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The Call to Compassionate Christian Correction – A Meditation on the Gospel for the 23rd Sunday of the Year

We live in times when there is a widespread notion that to correct sinners is to “judge” them. Never mind that it is sin we judge, not the sinner.  Never mind that in accusing us of “judging” the worldly minded are themselves doing the very “judging” they condemn. Never mind any of that, the point of charge that we are judging is to seek to compel our silence through shame. And despite the fact that Scripture consistently directs us to correct the sinner, many Catholics have bought into the notion that correcting the sinner is “judging” them. In this, the devil who orchestrates the “correcting is judging” campaign rejoices, for if he can keep us from correcting one another, sin can and does flourish.

Today’s Gospel is an important reminder and instruction on why and how we should correct the sinner and be open to correction ourselves. Let’s look at in four steps.

I. PRESCRIPTION – The text says, Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins (against you), go and tell him” – I place “against you” in parentheses since many ancient manuscripts do not contain this phrase, others do. While some may want to limit this gospel to commanding correction only when someone sins “against you,” none of the other texts we will review contain this restriction and so the phrase seems superfluous. For the purpose of this reflection, I will favor those manuscripts that do not include the phrase “against you.”

Now therefore observe the brief but clear advice that when we see someone in sin, we ought to talk with them about it. Many prefer, probably due to sloth, to say, “It’s none of my business what other people do.” But Jesus clearly teaches otherwise.

In teaching this way, Jesus is obviously speaking to the general situation. Some distinctions are helpful and admissible in specific situations. For example, one is generally more obliged to correct people in serious matters than in less serious ones. One is more obliged to correct those who are younger and less obliged to correct those who are older than they are. One is more obligated to correct subordinates, and less obligated to correct superiors. Parents are strongly obligated to correct their own children, children are seldom obligated to correct parents, and so on. But the general rule remains, other things being equal, there is an obligation to engage in Christian correction. Jesus says, “If your brother sins, talk to him about it.”

There are many other scriptures that also advise and even oblige us to correct the sinner. Some of the texts also speak to way we should correct:

  1. James 5:19 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
  2. Gal 6:1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any sin, you who are spiritual should recall him in a spirit of gentleness. Look to yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ
  3. Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom
  4. 1 Thess 5:14 And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.
  5. Lev 19:17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him.
  6. Ez 3:17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.

Hence, we have an obligation in charity to correct some one who has gone over into sin. In correcting we ought to be gentle, but clear. Further, we ought to correct with humility and not fall into the temptation of “all superior” and such. Our goal is limit sin’s effects and apply necessary medicine to the problem of sin.

We will see more “correction texts” in a moment. But for now, let the first point be repeated: If your brother sins, talk with him about it.

II. PURPOSE – If he listens to you, you have won over your brother – Here let us just briefly note that the point of this correction is to win a brother or sister back to the Lord. The point is not to win an argument or show superiority. The point is to contend with Satan, by God’s grace” and win the person, who is in Satan’s grasp, back for God.

III. PROCESS – The Lord next sets forth a process for fraternal correction. It would seem that the process here is for more serious matters, generally, and that all these steps might not be necessary to the end for lesser matters. But speaking to the general situation where a brother or sister is in state of more serious and unrepented sin, the following process is set forth:

A. Go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. – This first stage is often omitted in our fallen, gossip prone, human condition. If one is in sin, it is too frequently the case that we will talk to everyone except the actual sinner. This is usually not helpful, and, in fact, merely multiplies sin. The sinner goes uncorrected and sin multiplies through gossip. Satan gets a high return on investment, often netting dozens of sinners for the price of one.

Jesus is clear, to to sinner himself, FIRST. There may be situations where we need to seek advice from someone we trust about how best to approach the sinner. Sometimes we may need to check a few facts, but in the end, such lateral discussions ought to be few and only with trusted individuals. The Lord is clear, step one is to go first to the sinner himself.

B. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that ‘‘every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. – This sort of option may seem rarer today, in large cosmopolitan settings, but such things do occur in the right settings. Often these sorts of team efforts are called “interventions” and they are often done in the cases where an addict is resisting any treatment. Sometimes too they are used when a certain family member is engaging in hurtful practices such as severe anger, or the refusal to forgive, or causing division within a family. These interventions are usually conducted by several family members that the person trusts and they often receive training of some sort. Depending on the gravity of the matter, such interventions are both necessary and counseled by the Lord as part of a method to end destructive and sinful behaviors.

C. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. – Here too, note the presupposition that the Church is experienced in a personal way and that the individual is somehow connected to a body of believers in their life who matter to them in some way. The presumption is that these are people they know, (pastors, parish leaders et al). This is not always the case in modern parishes which can be large and impersonal and where many can attend and belong only on the fringes. Rather than simply dismissing this step of Jesus as unrealistic in most cases today, we ought to see it as setting forth an ideal of what parishes ought to be. I hope to work with this vision later this week in a post.

Nevertheless, for those who have some relationship to the Church, this step needs to be considered in sins which are serious. As a pastor, I have sometimes been asked to speak to a family member in serious sin. Presuming other measures ave been taken, I often do speak to them to warn about such things as fornication, shacking up, abortion, drug use, anger issues, utter disrespect for parents and so forth.

But to be honest, unless the individual has more than a passing membership in the parish, such talks are limited in effectiveness. Further, “Church” here should net be seen merely as clergy. Sometimes there are others in the church who ought to be engaged, leaders of organizations to which the person belongs, older men and women speaking to younger men and women, and so forth. I have often engaged a team to speak, especially to younger people.

D. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector – and here we come to a matter of some controversy: that of excommunication. Treating some one as tax collector or Gentile is a Jewish way of saying, have nothing more to do with such a one, let them be expelled from the community.

Some today object to excommunication ever being used and often suggest, with some superiority, that “Jesus would never do such a thing.” Yet Jesus himself is teaching us here to do this very thing. As we shall again remark, excommunication is not engaged upon someone simply to be rid of them, but as a medicine to bring forth repentance from them. As we can see too, excommunication is at the end of a process and is not something that that Church rushes to do. But it IS taught here and elsewhere in scripture. Consider some of the following examples:

  1. 2 Thess 3:6 We instruct you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to shun any brother who walks in a disorderly way and not according to the tradition they received from us.
  2. 2 Thess 3:14 If any one refuses to obey what we say in this letter, note that man, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not look on him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
  3. 1 Cor 5:1 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and of a kind that is not found even among pagans; for a man is living with his father’s wife.And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body I am present in spirit, and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment in the name of the Lord Jesus on the man who has done such a thing. When you are assembled, and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
  4. 1 Cor 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Come to your right mind, and sin no more. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
  5. 1 Cor 5:11 But rather I wrote to you not to associate with any one who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or robber — not even to eat with such a one. Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?

So a fairly strong and clear biblical mandate exists from both Jesus and St. Paul that excommunication may at times have to be used. It would seem, from the texts that we have surveyed that the purpose of excommunication is two-fold: to protect the community from the influence of serious sinners, and to be a medicine to urge the wayward Christian unto saving repentance.

And if any doubt the seriousness of excommunication or thinks nothing of the Church’s solemn declaration of it note that Jesus indicates that he will in fact recognize the Church’s authoritative declaration. For he says: Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Thus, let no one make light of the Church’s solemn declaration in such matters.

In our times there is increasing demand for the bishops to use this measure more often, especially for those who openly support and help fund abortion. It seems clear from the Scriptures we have surveyed that such a measure can and, at times, should be used at the end of a process like Jesus describes. If one directly procures abortion, either by having one, performing one, or paying directly for one, or directly assisting someone to have one, they are automatically (self) excommunicated.

What of “Catholic” politicians and jurists who advance abortions availability and vote funding for it?

Most bishops (not all) have made a prudential decision not to make use of this measure for “Catholic” politicians who support abortion. Most of them say they have concerns that the matter would be perceived as a partisan political act rather than a moral shepherding of these wayward souls. And since it would be misread and falsely portrayed by the media, they consider it unwise in these circumstances to excommunicate.

Bare minimum – It is not my role as a priest to critique bishops whether they choose to excommunicate or not. There are prudential judgments bishops have to make. But at bare minimum, I would surely hope that every Catholic (politician or not) who even comes close to procuring abortion or advancing its availability, has been privately instructed and warned by his pastor and bishop (in prominent cases), that, if he does not change, and dies unrepentant, he will almost certainly go to Hell.

