There is a song about the sadness of moral relativism in an unusual place: “The Greatest Hits of the Monkees.”
Some who are old enough may remember growing up with the songs of the Monkees. I confess their song “Only Shades of Gray” was not one I remember well from those days. But it is a fascinating song about moral relativism.
Some think it’s just a song about growing up. But to most it speaks of a time when things were more certain and compares it to these more modern times when it seems everything is disputed and up for grabs, no more black and white, only shades of gray.
It is all the more poignant that the song was written in the turbulent 60s and, perhaps, represented the anxiety generated by those times when just about everything was being thrown overboard.
Now I know that it is wrong to point any particular age as the “golden age.” Scripture itself warns against this: Do not say: How is it that former times were better than these? For it is not in wisdom that you speak this (Ecclesiastes 7:10). I am also aware that not everyone feels the same about the “good old days.” For some they were not all that good. We should not forget the terrible wars of the early half of the 20th Century. Further, I serve in a parish that is predominantly African American and for many of my parishioners previous days featured “Jim Crow” laws, disenfranchisement, lynching and enforced segregation.
And yet, it remains also true that some fifty years ago we had a much wider consensus on basic moral teachings and appropriate behaviors.
Premarital sex was considered gravely wrong and guarded against, even if it was not perfectly observed. Remember chaperons and separate dormitory facilities?
Easy divorce and remarriage was considered wrong, and it was in fact legally difficult to get divorced.
Abortion was illegal
And it never even entered our minds to give children in school contraceptives.
There was also strong consensus against homosexual activity and the thought of homosexuals demanding to marry and being taken seriously was something that would have seemed from an episode the Twilight Zone.
Families were larger and most were intact.
There was also a general appreciation of the role of faith and prayer in American life.
I could go on but perhaps this is enough.
Here too I can hear the objections: “We might have had those standards but we didn’t live them well…. Things went on behind the scenes, families weren’t perfect, many kids still had sex etc. etc….”
But I will respond by saying, At least we had those standards and saw them as truths to be respected. It is an extreme measure, a kind of nihilism, to say that since we do not live up to our standards perfectly we should not have them at all.
And I also know we were more wrong about some things in the past. We were more racist and less open to legitimate diversity, less concerned about pollution. But here too it is extreme to say that because we were wrong about some things in the past the whole thing should be thrown out. Why not keep the best and purify what is needed?
So here we are today, is a radically relativistic and nihilistic time where there is less and less agreement about the most basic of moral issues. And, without a common basis for discussion, such as Natural Law, or the Judeo-Christian worldview, we are left to a battle of wills, an increasing power struggle where the one who shouts the loudest, has the most money, wins an election or has the most access wins, at least for the moment.
It is what Pope Benedict has described as the “Tyranny of Relativism.” Reason and principles increasingly do not transcend political, economic and social distinctions. There are fewer and fewer shared values that every one agrees on no matter what their party or background. Public policy is rooted more in power than in right reason. We are a culture without a “cultus” i.e. without God, or even a higher truth outside ourselves to which we all look and have general agreement. Closed in ourselves and our own little world we are like crabs in a basket, fighting and clawing for the top. There is nothing we acknowledge from above to order us.
Whatever our struggles of the past, we used to agree on more. Many of those certainties have been replaced by a wide presumption that everything is just shades of gray.
Listen to the song. Don’t forget my disclaimers. I do not propose a simplistic old=good; new=bad scenario. I just write to provoke thought. Please feel free to comment. . First the words, then the video.
Perhaps it will be of help to develop a theme set forth in the Gospel this past Sunday. The Lord Jesus at one point rebukes the devil and says, Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'” (Lk 4:8)
Jesus is tapping into the Old Testament vision of the “Fear of the Lord” as Deuteronomy says,
Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. (Deut 10:20)
or again
Fear the LORD your God, serve him only (Deut 6:13).
I have written extensively on the “Fear of the Lord”HERE and HERE. But for our purposes here let us reflect on the magnificent gift that it is to fear the Lord. And, if you don’t mind, I’d like to begin with the personal.
I want to say that I am awestruck, utterly astonished, at how good God has been to me. His gifts to me have amazed me. I do NOT deserve them and can only conclude that I received them for the benefit of others AND that God is utterly gratuitous, giving gifts simply because He is good, rather then because we are deserving.
I want to add that even the setbacks in my life have been “gifts in a strange package.” I have come to discover that even the dark passages, wherein I grew lost and angry, have now turned to bless me. My crosses have become the tree of life for me by His grace.
Let me repeat, I am utter astonished, dumfounded, amazed, astounded, bewildered, blown away, boggled, bowled over, overwhelmed, startled, stunned, stupefied, and taken aback by God’s love, grace and mercy.
Why do I say all of this (other this in profound gratitude)? Because, this is most fundamentally what it means to “Fear the Lord.” To fear the Lord is not a cringing fear, which waits for a punishing blow. It is a holy reverence, born in love and deep appreciation, indeed awe at Who God is, and how good and holy He is.
To fear the Lord is to hold Him in awe, It is to be amazed at what he has done for me.
In every Mass Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” What does it mean to remember? To remember is to have so present in my mind and heart what the Lord has done for me, that I’m grateful, and I’m different. It is to go to the foot of the cross and finally have it dawn on me that He died for me.
