In the Book of Ecclesiastes from today’s Mass, something is said that is quite powerful if we meditate upon it.
I have considered the task that God has appointed for the sons of men to be busied about. He has made everything appropriate to its time, and has put the timeless into their hearts, without man’s ever discovering, from beginning to end, the work which God has done (Eccles 3:10-11).
Somewhere in our hearts is something that the world cannot, and did not give us. It is something that is nowhere evident in the world, and yet, though not perceiving it, we still know it. This passage from Ecclesiastes calls it “the timeless.” We also often refer to it as eternity, or even infinity.
But where did this come from? The world is finite. Time on earth is serial. Things have a beginning, a middle, and an end. We do not experience anything here of the timeless. Rather, everything is governed by the steady, unrelenting ticking of the clock. Things begin and end. Every verb we speak is time-based, rooted at some point in time but never able to break free of it. Everything is rooted in chronological time. But somewhere in our hearts we can grasp the timeless. It is hard to put into words for we know it at a very deep level. But, we do know it.
The experience of “forever” does not exist in this world, but it is there in our mind and heart. There is no way to engage in time travel here in this world. Yet instinctively we know that somehow we can. Science fiction and fantasy often feature going back to the past or forward into the future. The world could not possibly teach us this for we are locked into the present and have never actually traveled in time. But somehow we know we can do it.
Eternity comes from the Greek word “aeon,” which means the fullness of time. It is not just a long time, it is all time: past, present, and future all at once. Look at the dot in the center of your watch and notice how 10am may be in the past, 6pm in the future, and 2pm now, but at the center dot they are all really the same. This is aeon; this is eternity, the fullness of time; this is a picture of timelessness.
Where did we get it? The world cannot give it, for the world does not have it. The world is finite, limited; it is time-bound, not timeless. Where did we get it?
Maybe it’s from God.
This song speaks of another aspect of time that the Greeks called “kairos” which is that experience of the fittingness of certain things to certain times. Chronos is the Greek for “clock time” but kairos grasps that other mysterious dimension of time that somehow we know when “the time is right.”
In today’s Gospel (Tue. Week 1 Lent) is the Lord’s discourse on prayer. The Lord begins with the familiar admonition:
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matt 6:7-8)
The underlying Greek word is βαττολογέω (battalogeo); from battos (a stammerer) + logos (word). Hence the word means to chatter, utter long-winded or empty words, to stammer or engage in vain repetition.
Of course when such a text is considered, critics of the Catholic practice of rosaries and other litanies go into rebuke mode, and Catholics go into defense mode. And while there are legitimate debates about what the Lord is actually referring to historically, there is the danger that we can miss the deeper summons of the Lord’s teaching here.
At the real heart of the Lord’s message here is not the concern for babbling, but the concern that we lay hold of the truth that “your Father knows what you need.” In fact, as I have argued elsewhere (e.g., HERE and HERE), the whole focus of Matthew 6 (the midpoint of the Sermon on the Mount) is for us to shift our focus from human praise and worldly preoccupations to “our Heavenly Father.” In fact, Jesus mentions the Father a dozen times in Matthew 6. Add to that the fact that the Lord’s Prayer is given here by Jesus.
Thus, to focus the debate on “babbling” and how many words are too many is to lose our way; it is to focus on words rather than to focus on the Father. And focusing on the Father is the real goal of Jesus in this midpoint of the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus insists, “Your Father knows what you need.” In teaching this he invites us to a deep and trusting relationship with his Father.
Consider the following analogy: if I am going to make a request of some powerful person I don’t really know who has something I need, I will approach the moment of request nervously. I will likely rehearse my speech and even ask others for advice in order to carefully craft it. I will also likely multiply words and try to say a lot quickly, attempting various entreaties that appeal to several motives he might have. I do this since I do not really know the person or what words might “work” to produce the desired result. Thus anxiety and a lack of a personal relationship will tend to make me nervously multiply words to try to “cover all the bases.”
But how differently I will approach the moment if I go to ask a beloved and well-known friend or caring family member. I will speak plainly and unassumingly. I will not nervously prattle on, and would find little need to rehearse a speech or get others to craft my message. I would simply and plainly, and confidently state my request.
And this is what Jesus is teaching. He is summoning us to a deep and trusting relationship with his Father, a tender, affectionate relationship wherein we experience that we are sons and daughters of our heavenly Father. And in this experience of our Father we do not feel anxious about asking him anything. Neither do we feel the need to carefully craft our words, or multiply our words to coax an unwilling potentate. We are not praying merely to the “Deity” or the Godhead. Our Father is not a stranger, or at least should not be experienced by us this way. We are praying to our Father who loves us and whom we love. We speak naturally, affectionately, confidently, plainly, and unassumingly. And if we do multiply words, it is only out of an extravagance of love, not because we think that such a tactic is necessary to “spring the result.”
It is true that Jesus tells us elsewhere to persevere in prayer, and persist in asking. But this is different than nervously or superstitiously multiplying words, or thinking we need to use certain catch-phrases, etc.
Here then is the heart of Jesus’ message: your Father knows what you need. That is, your Father loves you. Speak to him in this confidence; come to realize that you are his beloved children in me and approach him reverently, but naturally, lovingly, and without pretension.
To focus merely on words (how many and what kind), is to miss the message.
We are currently reading from the Book of Proverbs in the Office of Readings. In it are many good descriptions or maxims that state well what we who are believers and seek wisdom are up against. They have a lot to say of the times in which we live.
I’d like to review a few of the sayings that came up Wednesday in the Office. But before doing so, it seems necessary to fend off a possible misunderstanding that sometimes results from the distinction in the Wisdom tradition between the wise one and the “fool.” Without a richer understanding of the term “fool,” it is possible for some to think the term a mere ad hominem attack, or a dismissal of our opponents through “name calling” and ridicule.
To the modern mind, the term “fool” is demeaning and hurtful. In modern usage, “fool” tends to refer to those who are irredeemably stupid, who are buffoons, who are idiots lacking in any common sense—who are dumb as rocks and just plain stupid.
However when the Scriptures use the term “fool” it is set forth in distinction to the wise and to wisdom. As such, it is a more nuanced word, more descriptive of a rejection of wisdom, rather than merely pejorative. There are several Hebrew words in Proverbs and other places that are translated as “fool.” Let’s look at two of those.
