Do not the pagans think, say, and do the same?

7^th Sunday OT

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

Our Lady of the Rosary, NOLA

Audio Link

It's not enough that we do good and avoid evil. Not enough that we cannot achieve good ends by evil means. Not enough that we show up at Mass and drop an envelope in the plate. We must do more. A lot more. Jesus commands, “. . .be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Why must we be perfect? Even the pagans feed their children, pay their taxes, and pray to their gods. When we do the same, how are we any different? When we love only those who love us, or do favors only for those who favor us, we're no different than our pagan neighbors. So, what are we testifying to when our witness to the world is indistinguishable from the daily lives of those who do not follow Christ? Our holiness has been a priority for God from the beginning. He gives Moses a message to deliver to His people, “Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.” He demands that we be better; He demands our best: “Bear no hatred for your brother or sister; seek no revenge; cherish no grudge; love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Our Lord sets a high bar for us to clear in our run toward holiness. When we consider our thoughts, words, and deeds, how we will witness in the world, we must ask ourselves, “Do not the pagans think, say, and do the same?”

Do we think, speak, and act like our pagan neighbors? Recent surveys show that Catholics think and act almost exactly like their non-Catholic neighbors on the hot-button issues of the day: contraception, abortion, same-sex marriage, and co-habitation before marriage. On hot-button issues internal to the Church – like obligatory clerical celibacy and the impossibility of ordaining women to the priesthood – Catholic attitudes differ very little from non-Catholics. Unfortunately, what this means is that on these issues, Catholics agree with their pagan neighbors. Now, we could say that these issues aren't indicative of our identity as Catholics; that is, disagreeing with the Church on three or four hot-button questions doesn't put us among the pagans. We are not rejecting God, Christ, or the Church just b/c we think contraception is OK, or that two guys in love should be able to marry. God tells Moses to prophesy, “Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.” Jesus says, “. ..be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Can “be holy” and “be perfect” simply mean “be like your pagan neighbors.” Is holiness and spiritual perfection simply a matter of imitating those who do not follow Christ?

If our holiness is a matter of mimicking our neighbors, then we need to ignore God's admonition to Moses. You need to hate your brother and sister. Seek revenge. Cherish grudges. Refuse help to the poor and sick. Worship whatever god makes you feel good. That's what the pagans of Moses' day did. That's what the Romans did in Jesus' day. Both Moses and Jesus understood holiness to mean something like “setting yourself apart from the pagans.” Maybe in the 21^st century, holiness means something like “don't imitate the collective suicidal impulses of those who are ruled by the world.” That's not all that holiness means for us, of course, but it's a start. Jesus starts with the Mosaic Law and then proceeds to fulfill that Law by revealing its soul. “You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' [that's the Mosaic Law] But I say to you, love your enemies.” [That's the Law of Love]. The soul of the Law is love. And we begin our run towards holiness by setting ourselves apart in Christ, by consecrating ourselves in his sacrifice. We cannot achieve the holiness God wills for us by imitating the fads and fashions of our pagan neighbors.

So, how do we set ourselves apart from the world short of fleeing to a monastery in Montana? How do we live and move in our pagan culture and at the same time resist its influence? Paul gives us a few hints in his letter to the Corinthians. He writes, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” Did you know this? As baptized and confirmed followers of Christ, you are walking, talking temples of the Holy Spirit! Each one of us is a sacred location, a holy place and person housing the living spirit of the living God. In virtue of our baptism in Christ and our confirmation in the Spirit, we are – each one of us – a priest, a prophet, and a king, vowed to sacrifice, witness, and serve. And when we sacrifice, witness, and serve, we do so with the power and blessing of the Spirit Who dwells within us. As followers of Christ, we are not allowed to run and hide in the face of opposition or oppression, nor are we allowed to collapse under the pressure of our pagan culture. We are charged with being Christ – priest, prophet, and king – in the world, among the world. Sacrificing for, witnessing to, and serving the least among us. 

 

Jesus says that we are to be salt and leaven, the ingredients that nourish his Word and bring it to harvest. We cannot be salt and leaven and at the same time imitate the impulsive suicidal behavior of our secular culture. This isn't a political observation, or a talking-point in the on-going culture war. This is about our holiness, our growth toward the perfect that Christ expects of us. To achieve this holiness we must be in the world but not of it; meaning, we cannot run or hide from evil nor can we make friends with evil in exchange for just being left alone. Jesus teaches us not to resist evil, “turn the other cheek.” This isn't surrender or cooperation; it's a steadfast refusal to fight evil on its own terms. Return evil for evil? Jesus asks, “Do not the pagans do the same?” Kill unwanted children? “Do not the pagans do the same?” Reject the gift of life b/c another life might be expensive, inconvenient, or a disruption? “Do not the pagans do the same?” Believe that natural law can be altered by courts or legislatures? “Do not the pagans do the same?” To be holy and to witness to holiness for the sake of others, our yes to Christ must mean Yes! Our no to the world must mean NO! But that NO! does not mean that we enclose ourselves in self-righteousness, or prissy aloofness, or a self-satisfied certainty. It means that we mourn for the world and seek its rescue in Christ. 

