Don’t Unpack

Seeing Jesus in the midst of clergy changes

04/24/2022

Jn 20:19-31 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

This past week many priests in our diocese received a letter written on stationary with green letterhead. Do you know who sends letters on stationary with green letterhead? The bishop does. Those letters this past week contained clergy changes, announcing which priest would be moved to which parish. Don’t worry, I did not receive one of those letters. Or, maybe you should worry because I did not receive one of those letters, and you will have to put up with me a little longer.

However, our associate priest, Fr. Daniel Velasco, did receive one of those letters on stationary with green letterhead. I am sad to share that Fr. Daniel will be leaving us. I would like to read that letter to you, in case you have never seen one or read one. Bishop Taylor wrote: “Dear Fr. Daniel, By means of this letter, I am pleased to appoint you administrator of Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church in Little Rock, Director of Spiritual Direction Formation for the Diocese of Little Rock, and Director of Spiritual Formation for the House of Formation in Little Rock, effective July 1, 2022.” In other words, the bishop is basically giving him three full-time jobs.

The bishop continued: “You are relieved of your responsibilities as associate pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Fort Smith and chaplain of Trinity Catholic School in Fort Smith, effective June 30, 2022.” Finally, the bishop added this note of encouragement: “I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to you for the wonderful priestly ministry you continue to bring to the Church, and for accepting this new appointment. Your dedication and commitment are evident in all that you do, and I want to assure you of my continued prayers and support.” Folks this is what happens when you put your hands in the bishop’s hands on the day of your ordination and promise obedience to him and his successors.

I remember what I said to Fr. Daniel when he arrived at I.C. in September, 2020. I was helping him unload his car with his luggage and boxes of books from seminary. It was immediately evident how mature, intelligent, capable, professional, personal, and polite Fr. Daniel was. I have seen lots of associate priests and it is easy to size them up when you first meet them. So, I said to Fr. Daniel: “Don’t unpack all your boxes, you won’t be here very long.” But I was wrong: not about my assessment of him, but about how long he would stay. We have been truly blessed to have had him for almost two years, I though it would only be a few months.

And I have to say that living with Fr. Daniel is like living with Mother Teresa, Roger Federer, and Mr. Wonderful from Shark Tank all rolled up into one priest. You may not know that Fr. Daniel came here on a tennis scholarship from Mexico to study at Harding University, and he can beat the pros here in Fort Smith. He also earned an MBA and worked as a controller for a mid-sized company for 11 years before going into seminary. This bishop is tapping Fr. Daniel’s tremendous talents by assigning him to one of the largest parishes of the diocese, along with two other full-time jobs. I have no doubt Fr. Daniel is up to the challenge and will serve up an ace.

Now, there was another priest in the diocese who received a letter written on stationary with green letterhead, namely. Fr. Balaraju Akkala. The bishop wrote to tell him he would be moving to Fort Smith to become our new associate pastor. I received a copy of that letter, too, and it said: “Dear Fr. Bala, By means of this letter I am pleased to appoint you associate pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Fort Smith and chaplain of Trinity Catholic School, effective July 1, 2022. You are relieved of your responsibilities as associate pastor of St. Stephen Church in Bentonville and administrator of Blessed Stanley Rother Church in Decatur.” The bishop added words of encouragement for Fr. Bala, too.

I don’t know Fr. Bala – that is what people call him – very well, but I have spoken with him a couple of times on the phone. He strikes me as a kind and gentle priest, and his English was very good. One parishioner from St. Stephen’s texted me and said: “Fr. Bala is going to be with you in Fort Smith. He is a nice Father and has good homilies.” So, I think he will be a great addition to our I.C. family, and I ask you to welcome him warmly. He follows in a long line illustrious associates since I arrived here in 2013: Fr. Andrew Hart, Fr. Joseph Shantiraj, Fr. Pius Iwu, Fr. Stephen Elser, Fr. Martin Amaro, and Fr. Daniel Velasco.