It is simply too serious to leave a sinner of this magnitude uninstructed, unrebuked, or in any way unclear as to how serious this matter is. They should be instructed, yes warned vividly, to repent at once and to refrain from Holy Communion, until confession can be celebrated following true repentance.

IV. POWER – It is clear that Jesus expects us to correct the sinner and to thereby experience the power of this loving action. In stages we are undertake this act of charity because we love, not because we hate. In effect, the Lord is asking us to love others enough and to care enough about their eternal well-being to undertake the risk, and the hard work of drawing them to soul-saving repentance. And, even in cases where sin has not yet become mortal, we still have obligations, especially toward the young, to correct in such a way as to help stave off serious sin.

The work is “risky” because we often have to suffer being rebuffed by those who do not “appreciate” our loving correction. The work is hard, because it is so much easier to sit at home and say, “None of my business” when even close relatives remain in serious sin by skipping Mass, living in illicit sexual unions, being unforgiving, divisive and doing self destructive and other destructive things.

Can we really say we love others if we are unwilling to take the risk to correct them? And what would this world be like today if Christians would really agree to undertake this important and loving work which is numbered among the spiritual works of mercy?

Satan surely rejoices at our fearful silence and our self congratulatory euphemisms like,  “It’s none of my business”, “I’m a non-judgmental person”, etc. Consider the moral ruin of these times as ponder how different it would be if we were more devoted to this act of mercy.

Jesus simply concludes as to the power of Collective and Compassionate Christian Correction: Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. Yes, what would happen if we all agreed to work harder on this critical function of a Christian?

Photo Credit: From Willowtree Gifts

This song says, It’s a Highway to Heaven, None can walk up there but the pure in heart, Walkin’ up the King’s Highway….If you’re not walking, start while I’m talking.

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Gifts in Unusal Packages

My mother loved to put gifts in strange packages. One Christmas I eagerly tore off the wrapping of a fairly heavy package (heavy packages usually meant something good!). To my disappointment I discovered that it was a box of Glad Trash Bags. Well, I guessed I could use them but I was disappointed to say the least. She knew I was disappointed but smiled and said, “Open the box!” I noticed a little of the package had already been slightly opened and yet I said, “Mom why open this now, I’ll use them later.” “Open it!” she said. So did and inside was a check for $100. Over the years she often found strange packages to hide gifts, an old shoe box, a box of No. 2 Pencils, a package of underwear. “Gee thanks, Mom.” “Open it!” And there were two $50 bills. So I learned that sometimes good gifts come in strange packages.

God is that way too. Some of God’s gifts come in strange packages. Hidden within some of the crosses, and less desirable things of life are some precious treasures. Maybe we learned that we were stronger than we thought. Maybe our weakness taught us to trust and ask for help. Maybe the loss of a job opened new doors and launched new vistas. Maybe a troublesome person taught us patience and humility. Maybe an enemy helped us to see something in us that needed to change. Maybe injustice taught us to fight for what was right and that we were not truly alive until we found something for which we were willing to die. The cross is a paradox, a gift in a strange package.

I suppose we’ve all thought of the ideal circumstances we’d like to live in. Surely there would be reasonable affluence, comfort and beauty. It was no different as a priest. I wanted a beautiful Church, no debt, in a “nice” neighborhood etc. And yet my first assignment as pastor took me to the poorest neighborhood in the city with the highest crime rate.

I may have told you, the first day I went to look the place over. I drove onto the parking lot and there was a car on fire. I looked around and people were walking up and down the sidewalks as if nothing were amiss. I ran to the rectory door quite anxious. When the door opened I nervously pointed to the burning car and the staff person within said, “Oh, not again! OK come on in I guess I’ll go ahead and call the fire department.” In order to enter the rectory, I had to pass through two sets of bars.

Ah but I loved my time at St. Thomas More Parish. It was a wonderful Parish, wonderful people, wonderful experiences. And I cried copious tears seven years later when I was asked to take another assignment (where I am also quite happy). But you never know as you open the strange packages God gives you what gifts are within. God can make a way out of no way and write straight with crooked lines. That burning car on a church parking lot was really for me like the burning bush that Moses saw on the mountain assuring him (me) of God’s blessings. It didn’t seem so at the time but years later I understood: Some of God’s greatest blessings come in strange packages.