 

As we rapidly approach Lent, it seems fitting to repeat Paul's warning to the corrupt church in Corinth: “Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool, so as to become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God. . .” Take that warning with this assurance: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” Christ fulfilled the Law by revealing the soul of the Law: divine love. He shows us the power of sacrificial love from the Cross, defeating sin and death by rising from the tomb, and bringing us all to the way of perfection. You are a living temple of the living God and your run toward holiness begins by following Christ. Not the dominant culture. Not your pagan neighbors. Not a political party. Christ. Follow Christ. And become a fool in the eyes of the world.

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Becoming God with God's Help

NB. A 2011 homily using tomorrow's readings. I'm working a new homily!

 

7th Sunday OT

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

St. Joseph Church, Ponchatula

One thing we know for sure about God: He ain't shy about demanding that we do great things. He ain't shy about demanding that we become a great people. But His demands for our greatness always come with an offer of help; He never simply demands perfection and then leaves us on our own. Since His help has often come in the guise of an invading army or a series of plagues or the mysterious puzzles of prophecy, we might think it better that He withdraw His help and let us do the best we can all by ourselves. But divine expectations are best met with divine assistance, especially if we are the ones who are expected to excel. Given our limits, our tendencies to falter, we know that the higher the expectation, the greater the need for help. If what God says to Moses in the Book of Leviticus is to be believed, then the only help for us is for God to make us gods: “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” Jesus repeats this demand, “. . .be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We are to be holy and perfect as God Himself is holy and perfect. Can you imagine what sort of help we are going to need to meet this expectation?! God will indeed have to make us into gods. And this is exactly the help He offered us when He sent His only Son to live and die among us as one of us. He's offered His help—once for all—on the cross. Are you ready to receive it?

The question I'm asking sounds a bit strange, so let me make it perfectly clear: you are ready to be made into God? This really isn't such a strange question. The idea that we “partake in the divine nature” is an ancient Catholic tradition; it's as old as Christianity itself. The idea that the divine can dwell in the human is even older. In the Word Made Flesh, Jesus Christ, we have one person with two natures—one human, one divine. If we can believe that the Son of God was born of a virgin and lived and died among us, then it really isn't all that difficult to believe that we are saved from eternal darkness by becoming one with the Father through the His incarnated Son. Writing to the Corinthians, Paul puts the question succinctly: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” What other work do we have as Christians than to allow the Spirit of God to be poured into us, overflowing into anything, anyone we touch? Our wisdom becomes His wisdom; our love becomes His love; our hope becomes His hope. We become holy and perfect in the only way we can: we become God. . .with God's help. Without His help, we fall into the same trap that fell Adam and Eve, that hapless couple who believed the serpent when he told them that they could become gods without God. What did the serpent tell Adam and Eve that they needed? Knowledge. Not divine knowledge but worldly knowledge. Having enough worldly knowledge would not only enlighten them but it would transform them into gods as well.

They fall for it. And so do we. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool, so as to become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God. . .” Now, Paul uses “wisdom” rather than “knowledge” here. Knowledge and wisdom are not the same thing. Wisdom comes with the right use of knowledge. Knowledge is a tool; wisdom is an attitude. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in their pride, they came to know the difference between good and evil. What they choose to do with this knowledge is what makes them wise or foolish. Paul is exhorting the Corinthians to reject the kind of wisdom that comes from worldly knowledge alone, that is, wisdom based on knowledge that ignores God as the world's creator. He is not telling them to reject knowledge about the world but rather to reject the idea that you can be wise all the while denying that God is the world's creator. True wisdom—godly wisdom—starts with a spirit overawed by the presence of God in His creation. Wisdom based on worldly knowledge demands that we start with the world and work only within our human limitations, leaving God aside. What God demands of us in our progress toward His holiness and perfection is that we see, hear, taste, feel, and think through our trust in Him. In other words, we start by acknowledging that we are His creatures, and then we see, hear, taste, feel, and think of everything we encounter as a revelation of God Himself. This is how we start. But it isn't how we finish.

