Taste of New Creation: Dispositional, Relational, and Communal

The stories of Christ's Post-Resurrection interactions with the disciples and the Book of the Acts of the Apostles gives plenty of insight into how the power of Christ's Resurrection and the promise of new life avails itself to us. To begin with, we see the effect that Christ's Resurrection has on the disciples disposition. Through their interactions with Jesus after his Resurrection (c.f., the Road to Emmaus story in Luke 24:13-35) the disciples come to an entirely new way of understanding the mystery of Jesus (as a suffering Messiah) and how that mystery applies to their own lives (as those who will likewise struggle and suffer for Christ). Another effect of Christ's Resurrection and taste of the New Creation is relational in nature. In John's account of the Resurrection (John 20:19-31), John has Jesus not only appearing to the disciples, but breathing into them the Holy Spirit. Unlike the other Gospel writers, John ties the Resurrection of Christ to the intimate presence of the Spirit being given to those who are related to Jesus. New creation now consists in a completely unparalleled bond to Jesus in and through the Spirit who is both the Spirit of God and the Spirit of his Son. Finally, a taste of new creation is experienced through the new communal ties made possible by Jesus' Resurrection. Through Jesus' Spirit dwelling in the hearts of the first Christians in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, a community of worship and mutual support is formed in which no one is in need of anything (Acts 2:42-47).

Just as the earliest disciples "tasted" and experienced new creation, so can we. Through allowing the Lord's Words in scripture to take hold of our imaginations and settle deeply into our hearts, our dispositions change from being "reactive" to life's events to being "reflective" and deliberately interpreting all of life's circumstances through a "paschal" (meaning, Christ-like) frame of reference (for more on this, see Tuesday's blog reflection). We likewise experience new creation when we open ourselves to the presence of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives and our world. This can be as easy as talking a walk in nature and being drawn into the beauty and fragility of the web of life or it can be as challenging as making more deliberate decisions regarding what information we allow into our lives (following the proverb, "garbage in, garbage out"). Lastly, new creation cannot be experienced in all of it's robustness without an integral connection and commitment to community. This implies being led by the Spirit of the Resurrected Lord to some degree of involvement at all levels of community: socio, cultural, and political. It means taking a stand for the values of the Kingdom and working hard to sew them into the fabric of culture - not with the aim of making culture Christian but, rather, making it open to the Reign of God that is already among us but not fully so. The experience of new creation made possible by Christ's Resurrection is something that is indeed accessible to us, all we need do is allow ourselves to be more deeply and powerfully drawn into this ever-present though very subtle mystery. Pat, TOR

Road to Emmaus: Pathway to Paschal Mystery

The Gospel from today's Daily Mass tells the story of two disciples of Jesus on the road to Emmaus after the Crucifixion and alleged Resurrection of the Lord (Luke 24:13-35). They are discussing the events that have recently unfolded when Jesus joins them in such a way that they are unable to recognize him. He joins in the discussion and asks what they are talking about. They seem incredulous that he isn't aware of what has transpired. They tell him about Jesus, their dashed hopes as a result of his crucifixion, and the Resurrection event reported by some women disciples. Jesus than turns the tables in dramatic fashion and remonstrates them with equally forceful credulity at the disciples hardness of heart in not understanding that the Messiah was destined to suffer and sacrifice. Jesus than interprets all the scriptural passages of the Hebrew Scriptures that refer to him in a way that begins correcting their flawed understanding.

The story of the journey to Emmaus is less historical than metaphorical. The "Road to Emmaus" is a portrait of the life of discipleship and how it is a matter of acquiring a new way of seeing and experiencing reality, and, ultimately, walking the pathway to Paschal Mystery. Initially the disciples are "reactive" to the circumstances of Jesus' crucifixion and Resurrection - meaning, they are reacting with the normal, knee-jerk and very human response of the "woe is me" emotions of confusion, fear, disorientation, and, even, sorrow, and perhaps a tinge of self-pity. What Jesus exhorts them to do is to exchange their "reactive" response for a reflective response. A reflective response is one that is grounded not only in objectively analyzing a situation but also making a free choice of how to interpret an event, and, for that matter, our lives. In so many words, Jesus is helping the disciples to not only understand the facts of scripture more accurately in regards to himself, but, more importantly, he is empowering them to choose hope and new life rather than surrender to despair and death.

I recently experienced a bit of a health set-back at a very inopportune time. Initially, I "reacted" to the news with a "woe-is-me" complex and for a time was yielding to fear, sorrow, and self-pity. I asked the question, "why THIS and why NOW?" Than, after being moved by what I believe was a genuine nudge of the Spirit, I transitioned into a mode of a more reflective understanding. In reflecting on this set-back, I realized that it is much better that I experience it precisely now rather than even two months from now or later. In a sense I chose to opt for hope and new life rather than to yield to despair. The main reason for moving from reactive to reflective understanding isn't so that we can be more positive, it's so that we can be more paschal. A positive attitude is something that more or less rides along the surface at best, and, at worst, can be a bit "polly-annish" because it fails to recognize or react appropriately to truly disturbing and distressing events. Sometimes lemons simply can't be made into lemonade - life doesn't always provide the water and sugar!! A paschal attitude, to the contrary, is about something much deeper: namely, the hope that the cards life deals us, even the ominous and threatening, can be an occasion for being drawn closer to God and to others as sources of love, support, and new life. Pat, TOR

Prayer before the Crucifix Collage

Prayer before the Crucifix [1]
Iconic image collage(2011) by Bro. Jeffrey Wilson, T.O.R.

Prayer before the Crucifix [2]
by St. Francis of Assisi

Most High,
glorious God,
enlighten the darkness of my heart
and give me
true faith,
certain hope,
and perfect charity,
sense and knowledge,
Lord,
that I may carry out
Your holy and true command.

This work takes the perspective of St. Francis kneeling and praying before a crucifix in an abandoned church that has fallen into ruin.

“Seeking out solitary places, he [Francis] used to go to deserted and abandoned churches to pray at night. [3] […] One day when he went out to meditate in the fields, he walked near the church of San Damiano, which was threatening to collapse because of age. Impelled by the Spirit, he went inside to pray. Prostrate before an image of the Crucified, he was filled with no little consolation as he prayed. When tear-filled eyes were gazing at the Lord’s cross he heard in a marvelous way with his bodily ears a voice coming from that cross, telling him three times: “Francis, go, rebuild my house which, as you see, is all being destroyed!” [4] […] The voice from the Cross, which repeated three times the command concerning the rebuilding of the house of God, stands out as a prophetic sign. We recognize now that it is fulfilled in the three Orders established by him.” [5]

Visually, this work is inspired by several works of Salvador Dali, particularly Christ of St John of the Cross, Corpus Hypercubus, and The Ascension of Christ. I was interested in the play between vertical and horizontal perspectives in Christ of St John of the Cross; the detachment of the body, or corpus, of Christ from the cross in Corpus Hypercubus; and the suspension of the body of Christ in The Ascension of Christ.

Christ: The image of the crucified Christ is taken from a picture of the Celtic crucifix in the Founders Chapel of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. I took the picture kneeling before the crucifix to capture the vertical perspective of looking up at the crucified Christ. The body of Christ is washed in light; darker at the feet becoming brighter at the head.

The image of the crucified Christ can be viewed from both a vertical and horizontal perspective. In relation to the wall and statues, the crucified Christ is viewed from a vertical perspective. This is the more literal and natural perspective. In relation to the Earth, sun, and nebula; the crucified Christ is viewed from a horizontal perspective. This is the metaphorical and supernatural perspective.

In the traditional analogy for the natural and supernatural, horizontal represents the natural while vertical represents the supernatural. I do not intend to collapse the vertical into the horizontal or the immanent Trinity into the economic Trinity. [6] The inverting of the analogical vertical and horizontal perspectives symbolizes Francis’ insightful vision of the created world. The created order mirrors the Triune God. As the Most High God is perfect Trinity (diversity) and simple Unity (one), so too is God’s creation. [7] The created universe is diverse yet unified and ordered. [8]

Cross / lack of visible cross: As an image of the crucifix, one might ask, “Where is the cross?” After all, one of the widely used prayers among Franciscans is Francis’ prayer: “We adore You, Lord Jesus Christ, in all Your churches throughout the whole world and we bless You because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.” [9] I was tempted to title this work Prayer before the Crucified because of the explicit omission of a visible cross. And yet, there is the rub. The work omits a visible cross, but the cross of Christ is still present; it is etched into the hearts of the faithful. As Francis explained to Sultan Malik al-Kamil, “We possess the cross of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, and that cross we adore and surround with total devotion.” [10] So, the cross is present in the heart of Francis, who is in prayer before the crucified Christ, as well as the faithful observer of the work.

