Monthly Archives: December 2020

From His Family to Us All

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Dear Folks,
In these two weeks we celebrate the Holy Family and the Epiphany, and they touch on the
root of God’s whole work. We see a pattern where God makes family, and when it falls
apart, to bring things together.
It begins in Genesis, with the story of Adam and Eve. In this story, God makes Adam and
Eve and calls them to be the beginning of family. Then things fall apart. The story of the
Tower of Babel is a story of God’s people being dispersed and alienated from each other
because they tried to do things their way instead of God’s way. Noah and the ark is a story
about trying again. God picks a family, not a village, not a nation, but a family. From there
comes the new beginning.
God’s plan to gather His people together as one reaches a new phase with the beginning of
the nation of Israel. When God begins the nation of Israel, he starts with a family, the
family of Abram and Sarai (later Abraham and Sarah). From them will come a people from
whom the plan will unfold. Everything is laying the groundwork for the Gospel. The
people of Israel get scattered, and Isaiah prophecies God gathering them together (see, for
example Isaiah 60:4), and also starts talking about the gathering of all the nations (see
Isaiah 2:2-5). The Gospel Story begins with a family: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the Holy
Family.
The Magi represent the nations, those beyond the nation of Israel, who are called to be part
of God’s people. They were drawn by the star because they were open to goodness, beauty
and truth. (Herod wasn’t.) We the Church, God’s family, are meant to be light to draw the
nations. If we do our job right, those who are open to goodness, beauty and truth will be
drawn to Jesus by our light. In short, we are called to be stars.
Family is key. It is in family we are meant to learn empathy, responsibility, and what it
means to be part of something larger than ourselves. That is where we need to learn to
manage our emotions and be aware of how we affect one another. We are meant to learn
the difference between right and wrong and taught in practice to put our own will in second
place for a greater good. These are the sorts of virtues that enable a civilization to thrive.
Everything I’m hearing and reading says that we as a society are experiencing a decline in
all these things, and an increase in violence. If we want to turn that around, one place to
start, perhaps the place to start, is to strengthen the family.
For several generations in the western world, the understanding of family has diminished
until it is seen as just a lifestyle choice based on personal desires. The current arguments
about what is marriage and what is family are just the latest symptoms. How to begin to
rebuild it? There are three resources that I’ve encountered this year:
“The First Society,” a book by Scott Hahn unpacks what this is about and what it is
not about (for example, it is not about nostalgia for “Leave it to Beaver”).
“Defending Marriage” is a book by Anthony Esolen. His approach is more literary,
and rather than making rock-solid arguments for each of his positions, he weaves
together a vision for us to imbibe, and lets us consider if this speaks to us. He is not
concerned at all with using politically correct language, so let the reader beware.
For those who have access to Formed.org there is a very good one hour talk by Trent Horn
called “How to Talk about Marriage and Same-Sex Unions.” He lays out what would be
the basis of any productive discussion on the issue.
The human project is filled with striving for ideals that we cannot completely fulfill in this
life. If we lose sight of those ideals and we are left to follow our feelings and preferences,
then civilization crumbles. If we strengthen our sense of our highest ideals and strive to live
up to them as best as we can, we will be a light to all who seek.
Blessings,
Fr. Jim

