January 6, 2013
Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm
72; Ephesians 3:2-6; Matthew 2:1-12
Exultation
rings out of Zion because it is rising out of the historical ashes of
destruction. A new Zion, a new priesthood, new songs, and a renewed commitment
to God induce the Israelites to sing songs of hopeful praise. The effect of
this new lease on life is evident to the ends of the earth, as Gentiles from
afar will realize God favors Zion and they are included in this favor. The Lord in a wide embrace will draw all
nations to himself. The nations will know that they are meant to belong to this
God whose light shines on all people. They are included in God’s special favor
with equality.
Matthew’s
Gospel is the only one that tells of the visit of the wise men. Herod the
Great, a vassal king under the Roman Emperor, is a dominant personality with a
forty-one year tightly controlled reign. He is the fierce ruler during the
birth of Jesus. The wise men that pay homage to the infant Jesus are associated
with being dream interpreters, astrologers, and magicians. As the Christian
tradition grew in the Western church, they became known as kings from the east
with the names Caspar, Balthazar, and Melchior attributed to them. Caspar is
cast as a black king. Together they are representatives of the Gentile world
who come to Christ in all its racial diversity.
The
star the wise men follow, if historical, could be a supernova, a meteor, or a
unique alignment of planets. If poetic, it may come from one of the Midrash associated
with cosmic events foretelling the arrival of the Messiah. It settles upon
Bethlehem, the humble city of David, in contrast with Herod’s grandiose
Jerusalem. The wise men present gifts to Mary and Joseph: gold to signify the
kingship of Christ, incense his divinity, and myrrh his redemptive suffering.
This messianic king will be unlike Herod for his suffering will be virtuous and
will save the people from death and evil.
The
magi did not come in search for an earthly king. They would have been disconcerted
at finding that they had taken the trouble to come such a long way for nothing.
Consequently, they would not have offered gifts or adored him. Since they
sought a heavenly king, though they found in him no signs of pre-eminence, they
were content with the testimony of the star alone. They came and adored. They
gazed upon a human, and they acknowledged a God. They were unable to betray the
truth. They bypassed Herod and departed for their home country along another
route.
Paul,
in the second reading, tells us plainly that the Gentiles are coheirs to the
salvation received through Christ. They have full equality with the Israelites
as full members and copartners in the kingdom. These are nice words to hear,
but think of the implications for the Israelites who look down upon the lowly,
unclean Gentiles. Scripture and revelation tell them they have to accept people
they consider inferior into their worship spaces, at supper tables, and at places
of governance. They can no longer see them as Gentiles and foreigners, but as
accepted brothers and sisters. You can imagine the challenges they faced
because their whole perspective of the world changed overnight.
Our
task on this feast is not just to gaze at the three wise men in wonder, but
also to see that we have similar work as the Israelites. We can no longer see
anyone as American, Arab, Filipino, Indian, Sri Lankan, or European. We are to
reach out our hands to our neighbor and see them as brothers and sisters. We
each have full equality before God. Therefore, we are to treat each other with
due respect and honor. It also means that we are to put aside our longstanding
differences with someone who we have made into an “other.” We do this when we
disapprove of someone and put him or her on the outside of our lives. Epiphany
is a time when we can no longer shun another person or cut them off from us. It
is a time when we have to be courageous enough to put aside our current worldview
to adopt God’s worldview.
Let
us put some magic back into our lives. Let’s be like the wise men that followed
this magical star. They were content with where God was leading them. Seek the
divine in the one who you make out to be a foreigner. Lift up your adversaries
instead of keeping them in the lowly place you imagine them to be. Adore your
enemies. Adore the ones you keep as foreigners. Gaze upon them and allow your
senses to be filled with wonder. Gaze upon another human and you will find God.
You will not be able to betray the truth of what you experience. Like the wise
men, you will be able to navigate your way home because you are faithful to God’s
revelation. The glory of God will shine upon you and others will be drawn to
the brilliance. The star of wonder still shines brightly. Be brave enough to
follow it.
Themes for this Week’s Masses
First
Reading: John, in his first letter, tells his friends to
test the spirits to see if they are of God. Every spirit that acknowledges that
Jesus came in the flesh belongs to God, but false prophets teach otherwise. The
love shown to others will tell if we are of God. God sent his only-begotten Son
into the world so that we might have life through him. It is not that we have
loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as expiation for our sins. If
God loved us, we must love one another. If we do so, God remains in us, and his
love is brought to perfection in us. There is no fear in love, but perfect love
drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and the one who fears
is not yet perfect in love. If anyone who professes to love hates his brother,
he is a liar. Whomever God begets conquers the world. The victory that conquers
the world is faith. Jesus, the one who came through water and Blood, is the
victor of the world. Whoever possesses Jesus has life. Discernment teaches us
that Jesus is true and is of the true God who promises eternal life.
