The Greatest Sermon Ever Preached

“He went up a mountain and began to teach them.”
(Mt 5:1-2)

“The Greatest Sermon Ever Preached”

January 30, 2011, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Zephanial 2:3; 3:12-13 I Corinthians 1:26-31 Matthew 5:1-12

Second reading from I Corinthians

Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God. It is due to Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Whoever wants to boast must boast of what the Lord has done.”

The Word of God
Thanks be to God
Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Glory to you, Lord

When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up the mountain, and after He had sat down, His disciples came to Him. He began to teach them, saying:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

----------------
Introduction
Matthew’s compilation

The Sermon on the Mount is a long section in the gospel of St. Matthew, running through chapters 5, 6, 7. The gospel reading for this Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time with its litany of eight Beatitudes is the opening volley of that long sermon. It is so long that it will be the gospel readings for the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th Sunday (until March 6, 2011) in Ordinary Time. Scripture scholarship tells us that the Sermon on the Mount is not one long series of teachings which Jesus gave on one occasion on a hillside overlooking Lake Galilee. Rather, it is Matthew’s compilation of the many moral teachings of Jesus, spoken throughout His whole life and ministry. It was St. Augustine of Hippo (400 AD) who first called this long discourse "The Sermon on the Mount." In it Jesus shines as the personification of the perfect preacher.

“The greatest sermon ever preached.”

In Matthew’s gospel Jesus is on a hillside where He delivers the Sermon on the Mount, while in Luke’s gospel He is on a level stretch of land down from a hill. (Lk 6:17) The long discourse opens with the eight Beatitudes. Jesus on a mountain is like a second Moses: just as Moses promulgated Old Testament Law from the lofty heights of Mount Sinai, so now Jesus promulgates New Testament Law also from a lofty height. Just as Moses held in his hands tablets of stone with Ten Commandments carved on them, so now Jesus, the Lawgiver of the New Testament, bears in His arms tablets of stone with the eight Beatitudes carved on them.

There are great sermons in the Bible. St. Stephen preaches a long sermon, which runs for 52 verses, before being stoned to death. (Acts 7: 1-52) St. Paul preaches a famous sermon in the Areopagus in Athens, where he tells the Greeks that the God they worship on an altar dedicated to an “Unknown God” is the God whom he preaches. (Acts 17: 22-32) Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount which opens with a litany of the eight Beatitudes tops all the great sermons in the Bible. In his Autobiography My Experiments with Truth, Mahatma Gandhi says that Sermon on the Mount by Jesus is “the greatest sermon ever preached.”

The Beatitudes: belittled and beloved

The Beatitudes are belittled by some who view them negatively and even cynically. Friedrich Nietzsche saw the Beatitudes (e.g. “Blessed are the meek”) as advocating “the slave morality” of Christianity. James Joyce saw them as advocating “a life without striving.” Some see the Beatitudes as advocating a double standard; they’re OK for those who want to be serious followers of Jesus but not for the general public. Some see `Aramaic exaggerations’ in the Beatitudes – overstatements to make a moral point. For Christendom, however, the Beatitudes (which set the tone of the entire Sermon on the Mount) are the most cherished gem of the New Testament, and its most quoted passage.

Three ways to treat the Beatitudes

There are three ways with which to proceed with Matthew’s eight Beatitudes. Some preachers choose to give time and attention to each Beatitude in one and the same homily. Jamming all eight into one homily makes for a very lengthy homily. What’s more, it violates a golden rule of homiletics: “One idea -- one sermon! Two ideas -- two sermons!” Some choose to give the Beatitudes separate treatment by means of eight separate homilies. That’s a good way to proceed. Or the preacher can search for the one golden thread that pervades all eight Beatitudes, and focus on it. That would require only one sermon. That too would be good way to proceed. And it would honor another golden rule of homiletics: ”One good idea makes for one good sermon!”

Counterculture - a recipe for happiness

The one golden thread pervading all the eight Beatitudes is a message of counterculture. That is to say, the Beatitudes swim upstream; they bless what our culture curses, and they curse what our culture blesses. At the end of the day, however, the counterculture of the Beatitudes is not a case of `cantankerous and dour Christianity;’ rather it is a recipe for happiness.

The golden thread of counterculture pervades not just the Beatitudes but the entire Sermon on the Mount, which is really one long comprehensive treatise on Christian counterculture. In the 5th chapter of Matthew Jesus is spelling out a long litany of counterculture when He says six times: “You have heard it said….but I say to you.” (Mt. 5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38. 43) Jesus swims upstream throughout the entire Sermon on the Mount, and He invites us to join His countercultural swim.

The countercultural eye of Jesus

Jesus who preached “Blessed are the poor” practiced what He preached. One day He and the apostles were in the Temple near the treasury. The apostles were feasting their eyes on the rich and famous tossing in their huge donations. But the eye of Jesus alighted upon a poor little widow dropping in her two copper coins. Jesus called over to the others saying, "Come here and feast your eyes on this: this little lady gave more than all the others put together." (Mk 12: 38-44) Our culture with its mighty mass media has our kids and us feasting our eyes upon the rich and famous -- upon movie stars and sport stars (all of whom are overrated and overpaid). Jesus is truly countercultural as His eyes feast upon a poor widow casting two copper coins in the Temple treasury, and as He invites the apostles to feast their eyes on her as well.