The gospel set aside for today is a continuation of last Sunday's reading. That reading ended with “Let your Yes mean yes and your No mean no. Anything else is from the evil one.” Jesus showed us then and he shows again today the difference between worldly wisdom and the wisdom of his Father. He sets one side against the other: “You have heard it said. . .but I say to you. . .” You have heard it said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, “Offer no resistance to one who is evil.” You have heard it said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Why? Why would any sane person living in the real world offer no resistance to evil, love their enemies, and pray for those who persecute them? Jesus answers, “[so] that you may be children of your heavenly Father. . .” Worldly wisdom tells us that it is wise to fight evil, to hate our enemies, and to pray of their defeat. In a world without God, a world where there is nothing beyond death, nothing higher than the law of Might Makes Right, we would be foolish indeed to forgive, to show mercy, and to pray for our enemies. But we have vowed to pursue holiness and perfection with God's help. And this we cannot do if we are mired in the foolishness of the world. Think for a moment about the standard God has set for us. Jesus says that we must do these ridiculous things in order to be the children of our heavenly Father b/c “he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” If can't choose who gets God's sunlight and who gets His rain, how could we possibly decide who it is that He should love and forgive? And if we are saved by becoming God, then our love and forgiveness must fall on the bad and the good, on the just and the unjust alike. That's quite a demand. An extraordinarily high expectation. Thanks be to God that we have His help!

The question remains: are you ready to receive His help and become God? To be holy as He is holy? To be perfect as He is perfect? St. Thomas Aquinas, quoting St. Irenaeus, wrote, “God became Man so that Man might become God.” Our only hope of achieving the holiness and perfection demanded of us is to surrender ourselves to the wisdom of God, and follow His Christ in all things. At the end of the day, our surrender is sacrificial love, giving of ourselves wholly in love for the sake of another. At the very least, this means restraining your pride—hourly, daily—and giving God thanks for every chance you have to be loving, forgiving, and merciful. All of us belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ himself belongs to God.

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Yoda says, "There is no try."

A 2008 homily for your edification on this windy/chilly Friday. . .someone I know -- ahem! -- might be able to use something here.

6^th Week OT (F): James 2.14-24, 26; Mark 8.34-9.1
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Serra Club Mass, Church of the Incarnation

Is it possible to desire to follow Christ but fail to take up Christ’s cross? Is it possible to want to be a Christian but fail to follow after Christ? Jesus tells the disciples and the crowd, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” How do we deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow him? Good questions. The better question, for now, is: what does it mean “to wish to follow Christ”? And what does it mean to wish such a thing and fail to do what is required in order to see this wish come to fruition? James, in his oh-so-pointed manner clarifies this murky problem for us: “…faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” In other words, you cannot wish to be a Christian and refuse to trust God; likewise, your refusal to trust God is all the evidence we need to conclude that you do not, in fact, wish to be a Christian.

Jesus is a genius. What he understands better than we do is that it is impossible for us to desire what we lack and at the same time fail to do what is lacking. In our very desire to be Christ, we do what Christ did. To have faith in Christ is to do Christ’s faithful work. Think of the alternatives: faith without works, works without faith. Faith is the good habit of trusting God. How does one possess a habit without actually doing the habit? If I say that I have the bad habit of lying, you rightly assume that I lie. What if I then say, “No, I never lie.” You can justly accuse me of being very confused about what it mean “to have a habit.” If I say that I have the good habit of loving others, you rightly assume that I am a loving person. What if I then say, “No, I pretty much hate everyone.” Again, I am showing that I am very confused about the nature of habit. The same sort of confusion flows from the notion that I can do truly good works without faith. Let’s say that you catch me feeding the poor on a regular basis. You can justly say that I love the poor. If I say, “No, I really hate the poor, so I feed them on a regular basis,” you are again right to point out my confusion.

Christ denies himself, takes up his cross, and leads to Calvary anyone who wants follow. So, if you deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Christ, you are a Christian. You do what Christ did. Faith is a good work. Good works are always faithful works. However, we can neither trust God nor do trusting work without God Himself. Our desire to follow Christ and the works we do that mark us as followers of Christ are themselves gifts given to us by God. We do not want God until God Himself shows us what we lack without Him. And when we are shown what we lack, or more precisely “who we lack,” we are moved to desire Him and His perfection. This is not an Armchair Desire, a merely abstract wanting that we can safely rope off and hold at bay with appeals to practicality or common sense. Nor can we simply intellectualize this gnawing hunger as a delightful puzzle or amusing concept. Once the starving man is shown the feast, he must eat or die. And so it is with us: once we are shown the perfection of following Christ, we must follow or die…or rather, follow and die: for what good is it for us to be given the riches of the whole world and refuse to love the one, the only one, who gives us a life to live richly?

We cannot desire to be Christ without doing what Christ did. We cannot do what Christ did without desiring to be who Christ is. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow. There is no wanting without working, no desiring without doing. To quote Master Yoda, “Do or do not. There is no try.”

