Author: Msgr. Charles Pope

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On Finding Out Where Home is and Staying There. Some advice from Jesus for Saving Souls and Evangelizing

There is a small bit of advice that Jesus gave his first evangelizers that we do well to heed, lest we be overwhelmed with the task of trying to evangelize a culture that has gone increasingly dark. In effect Jesus counsels:

When you enter a place, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house (Lk 10:5-7).

Note the two counsels:

1. Find out where home is and
2. Stay and work there.

A few brief thoughts on both these areas.

As for finding where home is, all of us in the Church, have both a vocational call and  some specific gifts within that call. Are you called to marriage, priesthood, religious, or perhaps a life of dedicated celibacy?

As a priest, I am a parish priest. And thus my primary work is to till the ground of my own parish, which is understood not merely as a roster of people, but a physical territory with boundaries. I, and my parish with me, are responsible to see that every human person in our boundaries has heard the call of Jesus Christ to be disciples. And, to all who will answer that call, I and my parish with me, must help to deepen the faith of one another, through Word, Sacraments and Witness. This is the “house” I am to find and stay here.

It is similar with religious, who may move about in a wider sort of way and be less territorial, but who nonetheless find their home in the charisms and apostolic work of the community they join.

Those who live the live of a kind of dedicated celibacy, (perhaps because they cannot marry, or have simply not found a suitable marriage partner) need to find “home” by assessing the gifts God has given them and using them in a focused sort of way, whether in a specific place or manner.

If you are married, your primary responsibility is your spouse and children, any grandchildren, and to some degree, your wider family. Evangelization is most essential here. This is the house your are to find and stay there.

But note, in all these areas, the key is to find out where “home” is and stay there. It is to find out where and what God has called me to do and do that with stability and regularity.

It is too easy for us to get out of our lane, and range far from home. And this leads to several problems.

Problem of the Perfunctory – We can cast our net too widely, and become involved in too many pursuits, or in too many far flung places. If we are not careful, our work for the Lord ends up being a thousand miles wide and only two inches thick. Depth is often more important that width.

Problem of Proximity – It may well be argued that our culture has suffered such a rapid decline because there is too much mobility, and cultivating the deeper relationships necessary to handing on the faith and culture are largely absent. Even members of nuclear families spend little real time together. Parishes too have very ephemeral memberships, and often experience little continuity in leadership. No one knows where home is anymore. But that is where the faith is cultivated. There is a lot to be said for proximity and stability.

Problem of Pride – Finally there is a sense in which not staying in our lane leads us into others lanes. In particular today there is the problem of easily critiquing the vineyard of others, but not tending our own. It is easy for a priest to critique the Bishop or bishops, and yet his won parish has serious problems. It is easy to critique the pastor or bishop for the poor condition of the Church or even the culture, and yet, meanwhile, some of those who critique have numerous family members who are away from the faith, living in sin and disorder.

Yes, when we fail to stay in our own lane and work our own issues, it is so much easier to find fault with others. The best course is to find out where home is and stay and work there, to find our lane and stay in it. To be clear, some mutual critique is necessary and helpful, but only if offered in the humility and experience of having worked and struggled in one’s own vineyard.

There is a second sense of staying it might be of some value to pursue. For another of our modern tendencies is to want quick results, and to give up easily when results are not fairly instant. In this since we do well to ponder another meaning of the Lord’s command to stay.

We sometimes speak in English of “Staying in the conversation.” Generally this means that we appreciate that persuasion, and drawing someone to some aspect of the truth, is not often accomplished merely in one moment. Rather a conversation stretching over many sessions, even weeks for years is sometimes necessary bring about the kind of consensus we seek in the truth of Jesus Christ.

One sermon, class or talk is seldom enough to draw forth sudden and instant conversion. Rather, the ongoing conversation of a lifetime is what it really takes to prepare us to meet God.

This is also true in our desire to draw others to the faith, especially those closest to us. Ongoing conversation, and the deepening of relationships is usually what it takes to effect lasting conversion.

Thus, in this sense, when the Lord says “stay,”  he means “persevere.” When a farmer plants a seed, he would be foolish to expect a harvest the very next day. Rather, the seed having been planted, it is now necessary to cultivate around the seed, see that the field is irrigated, and the crop is kept safe from the poison of disease and insects. It is an ongoing work which, by God’s grace yields and abundant fruit in due season.

The human person of course may require more than a season. All the more reason that we must stay in the conversation with others.

Indeed, sometimes we must be content to plant seeds that others will harvest. As a priest, I have sometimes had the joy of harvesting where others have planted. Perhaps there is a knock at the rectory door and someone returns to the Church after 30 years away to make a confession. I am simply bringing in the harvest someone else planted. I am continuing conversation to someone else began.

In my parish, as we go out in the neighborhood and knock on doors, or witness in the local park, we experience both the planting of the seed, and also sometimes the harvest. Sometimes too we are engaged in cultivating. For some only grudgingly accept our invitation for a moment of their time, and we are breaking hard ground to plant seed. In other cases, some joyfully receive us and tell us how their mother was Catholic or their  spouse and that they are happy to join us in prayer, or  for the Mass on Sunday. Still others are not ready for the harvest, but we are able to cultivate a bit, perhaps clearing out the weeds of misinformation or misunderstanding, or showing for the smiling supportive face of the Church, where as they had been hurt in the past.

But all of us need to be willing to initiate and stay in the conversation in our families, our parishes, and wherever the Lord calls us to work.

Mad, Sad, Glad – Finally, one of the things I have discovered as a priest is that, as our culture has become more secular, and soft, many biblical themes are  shocking when people hear them, often for the first time, or for the first time in a long number of years.

When I was first ordained, people often called me “a different sort of priest.” This was because I spoke of things that many of them had not heard from the mouth of the priest for many, many years, or ever. I trained myself to preach by listening to everything Bishop Fulton Sheen had ever uttered, or written. I had also listened to a great number of Protestant evangelical preachers. And thus when I preached, I spoke in the terminology of the “old-time religion.”  I warned of death, and judgment, heaven and hell. I spoke plainly of the reality of mortal sin, and the need for confession and repentance.  And I named certain sins such as contraception, fornication, abortion. I also took plainly the meaning of the Lord’s words it if we did not learn to forgive, we would not be forgiven and that we ought to develop a holy Fear of the Lord.

And speaking in this way, I noticed that people at first were quite shocked. A few were pleased, but many more were angered and dismayed. They had grown accustomed to the abstractions and generalities of common Catholic preaching in the 70s and 80s. In those years there was a  sort of unwritten rule among Catholic preachers to do no harm, and offend no one, ever, under any circumstances.