A countercultural parable

Jesus tells a countercultural parable. One day a Jew was going from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell in with robbers who left him half-dead. Along came a Jewish priest and Levite who passed right by the poor man. Then along came a Samaritan toward whom Jews had a cultural disdain; Jews considered Samaritans to be mongrels and heretics. (Jn. 4: 20) The Samaritan stopped and poured the oil of compassion into the poor Jew’s wounds, then hoisted him onto his beast of burden and hastened him off to the nearest inn where he provided for his care and cure. (Lk l0: 25-37) Jesus telling His fellow Jews a good story about a disdainful Samaritan was indeed countercultural. Just as it was countercultural for the Samaritan to stop and pour the oil of compassion into the wounds of a disdained Jew.

A countercultural superstar

Jerry Quinn followed the example of the countercultural Samaritan. Quinn is the owner of a bar and restaurant in Boston. Reading the newspaper one morning, he came upon a brief item about Franklin Piedra, an Ecuadorian, 33 years old, suffering from chronic kidney failure. His mother wanted to give him one of her kidneys. The transplants would have cost at least $100,000, and she had no health insurance. The Ecuadorian Consulate suggested that he go home and die. Quinn had a better idea. He had been saving his money for a major down-payment on a two-bedroom apartment in a suburban part of Boston with a river view and all. He decided to forfeit a brand new home he was planning to build, and to donate $100,000 for the kidney transplant. “I’m not a very wealthy guy,” he said. “I’m comfortably well-off. I need only one car, one kitchen, one bathroom, and I can eat only so much. So what more do I need?”

Our culture entices us and our kids to go down the path of wild consumerism in which we buy not only the things we need but also all the things we want and all the things we don’t need. In such a milieu, Quinn is absolutely a countercultural superstar. Yes, he is rich (he owns a bar and a restaurant), but he is also truly “poor in spirit.”

Conclusion
Beatitudes - a strange recipe for happiness

The Beatitudes, though eight in number, have one golden thread weaving through them all; they bid us to go countercultural. They bid us to bless what the culture curses, and to curse what the culture blesses. They bid us to do that for our own sake first, and then for the sake of our children who won’t go countercultural, if we don’t show them the way. The Sermon on the Mount in general and the Beatitudes in particular bid us to go countercultural, not because Christianity has a masochistic streak to it (as is sometimes charged), but because the Sermon on the Mount, very strange to say, is a recipe for happiness.

Jerry Quinn donated his $100,000, which he was saving for a nice new house, so that Piedra could have the operation he desperately needed. The operation successfully took place and Franklin Piedra was restored to health. The two later met. Quinn said of the meeting, “He hugged me and kissed me and told me I was an angel. As I thanked him I could feel the shivers going up and down my back.” The Beatitudes are a recipe for happiness: in this case they had Piedra happily hugging and kissing Quinn as an angel, and they sent shivers going up and down Quinn’s back.

Good News for Gabby

'Gabby’ Giffords

Good News for Gabby
January 23, 2011, Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 9:3-1 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17 Matthew 4:18-23

Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Glory to you, Lord.

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”At once they left their nets and followed him. He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father behind and followed him. He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

----------------
Introduction
Following the non-violent Jesus

The first few weeks in Ordinary Time (whether in liturgical Cycle A. B or C) have the following of Jesus as their theme. The Jesus we are called to follow is among many things non–violent. When Judas the betrayer arrived in the garden of Gethsemane with a gang equipped with clubs and swords, sent by the chief priests, one of the men with Jesus in the garden pulled out his sword to protect Him. In so doing he had accidently cut off the ear of the High Priest’s servant. That prompted Jesus to tell His defender, “Put your sword back into its place. Those who used the sword are sooner or later destroyed by it.” (Mt 26:52)

Gabrielle Giffords

Democratic congress woman from Arizona, Gabrielle Giffords, (affectionately called “Gabby” by her constituents) is a 40-year-old Democrat in her third term in the House of Representatives. In 2007 she married Cmdr. Mark Kelly, a Navy pilot and astronaut. On her wedding day, Gabby Giffords (a committed recycler) wore a second-hand wedding gown. On Thursday, January 6, 2011, Gabby joined other lawmakers in reading the Constitution aloud on the House floor to mark the beginning of the 112th Congress. The reading included the guarantee of “the right of the people peaceably to assemble.” After the reading, she flew home to Arizona to put those words into practice.