I sometimes ask people this trick question: “How many priests are there in the Diocese of Little Rock?” The correct answer is: “There is only one priest, that is, Jesus Christ.” All the other priests are merely his ambassadors, cheap imitations of the real McCoy, the one and only High Priest, Jesus Christ. Sometimes we priests are like doubting Thomas in the gospel today (he, too, was a priest), and we too struggle to believe. We are all mere mortal men behind these Roman collars. But we love Jesus, and we love you, and we are grateful that you love us. In these times of transition of priests it helps me to remember there is only one Priest in the Diocese of Little Rock, Jesus, and therefore both priests and people should turn to him, like St. Thomas, and say: “My Lord and my God!”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Rail and Road

Seeing Jesus in the breaking of the bread

04/20/2022

Lk 24:13-35 That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days? Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his Body.” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures. As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us.” And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the Eleven. Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

We have been celebrating Mass in the Trinity gymnasium for two years now. Does that feel weird to you? Did you know that before the pandemic we crammed all 210 students into the chapel on the third floor and had Mass there? Not even the 8th graders will remember that because you all came here two years ago as 7th graders and we were already having Mass in the gym by then.

I want to tell you about the strangest place I have ever celebrated Mass in my 26 years as a priest. It was while I was traveling on a train across Canada. My parents and I took a five-day train trip across Canada, going cross-country and seeing the stunningly beautiful scenery. One day was a Sunday and I brought my traveling Mass kit that has everything for the Mass: chalice, candles, wine, hosts, Bible and crucifix. I thought that perhaps there would be other Catholics on board the train, so I went down the aisle and from car to car telling people we would have Mass in Room 104, where my parents and I were staying.

When one passenger heard that, they invited us to use their much larger, double cabin. By the time I started Mass, there were 20 people stuffed inside the double cabin and another 30 people standing in the train hallway. That was the coolest Mass experience I have had: the Canadian countryside flying by outside when I glanced outside the window, while 50 people gathered around a small table with bread, wine and the Bible inside the window.

In the gospel today from Luke 24, we hear about the very first traveling Mass. Two disciples are walking to Emmaus, and Jesus comes along beside them. They do not know him, but he explains the Bible to them. Then they arrive in Emmaus and go inside a house for supper, and Jesus takes bread and breaks bread and they suddenly recognize him. Can you see the two parts of the Mass hidden in that story?

The first half of the Mass consists of reading from the Bible and trying to understand its meaning; what Jesus did while they were walking to Emmaus. The second half of the Mass is blessing and breaking the bread, which they did in the house. First, we break open the Bible, and then we break the Bread at Mass. The disciples on the road to Emmaus were doing exactly the same thing I was doing on the railroad in Canada: celebrating Mass.

Do you know my favorite name for Holy Communion? The Mass has many names, but my favorite is “Food for the journey.” In other words, just like you pack your favorite snacks when you go on a road trip or vacation – maybe some fruit, or Cheetos, or Chex mix – so Christians have spiritual food for the journey through life: Bread and Wine, Holy Communion. And the Mass sustains and strengthens us, not only on our earthly journeys, to Canada or Emmaus, but also on our last and longest trip.

Can you guess where that last trip will be to? You got it: hopefully to heaven or purgatory, and hopefully not to hell. That is why, when someone dies, we bring their body into church and place the casket close to the altar and celebrate Mass with them. At least their body is present while we break open the Bible and break the Bread with them. Actually, that is a lot like how many people attend Mass on Sunday! In any case, Holy Communion is food for the journey, whether we are on a railroad in Canada or on the road to Emmaus, or on the way to heaven.