Wall: The ruined wall represents the wall of a one of the many abandoned and ruined churches that Francis visited and rebuilt during his life. “He [Francis] would spend the night alone praying in abandoned churches and in deserted places where, with the protection of divine grace, he overcame his soul’s many fears and anxieties” [11]

Statues of Mary and John: The statues of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and John, the Apostle, contribute to the crucifixion scene since they were present at the foot of the cross.

Earth: The Earth represents both the literal Earth and the created universe as a whole. The original sin of Adam and Eve wounded the created order, both humanity and the rest of creation. Therefore, Christ’s salvation and restoration heals all creation; both humanity and the rest of creation. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ recreates all things. “And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new’” (Rev 21:5). [12] “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Cor 5:17). “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom 8:19-21). Thus, the image of the crucified Christ is suspended over the image of the Earth.

The sunlight reflecting off of the surface of the Earth symbolizes creation mirroring God. In addition, the sun’s reflection represents St. Clare’s theme of the mirror of contemplation. She instructs, “Place your mind before the mirror of eternity! Place your soul in the brilliance of glory! Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance and, through contemplation, transform your entire being into the image of the Godhead Itself, so that you may feel what friends feel in tasting the hidden sweetness that, from the beginning, God Himself has reserved for His lovers.” [13]

Sun / light: The sun/light represents God and the Beatific Vision. Jesus is placed in front of the light to represent that Jesus is the door to salvation. St. Bonaventure explains, “[One] cannot enter into himself to delight within himself in the Lord unless Christ be his mediator, who says: I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved; and he will go in and out and will find pastures. But we do not draw near to this door unless we believe in him, hope in him and love him. Therefore, if we wish to enter again into the enjoyment of Truth as into paradise, we must enter through faith in, hope in and love of Jesus Christ, the mediator between God and men, who is like the tree of life in the middle of paradise.” [14] Bonaventure’s insight is expressed in Francis’ Prayer before the Crucifix. In his prayer, Francis asks God for the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity/love. Francis has placed himself before the door the salvation, the crucified Christ, and humbly asks God for the gifts of faith, hope, and love, so that he may enter through the door into paradise.

Nebula: The nebula is an image of the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293 or Caldwell 63). The image was copied and reduced several times to create a tunnel effect. The tunnel image reflects the analogy of the spiral for the spiritual life, contemplation, and greater union with God. At the far end of the tunnel is the light representing God and the Beatific Vision which is the ultimate goal of humanity. Through the door that is the crucified Christ, the soul is traveling, or spiraling, towards eternal union with the Triune God. The tunnel image also plays on the imagery of Jacob’s ladder with gradations/levels/steps moving from Earth to heaven. “And he [Jacob] dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place – and I did not know it!’ And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’” (Gen. 28:12; 16-17).

------------------
[1] The Earth and space images are from NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org.
[2] Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, Vol. 1 - The Saint. Eds. Regis J. Armstrong, O.F.M. Cap., J.A. Wayne Hellman, O.F.M. Conv., and William J. Short, O.F.M. (New York: New City Press, 1999), 40.
[3] St. Bonaventure, The Major Legend of Saint Francis, ch. 10, 3.
[4] St. Bonaventure, The Minor Legend of Saint Francis, ch. 1.5.
[5] Ibid., ch. 1.9.
[6] Karl Rahner explains, “The “economic” Trinity is the “immanent” Trinity and the “immanent” Trinity is the “economic” Trinity.” Karl Rahner, The Trinity, (New York: Herder & Herder, 1970), 22. Or in other words, as Fr. Thomas Weinandy, O.F.M., Cap. explains, “With regards to revelation […] the manner in which the Trinity reveals himself in the economy is in keeping with the manner it is in itself.” Thomas Weinandy, O.F.M., Cap., Does God Suffer?, (University of Notre Dame Press, 2000), 142.
[7] “Most High, Who live and rule in perfect Trinity and simple Unity, and are glorified God almighty, forever and ever.” St. Francis of Assisi, A Letter to the Entire Order, 52.
[8] Weinandy explains, “We clearly perceive now the awesome truth that because creatures, especially human persons, are in the act of creation related to the persons of the Trinity as they are in their own subsistent relations, and so are related to each person of the Trinity in a specific and proper manner, they are assumed in the very mystery of the Trinity itself. Thus, the act of creation mirrors, though imperfectly, the processions within the Trinity.” Does God Suffer?, 142.
[9] St. Francis of Assisi, The Testament, 5.
[10] A Book of Exemplary Stories, 98.
[11] Thomas of Celano, The Life of Saint Francis, 71.
[12] All scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation unless otherwise noted.
[13] St. Clare of Assisi, The Third Letter to Agnes of Prague.
[14] St. Bonaventure, The Soul’s Journey into God, ch. 4, 2.

"Wholly Thursday": Wholly Receiving and Wholly Giving

Following the theme of the last two blog entries concerning a slight twist on "Holy Week" as "Wholly Week" (the week in which we remember how Christ gave himself "wholly" to us), what might be gained from approaching Holy Thursday as "Wholly Thursday?" Holy Thursday is traditionally celebrated as the Institution of the Lord's Supper and commemorates the last, Passover style meal that Jesus had with his disciples. One focus of the meal is Jesus' "ritualizing" his impending and total self-offering to God and humanity for the life of the world. The other aspect is the call of Jesus for his disciples to follow his example by offering themselves in this self-same way. Jesus "ritualizes" his gift of self through the symbols of bread and wine. The bread he breaks and the wine he pours at the meal symbolize how, throughout his three year ministry, he has shared and poured himself out unhesitatingly for the well-being of others. Now, at the end of his life, and with the ominous clouds of crucifixion on the horizon, Jesus doesn't hide away in a corner but "he love his own in the world and he loves them to the end." (John 13:1). The Last Supper is the "swan song", "pinnacle", and "crescendo" of the deep meaning behind all of Jesus' actions on behalf of others. It is the summation (summary) and con-summation (fulfillment) of all that he has done and all that he is about. What the Last Supper symbolizes, summarizes, and fulfills is Jesus wholly giving himself for the life of others and for the life of the world.

In a sense, therefore, "Wholly Thursday" is about "wholly receiving" the gift of Christ as the One who alone can penetrate the depths of the ambiguity and complexity of our lives and world to bring light, purpose, hope, healing, transformation, and, in a word, redemption. How can we be assured of this? Because, time and time again, Jesus did this for others during his ministry and, when the going got tough (meaning his life was on the line), he didn't turn tail and run but dug in even deeper in his resolve to be gift for others - even when it meant forfeiting his own life. The Last Supper, in a very real sense, was Jesus' "digging in" - not to defend his own life but to "defend" (meaning, "redeem") the life of others for generations to come. However, as much as Holy Thursday is about Jesus' wholly giving himself, it is also about our "wholly receiving" this gift and "wholly giving" it to others.

This comes across clearly in the way in which the Gospel of John depicts the Last Supper (John 13:1-15). These passages of John relate the dramatic actions of Jesus in washing the feet of his disciples and than instructing them to do likewise. This gesture would have been completely "over the top" for Jesus' disciples. Rabbi's and revered masters simply did not bend so low in a mode of condescending service. Peter even objects to this action, apparently appalled by his Master's gesture. Yet Jesus insists that if Peter is to be in communion with him, he must open himself and wholly receive this new, saving way of being and relating to God. What, precisely is this new way of being and relating? It consists of the continual process of opening ourselves wholly to receiving the way in which God desires to serve and save us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This way of serving, saving, or "gracing" us, has little to do with outward favors granted by God (material blessings, etc...) and is about allowing God to "condescend" and bend so low as to reach, touch, wash, and heal the parts of us that are most smelly, messy, insecure, fragile, broken, forsaken, and alienated. Yet, this is just one part of the challenge of Wholly Thursday. The other aspect of entering into a true and saving relationship with God means being willing to "wholly give" the gift that we've received. In other words, we must also be willing to condescend and serve by reaching, touching, washing, and healing those parts of others and our world that are smelly, messy, insecure, fragile, broken, forsaken, and alienated. For, Jesus himself says at the end of this Gospel, “Do you realize what I have done for you?
 You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am.
 If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, 
you ought to wash one another’s feet. 
I have given you a model to follow, 
so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” Pat, TOR

"Wholly Week": Wholly Impenetrable Mystery of Christ, Life, and Our Very Selves

In Monday's blog reflection I proposed that Christian's shift the focus during Holy Week from viewing Christ's passion and death as primarily an offering for sin and exploring it as a "bridge" to a deepened, healing, and transformative communion with the Trinity of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In other words, I proposed that Christian's view this week as "Wholly Week": the week in which we remember how Christ gave himself "wholly" for us that we might never be alone in all the experiences that constitute human life: especially experiences of struggle, suffering, tragedy, rejection, abandonment, and, even death. The reason for this shift of focus is quite straightforward: it forms a robust basis for a life-long love relationship with God.