When Gabby, recognizing the right of the people to peaceably assemble, held a `town-hall meeting’ on Saturday, January 8, in the parking lot of a Safeway supermarket in Tucson , AZ, she was shot in the head by a young man named Jared Lee Loughner, 22. A check-up on the shooter revealed him to be “mentally unstable," "a loner" and “unbalanced.” The shooting left 6 people dead and 13 others injured. Among the dead was a federal judge, John Roll, who had just attended Saturday morning Mass. and a 9-year-old girl, Christina Green. Representative Gabby is in precarious but hopeful recovery in a Tucson hospital.

Gabby’s centrism

On Friday Jan. 7, a day before she was grievously wounded, Giffords wrote an e-mail congratulating the new director of Harvard’s Institute of Politics, saying she wanted to talk with him about ways to tone down the political rhetoric. She wrote:

After you get settled, I would love to talk about what we can do to promote centrism and moderation. I am one of only 12 Dems left in a GOP district (the only woman) and think that we need to figure out how to tone down our rhetoric and partisanship.

Gabby speaks of `centrism.’ That’s holding a position which stand somewhere in the center. Centrism - that’s a willingness to acknowledge and accept what’s good on the other side of the political aisle. Centrism – that’s a wisdom which recognizes that most of the time truth almost always lies somewhere between two extremes.

Crosshairs -- violent rhetoric

After the horrific event in the Safeway parking lot, Sarah Palin, former Governor of Alaska and running mate with John McCain in 2008, quietly scrubbed her website of a map posted last year which depicted the crosshairs of a gun focused on 20 Democratic lawmakers, whom Palin wanted to see ousted from office in the November election. One of the lawmakers singled out was Gabrielle Giffords, who was criticized for “betraying her district.” Gabby responded by saying, "She (Palin) has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, you got to understand there are consequences for that kind of talk.” (Palin's advisors, on the other hand, were furious that she had been linked to the tragic shooting in Tucson.) At the end of the day, no matter how you cut it, crosshairs is violent rhetoric.

A candidate for the U.S. Senate in Nevada called for people to “exercise their Second Amendment rights” to keep and bear arms, if the election didn’t turn out the way they wanted. And we read also of political activists who attend rallies and town hall meetings with guns strapped to their legs, as they promise to “take the country back.” That too is violent rhetoric.

Replete with inflammatory rhetoric

Some believe that the violent rhetoric of the news media gives an unbalanced person, like Jared Lee Loughner, a feeling of national support, and makes the massacre in Tucson possible. One Republican strategist doesn’t believe this. He writes, "The notion that anyone's rhetoric in the political debate spurs the Timothy McVeighs and the Jared Loughners to commit violent acts against innocent people is insidious, dishonest and divorced from reality." Not so says Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. In a news conference he said that Arizona had "become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry," and that people with mental issues are especially vulnerable to fiery speech. Sheriff Dupnik has the crosshairs of his gun sight aimed at the right target: “fiery speech.” These days public discourse is so replete with inflammatory rhetoric -- toxic talk – vitriol (however we call it), that we’ve come to accept it as normal and acceptable.

The question of civil discourse

The Tucson massacre has raised the question about civil discourse. In the nation, how can Democrats and Republicans talk civilly to one another? In the Church, how can the followers of the Council of Trent and the followers of Vatican II talk civilly to one another? In the family, how can parents and kids talk civilly to one another? (The three are basically of one cloth.) In her e-mail to the director of Harvard’s Institute of Politics Gabby raised the question of civil discourse: “What can we do to promote centrism and moderation?”At the end of the day, that is reductively a religious question. Religious people know how to compromise. Religious people know how to meet half way. Religious people know how to listen to the other side.

The `Third Way’

On January 25, President Obama will give his second State of the Union address. This year’s address occurs in a changed Washington; Republicans have control of the House. Perhaps even more important than that is the stunned atmosphere in Washington, resulting from the Tucson massacre which left 6 dead and 13 wounded, among whom was one of Congress’s own: Gabby Giffords. The massacre has fired upa debate about the implications of extreme political rhetoric. And it has inspired a centrist group called the `Third Way’ to write a letter to congressional leaders, in which it makes a very interesting and appealing suggestion. It suggests putting an end to the traditional partisan seating arrangement at the State of the Union Address, which has Republicans sitting on one side of the chamber and Democrats on the other! The letter which pleads for a more civil Congress reads in part,

We urge the leaders of both houses of Congress to agree to end the partisan seating for the State of the Union. We do not see any purpose behind putting Democrats on one side of the floor and Republicans on the other. The spectacle of one side of the room leaping to its feet while the other sits glumly on its hands is just that—a spectacle. Perhaps having both parties sit together, intermingled, would help control the choreography of partisanship that accompanies the President’s remarks. Most importantly, it would demonstrate what is true but not always apparent—that we are one nation, not two, and that Members are unified by their service to our country.

Conclusion
Good news for Gabby

Mixed seating at the State of the Union 2011 address would be a very good `sacramental’ gesture. That is to say, mixed seating would powerfully point beyond itself and would say to the whole nation: “Though we are a nation of two political parties, at the end of the day, we are one nation, and both of us have but one business to accomplish: the business not of our party but of our nation.”