When you go on vacation, try not to miss Mass. There are Catholic churches all over the world, and it is pretty easy to find a Mass if you do a little digging. It is cool to see and hear Mass in different places with unique music and the prayers uttered in different languages. But you can always tell the two parts of the Mass like we see in Luke 24 if we look closely: breaking open the Bible and then breaking the Bread. This is food for the journey: our journeys here on earth, and our final journey to heaven.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Shocked by Simplicity

Learning to believe in an odd God

4/19/2022

Jn 20:11-18 Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he had told her.

I say this with great reverence, but we Christians believe in an odd God. I love that old adage: “How odd of God to choose the Jews.” That is, God chose the most unlikely people to be his Chosen People through whom he would work to save the world. If you and I were God (thank God we’re not), we might have chosen the powerful Persians led by Darius, or the Greeks under Alexander the Great, or at least the Romans who conquered the known world with the mighty Caesars.

But God threw his lot in with the Jews, a small backwater bunch of 12 tribes who were killing each other when they were not trying to kill their enemies. In other words, God tends to “zig” when we would rather “zag”. Isaiah 55:9 speaks for God saying: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” That is what I mean when I say we believe in an odd God.

In the gospel today we continue to see this oddity of divinity even in the Resurrection appearances of Jesus. Today Jesus appears to Mary Magdalen weeping at the tomb. But our Lord does not appear in glory and majesty, seated on the clouds and surrounded by armies of angels. Do you remember what he looked like? Mary thought he was an ordinary gardener.

Then, in Luke 24, Jesus walks and talks with two disciples on the road to Emmaus and they think he is a visitor to Jerusalem. They don’t recognize him until they break bread – New Testament code language for the Eucharist – with Jesus. In John 21 Jesus appears to Peter, John and 5 other apostles while they are fishing, and again it takes time for their eyes to focus with faith and recognize who he is.

Now, think about this. If you were Jesus and had just risen from the dead, defeated Satan, and were ready and rearing to establish your kingdom, what would you do first? I know what I would do. I would appear to the Jewish Sanhedrin, especially Annas and Caiaphas, and say: “Boy, did you guys really blow it! How odd of God to choose the Jews, indeed!” Or, maybe I would head to the Praetorium for a word with Pilate, and say: “Next time, listen to your wife! This is what happens when you don’t take her seriously!”

Or, maybe even head to Rome and flex my divine muscles and make Caesar and the Roman Legions shake in their sandals. But Jesus, the Son of God, does not do any of those things that you and I might do. Instead, Jesus “zigs” when we would “zag”. His ways and his thoughts are as high above our ways and our thoughts as the heavens are above the earth.

My friends, I am convinced that we need to take stock of what an odd God we have. Why? Because if we don’t learn how he likes to work in our life, we are liable to miss him. What do I mean? Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said that God always works through the minority, not the majority. When the 12 Jewish spies had returned from reconnoitering the Promised Land, ten said they should not invade, but two – Caleb and Joshua – said they should.

So, too, more recently, Pope St. Paul VI established a committee of 12 cardinals in 1968 to decide whether the Church should permit the use of contraception. Ten cardinals said we should, but two said we should not, one of whom was an obscure cardinal from Krakow, Karol Wojtyla. He would later become Pope St. John Pau II. There’s just no denying it: God is odd.

I am struck by this oddity of divinity every time I celebrate the sacraments. When I pour a little water over a baby’s head, he or she is transformed into a child of God. I whisper a few words over bread and wine and those humble elements become the second Person of the Holy Trinity. Two people look at each other with love and say the words, “I do” and suddenly become an icon of the love of Christ for his Church. Last night I anointed a man in hospice with a little oil on the forehead and he received the grace of God.

The simplicity of the sacraments always shocks me because I always want to see some “shock and awe" when we are dealing with almighty God. But we don’t. Why not? Because we have an odd God. God “zigs” when we “zag.” And if we don’t learn to zig with him, we might miss him.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Bones are Good

Really believing in the resurrection of the body

04/17/2022

Jn 20:1-9 On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

I will never forget the day one of our Scripture professors in seminary asked this startling question: “If tomorrow archeologists unearthed the bones of Jesus, and proved beyond any doubt by carbon-dating those bones belonged to a 33 year-old carpenter from Galilee who was executed by crucifixion under orders from Pontius Pilate, what would you do?” He left that question hanging in the air for several uneasy minutes as we all felt the weight of what he was suggesting.