The first Hebrew root of “fool” is אֱוִיל (ewil) and is from a root word meaning “to be perverse,” or figuratively, silly and lacking in reflection. More contextually the word means
those who despise wisdom and discipline – Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 15:5;
those who mock at guilt – Proverbs 14:9;
those who are quarrelsome – Proverbs 20:3;
those who are licentious – Proverbs 7:22;
or those for whom attempted instruction is folly – Proverbs 16:22, Proverbs 27:22, Jeremiah 4:22, Job 5:2-3, Isaiah 19:11, Psalm 107:17.
Another Hebrew root is כְּסִיל (kasal) meaning a stupid fellow, a dullard, a fool; but more contextually the word means
one who hates knowledge – Proverbs 1:22;
one who delights not in understanding – Proverbs 18:2;
one who loves to do mischief – Proverbs 10:23, Proverbs 12:23, Proverbs 15:2;
or one who feeds on the mischief of others – Proverbs 15:14.
Thus we are dealing not with someone who is stupid per se, but rather one whose stance is against what is reasonable, holy, orderly, and wise. Such people may have intelligence and wide knowledge about many things of the world. Thus they are not stupid per se. Rather, their stance is against Godly Wisdom; they are set against what matters to God and are rooted in the passing things of the world that are of darkness. They base their lives on transitory and frivolous things, which cannot be the true basis for salvation.
The Latin Vulgate often uses the wordinsipiens (unwise) to refer to foolishness, i.e., the setting of oneself against wisdom.
Hence simply thinking that fool means “stupid” fails to grasp the nuance of what is said. And while it not a flattering portrayal, neither is it mere name-calling. Rather, it is descriptive. “Fools” are those who set themselves against wisdom; they are not merely “stupid” people.
With that in mind, let’s examine a few of the proverbs read in this week’s Office that help explain what God’s Church and those who seek wisdom are up against. The maxims are all from the 10th Chapter of Proverbs. My comments are in red text.
1. Blessings are for the head of the just, but a rod for the back of the fool (Prov 10:6).
God’s law is a great blessing to those who love wisdom. His Commandments are not prison walls; they are defending walls. His commands do not limit freedom so much as they frame it within necessary limits.
But for the foolish, for those who hate and despise God’s wisdom, for those who hate discipline and any sense of reasonable limits, God’s law, any stated limits, any authority that tries to limit what I want to do is seen as something hateful. It is seen as something punishing—like a rod on the back.
And thus many today are not simply indifferent to God’s wisdom as proclaimed by the Church and Scripture, even more, they are openly hostile to it!
It is as though people have been sitting in a very dark room are suddenly overwhelmed by bright lights and cry out in protest. They despise the light and protest its presence as something hateful and hurtful. Jesus lamented them when he said And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil (Jn 3:19).
Yes, to those who despise God’s wisdom, rather then a brilliant and beautiful light, a blessing for the mind to contemplate, it feels like a punishing rod on the back.
2. A wise man heeds commands, but a prating fool will be overthrown. A path to life is his who heeds admonition, but he who disregards reproof goes astray (Proverbs 10:8, 17).
The wise listen to instruction and strive to base their life upon it. The wise humbly accept that they do not know all things and must be taught by God.
But fools, those who hate wisdom, talk on and on about their own opinions. They believe anything is true simply because they think it.
There is little reasoning with them, for although they scoff at religious truth as mere “religion,” it is really they who exhibit a far more extreme version of “blind faith” than any Christian believer who sees faith and reason as compatible.
The text says their end is destruction. In the age of the Church, many political ideol0gies, erring trends, and misguided philosophies—all sorts of newfangled ideas have come and gone. Yet the Church remains. And the wisdom and the Word of the Lord endures forever.
3. He who walks honestly walks securely, but he whose ways are crooked will fare badly(Prov 10:9).
Evil has its hour. It rises, seems glamorous to many, and is praised and paraded about as some sort of new form of liberation.
But evil cannot last, and those who practice it will fare badly. Perhaps it is addiction, disease, strife, inner conflict, or any number of resentments rooted in the false hopes promised by evil—but those who practice it will fare badly.
Only those who walk in honesty and in the truth—time-tested truth taught by God himself—will walk securely. They will have trials to be sure, but even these difficulties will help them reach their goal if they follow time-tested wisdom.
4. He who winks at a fault causes trouble, but he who frankly reproves promotes peace(Prov 10:10).
There is great pressure from many sectors today to remain silent about sin, about evil. Those who do speak of sin are called judgmental and intolerant. Sadly, many Christians have succumbed to the pressure and started winking at faults. Nothing but trouble results. The moral cesspool of the modern age shows this.
The correction of faults frankly and with love is, as St. Thomas Aquinas says, an act of charity. Error and sin bring war and division, both inwardly and collectively. But God’s truth, lovingly proclaimed, brings peace by insisting on what is good, right, true, and beautiful.
We live in an age that winks at evil. In other words, the world finds evil funny and often celebrates it in visual entertainment, written media, music, and other ways. The destructiveness of glamorizing evil is apparent if one simply buys a newspaper or turns on the news for five minutes.
God’s law is his peace plan for this broken world of ours; it is His wisdom that will bring us peace.
5. A fountain of life is the mouth of the just, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence (Proverbs 10:11).
Jesus warned that Satan and those who are evil often masquerade about in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves (see Mat 7:15). And hence many in our world today who despise God’s wisdom conceal their violence with euphemisms such as “pro-choice,” “no-fault divorce,” “reproductive freedom,” “euthanasia,” “death with dignity,” and so forth.
Despite the euphemisms and their cloak of pseudo-compassion, they ultimately peddle death and division. God’s wisdom, on the other hand, speaks to the dignity of every human life, hope, and promise of life—even with its difficulties.
6. The just man’s recompense leads to life, the gains of the wicked, to sin(Proverbs 10: 16).
For those who are striving to be just and to follow God’s wisdom, the rewards they receive are to be shared generously with others. The gains of the wicked, however, lead to sin such as gluttony, greed, hoarding, and other excesses. Rather than share their abundance with others, they spend it on the flesh, and they place their trust and reliance on the creature rather than on the Creator, who is blessed forever, amen.
