel by foot, mule, and horse or eventually by boat to circulate the letter. (Sorry, I forgot about the pony express!).
At the time of the Twitter incident, the pope made an off hand remark that modern communication is a new and blessed way to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ; the “New Evangelization,” he called it.
The pope is correct, of course: the words of Jesus by their very nature are meant to be spread beyond the borders of Palestine: the gospel is literally good news. I’m certain that if Jesus were alive in the world today, he would own an I Mac and he would be hooked up to the Internet. That would surely save a lot of blisters from walking the hot sands of the Middle East. Saint Paul, that great trekker would also chime in on that, I’m sure.
In short, news of any sort, good or bad in our time will spread almost instantaneously. People are always hungry to hear what is happening in the world around them and whether or not it will affect them.
Given that lengthy introduction, let me launch into the solemn feast that we celebrate during these early days of January 2012. It has a Greek title, Epiphany (i.e. to spread about). My biblical dictionary here on the computer tells me that it is a feast that tells of the divinity of Christ. All true, of course: news is spread of Christ the Son of God.
Now, a very interesting point about this description of the divinity of Christ is that the news comes to us not by way of the Internet the newspaper or any other modern mode of communication. The news of the divinity of Christ is tucked into a lovely little story about three wise men, three star-followers (gazers) who travel out of the East (the land of the rising sun) on word that in Palestine, in the West, the land of darkness they will find a divine, new-born king who will bring light and hope to the world. Their Global Positioning System will be a star, shining out of the East (the land of light again). The GPS will eventually point them to the village of Bethlehem where they will find the Divine Child, Jesus, along with Mary and Joseph, the parents of the child.
The point of the Magi journey is that they (foreigners, Arabs, perhaps) bring good news to the Western world that a savior of the entire world has been born.
Is all this simply a story? Did it actually happen? Most likely, it is fictional, but that does not make any difference. The point is that the birth of Jesus, the savior of the world was not to be considered an isolated event. The news was meant to be spread throughout the world. Early story telling was simply a way of conveying that reality. The fact of Jesus’ divinity is the central point; the mode in which that divine truth was conveyed to us is secondary.
One last point stands out so clearly in the Magi story. It is an ecumenical truth, a piece of theology. Note again that the people who discovered the divine child were Arabs, foreigners, and non-Jewish citizens. In other words the first news of the birth of Christ came from the mouth of foreigners. The ecumenical (theological) implication in all this is that the message of Christ is meant to pervade the whole world, Jew and gentile alike.
The final implication of the Magi story, of course, belongs to us: the good news of Christ, by its very nature, is meant to be dynamic, living, proliferating: we are meant to do what Jesus did, spread the word by mouth and action. We are not limited to walking sandy roads, of course. The task has become much simpler: we have the means right on our desk or on our laptop. There are endless sources to help us discover the meaning and implications of Christ’s work. It only takes a click on your mouse...and there you are. The fact that you may be reading this reflection on a local web site tells you how simple it is today. I’m sure the Magi would have loved it. No more sweaty camel trips, no more hot deserts to cross. Today the good news of Christ is literally at your fingertips. Now, how cool is that?
The scriptures: Isaiah 60: 1-6; Ephesians 3: 2-a, 5-6; Matthew 2: 1-12
Posted by Cindy Lentine at 10:33 AM.
Mary the Mother of God [January 1, 2012]
I am quite certain that if you were chosen to help celebrate the one-hundredth birthday of your mother, you would go out of your way to do something really beautiful: if you had poetic leanings, you would write a panegyric. If you were a musician or a good singer, you would compose a piece of music that celebrated your other’s life, her holiness and accomplishments. If you had any skill at story telling and humor, you would insert some anecdotes that would delight all the relatives and friends who had gathered for the festive day. Some of those narratives might even be a bit apocryphal (fictional) but everyone in the gathering would know the meaning and context and would delight in hearing them once again. All of these things would be accomplished with great joy because your mother and her memory were precious to you, days never to be forgotten.
Well, my friends, this is exactly what Christians of the Eastern and Western churches (Roman and Byzantine) have been doing for centuries to honor Mary, the mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of God: churches and cathedrals have been built and named in her honor, musical compositions have praised her, artists have decorated churches with frescoes and mosaics, brilliantly colorful stones, bright stained glass windows. Nothing less than the best is considered worthy of God’s mother and her memory.
Interestingly, from a historical, biblical standpoint, there is not a lot is known about Mary’s life. True, we do have the splendid stories contained in the Nativity cycle, even references to her in the apocryphal gospels, those standing outside the circle of the four gospels we are so well acquainted with. Some of the narratives in our gospels are also written from a post-resurrection perspective, theological interpretations of what the life of Mary must have been like.
Nonetheless, there are also historical references in our gospels that give us a true sense of Mary the mother. We all remember the occasion when Mary and the rest of the family came out to where Jesus was preaching to rescue him from the angry mob that was about to kill him. Tell me, what mother would not be concerned about her son’s life, even if she could not explain why he was doing what he was doing. Often, she must have asked herself, “Is this the child I bore and raised? How come he turned out to be such a radical?” I’m sure all this must have been a mystery to her but, at the same time, she could not help but be proud of him.
Doubtless, the narrative of Mary at the foot of the cross must also be historically true. What mother would abandon her Son in the last moments of his life?
In some sense then our affection for Mary stems from the great mystery of her suffering. Her son was so unlike any other young man in Palestine; he threatened public authority of temple and palace he preached a message no one had ever heard before…the good news of he kingdom of God. He addressed Yahweh as his father? He was actually willing to sacrifice his life to help people understand that they were children of God, precious to the Father. What hubris unless it were actually true?
I think I must probably share the devotion and practice of most Catholics in the sense that Mary is my link to Jesus and the Father. She was human like we are human; she experieFnced the joys and the sadness that we all experience. But like all mothers she could not and did not abandon her son even though she could hardly understand his intent or his ways. Often she must have said, “Why can’t he just grow up normally like other young men?” Hindsight, of course, we must say that it was fortunate that he did not “grow up” like everyone else. He was born with a vision of life in the cosmos that no one else ever dreamed of.
So, let us not hesitate to say that Mary is not only Mother of the Redeemer, Mother of Jesus, Mother of God, but also especially the Pride of our Race. What a privilege, what a mystery to be chosen out of all other human creatures on earth to be he Mother of God, How fortunate we are to be privileged to be called sons and daughters of Mary the Mother of God.
The scriptures: Numbers 6: 22-27; Galatians 4: 4-7; Luke 2: 16-21
Posted by Cindy Lentine at 10:29 AM.