Despite early push-back from parishioners and some fellow clergy, something in me (I pray it was the Lord rather than my pride) told me to stay in the conversation, to not give up. I figured it might take time, but the people would get used, once again, to hearing basic biblical and Catholic terminology. And largely, I have found this to be true.

Today, when I first go to a parish, people don’t often know what to make of me. But, to their praise, most of them stay in the conversation, And little by little, we both day and I move forward To re-appropriate the  biblical vision that had become somewhat obscured in these secular and soft times. There tends to be a kind of cycle where they go from mad, to sad, to glad, at least collectively speaking. Some never adjust and, while denying that I should mention Hell, tell me to go there 🙂 But, most people readjust to God’s truth just fine. By God’s grace too, many younger priests with the similar thinking have also emerged to do this work of speaking again in strong and clear biblical terminology.

So, if you are a parent, or family member, a priest or religious, it is important for all of us to learn how to stay in the conversation, and to be patient with one another as we try in stages to grow in a holy conversation. All of us need to accustom our ears to hear the unvarnished Word of God, and also to have our lips trained to speak it clearly and with love.

It is a process that takes time on both sides of the equation. And thus the Lord says to us today, Find out where home is and stay there;  find your part of the kingdom to cultivate your part of the culture to convert. Find your gifts and use them. And in doing this, stay put, persevere, have the long run in mind, develop deeper relationships, and stay in the conversation.

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On The Mystery of Iniquity, in times like these. A Meditation in the Wake of Boston Bombings

041513Some years ago I worked in a parish with Religious Sister from radicalized and dying order. And she had all the usual aliments of radicalized women religious which, for brevity I will not recite here. But Among her ailments was the denial of the doctrine of Original Sin.

She had read a book published in those years by a radicalized priest, named Matthew Fox, who has since left the Catholic Priesthood. And in his book, Original Blessing, he denied Original Sin an proposed that we were all basically good, and that the concept of a cosmic fall, was negative not only to Man but also to creation. Frankly it is hard to distinguish Fox’s overall views from simple Pantheism. This is no place or time to recite his manifold errors here.

But poor Sister X (we’ll call her) she sat in a gathering of parishioners and outright denied Original Sin and declared that we are all basically good. As a young priest, though resistant to correcting an elderly person in public,  I rushed to defend Church teaching and correct her erroneous teaching in that meeting.

Later I took her aside and questioned her: “You cannot possibly be serious about this are you?” With wild gesticulations of dismissiveness, she declared, “Oh you young priests are all so negative! I grew up in the bad old Church and you’re trying to bring all that back….All you think about is sin. Do you really think some apple in a tree caused some terrible fall?”

Hmm…, I said, “I don’t think it was so much the apple in the tree as it was the pair on the ground. I think that’s where the sin was. But seriously Sister, sin is a pretty significant problem, yet it does supply a kind of necessary premise to grace and mercy, don’t you think? I mean, if were all so good, and basically in good shape, who needs Jesus and what was he doing on that Cross? It is also clear to me Sister that you have never raised children!”

What I meant by this was that even the youngest “innocent” children, show forth the deep wounds left by Original Sin that the Church calls “concupiscence.” I find it remarkable, having observed my youngest brother (who was ten years younger than I) as he emerged from infancy, and other children as well, that there are enormous issues with selfishness, temper, anger and rebellion right from the start. The “terrible twos” are called that for a reason. Meltdowns are common in young children, temper tantrums, clenched fists,  and red faces are not rare.

Yes, there are very deep wounds in the human heart, and they are not merely acquired by bad experiences, they seem present right from the start. Baptism takes away the source of the problem, but the many wounds need life long healing, especially since we “pick at the scabs” through life.

So I was on an errand with Sister. Every day for several weeks I brought her the Newspaper filled with stories of treachery, crime, corruption, sex scandals, murder, gang violence, you name it. And I said, “Sister, if it isn’t Original Sin, what is it?! Come on, you have to admit that there is something basically wrong with us as a human family!”

“Oh,” she said, “They are not depraved, they are just deprived.” Lovely, I thought, so now we’re quoting musicals (West Side Story) for our authority, instead of Scripture or the Church. It is true that Catholicism does not teach the “utter depravity” of the human person as do some Protestant sects, but that does not mean all is well either.

As we saw in yesterday’s Boston bombings, the cause of which is still largely unknown as I write, there is a great tendency toward evil in the human family, a tendency to which people are drawn to grater or lesser degrees, but a tendency that afflicts us all at some level. This concupiscence is a wound that needs healing.

At present there is the outworking of something Scripture calls “the mystery of iniquity” (2 Thess 2:7). There is evil in this world, and we are strangely drawn to it. Indeed, in these dark times we often celebrate it by calling “good” was God calls sin. We also turn it into a form of entertainment through pornography and violent movies and games. We glamorize gangsters, and “bad boys” in the hood. Illicit sexual union receives sympathetic treatment even outright exultation.

Yes, there is evil, sin and darkness in this world we are strangely attracted to it. We live in a fallen world, governed by a fallen angel, with our own fallen natures. As Boston reminds us, we need to be sober about the reality of sin and about our need for grace and mercy. Without grace and mercy, Hell begins now, and gets only worse. Only grace and mercy can really heal us.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has some important things to say about Original Sin that may be helpful in the wake of yesterday’s explosion of evil. Since this may be a sort of teachable moment about the “Mystery of Iniquity” let us listen to some excerpts from the wisdom and heart of Mother Church:

Sin is present in human history; any attempt to ignore it or to give this dark reality other names would be futile….Only the light of divine Revelation clarifies the reality of sin and particularly of the sin committed at mankind’s origins. Without the knowledge Revelation gives of God we cannot recognize sin clearly and are tempted to explain it as merely a developmental flaw, a psychological weakness, a mistake, or the necessary consequence of an inadequate social structure, etc…

The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man. Revelation gives us the certainty of faith that the whole of human history is marked by the original fault freely committed by our first parents.  Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God,…Scripture witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls “a murderer from the beginning.”…Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God’s command. This is what man’s first sin consisted of. All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness. (#s 386-398 selected)

Scripture portrays the tragic consequences of this first disobedience. Adam and Eve immediately lose the grace of original holiness. They become afraid of the God of whom they have conceived a distorted image – that of a God jealous of his prerogatives. …The harmony in which they had found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control of the soul’s spiritual faculties over the body is shattered; the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions, their relations henceforth marked by lust and domination.

Harmony with creation is broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to man. Because of man, creation is now subject “to its bondage to decay”. Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this disobedience will come true: man will “return to the ground”, for out of it he was taken. Death makes its entrance into human history. (# 400)

After that first sin, the world is virtually inundated by sin There is Cain’s murder of his brother Abel and the universal corruption which follows in the wake of sin. Likewise, sin frequently manifests itself in the history of Israel, especially as infidelity to the God of the Covenant and as transgression of the Law of Moses. And even after Christ’s atonement, sin raises its head in countless ways among Christians.