Mixed seating itself won’t solve the pervasive problem of inflammatory rhetoric, toxic talk, vitriol, etc., which blights our public discourse, but it would be a good first big step. And when Gabby, that good apostle of centrism and moderation, becomes fully alert and hears the good news of the mix-seating arrangement at the State of the Union 2011 (which she won’t be able to attend), her recovery will be greatly hastened.

Another John Pointing to Jesus

“I come to you because you couldn’t come to me.”

Another John Pointing to Jesus

January 16, 2011, Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 49:3, 5-61 I Corinthians 1:1-3 John 1:29-34

Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
Glory to you, Lord.

The next day John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and exclaimed, “Look! There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! He is the one I was talking about when I said, `Soon a man far greater than I is coming, who existed long before me!’ I myself did not know who He was; but the very reason why I came baptizing in water was that He might be revealed to Israel.

Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirits come down from heaven like a dove and rest upon Him. I did not know Him myself, but He who sent me to baptize with water told me, `The one upon whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ Yes, I have seen it myself,” said John, “and I tell you that He is the Son of God.”

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

----------------
Introduction

Back to Ordinary Time

We are now in the first stretch of Sundays in Ordinary Time in 2011. We will coast along for nine Sundays in this first stretch until Ash Wednesday, March 9, when we will enter into the Extraordinary Time of Lent, in preparation for Easter 2011.

The Baptist’s mission: to point to Christ

This Sunday’s gospel from the evangelist John reflects a puzzlement in the early church: who is greater, Jesus or John the Baptist? Some of the Baptist’s disciples were insisting that John was greater than Jesus. So we see weaving in and out of the New Testament attempts to make it clear that Jesus is greater than the Baptist: When Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth (the Baptist’s mother) Elizabeth bows low before Mary, and the babe in Mary's womb blesses the babe in Elizabeth’s womb, as the greater blesses the lesser. (Lk 1:41) Then Zechariah (the Baptist’s father) will sing in his canticle that his son’s mission is “to go before the Lord, and prepare a path for Him.” (Lk 1:76)

When John grew up, he went on his appointed mission to point to Jesus. He made it clear that he wasn’t the Messiah, but that there would come one whose sandals he was not worthy to untie. (Jn 1:19-21, 27) Then one day when Jesus was passing by, the Baptist pointed to Him exclaiming, "There He is! There He is! There is the Lamb of God! He takes away the sin of the world." (Jn 1:30) Later on when the Baptist’s followers complained that Jesus also was baptizing and everyone was flocking over to Him, John again points to Jesus, saying: “He must increase, and I must decrease.” (Jn 3:30) St. Augustine says that John (who eventually was beheaded) did indeed “decrease by a whole head!” (Mt 14:1-12)

John XXIII -- another great pointer

When Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, Patriarch of Venice, was elected pope in the papal conclave of 1958 the presiding cardinal approached the pope-elect and asked, “Quo nomine vocaberis?” “By what name shall you be called?" Roncalli responded: "My name will be John.“ Roncalli chose to be named after that great precursor whose mission was to point to Jesus. Then this new John the Baptist set out on a pontificate which would singularly point to Jesus, as few pontificates before or after his ever did.

The very next day after his coronation, Good Pope John XXIII sped off through elaborate Vatican gates on a mission to point to Jesus. He visited aging brother priests in nursing homes. He visited inmates in the nearby Regina Coeli Prison along the Tiber. “I come to you,” he told them, “because you couldn’t come to me.” When he celebrated his first Holy Thursday as pope, he revived an ancient custom of the Church. Like Jesus, Pope John with towel in hand bent down to wash the feet of 13 young priests. That rite had fallen into disuse for many centuries, and the disuse itself was symptomatic of an attitude in the institutional church.

A council called to point to Jesus

Pope John, who in his own person powerfully pointed to Jesus, summoned the Church (which pointed too much to itself) to do the same. He summoned the Second Vatican Council, and assigned it the task of giving the church institution a much needed course correction, in which Jesus would “increase” and the institution would “decrease.” That would not be an easy task for the council, after centuries of the institution’s addiction to self-preoccupation and self-aggrandizement.

The most important and far-reaching debate of the council called by John took place when it debated the preliminary draft of the council’s most important document, concerning the nature of the Church.[1] Chapter I of the draft was entitled The Mystery of the Church. It declared that the Church is a mystery. `Mystery’ is a rich theological word; it says there’s more here than meets the eye, and consequently all our pat answers or definitions won’t do justice to it. Some bishops, who liked pat answers for everything, weren’t too happy in calling the Church a mystery. They complained: “What will our constituents back home say when we tell them the Church is a mystery and that we don’t have nice neat answers for her anymore?”