7. Where words are many, sin is not wanting; but he who restrains his lips does well (Proverbs 10:19).
In an age of non-stop communication and 24/7 news reporting, the sin of gossip is almost endlessly available. Discretion is lost, and almost everyone thinks he has a right to know everything about everyone else. The people’s “right to know,” seems to have no limits.
And in our age of many words and many media (visual, verbal, musical, etc.), sin is not wanting on account of this. We talk endlessly about other people’s business and often wholly ignore our own issues. Why stay in our own lane when we can “tune in at 11” or go to a scandal sheet or website for the latest gossip?
Rare indeed are those who “restrain their lips” and cover their eyes and ears to what is sinful or merely intriguing.
8. Crime is the entertainment of the fool; so is wisdom for the man of sense (Proverbs 10:23).
Too easily our culture celebrates as entertainment the sins of others. On television, in the cinema, and in many other forms of communication, fornication, adultery, and other kinds of sexual misconduct are normalized—even celebrated.
It is the same with violence. Most of our adventure movies glamorize the use of violence to solve problems. An injustice occurs and our “hero,” after 90 minutes of killing people, breaking things, and blowing up buildings, has a final showdown with the unambiguously evil enemy, kills him, and walks away with the girl on his arm and the burning city in the background—roll credits.
We also glorify mobsters and others who participate in crime and violence.
Some will argue that the cinema should reflect life. Fine, but most people are not killing other people, burning cities, crashing cars, blowing up buildings, and are not mafiosi. Sadly there is fornication and adultery, as well as participation in homosexual acts. But in real life, they are not committed without consequences the way movies depict.
Where are the movies that depict wisdom, beauty, love, truth, chastity, strong families, and so forth? They are out there, but too often they are eclipsed by the far more numerous ones that celebrate crime, violence, dysfunction, and sinfulness.
9. When the tempest passes, the wicked man is no more; but the just man is established forever(Proverbs 10:25).
The Church alone is indefectible, by the promise of Jesus Christ. Although evil movements, political forces, sinful regimes, etc. rise and boast of their power, they eventually fall. As noted, the Church has seen empires rise and fall, and philosophies come and go. Evil men have threatened the Church with destruction for thousands of years now, and we have read the funeral rites over every one of our enemies.
The truth will out. Evil will not remain; it cannot last. Christ has already won the victory.
The foolish keep resisting; they laugh at God’s wisdom, dismiss the Scriptures, and ridicule the Church. When they are gone, we will still be here proclaiming Christ crucified, gloriously resurrected, and ascended to glory.
Those who mock this resist the consistent message of history. Jesus is Lord, and though He permits His enemies time to repent, their days are ultimately numbered—evil cannot last.
These are just a few Proverbs that speak to our times and help us to decode what God has to say of many modern trends.
Here’s a video with some modern sayings. In posting this I do not affirm every saying, but some do make good sense.
We human beings tend to assess our relative status and success based on things like money, possessions, popularity, career, and power. Am I wealthy and well-connected? Do I have a large house with a great room, cathedral ceilings, granite counter tops, and numerous widescreen TVs (even in strange places like the bathroom)? Do I have a glamorous career instead of a “demeaning” job? Do I have good looks (through big hair, cosmetics, or even plastic surgery)? From a worldly perspective, all of these things mean that I am successful, that my life has reached its goal, that I have made it to the top.
But of course none of this really matters to God. Even worse, it may even negatively configure us for the day of judgment. Too often, we amass great worldly riches, but are poor in what matters to God.
Do we honestly think that God will be impressed by many of the things that impress us? Does God measure success by our standards? Countless Bible verses teach that the answer to this is a definitive “no.”
Summarizing his inverse stance to all we hold glorious, God says,
For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. (Is 55:8-9).
Or again, Many who are last shall be first (Matt 19:30).
Or yet again, (speaking of the rich man who built bigger barns) Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God (Luke 12:21).
And thus on the day of judgment, it does not seem that God will be impressed by some of the following human benchmarks for success:
1. How much money was in your bank account when you died. In and of itself, acquired wealth is not intrinsically evil. The Lord made no universal condemnation of wealth.
However, wealth carries with it great responsibility. The Lord is not impressed with our six- or seven-figure income. Rather he is interested in what we did with it.
Were the poor blessed? Were jobs created? Did you use the excess of your wealth to bless the common good in some way? This need not mean that you indiscriminately threw money about to those who could not reasonably use it well. It might mean that you used it to develop new technologies that created new job sectors. It could mean that you endowed worthy and holy causes. It could mean any number of things. But the bottom line is that your excess wealth should benefit others, not simply glorify you.
Dying with lots of money in your portfolio does not impress the Lord so much as it will create a responsibility in you who died with it. Whatever wealth you have beyond what you reasonably need really belongs to others, and should be applied intentionally toward the welfare, the goodness, and the growth of others. Wealth carries grave responsibilities. Before we simply boast of it, we ought to remember that those with wealth and power will be judge more strictly. Scripture says,
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life (1 Timothy 6:17-19).
2. How much money you left to your children as an inheritance. It’s a nice thing to leave a little something for your kids. But inheriting vast amounts of wealth is not necessarily a good thing. It creates the illusion that fruitfulness can or should be obtained without labor.
It does not take much study of the lives of children of the rich and famous to discover that pampering is a huge issue. Add to this the many warnings about wealth in Scripture and it starts to seem that leaving lots of money to your kids is almost like setting a snare for them. Consider the following:
But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs (1 Tim 6:8-10).
And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matt 19:23-24).
The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful (Matt 13:22).
Again, let it be said that money is not intrinsically evil. But if heaven is the goal, and the Lord warns consistently that wealth is dangerous at best and an obstacle at worst, then loading kids up with wealth and material things is problematic and not something that will likely impress the Lord on the day of judgment.
Yet even knowing that wealth is dangerous and makes it hard for us to inherit Heaven, we still want it, congratulate ourselves for having it, and then saddle our kids with it (congratulating ourselves still further). And if we think the Lord is going to be impressed with all this amassing and bequeathing, we probably have another think coming.
3. What the square footage of your dream home amounted to.Most of us who are over 50 grew up in homes of 1200–1500 square feet. And we thought these were spacious compared to the little tenements and row houses of the previous generation.