Getting our Plans Changed

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Dear Folks,
We have plans. God has better plans. The message is not to forbid making our plans, but
to be ready for something different without warning.
David wanted to build a temple to the Lord.
We are not told anything in the Bible about what Mary did before the Angel Gabriel came
to her, except that she was a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph of the house of David
and that she was in Nazareth (Luke 1:26-27). We can probably expect she would have had
hopes and dreams for the future. She certainly would not have expected what
happened. She said yes without knowing what was involved but having a good idea it
would not be easy.
Throughout the Bible, we see God calling people, and it generally comes as a surprise.
Whatever plans they had needed to change drastically. Very often, they didn’t think it was a
good idea at first, but responding in obedience, they would go on to greatness.
Look at the call of Abram, later called Abraham (Genesis 12). We know almost nothing
about Abram before he is called. We don’t know what his understanding of God was, or
what he was like as a person, only that he and his wife Sarai had no children (Gen 11). He
is called to go to a place he has never seen. He is promised a land, a people and a
blessing. He packs up and goes, just like that. He will demonstrate heroic faithfulness to
God and be rewarded. It will not, however, be a smooth trip, and he will make mistakes
along the way.
Moses is called to go back to Egypt after escaping from there, running for his life. (Exodus
3 and 4). He doesn’t think it’s a good idea, and he figures he is not the right man for the
job. He doesn’t think Pharaoh has any reason to listen to him (not an unreasonable concern,
although when you are talking to a flaming bush, that sort of reframes your sense of
“reasonable”). The Pharaoh is a difficult customer, but his far greater hardship comes from
the people of Israel, even as he is saving them.
Gideon (Judges 6) is called to lead the fight against Midian, but he thinks he’s the last one
for the job.
David (1 Samuel 16 and 17) is called in stages. He is anointed by Samuel, and then
becomes harpist for King Saul, then armor-bearer. He volunteers against all expectations to
fight Goliath, and then there’s a long story and he becomes king. He will get a lot of
earthly reward, but also a lot of hardship. He will fail God very badly but will come back
from that failure to be a great part of God’s plan.
Isaiah (Isaiah 6) is unusual in the group in that he responds eagerly.
Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1) really doesn’t want the job and doesn’t think he’s ready but
responds. He has a very hard time and suffers much for his faithfulness.
Matthew (Matthew 9:9-13) is one nobody would have expected, but he comes along
readily.
Saul, later called Paul (Acts 9) was even more unlikely than Matthew. He is a mighty force
but going in the wrong direction. He gets knocked to the ground and blinded, but he does a
hundred- and eighty-degree turn.
All of these people find hardship, danger, frustration and hostility in the course of their
work. They have one other thing in common: their sacrifice mattered; it made a
difference. We rejoice gratefully for the gifts they have given to us, the parts they played in
God’s plan.
It is beyond cliché that 2020 has messed up a lot of people’s plans. In the light of this
reflection, can we see ways God has called us? What might He be calling us to do
now? What might He be calling us to learn?
Blessings,
Fr. Jim

Two Tasks of a Prophet

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Dear Folks,
It has been said that the task of a prophet is “to comfort the afflicted and afflict the
comfortable.” Reading the book of the prophet Isaiah, we see he can start with some fierce
“get your act together” talk, and then switches. Starting around chapter 40, he is talking to a
people in exile who are beaten down and discouraged and telling them wonderful things about
the tender love of God. Isaiah has some of the most beautiful and moving language in the
Bible about the tender love of God, and much of the imagery will be picked up in the New
Testament.
God loves us very much, and in that love calls us to be the best we can be, what we were
created to be, and sometimes that means we need to hear things that are hard to hear.
Some people are alienated from the Church because they received hard sayings when they
needed comfort, and they were beaten down and fell into despair. We can try hard to avoid
that, but it is going to happen sometime.
There are others who are mad at the Church because they needed to hear something hard but
believed they should only receive comfort. Jesus was not shy about saying fierce things when
it was appropriate (see Matthew 5:29-30; Matthew 23; Matthew 25:41-45, John 6, etc.).
Some have drifted away from the Church because they have only received happy messages
and have never been challenged (how long would you keep going to a gym that had
Styrofoam weights that took no effort to lift? It would be more comfortable but wouldn’t
accomplish anything worthwhile). Eventually people decide they have better things to do
with their time.
A pivotal question for all of us, then, would be: How ready are we to hear and respond to hard
sayings? This question is trickier than it sounds.
Some people want more “fire and brimstone,” but are quite sure that it should all be directed
to other people. Some people spend a lot of time talking about what terrible people they are,
but if you point out a specific behavior that perhaps they should examine and change, they get
very defensive.
M. Scott Peck in his book “The Road Less Traveled” talked about some people who were
neurotic and believed that everything was their fault, and some people with a character
disorder who believed that nothing was their fault. There will always be people who tell us
we are wrong, and there will always be people who tell us we are right. If we are too afraid to
stand by our beliefs and decisions we will be paralyzed, and if we are too certain we are right,
we will never learn anything new. Discernment and balance is needed. If, when we were
younger, we received harsh and unproductive criticism, we will find it extremely painful to
learn that we are wrong, and the temptation will be strong to rationalize our position and reject
any negative feedback. If learning we are wrong is not an occasion for great agony, but
opportunity to learn and grow, we can be much more open. Jesus was very patient and gentle
with those who were willing to look at themselves honestly and change their ways, no matter
how bad their sins had been. His anger was for those who were sure they didn’t need to
change, but only other people.
How is God calling us to learn from our current situation? How is God calling us to respond?
Blessings,
Fr. Jim