Be Ready

This week we enter a new liturgical year. We move from considering the second coming of Christ to Advent where we are expecting the first coming of Christ. For the first Sunday of Advent we kind of conflate the two. The gospel comes from the end of Mark 13. That is Mark's apocalyptic chapter where he relates Jesus' predictions about the end times. Jesus last words tell us something about how we are to read apocalyptic scriptures. The point is not to figure out exactly what God is doing in history. Rather it is to be aware that you don't know and just be ready for anything.

Jesus said to his disciples:“Be watchful! Be alert!You do not know when the time will come.It is like a man traveling abroad.He leaves home and places his servants in charge,each with his own work,and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.Watch, therefore;you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming,whether in the evening, or at midnight,or at cockcrow, or in the morning.May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”

What does the command to "Watch!" mean here? When servants don't know when a master is coming do they stare at the door so they will see the actual moment he arrives? What would be the point of that? Watching is more in the sense of watching yourself. Be alert to the fact that the master is coming and it could be anytime. You need to be ready 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. During good times and bad. Eternal vigilance is the only option.

Now we are sitting here almost 2000 years later and it is hard to be too concerned with these words. Am I really supposed to order my life around the chance that Jesus could come back right now? Does that not seem like a really far-fetched possibility? 

The truth is there are two other ways Jesus can come that we have to be ready for. The first one is that we could die. That might also seem far-fetched but we actually have many examples of people who died and had little to no warning. We can't afford to play games with such a thing. We need to remain in a state of grace at all times. That is the most basic part of being ready. Don't commit mortal sin. If you do commit a mortal sin then go to confession as soon as possible. Don't put it off because we really don't know the day or the hour.

The other way Jesus can come is by touching you personally. Maybe it is at church but it could also be through someone you meet or something you read or a movie you see. Jesus can come to us anytime and anywhere. Mother Teresa had her moment on a train. We need to be ready. This kind of spiritual sleep does not cost us our salvation but it can cause us not to become all God would like us to become. What would have happened on that train if Mother Teresa was busy playing Angry Birds on her iPhone? Nothing would have happened. It is good for her and good for the world that she was switched on to God in her spirit. 

God is full of surprises. We should never assume we have God figured out. That we know what He wants from us and we just do it and that is that. We need to be about our business and not neglect anything. Still if God is not blowing you mind every now and then, then you might be missing something. 

Love And Death

Watched the movie The Fault In Our Stars. It was quite refreshing. Modern romances almost never show a couple falling in love without introducing a love triangle. There is always another guy or another girl. It immediately changes the story from two people getting to know and trust each other to a competition. My guess is most people's experience with love is not a competition. People date and decide whether or not to give themselves to this person totally and forever.

This couple actually talks about things. The talk matters. That is it is not just fodder for the relationship. It drives the plot as well as the character development. Like real life. It works so well they don't even need a sex scene. Of course, this is Hollywood, they do have one. Yet it is clear the movie would be better without it and their relationship would be better without it.

Still it gets very close to a Catholic understanding of what a sexual relationship should be. The concept of "Until death do us part" is very much present. They are both dealing with cancer and not really up for anything frivolous. They want to know if the other person is truly willing to walk through some serious pain with them. In fact, Disneyland is mocked as a hopelessly unserious thing.

It reminded my of Angela's Ashes where Frank McCourt falls in love with a woman who was not expected to live long. There is sex and they are not married but you wonder. They are giving themselves for as long as they both shall live. He says he never loved any woman as much. You wonder if the church should expedite marriages like that. People wanting to walk through such suffering together maybe don't need the normal marriage prep course.

This clip from Fr Barron goes into some details about the presentation of Christianity and nihilism in the movie. I agree with him that both are there and the movie tilts towards nihilism but refuses to embrace it. It wants to believe that love is stronger than death but wonders if that is really the truth. Can we still accept Jesus' claim that this is so despite the existence of modern science? It seems to want to say Yes but ultimately indicates the truth is No. That is the fault line in the title. We want love to win but in the end death actually wins. So we deny it.