Scripture and the Church’s Tradition continually recall the presence and universality of sin in man’s history: What Revelation makes known to us is confirmed by our own experience. For when man looks into his own heart he finds that he is drawn towards what is wrong and sunk in many evils which cannot come from his good creator.

Often refusing to acknowledge God as his source, man has also upset the relationship which should link him to his last end, and at the same time he has broken the right order that should reign within himself as well as between himself and other men and all creatures. (#s 400-401)

Following St. Paul, the Church has always taught that the overwhelming misery which oppresses men and their inclination towards evil and death cannot be understood apart from their connection with Adam’s sin and the fact that he has transmitted to us a sin with which we are all born afflicted, a sin which is the “death of the soul”. Because of this certainty of faith, the Church baptizes for the remission of sins even tiny infants who have not committed personal sin. (# 403)

Original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam’s descendants. It is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it, subject to ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin – an inclination to evil that is called “concupiscence”.

Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ’s grace, erases original sin and turns a man back towards God, but the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle.  The whole of man’s history has been the story of dour combat with the powers of evil, stretching, so our Lord tells us, from the very dawn of history until the last day. Finding himself in the midst of the battlefield man has to struggle to do what is right, and it is at great cost to himself, and aided by God’s grace, that he succeeds in achieving his own inner integrity. (#s 405, 409).

The doctrine of original sin is, so to speak, the “reverse side” of the Good News that Jesus is the Savior of all men, that all need salvation and that salvation is offered to all through Christ. The Church, which has the mind of Christ, knows very well that we cannot tamper with the revelation of original sin without undermining the mystery of Christ. (# 389)

So there it is. The clear water of faith. Whatever the details we learn about the Boston Bombings in the days ahead, this is the back-story. A story of a terrible fall, a grave wound in the human heart that leads to an obtuse spirit and inclination to evil. Jesus alone can heal and save us from this present evil age (Gal 1:4).

Lord, Jesus: For the sake of thy sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!

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Fighting fear with Fear – A Meditation on the Healing Gift of the Fear of the Lord

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091014In the first reading from yesterday’s (Sunday) liturgy from the Acts of the Apostles (Full text here) we encounter Apostles and see that they are changed men. Prior to Pentecost, these had been frightened man, men who fled at the sight of trouble, en who could not be (except for John) found anywhere near the foot of the Cross. Even after the resurrection, these were men who gathered only behind locked doors “for fear of the Jews.”

But in this reading, which took place at yesterday’s liturgy, we see men who are no longer afraid. The Holy Spirit has quickened their faith and courage. In this passage, having been arrested for speaking of Jesus, then miraculously released by the angel of the Lord, we find them right back in the public square announcing Jesus. The  temple leaders having apprehended them yet again, say to them, We gave you strict orders [did we not?] to stop teaching in that name. Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching (Acts 5:28). In response to the is second arrest, the Apostles once again display courage, also known as  “Foritude,” one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which they had received it Pentecost. But, in effect, they root their courage in another of the seven gifts, the gift of the “Fear the Lord.”  They say, We must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29)

Note therefore how their confidence, their courage, is paradoxically rooted in Fear. It is not a cringing fear, but rather, a holy Fear, the Fear of the Lord. In effect, the Apostles fight fear with fear. More specifically, they conquer unholy fear with Holy Fear.

What is the fear the Lord? It is, as we have already noted, not a cringing fear, a fear merely rooted in servile anxiety about consequences or punishments. Rather, the Fear the Lord is the gift to hold God in awe. It is a gift, rooted in love of Him. Because I love God, love him with all my heart, I want to please him, obey him. I hold him in loving awe and respect, and I fear offending him who has  loved me so, and done so much for me. We do not have time to fully set forth here the biblical basis for this definition of the Fear the Lord. But I have written elsewhere on this and have analyzed quite extensively a biblical understanding of what is meant by the fear of the Lord. You can read it here: Understanding the Fear of the Lord and here: Studying the Fear of the Lord in the Psalms

Our context in this post, is that to Fear the Lord, as is counseled and commanded of us in Scripture, is not some mere egocentric demand of of a demanding God.  Rather, it is his loving way of both simplifying our life, (making it about one thing), and also, by this Holy Fear,  of helping us to cancel and diminish all other fears.

For if I truly fear the Lord, and to the degree that this becomes a reality not just a slogan in my life, but I really Fear him, I do not need to fear anyone else, and  my life also becomes simpler because I do not have to please ten thousand people, but only my loving Father in heaven.

But as it is, many of us struggle to experience this  magnificent gift of the Holy Spirit, called the fear the Lord, because we either have resisted it or have not laid hold of it. And on this account, our fears are many, our lives are disordered and focused on many things, rather than one thing. Because we have not received the gift and the desire to please and Fear God, we end up trying to please everyone, and our fears  multiply because there are many contradictory and contrary demands by the ten thousand voices we seek to please and pacify.

Jesus speaks to this grave condition by saying, No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (Mat 6:24). To be frank, our condition is far worse than simply trying to serve two masters. Most of us have many more masters, and our lives are too easy dominated by many anxieties and fears, rooted in many contradictory, complex and conflicting priorities, given by the many different people, groups, and ideologies we seek to please, placate and serve.

The book of James says, The double minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8). Would that we were simply double-minded, but in today’s complex situations we are often divided fifty-fold, even a hundredfold:  so many things to do, so many people to please. Frankly, too many of us are afraid of everyone and everything. What if person A is displeased with me?! But what if pleasing person A displeases person B,  and how will I explain things to person C?!! And thus our lives are divided, anxious, full of fears.

The Lord’s plan is to fight fear with Fear. His plan is to fight unholy fear with Holy Fear. God’s loving plan is, in effect, Fear me, reverence, respect and seek to please me out of love, and you will be less obsessed with what others think. “Yes,” says the Lord,  come to know me, not as some stranger, some abstract Deity running the universe, come to know me as your Father, someone who loves you, someone whom you deeply reverence and want to please. And to the degree that this happens in your life, that you receive this anointing of the Holy Spirit, this gift of the Holy Spirit called the Fear the Lord, you will be set free from ten thousand other fears and anxieties.

And this leads us back to the Apostles in Sunday’s reading. A mere few weeks ago they were frightened, even terrified men,  behind locked doors. Now they boldly go about preaching Christ and him crucified. What happened to them? The Holy Spirit has happened, and in particular, His gifts of courage (fortitude), and the Fear the Lord. And thus the apostles are boldly able to speak to those who demand their loyalty, demand obedience, and they say We must obey God rather than men.