And as that happens, as I begin to realize what He has done, my heart is broken open, and love, appreciation and gratitude begin to flood in. A deep love and holy reverence, an awe begins to fill my heart.
This is the Holy Fear of the Lord.
And out of this Holy Fear, born in love and appreciation, I dread, that is I fear, the thought of ever offending God who has been so good to me.
This is the Holy Fear of the Lord. I invite you to visit the links above to see how this is born out in scripture.
In this fear, this appreciative love, we want to obey God, we are eager to serve and reverence Him, because He is good, not merely because he can punish.
I am mindful of an old rabbinic tale which meditates on why God, over and over again says, when giving the Law in Deuteronomy ends every command with the expression “I am the Lord.” (e.g. Lev. 22) An Old Rabbi, unnamed, says,
Let me tell you what God means when he says this! He is saying, ‘Look! I am the One who fished you out of the mud, Now come over here and Listen to me!
Indeed, yes Lord, You have been good to me! You have done more than fish me out of the mud, you have saved me from Hell, you snatched me from the raging waters and set me on firm rock. Yes Lord, I love you, and whatever you want, I want. Whatever you don’t want, I don’t want it.
This is the Fear of the Lord. Ask for this holy gift. It is the solution to many temptations.
There’s an old Gospel song tradition that speaks of the Christian life as a ride on the “Gospel Train.” But the Gospel Train not always and easy ride with perfect scenery. But you gotta get your ticket for the Gospel Train and stay aboard.
Mysteriously, the train sometimes passes through difficult terrain and life’s temptations. But just stay on board! Jesus too, on his way to glory faced trials, hatred, and even temptation (yet without sin).
Today the Gospel Train pulls into “Temptation Station” and we are asked to consider life’s temptations. The three temptations faced by Jesus are surely on wide display in our own times. What are these temptations and how do we resist them?
In the desert scene of this Gospel, the Lord Jesus faces down three fundamental areas of temptation, but all of them have one thing in common: they seek to substitute the cross for a couch.
In a way the devil has one argument: “Why the Cross?!” And his question is not a real one, but a rhetorical one. He wants you to blame God for the cross, and, in your anger, to reject God as some despot.
Well, pay attention Church, the cross comes from the fact that you and I, ratifying Adam and Eve’s choice, have rejected the tree of life, for the tree that brought death. We, along with satan (I refuse to capitalize his name) may wish to wince at, and scornfully blame God for the Cross, but in the end, the cross was our choice.
And if you think that you have never chosen the tree of death and that God is “unfair,” then prove to me that you have never sinned, and I’ll accept that you never chose the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, over the Tree of Life and that you deserve something better than the cross. I’ll accept that you never insisted on “knowing” evil as well as good.
Otherwise, you’ve made the same self-destructive, and absurd choice that the rest of us have, and it is not God that is cruel but we who are wicked who are to blame for the presence of the cross. And, thus the cross comes not from God but from us.We ought to stop blaming God for evil, suffering and the Cross and look into the mirror. And the glory of this gospel is that the Lord Jesus enters into this twisted world of OUR making and endures its full absurdity for our sake. If there is evil in this world, it is our choice, not God’s.
OK, are we over “blame God” thing and ready to focus on our own issues? If that be the case then let us look to some areas of temptation that satan is able to exploit because WE indulge them. Let us also see the answer that the Lord Jesus has for these temptations. For the Lord, though tempted, never yields.
1. Pleasures and Passions – The devil encourages Jesus to turn stones into bread. After having fasted, the thought of bread is surely a strong temptation. In effect the devil tells Jesus to “scratch where it itches,” to indulge his desire, to simply give in to what his body craves.
We too have many desires and we too are told by the devil in many ways to scratch where it itches. Perhaps no generation before has faced temptation in this area so strongly as we. We live in a consumer culture that is well skilled at eliciting and satisfying our every desire. All day long advertisements reach into our mind to excite desire and to advise that we MUST fulfill our every desire and wish. If something is out of stock or unavailable in exactly the form we want we are indignant. “Why should I have to wait? Why can’t I have it in that color?” and so forth. The advertiser’s basic message is “You can have it all!” This is a lie of course but it is told so frequently that we feel entitled to just about everything.
Some of our biggest cultural problems are problems of over-indulgence. We are a culture that struggles with obesity, addiction, sexual misconduct, greed, and an over-stimulation that robs us of an attention span, and this causes boredom to be a significant issue for many who are too used to the frantic pace of a video game or action movie. We have done well in turning stones to bread.
To all this Jesus rebukes the devil by saying, “Man does not live on bread alone.” In other words there are things that are just more important and bread and circuses, than creature comforts and indulgence. Elsewhere Jesus says, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Lk 12:15). I have written on this in another post: The Most Important Things in Life Aren’t Things
2. Popularity and Power – Taking Jesus up a high mountain the devil shows him all the nations and people of the earth and promises them to him if Jesus but bow down and worship the devil. This is a temptation to power but also to popularity for the devil promises him not only sovereignty but also glory.
Since most of us are not likely to attain to sovereignty, and since temptation is only strong in those matters that seem possible for us, I will focus on popularity. Here too we face a lot of this in life. One of the deeper wounds in our soul is the extreme need that most of us have to be liked, popular, well thought of, respected, and to fit in. We dread being laughed at, scorned or ridiculed. We cannot stand the thought of feeling minimized in any way.