Jesus does not just say love is stronger. He proves it. He died and rose again to show us exactly that. The other thing is Jesus does not just say it as a matter of fact. He says we need to believe it. We need to have faith in God and believe in the resurrection and live a life of love in the face of death and suffering. This movie does not go there. Christianity is not just an academic exercise in figuring out what is true but a challenge to embrace Jesus as the Truth.

So it is not really a conflict between nihilism and Christianity but rather between nihilism and a pseudo-Christian romanticism. It does not really consider the fullness of Christianity. It is a bit like Moral Therapeutic Deism but not quite. They have suffered to much to believe the therapeutic part. So do they believe any of it? That is all that remains. Embracing all of it is not even really on the table.

Sheep And Goats

This week's gospel is one of the more famous passages of scripture. Jesus' description of the final judgement. It is sometimes called a parable. The passage does not indicate that. It reads more like Jesus just telling us how He will judge us. Like a teacher who wants his students to pass the final exam. He gives then the questions and indicates the most common mistakes. 

Jesus said to his disciples:"When the Son of Man comes in his glory,and all the angels with him,he will sit upon his glorious throne,and all the nations will be assembled before him.
And he will separate them one from another,as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right,'Come, you who are blessed by my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food,I was thirsty and you gave me drink,a stranger and you welcomed me,naked and you clothed me,ill and you cared for me,in prison and you visited me.’Then the righteous will answer him and say,'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you,or naked and clothe you?
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’And the king will say to them in reply,'Amen, I say to you, whatever you didfor one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.’Then he will say to those on his left,'Depart from me, you accursed,into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.For I was hungry and you gave me no food,I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,a stranger and you gave me no welcome,naked and you gave me no clothing,ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’Then they will answer and say,'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirstyor a stranger or naked or ill or in prison,and not minister to your needs?’He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you,what you did not do for one of these least ones,you did not do for me.’And these will go off to eternal punishment,but the righteous to eternal life."

Abp. Chaput once preached on this and said the message is simple. If you ignore the poor you go to hell. Any questions? There is a lot to be said for that but there is much more depth in this text. It goes to the vary basis of how the grace of God transforms us. We need to cooperate with that grace so it helps to know just how it works.

The Boredom of Secularism

I was watching something by CBC on the Berlin Wall. A few comments on it struck me. They talked about how satisfying it was 25 years ago to fight for freedom and to win. Then they said there was nothing today that had anywhere near the same gravity. Women's rights? The chancellor of Germany is a woman. Gay rights? The mayor of Berlin is gay? German's antinuclear movement was a cause for a while but they won very quickly. What great good was there to fight for?

This is a problem with modern secularism. It's highest goal is tolerance. Guess what? Tolerance is pretty easy. All you are doing is ignoring other people and letting them do their own thing. That is setting your goals pretty low. When people try and be all that a human person is meant to be you offer them exactly nothing. No wisdom. No leadership. No vision. Nothing like that might offend anyone. What you offer them is your indifference. 

John Paul II called indifference the opposite of love. Love is willing to good of the other. Hate is willing the ill of the other. He said that is not really the opposite because you are still engaged with the other. Indifference is the opposite. You might still interact with that person but only to use them for your own ends. You remain indifferent to whether they experience good or ill. 

Tolerance is like that. We don't care to give our fellowman good information about right and wrong. We don't care if he is ruining his life. That is his business. All we care about is consent. If nobody is being forced to do anything then we just wash our hands of the whole thing.

Christianity expects more. God has give us the gospel by sending His Son Jesus. So we are obligated to propose to anyone who will listen that this gospel is true. Whether they listen or not we are obligated to care if they get hurt even if they do it to themselves. Consent matters very little. What matter is what is right. 

Tolerance fails for any number of reasons. Yet one that is underrated is expressed here. That is tolerance can leave us with nothing to do. We are to address intolerance but in a social democratic state like Germany most of that is done. These young people were expressing that. There is no major victim group left out there. Humans have a desire to pursue the good and they know they have not achieved it. Yet they are essentially being told there is nothing to do. 

So what happens? People go in different directions. Some respond with societal suicide. White Europe has basically stopped having children. If people are not energized about building a better tomorrow then they will not have much energy about populating the world of tomorrow. 

