From today’s Detroit News:
http://www.detnews.com/article/20110609/LIFESTYLE04/106090399/Archdiocese--group-square-off
COPY OF LETTER SENT BY ARCHBISHOP
3 June 2011
My dear brother priests and deacons,
As you may be aware, a group calling itself the American Catholic Council will be meeting at Cobo Hall on the weekend of June 11 and 12. Despite my attempts to engage in a dialogue with them about this planned event, the organizers of this conference have not replied to me directly. I have a number of concerns about this event and caution any Catholic against participating for reasons expressed already in previous communications sent by the Archdiocese.
Of particular concern is the “Eucharistic Liturgy,” noted on the schedule for this conference on Pentecost Sunday, June 12. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council instruct us, “Every legitimate celebration of the Eucharist is regulated by the bishop, to whom is committed the office of offering the worship of the Christian religion to the divine Majesty and of administering it in accordance with the Lord’s commandments and with the Church’s laws, as further defined by his particular judgment for his diocese” (Lumen Gentium, 26). I take my role as moderator of the liturgy for the archdiocese (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 22) very seriously. To confirm the legitimacy of what they had planned, the ACC had been asked to provide details regarding this liturgy. The response received was ambiguous, and there are good reasons for believing forbidden concelebration will take place by the laity and with those not in full communion with the Church.
In order to fulfill my responsibilities, so clearly enunciated by the Second Vatican Council, of fostering of communion with both the local and the universal Church, I am compelled to caution any priests or deacons who may be considering participation in this liturgy. It is not being celebrated with my permission as required by the law and the good order of the People of God. Further, clergy should be aware of the impact of forbidden concelebration with those who are not in full communion (canons 908 and 1365). This is a serious delict, for which recourse to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is required, and which may result in dismissal from the clerical state (cf. Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela, 2001 and 2010).
I ask that you pray with me for the unity of the Church. As we commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin in this upcoming Solemnity, may the Holy Spirit come afresh on all of us, keeping us united in the love of God and keeping our attention and energies focused on the task of sharing Christ in and through His Church.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
The Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron
Archbishop of Detroit
What do you think?
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Be not afraid!
On May 1, 2011 we celebrated the beatification of Pope John Paul II. As we look back on his papacy we can honor the confident, fearless way he led the church for 26 years. As we reflect on his life and teachings may you be inspired to imitate the Holy Father in your own life of faith.
In his apostolic exhortation On Reconciliation and Penance, Pope John Paul II emphasized the need to learn how to forgive each other and welcome back those who have sinned against us. Why should we repent? Because God is always waiting for us. He didn’t just talk about reconciliation; he lived it! He worked tirelessly to mend divisions between the churches. He sought a closer relationship with the Jewish people. He even publicly repented for past sins committed in the name of the church.
Pope John Paul II could relate to people of all walks of life. He was comfortable with people no matter where they came from. He believed in solidarity. He calls us in a special way to look after the needs of the weak and vulnerable among us – the poor, the elderly, the unborn, the infirm, and the marginalized. Because he believed in our solidarity and our common dignity he was compelled to speak out against abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, and human trafficking. It’s also why he devoted himself to promoting the family.
In his encyclical The Mission of the Redeemer, he wrote, “Missionary activity is a matter for all Christians.” Evangelization is “the primary service which the Church can render to every individual and to all humanity.” For John Paul, evangelization also meant getting out of one’s comfort zone. Using the words of Jesus the Holy Father called all of us to “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4). If we will “put out into the deep” in our own prayer lives and draw closer to Jesus, he will draw us out into the world. There is no telling what the Lord will accomplish through us when we get out of the boat and take that next step toward him!
Totus Tuus - “Totally Yours” became his apostolic motto as he honored Mary. He took the Marian cross as his main symbol on his coat of arms. He commissioned the only Marian image in all of St. Peter’s Square – the mosaic icon “Mother of the Church” which looks down on the statues of saints atop the colonnade. In his encyclical Mother of the Redeemer, John Paul spoke of Mary as the ideal disciple of the Lord because of her wholehearted acceptance of God’s will.
Pope John Paul II loved to talk about prayer. Whether it happened through the rosary, Scripture, Eucharistic Adoration, or the Mass. He wanted everyone to gaze on the face of Jesus and absorb his love. Like him we should pray, “Lord, may your presence ignite a spark within me that spreads to everyone I meet.” May his words, his example, and his intercessions bring us all closer to Jesus. May he continue to inspire all of us to become master builders in the kingdom of God!
In his apostolic exhortation On Reconciliation and Penance, Pope John Paul II emphasized the need to learn how to forgive each other and welcome back those who have sinned against us. Why should we repent? Because God is always waiting for us. He didn’t just talk about reconciliation; he lived it! He worked tirelessly to mend divisions between the churches. He sought a closer relationship with the Jewish people. He even publicly repented for past sins committed in the name of the church.
Pope John Paul II could relate to people of all walks of life. He was comfortable with people no matter where they came from. He believed in solidarity. He calls us in a special way to look after the needs of the weak and vulnerable among us – the poor, the elderly, the unborn, the infirm, and the marginalized. Because he believed in our solidarity and our common dignity he was compelled to speak out against abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, and human trafficking. It’s also why he devoted himself to promoting the family.
In his encyclical The Mission of the Redeemer, he wrote, “Missionary activity is a matter for all Christians.” Evangelization is “the primary service which the Church can render to every individual and to all humanity.” For John Paul, evangelization also meant getting out of one’s comfort zone. Using the words of Jesus the Holy Father called all of us to “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4). If we will “put out into the deep” in our own prayer lives and draw closer to Jesus, he will draw us out into the world. There is no telling what the Lord will accomplish through us when we get out of the boat and take that next step toward him!
