Our Super Power

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Supermanbullets

March 24

I would like to share some more words from St. Paul:
“What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him? Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who acquits us. Who will condemn? It is Christ Jesus who died, rather, was raised, who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? As it is written: “For your sake we are being slain all the day; we are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, no depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God In Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:31-39).”
“My eager expectation and hope is that I shall not be put to shame in any way, but that with all boldness, now as always, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. And I do not know which I shall choose. I am caught between the two. I long to depart from this life and be with Christ, for that is far better. Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit. And this I know with confidence, that I shall remain and continue in the service of all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your boasting in Christ Jesus may abound on account of me when I come to you again (Philippians 1:20-26).”
St. Paul moved forward boldly in an uncertain and dangerous world. He was relentless. He did have some advantages. One, he was very smart, very, very smart. Two, he was a Roman citizen, and that gave him some advantages in the empire (we see this described in Acts of the Apostles). Many people had a lot more than that going for them, and didn’t do nearly as much. He had a confidence that was not based on himself. We see that he gets through a lot of really tense situations and survives with God’s protection. Of, course, he is eventually executed. It isn’t about how long our earthly life lasts, but how we serve the Kingdom while we are here.
We don’t have a lot of hard data on what it’s like in heaven, but I’m pretty sure there’s no one there saying, “OOOOOOOOOOH, I wish I’d lived longer on earth! I wish I’d been able to get to Disneyland!” I think whatever happened or did not happen here, we’ll be perfectly happy. We were made to love life, to seek to revere life, and to try to preserve life, but love the Kingdom more.
We read in the Book of Revelation “Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night. They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; love for life did not deter them from death. Therefore, rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them Rev 12: 10-12).”
This requires focusing on what is truly important. Again we see St. Paul: “Therefore we are not discouraged, rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 16-18).”
And also: “[B]ut he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardship, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10).”
The more we grow in faith, the more we are focused on that which is eternal, and can appreciate and deal with the things of this world in their proper perspective. It is not that we are indifferent, in fact, we become more involved because we see the eternal significance of what we do in the moment. Our faith is imperfect, but the stronger it grows, the more powerful we become. We still get frustrated and upset, but we cannot be stopped. Our superpower is our relationship with Jesus Christ. We cannot be destroyed because we give our lives as gift. We do not have X-ray vision, but we look to that which is invisible and eternal.

Jesus Heals the Blind Man

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jesushealsblind

March 22

Dear Folks,

This Sunday’s readings (1Sam 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41) talk about light and darkness, seeing and not seeing, appearances and reality. We know that things are not always as they seem, but sometimes we have trouble considering what is beyond our sight. Louis Pasteur had a terrible hard time convincing people that there were tiny animals that they couldn’t see that were making them sick. There was a terrible struggle to get some surgeons to wash their hands before doing surgery. Now, a virus that we cannot see, and that only a tiny percentage of people have experienced, has turned our world upside down. Three weeks ago we did not see it coming.

This helps us look at things from a different angle. How many things do we not usually see because they are so easy to take for granted? One thing is how interdependent we are. Obviously, we depend on those who work in the healthcare profession, and we would be in bad shape without them. This has been a special hardship for them, and a hazard. This is a good time to remember how important they are. When many people are staying home, people who work in grocery stores are working harder than ever, cleaning the site and restocking shelves as fast as merchandise comes in. They can’t control who comes in, how clean patrons are, and often can’t prevent customers from violating their personal space. Someone said, “if grocery stores shut down, we will have to hunt for our own food. I don’t even know where Doritos live.” Speaking of merchandise coming in, we get a reminder how important truck drivers are. Anything that doesn’t grow right here has to be shipped in, and most of that is by truck. What would our lives be like if that stopped? Then there are those who make sure that water comes into our homes and sewage comes out, those who pick up the garbage. Those who clean places we expect to be clean. What extra challenges do law enforcement personnel have now? We can also think of those who are laid off and do not get a paycheck. We can also think of those who still have to go to work and have to deal with co-workers and others who do not take precautions seriously.

This is also a time in which we can reflect on how our actions affect others. Both of my parents worked in surgery, so I was raised with strong feelings about washing my hands and sanitation in general. I have found that many people have not been taking it seriously. Someone said that if we get good at taking proper precautions, we can have fewer people die during the flu season every year (the power of stewardship of our hands).

As we are unable to gather as a community, this calls us to greater focus on prayer as individuals and as families. When all this is over, I think it would be a great thing to get groups to be learning the Liturgy of the Hours. That is a good way for the Church to pray together even when we are apart.

If we get through this with a deeper prayer life and more attentiveness to each other, good things can come of this. There will be challenges to face, the results of what is happening now. There will be a need for some economic rebuilding for those whose income was interrupted but whose bills were not. We should remember that the church must continue to pay bills, and as we value the work that the church does, we want to consider what it takes to keep it going.