Many people now think it is reasonable to demand square footage of 5000 or more. And they further demand many amenities such as a great rooms with cathedral ceilings, master suites with tray ceilings, granite countertops, multiple televisions, and walk-in closets the size of the room I shared with my brother!
But the Son of man had nowhere to lay his head. And Jeremiah warns,
Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar paneled walls? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the Lord. …I warned you when you felt secure, but you said, ‘I will not listen!’ This has been your way from your youth; you have not obeyed me. You who are nestled in cedar buildings, how you will groan when pangs come upon you, pain like that of a woman in labor! (Jeremiah 22:15ff)
In other words, it is nice to have a fancy house, but how does it affect our ability to help the poor or to stay focused on spiritual things? Therefore watch out; not only is God unimpressed with your square footage, he is quite worried about it. Our houses are bigger but emptier. We have fewer children (with widespread contraception and abortion), but bigger houses. They are emptier, but still they must be bigger and bigger. There is more and more contraception, more and more abortion, but there is no room in our bigger houses, no room at all! There is no room for the poor, no room to adopt or raise foster children, no room for children of our own. There’s no room for anything but our bigger egos.
4. That you provided a college education for all your children. I know, I know, I’ve attacked a major sacred cow. It is almost universally unquestioned that a college education unlocks the future for the recipient of it.
I only seek to point out major concerns that ought to be considered. First of all, those who seek to acquire these degrees are often exposed to four or more years of a moral cesspool. They are taught moral relativism and many other things that are unambiguously hostile to the faith we supposedly hold dear. For the majority of young people exposed to this, it will be years (if ever) before they return to their faith.
There are valid options available, but most parents give little attention to good Catholic colleges (such as those the Newman Society recommends) if they can get their kid into Harvard or Yale or “once-Catholic” colleges like Georgetown. Almost no one counts the moral, psychological, and spiritual cost of being educated in these sorts of secular and often pernicious institutions we call higher education.
But even then, one might argue that with a solid grounding in the faith it would be okay. But sadly, while many parents will make incredible sacrifices to send their children to these institutions of so-called higher learning, most lift almost not a finger to teach them the faith that alone can save them. So they make great sacrifices for their children to be able to climb the ladder of success, never considering that it is leaning up against the wrong wall. They send them to moral cesspools but seem more concerned for their grades than for their moral or spiritual lives.
Hence on the day of judgment, the Lord will be less than impressed that you sent your child to an Ivy League school or even to a state college. What he WILL wonder and what WILL impress him is that you handed on to him or her the holy faith that He revealed.
Too harsh you say? Forgive me dear reader. If the shoe fits wear it, otherwise, let it pass over you. But for many, the shoe fits all too well.
5. Whether you were popular and all spoke well of you at your funeral. While we are not called to be sociopaths who care not one wit about what others think, too many of us have turned being nice, being liked, and being esteemed by men into an ideal.
But Jesus was nailed to a cross. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore (Hebrews 13:12-13).
Are you greater than Jesus? He says,
If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you (Jn 15:18-19).
Jesus will not be impressed that you were esteemed by human beings. He warns, Woe to you when all men speak well of you (Lk 6:26). Rather, Jesus will be impressed that you and I were willing to speak the truth in love and were willing to bear insult for the sake of the Kingdom.
On Judgment Day, fare you well! But be sure of this: the Lord will not use the standards we are so obsessed by. We need to come to a new mind to get ready for Judgment Day! Fare you well.
In the Gospel from last Sunday, the Lord warns of using uncivil and/or hateful words such as “Raqa” and “fool.” And yet the same Lord Jesus often used very strong language toward some of His opponents, sometimes calling them names such as vipers and hypocrites.
We live in a world that often insists on the use of gentle language and euphemisms. While doing so is not a bad thing, we also tend to manifest a kind of thin-skinned quality and a political correctness that is too fussy about many things, often taking personally what is not meant personally.
What is the overall teaching of Scripture when it comes this sort of colorful language? Are there some limits and ground rules? Let’s take a look.
The word “civility” dates back to the mid-16th century and has an older meaning that referred to one who possessed the quality of having been schooled in the humanities. In academic settings, debate (at least historically) was governed by a tendency to be nuanced, careful, cautious, formal, and trained in rhetoric. Its rules often included referring to one’s opponents with honorary titles (Doctor, Professor, etc.) and euphemisms such as “my worthy opponent.” Hence as the word has entered into common usage, it has come to mean speech or behavior that is polite, courteous, gentle, and measured.
As one might guess, there are a lot of cultural variances in what is considered to be civil. And this insight is very important when we look at the biblical data on what constituted civil discourse. Frankly, the biblical world was far less dainty about discourse than we have become in 21st-century America. The Scriptures, including the New Testament, are filled with vigorous discourse. Jesus, for example, really mixes it up with His opponents—even calling them names. We shall see more of this in a moment. But the Scriptures also counsel charity and warn of unnecessarily angry speech. In the end, a balance of the Scriptural witness to civility must be sought along with an appreciation of the cultural variables at work.
Let’s examine a few of the textsthat counsel charity as well as a modern and American notion of civility:
Words from a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but a fool is consumed by his own lips (Eccl 10:12).
The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools (Eccles 9:17).
Anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell (Matt 5:22).
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen (Eph 4:29).
Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged (Col 3:21).
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be (James 3:9-10).
Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry (James 1:19).
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt (Col 4:6).
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up (1 Thess 5:11).
But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips (Col 3:8).
Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification (Rom 14:19).
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness ( Gal 6:1).
Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother (2 Thess 3:15).
Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort [the repentant sinner], so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow (2 Cor 2:7).
All these texts counsel a measured, charitable, and edifying discourse. Name-calling and hateful or unnecessary expressions of anger are out of place. And this is a strong biblical tradition, especially in the New Testament.
But there are also strong contrasts to this instruction evident in the Bible. And a lot of it comes from an unlikely source: Jesus. Paul too, who wrote many of the counsels above, often engages in strident denunciations of his opponents and even members of the early Church. Consider some of the passages below, first by Jesus, then by Paul and other Apostles:
Jesus said, “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good?” (Matthew 12:34)
And Jesus turned on them and said, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. “Woe to you, blind guides! … You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. … You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. … And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers! “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” (Matt 23 varia)
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. … You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. … He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God” (John 8:42-47).