This video has been out for a while, but I never cease to be amazed by it and it prompted the reflection above. When I saw it I didn’t expect to be too impressed. It was just supposed to be a kid playing an accordion. I didn’t expect much. Frankly I don’t think of an accordion as a lofty instrument. And seeing a rather young man, I expected the usual “recital” scenario, where the skills would be less than virtuoso. I had no idea what I was about to see. I NEVER knew an accordion could be made to sound like this nor did I expect to see such virtuosity. This young man has extraordinary talent. One of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, the Presto from “Summer” on accordion! yes, an accordion! Sometimes gifts come in strange packages!

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Jesus Was was no "Girlie-man." On Restoring a Truer Vision of the Biblical Jesus from the 20th Century Remake

When I was a teenager in the 1970s Jesus was presented in less than flattering terms, at least from my standpoint as a young man at that time. The paintings and statues of that day presented Jesus as a rather thin, willow-wisp of a man, a sort of friendly but effeminate hippie, a kind of girlyman,  who went about blessing poor people and healing the sick. It is true he did that but usually left out of the portraits was the Jesus who summoned people to obedience and an uncompromising discipleship, the Jesus who powerfully rebuked his foes.

1970s Jesus was “nice,” and I should be nice too. In my 1970s Church we had no crucifix. Rather there was a cross and a rather slender and starry eyed Jesus sort of floated there in front of the Cross. The cross, it would seem, was all too much for a kinder gentler Jesus. The cross was, how shall we say…., so “unpleasant.”

Somehow, even as a teenager, I craved a stronger, manly Jesus. My heroes then were Clint Eastwood and I loved John Wayne movies which my father called to my attention. Now those were men. (I know they were into revenge, but I’d learn about that later).

The “Jesus” I was presented with seemed soft and unimpressive compared to them and, teenager that I was, I was unmoved. Who will follow an uncertain trumpet? The basic message of Jesus 1970 was “be nice” but 1970s Catholicism (which Fr. Robert Barron calls “beige Catholicism”) stripped away the clarion call of repentance and trumpet-like command that we take up our cross, that we lose our life in order to save it.

Imagine my pleasant surprise when I actually began to study the real Jesus, the one in Scriptures. He was nothing like the thin little williow-wisp of a man I had been taught. He was a vigorous leader, a man among men. Someone who was formidable and commanding of respect. Someone I could look up to.

What follows is a portrait of Jesus Christ that I culled from a few sources and adapted. I wish I could remember the sources to credit them here, but it was over twenty years ago in seminary that, from some dusty old books written long before the 1970s, I culled this portrait on the human stature of Christ. Note that the focus here is on the humanity of Christ. It presupposes his divine nature but focuses on the human nature and, as you will see draws most of its material straight from the Scriptures. As You can see the description is longish. In case you would rather print and read it later I have put it in PDF here: On the Human Stature of Christ

The exterior appearance of Jesus seems to have been a handsome one. A woman in the crowd broke out into praise of him with the words, Blessed in the womb that bore Thee and the breasts that nursed Thee. His response to her Rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep itseems to suggest that she had bodily excellencies in mind as well as spiritual. The powerful impression which Jesus made on ordinary people certainly owed something to his attractive exterior which by its charm drew everyone to him and held them.

Even if this was due primarily to his spiritual and religious power, still, his eyes, with their burning, waking, reproving looks must have been especially striking. For example see how Mark remarks of the eyes of the Lord in the following passages: 3:5,34; 5:32; 8:33; 10:21; 23:27.

We also may cull from Scripture an impression of health, power, energy and well being in Jesus. Jesus seems to have been a thoroughly healthy man, not prone to fatigue and with a great capacity for work. We never hear that Jesus was visited by any sickness. A proof of his physical endurance is born out in Scripture. He was in the habit of rising very early (Mark 1:35). The hills and the lake were especially dear to him and after a long day he loved to climb some lonely height, or late in the evening get himself taken out on to the shimmering water of Lake Gennesareth and stayed out far into the night (cf Mk 4:35; 6:35). We also know that his public life was one of wandering through the mountain valleys of his homeland, from Galilee to Samaria and Judaea and even as far as to the district of Tyre and Sidon (Matt 15:21). Despite these arduous journeys he counseled that one should travel light, bringing nothing for the journey, neither staff, money, nor bread, neither have two coats (Luke 9:3). Hunger and thirst must therefore have frequently accompanied him.