Gospel:
After John the Baptist was beheaded, Jesus withdrew to Galilee for safety. He
began to preach, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He cured many
and his fame spread to Syria and all who were brought to him were healed. When
Jesus saw the vast crowds his heart was moved with pity for them. He began to
teach them many things and when he was finished he told his disciples to give
them something to eat. After the feeding, he sent his disciples into a boat to
cross to the other side while he went up the mountain to pray. In the middle of
the night his disciples saw him walking on the sea past them and they thought
he was a ghost. Jesus returned to Galilee where he opened up the scroll of
Isaiah and upon reading it proclaimed, “Today this Scripture passage is
fulfilled in your hearing.” A man with leprosy approached him and he exclaimed,
“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” Jesus healed his leprosy immediately.
Jesus and his disciples were baptizing in Judea. Jesus did not compare himself
to John, but let his disciples know that John is the best man of Jesus who
rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.
Saints of the Week
January 6: Andre Bessette, religious (1845-1937),
was born in Quebec, Canada. He joined the Congregation of the Holy Cross and
taught for 40 years at the College of Notre Dame. He cared for the sick and was
known as a intercessor for miracles. He built St. Joseph’s Oratory, a popular
pilgrimage site in Canada.
January 7: Raymond of Penyafort, priest (1175-1275), was
trained in philosophy and law and was ordained in 1222 to preach to the Moors
and Christians. Though he was appointed bishop of Tarragon, he declined the
position. Instead he organized papal decrees into the first form of canon law.
He was later elected Master of the Dominican Order.
This Week in
Jesuit History
·
Jan. 6, 1829: Publication of Pope Leo
XII's rescript, declaring the Society to be canonically restored in England.
·
Jan. 7, 1566: Cardinal Ghislieri was
elected pope as Pius V. He was a great friend of the Francis Borgia and
appointed Salmeron and Toletus as apostolic preachers at the Vatican. He
desired to impose the office of choir on the Society and even ordered it. He
was canonized as St. Pius V.
·
Jan. 8, 1601: Balthasar Gracian was
born. A Spanish Jesuit, he wrote on courtly matters. He is the author of
"The Compleat Gentleman" and "The Art of Worldly Wisdom."
·
Jan. 9, 1574: Fr. Jasper Haywood died
at Naples. He was superior of the English mission. As a boy he was one of the
pages of honor to the Princess Elizabeth. After a brilliant career at Oxford,
he renounced his fellowship and entered the Society in Rome in 1570. An able
Hebrew scholar and theologians, he was for two years professor in the Roman
College.
·
Jan. 10, 1581: Queen Elizabeth signed
the fifth Penal Statute in England inflicting heavy fines and imprisonment on
all who harbored Jesuits and Seminary priests.
·
Jan 10, 1567. Two Jesuits arrived in
Havana, Cuba, as a base for evangelization.
·
Jan 11, 1573. At Milan, St Charles
Borromeo founded a college (the Brera) and placed it under the care of the
Society.
·
Jan 12, 1544. Xavier wrote a long
letter on his apostolic labors, saying he wished to visit all the universities
of Europe in search of laborers for our Lord's vineyard. The letter was widely
circulated and very influential.
Weird that you should write this today, when I just finished e-mailing a priest-friend of mine about how conflicted I feel regarding the relationships of three of my adult children (one living with a girlfriend, one "married" to an unbaptized atheist, one married to a fallen-away Catholic now an atheist). The relationships are all happy and the married ones have stable homes with lovely (unbaptized) children. I don't know how to deal with them and I wrote that I tried to treat them "as you treat the publican and the sinner" which I interpreted to mean with perfect correctness and courtesy but not approval. Now you say, "...we are to put aside our longstanding differences with someone who we have made into an 'other.' We do this when we disapprove of someone...." I can see that I must not judge them since I am not privy to their interior dispositions, but surely I cannot approve of their behavior? My best friend is going through something similar because her 40-year-old gay son is marrying his partner now that this has become legal in their area. She, too, feels very torn between her love for her son and her religious beliefs. "He that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me." We have to choose Christ over child, but now you are saying that even disapproval is also wrong. Thank goodness we don't have criminals and prostitutes in our family, yet I know other friends who unfortunately do. We have to love these individuals and must not shun them, but if we seem to approve of them, is it really the loving thing to do? What about the Spiritual Work of Mercy to "admonish the sinner"? Even Christ, while He was merciful to the woman taken in adultery, admonished her to "Sin no more." Telling my married children to "sin no more" and abandon their spouses and children does not seem reasonable or even right. How is such "admonishment" to be instantiated in a way compatible with charity and with obedience to the Magisterium and appropriate concern for the couples' children? Would it really be to God's glory to break up these families and leave my grandchildren fatherless or motherless? I am very confused and dismayed by it all.