Some people are reacting by rejecting tolerance. That is by saying one theory of the good is right and should be embraced while all others should be rejected. Unfortunately one of the most popular choices for this one theory is Islam. People see something wrong with the West. Islam can explain what is wrong. They ask people to fight for what is true and right and good. Humans are wired to want to do this. So Islam is appealing. At the very least they know it is not their parents religion. 

Catholicism is gaining some appeal this way to. There is a hidden group that has embraced the Catholic faith as the true and good and right thing to fight for. Yet they are hard to find. The established Catholic church in many ways hides the faithful remnant. Many Europeans don't distinguish between secularism and mainstream Christianity. They see the watered down Catholicism that dominates the scene right now and assume that is all the church has to offer. In the case of Catholicism they need to be convinced you are not just proposing the same religion as their parents warmed over.

Well Done, My Good And Faithful Servant

This weeks gospel is a very famous parable. The parable of the talents. It is so much a part of our culture that the word "talent" actually came into our language this way. A talent is an amount of money. Yet contemplating this parable caused it to mean a natural ability or an aptitude. That meaning has become so pervasive that many don't even associate the word with money at all. Here it is:

Jesus told his disciples this parable:"A man going on a journeycalled in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them.To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one--to each according to his ability.
Then he went away.Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them,and made another five.Likewise, the one who received two made another two.
But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the groundand buried his master's money.
After a long timethe master of those servants came backand settled accounts with them.The one who had received five talents came forwardbringing the additional five.
He said, 'Master, you gave me five talents.
See, I have made five more.’His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant.
Since you were faithful in small matters,I will give you great responsibilities.
Come, share your master's joy.’Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said,'Master, you gave me two talents.
See, I have made two more.'His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant.
Since you were faithful in small matters,I will give you great responsibilities.Come, share your master's joy.’Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said,
'Master, I knew you were a demanding person,harvesting where you did not plantand gathering where you did not scatter;so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground.
Here it is back.'His master said to him in reply, 'You wicked, lazy servant!So you knew that I harvest where I did not plantand gather where I did not scatter?
Should you not then have put my money in the bankso that I could have got it back with interest on my return?
Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten.
For to everyone who has,more will be given and he will grow rich;but from the one who has not,even what he has will be taken away.And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside,where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'"

Jesus is telling us about the final judgement. Matthew 24 has the apocalyptic discourse where He talks about the tribulation and false prophets and all that. Then in Matthew 25 he gives us 3 pictures of the last judgement. The 5 wise virgins and 5 foolish virgins, this parable of the talents and finally the picture of the Jesus separating the sheep and the goats based on "As you did it to the least of these you did it unto Me." 

None of these pictures lines up very well with the protestant notion of Sola Fide. That is salvation by faith alone. All of them clearly refer to salvation yet none of them mention faith. None of them mention sacraments or mortal sin either so the typical Catholic way of talking about salvation is not really affirmed. Jesus says the divine life has to change our behavior in certain ways. If it does not we should really wonder if we have it.  

Jesus wants us to know how we will be judged. It is an exam. He want us to pass. So he gives us the questions. For the parable of the talents the question is simple. What did you do with what you were given? Exactly what is Jesus talking about? Is He saying we should be venture capitalists and buy and sell and trade? Is He concerned that we develop our skills and abilities and use them to the fullest? Yes, but that is not the essence of it. Remember how this ends. This is a matter of salvation. It is not a matter of prudence. So what is it?

What does God give us? Money? Yes. Ability? Sure. Most of all God gives us love. Unconditional, self sacrificing love. Do we all experience it with the same intensity? Not really. Yet we all receive a huge amount. Remember even one talent is a lot of money. We all receive forgiveness. We all are given graces to help us transform our lives and become holy. What do we do with them? We give them away. If we are really living the faith and letting God transform us we don't want to simply receive God's grace we want to become a giver. What do we give? Money? Yes. Time and talent? Sure. Yet we give more. We give it all. We start to really love. 

