Two Olive Martini

Finding the cross in our Christianity

08/29/2023

Mk 6:17-29 Herod was the one who had John the Baptist arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married. John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so. Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him. She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee. Herodias' own daughter came in and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you." He even swore many things to her, "I will grant you whatever you ask of me, even to half of my kingdom." She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" She replied, "The head of John the Baptist." The girl hurried back to the king's presence and made her request, "I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist." The king was deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests he did not wish to break his word to her. So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders to bring back his head. He went off and beheaded him in the prison. He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl. The girl in turn gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

I just want to say a word about St. John the Baptist this morning, and the example that he holds out for us, as followers of Christ. Obviously, reading and hearing about his great martyrdom, his willingness to suffer for the Lord, even to being beheaded, is amazing, heroic, and beyond our reach. I mean which one of us could do that?

And yet, we are invited to carry our cross. There has to be some kind of cross in our Christianity. If there is not some sense of suffering, or difficulty, or pain, or sacrifice in our Christianity, we are not doing it right. There has to be a cross in our Christianity. It is not the smooth, easy road, but the narrow, rocky road that we have chosen to walk behind the Lord.

When I had first finished my degree in canon law in the year 2,000, I came back to Little Rock, and started working in the Chancery Office. And Bishop Sartain, who is now an archbishop, asked me to write a letter in which he was going to promulgate a change in the Mass stipends. I don’t know how many of you remember this.

Before the year 2,000, if you wanted to have a Mass offered, you gave $5. But then the bishops of our province decided it is time to increase that amount, so they increased it to $10. So, they made that decision and they were going to promulgate it as a new rule: a Mass would “cost” $10. That is what we call a Mass stipend. I was the one who wrote that letter as a ghostwriter, and the bishop signed it.

I wondered: how do you explain a Mass stipend, what are we giving the $10 for, what is the point of that? We are certainly not adding anything to the sacrifice of Christ. His sacrifice on the Cross is all-sufficient. That is what saves us, nothing whatsoever that we do saves us. It is only insofar as we participate, share, and embrace, the Lord’s cross that our crosses and sufferings have any value.

And so I wrote this. There is really nothing we can do to participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, as if we could offer something in addition to the Cross of Christ, but we might look at this $10 stipends as picking up a splinter of the Cross that Christ carried. Jesus carried the huge cross of salvation, and we carry little symbolic splinter of the cross, as we give our $10 stipends.

And we have to look at our Christianity in the same light: we have to find that splinter, where we have to carry some little bit of the cross. There are various ideas the Church offers us through the year and even daily in which we can do little sacrifices. For example, we should fast for an hour before we receive Holy Communion. I sometimes see people chewing on something as they are walking into Mass. They are not carrying that splinter, just an hour of fasting.

Every Friday, not just the Fridays of Lent, we are supposed to give up something. It used to be very easy to figure that out because we didn’t eat meat on all the Fridays of the year. But we changed that to say, okay, just don’t eat meat on the Fridays of Lent, but every Friday give up something. But sometimes I get to the end of a Friday and I think, well, what did I not eat today, and that will be my sacrifice. But that is not the spirit of carrying the splinter.

Sometimes you can do very small and unnoticed sacrifices. When you go out to eat at a restaurant, don’t put any dressing on your salad, eat it dry. Or, if you’re going to have French Fries, don’t have any ketchup, just eat the fries without them. That splinter is not going to kill you but it will hurt a little. When I order my martini, I only put two olives in it instead of three. We all have to make the sacrifices we are capable of.

Today as we thank God for the example of the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, let us try to carry our little splinters the best we can.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Call No Man Father

Understanding Christ’s word about the Father

08/27/2023

Mt 23:1-12 Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people's shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation 'Rabbi.' As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi.' You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called 'Master'; you have but one master, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

Today we hear one of those hotly controversial passages that Protestants and Catholics differ in our interpretation of. Jesus says, “Call no one on earth your father.” And because of that statement of Christ’s many of our Protestant brothers and sisters refuse to call Catholic priests, “Father.” They are being obedient to Jesus, and calling no one on earth “Father.” Christ seems to be very clear.

Sometimes I play tennis with different people here in Fort Smith. And some of them are Catholics while others are not Catholics. And sometimes I even play against Protestant ministers and I am not quite sure how introduce myself. If I say, “Hello, I am Fr. John,” some people respond by saying, “Hello, nice to meet you, JOHN.” Since some people make it clear they don’t want to call me Father, I simply introduce myself as “John.”