We remember that God is still in charge, and whatever happens, He is here, He is at work, and He loves to bring good things out of bad situations.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

What Can we Control?

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didntwashhands

March 21

There are some things we can control and some things we can’t
The Letter of James has a good deal of practical advice. The current situation made me think of this tidbit:
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town, spend a year there doing business, and make a profit” – you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears. Instead you should say, “If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that.” But now you are boasting in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So for the one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, it is a sin (James 4:13-17).
In theory we know that there are a lot of things that happen that we can neither predict nor control, but it can be so easy to go through our day as if we could be sure of how things would be. It is so easy to forget that the things we take for granted can change in a heartbeat. Now we have a much stronger awareness that is true.
When Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:3),” we know that the poor are aware that they are constantly dependent on what they receive, that their own resources will not get them through the day, and how much they are not in control. Whether we have few material resources or many, we are called to be aware that we are not powerful enough to control the future, that we are constantly dependent on God, and that all things that are of the earth are subject to change without notice. No material thing is guaranteed to be here tomorrow. It is not guaranteed that civilization will be here tomorrow. It is not guaranteed that there will be tomorrow. Jesus said, “Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, or at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come. Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom on his arrival find doing so (Matt 24:42-46).”
In C. S. Lewis’ excellent book The Screwtape Letters, he portrays letters from a senior devil to his nephew, giving advice on how to lead a soul to hell. Letter #6 begins: “I am delighted to hear that your patient’s age and profession make it possible, but by no means certain, that he will be called up for military service. We want him to be in the maximum uncertainty, so that his mind will be filled with contradictory pictures of the future, every one of which arouses hope or fear. There is nothing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a human’s mind against the Enemy [meaning God]. He wants men to be concerned with what they do; our [the devils’] business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them.” While we want to prepare for possibilities, we don’t want to waste a lot of energy stewing over what might happen. When we are tempted to do that, it would be good to focus on what we can do, however little it is. As Martin Luther King Jr said, “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” Christians are never completely helpless; if we can’t do anything else, we can pray.
Predictions are very slippery these days, so I suggest the key question is: “Right here, right now, with what I have to work with, how can I best serve God and witness to God?”

St. Paul speaks from prison

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stpaulinprison

Reflections March 20
I would like to share with you some words from St. Paul
Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.
I rejoice greatly in the Lord that now at last you revived your concern for me. You were, of course, concerned about me but lacked opportunity. Not that I say this because of need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I find myself, to be self-sufficient. I know indeed how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance. In every circumstance and in all things I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need. I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me. Still, it was kind of you to share in my distress (Philippians 4:4-14).
Consider: St. Paul wrote this in prison. As unpleasant as modern prisons are, then they were much worse. There was no air conditioning, nor screens. I’m not sure if the bathroom was a bucket, a trench, or a hole in the ground. It is a given there was no toilet paper (!). I don’t want to try to imagine the bugs and other vermin. Food would be iffy, especially if you didn’t have friends to bring you things. It is in the midst of this that St. Paul says to rejoice always.
Wow.
His walk with Jesus was so strong that it was more important than all he was enduring. The fact that he was doing God’s work, the fact that this moment was an opportunity to encounter Christ overshadowed the weight of the circumstances. This is breath-taking. To be sure, St. Paul had his crabby days. The letter to the Galatians demonstrates that. Even then, his frustration is with the Galatians’ failure to stay with the truth of the Gospel, and not his own circumstances.
Notice also that rejoicing is immediately followed by how their kindness should be known to all. Rejoicing and being kind seem to be closely connected. It is certainly easier to be kind when we are rejoicing than when we are crabby. Just as “misery loves company,” surely it is true that joy wants to be shared.
This leads just as quickly to “the Lord is near.” His nearness gives us reason to rejoice, and a reminder that we shall be held accountable for how much kindness we share.
We are told not to be anxious about the future but give our requests to God by prayer and petition. Of course, He already knows what we want and what we need, even before we do, but we are encouraged to come to Him with petitions as a part of our relationship with Him. We remember that we are dependent on Him for everything. And we do it with thanksgiving, before we even know what the results will be. This requires a level of trust that says whatever happens, we believe He is at work for our good, and there will be cause to be grateful. The more we grow in that trust, the more we will have a peace that does not depend on what happens. We are encouraged to direct our minds toward many different kinds of good things. We often tend to dwell on bad things, so it can require deliberate intent to focus on good things. Think of the list of things to think about. True, honorable and just have a different feel than pure, lovely, and gracious. Perhaps one is left brain and one is right brain. He seems to be encouraging us to find good things to ponder for every aspect of ourselves. What would that be like for each of us?
Then St. Paul switches gears (sort of) and rejoices that the Philippians are helping him in his imprisonment. He emphasizes that he would be fine either way, once again that he is adaptable and can deal with good times and bad. He is glad because the Philippians are exercising the Gospel, and that is what matters to him, especially since he has taught them the faith. It is also a reminder that some people are dedicated to serving others and do not want to accept help from anyone. Sometimes God puts us in a position where we must, in humility be served, and rejoice in the goodness of others.
I suggest that reflecting on this text, bit by bit, for a while is a worthwhile exercise.
Blessings
Fr. Jim