They say this with serenity because they’ve come to know the Father, have come to know Jesus and the power the Holy Spirit. Fearing God, they no longer fear any weapon waged against them, they no longer fear any man. And this is how fear is fought with Fear. One Fear eclipses all others fears. It is Holy Fear, loving Fear, yes, even a joyful Fear. When I fear God I need fear no one else. When I kneel before God, I can stand before any man.

Here then is the gift of the fear the Lord. Seek it, lay hold of it, allow it to have its effects. If we can do this, so many other fears go away, so many other conflicts are resolved. When we need to please only One, we no longer need to please many. When we Fear one, the fear the others goes away.

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Back to the Future – A Meditation on the Gospel for the Third Sunday of Easter

041313The gospel today, is really quite remarkable. For, despite the fact that the apostles seeing Jesus risen from the dead several times now, we see in them a kind of retreat into the past. They’re going backwards, and Jesus must summon them, if you pardon the expression, “Back to the Future.”

Plainly stated, they were going back to fishing, but the Lord had called them away from fishing, and pointed them to the future, a future that included going to all the nations and summoning them to saving faith.

Thus, this is a critical gospel that shows us that Jesus summoning them back to their crucial call, a call that has its focus not in the past but in the future. Indeed, fellow believer, if this gospel had not gone right, your faith and mine might well have been in jeopardy. To make it plain, you and I are the future the Jesus sought to preserve in this crucial gospel. Our own coming to the faith depends on whether Jesus is able to summon Peter and the other apostles back to the future.

Lets look at this gospel in four stages.

I. Regrettable Reversal–the text says, At that time, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Now let us be clear, Peter had no business going back to fishing. The Lord had called him away from fishing. For example, Back in Matthew’s Gospel, we read, And he said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Immediately, they left their nets and followed him. (Mat 4:19)

But here, we see Peter going back to commercial fishing. And lets be clear, this is not some sort of recreational fishing, their commercial nets are out! It is astonishing to think that after having seen Jesus risen from the dead on at least two occasions, possibly more, that they’re going back to fishing!

We often think that if we were to see miracles, our faith would be strong. But, there is very little evidence for this. Many who see signs and wonders, wonder if what they have seen can be topped. Their fascination is engaged, but not their faith. Ultimately, faith produces miracles, it is not the result of it.

Peter’s return to fishing, is not only regrettable, it is scandalous. For in so doing, others say to him, “We will also go with you.” Too often, when we backslide, we bring others with us. More positively, if we grow in holiness, we will also bring others with us. Sadly, Peter is backslidden, and others follow him. As we shall see, the Lord will not abandon his church.

And while we may wonder at St. Peter. The fact is, we too easily backslide. We praise Jesus with our mouth, and yet from the same mouth come curses and gossip. We claim that we belong to Christ, are one body with him, are a Temple of the Holy Spirit, and yet, too often, from the same body comes forth fornication and other sexual impurity. We say that God is love, and yet from us to easily come anger and hatred and a lack of love for the poor and the troubled.

The things we have been called away from, we too easily run back to. The Lord points forward, but we run backward.

So often, as with the disciples in this gospel, the Lord must stand on the shore of our baptismal waters, and call us out of the past, and back into the future, a future of holiness and perfection. Too easily we run from this. But the Lord is faithful, and as we shall see, stands on the shore and calls us back. Would that we could say, in the words of an old Gospel song:  Goodbye world, I stay no longer with you, goodbye pleasures of sin, I stayed along with you! I’ve made up my mind to go God’s way the rest of my life! Another old gospel song from the 1940s says, No more, no more! I’ll never turn back no more! I’m going to keep on crossing till I reach the other shore. Rains may come, floods may roar, storms may race, and winds may blow, but I’ll never turn back, no more!

Would that this were the case,. But as it is, and as we shall see, the Lord keeps calling calling from the shore,  out onto the waves of our discontent.

II. Redeeming reminder – the text says, When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish.

The Lord stands on the shore and rehearses for them what he had done for them some three years earlier, when he called them from fishing to evangelizing. He does not excoriate them, call them fools or some other epitaph. He calls out to them, “Children…have you caught anything?!” And rather than rebuke them, he asked them to assess the data, whether the course of action they have chosen has yielded anything at all. They admit that they’ve caught nothing.

And yet, strangely, this whole incident seems familiar! For the Lord tells him to cast the net elsewhere and that they would find something. And suddenly the nets are full! Oh how this spoke to their hearts! It was just when it happened three years ago! Scripture says,

And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. (Luke 5:4ff)

St. John draws the obvious conclusion, “It is the Lord!”  The Lord has given them a redeeming reminder. He does not rebuke them, he has only reminded them. In effect, he says “Come out of the past! Remember the future to which I have summoned you, a future of going forth to the nations in announcing the Gospel for all to hear. Your life is not about fish, is about humanity!”

What reminders has the Lord put you in your life? How has he stood on the shore and called to you with some reminder? Perhaps it was a tattered old Bible, or perhaps an old hymn that you heard. Perhaps it was grandmother’s old rosary beads stored away in a dresser drawer. Perhaps you are summoned to a funeral or wedding.

Somehow, in moments like these, the Lord stands on the shore of  life and calls to you. He reminds you of your call, and wonders whether your present course is done anything for you whatsoever. Usually, it has not. Perhaps there is fleeting wealth or momentary popularity, but otherwise little else to show for it.

And thus, the Lord calls. He calls us back to the future, a future and a present oriented toward heaven. Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, seek the things that are above, rather than the earth below (Colossians 3:1).

Yes, Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me. See on  the portals he’s waiting and watching, watching for you and for me; Come home, come home! Ye who are weary come home! Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling oh sinner come home!  

Here then, is a redeeming reminder Jesus calling, softly and tenderly: come out of the past, come away from commercial fishing, look to future, the future of saving souls!

III. Reorienting Repast– the text says, When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.” So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish. This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He then said to Simon Peter a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” Jesus said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that Jesus had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

Now in this somewhat lengthy passage, notice three basic elements whereby the Lord uses a meal, or a repast, to reorient them. To “reorient,” literally, means to turn someone back to the East, back toward the rising of the sun (Son), back toward the light and away from the dark. Re (again) +  oriens (East) = back to the East, back to the light.

Note first, the FISH are in is are plentiful numbers. But the number, 153, has significance more for humanity, then for fish. While much ink has been spilled on the significance of this number, the most likely explanation seems to be that this was the number of known nations at the time. And hence, that 153 fish are caught exactly, seems to be the Lord’s way of saying, “Not fish, but humanity, all the nations!” Hence we see that God can even use our sins, our backsliding, and turn it to  something he is called us away from, yes he can use our sins to be a teachable moment.