His last journey from Jericho up to Jerusalem was an astounding feat. Under a burning sun through a desolate, rocky waste he climbed some 3500 feet in a six hour climb. Despite this, he seems not tired, since that night he takes part in a feast at the house of Lazarus and his sisters (John 12:2). By far, the greater part of Jesus’ public ministry was spent out in the open, exposed to rigors of climate, in a life filled with labor and toil, with often little time eat (Mk 3:20; Mk 6:31). He owned no home and “had nowhere to lay his head” (Matt 8:20) Hence he likely spent more than a few nights sleeping out in the elements. Only a sound body of physical stamina could have endured such as this.

And now to his mental stature itself. He faced many malevolent enemies among the Pharisees and Sadducees and dealt with them effectively, reducing them to silence (so much so that they began to plot his death). In addition there were tiring explanations to be offered to disciples who were often slow to learn. His self assurance is manifest. In the midst of a raging storm he went on peacefully sleeping till his disciples woke him. He immediately grasps the situation and rebukes the storm.

There was tremendous clarity in his thought. He had an absolute grasp of His goal which gave him an inflexibility and finality (in the good sense) of his will. Jesus knows what he wills and determinedly pursues it. This is evident even at twelve years of age in the temple.

The three temptations in the desert are turned back forcefully by the Lord. He is never deterred by opposition. There is opposition among the kindred of his own town, among his followers (cf esp. John 6:57) and even among the Apostles (cf esp. Matt 16:22). Here we have a man of clear will. He demands the same determination and certainty from his followers. No man, putting his hand to the plough and turning back is fit for the reign of God.” (Luke 9:62)

He bore so clearly the marks of the true, the upright, and the strong, that even his enemies had to declare when they came to him, Master, we know that thou art a true speaker and care not for the opinion of any man. (Mk 12:14) He shows forth a unity and purity and transcendence that reflect his interior life of union with the Father. His loyalty to the will of his Father is unwavering and clear even though it leads directly to the Cross. Jesus in every way is a heroic and epic figure in the purest sense of that word staking his life for a known truth and demanding the same of his followers.

Jesus was a born leader. When he calls his apostles, they immediately arise to follow after him. (cf esp Mk 1:16; 1:20) Again and again the Apostles note how they wondered among themselves about the marvels of his actions and even how these struck terror into them (cf esp. Mk 9:5; 6:51; 4:40; 10:24,26). At times they did not dare question him any further (Mk 9:3). The same wonderment affected the crowds.(cf Mk 5:15,33,42; 9:14). He spoke with towering authority and the people sought the loftiest images to in wondering who he could be. Is he John the Baptist? Elijah? Jeremiah or one prophets? (Matt 16:14) His spiritual power and authority discharged themselves in stern language and bold action when the powers of evil arrayed themselves against him. Demons trembled against his awesome power (Matt 4:10.) He also rebukes strongly the evil that is in men and warns them that they will not be worthy of him if they do not repent (Matt 13:41sq; 13:49sq; 25:1sq; 14sq; 33sq; 18:34; 22:7; 22:11sq.).

He is absolutely clear and unflinching in dealing with the scribes and Pharisees (Matt 23:14,24,25). As shown above, he knows himself to be the Messiah and is anything but a fair-weather Messiah but follows the model of the prophets rebuking all enemies of the truth He proclaims. He speaks of hypocrites, serpents and generations of vipers and liars (cf Matt 23:33). He calls Herod a fox (Lk 13:32). Although he was never one to tread lightly, he never forgets himself or loses control. His anger is always the expression of supreme moral freedom declaring, for this I came into the World, that I should give testimony to the truth (John 18:37). Because He was so consistently true to His Father’s will his life was only “Yes and No” and he reacted with great severity against anything that was ungodly or hateful to God. He was ready to stake his own life for the truth and die for it.

To describe Jesus psychologically would be to describe his as a man of purposeful virility, absolute genuineness, austere uprightness, and heroic in performance. He knows the truth, knows himself and, with exact clarity, executes his mission.

I realize that people are pretty particular in how they envisage Jesus. I also think men and women have a very different starting point too. Please remember that I am not pontificating here, I am starting a conversation. So have at it!

Photo: From the Movie, The Passion of the Christ. A strong Christ, to be sure.