Jesus said, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me (Mark 7:6).
And Jesus answered them, O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long must I tolerate you!? (Mark 9:19)
Jesus said to the disciples, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matt 7:11)
Jesus said to the crowd, “I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts (Jn 5:41-42).
So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables (John 2:15).
Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” (John 6:70)
Paul: O senseless Galatians, who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, … As for those circumcisers , I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! (Galatians 3, 5)
Paul against the false apostles: And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve (2 Cor 11:11-14).
Paul on the Cretans: Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith (Titus 1:12-13).
Peter against dissenters: Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings…these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish. … They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. … They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! … Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud” (2 Peter 2, varia).
Jude against dissenters: These dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings….these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them. Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; … These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. … These men are grumblers and fault finders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage (Jude 1:varia).
Now most of the passages above would violate modern norms about civil discourse. Are they sinful? They are God’s word! And yet they seem rather shocking to modern ears. Imagine getting into your time machine and going to hear Jesus denounce the crowds and calling them children of the devil. It really blows a 21st-century mind!
I want to suggest to you that these sorts of quotes go a long way toward illustrating the cultural dimension of what it means to be civil. The bottom line is that there is a great deal of variability in what people consider civil discourse. In some cultures there is a greater tolerance for anger. I dated an Italian girl for a brief time back in college, and I remember being at her house watching her and her mother really go at it in a heated debate (usually in Italian—Mama Mia!). But no sooner had they argued very intensely over some particular point—say preparing the meal—than they were just fine, acting as if nothing had happened. Angry discourse was more “normal” for them than it was for me. Even in this country there are regional differences in what is considered civil. In New York and Boston, edgy comments and passionate interruptive debate are common. But in the upper-Midwest and parts of the Deep South, conversation is more gentle and reserved.
At the time of Jesus, angry discourse was apparently more “normal,” for as we see, Jesus Himself engages in a lot of it, even calling people names like “hypocrites,” “brood of vipers,” “liars,” and “wicked.” Yet the same Scriptures that record these facts about Jesus also teach that He never sinned. Hence at that time, the utterance of such terms was not considered sinful.
Jesus also engaged in prophetic actions like overturning the tables in the temple courts. No one said He’d done wrong, they just wondered where He’d gotten the authority to do this (cf Mark 11:28). In that culture prophets did things like this. No one liked it, but just as our culture tolerates some degree of civil disobedience—even reveres it—Jesus’ culture expected things like this from prophets.
Careful, now—be careful here. I am not saying it is OK for us to talk like this because Jesus did. We do not live then; we live now; and in our culture such dialogue is almost never acceptable. There ARE cultural norms we have to respect to remain in the realm of Charity. Exactly how to define civility in every instance is not always clear. An old answer to these hard-to-define things is “I know when I see it.” So perhaps it is more art than science to define civility. But clearly we tend to prefer gentler discourse in this day and age.
On the other hand, as already observed, we also tend to be a little thin-skinned and hyper-sensitive. And the paradoxical result of insisting on greater civility is that we are too easily “outraged” (one of the more overused words in English today). We take offense where none is intended and we presume that the mere act of disagreeing is somehow arrogant, intentionally hurtful, or even hateful. We seem so easily provoked and so quick to be offended. All of this escalates anger further, and charges of hate and intolerance are launched back and forth when there is merely sincere disagreement.
Balance – The Scriptures give us two balanced reminders. First, that we should speak the truth in love, and with compassion and understanding. But it also portrays to us a time when people had thicker skin and were less sensitive and anxious in the presence of disagreement. We can learn from both biblical traditions. The biblical formula seems to be “clarity” with “charity,” the truth with a balance of toughness and tenderness. An old saying comes to mind: “Say what you mean, mean what you say, but don’t say it mean.”
Here are two videos that depict the zeal of Jesus and a bit of his anger. The passages are from John 6 and John 8.
There are many references to “the flesh” in the New Testament, especially in the letters of St. Paul. The phrase confuses some who think it synonymous with the physical body or sometimes with sexual sin.
It is true that there are many times when Scripture uses the word “flesh” to refer to the physical body, however when the definite article “the” is placed before the word “flesh” we are dealing with something else. Only very rarely does the Biblical phrase “the flesh” (ἡ σὰρξ (he sarx) in Greek) refer only to the physical body (e.g., John 6:53; Phil 3:2; 1 John 4:2). Rather, the phrase almost always refers to something quite distinct from the physical body.
What then is meant by the term “the flesh” (ἡ σὰρξ)? Perhaps most plainly it refers to that part of us that is alienated from God. It is the rebellious, unruly, and obstinate part of our inner self that is operative all of the time. It is that part of us that does not want to be told what to do. It is stubborn, refuses correction, and does not want to have anything to do with God. It bristles at limits and rules. It recoils at anything that might cause us to be diminished or something less than the center of the universe. The flesh hates to be under authority or to have to yield to anything other than its own wishes and desires. The flesh often desires something simply because it is forbidden.
Some modern Scripture translations (e.g., the NIV) often call the flesh our “sin nature,” which is not a bad way of summarizing what the flesh is. In Catholic tradition, the flesh is where concupiscence sets up shop. Concupiscence refers to the strong inclination to sin that is within us as a result of the wound of Original Sin. If you do not think that your flesh is strong, just try to pray for five minutes and watch how quickly your mind wants to think of anything but God. Just try to fast or to be less selfish and watch how your flesh goes to war.
The flesh is in direct conflict with the spirit. The “spirit” here refers not to the Holy Spirit but to the human spirit. The (human) spirit is the part of us that is open to God, the part that desires him and is drawn to him. It is the part of us that is attracted by goodness, beauty, and truth; the part that yearns for completion in God and longs to see His face. Without the spirit we would be totally turned in on ourselves and consumed by the flesh. Thankfully our spirit, assisted by the Holy Spirit, draws us to desire what is best, what is upright, good, and helpful.
Perhaps it is a good idea to look at a few texts that reference “the flesh” and learn more of the flesh and its ways. This will help us to be on our guard, to rebuke it by God’s grace, and to learn not to feed it. I make some comments in red with each quote.