Notice next, the FIRE. As Peter comes onshore, we note that he sees a fire. And though the text is silent, it must’ve unnerved him! For here was a charcoal fire, the same sort of fire in the courtyard of Caiaphas the high priest wherein Peter had denied the Lord (Jn 18:18). Hurt, and unnerved by what he had done, or rather, failed to do,  Peter felt unworthy, and was still deeply troubled by the sin he committed in denying the Lord. Yes, this fire reminded him.

And yet, even his repentance is somewhat egocentric. It would seem, he wonders, “How could I have done this, I who promise the Lord to be with him even if all should rage against him!” And yet, in moment of cowardice, Peter denied the Lord. Oh yes, this fire, this charcoal fire, is bothersome indeed! The Lord stands next to it it looks to Peter much as he had done in the courtyard of Caiaphas when, after Peter denied him for the third time, the text says that Jesus turned and looked at Peter (Lk 22:61). How this fire bothered him!

And the FRANKNESS – But now ensues a tender, poignant, and powerful conversation. To us to read only English, the conversation focuses on the fact that three times, the Lord asked Peter, “Do you love me?” But in Greek, there are subtleties that we easily miss.

For the Lord does not ask Peter simply, “Do you love me?” And Peter answers, “Yes Lord, I love you.” No, the Greek text is more subtle and more specific. In Greek, the Lord asked Peter, Σίμων Ἰωάννου, ἀγαπᾷς με πλέον τούτων (Simon Joannou agapas me pleon touton? – Simon Son of John, do you Love (agapas) me more than these? ). Note therefore the request for agape love. But Peter replies, in the Greek text, κύριε, σὺ οἶδας ὅτι φιλῶ σε. (Kyrie, su oidas oti philo se – Lord, you know that I have brotherly (philo) love for you.

And thus we see, that the Lord asked for a agape love, a love that is the highest love, wherein we love God above all things, and above all people, including ourselves. But Peter does not answer, with agape love, but rather says, that he loves the Lord in a brotherly (phileo) sort of a way. And this is far short of what the Lord asked. (I realize there are debates about the Greek here, but am convinced that the two different verb forms are significant. More on the debate here: Agape vs Philo in John 21).

But despite this, the Lord has still has something important for St. Peter to do so. He says to him, despite his imperfect love, “Feed my lambs!”

A second time, the same dialogue sets up wherein the Lord asked Peter, Σίμων Ἰωάννου, ἀγαπᾷς με (Simon son of John, do you love (agapas) me?   Peter  responds, κύριε, σὺ οἶδας ὅτι φιλῶ σε (Lord you know that I have affectionate (philo = bortherly) love for you.”  But here too, the Lord had asked for unconditional, an ultimate love, but Peter can only return a lesser love, a brotherly love, a sort of affection. Yet again, the Lord does not reject Peter. He accepts what Peter has, and says to him still “Tend my sheep.”

Yet in the third  occasion, Jesus, accepting what Peter is able to offer ask him the third time, Σίμων Ἰωάννου, φιλεῖς με; (Simon, son of John, do you have affection (phileis) for me?  The third question,  which strikes Peter to the heart, causes him to exclaim that he  (only) has brotherly love. Yet again the Lord does not reject him, but rather assigns him, saying once again, feed my lambs.”

Here, is perhaps one of the most poignant, beautiful, and honest moments in Scripture. The Lord looking with love to a disciple, asking them for the highest love, and that disciple honestly answering, “I have only imperfect love to offer you.” For the first time in his life, perhaps, Peter is being absolutely honest. No more posing here, no more bragging. Only an honest answer, born in sober appreciation of his human lapses. There is nothing more beautiful than honest prayer. For honesty is a prelude to healing. Jesus accepts what Peter can offer, and as we shall see, promises him his heart will expand so that, one day, Peter will love the Lord totally, unconditionally, above all things, and above all people.

How about you? Are you hones with the Lord? Have you experienced his love in spite of your sin? Do you know he can use you even in your weakness if you are will to be hones with him?

IV–Required Remedy– the text says  Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”

In this whole conversation, the Lord’s purpose is not to stalk Peter, or to badger him. Rather it is to lead him toward a necessary remedy, and point him back toward the future, a future filled with evangelical fervor, and sacrificial love. He  is week now, but the Lord will give him strength and, within ten days after his Ascension, the Holy Spirit will come and Peter will be quickened, strengthened in the faith.

But even here, the work the Lord needs to do is not finished, for the Lord speaks of the day, when Peter will finally have the grace to accept martyrdom. It will be a day, when someone will tie him fast and lead him off to where he would rather not go. But he will go! And he will die for Christ.

Finally Peter will be able to say, without any simulation or exaggeration, I love you Lord totally, with agape love, I love you above all things, above all people, and above my own very life.

For now, he is not ready, but the Lord will lead him by stages, and get him ready. Peter will one day be able to say I love you with agape, with total, with unconditional love, above all things, above all people, above my very self!

How will Peter get there? How will we get there?  The Lord says simply, “Follow me.”

So, fellow disciple, the Lord leads you to deeper love, to unconditional love, to love above all other loves! Only the Lord can do this. He did it for Peter, a hard case actually, and he can do it for you!

For now, He is standing on the shore and calling us to a richer future:

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An Allegory of the Truth and an Important Warning in a Creative Video

The video below is a kind of allegory on the truth. In the video the truth is symbolized by a “Lutin” an small caretaker of a house who orders everything and keeps it clean. And this is what truth does.

Enter a woman, harsh and mean. She has just bought the house and enters upon on it. Disdain is written all over her.

She is a symbol for the modern West and those who reject truth and disdainfully hurl overboard even the most obvious parameters of truth in the Natural Law, let alone the truth of the Scripture.

Observing the house all in order, she moves through scoffing. To her it is old, outdated, and she begins to disrupt its order. Her first encounter with truth, symbolized by Lutin, is to see him, wince, conclude he is ugly, and throw him in the trash.

But the truth won’t be so easily shown the door! I am mindful of an old quote by, of all people, Elvis Presley who said, Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t goin’ away.

Truth, the Lutin, responds by returning quietly and restoring order as she moves about disrupting and disdaining the order and sanity of the house. Yes, he does so quietly at first. But seeing this woman is a hard case he reveals himself and offers her his hand in friendship. She rejects him and continues her destructive rampage, seeking to oust him and his influence.

He seeks her conversion by issuing various small punishments, hoping to bring her to her senses and then once again offers friendship. But outraged she seeks only to kill him. Sadly she succeeds. But in killing the truth, she sees the destruction of everything. For truth had sustained the house and ordered it. Now, having wholly and finally rejected the truth, complete destruction and chaos ensues. All order is lost and fundamental structures collapse.