Other people resort to calling me “Reverend” in order to be respectful, but still avoid the term “Father.” After all, Jesus said very plainly, “Call no one on earth your father.” Yet others say it is unfair to play against a priest because he has divine intervention on his side. I wish my tennis game was good enough to be called “divine intervention.”

The point is that this passage causes no little controversy and heartburn when we try to understand what Jesus meant when he said “Call no one on earth your father.” Should we not even call our biological father, “Father”? Is that what Jesus really meant?

Well, I think we have to begin with considering the larger context, where Jesus is addressing the scribes and the Pharisees. They are attempting to overstep their proper role and responsibility within the Jewish religion. They have a role and a place: they are seated on the chair of Moses, and so they are to interpret and help the people to understand the law of God as written by Moses in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.

But the scribes and the Pharisees are trying to go beyond that, and take the place of the Father, God’s place. And no one can do that because God alone is God, and no one has a right to step into his arena and usurp his prerogatives. That is why Jesus is telling them to step back, out of the role that God the Father alone possesses. He alone is Father in this unequivocal sense, and they are trying to nudge their way into that sense.

And so Jesus says “Step back, call no one on earth Father in the sense that God alone is your Father.” And that is where the scribes and the Pharisees were a little confused. Obviously, we can call priests and other people, like our biological dads, “father.” We might say in the sense of a small “f” for father. But when we spell Father with a capital “F”, we refer to God the Father and his role in our lives that is unique, non-transferable, no one can take his place.

Let me give you a modern example of respecting the role of God the Father, and all the little fathers we have in our lives. This coming Tuesday we will begin our RCIA classes. RCIA classes are for those who want to become Catholic, or learn more about the Catholic religion. And I will be there and welcome everyone, and I’m so pleased we have such a large class this year.

I always give a little piece of advice, since many people are there becoming Catholic for various reasons. In a sense, different "fathers" have helped them to get to that room on Tuesday night. What do I mean? These are fathers with little a “f” – people who have inspired them, encouraged them, and taught them.

But at the end of the day, you should not become Catholic for someone else. You should not become Catholic for your wife. You should not become Catholic for the sake of your children. You should not become Catholic because some priest told you to become Catholic. All these people can inspire, teach, and explain things to you, because they are fathers with a little “f”.

But there is only one Person you should obey and become a Catholic for, and that is the Father with a capital “F”. You become Catholic because in your heart you hear God inviting you to become a Catholic. And I tell them this, which kind of startles them: If you do not hear in your heart a voice that tells you to become Catholic, don’t become Catholic!

You just heard a Catholic priest tell you not to become Catholic, unless you hear that voice in your heart saying, “Come, become a Roman Catholic.” Because that is the voice of the Father, with a capital F. And no one else in this church, not even the one speaking to you, can take the place of that Father. Our conscience is supreme because we believe our conscience is that sacred space within each human being, in which the Father speaks to us. In that sense, Jesus means “Call no one on earth your father.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Late Laborers

Appreciating when the Lord calls us to work in the vineyard

08/24/2023

Mt 20:1-16 Jesus told his disciples this parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.' So they went off. And he went out again around noon, and around three o'clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o'clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.' When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.' When those who had started about five o'clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, 'These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day's burden and the heat.' He said to one of them in reply, 'My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?' Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last."

I would like to share with you three practical applications of this beautiful parable of the late laborers and the generous land owner. The first is our experience of labor in the United States today. There is a shortage of laborers; people just don’t want to work here in our country these days. And lots of owners of businesses are looking for workers. But there is a kind of labor shortage, with all kinds of reasons for that I suppose, and I’m not smart enough to speculate on what those might be.

But I have also noticed that whenever there is a new wave of immigrants into our country, they bring a new kind of labor force. And I don’t just mean in terms of numbers – that there are more people to work – but I mean in terms of zeal, energy, an inexhaustible desire to work. And in a sense they give us as a country a shot in the arm, to get off the couch, and we begin to take labor seriously. We see people hungry to work.

But we also have to remember the generosity of the land owner, who kind of pays – in our calculation of things – unequally. And don’t we sometimes feel that way? We who have been here in this country for years and generations, well, here come these “Johnny-come-latelys” and they are getting all the same benefits that we have, who have been here from the beginning.

The Lord has a message for us today, to be generous to those who arrive most recently to work. So, that is one application to our labor market: some have worked longer, others more recently, and there is a healthy generosity that should be shown to everyone who is willing to work.