Totus Tuus - “Totally Yours” became his apostolic motto as he honored Mary. He took the Marian cross as his main symbol on his coat of arms. He commissioned the only Marian image in all of St. Peter’s Square – the mosaic icon “Mother of the Church” which looks down on the statues of saints atop the colonnade. In his encyclical Mother of the Redeemer, John Paul spoke of Mary as the ideal disciple of the Lord because of her wholehearted acceptance of God’s will.
Pope John Paul II loved to talk about prayer. Whether it happened through the rosary, Scripture, Eucharistic Adoration, or the Mass. He wanted everyone to gaze on the face of Jesus and absorb his love. Like him we should pray, “Lord, may your presence ignite a spark within me that spreads to everyone I meet.” May his words, his example, and his intercessions bring us all closer to Jesus. May he continue to inspire all of us to become master builders in the kingdom of God!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
St. Anne, Patron Saint of Detroit
The Vatican (Congregation for Divine Worship) has decreed that St. Anne is now the patroness of the Archdiocese of Detroit. On July 26, 1701 Mass was celebrated in the new frontier community and construction began on the church that was to serve the French soldiers, settlers, and Indian converts.
The Church of St. Anne is not only the first and oldest church in Archdiocese of Detroit, but is also the second oldest continuously operating parish in the United States.
Many people in the Archdiocese had already presumed that St. Anne was already Detroit's patroness because St. Anne has been very special from the very beginning over 300 years ago. While the original church was primarily French, today it is 80% Hispanic. An annual novena to St. Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin and grandmother of our Lord, remains a major annual event in the life of the parish. A full schedule of events is available on the parish website, http://www.ste-anne.org/ There are three other churches in the Archdiocese of Detroit named for St. Anne: one in Monroe, Warren and Ortonville (home of this blog).
We want to thank Missy for starting our parish blog. Although she may no longer be writing all the time, I am sure she will give us great food for thought as we continue on in the spirit she envisioned.
God go with you,
GloryB
The Church of St. Anne is not only the first and oldest church in Archdiocese of Detroit, but is also the second oldest continuously operating parish in the United States.
Many people in the Archdiocese had already presumed that St. Anne was already Detroit's patroness because St. Anne has been very special from the very beginning over 300 years ago. While the original church was primarily French, today it is 80% Hispanic. An annual novena to St. Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin and grandmother of our Lord, remains a major annual event in the life of the parish. A full schedule of events is available on the parish website, http://www.ste-anne.org/ There are three other churches in the Archdiocese of Detroit named for St. Anne: one in Monroe, Warren and Ortonville (home of this blog).
We want to thank Missy for starting our parish blog. Although she may no longer be writing all the time, I am sure she will give us great food for thought as we continue on in the spirit she envisioned.
God go with you,
GloryB
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Personal Postscript
It's hard to say good-bye.
I launched this blog three years ago when I worked at St. Anne Church as assistant to the Director of Religious Education. After leaving St. Anne's for a job with my current cluster of parishes, I kept blogging here as a way to volunteer for my home parish and, quite frankly, for me. Because I enjoyed writing about my faith and I enjoyed the connections I made through readers of these pages. One by one I found other people through blogging who made me laugh, cry, think, ache... It has brought me to a new understanding of community and faith.
I know these friendships will be with me for a lifetime. Even if I never meet my friends "in real life." This is one of the most compelling aspects of blogging.
Over the last few years I've found less and less time to devote to my writings here. I've written blog posts in my head but more often then not they didn't make it to fruition. My life is changing. Other things are happening and I need to step aside now. It is my hope that another parishioner will step in to keep this blog open. Because people still come here, still read, still find help, hope and reflection.
Pax et bonum.
I launched this blog three years ago when I worked at St. Anne Church as assistant to the Director of Religious Education. After leaving St. Anne's for a job with my current cluster of parishes, I kept blogging here as a way to volunteer for my home parish and, quite frankly, for me. Because I enjoyed writing about my faith and I enjoyed the connections I made through readers of these pages. One by one I found other people through blogging who made me laugh, cry, think, ache... It has brought me to a new understanding of community and faith.
I know these friendships will be with me for a lifetime. Even if I never meet my friends "in real life." This is one of the most compelling aspects of blogging.
Over the last few years I've found less and less time to devote to my writings here. I've written blog posts in my head but more often then not they didn't make it to fruition. My life is changing. Other things are happening and I need to step aside now. It is my hope that another parishioner will step in to keep this blog open. Because people still come here, still read, still find help, hope and reflection.
Pax et bonum.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Family Bible Study for the Second Sunday of Lent by Gloria Boesch
The story of Jesus Transfiguration is told in the three Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In each of those Gospels, the Transfiguration follows Jesus first prediction of his death and his teaching about the costs of discipleship. Jesus' Transfiguration is a promise of Jesus' glory, his Resurrection.
On a mountain in today's reading, a voice affirms that Jesus is God's Son in words reminiscent of the voice at his baptism. In addition, the appearance of Moses and Elijah on the mountain connects this story with God's relationship to the people of Israel. Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the Prophets, respectively.
Together with Jesus, they represent God's complete Word.
The Transfiguration occurs in the presence of just three of Jesus disciples: Peter, James, and John. In Matthew's Gospel, those disciples are among the first whom Jesus calls. The three men are identified as an "inner circle" among Jesus disciples when Jesus asks them to accompany him to the Garden of Gethsemane just before his arrest.
Jesus' Transfiguration may have been an event from which Peter, James, and John drew courage when they faced the difficult events of Jesus Passion.
As a family, talk about some of your times of highs and lows. How have you been able to use the good times and experiences to sustain you in the difficult ones?
Pray a prayer of thanksgiving for the good times and experiences that your family has had together. Pray that your family will use these experiences to sustain you during times of difficulty.
On a mountain in today's reading, a voice affirms that Jesus is God's Son in words reminiscent of the voice at his baptism. In addition, the appearance of Moses and Elijah on the mountain connects this story with God's relationship to the people of Israel. Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the Prophets, respectively.
Together with Jesus, they represent God's complete Word.