Welcome to the 21st Century West which, having rejected the most basic and fundamental truths about God, the sacredness of human life, the meaning of human sexuality, marriage, and family, and the need for self-control, is seeing all the basic structures collapse. Of these times Jesus said:

But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matt 7:26-27)

Here is a video that powerfully illustrates the Lord’s warning.

And of Lutin, the personified truth quietly at work sustaining and ordering the home, I am mindful of a quote on the truth by the Ancient Philospoher of India, Chanakya: The earth is supported by the power of truth; it is the power of truth that makes the sun shine and the winds blow; indeed all things rest upon truth.

Surely for us Christians we know the Truth of whom Chanakya speaks: Jesus, who said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” He is the Logos, who sustains all things in Himself showing forth the logike (logic) and order in all things. (cf John 1: 3; Col 1:17).

Did this Woman, successfully kill the truth? Of course not. But the truth is dead to her and she suffers the consequences of the dismissal she has made. And thus for us in the West, God is still calling, reaching out the hand of truth. But, like this woman, we in the West are experiencing the increasing consequences of our collective rejection, even hatred of the truth revealed by God in his Word, Sacred Tradition, and in his creation.

And though perchance the West does fully collapse, yet the truth lives on. The truth will out. I am mindful of the words of the Dr. Martin Luther King:

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

Enjoy and learn from the video.

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Clarity with Charity – A Meditation on the 8th Commandment

041113-pope-2The Eighth Commandment, You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, proclaims the splendor and the beauty of the truth. It is not often that we hear of the truth described in this way but consider how precious and essential a foundation the truth is for our lives. One of the dangers, when it comes to commandments is that we see them merely as prohibitions. So for example here, we might think, “OK, I’m not supposed to lie.” Well, yes, but the Commandment is more than that! It is an exhortation for us to love the truth, live the truth, and proclaim the truth. Let’s look at some of the implications and distinctions regarding this Commandment.

I. The first implication of the Eighth Commandment is that we should love the truth, for it is of God and that we should seek to live the truth in our lives. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says,

Christians must be dedicated to the truth and live according to it. The Old Testament attests that God is the source of all truth. His Word is truth. His Law is truth. His “faithfulness endures to all generations.”[Ps 119:90; Prov 8:7; 2 Sam 7:28; Ps 119:142] Since God is “true,” the members of his people are called to live in the truth. To follow Jesus is to live in “the Spirit of truth,” whom the Father sends in his name and who leads “into all the truth.”[Jn 16:13] To his disciples Jesus teaches the unconditional love of truth: “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes or No.'”[Mt 5:37] (Catechism 2465, 2466).

So, we are to witness to it by word and deed. This is particularly the case with the truth of our faith, the truth which has set us free.

This witness is a transmission of the faith in words and deeds. Witness is an act of justice that establishes the truth or makes it known. All Christians by the example of their lives and the witness of their word, wherever they live, have an obligation to manifest the new man which they have put on in Baptism and to reveal the power of the Holy Spirit by whom they were strengthened at Confirmation. (Catechism 2472)

II. Put away falsehood – Scripture bids us, Therefore, putting away falsehood, let every one speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. (Eph 4:22-25) So the Eighth Commandment upholds the goodness and beauty of the truth, exhorts us to celebrate it and instructs that we must avoid all sins against the truth. There are numerous ways that the we can sin against the truth. It will be fruitful for us to consider them each in turn, along with some distinctions.

III. False Witness – Nothing can be so injurious to individuals as to harm their good name or reputation. Without a good reputation it becomes difficult for an individual to successfully relate to and interact with others whether it be for business or merely at a personal level. Clearly, to bear false witness against someone is to harm their reputation and we are forbidden to do so.

In the technical sense, false witness is something which takes place in a court of law and since it is under oath it is also called perjury.

But it is also often the case that false witness is given in daily matters through lies, half truths, exaggeration, and the like. Clearly our call to love the truth and to respect the reputation of others forbids us engaging in such activities.

Respect for the reputation of others also forbids us from:

  • A. Rash judgement – assuming without sufficient foundation the moral fault of a neighbor
  • B. Detraction – disclosing an other’s faults and failings without a valid reason to others who did not know them
  • C. Calumny – imputing false defects to another with the knowledge that they are false.

Yet it is also possible to offend the truth by

  • D. Inappropriately praising others
  • E. By refusing to correct them when it is proper to do so.
  • F. Flattery distorts the truth when it falsely attributes certain good qualities or talents to another. This is usually done to ingratiate oneself to individuals or for some other ulterior motive(s).

Such behavior becomes particularly sinful when it confirms another in malicious acts or sinful conduct.

IV. Lying – A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving…Lying is the most direct offense against the truth. To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead into error someone who has the right to know the truth.

By injuring man’s relation to truth and to his neighbor, a lie offends against the fundamental relation of man and of his word to the Lord…The Lord denounces lying as the work of the devil: “You are of your father the devil, . . . there is no truth in him….he is a liar and the father of lies.” [Jn 8:44]….

By its very nature, lying is to be condemned. It is a profanation of speech, whereas the purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others. The deliberate intention of leading a neighbor into error by saying things contrary to the truth constitutes a failure in justice and charity…

A lie does real violence to another. It affects his ability to know, which is a condition of every judgment and decision…Lying is destructive of society; it undermines trust…and tears apart the fabric of social relationships. (Catechism 2482-2485)

Acts of lying are sins from which we must repent. Lying is also a sin that demands reparation. That is to say, since lying causes actual harm and real damage. These damages must be repaired. The actual truth must be made known to those who deserve to know it. The reputations of others which have been harmed by the lie must also be restored.

V. Is lying always so evil? The gravity of a lie is measured against the nature of the truth it deforms, the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffered by its victims. (Catechism 2484). Thus there are big lies and smaller ones. Nevertheless, it is always wrong to intentionally lie.

This includes so called “polite lies.” For example suppose a phone call comes in for someone in the household who has indicated a preference not to be disturbed just now. It is a lie to say, “She is not here.” Yet you could say, “She is not available now.” Other social situations are less simple! For example, if Mrs. Smith asks you, “Do you like my new hairstyle?” Suppose you do not. It is in fact wrong to say, “Yes, I like it.” Granted, we all feel a bit stuck in such situations! Perhaps we could answer truthfully but discreetly and say, “You look alright.” (Presuming that we do think so).

But wouldn’t it be nice if we actually felt secure enough either to indicate, charitably, our true feelings or to indicate our preference not to answer the question? Wouldn’t it be even nicer if our relationships with others were so based in sincerity and truth, that people both gave and expected honest answers? It is to this blessed state that the Lord points when he says, Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ (Mt 5:37).