The second application concerns laborers in the Lord’s vineyard, that is, vocations to the priesthood and religious life. You know, some people discover their vocation to the priesthood or the religious life very early in life. You remember Fr. Greg Luyet. We used to joke with him in the seminary that he knew he was supposed to be a priest from the moment he was conceived in his mother’s womb. When we discover our vocation early in life, we are hired by the land owner at a very young age and spend their own life laboring in the Lord’s vineyard.

But we also have the experience of people who discover a priestly vocation much later in life. Of course we all know Fr. Jack Sidler at Christ the King. He decided to become a priest much later in life. And the land owner is generous, and says, “You too, come, work in my vineyard” no matter what time of day in your life you feel the call.

So we are blessed not only with early vocations but also with so-called delayed vocations, who hear the vineyard owner calling them at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, and only work for one hour in the Lord’s vineyard. So that is the second application in terms of religious vocations and when we get into the vineyard and start working, some early, some late.

And the third application is in our own spiritual life, when we start following the Lord. Some of us have discovered the joys of Catholic Christianity very early in life, so beginning with our childhood, and teenage years, college and work, we have always been in love with the Lord. We started hearing his voice, and working for him developing our spiritual life, and never deviating from that path. So he called us very early, and we stayed close to him.

But there are others who take the scenic route in their spirituality, and only take their faith life seriously later, maybe after they have retired from work. I was speaking with one man recently who said that after he retired, he realized that death was not just something theoretical but something that WAS going to happen to HIM. He wanted to start doing things in the church, and getting involved. Now he is involved in Bible studies and helping in different ministries, and just can’t get enough. He was hired at 5 o’clock.

And so maybe in our own lives we see people, or ourselves, some who started following the Lord very early in life because it was obvious and easy. And then other people who have been standing on the sidelines of their spiritual life, not quite seeing how important it is. And then, thanks be to God, the owner in his generosity calls us into the vineyard to work.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Check This Out

Appreciating Mary and adoring Jesus

08/23/2023

Lk 1:26-38 The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end." But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" And the angel said to her in reply, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God." Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."

I am always very happy when we get to celebrate a feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Just like I feel I can never compliment my own mother, Raichel, enough, so, too, I feel a filial love and desire to heap praises on my spiritual mother, Mary. But I know this also raises the eyebrows of some of our Protestant friends, who cringe thinking we Catholics pay more attention to Mary than to Jesus. Indeed, some would say we even worship Mary.

But to Catholic ears to say we worship Mary sounds ludicrous and laughable, because it sounds the same as saying I worship my mother, Raichel. I can praise my mother Raichel while never forgetting for an instant that all she has, does, or ever will be is all thanks to God’s grace in her. Anything good in my mother is entirely the work of Christ. So, too, with Mary: she is entirely the work of Christ’s grace. Indeed, Mary is God’s masterpiece.

So, today we gratefully and joyfully celebrate the Queenship of Mary. That is, she is queen of heaven and earth, obviously not in some god-like way or in any way rivaling her Son, Jesus, but in a creaturely and perfectly human way. Just like Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, is the main attraction in the Louvre Museum, and no one who visits the Louvre will ever miss seeing it, so too, Mary is the main attraction of all God’s masterpieces in heaven.

Hence, he displays her in a very prominent and public place, and there is no more prominent place than at Jesus’ right hand. That is why we read in Ps 45:10, “The queen [Mary] stands at your right hand arrayed in gold.” Again, let us repeat, everything Mary has, does, or ever will be is entirely the work of Christ. And Jesus wants everyone to see and admire his handiwork, so he displays her seated on his right hand. As if to say, “Hey, check this out!”

Our gospel from Lk 1 also highlights the queenship of Mary, but we cannot skim over it lightly. Rather, we have to examine it at close quarters. I believe this gospel passage demonstrates that Mary is the queen of the angels, that is, she ranks higher than the angelic hosts in heaven, even higher than the cherubim and seraphim, who are the angels closest to God.

The key to this interpretation is the interrogation of the Archangel Gabriel by Mary. When he arrives to announce that she will conceive and bear a son, Mary ask very reasonably, “How can this be since I have no relations with a man?” Now comes the critical part. Gabriel immediately explains himself, as if speaking to a superior officer, a lieutenant to a general. How do I squeeze that interpretation out of those verses?