How do we know if we are doing this right? We know because we grow. If we are constantly building others up and being a blessing to those around us then somehow we end up with more. More people to love and more people to give yourself to. You become like the 5 loaves and 2 fish. You just let Jesus break you and give you away and somehow there is more and more that you are able to give. Fr Baron calls it spiritual physics. When you give it away you end up with more. 

Jesus' point is that you need to be having this dynamic happening. You need to be seeing your love and your circle of influence growing. If you don't you are missing it. You are not really embracing God's grace. You have made God's gifts an idol. Whatever they are you are not using them to experience divine life but rather you are living in fear of losing it. 

The fear of losing God's favor can be good when it motivates us to act. What is happening here is the fear is paralyzing. People become so concerned with doing something bad that they never do anything good. What is behind it? It is an inaccurate image of God. He sees God as someone just waiting to catch him in a mistake. What need to be more concerned with what we can do right. Sure there are some things we need to avoid yet all the things we say No to are to allow us to say Yes to something else. We need to say Yes to our abilities and Yes to the people in our lives and Yes to many opportunities and on and on. 

That is what the life of the 5 talent man looks like. He is not winning 5 more talents at other people's expense. He is living the free, total, faithful and fruitful love. That love will overflow and create an abundance of blessing for you and everyone around you. That is what the grace of God is meant to do to us. That is what it will do if we cooperate. Then the Father will look at us and say:

Well done, my good and faithful servant.Since you were faithful in small matters,I will give you great responsibilities.Come, share your master's joy.

Bodies And Temples

In this weeks gospel Jesus gets angry. He gets violent. He scares people. For many it is the most confusing thing Jesus does. Why does he do it?

Since the Passover of the Jews was near,Jesus went up to Jerusalem.He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,as well as the money-changers seated there.He made a whip out of cordsand drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,and spilled the coins of the money-changersand overturned their tables,and to those who sold doves he said,“Take these out of here,and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,Zeal for your house will consume me.At this the Jews answered and said to him,“What sign can you show us for doing this?”Jesus answered and said to them,“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”The Jews said,“This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,and you will raise it up in three days?”But he was speaking about the temple of his Body.Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,his disciples remembered that he had said this,and they came to believe the Scriptureand the word Jesus had spoken.

Why does he do it? Because he is consumed with zeal for the house of God. It is around the time of the Passover. In the other gospels this story is places right near the crucifixion. It is almost like Jesus is asserting His authority to get the Jews to kill him. John tells us the story from a different angle. He focuses on Jesus love for the temple, His Father's house. Yet there are two temples. Herod's temple that existed in Jesus day and the temple of Jesus's body. The temple, especially at Passover, was a place where God's presence would come to earth. It was the holiest place of earth. In fact one room in it was called the Holy of Holies. 

John is saying Jesus' body is the new temple. That He is the presence of God on earth. He predicts not just His death at the hands of the Jews and His resurrection on the 3rd day but that this would make the temple and the Passover obsolete. 

Today the temple also points to two things. First of all it points to the church. A physical temple is no longer needed. The sacrifice of the mass can be offered anywhere at anytime. It offers us a much more powerful ability to connect with God because it is Jesus' body. If the Eucharist was only a symbol this would not make any sense because a symbolic Lord's Supper cannot replace the Holy of Holies. For Jesus body to make the temple obsolete it has to remain present to us and it has to be holier than the Old Testament temple. Only the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist makes that true.

The other thing the bible compares to the temple is our bodies. Jesus' body is the presence of God on earth. We become that when we are baptized and receive the divine life. Then it becomes important that our bodies be a house of prayer and not a marketplace. 

Marketplaces in Jesus' day were much like they are today in the middle east. They were loud. A lot of confusion. A lot of negotiation. Really just a free for all. The temple was different. There was a center. The Holy of Holies. One man was allowed into that sacred space. That event informed everything else that went on inside the temple. 

St Paul makes the connection with our sexuality. Is our sex life a free for all? Is there negotiations and confusion and really no center? What we need is the Holy of Holies. That is our vocation of marriage or religious life. That needs to dictate what we do with our sacred places but that in turn needs to inform everything else in our lives.