Some of us thought: well, even if Jesus did NOT rise from the dead, at least he was still a great moral teacher and we should still follow him. Others may have mused that the soul is what really matters so it does not matter if they find Jesus’ bones or his body. And still others may have felt as shocked and speechless as I did. We did not know what to think. Finally, he broke the awkward silence and said: “If they find the bones of Jesus tomorrow, I would leave the priesthood and marry the first beautiful blonde woman I find!”

We all laughed trying to imagine what beautiful blonde woman would want to marry our old seminary professor. It would be easier for our professor to find the bones than the blonde! St. Paul said something similar to our old professor, though in 1 Co 15, writing: “If Christ has not been raised…We are the most pitiable of all people.” In other words, if tomorrow they find the bones of Jesus, we would be fools to have faith in Christ and follow him. It is no exaggeration to assert that the whole truth of Christianity, indeed, even the coming of Christ at all, hinges on the fact of the Resurrection. If they find the bones of Jesus tomorrow, we can all go home, because Jesus would have been a joke.

I love the song “The Bones” by Maren Morris because she too talks about why the bones matter. The refrain goes: “When the bones are good, the rest don’t matter…When there ain’t a crack in the foundation, Baby, I know any storm we’re facing, Will blow right over while we stay put, The house don’t fall when the bones are good.” Marin Morris is singing about the "bones" of a house, which consists of the wooden or metal framework that supports the whole structure.

But I like to apply the lyrics of that song to the resurrected, glorified bones of Jesus. Why? Well, I am convinced that archeologists will never find the bones of Jesus in a cave, but only the angels will find the bones of Jesus in heavenly glory, seated on his throne. Ps 127:1 reads: “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build.” You see, the Resurrection of Jesus is God building the house of our Lord's glorified Body - God raising his bones from the dead - and that is why “the house don’t fall when the bones are good.” God has raised the house of Jesus' Body. Jesus’ bones are not on earth, they are in eternity.

Today’s gospel recounts the reaction of the very first person to witness and testify that archeologists will never find the bones of Jesus. Mary of Magdala goes to visit Jesus’ tomb on the first Easter Sunday, and finds it empty. She runs back to the apostles to report: “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” In other words, we don’t know where they put Jesus’ bones!

But later they would learn what happened to Jesus’ bones, when they finally understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. That is, God raised up Jesus’ bones and his flesh on the third day in a new glorified body, bones and all. When God builds the house, the builders do not labor in vain. “The house don’t fall when the bones are good.” Jesus' bones in heaven were not just good, they were glorious.

My friends, it can be startling to think about finding the bones of Jesus and what that would do to our faith. But do you ever wonder what will happen to your own bones? I am afraid many people today, even among Catholic Christians, feel like all that matters is the soul and the bones don’t matter at all. Like us in the seminary, Catholics today think we can still believe in Jesus, even if there is no Resurrection for him or for us. Perhaps we, too, like the apostles do not yet understand the meaning of the Scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead.

We see this false belief when people scatter ashes over a lake or on a mountain or divide the ashes of loved ones among the children. I know people do that without any bad intentions or ill will, but we are saying with our actions that the bones don’t matter. But they do matter. The reason the Church teaches we must bury the body or inurn it in a niche in a columbarium is because what happened to Jesus will one day happen to us. That is, at the end of time archeologists will not be able to find our bones, but only the angels will see them in heaven. Our bones will not be on earth but in eternity.