Well, a little earlier in Lk 1, the same Gabriel had appeared to Zechariah, the priest offering incense in the Holy Place, and announced that his wife, Elizabeth, in her old age, would conceive a child. Zechariah, again quite naturally, inquires how this will be humanly possible. But in this case, Gabriel has no patience or tolerance for such insubordination. Do you recall his angelic reaction?

Lk 1:19-20 relate: “I am Gabriel who stand before God…But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place because you did not believe my words.” Did you catch that contrast? Mary can question Gabriel, but a priest cannot. The best explanation is that in the case of Mary, Gabriel is addressing a superior being, but in the case of Zechariah, Gabriel is addressing an inferior being, like the lieutenant talking to a private.

And with Gabriel’s contrasted reactions, we have moved from the Old Testament to the New Testament. How so? Zechariah represents the old dispensation, where angels ranked higher than humans. Mary, on the other hand, represents the new dispensation, where Jesus carries all humanity higher than the angels. Audacious as it sounds, we can command the angels, like I ask my Guardian Angel to wake me up at 4:30 every morning. And he does it.

That is why Jesus said in Mt 19:28, “You who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones.” But the throne on Jesus’ right hand belongs to Mary, Jesus’ masterpiece. After all, if I were Jesus, I would seat my mother on my right side, too.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Moses and Joshua

Seeing how others guide us but only Jesus saves us

08/21/2023

Jos 24:14-29 Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, and addressed them, saying: "Fear the LORD and serve him completely and sincerely. Cast out the gods your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." But the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD for the service of other gods. For it was the LORD, our God, who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, out of a state of slavery. He performed those great miracles before our very eyes and protected us along our entire journey and among all the peoples through whom we passed. At our approach the LORD drove out all the peoples, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God."

We hear one of the more popular verses of the Bible today from Joshua 24:15. Many people have this quotation hanging in their homes. It says: “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Have you ever seen that verse before? It comes from our first reading today.

That is a very important verse because the Chosen people have just made their journey from Egypt forty years in the desert under Moses’ leadership. Now, Moses has died, buried on Mt. Nebo, and it is Joshua who helps the people cross the Jordan River and conquer Jericho.

It wasn’t Moses, the great lawgiver, the meekest man on earth, the one who spoke to God face to face like a friend, and whose face glowed after conversing with God. And yet Moses was not the one who led them into the Promised Land, it was Joshua. And that is significant. Not only for the people of Israel, but for me and you.

There are many people in our lives who are like Moses, who help us in our journey in this desert called earth and during our earthly life. But they will not help us cross into the Promised Land of heaven. Joshua will, and Joshua is another way of writing the name Jesus. Many people help us, like Moses helped the people through the desert, but he didn’t help them cross into the Promised Land, only Joshua could do that. Only Jesus does that for us.

Today I invite you to think about all the people who have been like Moses in your life, who have helped you in your journey of life. But I also caution you not to think they are the ones who are going to save you, but rather only Jesus/Joshua will help you cross into the Promised Land.

You know, I am also mindful of all the many priests we have had here in Fort Smith that were very popular, like little Pied Pipers. Priests like Fr. Tom Elliott, Msgr. John O’Donnell, Msgr. Galvin. Wherever they went, all the people like little mice follow them to that parish. While Fr. Tom was here, everyone hurried to Christ the King. When Msgr. O’Donnell came everyone rushed to I.C.

These men are Moses, they are not Joshua. They will not save you. Jesus will save you. Sometimes we put a little too much faith in the people who are merely Moses in our lives. And what happens when Moses goes away, when Moses dies on Mt. Nebo, when Fr. Tom leaves the priesthood, when Msgr. O’Donnell passes away? What happens to our faith? I suppose some people stop going to church.

The same is true, of course, for our own family and our parents. Our mothers and fathers teach us the faith, they are like Moses, and they lead us for a certain distance in our life. But they are not Joshua, they are not Jesus. And we cannot put all our marbles of faith in their basket. Rather, we must put all our faith in Jesus, who alone can lead us into the Promised Land.

It works the other way, too. Sometimes we see religious leaders who have personal weaknesses, and we put too much faith in them and it becomes a struggle of faith for us. I know people these days are not very happy with Pope Francis. They think he is not conservative enough or he is not doing what they would like him to do.