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Audio Link: 6th Sunday OT

Audio Link:  6th Sunday OT, Surpassing Righteousness
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Surpassing Righteousness

6^th Sunday OT

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

Our Lady of the Rosary, NOLA

Audio Link

Paul speaks to those who are mature a wisdom. Not the wisdom of this passing age, nor the wisdom of the rulers of this age. But “God’s wisdom, mysterious, hidden. . .” To hear God's wisdom and understand, the hearer must be mature. Not elderly in age but mature in spirit, one whose life with God has ripened and produced good spiritual fruit. For those of us who are not yet ready to hear God's wisdom, not yet mature enough to understand, Paul notes a way in, a way into the hidden mysteries. God reveals. Through His Holy Spirit He offers us a revelation. And what does God reveal? He reveals all that the eye has not seen; all that the ear has not heard; all that has failed to enter the human heart. He reveals to those who love Him all that He has prepared. And we call this revelation Wisdom. Not the passing-away wisdom of this age, but the Wisdom of God, the Wisdom Christ is sent to fulfill. The Law and the Prophets revealed God's Wisdom in word and deed, preaching and teaching His ways to a wayward people. Christ reveals God's Wisdom in flesh and blood, preaching and teaching the Way back to righteousness. Jesus says, “. . .unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Since our places in the kingdom of heaven depend on our righteousness, it might be prudent for us to figure out how to surpass the scribes and Pharisees in righteousness. If we were try to surpass their righteousness on their own terms, we'd likely fail. Righteousness for the scribes and Pharisees was achieved through the meticulous observance of some 600+ regulations, animal sacrifices in the Jerusalem temple, and the daily recitation – in Hebrew – of a number of lengthy prayers. How do we surpass this sort of righteousness? We don't. We can't. What righteousness we can claim comes to us as a freely offered gift from God. We accept this freely offered gift, or we do not. If we accept the gift of righteousness, God makes us right through the death and resurrection of Christ. If we do not accept the gift, then nothing we can do will make us right with God. When Jesus says that he came to fulfill the Law, he means that he came to keep the promises of the Law and to make good on our end of the deal. So, we surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees by placing ourselves among those who love God; who receive His Wisdom; and who strive to understand and live by His will. 

 

Loving God, receiving His Wisdom, and striving to understand and live by His will are each a sign of spiritual maturity. Taken together, they are signs not only of righteousness but holiness as well. Notice what Jesus is teaching the disciples in this formula: “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors. . .but I say to you.” Our ancestors taught us not to kill, not to commit adultery, not to swear a false oath. That's the Law. Jesus came to fulfill the Law not to abolish it. Murder, adultery, and lying are still wrong. However, b/c Jesus has fulfilled the Law and revealed the first commandment – the Law of Love – we know why murder, adultery, and lying are all morally evil. They all violate love. In some way, each one offends the dignity of the human person, trespassing against the image and likeness of God that each one of us manifests. When we love God; receive His Wisdom, and strive to understand and live by His will, we see Him revealed in one another, and we love one another b/c He created us for love and loved us first. The spiritually mature hear and understand God's Wisdom: love is fundamental, grounding, all-defining, and absolute. Choose love and your faith will ripen and produce good spiritual fruit.

Choose love, I said. Choose. We hear this again from the Wisdom of Ben Sira, Sirach: “[God] has set before you fire and water to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand.” Touch water, or touch fire. Choose. One soothes, the other burns. Sirach continues: “Before [you] are life and death, good and evil, whichever [you] choose shall be given [you].” Choose and your choice will be given. That's a frightening proposition. Not so much the choices themselves, but the very idea that we must choose, and that we are responsible for the choices we make. Of course, we know that we are responsible for our material choices. We get a ticket for speeding. We gain weight when we choose to eat that second King Cake. We get docked for missing a day of work. But do we understand that our spiritual choices – the choices we make to love, to forgive, to give God thanks, or not to do any of those things – do we understand that these choices also have real consequences for which we are responsible? Sirach says, “Choose good or evil, life or death.” One soothes, the other burns. If you always choose love – God's love – your choice cannot fail, the consequences can never be dire. “Immense is the wisdom of the Lord. . .”

The Law and the Prophets revealed God's Wisdom in word and deed, preaching and teaching His ways to a wayward people. Christ reveals God's Wisdom in flesh and blood, preaching and teaching the Way back to righteousness. Christ does not simply teach his Father's wisdom. He doesn't simply act out his Father's wisdom. Christ IS his Father's wisdom – given a body, a soul, a mind, and a mission. Christ is “what eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart.” And he is “what God has prepared for those who love him.” No, rather, he is “who God has prepared for those who love him.” Our choice is Christ. Not a what but a who – the person of Christ, his body and blood, freely given and freely received to bring you and me into righteousness, a surpassing righteousness. And our mission – the mission we have all accepted and vowed to complete – is to give our bodies, our souls, our hearts and minds to the enduring labor of being Christ out there. Christ fulfills the Law. Our obligations to the Law have been met. Now, having chosen Life – Life Eternal – we are responsible for maturing in God's Wisdom and seeing to it that the Good News of His mercy to sinners is given a voice, loud and clear. Therefore, “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.”