The Transfiguration occurs in the presence of just three of Jesus disciples: Peter, James, and John. In Matthew's Gospel, those disciples are among the first whom Jesus calls. The three men are identified as an "inner circle" among Jesus disciples when Jesus asks them to accompany him to the Garden of Gethsemane just before his arrest.
Jesus' Transfiguration may have been an event from which Peter, James, and John drew courage when they faced the difficult events of Jesus Passion.
Pray a prayer of thanksgiving for the good times and experiences that your family has had together. Pray that your family will use these experiences to sustain you during times of difficulty.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
German Theologians Ask for Reform
More Links: Googling God comments on the letter as well: "Crisis is always a moment where things can turn around, or even simply turn anew."
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Moses vs. Jesus
Last month my friend Annette sent "The Take Away? Moses Got It Wrong" article to a friend who didn't agree with the conclusions drawn. Annette asked if I would respond to her friend's questions and I think this topic deserves more discussion, so I will gladly revisit it. If you missed the original post last August, scroll down or click on the link above.
So we may begin by first agreeing to disagree, which is itself another form of peace.
I can't claim to actually know what Fr. Rolheiser's thought process was, but he does appear to be within a solid tradition of thought in his reading of Jesus behavior and conclusion. Jesus corrects Moses and Jesus is greater than Moses and Scripture points that out. Look at Hebrews 3:3, "Yet Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honour than the house itself."
Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it--to better and complete our knowledge, our revelation, of God. We are supposed to learn something from Jesus instruction in this story of the woman caught in adultery. What have we learned from this incident? And does it in any way contradict what Moses taught? There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus was contradicting the teaching of Moses--everyone in the mob was ready to apply "the Law." But as Jesus showed, when the law is interpreted through humans it is full of human flaw. For instance, where was the male adulterer? And what about the commandment to not kill?
This story is not in the oldest versions of John's Gospel, and I've even heard it said (although I can't find any online reference, so draw your own conclusions) that some early versions of the story read, "let he who is without this sin cast the first stone." The implied emphasis being that all of the men willing to punish this woman had committed the same sin without punishment.
I consistently think the best way to read the Bible is to focus on what our message is today--what are we to make of this story in light of our lives.
What did Jesus do? He did not judge, he did not condemn, he did not punish.
Jesus, as the Son of God, reveals God's truer intentions of mercy throughout the Gospels. Jesus specifically contradicted the law of Moses on more than one occasion. Here are two other examples, one with regard to dietary laws (Matthew 15:1-14); the other concerning "an eye for an eye"(Matthew 5:38-48).
I recently read a meditation from Franciscan, Fr. Richard Rohr, on the subject of justice. In that he said, "The desire for vengeance, even after having been wronged, is a far cry from the cardinal virtue of justice.
God's justice does not need retaliation or punishment, but merely honest accounting and making of amends. This is the kind of restorative justice we are promised to receive from God. Retributive justice (tit for tat) Jesus opposed (Matthew 5:38-48). In the world of mere retribution, both fall into the pit, as Jesus puts it (Matthew 15:14)."
Sacred Scripture shows an evolution of man's capacity to understand justice. If you put yourself back in the ancient world, there really was no justice; not for the poor, the widowed, the orphaned. If you were small, if you were weak, you were used as a commodity and tossed aside. Justice was what the king said. It's easy to see how the ancients could have confused retribution with justice. God brought to the people of Israel His justice, which far surpassed anything they had seen before.
Look at Deuteronomy 10:17-19 "For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them with food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." Did you hear that? You even have to love the stranger. Jesus corrected that. "I tell you, love your enemies..."
Now look at Deuteronomy 15:7-8 "If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards your needy neighbour. You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be." Even back here we have the beginnings of the theology of love, as the people of Israel tried to understand this great love, this incredible mercy of God and how to live it.
But it is with the prophets that we truly hear the cry of the Lord for us to establish justice, God's justice, here on earth. It is the prophets that Jesus quotes the most. Look at Isaiah 58:6-7 "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?"
Look at Micah 6:8 "He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
Look at Hosea 6:6 "For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." Jesus fulfills the prophets! Jesus quotes all of these prophets; he's practically hitting us over the head with it. Go and Learn! (Matthew 9:13).
It's all about mercy and love. Mercy, even if it's undeserved, because if we deserved it, it wouldn't be called mercy.
And this is how we should interpret and respond to these passages today. I strongly believe that. I shudder at the idea of slaying idolaters. How is that okay? How was Moses right to do that? If Moses was right, that thinking would lead you, perhaps, to slay an idolater or two today. There are many on Wall Street (there were many at the World Trade Center).
Now, as for the question about the use of the word Devil vs. Satan, I don't feel personally confident on where the word Devil is used and where the word Satan is used by merely looking at English translations, and I certainly am not an expert on the original Greek and Hebrew texts. I'm really not sure how much gets mixed in translation. However, despite that caveat, I think using the words Devil and Satan in this way is a very useful vocabulary tool for talking about the nature of evil. The point about all of that was really the question--what is the nature of evil? How do we fit into that--today? This story, John 8:1-11, can teach us something about mob violence, about bullies, victims and bystanders, about how easy it is to fall away from the body of Christ; about how easy it is to become part of the body of Satan.
Jesus is The Way.
Sorry. Don't think I agree with this. Go to Biblegateway.com and search for Satan. There are multiple references that refer to Satan - as the individual - not a collective group. The name for Satan and the devil are interchangeable (see the different accounts of Jesus' temptation in the dessert - one gospel calls him Satan and Luke refers to the tempter as the devil). Also - I don't think Moses was wrong to kill those worshiping idols. Don't forget - when they finally entered the promised land - God commanded the Israelites to completely wipe out the inhabitants so they would not be tempted/mislead/intermarry with the pagan people there who worshiped idols. Additionally, God did not discipline Moses for his actions either which I think we would've seen had Moses been wrong (just like later on when Moses takes matter into his own hands and the punishment is that he isn't able to enter the promised land). It would be very interesting to know what this Preists' thought process was to come to this conclusion.... what do you think?I want to start with the last question; but I also want to begin with the caveat that I don't think my commenter, who is well read in the Bible, reads the Bible the same way we do in the Catholic tradition. Catholics don't typically read the Bible in a literal way, but rather search for layers of meaning. As Catholics, there is one principle to guide us every time we open the Bible. The Bible is both the word of God and the words of human beings. Jesus is the Incarnational model for this; just as Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human being (man). In the Bible God uses as authors human beings with all their human limitations. The Bible is God's Word which is at the same time thoroughly human, on the human level for human beings.