Well, he is not Jesus. He is a Moses. He leads us for a certain distance. But he is not Joshua, the one who leads us into the Promised Land. So don’t worry about it. Our faith is not in a human being, no matter how wonderful, no matter how meek, no matter how many laws he gives, or whether he talks to God face to face, like Moses. Our faith is in Joshua, Jesus

That is why we go to church: Moses leads us to church, Joshua leads us to heaven. And this is how we try to walk by faith through this desert of earthly life, until Joshua leads us, across the Jordan River, into the Promised Land.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

I Warned You

Seeing the true nature and commitment of marriage

08/18/2023

Mt 19:3-12 Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?" He said in reply, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate." They said to him, "Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?" He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery." His disciples said to him, "If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry." He answered, "Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it."

Nothing causes more happiness and holiness than falling in love and getting married. And nothing causes more headaches and heartburn than falling in love and getting married. Just as getting married will be the happiest day of your life, so the day you might divorce will be the most miserable day of your life.

Why do you think I decided to become a priest? I wanted to avoid all that drama and live a little more peaceful life. But I know most of you will not choose the path of peaceful priesthood but opt for marriage and mortgages and mother-in-laws. Good luck! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

In the gospel today, Jesus teaches his followers that marriage will not be the shortcut to happiness, but will be the hard road. Nonetheless, he adds that what God joins together no one should divide. To such high expectations for marriage, the disciples rightly respond like I did to marriage. They state: “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

And notice next how Jesus describes how some will renounce marriage for the kingdom of heaven. That is, they will choose the peaceful path of celibate priesthood. In other words, Jesus, too, wants to warn you before you launch into marriage, mortgages, and mother-in-laws. Don't think it will be easy street.

But since most of you will disregard Jesus and my warnings about marriage, let me offer you three counsels about marriage so you can at least numb the pain. The first council I give to couples who come to me with marriage problems, arguing over finances, and raising children, and where to spend Thanksgiving versus Christmas, is to ask them: “Is marriage for happiness or holiness?”

Now, hopefully marriage is for both happiness and holiness. But sooner or later the happiness runs out, like the wine ran out at the wedding at Cana. And when that happens, what do couples think? If we are not happy, why should we stay married? And the answer is for holiness. In other words, happiness does not exhaust the entire purpose and goal of marriage.

I will tell you a secret: the real aim of marriage is to make you a saint, and saints are forged in the crucible of suffering, just like US Marines are forged in the crucible of the suffering of boot-camp at Paris Island. Saints and spouses become holy when they suffer and don’t experience much happiness. Marriage is for holiness not just happiness.

The second counsel I give married couples is to pay attention to pronouns in your wedding vows. By the way, you do know what pronouns are, right: I, you, he, she, it, we, ya’ll, they? When couples get married, they use the first person singular in their wedding, “I do.” That is, they say: “I will be faithful to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, till death do us part.” I do.

But when couples come to me and complain about their spouse, what pronoun do they use? They say, “You!” “You don’t pick up the kids! You don’t change the laundry! You drink too much! You don’t spend enough time with me!” etc. But on the day you got married you did not say, “You do”, rather, you said, “I do.” Pay attention to the pronouns of marriage.

And the third counsel I give married couples is each of YOU, that is, their children. In other words, parents should stay married and work out their problems for their children's sake. Why? Well, because the real victims of divorce are the children. Why is that? Well, because every child is half mother and half father, each parent contributes 23 chromosomes to make you who you are.

But when parents get divorced how does that make the children feel? Like they have been torn down the middle. I say this with all tenderness and compassion for families that have experienced a divorce. I know sometimes divorce can seem like the lesser of two evils, and unavoidable. But it still affects the children in deep and irreparable ways.

Boys and girls, don’t misunderstand me. My point – and Jesus’ point – is not to dissuade you from getting married. But only to go into marriage with your eyes open. Remember three things: (1) marriage is for holiness and happiness, (2) pay attention to the pronouns in your vows, (3) divorce adversely affects the children. No wonder Jesus ends the gospel saying: “Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.” In other words, Good luck! I warned you.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

What If

Comparing the old and new Adam and Eve

08/15/2023

1 COR 15:20-27 Brothers and sisters: Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through man, the resurrection of the dead came also through man. For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; then comes the end, when he hands over the Kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for “he subjected everything under his feet.”

After we reach a certain age, usually when we have more years behind us than before us, we start looking back at life and ask the question, “What if?” For example, I might ask myself, “What if I had decided to go to Harvard instead of the University of Dallas?” As if I could get into Harvard! Or, “what if I had married my high school sweetheart instead of going into the seminary?”