This video Clip is from the Movie The Gospel of John

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Warts and All

God loves imperfect people! This is the good news for us in today’s gospel. As we heard, Simon Peter had witnessed a miraculous catch of fish. But then he told Jesus to go away, because Peter knew that he was a sinner. But Jesus didn’t go away. Instead, he called Peter to himself, told him not to be afraid, and made him a fisher of men.

Like Peter, we too can sometimes fear Jesus because of our sins and imperfections. They can lead us to think that we’re not worthy to be Jesus’ disciple. At times like this, we need to remember the experience of Peter. As one old slogan puts it: “God doesn’t call the perfect. But he does perfect the called!”

At other times we’re so deeply ashamed of our sins that we fear Jesus will reject us or punish us. But that’s not the Jesus who hung on the cross. When we’re sorry for our sins, the only punishment we need fear is the one we inflict on ourselves when we don’t seek Jesus’ forgiveness, and when we don’t forgive ourselves.

You see, Jesus loved Peter in spite of his imperfections, and he loves us too. Because of Jesus loved only the perfect, he’d have no one on earth to love.

Readings for today’s Mass: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/090111.cfm

Photo Credit: DNisha via Creative Commons

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Questioning the Questioners: Why Do You Not Honor Mary in Accordance With Scripture?

Most of us who are Catholics eventually get asked, “Why do you Catholics worship Mary?” More often than not the question is not a real question it is a rhetorical question. A “rhetorical question,” is a “question” whose purpose is not to seek an answer, but, rather, to make a (usually hostile) point. For example the expression “Who do you think you are!?” is in the form of a question but it does not seek an answer. Instead it is meant as a rebuke. And so it usually is when we Catholics get asked the “question” Why do you worship Mary?” we’re usually aware that it is not a sincere question seeking a sincere answer. However, for those cases where an answer really is sought I might propose the following approach:

“Well, of course we don’t worship Mary since that would be a terrible sin. Worship belongs to God alone. We DO honor her though. After all, she is Jesus’ mother.

But let me ask you a question. Why in your church, do you NOT honor Mary at all? Doesn’t scripture say Every generation will call [Mary] blessed because God who is mighty has done great things for [her]? (Luke 1:48-49) It seems to me that we Catholics are fulfilling Scripture but that in your denomination you are not fulfilling or following it. So why don’t you honor her at all? Why don’t you call her blessed as the Bible says?”

Now stop there and wait for an answer. Don’t keep going. Just stop and wait. Have them answer for a change. We Catholics are always on the defensive, always in answer mode. But we ought to ask a few questions too. When asking, try to avoid a merely rhetorical or hostile tone. Try to allow this question to be genuine, respectful, one meant to provoke thought.

It is possible that many Protestants have never been asked this question or pondered an answer. Now it is also possible that your interlocutor will try to change the subject or evade an answer by piling on about Catholics but just repeat the question respectfully and ask for an answer. Remember your point is not to argue, be hostile or win an argument. Your point is to provoke thought and get a real answer. And even if the conversation ends badly or with no answer, you’ve planted a seed, a question that they will ponder even if they don’t admit it. Jesus often asked questions to provoke thought and conversion. I will be doing a post on this next week.

Another way to explain out devotion and love for Mary is that we are imitating Jesus. We love, honor, respect and entrust ourselves to her care because Jesus did all these things, and we want to be just like Jesus. Consider that the very Son of God, dwelt in Mary’s womb, nursed at her breasts, was held in her arms, sat on her lap and entrusted himself to her care. Our Lord could have chosen to enter our world in other ways. Perhaps He could simply have entered the world as a full grown man. The fact is that He freely chose Mary to be his mother and he was truly her Son. As her son he loved and honored her as any good son must and as her son he entrusted himself to her care. All of this serves to highlight Mary’s dignity and to show us how devotion to her is in perfect imitation of Jesus himself.

What more need we say: Jesus our Lord and God honors and loves Mary, and his very Scriptures sing her praises; so too His Angel Gabriel, Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Spirit,  and countless saints. When we honor Mary we imitate the very Son of God and fulfill Holy Scripture. Certainly our Lord is pleased that we love and honor his mother.

Painting above by French artist William Bouguereau (19th Century)

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Bringing Jesus Home

During Mass, we hear Jesus speak to us in Scripture, and we receive Him in Holy Communion. After Mass, Jesus asks us to bring him home.