So we may begin by first agreeing to disagree, which is itself another form of peace.
I can't claim to actually know what Fr. Rolheiser's thought process was, but he does appear to be within a solid tradition of thought in his reading of Jesus behavior and conclusion. Jesus corrects Moses and Jesus is greater than Moses and Scripture points that out. Look at Hebrews 3:3, "Yet Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honour than the house itself."Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it--to better and complete our knowledge, our revelation, of God. We are supposed to learn something from Jesus instruction in this story of the woman caught in adultery. What have we learned from this incident? And does it in any way contradict what Moses taught? There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus was contradicting the teaching of Moses--everyone in the mob was ready to apply "the Law." But as Jesus showed, when the law is interpreted through humans it is full of human flaw. For instance, where was the male adulterer? And what about the commandment to not kill?
This story is not in the oldest versions of John's Gospel, and I've even heard it said (although I can't find any online reference, so draw your own conclusions) that some early versions of the story read, "let he who is without this sin cast the first stone." The implied emphasis being that all of the men willing to punish this woman had committed the same sin without punishment.
I consistently think the best way to read the Bible is to focus on what our message is today--what are we to make of this story in light of our lives.
What did Jesus do? He did not judge, he did not condemn, he did not punish.
Jesus, as the Son of God, reveals God's truer intentions of mercy throughout the Gospels. Jesus specifically contradicted the law of Moses on more than one occasion. Here are two other examples, one with regard to dietary laws (Matthew 15:1-14); the other concerning "an eye for an eye"(Matthew 5:38-48).
I recently read a meditation from Franciscan, Fr. Richard Rohr, on the subject of justice. In that he said, "The desire for vengeance, even after having been wronged, is a far cry from the cardinal virtue of justice.
God's justice does not need retaliation or punishment, but merely honest accounting and making of amends. This is the kind of restorative justice we are promised to receive from God. Retributive justice (tit for tat) Jesus opposed (Matthew 5:38-48). In the world of mere retribution, both fall into the pit, as Jesus puts it (Matthew 15:14)."
Sacred Scripture shows an evolution of man's capacity to understand justice. If you put yourself back in the ancient world, there really was no justice; not for the poor, the widowed, the orphaned. If you were small, if you were weak, you were used as a commodity and tossed aside. Justice was what the king said. It's easy to see how the ancients could have confused retribution with justice. God brought to the people of Israel His justice, which far surpassed anything they had seen before.
Look at Deuteronomy 10:17-19 "For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them with food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." Did you hear that? You even have to love the stranger. Jesus corrected that. "I tell you, love your enemies..."
Now look at Deuteronomy 15:7-8 "If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards your needy neighbour. You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be." Even back here we have the beginnings of the theology of love, as the people of Israel tried to understand this great love, this incredible mercy of God and how to live it.
But it is with the prophets that we truly hear the cry of the Lord for us to establish justice, God's justice, here on earth. It is the prophets that Jesus quotes the most. Look at Isaiah 58:6-7 "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?"
Look at Micah 6:8 "He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
Look at Hosea 6:6 "For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." Jesus fulfills the prophets! Jesus quotes all of these prophets; he's practically hitting us over the head with it. Go and Learn! (Matthew 9:13).
It's all about mercy and love. Mercy, even if it's undeserved, because if we deserved it, it wouldn't be called mercy.
And this is how we should interpret and respond to these passages today. I strongly believe that. I shudder at the idea of slaying idolaters. How is that okay? How was Moses right to do that? If Moses was right, that thinking would lead you, perhaps, to slay an idolater or two today. There are many on Wall Street (there were many at the World Trade Center).
Now, as for the question about the use of the word Devil vs. Satan, I don't feel personally confident on where the word Devil is used and where the word Satan is used by merely looking at English translations, and I certainly am not an expert on the original Greek and Hebrew texts. I'm really not sure how much gets mixed in translation. However, despite that caveat, I think using the words Devil and Satan in this way is a very useful vocabulary tool for talking about the nature of evil. The point about all of that was really the question--what is the nature of evil? How do we fit into that--today? This story, John 8:1-11, can teach us something about mob violence, about bullies, victims and bystanders, about how easy it is to fall away from the body of Christ; about how easy it is to become part of the body of Satan.
Jesus is The Way.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
How to Write a Catholic Confirmation Letter
I first want to say kudos to you parents and sponsors who are taking this seriously enough to research it and look for help.Writing a letter like this is a beautiful way to affirm your candidates decision to move forward with their faith, to welcome them into full communion with the Catholic Church, and to let them know how much they mean to you. It is meaningful and important. It is faith sharing.
Faith sharing is not always easy, but it is always worthwhile.
The first point I would make is that the letter doesn't have to be long in order to be special and well done. Try to recall a fond memory you have of your candidate. I think this is an important aspect of the letter. We all, and young people especially, like to hear stories about ourselves. Part of the novelty of this is seeing yourself in a positive way through the eyes of someone else.
As an example, when I wrote to my daughter last year I recalled how she would pray as a child.
"When young Marigrace would pray, she prayed for everyone and everything. No person or creature was too small to escape her attention or gratitude to the Creator.
'God bless Mommy and Daddy and Stevie and Billy and Jack and Kelly the dog and Simba the cat and ladybugs and flowers. And God bless the fishies in the lake and the froggies on the sand. And God bless all the birdies and the trees and the horsies...'