1. The Flesh does not grasp spiritual teachings – [Jesus said] The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life (John 6:63).
Having heard Jesus’ teaching on the Eucharist, most of His listeners ridicule His teaching and no longer take Him seriously. Jesus indicates that their hostility to the teaching on the Eucharist is of the flesh. The flesh demands that everything be obvious to it on its own terms. The flesh demands to see physical proof for everything; it demands that it be able to “see” using its own unregenerate power. And if it cannot see based on its own limited view, it simply rejects spiritual truth out of hand.
In effect the flesh refuses to believe at all, since what it really requires is something that will “force” it to accept something. Inexorable proof takes things out of the realm of faith and trust. Faith is no longer necessary when something is “absolutely” proven and plainly visible to the eyes of the flesh. The flesh simply refuses to believe; it demands proof.
2. The flesh is not willing to depend on anyone or anything outside its own power or control – For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. … I [now] consider this rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ (Phil 3:3-9 selected).
The flesh wants to be in control rather than to have to trust in God. Hence it sets up its own observance, under its own control. And when it has met its own demands it declares itself to be righteous.
Since the flesh hates being told what to do, it takes God’s law and makes it “manageable” based on the flesh’s own terms. So, for example, if God’s law says I am supposed to love, let me limit it to just my family and countrymen; I’m “allowed” to hate my enemy. But Jesus says, “No.” He says, “Love your enemy.”
The flesh recoils at this, for unless the Law is manageable and within the power of the flesh to accomplish it, the Law cannot be controlled. The flesh trusts only in its own power.
The Pharisees were “self-righteous.” That is to say, they believed in a righteousness that they themselves brought about through their fleshly power. But the Law and flesh cannot save—only Jesus Christ can save. The flesh refuses this and wants to control the outcome based on its own power and on its own terms.
3. The Flesh hates to be told what to do – For when we were controlled by the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death (Rom 7:5).
The disobedience and rebelliousness of the flesh roots us in sinful behavior and prideful attitudes. The prideful attitude of the flesh is even more dangerous than the sins that flow from it, because pride precludes instruction in holiness and possible repentance that leads to life.
So the flesh does not like to be told what to do. Hence it rejects the testimony of the Church, the Scriptures, and the conscience.
Notice, according to the text, that the very existence of God’s Law arouses the passions of the flesh. The fact that something is forbidden makes the flesh want it all the more! This strong inclination to sin is in the flesh and comes from pride and indignation at “being told what to do.” The flesh refuses God’s Law and sets up its own rules. The flesh will not be told what to do.
4. The Flesh is focused only on itself and its own desires –Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the spirit desires. The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the spirit is life and peace (Rom 8:5-6).
The flesh is intent on things of this world, upon gratifying its own passions and desires. On account of the flesh, we are concerned primarily with ourselves and seek to be at the center of everything. The flesh is turned primarily inward. St Augustine describes the human person in the flesh as “curvatus in se” (turned in upon himself).
But the spirit is the part of us that looks outward toward God and opens us the truth and holiness that God offers. Ultimately the flesh is focused on death, for it is concerned with what is passing away: the body and the world. The human spirit is focused on life, for it focuses on God, who is life and light.
5. The Flesh is intrinsically hostile to God – The mind of the flesh is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God (Rom 8:7-8).
The flesh is hostile to God because it hates any one more important than itself. Further, the flesh does not like being told what to do. Hence it despises authority or anyone who tries to tell it what to do. It cannot please God because it does not want to.
6. The Flesh abuses freedom –You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another in love (Gal 5:13).
The flesh turns God-given freedom into licentiousness. Licentiousness is the demanding freedom without limits. Since the flesh does not want to be told what to do, it demands to be able to do whatever it pleases.
In effect the flesh says, “I will do what I want to do and I will decide if it is right or wrong.” This is licentiousness and it is an abuse of freedom. It results in indulgence and paradoxically leads to a slavery to the senses and the passions.
7. The Flesh Demands to be fed – So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want (Gal 5:16-17).
Within the human person is this deep conflict between the flesh and the spirit. We must not be mistaken—the flesh is in us and it is strong. It has declared war on our spirit and on the Holy Spirit of God. When the spirit tries to obey, the flesh resists and tries to sabotage the best aspirations of the spirit.
We must be sober about this conflict and understand that this is why we often do not do what we know is right. The flesh has to die and the spirit come more alive.
What you feed grows. If we feed the flesh it will grow. If we feed the spirit it will grow. What are you feeding? Are you sober about the power of the flesh? Do you feed your spirit well through God’s word, Holy Communion, prayer, and the healing power of Confession? What are you feeding?
8. The Flesh fuels sin –The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal 5:19-210).
This catalog of sins in Galatians 5 is not exhaustive, but it is representative of the offensive and obnoxious behavior that flows from the flesh. Be sober about the flesh; it produces ugly children.
So here is a portrait of “the flesh.” It is ugly. You may say I have exaggerated, that the flesh is not really this bad. Well I am not; just buy a newspaper and see what the flesh is up to.
We may, by God’s grace, see a diminishment in the power of the flesh during our life. That is ultimately what God can and will do for us. He will put the flesh to death in us and bring alive our spirit by the power of His Holy Spirit.
A four step plan:
Step one is to appreciate what the flesh is and understand its moves.
Step two is to bring this understanding to God through repentance.
Step three is, by God’s grace, to stop feeding the flesh and start feeding the spirit on prayer, Scripture, Church teaching, and Holy Communion.
Step four is to repeat steps 1–3 for the rest of our lives!
God will cause the flesh to die and the spirit to live by His grace at work in us through Jesus Christ.
There is no musical better at (humorously) depicting the flesh as Camelot. Here are a few video clips that depict the flesh quite well.
In this first video, Sir Lancelot ponders what a great and perfect guy he is. He even goes so far as to say, “Had I been made the partner of Eve we’d be in Eden still!”
In this clip, the Knights (in the flesh) ridicule goodness and sing “Fie On Goodness!”
In the Gospel from Monday, Jesus praises a woman who gives from her substance: He noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, “I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood. (Lk 21:2-4)
Now in praising her act he also gives a teaching for us allwhich highlights the kind of freedom that often comes with poverty and simplicity, and also the kind of bondage that can come with wealth and worldly connections.