Simon Peter did this in today’s gospel. Like us, he encountered Jesus in word and worship, at the synagogue. And afterwards, Peter took Jesus to his home, where a family member was in need of a healing only Jesus could provide.

In our own families, we too may find a need for Jesus’ healing touch- healing of brokenness, jealousy, resentments, old wounds, rivalries, physical sickness, mental illness, addictions.

Like Peter, we need to bring Jesus home. Yes, sometimes Jesus does arrive unannounced! But more often than not, Jesus waits for an invitation- and an escort.

We can bring Jesus home in so many ways. Maybe we need to share our faith by sharing our story. Maybe we need to lend a helping hand. Maybe we need to confront one who is hurting others, or hurting themselves. Maybe we need to say “I’m sorry” and “I forgive you.” Maybe we need to say “I love you.” Maybe we just need to stop being a stranger, and pick up the phone.

There are any number of ways Jesus can bring healing into our homes. But we can’t just wait for him to appear. Because the truth is, it might be Jesus who is waiting for us!

Readings for today’s Mass: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/083111.cfm

Photo Credit: Mikecogh via Creative Commons

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Is Forever Possible?

Susan Gibbs,  the former Executive Director of the Office of Communications for the Archdiocese of Washington posted this blog on the Diocese of Arlington website. With her permission, we are re-posting it because it is a perfect introduction to the importance of a conference the archdiocese is hosting on October 1 at Catholic University of America.

Christ…or a sandy beach?

Ok, I admit it. Nearly every Sunday, I read the wedding section of the New York Times.

After a double dose of bad news from the front pages of the Times and TheWashington Post, I usually need some entertainment and the “how-we-met” stories tend to be a lot of fun. Plus, it can be inspiring to seecouples ready to embark on a new life together.

But what started as a diversion turned into something else. I started noticing fewer church weddings. Priests and ministers were being replaced with “Universal Life” celebrants and other officiants who were friends of the couple “ordained” for the occasion. (Like everything else these days, it turns out you can go online and get instantly “ordained.”) No longer held in churches, weddings are migrating to beaches, restaurants and exotic destinations.

Is this just the result of editors choosing unusual venues, or a sign that church weddings are on the decline?

Sadly, it seems to be the latter. A new study, released by Our Sunday Visitor and the Center for the Applied Research in the Apostolate, reports a nearly 60-percent plunge in weddings celebrated in the Catholic Church alone since 1972.

Given that the number of Catholics in the United Statesis growing, that’s not good news. What is going on?

According to the researchers,it’s not that Catholics areless likely than anyone else to marry,although that’s not saying a lot. The rate of marriage in the United States has dropped by nearly half since 1970, while the number of couples cohabitating has skyrocketed, according to The National Marriage Project. Instead, CARA researchers found:

  • Catholics are waiting slightly longer to marry
  • Catholics who divorce may be remarrying outside the Church
  • Catholics are marrying non-Catholics in increasing numbers
  • Catholics are not marrying at all.

That last one – not marrying at all– turns out to be the biggest factor in explaining the precipitous decline in weddings celebrated in Catholic churches. In 1970, nearly 80 percent of all adult Catholics in the U.S. were married. Today, barely 53 percent are. For younger Catholics (18- to 40-year-olds), the drop is even more significant: 69 percent were married in 1972, but only 38 percent are today.

In 2007, nearly a quarter of never-married U.S. Catholics said they were “not at all likely” to ever get married.

And, when they are marrying, they aren’t marrying other Catholics as often as in the past. From 1991 to 2008, the percent of young married Catholics (under age 41) married to other Catholics dropped from 78 percent to 57 percent. These couples may or may not marry in a Catholic Church.

Does it matter? Yes, quite a lot, because being married means something as a Catholic. There are only seven sacraments and marriage is one of them.

As the U.S. bishops’ website explains, “The sacraments make Christ present in our midst. Like the other sacraments, marriage is not just for the good of individuals, or the couple, but for the community as a whole. The Catholic Church teaches that marriage between two baptized persons is a sacrament. The Old Testament prophets saw the marriage of a man and woman as a symbol of the covenant relationship between God and his people. The permanent and exclusive union between husband and wife mirrors the mutual commitment between God and his people.”