For many people the desire for popularity is so strong that they’ll do almost anything to attain it. It starts in youth when peer pressure “causes” young people to do lots of stupid stuff. They will join gangs, get tattoos, piercings, wear silly clothes. Many a young lady desperate to have a boyfriend and thus feel loved and/or impress her friends, will sleep with boys or do other inappropriate things to gain that “love.” As we get older we might be willing to bear false witness, make compromises etc to advance our career, lie to impress others, spend money we don’t have to buy things we don’t really need, to impress people we don’t really like. Likewise, we can tempted to be silent when we should speak out for what is right and so forth.
All of this is a way of bowing before the devil since we are, in effect, willing even to sin in order to fit in, advance, or be popular. Here Jesus says, You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.
The real solution to this terrible temptation to popularity is to fear the Lord. When we fear God we need fear no one else. If I can kneel before God, I can stand before any man. If God is the only one we need to please, then we don’t have to run around trying to please everyone else. Here too I have written on this matter elsewhere: What Does It Mean To Fear the Lord?
3. Presumption and Pride – Finally (for now) the devil encourages Jesus to test God’s love for him by casting himself off the highest wall of the Temple Mount. Does not scripture say that God will rescue him? The devil quotes Psalm 91: With their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone. In our time the sin of presumption is epidemic.
Many people think that they can go one behaving sinfully, recklessly, and wantonly and that they will never face punishment. “God is love!” they boldly say, “He would never send anyone to hell or punish!” In saying this they reject literally thousands of verses of Scripture that say otherwise. But they have refashioned God, and worship this idol. “God does not care if I go to Church,” they boldly declare, “He does not care if I live with my girlfriend.” The list continues to grow.
The attitude is that no matter what I do God will save me. It is boldly presumptive to speak and think like this. It is true that Hell and punishments are difficult teachings to fully comprehend and square with God’s patience and mercy. Nevertheless God teaches it and we need to stop pretending that it really isn’t for real. This is presumption.
I have written elsewhere on the topic of Hell and why it makes sense in the context of a God who loves and respects us: Hell Has to Be.
A mitigated form of presumption is procrastination wherein we put off our return to the Lord day after day. Of this it is said,
There were three demons summoned by satan as to their plan to entrap as many human beings as possible. The first demon announced that he would tell them there is no God. But Satan wasn’t too impressed. “You’ll get a few, but not many, and even those atheists know deep down inside that someone greater than them made them and all things.” The Second demon said he would tell them there was no devil. But satan said, “That won’t work, most of them have already met me and know my power. Finally the third demon said, “I will not tell them there is no God or no devil, I will simply tell them there is no hurry!” And satan smiled an ugly grin and said, “You’re the man!“
And thus presumption, pride and their ugly cousin presumption are widespread today.
Jesus rebukes satan by quoting Deuteronomy:You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test. We ought to be very careful about presumption for it is widespread today.
This does not mean we have to retreat into fear and scrupulosity. God loves us and is rich in mercy, but we cannot willfully go on calling “no big deal” what God calls sin and takes seriously. Hence we should be sober about sin and call on the Lord’s mercy rather than doubt we really need it and just presume God doesn’t mind etc.
Our train is leaving the station soon. It is to be hoped that you and I have benefited from this brief stop and have stored up provisions for the journey ahead such as: insight, resolve, appreciation, understanding, determination and hope.
The journey ahead is scenic but also difficult and temptations are a reality. But as the Old Gospel Song says: The Gospel train’s a’comin’, I hear it just at hand. I hear the car wheel rumblin’ And rollin’ thro’ the land. Then Get on board, Children, Get on board, there’s room for many a more!
A quick word of thanks for your patience, as the Blog has been down for three days. We got hacked in a bad way. Terrible malicious software brought the whole server down. Every thing had to be cleansed and copied to a new server. We are back on Firefox, Safari and Explorer but Google Chrome is still mad at us. Hopefully they too will be back on line after we prove we’ve been cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb, and also by IT experts!
It is impossible for us to know why we were attacked, it may be something that was said or posted here or it may just be that it was “our turn.” Either way, Satan has been busy and he and his minions will answer to God someday for things far more serious than this, but not to exclude things like this.
And that leads me to today’s commentary on a Mercedes Benz commercial. In the video below Satan appears with promises to the whole world and all its pleasures if the man in the video will just sign on the dotted line. Not only will the man get a free Mercedes Benz but he will also get all the things that are supposed to go with a Benz: beautiful women, caviar, luxurious receptions, fancy homes, access, victory, popularity, you name it. “It’s all yours! Just sign here!” says Satan.
But the man considers the price of a Mercedes without the devil as a partner versus everything with the Devil as a partner. Do not miss the meaning of the name “Mercedes” which means mercy, and Benz which is a name meaning “brave”. Mercy is worth more than anything else, no matter how pleasurable in passing. For the mercy of the Lord endures forever, while the trinkets of the devil are but for a time. You might say, in financial terms, mercy has positive leverage while the Devil’s payouts have diminishing returns. If the Devil gives you a payout, you’ll watch it diminish with each passing day. But God’s grace and mercy grow to yield an abundant harvest. There may be the payout of the cross and deferred pleasure, but wait till you say the harvest. Thus once must bravely (“benz”) reach out for Mercy (“mercedes”).