The teaching is very paradoxical since, in worldly thinking, we usually conclude that those with the most money, power and access are the most free to do what they please. But frequently the opposite ends up being the case, and our worldly possessions, power, popularity and access lead us in to a sort of bondage and fear that wasn’t featured in all the promises and advertisements about “the good life.”
Why and how is this so? In effect, those with great wealth and who have power, popularity and deep connections in the world, have “too much to lose.” You can’t steal from a man who has nothing and it is a lot harder to intimidate him. Yet those who go up on the heights, tend to look down from those heights, and fear the fall.
Yes, wealth brings on the bondage of many worries. Scripture says, The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep (Ecclesiastes 5:12). And this evident, society-wide. We have never been so wealthy as modern Western culture affords. And yet, despite this, our stress is off the charts; fears and worries abound. Insurance buildings dominate our skylines, and huge numbers of Americans are on psychotropic medicines to stay calm and less depressed. Many others self-medicate with alcohol and drugs and addiction looms large in our culture.
Wealth also tends to bring on the bondage of insatiable cravings.Again, Scripture says, The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing. (Eccles 1:8). St Augustine says, For of a forward will, was a lust made; and a lust served, became custom; and custom not resisted, became necessity….a hard bondage held me enthralled. (Confessions 8.5.10).
Thus in our wealth we seldom reach a point where we say, I have enough and am satisfied. When does a person ever say, “Gee, I make $600,000 a year, that is more than enough. I think I can get by on 100K and I’ll give away the rest, or invest in something to help others. No, now we want 700K, and our 3,500 square foot home is just too small. Now we need the 7,000 square foot home with all the appointments, and the beach house too. We’re hooked, living well beyond what we need, we are now in bondage to what we merely want. And we thus mistake mere wants as needs. This is not freedom is the “necessity” that St Augustine describes as “bondage.”
Wealth and excess also lead us easily to the bondage of compromise and surrender of our soul to the world. St. Paul writes, But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Tim 6:8-10)
Indeed, it is a very great tragedy that on account of the bondage to money, power and access, many sacrifice their vocation on the altar of career and advancement. Many set aside their vocation as husband and father, wife and mother, disciple and beloved child of God, for the sake of some career, and the money, power and access that comes with it. Their children are raised by strangers and the home fires grow cold. Most do not do this out of wickedness, but out of a kind of bondage, even a desperate fear, that if they do not do so, they will lose out on money, access, power and prestige. Too many cannot break free of this bondage, or do not want to.
None of this says “freedom” it says bondage.
Scripture attests that Jesus told a would be follower who seemed to seek Jesus for the power and access it might give him: Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. (Mat 8:20).
Jesus owned next to nothing in this world, save for the seamless garment his mother likely wove for him. Even his deathbed of the cross was not his own. But in this, he had a radical freedom. He owed no one anything. Having nothing, he had nothing to lose. He could not be intimidated, he could not be owned, or pressured to compromise. He had no “access” or worldly power to lose. He could not be excluded because he was not desperate to join, to fit in, or gain worldly footholds. You can’t take from a man who has nothing, he is free from your influence. Jesus was free.
Yes, for all our talk of how wealth can free us to do what we want the paradoxical opposite seems more the case. Consider some other paradoxes beyond the mere question of wealth and perceive how what seems to offer more freedom and abundance actually leads to bondage and lesser fulfillment.
1. We moderns have more leisure time than perhaps ever before. Yet having all this time we seem to have less time. We are over-scheduled, running here and there to this diversion and that; taking the kids to the soccer practice, dance rehearsal, etc. Options multiply and now become required as we are expected to be here and there. The important is eclipsed by the urgent; scheduling and hurrying about goes off the rails, and many more central things, like eating dinner with the family, prayer and sleep give way. Having more time we strangely have less time and “busy” becomes the usual way we describe our lives.The freedom of leisure time too often turns to a kind of bondage.
2. We moderns have more food, more calories available to us than ever before. Food is quick and cheap. Such freedom, and such variety! Yet, it seems clear, many of us are in bondage. Obesity and all the health problems that go with it are rampant. The food that should sustain life is killing many of us.
It is interesting to observe that centuries ago, when food was far more scarce, fasting was a more rigorous and common Christian practice. Many fasted from meat the whole of Lent. Many also undertook fasting in Advent. Over the years as food became available in great abundance and predictability, it would seem we could fast more easily. But the opposite has happened and most people seem incapable of even the most simple fasts. The bishops, wisely or not, have relaxed the fasting laws to something almost meaningless, concluding that the traditional fasts were “too hard” on people.
We have so much food today that you’d think after a while we’d say, “Enough, I don’t need to eat for days!” But the opposite seems to happen. The more we get the more we want. Portion sizes get ridiculous, and super sizing a way of life. And increasing numbers simply cannot stop, or even approach a reasonable caloric intake.
Thus our abundance does not bring us freedom and variety, but bondage and the limits of poor health. More does not bring freedom, it brings bondage.
3. Many sinfully claim a freedom regarding sex today that Scripture forbids. But honestly, for all the modern claims of freedom, sexual bondage is very deep for many today.
Calls to teach chastity to children are greeted with incredulous looks and remarks that such approaches are unrealistic, and the best that we can hope for is to throw contraceptives at youth who cannot really be expected to control themselves. This does not speak to freedom, but to bondage.
Internet porn is off the chain and many are in deep bondage to it.
And no matter how high the body count grows through abortion, broken families, teenage pregnancy, single motherhood, children raised with out proper families, sexually transmitted diseases, AIDs etc., no one seems to be able to connect the dots and say, “Promiscuity is unhealthy, even deadly, and we must become more serious about addressing this public health hazard.”
Here too the result of sexual revolution that marched under the banner of freedom, is not freedom, it is bondage.
Well, you get the point. Freedom is often paradoxical. We usually think the the “more” of riches, power, choices, and connections brings freedom. Usually it does not. Bondage is more often the case when we embark on the fool’s errand of living beyond what is needed, reasonable or holy.
Jesus looks to a poor woman in yesterday’s gospel and admires her freedom. Free from fear and having little to lose she is able to be generous. Too often our riches, abundance, variety and choices disable rather than enable us. Having much, we have too much to lose. Bondage is never far when this be the case.