VI. What about secrets? – This reflection has thus far emphasized the goodness and the splendor of the truth as well as the importance of communicating that truth to others who need it. However, as the Catechism states:

The right to the communication of the truth is not unconditional..Fraternal love…requires us in concrete situations to judge whether or not it is appropriate to reveal the truth to someone who asks for it. The good and safety of others, respect for privacy, and the common good are sufficient reasons for being silent about what ought not be known or for making use of a discreet language.

The duty to avoid scandal often commands strict discretion. No one is bound to reveal the truth to someone who does not have the right to know it…Everyone should observe an appropriate reserve concerning persons’ private lives.

Those in charge of communications should maintain a fair balance between the requirements of the common good and respect for individual rights.

Interference by the media in the private lives of persons engaged in political or public activity is to be condemned to the extent that it infringes upon their privacy and freedom. (Catechism 2488, 2489, 2492)

However, the fact that we are permitted, even obliged, to keep certain secrets and maintain discretion, does not mean that we are free simply to lie. For example we cannot say, “I don’t know anything about that” if we do. Neither can we make up false answers to requested information. When we must decline to give information that is properly to be kept secret, we must still remain truthful. We might say instead, “I am not free to discuss this matter with you now.” Or, “It would be inappropriate for me to comment on that.” Or, “Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Occasionally we may need to be more direct and say, “This is a private matter and not for you to know.”

VII. Are all secrets sacred? – Thus secrecy and discretion are often proper. Here too however, absolutes must be avoided. Sometimes we are asked to keep secrets that we should not keep. For example, suppose someone confides in you that they intend to commit a serious crime, or bring harm to another? It would be wrong to keep such a secret.

Other things being equal secrets ought to be kept, save in exceptional cases where keeping the secret is bound to cause very grave harm to the one who confided it, to the one who received it, or to a third party, and where the very grave harm can be avoided only by divulging the truth. (Catechism 2491).

An exception to this is the seal of confession which may never be violated for any reason whatsoever: The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore, it is a crime for a confessor in any way to betray a penitent by word or in any other manner or for any reason. (Catechism 2490).

VIII. On the Manner of speaking the truth – That the truth should be celebrated and declared is surely an essential truth. However, one must not sever the declaration of truth from charity. An old Latin Motto says, veritatem in caritate (the truth, in charity). For the truth without love can bludgeon, or it can be something we use only to win an argument. Further, love without truth, is mere affirmation of others in often destructive tendencies, and really not love at all.

Yes, the truth should be spoken, but always in love. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15). An older priest once told me, “If your people really know you love them, you can tell them almost anything, even the hardest truths, and they will accept it.

Further truth often has a time it is best revealed. Jesus said, I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. (John 16:12-13) Where there is time, we often do well to lead people patiently, to the deeper truths in stages.

IX. Final thought – Jesus has taught us that the truth will set us free (Jn 8:32). If this be the case then anything which distorts the truth leads to bondage. Thus the eighth commandment calls upon us to love the truth and to love one another by proclaiming the truth and witnessing to it in sincerity with mutual respect and love.

Here is an amazing illusion, a kind of visual “lie.” It is not a lie per se, since the illusionist makes it clear he is creating an illusion, and invites, dares, us to discover how he misleads our eyes. I must say this is a VERY good illusion.

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Is the Church a Thermometer or a Thermostat? A Biblical reply to those who prefer a trendy and compliant Church

041113-pope-1Is the Church a thermometer or a thermostat? In other words are we called merely to reflect the temperature (thermometer), or are we called to affect the temperature (thermostat)? Many are deeply confused as to the role of the Church in the modern world and think we ought simply to reflect the mores of current times, rather than to prophetically announce the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Yes, there are many who insist that the Church needs to “get with the times……Update her teachings….be more modern in her thinking, teachings and structures.” She needs to “Listen more to young people and speak their language and share their vision.”

Put more in a hostile way, the Church “needs to abandon her medieval ways, cease being hostile, judgmental, intolerant, bigoted, sexist, homophobic, hateful etc” (and the usual list of modern accusations that reflect more the accuser’s personal issues than the Church).

During the recent Papal Conclave the media had a field day interviewing various degrees and types of disaffected Catholics who all presented their wish list (or list of demands) of how the Church should change to be tenable and relevant to modernity and regain their “loyalty.” Most of the demands of course had to do with sex and power: that the Church should approve contraception and promote it, homosexual activity and same sex unions should get the thumbs up, divorce and remarriage should be approved, women and active gays ordained, priest should be bale to get married, abortion approved, euthanasia applauded, etc.

And somehow if the Church does all this, our parishes will be filled again and all will be right with the world.

Never mind that the Liberal (mainline) Protestants have tried all this for decades, approving whatever the people and the polls demanded, and with that approach their numbers have plummeted, far lower that any Catholic Parish. Never mind too that the only Protestant denominations that are growing at all are the more biblically conservative Evangelical Protestants who reject a good bit of the list of demands above.

But at the end of the day, the lists of demands above all show a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature and purpose of the Church. The Church does not exist to be a mere expression or manifestation of current popular or cultural views. The Catholic Church does not and cannot draw her inspiration from these, but rather must draw from the Word of God as it has been faithfully passed on for twenty centuries.

The Church does not exist to merely reflect and parrot the views of her parishioners, gleaned from polls and focus groups. She exists to reflect the views of her founder and head, Jesus Christ. And the Jesus referred to here is not some fake Jesus reinvented by moderns who use dubious and tortured methodologies to radically reinterpret Scripture so that it no longer “means” what it clearly says. Rather, we owe allegiance to the real Jesus, the Biblical Jesus. It is to Him that we look for Him that we speak. (More on that in another post).

But as for the Church, the cry goes up frequently in our culture today that the Church, and her clergy catechist other leaders should refrain From any sort of teaching or preaching that plainly characterizes immoral actions for the sins they are. Many, even among the clergy, insist on a “do no harm” mentality And any utterance which might even in the remotest possible way offend somebody, is strongly eschewed and denounced. Even directly quoting from the Scriptures, or the Catholic catechism, Is shamelessly denounced as hate speech. This is an egregious violation for those who only want the Church to be a thermometer.

And thus, the traditional “thermostatic” practice of the Church is to speak clearly about sin, but also to influence people to seek God’s offer of grace and mercy is largely scorned as “unloving,” even “hateful.”

The claim is made that since “God is love,” and Jesus loves everyone, therefore everything is somehow fine and any critique is somehow “unloving” and “un-Christ-like.”

In the biblical texts below, I hope to show forth that the consistent pastoral advice given in the Scriptures confirms the Church’s traditional approach. What follows is a kind of pastoral manual gleaned from the Scriptures.