Thus, in the commercial the man considers all Satan’s trinkets against the glories of mercy and he chooses mercy. He know the cost, but considers it acceptable if he can but have mercy for himself, without the Devil as a partner. How about you?
A final detail worth noting in the commercial: At the bottom of the proposed contract held out by Satan is a backward Chi Rho (The Greek abbreviation for “Christ”) and the Latin Inscription Sigilla posuere magisterdiabolus et daemones (Master seal of the Devil and demons. The backward initials recalls an image of the anti-Christ. And the Latin is more literally means “A seal to set the Devil and demons (as) Master.”
In the end that is the choice. You will have the master your choose. And of this the Lord reminds we must choose one and only one:
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. (Matt 6:24)
Whose coins are in your pocket and whose seal is on them? The choice is yours. You are free to choose, but you are not free NOT to choose. You can have it all now, or store it up bravely for later:
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matt 6:19-21)
Why not be Benz (brave) and choose Mercedes (mercy)?
In the end the Scripture is fulfilled for the man which says, Resist the Devil and he will flee (James 4:2)
Maryanne Pope (7th Birthday) Nancy Pope Nancy Geiman in 1967
At today’s Ash Wednesday Masses we hear the ancient acclamation, as ashes are imposed: Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.
Today’s beginning of the Lenten season puts before us an urgent plea that we should be sober and watchful of our soul and its condition, for the form of this world is passing away (1 Cor 7:31).
Simply put, we are going to die and we need to be made ready to meet our God. Recall some of the urgency present in the readings:
Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart…..
Sound the trumpet in Zion!
We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God!
Behold, now is the day of salvation.
Yes, Now, not later. There is an urgency announced that we must hear and heed.
What’s in a picture? The Picture at the upper right was taken April 2, 1967. It was my sister, Mary Anne’s 7th birthday. Ash Wednesday morning the picture appeared on my screen-saver slideshow and I thought, “There it is, a picture of passing things.” For, as you look at the picture know this, there is absolutely nothing and no one in the picture that is still here in this world today. My sister who is blowing out the candles died in 1991, tragically in a fire. My mother who leans over her died in 2005 (also tragically). My maternal Grandmother, who is seated died of cancer in the late 1970s. But that is not all. This building in which the picture was taken was demolished 8 years ago. My Father who is taking the picture died in 2007. The Polaroid camera with which he took the photo is long gone as well. There is simply nothing in this picture that any longer exists in this world, and there is no one in the photo who still walks this earth. Yes, the form of this world is passing away. Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.
The Church’s reminder to us is a strong rejoinder to most of our priorities. Most of the things we think are so important, are not really that important in the long run. Most of the things that claim our attention are not all that critical either. We like Martha, are anxious about many things. We worry about our money, our house, our car, our physical health, how we look, what people think of us, and so forth. But none of this really matters all that much in the end. All these things pass.
But what about what really does matter? What of our soul and its well being? What of our direction? Is it heavenward? What are we doing with our life? Where are we headed? Do we know God, love and serve him? Are our eyes on the prize of God and heaven? These things get little attention in most people’s lives. The unessential and passing things are our passion, and the most essential and critical things are all but ignored.
In Lent the Church says stop. Be thoughtful and earnest. You are going to die. What are you doing to get ready to meet God? Your body and the things of this world are but dust, a mere passing reality. But what of your soul? Are you caring for your soul? Is it nourished on God’s Word and Holy Communion? Are the medicines of prayer, Scripture, Sacraments and holy fellowship (cf Acts 2:24) being applied so that your soul stands a chance?
Remember…..REMEMBER……you are dust, you are going to die. Get ready. Now is the time, be earnest about it. Be thoughtful and live a reflective life that considers carefully what your decisions amount to, where you are headed, what your life means. Too many people live unreflected lives, never thinking much on these things. But not you. You have heard the trumpet sound in Zion and the Church has implored you. Will you listen? Will I? Where are you going? Where will you be when the last trumpet sounds?
Immutemur habitu in cinere et cilicio; jejunemus, et ploremus ante Dominum; quia multum misericors est dimittere peccata nostra Deus noster.
Let us change our garments for ashes and sackcloth; let us fast and lament before the Lord; for our God is plentious in mercy to forgive our sins.
“Pope Benedict XVI in Zagreb 04” by The Catholic news agency of the Bishops’ Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Katolička tiskovna agencija Biskupske konferencije Bosne i Hercegovine) Licensed under attribution via Wikimedia Commons
We have all be moved and shaken by the Pope’s resignation. And yet it is remarkable to consider that he is 85 years old. How many 85 year olds are working at all, let alone trying to shepherd a worldwide Church of over a billion souls with the expectation of a “jet-set” Papacy and almost daily public exposure.
Yes, it is a remarkable thing to ask of an 85 year old. Age has its burdens. And while I have never been 85, I have walked with many who have come to experience that age has its glorious moments but also it grueling ones. A good priest friend of mine finally had to leave a rectory he loved because, at 85, he can no longer ascend the stairs.