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Two Books for Faithful Catechists

For catechists, school religion teachers, home-schooling parents, Catholics who want to learn more:

Two book recommendations. . .

The Pedagogy of God: Its Centrality in Catechesis and Catechist Formation

and 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Craft of Catechesis 

I am using these two texts in my Teaching and Preaching the Word of God course at NDS.

Both books indirectly critique the disastrous "Shared Christian Praxis" pedagogy of Thomas Groome, et. al. and urge catechists to adopt a pedagogy that actually reflects the way God Himself teaches us through scripture, tradition, liturgy, and the magisterium.

Using both the content and form of the CCC, the books show how our revealed faith reflects the reality of God, Who is truth, beauty, goodness, and unity. And how the catechist is to be formed as a teacher of the faith, i.e. not as a facilitator for a therapeutic deconstruction of revealed truths.

I highly recommend these texts as formidable remedies to the catechetical maladies that the Church has endured in the last fifty years.

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Lenten Spiritual Reading 2014

Lent is fast approaching and the usual emails/comments are coming in asking for suggestions for spiritual reading.

This year I am recommending Pope Benedict XVI's exhortation on Scripture titled, Verbum Domini.  You can buy a copy of the book here. 

This 2010 exhortation from our Pope Emeritus proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is a master of biblical theology. We use this text in a number of classes at NDS.

Below is a thematic summary of the book from Carl Olson, "A Symphony of the Word."

Twelve Key Themes in Verbum Domini

Called to share in divine life: It is striking that the opening paragraphs of each major section contains a reference to God's invitation for man to share in the divine life. At the heart of that divine life, Benedict notes, "there is communion, there is absolute gift. .... God makes himself known to us as a mystery of infinite love in which the Father eternally utters his Word in the Holy Spirit. Consequently the Word, who from the beginning is with God and is God, reveals God himself in the dialogue of love between the divine persons, and invites us to share in that love" (par. 6; cf. par. 9). This truth is presented even more strongly at the start of the second section: "Those who believe, that is to say, those who live the obedience of faith, are 'born of God' ( Jn 1:13) and made sharers in the divine life: sons in the Son (cf. Gal 4:5-6; Rom 8:14-17)" (par. 50). And, from the third section: "The word of God has bestowed upon us the divine life which transfigures the face of the earth, making all things new (cf. Rev 21:5)" (par 91).

Divine dialogue: God has initiated dialogue with man because of his love for him. As we've already seen, this is because the Triune God is a God of "dialogue"; that is, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are continually speaking to one another in perfect, self-giving love. "In this vision every man and woman appears as someone to whom the word speaks, challenges and calls to enter this dialogue of love through a free response. Each of us is thus enabled by God to hear and respond to his word. We were created in the word and we live in the word; we cannot understand ourselves unless we are open to this dialogue" (par. 22).

Incarnation and Christology: At the heart of this divine dialogue is "the heart of the world" (par 83), the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. "God's word is thus spoken throughout the history of salvation, and most fully in the mystery of the incarnation, death and resurrection of the Son of God" (par. 7). The Christian faith "is not a 'religion of the book': Christianity is the 'religion of the word of God', not of 'a written and mute word, but of the incarnate and living Word'" (par. 7). Benedict writes of a "Christology of the word" and reflects at length on the meaning of the communication of the eternal Word into time and space: "His unique and singular history is the definitive word which God speaks to humanity" (par. 11).

Encounter and relationship: The words "encounter" and "encountering" appear over forty times in Verbum Domini; they summarize, in many ways, the core of Benedict's explanation of the relationships between God and man and man and the Word of God. Quoting from his 2005 encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, Benedict states that "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" (par. 11). And: "The whole history of salvation progressively demonstrates this profound bond between the word of God and the faith which arises from an encounter with Christ. Faith thus takes shape as an encounter with a person to whom we entrust our whole life" (par. 25).

Similarly, the word "relationship" appears over sixty times, often to express in some way the intimate communion given by God through Jesus Christ and Scripture: "The mystery of the Covenant expresses this relationship between God who calls man with his word, and man who responds, albeit making clear that it is not a matter of a meeting of two peers; what we call the Old and New Covenant is not a contract between two equal parties, but a pure gift of God" (par. 22), and, "The relationship between Christ, the Word of the Father, and the Church cannot be fully understood in terms of a mere past event; rather, it is a living relationship which each member of the faithful is personally called to enter into" (par. 51).

[. . .]

Read the whole thing along with the papal exhortation. Well worth your time.
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What are we getting ourselves into?!

NB. Below are the notes I used in a recent lecture to my preaching students at NDS.