I do not claim it to be complete, but have assembled these particular texts to affirm that God the Holy Spirit certainly expects the Church, and her clergy, as well as parents and other leaders to clearly and unambiguously address moral issues of the day. They also affirm that the goal of the Church is not simply to fit in, and, like a thermometer, reflect the values and wishes of the day. Rather, she is to thermostatically announce and seek to influence the world by speaking the ancient and tested wisdom that the Lord God himself has handed down through Biblical Tradition as well as Sacred Tradition. As such, this is an act of love, for it is good pastoral practice recommended by God the Holy Spirit Himself. The comments in Red are mine, and I admit some remarks are dripping with sarcastic irony as I play the role, in some of the remarks of an bemused or “outraged” interlocutor.

I. Some Old Testament admonitions to priests and prophets:

  • Malachi 2: 7For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. 8But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble. In other words, the priest has as a primary task to preserve and pass on ancient wisdom rather than to merely rehash modern jargon and views. They are to be a messenger for the Lord, not for the latest cause or rage. I failing to do this he causes the downfall of many.
  • Isaiah 56: 10Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep….They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way. In other words, the priest, prophet, parent and leaders of the Church are not supposed to be dumb dogs. Dogs are supposed to bark to warn of trouble and also to scare off interlopers. Too many priests and Church leaders are silent, they are dumb dogs, they cannot bark. But they should! Those of the “do no harm” mentality fail follow the instruction to be a guard dog. Further they turn a blind eye to error and evil
  • Ezekiel 3: 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 18When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 19But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself. Here too the pastor, the shepherd, the leader is expect to warn sinners, not merely and gleefully affirm, tell jokes and avoid all offense.

II. That Jesus insisted that the Church take stands against sin and evil and not tolerate the presence of evil and error within her. Further that the Church must be willing to suffer on account of proclaiming the truth.

  • Matt 18:17 If they (the sinner) still refuse to listen (to fraternal correction), tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. Hence the Church ought to discipline some, in more serious matters with punitive measures, and even with excommunication. And this is not un-Christ-like for he himself said it.
  • Matt 5: 13“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. But salt and light affect the word around them, not merely reflect the world around them.
  • John 15:18 If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. Well if our job is to fit in, offend no one, do no harm and say nothing controversial, if our job is to merely reflect the culture and thoughts of the world, to be modern and up to date, then who is going to hate us? The text indicates that hatred from the world is NOT a sign we have necessarily done something wrong, but that we are in good company with Jesus and the martyrs. The thermometer Church cannot possibly fulfill this text.
  • Rev 2:4 (to Ephesus) 6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Oops, did Jesus say “hate” here? Didn’t he get the memo that we’re not suppose to hate anyone’s practices, but that we are supposed to affirm everyone, and not just every one, but every thing they do, since they identify themselves by what they do? Didn’t Jesus get the memo not to “judge”?
  • Rev 2:14 (to Pergamum) Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. 15Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Wait a minute, is Jesus telling the Church that it is wrong to affirm sin? I thought we were not only to accept sinners, but also to affirm their practices. Here too, it seems that Jesus didn’t get the modernist memo. He even, kinda seems mad that the Church is tolerating evil!
  • Rev 2:20 (to Thyatira) 20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. Uh oh! did Jesus just rebuke the Church for “tolerating” something? Doesn’t he know that the we’re supposed to tolerate everything and that we are just being hateful if we don’t. Man, Jesus is certainly unreformed.

III. Pastoral advice to Bishops, pastors, teachers, parents and other leaders in the Church:

  • 1 Thess 2:2We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition. 3For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. 4On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. 5You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. 6We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority. 7Instead, we were like young children among you. Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, 8so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. Now wait a minute, what was St. Paul doing in Jail? Did he offend someone? Did he say something controversial or “hateful?” Note too his central point, that our aim is to please God, not man. Would that every preacher entered a pulpit with this motive and this courage. The thermometer Church will be up in arms, but the Lord will be pleased.
  • 2 Tim 4: 1In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
    But what if people are offended? Don’t you care, St. Paul? Didn’t you get the memo that you’re supposed to only preach the gospel when it is popular? What is this “out of season” stuff? Who talks about football in summer? Get with the times! And how dare you suggest that people might not “tolerate” the truth! It is only true Christians that intolerant. It is not possible for the modern open-minded person to be intolerant, only Bible-believing Catholics and certain Christians are intolerant. Get your terms right. Aren’t the people (except for traditional Christians) and the current times always right, and should not the message be adapted?
  • Titus 1:10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain…..Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith…16They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. Wow talk about judgmental! Someone send St. Paul (and the Holy Spirit who wrote this) a memo and tell him that he might offend some one! This sort of talk certainly doesn’t fit the “kinder-gentler” vision of the Church either. Now, granted, in our current times, such plain characterization is less common, and should only be used judiciously.
  • 2 Tim 2:24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
  • 2 Cor 4:2-6By setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. Wow, you mean to say that if the modern world doesn’t “get” the message, doesn’t understand it, that the problem is them and not the message?! Once again St. Paul didn’t get the memo that the problem is ALWAYS the Church and NEVER the world. Note too that St. Paul claims to speak for Christ. Here too the world shudders and claims that privilege for itself over and against St. Paul. Note too that St. Paul sets the Word of God forth “Plainly” Whereas too many clergy over the years have preferred to speak in abstractions and generalities, and to be any thing but plain in speaking clearly to moral issues of the day.
  • 2 Cor 5:12 ff Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others.…13If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you…And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. If only St. Paul would parrot the world, and the evening news agenda, he would not be considered “out of his mind.” But since he insists on all the “repentance stuff” and “judges” us to need reconciliation, he is, ipso facto, out of his mind.
  • 1 Cor 4:9ff 9For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 10We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! Well if only Paul and the Church would toe the line, everything would be just fine. Hmm…. If he’d just become a thermometer instead of a troubling and meddlesome thermostat, he would be honored. Once again, it looks like the early Church and the advice of Scripture does not square with modernist insistence on being populist.
  • Acts 20: 26Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole counsel of God. 28Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.Note here that the Church has the task to proclaim the whole counsel, not just what is popular or safe.

IV. On the challenge to stay in the conversation and patiently exhort:

  • 2 Tim 2:24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. Hence we do not look for arguments, nor do we seek hate. We soberly admit it may well come our way, but we seek to stay in the conversation hoping at least to plant seeds.
  • Gal 6:1Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.So the operative word is gentle, and the disposition is humility. Clarity with Charity.

Allow these to suffice for now. But note clearly that the “do-no harm” and never offend, “any rebuke = hate” school of thought is pretty well set aside in the pastoral manual of Scripture. It looks like the Church actually IS supposed to speak to the sin of our times, summon to repentance and and offer God’s grace and mercy to actual sinners, who acknowledge themselves to be such. And, as the last scriptures also note, this work is to be done with patience and charity. But it IS to be done.

It’s old time religion, but more than that it is true.