When God gives himself "Wholly" to us in Christ and Holy Spirit, this means that God pours out for our pleasure, delight, contemplation, adoration, and intellectual, spiritual, and soulful stimulation the full, impenetrable mystery of Christ and, by extension, the full mystery of life and human life. A large part of what makes God, life, and, human life so exciting and adventurous is the impenetrable mystery inherent in it! By "impenetrable mystery" I very definitely do not mean that God, life, and human life cannot be fathomed or understood at all. Rather, I am referring to the inexhaustible depth of complexity and beauty that penetrates every nook, cranny, and corner of our world and lives. I was recently talking with a friend about the explosion of knowledge and technology in the last thirty to forty years. Both of us marveled at how these areas have been expanding so quickly. We came to the conclusion that the more humans delve into all that there is to know and all that can be created, the more rapidly and deeply will the vistas of science and technology unfold before us. In other words, there will likely be no end to the exponentially rapid expansion of our understanding and creativity! It truly boggles the mind and heart, doesn't it?

Bearing this in mind, let's consider the full, impenetrably mysterious plan of God in offering himself wholly in Christ. In yesterday's daily Mass Gospel from John, Jesus says to the disciples at the last supper after Judas has left them to betray him, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him." (John 13:31). If we measure what Jesus is saying through how we normally understand God's glory (meaning, God's truth, beauty, power, majesty, sovereignty, etc...) these words appear utterly absurd. How can God and Christ be glorified in and through betrayal, rejection, and eventually murder? What we've stumbled upon here is the wholly impenetrable mystery of Christ, life, and our very selves. Perhaps what is being said by Jesus is something akin to what Paul says in another part of scripture, namely, that "power is made perfect in weakness." Perhaps what is going on here is God bending so low in embracing the depths, ambiguity, and even tragedy of life that NONE OF IT, no matter how dark, dank, stinky, crappy, hazy, or crazy is outside of God's capacity to turn it into the very basis for the experience of God's Glory and the power of Christ's Resurrection. Maybe, just maybe, God is turning the "rules of life" inside out and making the basis for true life the willingness to sink into the mire of our lives and world and risk ourselves in the self same way that Jesus did. How mysteriously contrary this is to the conventional approach to life as consisting of security, wealth, prosperity, and a sense of ease and comfortability. Maybe our celebration of "Wholly Week" consists in accepting this impenetrable mystery of Christ, life, and our very selves as the bridge to experiencing God's Glory and true newness of life. Pat, TOR

Holy Week 2011

The Way We Treat Ourselves:
A reflection on the anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill.

by Bro. Jeffrey Wilson, T.O.R.

originally appeared on Franciscan Action Network:


http://www.franciscanaction.org
http://www.franciscanaction.org/Upload_Module/upload/2011.04.20_FANHolyWeek.pdf

April 20, 2011 marks the one-year anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion and Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the “largest accidental marine oil spill in U.S. history, an acute human and environmental tragedy.”[i] Having been born and raised on the Florida Gulf Coast, I was especially troubled by the disaster. After a year’s time, $3.5 billion of the $20 billion compensation fund has been spent to restore the ecology and livelihoods of those impacted by the spill.[ii] The sugar-white beaches of the Gulf Coast are still in the process of being cleaned of the black oil and tar, now with large sand-sifting tractors called Sand Sharks. Bird nesting season started on March 1st, complicating the process and raising concerns for their health.[iii] Nearly all of the waters of the Gulf of Mexico have been reopened to commercial fishing.[iv] Coastal towns and cities hope to rebuild their economies with the return of tourists this spring and summer.[v] In February, the U.S. government approved the first deep water oil drilling permit since the spill. However, the ultimate environmental consequences of the spill may not be known for some time to come. Most of the oil slick disappeared from the surface of the Gulf of Mexico in July 2010, but in March 2011, a study found that “huge quantities of oil […] now taint the Gulf of Mexico's seafloor” in what is described as an “invertebrate graveyard.”[vi] Also, just in the months of January and February alone, the infant mortality rate of the dolphins living off the shores of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana is already 10 times the yearly average.[vii] Although the direct cause is still unknown, this is a very disturbing development.

Despite the overall ecological impact of the oil spill, it is very important to remember that eleven people lost their lives from the explosion and their families and loved ones will carry their loss for the rest of their lives. What is most tragic is that the loss of human life and negative impact on the Gulf ecology appears to be the result of sheer negligence and mismanagement on the part of BP, Transocean, Halliburton, and federal industry regulators.[viii] There is mounting evidence that the companies involved put short term profits over the safety and lives of workers and of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.[ix]

The worst thing that we can do is not learn from this experience; and learn especially that there is an interconnected relationship between humanity and the natural environment. Concerning this relationship, Pope Benedict XVI explains, “The way humanity treats the environment influences the way it treats itself, and vice versa.”[x] This relationship is clearly evident in the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The same negligent, short sighted, and dare I say it, greedy acts of BP, Transocean, and Halliburton hurt both people and the natural environment.

However, the basic problems that led to the Deepwater Horizon disaster are not just isolated to a few companies or a specific industry. They can be seen in our culture and society as a whole. Over the past century, war and genocide have become more and more prevalent and destructive.[xi] The brutality we show towards one another is reflected in our brutality against the natural environment as we destroy forests, level mountaintops, drain estuaries, and erase barrier sand reefs in our quest for modern progress.[xii] In the short-sightedness of our “buy now, pay later” culture, we exchange moderation and sustainability for luxury, extravagance, and excess while we spend money that we do not have and increase our personal debt. This consumption mindset translates into the use and hoarding of the world’s natural resources without regard for our own future, let alone the needs of future generations. Our culture values ease of use and disposability. We throw away an estimated 60 million plastic water bottles each day.[xiii] Likewise, we view human life as disposable and throw-away: the U.S. aborts over 800,000 babies and disposes of an estimated 8,000 human embryos each year.[xiv]

Clearly, something needs to change. Pope Benedict XVI explains, “What is needed is an effective shift in mentality which can lead to the adoption of new lifestyles in which the quest for truth, beauty, goodness, and communion with others for the sake of common growth are the factors which determine consumer choices, savings, and investments. Every violation of solidarity and civic friendship harms the environment, just as environmental deterioration in turn upsets relations in society.”[xv]

It is the Franciscan mission to cure the wounded, to bind up the broken, and to recall the erring.[xvi] Accordingly, we are called to minister to the wounded victims of this disaster, rebuild the broken human and natural ecologies, and recall the erring from their destructive mindsets and actions. What is needed today, as individuals, a nation, and a human family, is a conversion of heart, mind, and action that recognizes that the way humanity treats the environment influences the way it treats itself, and vice versa. St. Francis of Assisi had the unique insight of this relationship and manifested it in his words and deeds. Let us follow his example. To walk in the footsteps of Francis, who is the alter Christus, the other Christ, is to conform oneself completely into the likeness of Jesus Christ, He who is the image of the invisible God; to see the world through the eyes of Jesus; and to love the world as Jesus does, for all things were created through him and for him and in him all things hold together.[xvii]

Francis showed charity and concern for both humans and creatures.[xviii] He called all creatures by the name of brother and sister and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to all creation: people, animals, and plants.[xix] This is a virtue that Francis came to develop over time. After all, metanoia, the conversion of heart, is an ongoing, lifelong process. The fruits of Francis’ conversion of heart and mind are manifested in his actions.

One great symbol of Francis’ profound conversion is his embrace and kiss of the leper. As Francis explains in his Testament, “What had seemed bitter to me was turned into sweetness of soul and body.”[xx] Consequently, Francis’ embrace of the leper is the same embrace that Francis gave to the wolf of Gubbio. His gift of alms to the leper is the same gift of charity that he gave to animals in need.[xxi] His kiss of the leper’s wounds is the same kiss of praise that he gave God through his creatures. And Francis’ reconciling of the wolf and the townspeople of Gubbio is the same labor of reconciliation that Francis worked between the mayor and Bishop of Assisi. Clearly, Francis understood the relationship between humanity and the natural environment.

The one year anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster falls on the Wednesday of Holy Week. I find the opening verses from the day’s first reading very appropriate, “The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back” (Is 50:4-5). As we end our Lenten journey, let us be mindful of our transgressions against our brothers and sisters, both human and creature. As we remember the Passion of our Lord, let us commit ourselves to the ongoing conversion of our hearts and minds. And as we enter into the Easter Season, may we be renewed in the power of Jesus’ resurrection as we work to cure the wounded, to bind up the broken, and to recall the erring.

I would like to close my reflection with a prayer for the eleven workers who died on the Deepwater Horizon, April 20, 2010, and for the consolation of their families and loved ones.