The Copernican Revolution of Vatican II

Chapter II of the draft was entitled The Hierarchy and Chapter III The People of God. That order which put hierarchy before the people of God bespoke a problem which perennially afflicts the church institution – that of putting the hierarchy before the people of God. That misalignment angered some of the council fathers who rose to protest: “Why is it that when we bishops speak about the Church we always point first to ourselves! We are not the Church; the people of God are the Church. We, the hierarchy, exist for them. That’s the right order.” After a long and stormy debate in the great nave of St. Peters Basilica, the council fathers placed the chapter on The People of God before the chapter on The Hierarchy. That switch came to be called the “Copernican Revolution”[2] of Vatican II.

What’s more, the council fathers made sure that the very first line of the council’s most important document would point not to the Church but to Christ. That very first line reads: “Since Christ [not the Church] is the light of the nations…” That was right order, and it was, indeed, an immense course correction, at least on paper (and paper is always a good start in the life of the Church).

Pointing to self or to Christ?

It is not easy for the church institution to maintain that course correction. It is always tempted to fall back on pointing to itself. When Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he issued a 36 page document entitled Dominus Iesus (The Lord Jesus). The document warned that when dealing with Buddhist and Hindus and the like, we must not play down the unique role of Christ. It also warned that when dealing with non-Catholic Christian religions, we must not play down the unique role of the Catholic Church.

The document reflects the long-standing belief that the Catholic Church alone possesses the full truth and that all other faith groups have only elements of truth. That might seem a bit arrogant, but almost all faith traditions believe that they alone possess the entire truth, and they view all other religions as being at least partly deficient. At the end of the day, however, we ask: when is the church institution more effective: when it points to itself, or when like Good Pope John it points to Christ?

A bishop who pointed to Christ

Despite the example of Pope John, and his council’s invitation to the Church to point to Christ, we still have a long way to go. Bishop Kenneth Edward Untener (1937- 2004) served the Diocese of Saginaw from 1980 until his death in 2004. His office was the trunk of his car. He sold the bishop's mansion and proceeded to live in 69 rectories over the next 24 years. With towel in hand, Untener’s first words as bishop to the people of Saginaw were: "My name is Ken, and I will be your waiter for a long, long time.”

1993 was the twenty-fifth anniversary of Pope Paul VI's encyclical letter Humanae vitae (1968), which reaffirmed the Church’s stand against artificial birth control. On that occasion Bishop Untener asked the Church to start a new, honest and open discussion on birth control. The request deeply irritated the Vatican. It was turned down, and `Catholic loyalty’ to the Vatican was firmly advised. The church institution pointed to itself, while. Bp. Untener, a good John the Baptist, pointed to Christ.

Another bishop who pointed to Christ

Bishop Thomas John Gumbleton (b. 1930), retired auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit, has a long history of social justice and was the founding president of Pax Christi USA (the US branch of the international Catholic peace movement). He was also president of Bread for the World (an interfaith organization that fights world hunger). In a letter to America magazine (Nov. 20, 1963) he wrote, "I can vouch for the fact that very many bishops share the same conviction [that not every contraceptive act is intrinsically evil]. However, sadly enough, fewer and fewer are willing to say this publicly.” What’s more, though Pope John Paul II spoke definitively against the ordination of women, Gumbleton said, “Priestesses will inevitably come. Already, female parochial administrators are proving their competency and laying the groundwork for the ordination of women.”

Those positions irritated the Vatican, and when Bp. Gumbleton (still in good health) petitioned the Vatican for permission to stay on as bishop beyond his 75th year, the canonical age for retirement (often waived for a good reason) his petition was refused with e-mail speed. Again, the church institution pointed to itself, while Bp. Gumbleton, a good John the Baptist, pointed to Christ.

Conclusion
The institution at its best

The church institution is at its best when, like Jesus and Bishop Untener with towel in hand, it tells God’s people, “I will be your waiter for a long, long time!”


[1] The two opening words of the Latin document is Lumen Gentium (Light of the nations).
[2] The Copernican revolution: the sun doesn’t revolve around the earth; the earth revolves around the sun.

Feast of the Lord's Baptism

“Spirit of God descending like a dove” (Mt. 3:16)

The Dismissal of Christmas 2010

January 9, 2011, Feast of the Lord’s baptism
Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7 Acts 10:34-38 Matthew 3:13-17

First reading from Isaiah

Thus says the Lord: “Here is my servant, whom I strengthen—the one I have chosen and with whom I am pleased. I have filled Him with my spirit, and He will bring justice to every nation. He will not shout or raise His voice or make loud speeches in the streets. He will not break off a bent reed nor put out a flickering lamp. He will bring lasting justice to all. I, the Lord, have called you and given you power to see that justice is done on earth. Through you I will make a covenant with all peoples. Through you I will bring light to the Gentiles. You will open the eyes of the blind and set free those who sit in dark prisons.”

The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Glory to you, Lord.

Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?” But Jesus replied, “Let it be so now. For in this way we shall do all that God requires.” So then John baptized Jesus. After His baptism, as soon as He came up from the water, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
----------------
Introduction
Christmas 2010 come and gone

With the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism, we say good-by to Christmas 2010. The three Kings have come and gone. The Christmas tree has been defrocked and thrown out on the curb. The poinsettias stubbornly hold on for dear life. Christmas long awaited has come and gone. Tomorrow the liturgical clock is turned back to Ordinary Time. Then we will trudge along in the deep snows of winter until Ash Wednesday (March 9th), when we will enter again into the Extraordinary Time of Lent in preparation for Easter (April 24th ) 2011.

Baptism: a ritual washing

Hebrews 9:10 mentions various ritual washings which were an important part of the Old Testament system, and the Greek word used there for those washings, which were proverbial in the Old Testament, is baptismos. Chapters 15 and 16 of Leviticus are replete with ritual cleansings. On the Day of Atonement, when the high priest was allowed to enter into the holy of holies, he had to take off his linen garments and wash (baptize) his body with water. (Lv. 16:23-24) In the New Testament the Pharisees and teachers of the Law carried ritual washings to a ridiculous extreme as they insisted upon the ritual washing not only of people but also of such things as cups, jugs, kettles and beds. (Mk 7:4)

Jesus’ baptism -- problematic

People come to John to confess their sins, and to be ritually washed with water by him. They go home dripping wet but feeling clean in a way they never felt before. Word spreads and soon everybody is coming to be baptized -- to be ritually cleansed by John. Mind you, even Jesus Himself, of whom 1 Peter 2:22 says “He committed no sin,” and of whom Hebrews 4:15 says “He was tempted like us in every way but did not sin,” – even that sinless One comes to be washed by John!

Baptizing Jesus - washing Him clean - is problematic for John, and also for us. He and we wonder why this sinless Jesus needed to be ritually cleansed by John. In essence John says to Jesus, “Look, I need to be baptized by you. I’m the sinner here! Why are you coming to me?” But Jesus replies, “Let it be so now. For in this way we shall do all that God requires.”

A preacher who wants to know what other people think about the baptism of Jesus blogged the following:

What really does Jesus’ baptism mean? I’d like to know, and I’d like to know before this Sunday when I preach on Jesus’ baptism. I have an idea, but if you have one I wish you would share it with me, and preferably before Saturday night! Just click on the word “comments” below and tell me why Jesus was baptized. The winner might be (could be, may be) mentioned in Sunday’s sermon!

Jesus’ baptism: identification with sinners

A possible and perhaps partial answer to the problematic baptism of Jesus is this: When He allowed Himself to be ritually cleansed by John, He was identifying with sinners whom He came to save. (Is 53:12) Though he was without sin, He became one with sinners who needed to repent. (Heb. 2:17) Though there was no sin in Him, there was, indeed, sin on Him: the sins of the world were on Him. The sinless Lamb of God bore our sins, and when He was washed clean by John, all of us sinners were washed clean with and in Him.

Our baptism also problematic

Not only is Jesus’ baptism problematic, our baptism also has its problems. At the end of the day, we ask what is it that is washed away in us by the waters of baptism? The traditional answer says that it is the sin of our first parents Adam and Eve, which we inherit by our very birth into the human family that’s washed away. But modern psychiatry cringes at the thought that we can be conceived and born with someone else’s sin on our souls. What’s more, it is hard to believe that the new-born babe whom we carry to the baptismal is stained with someone else’s sin.

Traditionally it’s been said that the washing with water and the anointing with holy oil in the baptismal rite make Christians different from Jews and Muslims. Whether baptism makes us significantly different is an open question. Because of his close contact with many different people, Gregory Baum, a Jewish convert and popular theologian during Vatican II, writes, "The conviction grew in me that there was not much difference between the baptized and the non-baptized.” Jews, Christians and Muslims, he writes, all have basically the same hopes and despairs, loves and hates, defeats and victories. They all display the same selfishness and generosity, the same pettiness and heroism. (Journeys by Baum)

Our baptism: anointed to make a difference

A new generation of theologians, while not denying Original Sin, seeks a more plausible understanding of it. It prefers to say that we are not born with sin, but rather are born into sin. That is to say, we are born into a sinful world which as a serpent lies in wait to stain the immaculate robes of our conception and birth. And the waters of baptism ritually wash the sinful world out of us, and the baptismal anointing with oil consecrates us for sacred purposes; it commissions us to go forth and make a difference on the highway of life.

Just as Jesus’ anointing commissioned Him to make a difference. One Sabbath, in his hometown synagogue, Jesus got up to read a passage from Isaiah which, He said, was fulfilled in Him: "The spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore, he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoner and recovery of sight for the blind and to release the oppressed.” (Lk 4:16; Is 61:1-2)

A parable about stopping to make a difference

Jesus crafted a magnificent parable about stopping to make a difference on the highway of life: A man going from Jerusalem to Jericho was waylaid by robbers and left half-dead. Along came a Jewish priest and Levite who didn’t stop but passed right by the wounded man. Then along came a Samaritan who slammed on the brakes of his busyness and stopped to pour the oil of compassion on the poor man’s wounds. Then he hoisted the man unto his beast of burden and hurried him off to the nearest inn where he provided for the man’s care and cure. Jesus ends that parable with the commission to “Go and do likewise.” (Lk l0: 25-37)

The Samaritan’s stopping was, indeed, a great blessing for the man waylaid by robbers. It restored him to health, and filled with gratitude he went to the Temple to thank Yahweh. The Samaritan’s stopping was also a great blessing for the Samaritan himself; it filled him with that great good feeling which comes when one has made a significant difference on the highway of life. What’s more, it turned the good man into that immortal Good Samaritan whose praises have been sung down through the centuries.