On and on it would go as I sat smiling patiently and wondering at the beauty of a child asking for blessings on all of creation. How appropriate to ask God now to bless you, Marigrace, as you prepare for your Confirmation."
I think it is also important in this letter to tell your candidate what some of your hopes and dreams are for him or her.
And finally, be sure to make a promise to your candidate that you will pray for him or her. This may be the most important revelation of all.
These ideas are not meant to be a hard and fast rule or formula. Perhaps there are other points you might touch on in writing the letter. Here are a few more to consider:
- Special qualities you see in him or her
- Prayers or religious songs that have meaning for you
- Ways that being a Catholic Christian have helped you
- What helps you to keep believing in God
- People who influenced you in trying to lead a good life
- Memories of your own preparation for Confirmation
Writing this letter may be difficult and challenging, but once you have done so I'm sure you will find that this will be a memorable gift for your very special candidate. If you have additional helps or ideas, or would like to share your experience about writing a Confirmation letter, please leave a comment!
Saturday, August 7, 2010
The Take Away? Moses Got It Wrong
On Monday of this week I had the privilige of hearing Ron Rolheiser, OMI speak at St. John Neumann Parish in Canton, Michigan. The theme of his talk was "moral loneliness."
The thread that caught my attention the most was when Rolheiser spoke about the woman caught in adultery. The familiar story can be found in John's Gospel, 8:1-11.
The story was used as an illustration in contrasting the difference between the devil and satan--the two names of evil. Rolheiser contends that in the Bible the devil is the individual temptor, as in the story of Eve's temptation or Jesus' temptation. The devil works on individuals, tempting them and leading them to be selfish or self serving. Satan, on the other hand, is the mindless mob. Satan is the crowd with blood lust, the vigilante mob that doesn't think as it carries out evil deeds. Jesus' temptation was the work of the devil, but His crucifixcion was the work of Satan.
In the story of the woman caught in adultery there is an extraordinary conversion of a Satanic mob that takes place. They arrive as a group, questioning Jesus about the law of Moses--Moses said this woman should be stoned to death, she was caught in the very act of adultery--what do you say?
Jesus writes with his finger in the dirt. He responds to their question, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," then he writes with his finger in the dirt again. Rolheiser commented that there was special significance in Jesus' writing with his finger, but moved on to the crowd. They arrived as a group, as a Satanic mob, but with one question Jesus defuses them. They leave one by one. They arrived as a crowd, but left ...as individuals.
Later, during the question and answer period, someone in the audience took up the question of Jesus' writing with his finger in the dirt, asking Rolheiser what he felt the significance of this was. "The significance is not in what he wrote, because we don't know that, the significance is that he wrote with his finger twice. Who else in the Bible wrote twice with His finger?"
Yes, God wrote twice with His finger. On Mt. Sinai. He wrote the ten commandments and Moses carried them down the mountain and ...caught the Israelites--caught them in the very act of idolatry. Caught in the act of sinning--only a vowel difference between the two stories, really. And what did Moses do? He broke the ten commandments. Literally and symbolically. Moses was the first to break the ten commandments--he stoned the people who had sinned. Stoned them to death. Then he had to go back up the mountain to get another copy, seeing as how he had broken the first so completely. So God wrote with his finger a second time.
In the story of the woman caught in adultery Jesus is telling the crowd--Moses got it wrong. "Thou shall not kill."
The thread that caught my attention the most was when Rolheiser spoke about the woman caught in adultery. The familiar story can be found in John's Gospel, 8:1-11.
The story was used as an illustration in contrasting the difference between the devil and satan--the two names of evil. Rolheiser contends that in the Bible the devil is the individual temptor, as in the story of Eve's temptation or Jesus' temptation. The devil works on individuals, tempting them and leading them to be selfish or self serving. Satan, on the other hand, is the mindless mob. Satan is the crowd with blood lust, the vigilante mob that doesn't think as it carries out evil deeds. Jesus' temptation was the work of the devil, but His crucifixcion was the work of Satan.
In the story of the woman caught in adultery there is an extraordinary conversion of a Satanic mob that takes place. They arrive as a group, questioning Jesus about the law of Moses--Moses said this woman should be stoned to death, she was caught in the very act of adultery--what do you say?
Jesus writes with his finger in the dirt. He responds to their question, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," then he writes with his finger in the dirt again. Rolheiser commented that there was special significance in Jesus' writing with his finger, but moved on to the crowd. They arrived as a group, as a Satanic mob, but with one question Jesus defuses them. They leave one by one. They arrived as a crowd, but left ...as individuals.
Later, during the question and answer period, someone in the audience took up the question of Jesus' writing with his finger in the dirt, asking Rolheiser what he felt the significance of this was. "The significance is not in what he wrote, because we don't know that, the significance is that he wrote with his finger twice. Who else in the Bible wrote twice with His finger?"
Yes, God wrote twice with His finger. On Mt. Sinai. He wrote the ten commandments and Moses carried them down the mountain and ...caught the Israelites--caught them in the very act of idolatry. Caught in the act of sinning--only a vowel difference between the two stories, really. And what did Moses do? He broke the ten commandments. Literally and symbolically. Moses was the first to break the ten commandments--he stoned the people who had sinned. Stoned them to death. Then he had to go back up the mountain to get another copy, seeing as how he had broken the first so completely. So God wrote with his finger a second time.
In the story of the woman caught in adultery Jesus is telling the crowd--Moses got it wrong. "Thou shall not kill."
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Let Me Live Grace-fully
for this season
of sun and slow motion,
of games and porch sitting,
of picnics and light green fireflies
on heavy purple evenings
and praise for slight breezes.
It's good, God,
as the first long days of your creation.
Let this season be for me
a time of gathering together the pieces
into which my busyness has broken me.
O God, enable me now
to grow wise through reflection
peaceful through the song of the cricket,
recreated through the laughter of play.
Most of all, Lord,
let me live easily and grace-fully for a spell,
so that I may see other souls deeply,
share in a silence unhurried,
listen to the sound of sunlight and shadows,
explore barefoot the land of forgotten dreams and shy hopes,
and find the right words to tell another who I am.