ReplyDeleteOh, I think our standard Christian default is "love." Love has to be the chief arbiter of our discernment. It doesn't mean that we have to abandon what we believe. We want to be careful that we don't objectify the person into the "other," who becomes foreign to us. We never want to shut out the person if we only disagree with an action they make. Sometimes, if we are kind, merciful, and loving, others are attracted to the way we live our faith. They want to become like us and have what we have. God is operative. We don't want to shun someone because of their beliefs, but we can use it as an advantage to proclaim the Gospel. You can love your children's spouses though you want for them to be Catholic. You can hold both in tension. Your friend can still love her gay son and his (civil) spouse, and she can still hold her views. I like the definition of sinning as "a failure to bother to love." Also, how we admonish the sinner is key. It is often how something is said that triggers transformation. When Jesus told the woman to sin no more, he was calling her to a new state of life after he just freed her of judgment from humans, himself, and even God. Can our style of calling something good or moral out of others be that which transforms? Sometimes the Magisterium falls back on rigid teaching pedagogy that does not meet the current world's experience. If it scolds and yells and defends, it can cause many to turn away. If it seeks, searches, understands, listens, and by example, teaches, we begin to get somewhere. The educational paradigm has shifted, and church leaders have not caught up. ~ We just don't want to cut off anyone or make them feel like a "foreign other." We want to connect and form bridges. The best thing we can do is draw out of them their stories and perspectives and find out how they arrived at their thinking. We want to know who they are and how they feel. It then gives you an opportunity to share your feelings. Sharing feelings is where the transformation happens. ~ Always err on the side of love. Love doesn't mean it comes easy. It doesn't solve problems, but it is a necessary ingredient for our faith. We have to love the person first and foremost. God will take care of the rest.
DeleteI agree with all of that. It's just how to put it into practice moment by moment that is tricky. Long before I even had kids, I came to the realization that being loving wasn't always the same as being "nice" or even "kind." Trying to do the "tough love" thing without becoming tough oneself is not simple. The surgeon who leaves a bit of tumor behind because cutting it out would disfigure or disable the patient may not be doing her a favor. Many of them cope with their emotions by distancing themselves from the patients and trying to see them as "meat" so they don't have to empathically suffer with them. It is the rare surgeon or oncologist who can still see the patients as people in pain and feel with them, even weep with them. Even with things as small as telling a friend he has spinach between his teeth is awkward and some people can't bring themselves to be loving enough to do it. How much harder to try to convey to someone that his or her whole life is amiss? I am told that many Jewish rabbis say that while in general we are required to try to let people know if they are transgressing the Law (Ezechiel 3: 16-21), if it is definitely the case that we know that our interference will not be well received and will in fact just make the person more stubbornly resolved to continue in the present course, we should keep quiet because it will just do more harm than good. Given that all my children are as stubborn as I am, I figure that my best chance of influencing them is to say nothing because if I say anything, it will give them the excuse they need to label me a fanatic and will vindicate their disregarding anything I say. They surely know what I believe, so hopefully the internalized maternal voice will still pester them even if I say nothing more. Is this a cop-out? I hope not. I remember a friend who was married for many years to an abusive alcoholic. She never reproached him, but just said, "I know when you are ready to give this up, you will." When he finally became sober, he told her that he had always hoped she would complain about his behavior because then he could have blamed his drinking on her, but since she didn't, he eventually realized it was his own fault and his responsibility to change. It took 20 years, but now he has been a sober, good husband for longer than that. That passage from Teilhard de Chardin about being patient with process really was apropos. I hope patience is enough. "La patientia--todo lo alcanza" said Teresa of Avila: Patience achieves everything. I pray they are right!
DeleteYour children certainly know where you stand. They know you well and they can read your body language and gestures to know how you feel. They are adults and independent people and deserve respect for being formed in a different way from you. What you gave them cannot be taken away and can serve as a base for future discernment for them. We have to be careful about judging because that is reserved for Christ to do. The manner by which we lead people to the faith is important.
DeleteYour friend of an alcoholic husband certainly is admirable for the way she handled matters. Not everyone takes that approach, but she gave him the gift of standing by him and accepting him. It is all a mystery to embrace.
I like the definition of sinning as "a failure to bother to love."
ReplyDeleteThank you for this, and all that you wrote in your reply.
Thank you also for the list of saints and the Ignatian timeline. Precious.
Happy New Year, Father!
You are welcome, Claire. We can see the world differently if we zero in on the ways we define sin. It sets our worldview and aligns everything else.
DeleteBlessings on your 2013, Claire~!