Conclusion
A quaint dismissal of Christmas

With the feast of the Lord’s baptism, we say good-by to Christmas 2010. After searching through a basketful of discarded Christmas cards looking for a particular card which had drawn my attention, I found it. It contained a quaint dismissal of the Christmas season. Slightly rewritten, it reads:

When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the three kings have returned to their villas,
when the shepherds are back in their fields,
when the Lord stands dripping wet in the waters of His baptism,
business `as usual’ is over,
and the business of our baptismal anointing begins:
to make a difference on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho.

Epiphany: the Inclusive Kindness of God

“We have seen His star in the east” (Mt 2:2)
Epiphany: the Inclusive Kindness of God

January 2, 2011, Feast of Epiphany
Isaiah 60:1-3, 5-6 Ephesians 3:1-3 Matthew 2:1-12

First reading from Isaiah

Arise Jerusalem, and shine like the sun; the glory of the Lord is shining on you! The Gentiles will be covered by darkness, but on you the light of the Lord will shine; the brightness of His presence will be with you. The Gentiles shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. The wealth of the Gentiles will be brought to you. Great caravans of camels shall come from Midian and Ephah. They will come from Sheba bringing gold and incense. People will tell the good news of what the Lord has done!

The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Second reading from Ephesians

“I, Paul, the servant of Christ, am here in jail because of you – for preaching that you Gentiles are also a part of God’s household. No doubt you already know that God has given me this special task of showing God’s favor to you Gentiles, as I briefly mentioned before in one of my letters. God Himself revealed to me this secret plan of His, hidden from former generations, that the Gentiles also are included in His kindness."(Eph 3:1-3)

The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Alleluia, alleluia.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Glory to you, Lord.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, astrologers from the east arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel[1].” Then Herod called the astrologers secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I, too, may go and do him homage.” After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

----------------
Introduction
Epiphany: East and West

Epiphany is a Greek word meaning `a manifestation’ or `a pointing to.’ In the Eastern Church Epiphany focuses on the Lord’s baptism when a heavenly voice pointed to Jesus and declared that this is “my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.” (Mt 3: 17) In the Western Church, Epiphany focuses on the adoration of three astrologers (readers of the stars and heavenly bodies) to whom a star pointed out the spot where an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes was laying in a manger. (Mt 2:1-12)

The glitz of Epiphany

In the course of time, tradition dressed up Epiphany with a lot of glitz. With Isaiah chapter 60 in mind, tradition turned the astrologers into kings, placing crowns on their heads, and loading their arms with gifts of gold and frankincense for the infant. (Is 60: 5-6) Tradition also numbered the astrologers as three, because Matthew adds a third gift of myrrh to Isaiah’s gold and frankincense, and consequently another king was needed to carry the third gift. (Mt 2:11, Is 60:6) By the middle of the 3rd century, tradition even gave the kings names: Melchior of Nubia, Caspar of Tarshish, and Baltazar of Chaldea. By the 9th century, tradition claimed that the three kings represented the whole human family: Baltazar was Asian, Caspar a white European, and Melchior was African and therefore black.

Wonderful new news!

Before Vatican II, Epiphany enjoyed a privileged status in the liturgical calendar. It was an `immovable feast’: it was always celebrated on January 6.[2] Now it may be moved to the Sunday after January 1.[3] The feast enjoyed a `privileged octave’: for eight straight days the Mass of Epiphany was repeated verbatim -- using the very same epistle, gospel, and prayers. With Vatican II, the feast lost its privileged status. Was it because the liturgical revisionists after the Council were not as wise as the wise men that the feast lost its privileged status? Was it because those revisionists viewed Epiphany as not much more than just a `cute story’ to tell our kids that the feast lost its privileged status?

There’s a lot of story and imagery in three kings wrapped in fine robes, visiting baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes. The medieval tradition which turned the astrologers into three glitzy kings from the East might delight the child in us, but it isn’t very profound. Nor is it profound to simply debunk the story. More profound than glitzing or debunking Epiphany is to go in search of its religious meaning. At the end of the day, the gospels are not historical documents; their aim is not to record history. The gospels are religious documents; their aim is to communicate religious meaning. And the religious meaning of Epiphany is the wonderful new news that “the Gentiles also are included in the kindness of God.”