For the record, I did not have a high school sweetheart but let’s just pretend for the sake of argument. Or, “what if I had decided to become an astronaut and go to Mars instead of becoming a priest and coming to Fort Smith?” Have you ever looked back at life and asked yourself similar “What if…” questions? We all wonder how differently our life might have turned out.

Well, I am convinced that all our smaller, individual “What if…” questions can all be traced all the way back to the original and ultimate “What if…” question that carried cosmic consequences, namely, “What if Adam and Eve had not committed the original sin and had stood up to the Tempter who offered them the fruit of the tree of knowledge?” Have you ever wondered that?

In a sense, that ultimate “What if…” question lies behind and overshadows my much smaller and personal questions. What do I mean? Well, if our primordial parents Adam and Eve had not sinned, I wouldn’t have to wonder about college, or companion, or career. That is, we would all still be living in the Garden of Eden and munching on the fruit of the tree of life and living forever.

Now, how do I know that would be the case? Well, we don’t have to look any further than Jesus and Mary. They are Exhibit A and Exhibit B of what life would (and should be) like for all of us. If we carefully study both Scripture and Tradition, we discover that Mary is described as the New Eve and Jesus is considered the New Adam. In other words, what Mary and Jesus did is precisely what the old Eve and the old Adam should have done. They answer the question, what if Adam and Eve had not sinned? How so?

Well, old Eve should not have listened to or obeyed the Serpent (who by the way was a fallen angel named Lucifer) in the Garden of Eden. Mary, on the other hand, the new Eve listened to another angel (the Archangel Gabriel) and obeyed his invitation to become the Mother of God. Notice how both women were confronted by angels, and that is where a profound parallel lies.

And the old Adam should have been present and put himself between the Serpent and his wife, ready to suffer and die for her, but he was conspicuously absent and silent while Eve talked to the Serpent. Jesus, on the other hand, the new Adam, was fully present and ready to suffer and die on the Cross for his Bride, the Church, embodied in Mary. Jesus put himself between Satan and his Spouse and he paid the price. In other words, Jesus and Mary, the new Adam and new Eve, are the color photo of which the old Adam and old Eve are sort of the photo negative. Jesus and Mary did what Adam and Eve should have done.

Now with all that as preliminary background, we can understand a little better today’s Solemnity of the Assumption. How does that help us? Well, the Assumption is the doctrine that the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the end of her earthly life, was assumed by the power of God – not her own power, mind you – body and soul into heaven. That is, our Mother Mary did not experience bodily death, the separation of body and soul. Rather, she was immediately taken up to heaven. By the way, that is why there is no tomb of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ephesus, where she spent her final years.

Now, why do we Catholics insist that Mary did not die? Well, because in 1 Co 15 (our second reading today), St. Paul notes how death is a consequence of sin, indeed, death came from original sin. But if you don’t sin, then you don’t die; sin and death are inextricably united. The Apostle Paul writes: “For since death came through man [Adam, because he sinned], the resurrection of the dead came also through man [Jesus, because he did not sin].”

And since Mary did not sin- thanks to Jesus’ grace – she was not subject to the consequence of sin, namely, death. That is why Ps 45:10 declares: “The queen [Mary] stands are your right hand arrayed in gold.” And she cannot “stand” unless she has legs and therefore a body. In other words, she stands body and soul in heaven, not just in her spirit.

Did you catch that? There is a tight correlation and connection between all the truths of faith. They are like the threads of a seamless garment. They all hold together and strengthen each other. If you were to tug and loosen even one thread – by throwing out the doctrine of the Assumption for instance – the whole garment of the Christian faith would come loose and unravel.

In 1950 Pope Pius XII promulgated the doctrine of the Assumption in a document called Munificentissimus Deus. He insisted that the Assumption was not something new or innovative, but rather intrinsic and inseparable from the Christian faith. He wrote: “The scholastic theologians…have always considered it worthy of note that this privilege of the Virgin Mary’s Assumption is wonderfully in accord with those divine truths given us in Holy Scripture” (no. 24). When we consider the Assumption of Mary together with everything else we believe: about Jesus, or the Church, or the Eucharist, it is all or nothing.

We all muse over our little “What if…” questions about our own lives. But every now and then, in our more prayerful moments, our minds ask the big "What if..." question about the whole human race. What if Adam and Eve had never sinned and had been entirely obedient to God’s commandments? What would life look like? The answer is: it would look like Jesus and Mary, the new Adam and new Eve. And we would look a lot more like Jesus and Mary, too, and then no longer need to ask questions like “What if…?”

Praised be Jesus Christ!