Homiletics I: Preachers, what are you getting yourselves into?

I. Influences on our people. . .

. . .lose of catholicity and triumph of the local

. . .ideology of “multiculturalism” (entitled enclaves of personal preferences)

. . .secular culture = absence of the transcendent, scientism (no truth, no center, no   structure)

. . .inadequate catechesis before and after baptism (focus on personal experience and emotions)

II. Catholics are indifferent to or disaffected with the Church’s teaching. . .

. . .a spirit of individualism, entitlement → “cafeteria Catholicism”

. . .decline of the “common good”

. . .the sexual abuse scandals → undermines moral authority, exemplifies clericalism

. . .the sharp polarities in our political life → mirrored in our ecclesial lives

. . .constant dissent from clergy, religious, and special-interest groups

III. Dominance of relativism makes preaching more difficult. . .

 

perspectivism: "From my perspective, X is right/wrong."

relativism: "You have your perspective on X and I have mine. There's no way to tell which perspective of X is really true."

nihilism: "Since there's no way to know whose perspective on X is really 'true,' we can conclude that there is no such thing as 'truth.' about X."

eliminativism: "If there is no 'truth' about X, then there's no reason to believe that there is any such thing as 'truth' about anything at all."

triumph of the will: "Your claim that there is such a thing as 'truth' is just an exercise of your power."

IV. Materialism/consumerism encourages. . .

. . .the erosion of our spiritual lives → focus on earthly treasure and security

. . .an indifference/hostility to the poor → “I got mine!”

. . .violations of human dignity: racism, violence → competition against the Other

. . .a decline in youth participation in the Church → more susceptible to secular culture

. . .anxiety about “success” and apathy toward holiness

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Disputation. . .Dominican Style! (Updated)

NB. A repost that explains the Old School Dominican style of disputation. . . 

UPDATE: If you want to know about this style of argument, here's a link to the Monastic Theological Studies page of the Lufkin OP nuns in TX. Frankly, seeing the energy and determination of these sisters, I'd just stipulate their victory and become a Benedictine! I'll be teaching in the MTS program this summer in Summit, NJ.

In what is probably a doomed effort to tame my intemperate tongue and fiery typing-fingers,* I have set myself on a course of re-learning and practicing the ancient tradition of Dominican disputation.

So, more for my benefit than your enjoyment, I present the Dominican method of disputation (in breve). . .

Early Dominican disputation was done in public, usually in universities for the benefit of students learning the crafts of philosophy and theology. The Master (professor) would give a lecture on some topic and then take questions from the students and other Masters. Once asked, the question would be answered first with a list of objections to the Master's real answer. So, if the Master's real answer was "Yes," he would begin by stating what all the "No" answers would seem to be. These are presented in the Summa theologiae as the "videtur" or "it would seem that."

After this, the Master would provide a sed contra, or a "to the contrary," a general answer to the objections that served to lay the foundation for his own answer to the original question. The sed contra was usually a quotation from scripture, a well-respected theologian/philosopher, or saint that directly or indirectly touched on the question.

Once the sed contra is announced, the Master would answer with a respondeo, the "I respond that." Here he pulls on the foundational principles taught to his students, employing basic logic, metaphysics, common sense, and additional authoritative sources.

In the respondeo, the Master would use a peculiarly scholastic technique in arguing his point. Summarized the technique is: "Never deny, rarely affirm, always distinguish." Thus, the scholastics' reputation for "multiplying distinctions."

After the respondeo, the Master would then apply his answer to each objection (the videtur) in a reply and show why each was incorrect given the sed contra and the logic of the respondeo.

Break down of the "Never deny, rarely affirm, always distinguish"

Never deny: this principle presupposes charity in requiring the responder to take seriously the objections made to any answer he might give; that is, by never outright denying a conclusion, the Master presumes the good will of the objector and averts any attacks on the person. By disallowing the outright denial of an opponent's premise or conclusion, the 'never deny' pushes us in charity to recognize that even an assertion erroneous on the whole may contain some partial truth. The next two steps in the method assure us of ferreting out whatever truth might be found error. (NB. This technique also tends to kill in its cradle the all-too-often virulent disease we call "flaming").

Rarely affirm: this principle frees the Master from the traps in the objections that might inexorably lead him to conclude that the objection is correct. It also serves to push the argument beyond merely polite agreement and force the debaters to explore areas of disagreement that could lead to a better answer.

Always distinguish: this principle allows the Master to accomplish the first two principles while still giving him plenty of room to disagree with the objections. By requiring the Master to carefully parse his words, this step in the argument recognizes the limits of language and logic when discussing any truth and acknowledges that there is some hope of finding better and better definitions.