From Guerrillas Of Grace: Prayers For The Battle
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Prayer for a Rural Family
An offering you can make today is advocating for the Child Tax Credit, so crucial for rural families...
Today, Tuesday, June 15, Bread for the World members from across the country will visit members of Congress on Capitol Hill to ask them to support millions of low-income working families who struggle to make ends meet. For those of us who cannot attend this advocacy day in person, please call your member of Congress this week. Use this special toll-free number: 1-800-826-3688. Simply ask your Representative to make the current Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit levels permanent.
You can explain your message by adding these points: (1) If Congress fails to preserve
the Child Tax Credit at its current level, a full-time working parent receiving the minimum wage will receive only a $320 credit instead of the current $1,800 credit. The difference ($1,480) is a modest amount of money that has a big impact on the lives of families struggling to make ends meet. (2) If the EITC and Child Tax Credit are not continued at current levels, 1.5 million people will fall below the poverty line, including 800,000 children.
Click here to find how many people in your state would be affected.
Pray.
Bless us, O God, we who live close to the land.
Bless us as you blessed Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Like the farm families of today, they knew the struggles, the fears, the joys, and rewards of rural life.
Help us to be aware of the quiet beauty of the face of the earth and the fresh green growth on trees and all plants.
We give thanks for all of these. May we always show respect for all of creation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.+
Today, Tuesday, June 15, Bread for the World members from across the country will visit members of Congress on Capitol Hill to ask them to support millions of low-income working families who struggle to make ends meet. For those of us who cannot attend this advocacy day in person, please call your member of Congress this week. Use this special toll-free number: 1-800-826-3688. Simply ask your Representative to make the current Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit levels permanent.
You can explain your message by adding these points: (1) If Congress fails to preserve
the Child Tax Credit at its current level, a full-time working parent receiving the minimum wage will receive only a $320 credit instead of the current $1,800 credit. The difference ($1,480) is a modest amount of money that has a big impact on the lives of families struggling to make ends meet. (2) If the EITC and Child Tax Credit are not continued at current levels, 1.5 million people will fall below the poverty line, including 800,000 children.
Click here to find how many people in your state would be affected.
Pray.
Bless us as you blessed Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Like the farm families of today, they knew the struggles, the fears, the joys, and rewards of rural life.
Help us to be aware of the quiet beauty of the face of the earth and the fresh green growth on trees and all plants.
We give thanks for all of these. May we always show respect for all of creation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.+
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
A Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Dear Sacred Heart, still beating now in our tabernacles with infinite love for us, we adore You. We thank You for Your unending generosity to us, so clear in all the bountiful, beautiful gifts of nature, in field and wood, by night and day. We beg of You to forgive us all our sins, and those of the whole world. We ask You to help us, in our little way, to make up to You for the love and service that is not given to You by so many men. Countless people who should serve You are Your enemies. Help us to realize that by doing our humdrum daily duties well, and offering them to God with Your merits, we can do very much to make up for our sins and those of all men. Help us, by Your grace, to bear patiently and lovingly, the little trials and sufferings of each day, happy to repay You in these little things for all the great things You have done for us.
All these our efforts then, dear Heart of Christ, we offer You through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our Mother, and in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which is at this very moment being offered to our most loving and generous God. Amen.
From the National Catholic Rural Life Conference
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Bread for the World
The following is the Bread for the World Credo:
We are moved by God's grace in Jesus Christ
To work for justice for hungry people.
They may be in the next house or in the next country.
No matter where they live, they are our neighbors.
And we have the power to help.
Charity alone is not enough.
We must urge our government to make fair decisions so struggling families can provide for their children.
We must write personal letters and emails to Congress and engage our churches, campuses and other organizations.
We must change laws and structures that allow poverty to persist.
When we turn our faith into action, God uses our voices.
Again and again, we win help and opportunity.
Two fish may become many.
Five loaves become enough to feed a multitude.
God is moving in our time to end hunger, and we are part of this great liberation.
It is our mission to help our neighbors.
Wherever they live.
They are hungry.
And we are Bread for the World.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
One Body
That creaking sound you hear is my mind opening up just a little bit to the Tridentine Mass. I would not have said that a year ago, and I’m not about to become a “doily head,” but I have come to see over this past year that the Tridentine is its own version of inculturation.
When I accepted my position as DRE last fall I knew the parish I would be working at had a Tridentine Mass every week. I was philosophical about it. I decided all Catholics need to live and work and teach and serve—side by side—this is a central tenet of our Christianity—we are the body of Christ. And even if I am a hippie-dippie-hand-holding-Kumbaya-Catholic, there was no reason why I couldn’t get along with the Tridentine Mass goers—after all, don’t we follow the same Catechism?
Basically? It turned out I was right. We can live and work side by side. We do follow the same Catechism. We agree a lot more than we disagree. I like the families here and I feel like I’ve made a lot of friends.
I do have objections to the Tridentine Mass. And I suspect I know many of the objections Tridentine Mass goers have to the Novus Ordo. I have chosen over the past year not to raise my objections, but rather to look and listen.
In 2007, when Pope Benedict XVI approved the use of the Tridentine Mass upon the request of the laity and indicated that it was intended as a means of reconciliation with conservative groups, I was not impressed with this reason. What about reconciliation with women, who are purposely and noticably left out of the Eucharistic celebration? What about reconciliation with Jews, who are referred to with questionable adjectives and considered the objects of conversion in the Tridentine Good Friday rite?
The area of Michigan where I work has a number of conservative church goers who are attracted to groups like the Pius X congregations. When our parish began offering the weekly Tridentine Mass it became a magnet and a lot of people began leaving those schismatic groups and coming to our parish instead. This past spring a young man with Down’s syndrome received his First Communion at our parish, in large part because he had been refused at the other church. Now he has come to the table and his entire family has come home to the Catholic Church. Or have they?