The inclusion of Gentiles in the kindness of God

That indeed was new news. Up until now, everyone in the Christmas drama is exclusively Jewish. Isaiah, the great prophet of Advent, is a Jew. All the main characters (Joseph and Mary, Zachary and Elizabeth, old Anna and Simeon in the temple) are Jews. The shepherds, though unwashed and unkempt, are also Jews. Even the angels singing “Glory to God in the highest” seem to be singing in Hebrew. The lead-actor in the Christmas drama, the Messiah Himself, is for sure a Jew – “a descendant of David according to the flesh.” (Rom 1:3)

Up until now Gentiles have been missing in the drama of universal salvation. That drama awaits a last act, which comes with the arrival of Gentile astrologers. The story of a bright-shining star leading Gentiles into the Christmas drama shines with religious meaning. It bears tidings of wonderful new news that “the Gentiles also are included in the kindness of God.”

That, indeed, was new news for Jews. It was also shocking news for them, for they had always thought that they alone belonged to the household of God. Epiphany now summons them to move over and make room for Gentiles in God’s house. The drama, which began on Christmas Eve with no room in the inn for the holy family, now ends with much room for everybody. (Lk 2:7) Epiphany, that feast which makes much room for everybody, was indeed (is indeed) worthy of being granted the status of `an immovable feast’ with a `privileged octave.’

The inclusion of women in the kindness of God

In the second reading from Ephesians, Paul says that God’s intention to include also Gentiles in His kindness was “a secret plan, hidden from former generations” but revealed to him by God Himself. (Eph 3:3, 6) We wonder why in the world would God want to hide the good news of His great inclusive kindness in the first place? Did God hide that good news from the Jews of old, or did they hide it from themselves?

After attending an ordination in St. John’s Cathedral in Milwaukee, WI., some years ago Barbara Marion Horn, a feisty lass from Ireland and a theologian in her own right, wrote to Archbishop Rembert Weakland:

Your Excellency, the beauty of the music, the power of the liturgy and the ancient tradition of the laying on of hands, at moments, left me breathless. The palpable joy and strength of that occasion will always be with me. But, as is the case with a growing number of Catholics, a great sadness arose in my heart; a feeling of how wrong everything was amid the beauty, the power and the strength. The procession of male clergy across the altar reverberated throughout my body: the visible reminder that the oldest, deepest exclusion, the one we are all too accustomed to, is alive and well in the bosom of my faith community.

On the feast of Epiphany we ask who hid the good news that women also are included in the kindness of God? Did God hide that good news from society and church down through the ages? Or did a male-ridden and male-driven society and church hide it from themselves? Down through the centuries, man cleverly uses God to exclude what man wants excluded.

The inclusion of gays in the kindness of God

Fr. Mychal Judge was a devout, gay, recovering alcoholic priest who wore his Franciscan habit everywhere, and rejoiced in his vow of poverty. The holy foolishness of the first Franciscans weaved in and out of the story of his life. As a priest he often sought out and comforted people who had been rebuffed by the harness of other priests. When church authorities urged a boycott of the first gay-inclusive St. Patrick’s Day parade in Queens in 2000, Fr. Judge showed up in his Franciscan habit and sandals to march with a gay Irish group, as protesters waving rosaries heckled them. By his joining the march Fr. Mychal wanted to quietly, dignifiedly and courageously (for sure) proclaim the good news and new news that gays also are included in the kindness of God.

On the feast of Epiphany we ask who hid the good news that gays also are included in the kindness of God? Did God hide that good news down through the ages, or did homophobic society and church hide it from themselves?

Down through the ages, man has always been using God in order to justify whatever he wants to exclude. The Rev. Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, and his little gang of followers are experts in the use of God. Phelps and his gang passionately hate gays. Because the US tolerates gays, they picket the funeral of fallen US soldiers, and carry signs reading `God Hates Fags.’ God doesn’t hate gays; it is the Rev. Phelps with his gang who hates them. Their signs are a very blatant (but highly ineffectual) attempt to use God to back up their gay-bashing which they cherish so much.

Conclusion
Dismissal to the real business of Christmas

All the great religious stories (whether Jewish, Islamic or Christian) need a last act, and all need the same last act! All need a Star of Epiphany to purify them not of their diversity, uniqueness and quaintness but of their hostility, hatred and exclusive spirit. All need a feast of Epiphany to summon their adherents to move over and make room for others. And ample room there is, indeed. When Jesus came into the world the inn-keepers said to Joseph and Mary: “There is no room for you in the inn.” As He was leaving the world, He said to His disciples, "In my Father's house there is much room for everyone." (Jn 14:2)

A Christmas card of many years past bore a very meaningful dismissal of the Christmas season. It reads:

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings have returned to their villas,
When the shepherds are back in their fields,
The real business of Christmas begins:
To find the lost, to heal the broken,
To feed the hungry, to seek the path to peace,
And to worship a God who includes everyone in His kindness,
And who asks us to do the same.

[1] Prophet Micah 5:1
[2] The date of January 6 was fixed quite early in history
[3] The universal church celebrates Epiphany on January 6. In the USA it’s celebrated on the Sunday after January 1.