Many people think of the Word of God as an “it” when in fact, the Word of God is a person, Jesus Christ. Jesus did not come merely to give us information and exhortation. He came to give us his very self. He is the “Word made Flesh.”
Pope Emeritus Benedict made this point in, the Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Verbum Domini. I want to give an excerpt and then reflect briefly upon it.
[There is a] statement made by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews: “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world ” (1:1-2)….. Here the Word finds expression not primarily in discourse, concepts or rules. Here we are set before the very person of Jesus. His unique and singular history is the definitive word which God speaks to humanity. We can see, then, why “being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a definitive direction ”.…. “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us ”(Jn 1:14a). These words are no figure of speech; they point to a lived experience! Saint John, an eyewitness, tells us so: “ We have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth ” ( Jn 1:14b). ….. Now the word is not simply audible; not only does it have a voice, now the word has a face….(Verbum Domini 11-12)
The Word of God is not merely on the pages of a book. The Word of God is not just an idea or ethical system. The Word of God is not just a set of teachings or doctrines. The Word of God is Jesus Christ. And to really grasp this Word to the degree that we come to know Him, and experience Him and His power active in our lives.
It is a danger to turn Scripture into an abstraction or just a text. St Thomas Aquinas says, The Son is the Word, not any sort of word, but one Who breathes forth Love. Hence Augustine says (De Trin. ix 10): “The Word we speak of is knowledge with love.” Thus the Son is sent not in accordance with [just] any kind of intellectual perfection, but according to the intellectual illumination, which breaks forth into the affection of love, as is said (John 6:45): “Everyone that hath heard from the Father and hath learned, comes to Me. (Summa Prima Pars, 43.5 ad 2).
Hence we cannot really grasp Scripture unless we come to know Jesus Christ. Further, to authentically read Sacred Scripture is to more and more encounter Jesus Christ there. Before we analyze a text of Scripture we are summoned to encounter the One who is speaking to us.
It is surely possible for some, even secular scholar to analyze a Greek text of Holy Writ and parse its verbs. Perhaps another scholar can analyze idioms, or the historical context. Such research can help us understand what the text is saying at a mechanistic level. But only a deepening and personal knowledge of Jesus Christ can help us to know what the text really means. It is this personal, historical, and on-going encounter with Jesus Christ that distinguishes true theology from mere religious study or literary criticism.
Indeed, theologians and Scripture scholars are dangerous if they do not personally know Jesus Christ. To “know” Jesus is not the same as to “know about” Jesus. I might know about Jesus Christ from a book or from some other person. But it is not enough to know “about” him. I must know him. To be a true “authority” in Scripture requires that we have met and know the “author.” Do you see the word “author” in “authority?”
Note how Pope Benedict quotes the Prologue of John’s Gospel ”.…. “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us ”(Jn 1:14a). and then says, These words are no figure of speech; they point to a lived experience! The Pope also says above in reference to the Hebrews 1 text: Here we are set before the very person of Jesus.
In the Liturgical context of Scripture this fact is enshrined in our ritual. As the Priest or Deacon proclaims the Gospel, all the people stand out of respect. For, it is Christ himself who speaks to them and whom they encounter in this proclamation of the Word. At the conclusion of the proclamation of the Gospel, they acknowledge that they are encountering Jesus as they say to him personally: “Laus tibi Christe!” (Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ).
Hence, Scripture, and the wider concept of the Word of God, authentically interpreted by the Church, is not merely a book or a set of ideas. It is an encounter with a living God, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Word of God is a person, Jesus Christ.
Perhaps a couple of quick stories to illustrate the difference between seeing Scripture merely as a text, and seeing it as an encounter with the Word made flesh, Jesus.
1. A rural Appalachian community was visited by a Shakespearean actor. They were amazed at his elegant but strange way of speaking. At one moment in his public recital he recited the 23rd Psalm. The words were elegant, pronounced in finest King James English with great drama and flair. At the end of his recitation a strange silence filled the room. Where applause would usually follow, an awkward silence ensued. Finally a poor farmer in the back of the room stood and apologized that no one knew to applaud and that they meant no offense but they just weren’t sure he was done. “See, out in these parts we say it a little different.” The poor farmer then began, “The Loerd is mah shayperd….” When he completed the psalm the room was filled with amens and “praise the Lord”s. The Shakespearean actor then told the poor farmer, “I was elegant, but your words had greater power. That is because I know only the technique, but you know the author.”
2. Some years ago I heard a Black AME Preacher address an ecumenical gathering at a revival. And he said to the gathered, “You know I heard some strange stuff in seminary! The professors said Jesus never really walked on water, that he didn’t really multiply loaves and fishes, he just got folks to be generous. They said, he didn’t really know he was God, or rise from the dead. He just lives on in our thoughts or something…..Can you believe they taught me that in a Christian seminary?!” Through his description of these wretched “teachings” the moans and disapproval in the congregation of Protestants and Catholics were audible. He built his litany of faulty scholarship and you could hear folks saying, “Lord have mercy!” and “mah, mah, mah.” And then he stopped and mopped his brow, and looked at them and said, “I tell you what! The problem with them wasn’t that they read the wrong books, y’all. The problem with them was that they ain’t never met my Jesus!” Well the house came down and folks were on their feet for ten minutes praising God. The Choir too leapt to their feet and began the familiar chorus: “Can’t nobody do me like Jesus, he’s my Lord!”
Well, you get the point, when you’ve met Jesus Christ you just don’t doubt that he walked on the water, multiplied loaves, raised Lazarus, knew perfectly well that he was God and stepped out of the tomb on Easter morning.
The Word of God is not merely a text. It is a person, Jesus Christ, the Logos, the Word made flesh. And once you’ve met him his spoken (and later written word) begins to make greater and greater sense and there is just no doubt that this Word is true and powerful.
Let me let Pope Emeritus Benedict conclude as we recall his words above: the Word finds expression not primarily in discourse, concepts or rules. Here we are set before the very person of Jesus….These words are no figure of speech; they point to a lived experience! Saint John, an eyewitness, tells us so: “ We have beheld his glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
In the Book of Ecclesiastes from today’s Mass, something is said that is quite powerful if we meditate upon it.