Yes there is something about aging. It is painful, but it is also poignant and beautiful if we accept it. There is a kind of gentle letting go that God effects in us as we age. Little by little we hand things back to God and learn to depend on him more, and those he sends us. To be sure, I am aware that old age is not easy, but there is something strangely beautiful about what God does in old age if we are willing to see and accept it.
One of the more beautiful passages in the Old Testament is the 12th Chapter of Ecclesiastes. It is a melancholy but soulful meditation on old age. It’s poetic imagery is masterful as it draws from the increasingly difficult effects of old age such as hearing loss, fading eyesight, difficulty walking, digestive issues, even gray hair. I have presented this reflection here before, but it occurs to me to present it anew in the wake of the Pope’s gentle admission that his physical and mental strength is failing.
Consider then this passage from Ecclesiastes and then some line by line commentary from me.
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come And the years approach of which you will say, I have no pleasure in them; Before the sun is darkened. and the light, and the moon, and the stars, while the clouds return after the rain; When the guardians of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, And the grinders are idle because they are few, and they who look through the windows grow blind; When the doors to the street are shut, and the sound of the mill is low; When one waits for the chirp of a bird, but all the daughters of song are suppressed; And one fears heights, and perils in the street; When the almond tree blooms, and the locust grows sluggish and the caper berry is without effect, Because man goes to his lasting home, and mourners go about the streets; Before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is broken, And the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the broken pulley falls into the well, And the dust returns to the earth as it once was, and the life breath returns to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, all things are vanity! (Ecclesiastes 12:1-8)
And now, if you will, some commentary on each verse. My comments are in red:
1. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come And the years approach of which you will say, I have no pleasure in them –
We are advised to give thanks to God for the vigor of youth for “evil” days will come. Here evil does not mean evil in the sense of “sinfully evil.” Rather, evil here means the days that are difficult and bad, days that bring challenge and pain.
We might want to be thankful for living in the modern age since the burdens of old age are far less than in the ancient world. Consider all the medicines and helps that make aging less difficult. Pain medicines alleviate arthritis, calcium supplements help with osteoporosis, blood pressure meds help prevent stroke and partial paralysis, motorized scooters help mobility, eye glasses and hearing aids improve our ability to interact and so forth.
But most all of this was missing in the ancient world. Age brought increasing and cumulative burdens so that our author says regarding these days, “I have no pleasure in them.”
2. Before the sun is darkened. and the light, and the moon, and the stars, while the clouds return after the rain – Here is a poignantly poetic description of eyesight going bad. The light darkens, stars and moon are less visible (perhaps blurry) and the clouds of cataracts begin to afflict the elderly.
3. When the guardians of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, And the grinders are idle because they are few, and they who look through the windows grow blind –
The “guardians of the house” are the biblical reference to our arms, and they start to tremble with the tremors common to old age even without Parkinson’s disease.
The “strong men” are the legs, and they are bent, less able to carry the weight of the body, Bent also indicates the legs when we are seated, unable to walk.
The “grinders” are the teeth and they are few! We have better dental health today, but then, it was common for the elderly to have lost many if not most of their teeth. This made it difficult to eat, requiring food to be mashed.
The image of an elderly person sitting in a window looking out but growing blind is surely sad, but also vivid. I remember my Grandmother in her last years. She could no longer read much because her eyes were bad and her mind could not concentrate on the text. So she sat for hours and just looked out the window.
4. When the doors to the street are shut, and the sound of the mill is low; When one waits for the chirp of a bird, but all the daughters of song are suppressed–
The “doors to the street” are the tightly compressed lips common to the very elderly, especially when teeth are missing. This also depicts how many of the elderly stop talking much. Their mouths are shut tight.
The sound of the mill may be another reference to chewing. Many of the elderly lose their appetite. One the psalms says regarding the elderly “I moan like a dove and forget to eat my bread” (Psalm 102:4).
Waiting for the chirp of the bird may be a reference to the silence of the elderly but it may also be a reference to deafness of the elderly who can no longer hear the singing and chirping of the birds. Something the young take for granted.
5. And one fears heights, and perils in the street; When the almond tree blooms, and the locust grows sluggish and the caper berry is without effect, –
Walking is difficult and treacherous and requires great effort for many of the elderly. Whereas the young may not think twice about a flight of stairs, the elderly may see them as insurmountable. Perils in the street like loose or upturned stones cause fear since a fall for the elderly can be devastating. They may also not be able to get up if they fall.
The almond tree blooming is a symbol for gray hair since almond trees had white blooms. The caper berry had several uses in the ancient world. It was an appetite stimulant, an aphrodisiac, it also was used to treat Rheumatism! But in old age, it would seem that the desired effects are hard to come by.
6. Because man goes to his lasting home, and mourners go about the streets; Before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is broken, And the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the broken pulley falls into the well, And the dust returns to the earth as it once was, and the life breath returns to God who gave it. –
And finally death comes, as symbolized by the mourners in the street, the silver cord, the golden bowl, symbols of life now snapped and broken.
The broken pitcher symbolizes that the body no longer contains the soul.
The pulley, a device used to lift is now broken, indicating that the body too will no longer rise from its place but falls into the well of the grave.
And we return to the dust and the soul goes to God.
7. Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, all things are vanity! – In the end, all things pass. Nothing remains. Since all things are to pass they are vain (empty). The physical world is less real than the spiritual for the physical passes but the spiritual remains. Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at God’s right hand (Col 1:3)
A sad but powerfully beautiful description of old age and of the dignity of the elderly.
I have often shared it with the very elderly and those who are suffering the ill effects of old age. I remember reading it slowly to my Father as he lay dying in his hospital room. He could no longer talk much. But as I read it to him I saw him nod and raise his hands as if to say “Amen!” Almost too as if he meant to say, “Somebody understands, God understands.”
Perhaps you also know an elderly person who could benefit from this passage. I know it is sad and not everyone is in a place where they can hear such a stark and sad description. But some are in that place where they can derive peace as God, through his word, says He knows exactly what they are going through.
Perhaps too this reflection helps to understand what Pope Benedict is saying about experiencing his limits.
Here are a couple of videos I put together on the Pope a couple of years ago. Once celebrates his world travels to the Tune by Johnny Cash “I’ve Been Everywhere.” The other celebrates the photogenic quality of Pope Benedict to the tune “Get my Picture Took with You”
Some recent data available over at the CARA Blog presents a sober picture for the Church in the decade ahead. I have long suspected that the 25% of Catholics who attend Mass today was a number that is going to drop quickly, as the last generation to be widely taught that missing Mass is a mortal sin steps off the scene. It would seem that the stage is happening for that.
Here are some excerpts from the CARA blog written by Mark Gray:
…Despite a decade of turmoil and change, many things among the adult Catholic population have remained quite steady. Mass attendance levels have shown no significant change since CARA began measuring these nationally…. Affiliation has hovered just under a quarter [25%] of the population for decades with a considerable number of reverts coming back to the Church after leaving in their youth. Immigration has also bolstered Catholic ranks—albeit not to the magnitude most assume. But there is also a potentially significant problem looming.
From 1995 to 2004 there was about one Catholic infant baptism for every four births in the United States. This is how Catholicism remains a quarter of the population…..[But]…The U.S. birth cohort for 2011 was 20.1% Catholic. It has never been this low in the post-World War II era.
This leads to two possibilities-one being more likely than the other:
1. Catholics are just as likely to baptize their children now as in the past but they are having significantly fewer children than non-Catholics. Possible but unlikely.
2. Catholics are just as likely as non-Catholics to have children but are less likely to baptize these children than in the past. More probable.
The type of ground being lost by the Church will not be easy to make up. Without many baptisms of tweens and teens the Catholic population percentage will begin to decline later in the next decade as older Catholics…pass on to be replaced in the adult population by these smaller percentage younger cohorts.
But the news may be even worse. Not all those baptized remain Catholic as adults. Many who leave the faith do so before reaching the age of 18….It is true that the Catholic retention rate is among the highest of any of the Christian faiths. But this has also been declining in recent years.
Why is this happening? It’s difficult to say. Jumping to “common sense” conclusions can often lead to embarrassing results once the data are all in. Recall that…many seemed to think that the Catholics who had left the faith must have done so in response to clergy sex abuse of minors…a follow-up study in 2009 found that few who had left cited this as a cause…I’d also be hesitant to say this is simply secularization (another favorite theory of those who report/comment on religion but who seem mostly unaware of the academic research on the topic) as it does not appear some of these parents are personally leaving the faith themselves.
There are other possible explanations:
1. Are some Catholics in interfaith marriages navigating the baptism decision differently than Catholics who marry other Catholics?
2. Are Catholics who have children outside of marriage less likely to baptize them as infants?
3. Are many foreign-born parents taking their infants to their country of origin for baptism?
4. Has there been a shift in culture regarding the appropriate age for baptism?
5. Has a reversal of immigration patterns since the recession led to fewer Catholics of child bearing age in the U.S. population?
6. Are changing conceptions of God, heaven, and hell creeping into baptismal decision making (i.e., “my child doesn’t need baptism right away”)
7. Is this simply a case of Catholicism losing its “periphery” with self-identified Catholics who used to baptize children but rarely go to church no longer even choosing to baptize (…while maintaining their own Catholic identity)?
We may one day call the post-2004 Catholic cohorts the “Baby Buster Generation” if current trends continue. I am often one to caution overreactions to any piece of data. But its hard not to think that there is a pressing need to solve this mystery. Oddly it’s not about what so many others highlight about Catholics personally leaving the faith. Instead it’s about too few infants entering it.
I would choose to highlight # 6 just above since I tend to think in pastoral terms. I also highlight it because, frankly, I find very little sense of urgency among Catholics in anything related to death, judgement, Heaven and Hell.
After a fairly steady diet of the “everyone is basically going to heaven” mentality in the last fifty years, it is pretty hard to rouse Catholics as a group to any sense of urgency, or that their decisions ultimately matter all that much. To most Catholics whether a person goes to Mass or not, prays or does not, is baptized or is not, goes to confession or does not, none of this really seems to matter much. In the end God is just going to take every one in except a few very mean people like Stalin and Hitler.
Never mind that all of this runs directly counter to the consistent Biblical teaching, most of it right from the mouth of Jesus. No one loves us more than Jesus Christ, and yet no one spoke of judgement, and Hell more than Jesus. And frankly he spoke of it in vivid and even shocking terms! The parables of judgement and the utterances of some very vivid and shocking phrases such as
I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Mat 7:23)
Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (Mat 25:41),
Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ (Lk 13:25)
And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matt 25:30).