Almighty and Good God, our faith in the resurrection of Jesus comforts us as we mourn the death of Jason Anderson, Aaron Dale Burkeen, Donald Clark, Stephen Curtis, Gordon Jones, Roy Wyatt Kemp, Karl Dale Kleppinger, Jr., Blair Manuel, Dewey Revette, Shane Roshto, and Adam Weise. May this passage be a reminder to us of our own mortality. Let it be a source of hope for us as we look forward to the day when we will be united with you and all your holy ones in the joy of eternal life. We ask this through the same Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. [xxii]

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[i] National Commission of the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. Deep Water: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling – Report to the President. (January 2011): 173. http://www.oilspillcommission.gov/final-report. Hereafter DW.

[ii] John Roberts, “Oil Spill Victims Say Future Recovery of Gulf is Connected to Compensation Fund,” Fox News, March 2, 2011, http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/03/02/oil-spill-victims-say-future-recovery-gulf-connected-compensation-fund/.

[iii] Associated Press, “Florida Senate Passes Oil Spill Recovery Measure,” Pensacola News Journal, March 16, 2011, http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011110316009.

[iv] Approximately 1,041 square miles, or 0.4% of the Gulf of Mexico Federal Waters, surrounding the BP Deepwater Horizon spill site remain closed to fishing as of March 31, 2011. NOAA Fisheries Service, http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/deepwater_horizon_oil_spill.htm.

[v] In fact, the Pensacola News Journal reports, “Hotel revenues in Escambia County soared 30 percent in February, boding well for the spring and summer tourist season.” Staff writer, “Hotel revenue soars in Escambia,” Pensacola News Journal, March 18, 2011, http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011110318009.

[vi] NOAA reported that of the estimated 5.4 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, only 27% remained with 49% having evaporated and biodegraded, 15% having been contained, 5% burned off, and 3% skimmed. NOAA, “Deepwater Horizon MC252 Gulf Incident Oil Budget,” August 2, 2010, http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/PDFs/DeepwaterHorizonOilBudget20100801.pdf. Raloff, Janet, “Gulf Floor Tainted by Oily Deposits,” Science News, 179, no. 6 (March 12, 2011): 17.

[vii] Jonsson, Patrik, “Baby dolphin die-off in Gulf: Cold water, not oil spill, the culprit?” The Christian Science Monitor, March 4, 2011, http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Wildlife/2011/0304/Baby-dolphin-die-off-in-Gulf-Cold-water-not-oil-spill-the-culprit.

[viii] The National Commission’s report to the President concludes, “The well blew out because a number of separate risk factors, oversights, and outright mistakes combined to overwhelm the safeguards meant to prevent just such an event from happening. But most of the mistakes and oversights at Macondo can be traced back to a single overarching failure – a failure of management. Better management by BP, Halliburton, and Transocean would almost certainly have prevented the blowout” (DW, 90). “[…] What we nonetheless do know is considerable and significant: (1) each of the mistakes made on the rig and onshore by industry and government increased the risk of a well blowout; (2) the cumulative risk that resulted from these decisions and actions was both unreasonably large and avoidable; and (3) the risk of a catastrophic blowout was ultimately realized on April 20 and several of the mistakes were contributing causes of the blowout” (115). “[…] The company does not have consistent and reliable risk-management processes–and thus has been unable to meet its professed commitment to safety. BP’s safety lapses have been chronic” (218).

[ix] As reported by the National Commission, “Decision-making processes at Macondo did not adequately ensure that personnel fully considered the risks created by time- and money-saving decisions. Whether purposeful or not, many of the decisions that BP, Halliburton, and Transocean made that increased the risk of the Macondo blowout clearly saved those companies significant time (and money). There is nothing inherently wrong with choosing a less-costly or less-time-consuming alternative–as long as it is proven to be equally safe. The problem is that, at least in regard to BP’s Macondo team, there appears to have been no formal system for ensuring that alternative procedures were in fact equally safe” (DW, 125).

[x] Pope Benedict XVI. Caritas in Veritate – Charity in Truth, 51. Italics are preserved from the original document while bold is added for emphasis.

[xi] Genocide has plagued our world for the past century with the Armenian genocide (1915-1923), Jewish holocaust, or Shoah, (1941-1945), Roma and Sinti holocaust (1941-1945), Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970), Uganda under the rule of Idi Amin (1971-1979), Cambodia (1975-1979), “Red Terror” in Ethiopia (1977-1978), repression of indigenous peoples in Guatemala (1981-1983), anfal campaign against the Kurds in Northern Iraq (1988-1991), Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992-1995), Rwanda (1994), Democratic Republic of Congo (1998-2007), and Darfur in Sudan (1998-2007). McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, http://efchr.mcgill.ca/Genocide_en.php?menu=3.

[xii] Pope Benedict XVI remarks, “How many natural resources are squandered by wars! Peace in and among peoples would also provide greater protection of nature.” Caritas in Veritate – Charity in Truth, 51.

[xiii] Pat Franklin reports, “Health-conscious Americans are consuming water from disposable plastic bottles at a rate of more than 70 million bottles each day. […] More than 60 million plastic bottles end up in landfills and incinerators every day – a total of about 22 billion last year.” Pat Franklin, “Down the Drain – Plastic water bottles should no longer be a wasted resource,” Waste Management World (May-June 2006): 62-5.

[xiv] The CDC reports, “A total of 827,609 abortions were reported to CDC for 2007 […]; the abortion rate was 16.0 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15--44 years, and the abortion ratio was 231 abortions per 1,000 live births.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Abortion Surveillance – United States, 2007,” MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 60, no. 1 (February 25, 2011): 1. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6001a1.htm?s_cid=ss6001a1_w.

It is difficult to determine exactly how many human embryos are disposed of each year. A report issued by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology in 2003 reports that a total of 396,526 embryos are in storage in the United States as of April 11, 2002 with 8,840 embryos “awaiting destruction per patient request.” It is assumed that these embryo storage and destruction rates are consistent with 2010-2011 rates. David I. Hoffman, Gail L. Zellman, and C. Christine Fair, “Cryopreserved embryos in the United States and their availability for research,” Fertility and Sterility, 79, no. 5 (May 2003): 1066. http://www.asrm.org/uploadedFiles/ASRM_Content/News_and_Publications/Selected_Articles_from_Fertility_and_Sterility/cryoembryos_may2003.pdf.

[xv] Caritas in Veritate – Charity in Truth, 51.

[xvi] “He [Francis] used to tell them: ‘As you announce peace with your mouth, make sure that you have greater peace in your hearts, thus no one will be provoked to anger or scandal because of you. Let everyone be drawn to peace and kindness through your peace and gentleness. For we have been called to do this: to cure the wounded, to bind up the broken, and to recall the erring. Many who seem to us members of the devil will yet be disciples of Christ.’ ” Legend of the Three Companions, 58.

[xvii] Col 1:15-17

[xviii] “The holy man overflowed with the spirit of charity, bearing within himself a deep sense of concern not only toward other humans in need but also toward mute, brute animals: reptiles, birds, and all other creatures whether sensate or not.” Thomas of Celano, The Life of St. Francis, 77.

[xix] Ibid, 81.

[xx] St. Francis of Assisi, The Testament, 3.

[xxi] Illustrating an example of Francis’ charity to animals, Thomas of Celano writes, “In the winter he had honey or the best wine put out for the bees so that they would not perish from the cold.” The Life of St. Francis, 80.

[xxii] The prayer is taken from the Common for the Dead in Franciscan Morning and Evening Praise: 1276.

"Wholly Week"

Would there be a difference in our lives and spirituality if the Christian tradition slightly changed it's focus concerning the meaning of Holy Week? Traditionally speaking, Holy Week commemorates the final days of the Lord's life and it's redemptive import for our lives. Perhaps the greatest stress and emphasis is placed on Good Friday, when Jesus is arrested, charged, scourged, condemned, and crucified. The tendency to focus so much importance on Good Friday has resulted in a perhaps one-sided focus on Holy Week as the commemoration of Jesus' self-offering for our sins. However, what if Holy Week was less about an offering for atonement of sin and more an offering so that we might come into a newness of life marked by unparalleled healing and transformative closeness with God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit?

In today's Gospel reading from John, Jesus states something of monumental importance that could easily be overlooked or glossed over. In response to the betrayer Judas Iscariot's objection about why Jesus allowed the anointing of his body with costly perfume instead of selling it and giving the money to the poor, Jesus says, "you always have the poor with you but you do not always have me." (John 12:8) We can focus so much attention on Jesus' redeeming us from sin that we forget that Jesus' offering was also, and, perhaps, primarily, about us having him, God, and the Holy Spirit. Holy Week is really the week in which Jesus gives himself "wholly" to us by entering into every experience that can be constitutive of human life, to include the abysmal depths of rejection, abuse, torture, abandonment, betrayal, and, if that weren't enough, even being unjustly condemned and murdered.