I think for me the argument that has had the greatest impact has been the emotional side, the pathos argument, seeing how much this Mass means to the people who attend and love it; and seeing how much this ministry means to the priest who shepherds them.
I’ve come to see it as a deeply held, beloved, cultural tradition of worship.
A concept of Vatican II is the inculturation of our Catholic liturgy—that is, incorporating the local practices, music, and cultural traditions of a congregation into the liturgy. So, for instance, a congregation in Brazil would have very different music than a congregation in Korea. In a sense, the Tridentine Mass is being used to inculturate a group of people who are very attached to it back into the body of Christ. The irony of this is so thick and multi-layered it's difficult to categorize. I know I can't fully articulate it here. Perhaps another blog post.
Here’s the dealio, those congregations in Brazil and Korea would still be celebrating the same Mass, the Novus Ordo, whether it’s being said in Korean or Portuguese—and for many this is the rub. The Tridentine is not the same Mass. It represents more than just a different language or a different style of music or a different set of liturgical norms. It represents a different theology of church.
It represents a different church.
Yes, my objections are still there.
And yet I can see the reconciliation value Pope Benedict spoke of.
I guess I’m just wondering…
Are they joining us, or are we joining them?
(In the interest of clarity I would like to point out that St. Anne Church in Ortonville does not offer a weekly Tridentine Mass, and while I do volunteer as blog editor for St. Anne's, it is not the parish where I am currently employed. I work at Sacred Heart in Yale, which does offer a weekly Tridentine, and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Emmett, which does not.)
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Divine Mercy
Musings on Divine Mercy Sunday from 2009
Tomorrow, the second Sunday of Easter, the Church celebrates the Feast of Divine Mercy. The Feast of Divine Mercy is not an ancient Catholic tradition. It dates back only to the year 2000 when John Paul II first instituted and celebrated the day called for by St. Maria Faustina, the first saint of the new millennium. St. Maria Faustina's mystical vision, first repressed by the Church and then embraced, is one of those stories that feels older than it is.
The message of Christ's Divine Mercy as revealed to St. Maria Faustina rings true to our hearts: Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of Christ's Mercy.
Tomorrow, the second Sunday of Easter, the Church celebrates the Feast of Divine Mercy. The Feast of Divine Mercy is not an ancient Catholic tradition. It dates back only to the year 2000 when John Paul II first instituted and celebrated the day called for by St. Maria Faustina, the first saint of the new millennium. St. Maria Faustina's mystical vision, first repressed by the Church and then embraced, is one of those stories that feels older than it is.
The message of Christ's Divine Mercy as revealed to St. Maria Faustina rings true to our hearts: Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of Christ's Mercy.
"I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable and inscrutable mercy. Write: before I come as a just Judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice.Tomorrow as we celebrate this feast day, doubting Thomas will again make his annual appearance in the Gospel reading. But don't think of doubt as a sin. Remember instead the Divine Mercy.
"From all My wounds, like from streams, mercy flows for souls, but the wound in My Heart is the fountain of unfathomable mercy. From this fountain spring all graces for souls. The flames of compassion burn Me. I desire greatly to pour them out upon souls. Speak to the whole world about My mercy." Excerpted from Diary of Sr. M. Faustina Kowalska.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Holy Thursday
 |
| The Scapegoat by William Holman Hunt, 1854. Hunt had this framed in a picture with the quotations "Surely he hath borne our Griefs and carried our Sorrows; Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of GOD and afflicted." (Isaiah 53:4) and "And the Goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a Land not inhabited." (Leviticus 16:22) |
Note that today’s reading from Exodus (12:1-8, 11-14) says on the 10th day of the month of Nissan (“April”), they are to procure a small year-old lamb for each household.; They are to keep it in the household for four days—just enough time for the children to bond with it and for all to see its loveliness—and then “slaughter it during the evening twilight”! That night they are to eat it in highly ritualized fashion, recalling their departure from Egypt and their protection by God along the way. It was called the Passover, and the victim was the Passover Lamb, which we would identify with Jesus.I do think Rohr is on to something. That we look for any vicarious sacrifice cannot be denied; scapegoating and bullying are ubiquitous to human culture. This is one of the deepest structures of human sin. It is most virulent where it is most invisible.
A cultural anthropologist would see what is happening here. The sacrificial instinct is the deep recognition in most religions that something always has to die for something Bigger to be born. We started with human sacrifice (e.g. Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22). We moved then to animal sacrifice as we see here, and we gradually got closer to what really has to be sacrificed: our own beloved ego—as protected and beloved as a little household lamb!
We still resist this recognition, and love to look for any vicarious sacrifice other than our own selves. That is the temptation that Jesus totally resisted, and we pray with him “for one hour” (see Mark 14:37) tonight hoping we can share in his courage and love.
Richard Rohr, OFM
Remember the myth of the Indian princess from the book, The Shack? Not to get into a review of the book right now, but I thought of that as an example of mythology that hides violence. The princess sacrifices herself for her people and a beautiful waterfall springs from the place of her death. Isn't that lovely?
So long as we are in the grip of sin, we do not see our victims as scapegoats. Texts that hide scapegoating foster it. Texts that show it for what it is undermine it.
Jesus’ willingness to face death, specifically death on a cross, suddenly looks anything but arbitrary, and much more like the "wisdom of God" that the New Testament so surprisingly discovers in the crucifixion.
God is willing to die for us, to bear our sin in this particular way, because we desperately need deliverance from the sin of scapegoating. God breaks the grip of scapegoating by stepping into the place of a victim, and by being a victim who cannot be hidden or mythologized. God acts not to affirm the suffering of the innocent victim as the price of peace, but to reverse it.
God is not just feeding a bigger and better victim into this machinery to get a bigger pay off, as the theory of substitutionary atonement might seem to suggest. Jesus’ open proclamation of forgiveness (without sacrifice) before his death and the fact of his resurrection after it are the ways that God reveals and rejects the "victim mechanism."