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matt 7:13-14)
But never mind all this. The modern Catholic has either forgotten all this, thinks of it merely as an exaggeration, or has collected teachers to tickle his ears and tell him that what the texts plainly say and teach, they don’t actually mean.
So why come to Church, why hasten to receive sacraments? And who really needs to get their baby baptized in the first weeks after birth as Canon Law requires (canon 867; cf also Catechism # 1250).
There is very little urgency among Catholics for anything, very little sense of drama when it comes to the decisions people make.
Are we clergy to blame? Sure. We’re not the only ones, frankly a lot of lay people don’t really want to hear too much of the unvarnished truth either, and some can give the few clergy who dare to utter it a real headache for doing it.
But in the end we clergy have failed to sound an alarm. And, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? (1 Cor 14:8) Somewhere along the line we stopped talking about sin and its consequences, or of the necessity of grace and the sacraments to even stand a chance of overcoming stubborn, sinful and disordered human drives. The medicine of the sacraments only makes sense if I know that I am sick and that the Sacraments can help.Yes we clergy, at least collectively have failed to sound an alarm. Centuries ago, Pope St. Gregory reproached such silence with these words: Anyone ordained a priest undertakes the task of preaching, so that with a loud cry he may go on ahead of the terrible judge who follows. If, then, a priest does not know how to preach, what kind of cry can such a dumb herald utter? …The Lord reproaches them through the prophet: They are dumb dogs that cannot bark. (Pastoral Guide, (Lib 2, 4: PL 77, 30-31))
Now again, I don’t have all sorts of survey data to back up my hunch about the reason for the drop that seems to be occurring. Take it for what it is, the hunch of a pastor whose been at the helm awhile.
I will say, I have tried to be very frank with my people over the years. I am well known to say, “Go to Mass or go to Hell” (i.e. missing Mass is a mortal sin). I am also always quoting John 6:53 “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood you have no life in you.” I am also (in)famous for my funeral sermons wherein I usually hit hard with a come to Jesus talk. I was not born yesterday and I know that most people at most funerals are unchurched, so I exhort them at one of the few times I have them as a captive audience.
In the end there are probably a good number of reasons for the drop. But something tells me it is long past time for some unvarnished truth, truth given in love to be sure, but dainty and subtle methods have been tried and found wanting.
Here’s an excerpt from my (in)famous funeral sermon:
In today’s Gospel, we see the Call of Simon Peter. It is a call that takes place in several stages. And while it is presented in a compact time frame for Simon, for most of us it takes place over a longer period as the Lord works to deepen our faith and heighten our call. The upshot of today’s Gospel is that Peter’s faith is strengthened by his Obedience to the Lord’s command.
Lets see how the Lord grows Peter’s faith.
I. The Help that isn’t Hard – The text says, While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
It may astonish us, but God seeks our help. What did Peter have? He had a boat at the ready and, as we shall see, a tender heart. What do you have? That will vary. But all of us have talents, gifts, access, availability, special aspects to our personality and so forth that God can use and wants to use. And the way the Lord has set things up, he “needs” our help. God who made us without our help, will not save us without our help. Call, this what you will, cooperative grace, collaborative grace, or my personal favorite, responsible grace, but God seeks to engage us in our own salvation and the salvation of others. God wants our help.
But the main point here in terms of Peter’s progression in the faith is that this initial request of Peter is just a small thing. It’s not a hard thing for Peter to do. It is a small way to learn the obedience of faith.
And here is where the Lord begins, with Peter and with us. He trains us in greater obedience by means of smaller things. Don’t overlook the small, daily obedience to the Lord, for by them the Lord trains and equips us for great things. If the Lord can trust us in small matters, he can and will trust us with greater things.
But soon enough as we shall see the Lord with deepen Peter’s faith and heighten his call.
II. The Hesitation that must be Healed – The text says, After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon said in reply, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.“
Peter is willing to do something routine for the Lord. After all, what does it take to let the Lord use your boat for a little while? But now the Lord invites Peter to go a little deeper, to “put out into deep water.” And for a moment Peter hesitates. He is tired and, frankly, discouraged. So much work, and so little to show for it. There was probably a hint of sarcasm in his voice too, and doubt in his heart, since he later repents and calls himself a sinful man. Yes, here is a hesitation that must be healed if Peter is ever to see his blessings, and reach his destiny.
And so too for some of us. Perhaps we heard the Lord call us to some task and we hesitated because we were tired or discouraged. Its one thing to come to Church a say a few prayers. But please Lord nothing more.
Perhaps we were fearful. Deep waters bring greater threats. The water gets deeper and the stakes get higher. And somehow we just have to step out in faith, get out of our comfort zone, and head for deeper waters. Yes, we, like Peter can hesitate and think of all sorts of reasons why what the Lord asks is not a good a idea.
How is the hesitation healed for Peter? In a very interesting and counter-cultural way, and in a way that is really the central point of this Gospel, he is healed by the obedience of faith.
Yes, Peter’s healing is caught up in his acknowledgement that the Lord commands it. He says, But, at your command I will lower the nets. It is an intriguing fact that Peter finds strength and consolation in the Lord’s command. And yet there can be something paradoxically freeing about being under authority.