The Resurrection is what makes Easter Sunday so remarkable and the reason we rejoice. Today like Mary and Peter and John, and my old seminary professor, we begin to perceive the Resurrection of Jesus and we believe the promise of our own Resurrection, the resurrection of the body, even the bones. Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. “The house don’t fall when the bones are good.” One day, our bones will be as “good” as the bones of Jesus; indeed, our bones, like our Lord's will be glorified.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

High Theology

Tracing our Lord’s footsteps on Holy Week

04/13/2022

Mt 26:14-25 One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The teacher says, AMy appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”‘“ The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover.

Fr. Daniel likes to say that my homilies are “high theology”. That is a diplomatic way of saying that no one understands what I am talking about. Well, even I will agree that today’s homily will be high theology, so high, in fact, that you might pass out from lack of oxygen. That is a diplomatic way of saying you will probably fall asleep. Speaking of high theology, I am reminded of that joke about how popes are elected using different color smoke.

If you see white smoke rising from the chimney at St. Peter’s during the conclave of cardinals, you know that we have a new pope. If you see black smoke billowing out, you know that we have not yet elected a new pope. But if you see green smoke rising from the chimney it means Willie Nelson has gotten into the conclave. I am sorry, I really do love Willie Nelson. But that is another kind of “high theology”.

Do you know how the date of Easter is calculated each year? First of all, why does it even need to be calculated: isn’t it obvious what day Easter falls on? No, it is not that simple because Easter is a “moveable feast”, meaning it moves from one date to another each year. For example, last year Easter was celebrated on April 4, this year we observe Easter on April 17, and next year Easter will be celebrated on April 9.

What causes the difference in dates? The short answer is because we are trying to combine the solar calendar based on the sunrise and sunset and the lunar calendar based on the waxing and waning of the moon. Both the sun and the moon are important in determining the date of Easter. How so? Well, we use a basically three step process, and see if you can notice both the sun and the moon’s involvement.

Easter always falls on the first Sunday (step one), after the first full moon (second step), after the vernal equinox (step three). The vernal equinox means the date in which we have equal sunlight and darkness. That is the role of the sun. The first full moon after the vernal equinox is the part played by the moon. And Sunday is, well, Easter Sunday. So, this is how we determine the date of the moveable feast of Easter: the Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. I think I hear some snoring…

Now comes the really fun stuff. What day did Jesus celebrate the Last Supper with his disciples in the Upper Room? Well, that at least is an easy question to answer, right? Not so fast. The gospel of Matthew today tells us: “On the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, ‘Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover’?” And we all know that Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples on Holy Thursday, and he died on Good Friday. And you would be correct if you ONLY read Matthew, Mark and Luke.

But you would come to a different day if you read the gospel of John, namely, Tuesday. According to the gospel of John, Jesus celebrated the Last Supper on Tuesday evening. And so I’m sorry to tell you this, but you missed it because it was last night. In other words, in the Gospel of John, Holy Thursday is really Holy Tuesday. If you are interested in reading a very sharp and succinct explanation of how John’s gospel assumes a Holy Tuesday date for the Last Supper, I recommend you read Pope Benedict’s book “Jesus of Nazareth” vol. 2.

Here is one point he makes about why Holy Tuesday works better than Holy Thursday for the Last Supper. He writes: “[You] have to compress a whole series of events into a few hours: the hearing before the Sanhedrin, Jesus being sent over to Pilate, Pilate’s wife’s dream, Jesus being handed over to Herod, his return to Pilate, the scourging, the condemnation to death, the way of the Cross, the crucifixion.” He concludes: “To accomplish all this in the space of a few hours seems scarcely possible.”

Now, I’m not going to get into the weeds of his whole explanation; I will leave the weeds to Willie. But suffice it to say that if you look closely at the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, on the one hand, and John’s gospel, on the other hand, you will arrive at two different dates for the Last Supper: Holy Thursday or Holy Tuesday, respectively. Now, don’t worry, folks, we are not going to change the day of the Last Supper to Tuesday.