Getting married – making that commitment – and holding the wedding in the sacred place of a church keeps the focus on what a wedding truly is – a joining of two people before Christ who now will become one within a community. I’m all for friends at a wedding, but I’d rather have them in the pews. After all, having Christ in your wedding and marriage will get you a lot further than a buddy on a sandy beach.

 

 

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Wages of Catholic Ministerial Employees are on Par With Protestant Denominations

Prior to entering the Seminary, I was a choir director, cantor and organist in Catholic Parishes. In those days, (early 1980s), it was widely held that working for a Catholic Parish meant your were going to be paid poorly. The “real money” was made working for Protestant congregations. Concerns were raised (many of them legitimate) among Catholic liturgists and musicians that Catholic parishes needed to rethink their priorities, and pay more just and competitive wages, if we were ever going to rescue Catholic music from the amateurish state it largely was in in the 1980s.

It would seem, according to a recent CARA report that a lot of progress has been made in this direction. And this is true not only in terms of musicians, but also other professional positions. The CARA report says,

A companion piece to the CARA research released in the Emerging Models project’s The Changing Face of U.S. Catholic Parishes is the National Association of Church Personnel Administrators report, Pay & Benefits Survey of Catholic Parishes….One of many interesting findings is how similar wages and salaries are for Catholic parish ministers and those working in similar capacities in Protestant churches in the United States. (See Chart above right). The Protestant data used by NACPA are from Protestant: 2010 Church Staff Compensation Survey.

More on the CARA report here: Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) Blog.

It would seem that we have largely closed the gap in terms of wage comparisons with the Protestant denominations. As a pastor, I think this is good news. I have come to depend greatly on competent and well trained laity doing parish work. I have a very fine staff here at my parish. My administrative assistant and business manager is the best and daily brings great wisdom and experience to bear on parish issues.  My music director is top drawer, and nationally known. My support staff are all excellent. What a blessing.

It is also a fact that the parish has come to bat in the offertory and are well formed in their understanding of what it takes to run a parish where we pay just wages, and strive for excellence in the service of the Lord. I remain humbly grateful to my congregation for their immense generosity and Love of God. Biblical tithing has been embraced by most of the parishioners here who though small in number, yearly generate an offertory income of almost one million dollars.

Money is sign of what we value. Catholics who regularly toss down $50-100 to take the family to the movies, or even more to go to sports events, and then toss $10 in the collection basket are saying something about what they value. Likewise, Catholics who direct 10% of their income to God’s house in obedience to his word (cf Malachi 3:10, inter al) are also saying something.

Further, parishes that pay significant wages for administrative leadership, music and catechetical ministry are also saying something about the value associated with these works in God’s house. Money does have something to say about what we value.

I realize that what I say here is not without controversy. Some prefer to emphasize volunteerism in parish settings. Well enough, and volunteerism must continue to have an important place in parishes. For just as with money, what people do with their time is also an important indicator of what they value.

But there must be a proper balance or proportion at work. Music and liturgy, parish administration and catechesis are essential and important post that ought to be staffed by well trained and well paid individuals. It will surely be the job of such individuals to engage volunteers, and train good leaders to assist them. But in the end, we have to be willing to have well trained people in essential posts and be willing to pay them wages commensurate with both “the market” and also with the value we attribute to their work. And that value is significant. Further, we ought to be willing to pay just wages, with benefits to those whose work approaches full time.

Pastors do well to form their congregations around such notions so that God’s house will not be an afterthought in their lives and financial priorities. In preaching biblical tithing, I often emphasize that God gets the FIRST tenth of our income, not the tenth that is (hopefully) leftover after we pay the cable bill and for the latest iPad.

I also realize that some will comment that they don’t like the money is spent or that they don’t prefer the music, the catechesis. But be careful, give and then offer concerns to the Parish Finance Council. Give and then insist on excellence. Every pastor and finance council is required to report to the congregation every year. But give critique as one who is invested (in obedience to God), rather than one who withholds until he gets what he likes. Our parishes are not products we buy, not services we contract for. They are the Body of Christ we join and become part of, financially and through service. And in the context of communion and generosity, we listen for God’s will and move forward, in conformity to Church teaching.

Alright. I was not born yesterday and realize that whenever money is in the discussion there will be strong opinions. Remember, I do not write a complete treatise here. I am starting a conversation.

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