So, in practice, you will hear those who use this method say things like, "If by X, you mean Y, then X" or "I would distinguish between X and Y" or "You are right to say X, but X does not necessarily entail Y" and so on. The goal is to parse proper distinctions with charity until there is some clarity with regard to the use of terms and their place in the argument.

I should add here another good principle of logic: "Where there is no difference, there can be no distinction;" that is, any distinction between X and Y must be based on a real difference between X and Y. For example, all teachers have heard some version of the following: "But I didn't plagiarize my paper, I just borrowed my roommate's paper and put my name on it."

No difference, no distinction.

* And it proved to be a doomed effort. . .a commenter on the original post dragged out the sex abuse scandal to smear the Church and my response was. . .ahem. . .less-than-Dominican. Which goes to show you that knowing-how is not the same as doing.

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Preaching the New Evangelization

I gave a formation conference to the second and third theologians at NDS this morning.

Title: Preaching and the New Evangelization.

If you've been wondering what all the fuss is about the N.E., read this article by Msgr. Michael Hull. 

We, Christians and Catholics, want to see the Gospel renewed in our day. We want all humanity to enjoy the same relationship with Jesus the Christ that is ours. Benedict puts it well:  “As I stated in my first encyclical, Deus caritas est: ‘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 decisive direction’ (no. 1). Likewise, at the root of all evangelization lies not a human plan of expansion, but rather the desire to share the inestimable gift that God has wished to give us, making us sharers in his own life.”

Essentially, the N.E. is about evangelizing the baptized. We've lost a generation or two to Rainbows & Butterflies Catechesis, Pabulum Preaching, and Protestantized Pan-sacramentalism.

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FYI

From my Wish List someone bought three copies of Renewal: How a New Generation of Faithful Priests and Bishops Is Revitalizing the Catholic Church on Jan 6th. 

 

If you bought one of these for me, it never arrived.  If you didn't buy one of these three for me, please let me know so I can put the book back on the List.

 

Thanks!

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Reformatting the Blog

A faithful HA reader from Summit, NJ sent me a letter -- a REAL snail mail letter -- asking me to reformat the blog so that the text would "wrap."

I saw nothing in the Settings that allow this to occur. . .whatever "this" is.

I've shrunk the margins to their default size. . .maybe that will cure the problem.

Regardless, thanks Ann of Summit for the letter and for the suggestion!

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Audio File: homily for 5th Sun OT

AUDIO FILE for 5th Sunday of OT: Stay Salty and Bright!

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Stay salty and bright!

5^th Sunday OT

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

Our Lady of the Rosary, NOLA

AUDIO FILE

Jesus states the obvious, “A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.” It might be difficult to reach. Obscured by clouds on occasion. Or nearly impregnable to a siege. But it can't be hidden. It sits there among the rocks and trees for all to see. Looking up, for all to see. What do we see when we look at the city? Walls, gates, traffic, thriving markets, lots of people. We might see security, comfort. Or crime and filth. Crowded streets and tenements. Strangers, foreigners, friends. Whatever we see, we see b/c the city cannot be hidden. Its presence dominates, overwhelms – a living thing made from dead stone. Jesus tells us that the mountaintop city cannot be hidden nor can our good works. Like that city, our works for the greater glory of God must be monumental, stone-solid, unavoidable to even the most disinterested tourist. Like that city, our witness to the Father's mercy must be visible to the countryside from miles away; a landmark for both pilgrims and sinners alike. If not, then we are “no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Do your words and deeds help to build God's unhideable city on the hill?

Jesus' admonition to his disciples – stay salty and don't hide your light – is more than a moral lesson or a quick tip for pastoral effectiveness. Staying salty and bright is The Way that we followers of Christ work out our salvation and lead others to theirs. This is why Jesus says that tasteless salt is to be thrown out and trampled on. Salt that cannot season has lost its purpose, lost its usefulness and keeping it around is a sentimental waste of space. What use is dry water or cold fire? What use is a light hidden under a basket? If it can't shine and show the way to the lost, then it's a waste. Our words and deeds spoken and done for the greater glory of God are to be spoken and done in the brightness of the day, in the direct light of the noonday sun for all to see. Not hidden. Not done in darkness. Not whispered or mumbled. But boldly, loudly spoken and done without hesitation or ambiguity, without recourse to the “sublimity of words” or the seductions of worldly wisdom. We work out our salvation and bring others to theirs by speaking and acting plainly for the glory of God so that the Good News of His mercy shines out from that unhideable city on the hill.