Note that in the Gospels it is Jesus’ accusers who affirm the reconciling value of his death.
"It is expedient that one man should die for the sake of the people," said the high priest.
And Luke 23:12 contains this curious note after Pilate and Herod had shuttled Jesus between them: "That same day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies."
Jesus’ persecutors intended his death to bring peace; it offered a way to avoid an outbreak of violence between Romans and Israelites, between Jews and other Jews. Jesus’ death is intended to be sacrificial business as usual. But God means it to be the opposite.
I refer to myth because I think it has something to tell us. Enthusiasts for myth deride Judeo-Christian religion for its low symbolic quality and its crude moral literalism. They deplore the Bible’s brutal representations of violence, its fixation on persecution and murder. The biblical tradition, they say, lacks the beauty and imaginative sophistication of great myth. The story of Jesus’ death is a cut-rate version of the sacrifice of the corn king, flattened into something that belongs on a police blotter and not in high spiritual culture.
Modern sensitivity to victims, which now makes people uneasy with the Bible, is rooted in the Bible. We would not be able to criticize the Gospels of encouraging victimization if we had not already been converted by them. We would not look for scapegoated victims in every corner of the world if the magnifying glass of the cross had not already helped us see them.
The workings of mythical sacrifice require that in human society people "know not what they do."
But in the Gospels, the process of sacrifice is laid out in stark clarity.
Jesus says these very words from the cross.
The scapegoat is revealed as a scapegoat.
The point is made dramatically in Luke’s account, when the centurion confesses at the moment of Jesus’ death, "Surely this man was innocent."
Sociologist Rene Girard recounts the shock of recognition he experienced in coming to the New Testament after studying violence and the sacred in anthropology and the history of religion.
He found in the Gospels all the elements he had come to expect in myths: the crowd coalescing against an individual, the charges of the greatest crimes and impurities. But he was startled to recognize that the reality of what was happening was explicit, not hidden. Here is the same mythic story, but this time told from the point of view of the victim, who is clearly accused unjustly and murdered wrongly.
The resurrection makes Jesus’ death a failed sacrifice, but of a new kind. When mythical sacrifice succeeds, peace descends, true memory is erased and the way is smoothed for the next scapegoat. If it fails (because the community is not unanimous or the victim is not sufficiently demonized), it becomes just another killing, stoking the proliferation of violence, and the search intensifies for more and better victims.
But in the case of Jesus’ death, something else happens.
People do not unanimously close ranks over Jesus’ grave (as Jesus’ executioners hoped), nor is there a spree of violent revenge on behalf of the crucified leader.
Instead, an odd new countercommunity arises, dedicated both to the innocent victim whom God has vindicated by resurrection and to a new life through him that requires no further such sacrifice. The revelatory quality of the New Testament on this point is thoroughly continuous with Hebrew scripture, in which an awareness and rejection of the sacrificial mechanism is already set forth.
The averted sacrifice of Isaac; the prophets’ condemnation of scapegoating the widow, the weak or the foreigner; the story of Job; the Psalms’ obsession with the innocent victim of collective violence; the passion narratives’ transparent account of Jesus’ death; the confessions of a new community that grew up in solidarity around the risen crucified victim: all these follow a constant thread. They reveal the "victim mechanisms" as the joint root of religion and society -- and they reject those mechanisms.
Jesus is the victim who will not stay sacrificed, whose memory is not erased and who forces us to confront the reality of scapegoating. It is hardly accidental that "Peace" is usually the first word of the risen Christ in his appearances. It is an apt greeting in two ways.
If a sacrificial victim were to return with power to those who had persecuted or abandoned him, peace is the opposite of what they would expect. And peace not based on new victims, "not as the world gives," is what is now offered.
So in the gospel a new kind of tension is stressed, in which it is the entire complex of sacrificial violence -- both the "good" peace it brings and the bad violence it uses -- that becomes the bad thing.
And it is God’s willingness to suffer the worst this process has to offer to deliver us from it, to deliver us to a new path of peace, that is the good thing.
As the Letter to the Hebrews says, Christ is a sacrifice to end sacrifice, and he has died once for all. Christ’s purpose was not "to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself" (9:25-26).
Only one whose innocence truly can be vindicated and whose power could have offered escape can, by suffering this sacrifice, reverse it. The work of the cross is the work of a transcendent God breaking into a cycle we could not change alone.
If we limit Jesus’ work to that of a human exemplar, the crucifixion becomes more of a prescription for suffering than if we grasp it as the work of the incarnate one, done once for all. It is a saving act of God, a victory over the powers of this world, a defeat of death.
Early Christian writers spoke of the crucifixion as basically a trick on Satan. The powers have been tricked. By drawing Christ into the usual sacrificial machinery, the powers have been revealed and broken, because all the traditional means of justifying and erasing the sacrificial violence won’t stick this time, and their hold will increasingly be broken.
When Christians gather at communion we see this clearly in the unequivocal reminder of Christ’s bloody death.
When we hear "Do this in remembrance of me" we should hear the implied contrast that comes with emphasis on this.
Unlike the mythic victims who became sacred models for future sacrifices, Christ is not to be remembered with more scapegoating.
Christ has offered his very real body and blood so that at the last supper he can set a new pattern and say of bread "this is my body" and of wine "this is my blood."
Following that example, Christians believe this meal of the new community is able to accomplish all the peace that sacrificial violence could, and more. In it, we recall a real sacrifice and celebrate a substitutionary atonement.
Here on this table, bread and wine are to be continually substituted for victims -- substituted for any, and all, of us.
Watch and pray.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Spy Wednesday
Deeply distressed at this,
they began to say to him one after another,
“Surely it is not I, Lord?” Matthew 26:22
they began to say to him one after another,
“Surely it is not I, Lord?” Matthew 26:22
None of us is so sure of ourselves that we can avoid the question. Each of us, in our own way, is responsible for Christ's crucifixion. That we know this is evidenced by our need to ask, "Surely it is not I, Lord?"
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