But I think this shows how the Sacred Tradition helps to resolve some of the rough edges of the Sacred Scriptures. In other words, we need both Scripture and Tradition to know how best to love and live like Jesus, especially during Holy Week. Christians cannot live by Scripture alone. Why not? Well, because quite frankly, it is just too high theology.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Extreme Spirituality

Imitating Jesus’ extravagant love during Holy Week

04/11/2022

Jn 12:1-11 Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?” He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions. So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

Have you heard of the modern phenomenon called “extreme sports”? It is a competition, like all sports where people want to win, but it also involves a high degree of risk, danger, and possible death. A couple of years ago Ben Riley, a seminarian at the time, spent the summer here at I.C. He loved rock-climbing, and he invited me and Fr. Daniel to watch the movie “Free Solo”. Free solo is a form of mountain climbing in which you do not use ropes to catch you if you fall. In other words, if you slip and fall, you will die.

Other extreme sports include bungee jumping, volcano boarding, and street luge. I know all that sounds crazy, but I believe all extreme sports participants are trying to push the normal limits of human endurance in order to touch the transcendent. They want to go beyond what seems possible. There is, therefore, a subtle spiritual impulse in every extreme sport.

Archbishop Fulton once insightfully remarked that the modern world always picks up what the Church puts down. In the 1960’s and 1970’s tens of thousands of priests and nuns left their vocations to return to the world and get married and have normal jobs. That is why St. Scholastica and St. Anne high schools closed. In other words, priests and nuns and monks participate in an extreme sport called “celibacy”. But when we put down that sport, the world picked it up in the form of cheap counterfeits like bungee jumping and volcano boarding. In both cases, though, we find the human desire to exceed the limits of human endurance and touch the transcendent. Some people live their Christian faith as an extreme sport.

In the gospel today we meet one of the earliest participants of the extreme sport of Christianity, namely, Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. We witness her extreme and extravagant faith where we read: “Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair”. Judas, on the other hand, whose impulses were not spiritual but always calculating and capitalistic, objects and complains Mary’s gesture was too extreme.

But Jesus admonishes Judas saying: “Leave her alone”. Indeed, Jesus would be the pioneer of the extreme sport of Christianity by mounting the cross on Good Friday, a spiritual sport that involved a high degree of risk, danger and eventual death. Like going free solo, Jesus used no safety ropes but trusted totally in his Father to catch him when he fell.

This was not the first time, of course, that Mary displayed this tendency to extremes. Remember in Lk 10 where Jesus visits Martha and Mary and Mary ignores the household chores to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to him? Mary was a kind of nun in a convent ready to go to extremes to follow Jesus. Mary was picking up the extravagant love, the extreme sport, that Jesus was putting down.

My friends, today is Monday of Holy Week and we will learn this week exactly the kind of extreme sport that Christianity is in the example of Jesus. For instance, today in Little Rock at the Cathedral the bishop and priests will gather to celebrate the Chrism Mass. The bishop will bless the three sacred oils we use in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, ordination and the anointing of the sick.

And we priests will renew our commitment to follow Christ, especially in celibacy. In ancient Greece athletes anointed their bodies with oil so their muscles could perform at peak levels. We are blessed with the oils of the sacraments so we can participate in the extreme sport of Christianity, which can involve risk, danger and even possible death. If you don’t believe me, just ask the martyrs.

On Holy Thursday, Jesus gives us his Body and Blood in the form of Bread and Wine. And on Good Friday, he dies on the Cross and demonstrates the limits of his extravagant, extreme love. And on Good Friday, Christians will participate a little in that extreme sport of faith by abstaining from meat, fasting, and praying. And I am convinced some Christians will go far beyond the minimum: they won’t eat anything but bread and water, and some will stay awake all night, not falling asleep like the apostles.