If we were to shift our focus just a tad and approach Holy Week more as "Wholly Week" (the week in which Jesus gives himself "wholly" to us), we would perhaps come more into the awareness of how it can form the basis and bridge for a vital, healing, and transformative bond, relationship, and communion with the God who will never leave us, no matter how far we sink into the mire and ambiguity of all that makes us fully, tragically, and gloriously human. Pat, TOR

Assimilating the Light of Christ

In today's Gospel from daily Mass, Jesus gives a long speech in defense of his ministry to the religious leaders who have called him to account (John 5:31-37). An interesting part of his diatribe refers to the ministry of John the Baptist and how the religious leaders, "for a while...were content to rejoice in his light." However, we know how John the Baptist ended up - namely, with his head on a platter! What accounts for the fact that the light of John, and Jesus for that matter, became attenuated to those who initially rejoiced in it? Why did John's head end up on a platter and Jesus' body hung from a cross? In today's first reading (Exodus 32:7-14) we have a similar dynamic going on between God and the Israelites in the Sinai desert. God has just led the Israelites out of Egypt by a very impressive "pillar of fire" and, after initially rejoicing in this light, they have already begun falling away from God by worshipping idols! What gives? How is it that such an impressive sign of light and fiery concern of God for his people could become attenuated by the Israelites in such quick fashion?

You may have noticed that I highlighted the word "attenuated" twice in the above paragraph. The word means to "reduce the force, effect, or value of" something or someone (dictionary.com). The impressiveness of the light of John the Baptist, Jesus, and even God's fiery pillar was eventually "reduced in force, effect, or value", or, attenuated over time by the fact that it wasn't assimilated into the lives of those who witnessed it. In other words, the outward signs and symbols that God gave in the fiery pillar, John the Baptist, and, above all, Christ must be internalized if it is to illuminate, motivate, and animate our lives for the long haul. To give an example of how the light of Christ can be ritually and practically assimilated, let's consider the Easter Vigil celebration on Holy Saturday. The celebration begins in the darkness, with candles being lit from the Easter Candle and distributed to all who are gathered. The refrain that echoes throughout the Church is, "receive the light of Christ." Than a series of readings are read from the Old Testament which recount the great themes of salvation history. Finally, a New Testament reading is read and than, as the great crescendo, the Gospel account of Jesus' Resurrection. The theme of light and newness of life pervades. To assimilate the light of Christ through this ritual means finding and taking our place in the saving stories that we hear on this sacred night, and, above all, allowing ourselves to be drawn into the saving embrace of Christ. Of course, this is not something that is done once and for all. In order for the saving mysteries of scripture and Christ to become our light and life, we must continually strive to assimilate their meaning for our daily lives. Pat, TOR

Entering the "Waters of Siloam" as the Means to Encountering the Beauty of Life and Christ

Unlike the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, the Gospel of John is highly symbolic and metaphorical. The reason is that it represents a "faith vantage point" of Jesus and the Christ "event" thirty or forty years more mature than these three Gospels. Therefore, the Gospel reads not only like a narrative but also has the characteristics of a very refined theological and spiritual treatise of who Jesus is and what the life of faith entails. Today's Gospel story of the healing of the man born blind (John 9:1-41) is a story rich in symbolic and metaphorical meaning. It is much less a story about an historical event than it is a parable of encounter with the Christ and the progressive deepening of the life of faith.

When Jesus encounters the man born blind, he makes a salve of spittle and dirt, smears them gently over the man's eyes, and than instructs him to go and wash at the "pool of Siloam." Siloam means, "sent" and has the connotation not of being sent to a pool to wash but being "sent" to give witness to God and Christ through the Holy Spirit. The word is intimately connected to the word "disciple" which also means "to be sent." The man is not so much being sent to wash as he is being sent on a journey: a journey of a progressively deep faith encounter with Jesus the Christ. How does this faith encounter unfold and deepen? To begin with, after the man washes and regains his sight, he admits that Jesus healed him when asked by curious bystanders and the religious authorities (they want to know because this miracle took place on the Sabbath, and it is expressly forbidden to do any such work on this day). The religious authorities than call him to the carpet in order to examine the man with the hope of having something to indict Jesus with. When the man is pressed to give an account of who he thinks Jesus is, he responds "a prophet." Than, when the authorities ridicule and threaten him and push his back up against a wall, he suddenly goes into a very profound and powerful mode of witnessing to Jesus and defending him. At this the authorities cast him out of the community - he once again finds himself at the margins, the very same place that Jesus encountered him to begin with. However, this time, Jesus approaches him and helps the man to finally see him fully as the Christ, the Son of the Living God. The man's journey of faith has come to a sort of "full-circle" consummation.

This story is less about a person (the man born blind) as it is a highly symbolic and metaphorical story of "personification." What's being "personified" is the journey of faith and encountering the true beauty and magnificence of life and Christ. The journey begins with the Lord reaching into our lives to intimately touch and heal. This than leads to being sent to "enter the waters of Siloam" or, the waters of a life of faith. The life of faith implies embracing the sum total of all that makes for a truly human life. It means sinking to the depths of human neediness, weakness, brokenness, sinfulness, capacity for goodness, glory
and relatedness with God, other, and self. To "enter the waters of Siloam" is a metaphor of embracing all of the above in a spirit of faith, hope, and love. At times, it means "being called to account" by others and by life to give witness to what we truly value and strive for. If we are "disciples" or, those who are "sent", this means that when "push comes to shove", we bear witness through word and deed that God, Christ, and Holy Spirit are Lord alone and the one we love above all. This of course, means we may very well be pushed to the margins. In other words, when we make a decision to live life at depth, to open ourselves to the true beauty of life, and to live lives of honesty, integrity, vulnerability, and openness, we will be misunderstood and perhaps even rejected; at times this might be by those who were nearest to us. However, in the face of such difficulty and even suffering, we live in the hope of knowing that the more deeply we enter the "waters of Siloam" the more we will encounter the beauty of life and the power of the Risen Lord.

In his book, "Beauty", John O' Donohue speaks along similar lines of how we encounter the depth of true beauty (meaning also, Christ) that comes through making deliberate and difficult decisions for a life of depth, a life of being drawn into the "Waters of Siloam": "The experience of beauty has for the most part a particular force. It envelops and overcomes us. Yet there are times when beauty reveals itself slowly. There are times when beauty is shy and hesitates until it can trust the worthiness of the beholder. Human culture seems to build its temples of meaning in the wrong places, in the garish marketplaces of transient fashion and public image. Beauty tends to avoid the siren call of the obvious. Away from the blatant center, it prefers the neglected margin. Beyond the traffic of voyeuristic seeing, beauty waits until the patience and depth of a gaze are refined enough to engage and discover it. In this sense, beauty is not a quality externally present in something. It emerges at that threshold where reverence of mind engages the subtle presence of the other person, place, or object. The hidden heart of beauty offers itself only when it is approached in a rhythm worthy of its trust and showing." Pat, TOR

The Healing River and Refining Fire of Faith

The first reading from Monday's (2 Kings 5:1-15) and Tuesday's (Daniel 3:25, 34-43) Daily Mass are quite intriguing stories from the Old Testament, laden with very stark and interesting imagery. The story from Second Kings is about the healing of the Aramean army commander Naaman by the prophet Elisha. Naaman travels all the way from Aram to Israel and is told in quite matter-of-fact fashion, that, if he wants to be healed of his leprosy, he need only bathe in the Jordan River. Naaman is quite put off by this simplistic proposal and says to his servants, “I thought that he would surely come out and stand there 
to invoke the LORD his God,
 and would move his hand over the spot,
 and thus cure the leprosy.
 Are not the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar,
 better than all the waters of Israel? 
Could I not wash in them and be cleansed?” Just as Naaman is about to return to Aram in anger, his servants prevail on him to at least give the prophet's instruction a try (since he is already so close to the Jordan). Naaman indeed does go to the Jordan, plunges himself into the River seven times and is healed! In today's first reading from the book of the prophet Daniel, we encounter the Israelite exile, Azariah, standing in the "white hot" fiery furnace of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar (he was tossed into the furnace for refusing to worship an idol crafted by the King's artisans). Instead of being burned to bits, Azariah sings a great hymn of faith to the God of Israel, and is miraculously protected against the flames lapping up all around him!