What does “speaking and acting plainly for the glory of God” mean in 2014 A.D.? It means exactly what it meant in 56 A.D. when Paul confesses to the Corinthians that he was “resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” To know nothing but Christ crucified means to frame your mind, your heart, and your soul with the undeniable and enduring truth that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for your salvation and rose from the dead so that you too might be raised on the last day. To know nothing but Christ crucified means that your every act, every word, every thought is motivated by nothing else but the compulsive drive to behave, speak, and think according to the Good News Christ came among us to preach. To know nothing but Christ crucified means that you accept as your only mission the imperative to bear witness to all so that all might find their peace in Christ. Is this difficult task? Paul writes to the Corinthians, “I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling. . .” If Paul was weak, afraid, and trembling while bearing witness to his brothers and sisters, then we should expect nothing less for ourselves as we bear witness to Christ in a world ruled by the Enemy. Thus, Jesus tells us to stay salty and bright.

How do we do that? How do we stay salty and bright while bearing witness to the Good News? There's a much overused word that we Christians need to reclaim from our corrupted culture. That word is “authenticity.” Being authentic means to be real, to be honest, transparent. Being authentic invokes truthfulness, goodness, and beauty. We want authentic art work, authentic music, authentic liturgy. But the definition we want here is “conforming to an original so as to reproduce essential features.” Christ is the original. We are charged with reproducing his essential features so that our witness is “authentic.” No fakes. No forgeries. No knockoffs. Just the real deal, full-fat, 100% guaranteed, 24kt gold Gospel witness. This means – at minimum – that we believe the Gospel and live that belief. We lose our saltiness and our brightness when we allow the wisdom of the world creep into our hearts and minds. It starts small. Payback for an insult. Tit for tat. Waiting to forgive until an apology is forthcoming. Praying and giving to be seen. Failing to give God thanks for His blessings. Small things peck away at our authenticity until there's nothing left but our broken word. Reproduce the original and your authenticity will never be in doubt. 

 

Let's talk practically. First, the best witness is a credible witness, and nothing helps one's credibility more than a clear conscience. Go to confession! Second, a good witness will have no daylight shining btw her words and deeds: hypocrisy kills credibility, say and do what Christ said and did. Third, a good witness will keep the whole truth in mind and not just the facts. Facts only make sense within the larger truth. Fourth, a good witness will speak and behave plainly, without pretense or any effort at drawing attention to himself. Christ crucified is the object of our testimony not our needy egos. Fifth, a good witness loves, hopes, and trusts. She loves God and His creatures; hopes in the resurrection and life eternal; and trusts that God's promises have been fulfilled. Her love, hope, and trust will be painfully evident in her words and deeds. And finally, a good witness knows that he is never alone in bearing witness. Weakness, fear, and trembling might come along for the ride, but so does the Holy Spirit, the company of saints, the Church on earth, and every witness-bearing soul who bears witness to God's mercy. If you are free in Christ, then you are free to speak and act in his name for your salvation and the salvation of the world. 

 

That unhideable city on the hill sits there as a landmark, a point of destination. It's a place we travel toward in hopes of food, shelter, fellowship. Our good works, our good witness serves the same purpose. Right where you are – at home, school, work, out shopping – right there is someone watching, waiting to hear that their sins are forgiven and that there is a place for them among the saints. By your words and deeds show them – show everyone – what it's like to be freed by Christ!

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3 Types of Destitution (Revised)

From Pope Francis' Lenten exhortation, Evangelical Poverty in Our Time:

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In imitation of our Master, we Christians are called to confront the poverty of our brothers and sisters, to touch it, to make it our own and to take practical steps to alleviate it.

Destitution is not the same as poverty: destitution is poverty without faith, without support, without hope. There are three types of destitution: material, moral and spiritual.

Material destitution is what is normally called poverty, and affects those living in conditions opposed to human dignity: those who lack basic rights and needs such as food, water, hygiene, work and the opportunity to develop and grow culturally. In response to this destitution, the Church offers her help, her diakonia, in meeting these needs and binding these wounds which disfigure the face of humanity. In the poor and outcast we see Christ’s face; by loving and helping the poor, we love and serve Christ. Our efforts are also directed to ending violations of human dignity, discrimination and abuse in the world, for these are so often the cause of destitution. When power, luxury and money become idols, they take priority over the need for a fair distribution of wealth. Our consciences thus need to be converted to justice, equality, simplicity and sharing.

No less a concern is moral destitution, which consists in slavery to vice and sin. How much pain is caused in families because one of their members – often a young person - is in thrall to alcohol, drugs, gambling or pornography! How many people no longer see meaning in life or prospects for the future, how many have lost hope! And how many are plunged into this destitution by unjust social conditions, by unemployment, which takes away their dignity as breadwinners, and by lack of equal access to education and health care. In such cases, moral destitution can be considered impending suicide. 

This type of destitution, which also causes financial ruin, is invariably linked to the spiritual destitution which we experience when we turn away from God and reject his love. If we think we don’t need God who reaches out to us through Christ, because we believe we can make do on our own, we are headed for a fall. God alone can truly save and free us.*

* NB. I inadvertently left out this paragraph in the original post. 

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