We may object like Judas: “Oh, come on! Don’t go to such extremes! Be reasonable, careful and don’t take such risks to life and limb!” But look around at the young people fanatical about extreme sports. They have picked up what Christians have put down. Holy Week is time for us to pick that up again.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Meat and Potatoes

Understanding why Scripture cannot be set aside

04/08/2022

Jn 10:31-42 The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, ‘You are gods”‘? If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came, and Scripture cannot be set aside, can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me; but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Then they tried again to arrest him; but he escaped from their power.”

Jesus makes an off-handed remark in the gospel today that I want us to grab with both hands, sort of double-fisting. Once again Jesus is arguing with the Jews about being the Son of God, and states parenthetically: “And Scripture cannot be set aside.” Sadly, though, that is exactly what countless Catholics are guilty of: setting Scripture aside. For the longest time I believed (mistakenly) that Catholics pray the rosary while Protestants read the Bible.

I will stick to reading the popes and saints. But I never asked myself: what are the popes and saints reading? Their points and paragraphs and pages are packed with Scripture quotations. Their primary source of Catholic faith was the Sacred Scripture, and it should be so for us. In other words, they took Jesus seriously when he said, “Scripture cannot be set aside.”

Let me give you three strong reasons why we should not set Scripture aside. First, did you know that Bible reading has healing properties? Recently, a young girl who is 13 years old came to see me with her parents. She had been abused as a child and she had recently tried to take her own life. She was also cutting herself. But on her own initiative she picked up the Bible at home and started reading a few verses from the New Testament each day and started feeling peace.

When she spoke to me she looked me straight in the eyes, and a slight smile was visible on the edges of her lips. She was experiencing the healing effects of Bible reading because she knew that “Scripture cannot be set aside.” Abbot Jerome Kodell wrote insightfully: “This is why the Bible is worth reading. Its healing and transforming power is the revelation we all seek whether we recognize the fact or not.” In other words, we all need some healing, like that young girl with the subtle smile, and that is why “Scripture cannot be set aside.”

The second reason we sometimes set Scripture aside is because it sounds so strange, like listening to a foreign language. I remember when I was first learning to speak Spanish as a seminarian. The bishop sent me to Cuernavaca, Mexico for an immersion program. I spent the day in a class learning Spanish and I spent the evening living with a family that only spoke Spanish. It was embarrassing, my words were clumsy, and I felt like a small child learning to speak.

There is a pivotal point, however, when you are learning a language called “hitting the wall.” You feel like you have done everything you possibly can and just don’t have the gift of tongues to master a foreign language. At that point most people jump ship and give up. But if you take a leap of faith, and keep going through the wall, a miracle happens. You discover you know more than you thought and learning speeds up exponentially fast. I remember wanting to come home after six weeks (when I hit the wall), but I reluctantly stayed for 8 weeks, and then I asked to stay for two more weeks, and missed the seminarian retreat that year at Lake Catherine, boating and fishing.

Bible reading and study is like learning a new language. At first we feel awkward, ignorant, and like a little child. But if we take a leap of faith when we hit that wall and push on, we will see the Scriptures as not only inspired but also inspiring. It will become a second language we speak, and one day it may even become our native tongue. Sometimes people ask: what language do they speak in heaven: English, Spanish, Latin, Greek? No. The native language of heaven is the Sacred Scripture, and every Catholic should become fluent in that tongue. That is the second reason why “Scripture cannot be set aside.”

My friends, sometimes we look at the Bible as a little cilantro that we sprinkle on our food of faith to add a little flavor. Quoting a Bible verse occasionally makes us sound sophisticated or smart. But the Scripture is not cilantro; it is the main course, the meat and potatoes of the faith. Have you ever noticed how when we come to Mass, we do not read from the writings of Pope St. John Paul II, or St. Mother Teresa, or even St. Thomas Aquinas, or St. Augustine? Why not? Because holy Mother Church knows what food of faith will truly nourish her children. She gives us solid food in the Scriptures, but it is up to use to open our mouths and eat. Otherwise, we starve spiritually. And that is why “Scripture cannot be set aside.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!