These two stories reminded me of a line from the movie "The Shawshank Redemption." This movie tells the story of a prison escape by the central character, Andy Dufresne, who was unjustly imprisoned at Shawshank Prison for a murder he didn't commit. In order to be freed from the prison, Andy had to crawl through a mile long septic tunnel nearly filled with human refuse. His friend, a fellow inmate named Red, summed it up best by stating that Andy, "crawled through a river of sh*t and came out clean on the other side." The above mentioned readings from Second Kings and Daniel, along with this profound and loaded statement by Red, point to difficult truths that we very often don't want to face: in order to "come out clean" (i.e., be healed and made relatively "whole") or arrive at a strong, fire-tested faith, we almost certainly have to "bathe" in less than desirable "waters", "go through the fire", or, even crawl through a "river of sh*t". In other words, there is no magical formula or way in which we can come to meaning, purpose, and even a sense of the beauty of our lives apart from the murky, muddy, stinky, and fiery experiences that make up life and the story of our lives. It's only by directly facing, embracing, and enduring the sum total of all that makes up life and our lives in a spirit of hope and reverence that even the most putrid waters can somehow miraculously heal and the most blazing fire can refine our trust in the God who accompanies us through it all. Pat, TOR

The "Repentance Ripple Effect"

Wash yourselves clean! 
Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; 
cease doing evil; learn to do good.
 Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,
 hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow. Come now, let us set things right, 
says the LORD: 
Though your sins be like scarlet, 
they may become white as snow;
 though they be crimson red,
 they may become white as wool (Isaiah 1:16-18).

These words from the prophet Isaiah are from a classic "Lenten time" text that is meant to highlight the loving largesse of God in continually calling the Israelite community to repentance and renewed fidelity to the covenant. What makes this text so vitally important and relevant for Christians of the 21st Century is that it points to the communal dimensions of penance and how focusing on this can create a "ripple effect" that than results in healing and forgiveness at a personal level.

For the past hundred years or so, Lent and the penance inherent in it has been approached largely as a personal or individual affair. Lent was a time for getting one's own house/relationship with God in order so as to be prepared to celebrate Easter. The practices associated with Lent include prayer, fasting, works of mercy, and confessing one's sins to a priest. While these practices are good in and of themselves, when they are not in any way, shape, or form connected to the larger community and world, they risk becoming purely individualistic practices that don't really result in a change on this larger scale. What Isaiah, and many prophets for that matter, indicate through their writings is a quite opposite process. They teach that by reaching out to the larger community as an arm of advocacy and voice for justice, one's personal house will quite naturally be put in order and one's "sins" will become "white as snow." The point for Christians living in a very individualistic culture is that regardless of whether we begin with "our house" or the "larger house" of the community and world, our repentance should create a "ripple effect" that impacts both our lives AND the world for the better. Pat, TOR

Jesus' Transfiguration: Hope for When Life Gives Us "Too Much."

Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, 
and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
 And he was transfigured before them; 
his face shone like the sun 
and his clothes became white as light (Matthew. 17:1-9).

I recently spoke to a man going through a very difficult, trying, and even tragic set of life circumstances, most of which he was enduring to no fault of his own. He shared that, when he approached other Christians looking for support, he was told by one or more, "the Lord doesn't give you more than what you can handle." Do you ever wonder where they grow people like this? It's bad enough that this man is in deep pain without having to have a fellow Christian do them the favor of suggesting God has ordained that they go through this or is even responsible for it! Such a naive, dismissive "pious platitude" overlooks the obvious fact that life and God ARE NOT one and the same (a "pious platitude" is a stock phrase that is often the equivalent of saying "I don't want to hear about it" but is used instead as a pious gloss to make the person saying it appear to be reverent when in fact they're not!). Granted, GOD may not give us more than we can handle, but MANY people can attest to the fact that LIFE at times sure as heck does!

Jesus' Transfiguration in today's Gospel gives us some insight into a reason to hope when life gives us too much. Prior to this extraordinary event in Jesus' life, he has come into the awareness that the storm clouds are gathering in the distant horizon and that he is likely going to meet with a very cruel and tragic fate. In a word, life, and NOT GOD is about to give him more than he can handle (anyone who thinks that crucifixion isn't more than a person can handle, raise your hand! Ok, now, for those raising your hand, go to the end of Matthew's Gospel, 27:46, when Jesus shouts the guttural cry from the cross, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?". Sounds like someone who is a little overwhelmed, no?). However, what does God do for Jesus on the Mountain in today's Gospel? He doesn't promise to "transform" Jesus' destiny, but to "transfigure" it. There is an incredibly important nuance between one and the other.

To transform something is to change it completely and essentially. To transfigure has more the slight, nuanced connotation of changing the appearance or, in this case, the meaning of something. What may very well be going on in the transfiguration event is a symbol and sign of the hope that, while life is certainly about to dish out more than Jesus can handle in crucifixion, God will, in fact, make these circumstances the very thing that constitutes eternal life. In other words, Jesus' crucifixion as a total gift of self and love to the point of death will not end in wholesale abandonment by God but will become the very path to eternal life. Why is this a sign or symbol of hope for us? What it means is that there is nothing that we can experience in our lives, no matter how painful or tragic, that is beyond the Lord's capacity to use as a means through which our own lives are transfigured in God's love. Pat, TOR

The "Universal" Call To Repentance and Transformation

When we think about Lent as a season of deepened reflection on our lives and the penance that we practice to align our lives more along the lines of Jesus' legacy of love and self-sacrifice, we usually frame the season and "penitential practices" (fasting, almsgiving, abstinence) in very personal terms. In doing so, we may inadvertently forget that the Gospel call to repentance and transformation applies to every nook and cranny of existence, to every area of our world, personal, interpersonal, cultural, social, political, and, even societal.

Wednesday's first reading from Mass serves as a reminder that we are called to work for the transformation of all areas of our society and world. The reading tells the story of Jonah, a jewish prophet sent to the pagan town of Ninevah to proclaim that impending doom will be upon them unless they essentially change their lives on a dime (Jonah 3:1-10). And, you know what, THEY DO! From the King all the way down to the normal, every day citizen, they proclaim a fast and respond favorably to Jonah's message! This reading serves as an illustration that God's call to repentance and transformation is "universal" in that it applies to all areas of existence. Furthermore, when change and transformation occur at the level of society, it creates an environment that makes it much easier to makes changes at the personal and interpersonal level. In the age of the internet, when we can come into contact with so many organizations striving to change our society, it takes very little to join one or more, and, like Jonah, call our society to the repentance and transformation that is needed in order to make more space for the Kingdom of God. Pat, TOR

Daily Mass Reflection: The "Long View" of God's Word Accomplishing All that God Wills

Thus says the LORD: 
Just as from the heavens 
the rain and snow come down
 and do not return there
 till they have watered the earth,
 making it fertile and fruitful,
 giving seed to the one who sows
 and bread to the one who eats,
 so shall my word be
 that goes forth from my mouth; 
it shall not return to me void, 
but shall do my will,
 achieving the end for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:10-11).

This beautiful verse from the prophet Isaiah is a tribute to the potent Word of God, spoken from the beginning of time and through which all things came into being (John 1:1-3). As wondrous as this passage is, how do we understand and appreciate its truthfulness given the fact that the Word of God has been spoken in many and varied ways, and, above all in Jesus, and yet there is still so much evil and sin that prevails? How can we "discern" the possibility that this word will, in fact, achieve the end for which God sent it? My suggestion is that we take a "long view" approach to this dilemma.

By "long view" I mean looking back and forward in time, speculatively piercing through the mists of what we know about the beginning of all things and also what we believe will be the destiny of all things. The long view, in short, means imagining the role of the Word as the means or motor through which all things came into being and by which all things will come into their final, Resurrected fullness. When we look back in time to the beginning of all things through the lens of faith, we see a God who creates through what Irenaeus, an early Church Father, referred to as "the two hands of the Father", the Word and the Holy Spirit. This doesn't mean that the Word and Spirit "physically" fashioned and formed each creature (this occurred through evolutionary unfolding over billions of years), rather, the Word and Spirit can be discerned through the lens of faith as inherent in the "relational dynamism" that draws, attracts, and bonds creatures at an "elemental" level and a relational level. Hence, insofar as this pattern of drawing, attracting, and bonding continues, the Word can, in fact, be said to "achieve the end for which God sent it."