We live in a culture that tends to regard authority merely with cynicism and even rewards some degree of rebellion. Further our flesh tends to bristle at being under authority. Yet, again it should be stated that there is something paradoxically freeing about being under authority.
As a Christian I want to say that I derive a lot of serenity and courage when it is clear to me that the Lord commands something of me. While the world may balk and the demands of the moral life and find much of it too difficult or demanding, I find it is often enough for me to know that the Lord both teaches and commands it. This gives both serenity and confidence. Even if some aspect of my flesh may hesitate, know that my Lord and lawful and his lawful representatives, my Bishop and the Magisterium, command something, frees me and gives me the courage to know that I am doing God’s will. Whatever natural hesitancy I might encounter is often quickly dispatched by being commanded by the Lord.
Thus a person on a given Sunday morning may hesitate to go to Mass, preferring to sleep in or finding the matter somehow difficult. And yet knowing it is commanded in the Third Commandment helps his to dismiss his hesitancy. And the same is true for the rest of the moral Law and also certain vocational matters and actions required of the Christian not under a general Command but under a specific call that is experienced from the Lord.
And in this way of obedience the Lord draws Peter to deeper waters, and so too us if we let him. The hesitation that Peter had, must be healed if he is to see his faith deepen and his call heighten.
III. The Harvest that is Hauled – The text says, When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking.
In this matter the Lord grants Peter a great grace to enjoy the fruits of obedience in a very immediate way. In other cases the harvest is immediate but this much is always true: it is promised, it will come, whether today of years from now, but it will come!
The Lord says elsewhere, using a more landed image, The harvest is plentiful… (Mat 9:37). And what the Lord is doing here is given Peter (and us) and audio visual aid. For obviously the harvest which the Lord heralded was not about fish, it is about Human beings. Indeed the harvest is plentiful! Consider all the people the Lord has touched after these humble beginnings in a backwater of Israel. Not only are there the 1.2 Billion Catholics on the planet today, there are countless numbers who have lived before and a number, know only to God of those who will come after us. Yes, a bountiful harvest.
It is true, some days and times are better for fishing or harvesting than others, as Peter knows, and we do too. St. Paul speaks of the Gospel as being “in season and out of season” (2 Tim 4:2). But even in those times that the Lord designates for pruning, or for the field to lie fallow for a time, He is only preparing for future growth. For he says, “the harvest in plenty” and his Word prevails.
Hence, even if now in the West the seasons have turned against us, we must remember that even in winter the farmer must stay busy preparing the soil, removing the rocks, laying fertilizers and so forth.
Yes, the Lord is heralding a harvest and we must work, no matter the season. And even if we do not seek the full harvest, the Lord does as do others. For Jesus says elsewhere: Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” (John 4:37)
Bottom line, just do your work, obey what the Lord commands and know that a harvest is heralded and it will be hauled in, in nets that are strained and boats that are heavily weighted. The harvest will come and it will come with abundance. Just keep working and obeying what he commands.
IV. The Humility that Heightens. The text says, When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.
In falling to his knees, Peter is about to raised higher by the Lord. Peter realizes that his hesitation and doubt had been sinful, and that, had he persisted and not obeyed the Lord, he would have blocked his blessings.
Notice too, what is described here of Peter is not a cringing and a devastated humility, but rather, a healthy humility.
Healthy humility raises us, it does not cast us down. Bowing in healthy humility heightens our status, it does not crush us. And thus the Lord, having led Peter to a healthy obedience and humility says to Peter, in effect, “Come up higher,” your concern now will not be over fish, but rather the care of human souls who are precious to me. You will be my co-worker in a far more important enterprise. Yes, healthy humility raises us.
And thus Peter’s humility is a productive one. It is the “Godly sorrow” of Which St. Paul writes:
Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. (2 Cor 7:8-11)
Peter’s humility is a productive one because it is Godly. It is a humility and sorrow that equips him for greater duties no longer related fish, but now human souls.
How different this is from mere shame (which Paul calls worldly sorrow). For shame usually locks us into an unhealthy self-loathing that is paralyzing. But Godly sorrow increases our zeal to do God’s will and thereby equips, empowers and enables Peter and us when God shall call.
And the Lord does call, and Peter, through obedience and humility is now ready to leave everything and follow Jesus. And the Lord has led him here in stages. It began with a request for help that wasn’t hard, a small obedience. But then the called him deeper, and to a more difficult obedience, and Peter needed to have his hesitation healed. Experiencing this healing he hauled in a harvest that illustrated what his lack of faith and obedience might have cost him. And humbled him, but also heightened him. Having his faith deepened in Jesus he is now ready to follow the Lord. It is always better to walk in humility and obedience rather than pride!
I all of this, don’t miss the key, the golden chord: At your command, I will lower the nets. Faith is rooted in obedience and humility and this is the key to our growth as disciples.
St. Peter is still a rookie, but his first season holds great promise. We will see that he will not go without his injuries, but in the end he too will be the rock (in Christ) who is ready to roll.
A little Appalachian Gospel on the Call of Simon Peter:
There is a song about the sadness of moral relativism in an unusual place: “The Greatest Hits of the Monkees.”