More important to appreciating how the Word will accomplish all that God wills, however, is the speculative "long view" with regard to all things "being gathered up" in Christ (Ephesians, 1:10). Yesterday I gave a talk on "caring for creation" to a group of young adults and spoke about how, in order to make the Christian faith compelling, we need to RADICALLY re-envision our expectations about the after life. For many centuries, the prevailing notion of heaven is that it would consist of the saints and angels gathered before God's throne, singing God's praises for eternity. This doesn't do justice to God's total plan for creation in Christ, and, furthermore, is a relatively boring conception of heaven! The metaphor that captures a more accurate depiction of the after life is a "New Heavens and New Earth." This metaphor is found in Isaiah 65:17, 2 Peter 3:13, and Revelation 21:1 and refers to God's plan to "conserve" and utterly transform our present world into a "resurrected" one in which Heaven and Earth come together in perfect communion and form the "place" where we will dwell in eternity. It is through the Word, Spirit, and the Resurrected Son that God will gather up all things and give them final, glorified, and everlasting permanence. Quite an exciting prospect if you ask me! Through the "long view" of what God is doing in God's Word and in Christ, we can come to appreciate the truth of Isaiah's notion that God's Word is accomplishing, and will accomplish, all that God has willed. Pat, TOR

Fasting in Lent a Hungering for Justice

"Thus says the Lord GOD: 
cry out full-throated and unsparingly, 
lift up your voice like a trumpet blast; 
Tell my people their wickedness, 
and the house of Jacob their sins. 
They seek me day after day,
 and desire to know my ways, 
like a nation that has done what is just
 and not abandoned the law of their God;
 They ask me to declare what is due them, 
pleased to gain access to God.
“Why do we fast, and you do not see it? 
Afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?” Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, 
and drive all your laborers.
 Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting,
 striking with wicked claw.
 Would that today you might fast
 so as to make your voice heard on high!
 Is this the manner of fasting I wish, 
of keeping a day of penance:
 that a man bow his head like a reed
 and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
 Do you call this a fast,
 a day acceptable to the LORD?
 This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: 
releasing those bound unjustly, 
untying the thongs of the yoke;
 setting free the oppressed,
 breaking every yoke;
 sharing your bread with the hungry, 
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
 clothing the naked when you see them,
 and not turning your back on your own.
 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
 and your wound shall quickly be healed;
 your vindication shall go before you, 
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, 
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am! (Isaiah, 58:10-9a).

These words from the prophet Isaiah, an indictment of the Israelite community of his day (especially the rich and powerful) offer in a very summary, condensed, and concise formula the reason and rationale for fasting and repentance. The Church put forward this reading for consideration on the Friday after Ash Wednesday in order to help remind us what the Lenten season means in terms of a time of penance, fasting, and sacrifice. In general, the Lenten season is a 40 day period of reflecting on and remembering the Passion of the Lord: his devotion to humanity as the "Son of Man" (or, servant to all), his teachings, his legacy of love for the outcast, marginated, poor, and afflicted, his determination to be God's fullest expression of love and mercy despite the rejection and malice of those who opposed him, and his resolve to love until the end by carrying the cross, being wholly rejected by his own, and being hanged from a tree. Our fasting, repentance, and sacrifices are meant to unite us more and more to the above legacy of Jesus, referred to as the "Paschal Mystery."

Over the past several days, I have been receiving email alerts from Catholic or Christian advocacy groups who are calling on people to decry some of the cuts that Congress is proposing to balance the budget. One of these groups, called "Sowers of Justice" (the advocacy arm of the Office for Social Justice for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis), listed some of the cuts as follows: $100 million from Emergency Food and Shelter Program, $2.3 billion from job training programs, $1.08 billion from Head Start, $875 million from International Disaster Assistance, $800 million from International Food Aid, $2.5 billion from affordable housing, $1 billion from Community Health Centers, $904 million from migrants and refugees. When I received this email, I didn't respond immediately. I admit that in my busyness I let the email sit in my inbox for a couple days. But, after reading the above passage from Isaiah, I made an immediate connection to what it means to do penance, to fast, and to sacrifice in light of the attempts to balance the US budget in part on the backs of the some of the poorest in our world and on the backs of those struggling in this country. It means repenting and fasting from my indifference, and expressing my outrage and even anger at the injustice of cutting these programs while the defense budget, for the most part, will get a "free pass" and endure only minimal cuts relative to so many other areas. There's no easy way around it, according to Isaiah: For our fasting, sacrifice, and penance to be meaningful to God and to unite us to Jesus' legacy, it must lead us to act and cry out in the face of the grave injustices currently causing so much suffering in our world. Pat, TOR

Choosing the "Filters" that Help Us To See and Choose Life

In today's first reading from Mass, Moses reminds the Israelites about the promises and obligations of the covenant and tells them, "I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19). This seems straightforward enough, right? However, were that it was so easy! If it was so easy to simply "choose life", much ink wouldn't have been spilled writing the rest of the Old Testament, which tells one story after another about how the Israelites failed to keep the covenant! What accounts for such categorical failure for humanity to consistently "choose the good", even when we know it is in our best interests? While there are no doubt many and varied reasons for this, one in particular may have to do with recent theories in the field of psychology.

Psychology has demonstrated that much of what we choose in life has to do not simply with moral or ethical uprightness but is attributable to the conscious or unconscious "filters" that we perceive life and the world through. Throughout our history, messages or beliefs about life and the world are stamped into our awareness through parents, peers, friends, experience, religion, the media, and culture (among others). These messages or beliefs form lenses or "filters" through which we than subsequently interpret our world and life. Some of these lenses or filters are "good", functional, or helpful; others may be indifferent; still others may lead us to the suspicion that the world and life are not to be trusted nor lived in a spirit of openness, honesty, integrity, and vulnerability. It makes perfect sense to suggest that we make choices for "the good or the bad" based largely on our underlying and secret (meaning, unconscious) filters or beliefs about ourselves, others, God, life, and the world that surrounds us. If our filters are a bit "off" and we wish to "retool" or altogether replace them, we might attempt to explore our unconscious in the hopes of identifying the problematic beliefs that we have so that we can than choose healthier options. However, there is another way that we can begin changing our filters.

By reading, reflecting on, mulling over, and pondering at length the great stories of scripture, we can begin appropriating and integrating symbols and metaphors that will, over time, become filters that help us to choose "the good." Many of the stories in scripture are universal in the sense that they capture experiences common to nearly every person who has ever lived. Motifs, symbols, or metaphors such as "Garden of Eden," "Exile," the "journey to the promised land" resonate with nearly every person and can therefore be integrated into a person's life as filters that help one not only derive meaning, but also make choices that lead to life. For the Christian, the "filter" par excellence is the Cross of Christ. In today's Gospel Jesus tells his disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself 
and take up his cross daily and follow me. 
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
 but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
 What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
 yet lose or forfeit himself?” (Luke 9:23-25). This is quite a tall order! In order to choose the "good" of carrying the Cross and voluntarily loosing one's self (which is quite contrary to prevailing cultural notions about what constitutes the good life), one must simply become so familiar with the Master's life that his teachings, stories, parables, and very life becomes one's own. For, before we can choose the good, we must be able to recognize or see it. In order to do this, we very often have to change one set of filters for another. Pat, TOR

The Many Shades of Ashen Grey on This, The Holiest of Wednesday's

Today as I was vesting for the morning celebration of Ash Wednesday, I overheard a conversation about a parishioner's daughter who was struck by a sudden illness while attending school at Florida State University. Without knowing the specifics of the condition, apparently blood has to be drained from her right arm, plasma has to be added to it, and than it will be sent back into this appendage. From the sounds of it, this must be a somewhat serious condition. As we gathered at the baptismal font, I saw the parishioner in question, Adam, talking with our pastor, Fr. Robert. Fr. Robert was expressing his concern. I immediately went over to express my own. From what Adam shared with us, his daughters immune system had been compromised due to carrying a heavy load of stress, making her susceptible to this relatively serious ailment. The concern in his face was marked. I knew this because I've seen Adam on a number of occasions and know him to be very even-keeled, not expressing too much emotion. There was little doubt in my mind as he reached out to take my hand and shake it that this was a Father who was very worried for his little girl.

As I began the celebration and looked out at where Adam was seated, I wondered, "what does Ash Wednesday mean for Adam?" What does the call to, "repent, and believe the Good News" imply for him and his situation? By extension, what does it imply for all of the persons who packed the Church this day (which was quite surprising, I might add). The universal "shade of grey" that we associate with Ash Wednesday is turning away from personal sins such as the standard litany of, lust, greed, impatience, avarice, sloth, hatred, or sins agains one or more of the Ten Commandments. Yet, what I realized by looking out at Adam, and considering what this day means for him, is that Ash Wednesday, reflected in the ashen look of worry and concern on his face, is about repenting of something far more primordial or deep. It occurred to me that before we take stock of our personal sins and repent of them, perhaps we must "repent", or turn away, insofar as we are able, from the age-old temptation to despair of life as little more than a random occurrence of either fortunate or unfortunate events that eventually comes to little or nothing at best, or, that ends in utter oblivion at worst. As I looked at Adam and the many persons who packed our Church today, I believe that they were here not just to repent of personal sins, but to cling to hope in the midst of so much difficulty, challenge, trial, heartache, pain, and tension swirling in our world right now. I imagine the current state of the economy, job market, and all the confusion about how to fix things are some of the main motivators for observing Ash Wednesday.

In Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians (today's second reading from Mass), Paul tells us that Jesus was "made sin for us" so that we might become the "righteousness of God" in him (2 Cor. 5:21). What is so important about this statement with regard to holding on to hope in the midst of seemingly impenetrable darkness, is that Jesus became sin so as to assure us that there is absolutely no experience under the sun that can definitively cut us off from God's presence. There is nothing we can do to cause God to withdraw God's forgiving, supportive, and healing hand. Furthermore, there is nothing that life can do to separate us or our loved one's from God's all-encompassing embrace or relentless chase of us. Through Adam's experience, and what I imagine to be the experience of so many others who packed St. Patrick's Church today, I'm coming to believe that there are "many shades of ashen grey" that make Ash Wednesday a solemn day of the recognition that we are called to a radical renewal of hope, despite all the varied reasons that may very well threaten it. Pat, TOR

Oh, to Have a Heart Like Tobit!

Today's first reading for Daily Mass comes from the Old Testament Book of Tobit (1:3;2:1-8). The excerpt tells the story of how Tobit, a faithful, law-abiding Jew exiled in Assyria with his fellow Jews from the Northern Kingdom, responds instantaneously to news that one of his fellow kinsman was found slain in the local marketplace. The story goes that Tobit had just sat down to a sumptuous feast and had sent his son out to look for a fellow Jew with whom to share the meal. The son comes back and tells Tobit the disturbing news about the murder. Tobit responds by springing to his feet, leaving his dinner untouched, and carrying the dead body back to his own home to be buried later, after sunset. The story continues by stating how Tobit wept while eating and buried the man after sunset, much to the chagrin of his neighbors. It turns out that Tobit had done this same thing before, putting him at cross purposes with the Assyrian powers that be, and was nearly executed! His neighbors mock him saying, “He is still not afraid!
 Once before he was hunted down for execution 
because of this very thing; 
yet now that he has scarcely escaped, 
here he is again burying the dead!”

Oh, to have a heart like Tobit! First he shows charity by sending his son out to look for a neighbor to share his meal with. Than he immediately foregoes his meal to retrieve the murdered body of a fellow Jew. Finally, if that were not enough, he buries his kinsman, risking life and limb in the process! This story and the character of Tobit exemplify what true religion is about: so thoroughly imbibing and integrating the laws and customs in letter and spirit that one can than be open and responsive to the moral challenges inherent in life. This is really the purpose of religion and spirituality, isn't it? To condition our minds and hearts, through story, symbol, and sacrament, to be radically opened to the sum total of what constitutes human and humane life so that we can embrace and live it as fully as possible. Part of what constitutes life, as was the case in this story about Tobit, are situations that are heavy with moral and ethical implications. Depending on how we respond to them, we become more opened and attuned to what life should and could be about or less. Religion and spirituality really is precisely about this: attuning our bodies, minds, hearts, spirits, and souls to respond to life with a heart like Tobit. Pat, TOR

True Freedom: Freedom in Faith

The readings from the 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time are an "exercise in contrasts" that serve as an opportunity to explore an important and relevant theme of life (especially for American Christians): the notion of freedom. The second reading from Paul's Letter to the Romans highlights the fact that God's gift of salvation in Christ is totally free, is extended to us apart from our worthiness, and is dependent only on faith (Romans, 3:21-25, 28). In the Gospel (7:21-27), Jesus teaches that not everyone who says, "Lord, Lord" nor even those who do mighty deeds in the Lord's name will necessarily enter the Kingdom. Only those who do the will of the Father (i.e., those who live by faith). The exercise in contrasts consists of Paul telling us that God's gift of salvation is unconditioned by what we do and Jesus instructing his hearers that one must do the will of the Father in order to be citizens of the Kingdom. The bridge between the two is the concept of faith and, furthermore, practically living out one's freedom in faith.

Faith is not something that is lived out in a cultural vacuum. It takes root, and is either stymied or nurtured, precisely in part by the cultural values that swirl around us. One of the predominant US cultural values that can nurture or stymie faith is the value of freedom. We hear this word constantly in our culture, in media, advertising, social and political forums, in day-to-day conversations, it is a word that is extremely diffuse in our society. Yet, we may be unaware of how the cultural approach to freedom conditions our faith and either harms it or emboldens it. While there are many particular expressions of freedom, three come immediately to mind that can stymie or nurture one's ability to live the Christian faith fully in true freedom. The first is freedom of choice. This value can stymie faith when it is taken to mean that all choices are equal. We obviously know, for example, in surfing the internet, that not every site builds up our faith in the beauty of life and the goodness of humanity - some sites are downright dehumanizing! This value, however, builds up faith when we make discerning choices in light of the Gospel, understanding that they directly impact who we are and who we become.

A second value is self-assertion. It becomes an obstacle to faith when one asserts one's self over and against others. Think about last week's Supreme Court ruling securing a certain Christian sect's right to protest at service member's funerals (not protesting war, but protesting against what they believe are the moral ailments of our culture). Their so called exercise of "freedom", has actually enslaved them to hatred, bias, prejudice, and imposing themselves in a way that is quite emotionally damaging to the families of the dead service members. The freedom of self-assertion nurtures faith when it emboldens the dignity of a person or a group of persons and moves them to work for change in our society (think of Women's Suffrage or the Civil Rights Movement). Finally, there is the freedom of self-entitlement. It is detrimental to faith when it results in persons believing they have an absolute right to their time or wealth as if they were the complete masters of their own fate. Do you think that an over-aggrandized sense of self-entitlement might have had something to do with our current economic crisis? In it's healthy expression, this value nurture's faith when a person has the understanding that self-entitlement applies to all persons: everyone should have equal access to what is needed to live a fully human life.

Whether or not we are people of faith largely depends on what we do with our freedom. A case in point of a person who illustrates how true freedom is freedom lived in faith is Dr. Paul Farmer. Farmer graduated from Duke University and than went on to earn an MD and PhD in cultural anthropology from Harvard. Talk about someone who had had the world in the palm of his hand and could have chosen whatever he wanted for a career and lifestyle, asserted himself for his own gain, or given in to a sense of self-entitlement! Nevertheless, Farmer chose a life of freedom of faith by going to Haiti, Rwanda, and depressed areas in Russia to put his gifts wholly at the service of the poor. He also founded Partners in Health, a global healthcare initiative that not only seeks to serve the poor, but to change the conditions that keep them from having access to adequate healthcare. To experience the power of Christ's salvation in our lives, and to experience true freedom, doesn't imply doing exactly what Dr. Paul Farmer did (few of us have the gifts he does). Rather, it simply means opening our lives, and our sense of freedom, to a much larger, needier reality and responding with the gifts that we do have by exercising our freedom so that others bereft of the freedoms we take for granted might experience the saving love, light, and life of God. Pat, TOR

The Wisdom Tradition: Mining for a Life Richly and Deeply Infused with Heart, Spirit, and Soul

Today's first reading from Daily Mass comes from the book of Sirach (a book of "wisdom") and is essentially a profound meditation on the mystery of God and of existence. No doubt the wisdom figure and writer was the beneficiary of a long tradition of "wisdom" sayings that formed his own perceptions about God and creation. What the wisdom tradition and the books of wisdom in the Old Testament remind us is that God, human existence, and existence itself is something that is meant to be mulled over, reflected upon, contemplated, and experienced at great depth.

Bernard Lonergan, a theologian of the last century, said that "God is the inexhaustibly comprehensible." What this implies is that God can, in fact, be grasped to a degree by the human mind, heart, spirit, and soul - though not completely. What this also means is that human existence and life itself is intended to be pondered, contemplated, mulled over, reflected upon, and subsequently lived at greater and richer depth. So, what keeps us from "diving" to the depths and mining the richness of God, our lives, relationships, and world?

To begin with, much of our media, advertising, and society choose to simply "ride along the surface" of life. Very often popular culture focuses on the basest human drives and instincts and manipulates these to create insecurity, inferiority, and a sense of need where none should rightfully exist. It's a bit of a conspiracy, if you will, that we all go along with to some degree in order to prop up a culture focused largely on materialism and consumerism. To "go deep" in such a culture is to risk being liberated from such "programming" and to live according to values that might very well radically question much of what our society currently stands for. Therefore, deliberate, deep, purposeful living obviously is not very much encouraged!

Another reason why we don't readily and reflectively dive to the depths of contemplating God, human existence, and life itself is simply because of fear and trepidation. What do you think of when you hear the word "depths"? Probably NOT a sunny, warm, wide open meadow full of daises and butterflies! Rather, what is conjured up are words such as "darkness", "obscurity", "uncertainty", "fear", and perhaps the image of an unyielding, uncontrollable abyss. Nevertheless, the "pearl of great price" of a life truly worth living is to be found not in the contrived, "sunny meadows" nor the "slick and smooth" ride along the surface of life but in the difficult and laborious plumbing of the abyss of God's heart, our hearts, the heart of our relationships, and the heart of life itself. The question posed to us by the wisdom tradition is essentially, do we settle for the surface reality that life presents, or do we "dive" into the abyss, "mining" for a life richly and deeply infused with heart, spirit, and soul. Pat, TOR