Now just for fun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtqBt3RbZfs

March 15: Woman at the Well

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Created with The GIMP

Thoughts for today
In our first reading (Exodus 17:3-7) the people are grumbling. The lack of water has put their lives in danger, and they feel helpless to do anything about it. They turn on Moses (it was no fun being Moses). The last line caught my eye, “The place was called Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled there and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord in our midst or not?’” “Massah” means “the place of test” and “Meribah” means “the place of strife/quarreling.” When hardship hits us, we are tested, and how we respond tells much. If we respond with quarreling and greater selfishness that says something about what kind of faith we had. If we respond with greater devotion and compassion that says something very different. Superficial faith is destroyed by hardship; deep faith is strengthened by hardship.
Psalm 95 reflects on this.
Our Gospel (John 4:5-42) Jesus meets the woman at the well. The encounter begins with a concern for a basic, everyday physical need, water. It very quickly becomes more than that.
She has had five husbands, and is now living with a man without even being married. What kind of relationships would those have been? Would they have involved a lot of caring, mutual respect, kindness? I tend to doubt it. I imagine her being quite emotionally needy, and ready to accept a toxic situation than none at all. Consider all the people in the world who have no access to clean, safe drinking water, and are forced to drink dirty, contaminated water. Jesus treated her with care and respect. How long might it have been since she had experienced that? When Jesus points out the reality to her, she accepts it. She then had to share.
When we are focused on day to day basic needs, there is an opportunity to encounter Christ. When we encounter Christ that helps us see ourselves more clearly. That gives us something to share.
Blessings

Martian potatoes

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marspotato

Dear Folks,

While on vacation, I saw the movie, “The Martian” and then read the book.  Some have praised the story for showing the importance of learning science and technology. Bishop Robert Barron wrote a very nice article for the Boston Pilot on how it was a statement of the importance of each and every human life.  What struck me the most is how the hero faced some insurmountable obstacles, amazing obstacles, and worked to get over them. Some things that are easy for us were huge tasks for him.  Sometimes things would go very wrong, and what he tried didn’t work.  He kept going, figuring out solutions to the problems, and moving forward.  His goal was to survive, and he was determined that Mars was not going to kill him. It was also important that he had skills in botany and mechanical engineering, which meant also knowing some chemistry and some math. In the book, he was described as being “particularly resourceful and a good problem-solver.”

This means he had both the will and the skill to deal with his situation.

When there was a problem he focused his energies toward solving it.  Of course, since there was no one else on the planet that he could expect to do anything, and that made it very clear that it was up to him.  How often is the temptation to put our best energy in to complaining and blaming about the problem, rather than channeling that energy into a solution?

He would face problems with no immediate solution, but he worked at it until he found the solution, and sometimes that made another problem for which he had to find a solution. He just kept problem solving.

Of course, this was only possible because he had spent many years building the tools to make this happen.  Without all his knowledge of science, he could not have done what he did.  He also had the habit of working at a problem until he could come up with a solution. There are many people who, when seeing a problem and not immediately seeing a solution with simply give up. What we do again and again throughout our lives becomes deeply ingrained.  Our hero had a lifetime of tackling problems and persevering. Therefore, he was determined to grow potatoes on a planet where nothing grows.

When we face a problem, how much energy and time is expended uselessly in complaining and blaming, and how much is spend in working toward a solution to the problem? I find it can be easy to lose track of the distinction between complaining about a problem and working to fix the problem. This has challenged me to try to channel as much energy and possible into what will really help, and be wary of wasting it.

Parable of Two Armies

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flint ak47

Imagine if you will two armies meeting in battle.  One is armed with flintlock rifles and swords and they are highly skilled with them.  They have had extensive training and practice.  The other army is armed with M-16’s, AK-47’s and rocket propelled grenade launchers, but haven’t a clue how to use them. They don’t know how to load or cock them, never mind how to clean them.  Which army is going to win?  I suggest the Catholic faith and its principles are not doing better in the marketplace of ideas is similar: we have the better message, but the world is marketing theirs better. Many people have a very negative understanding of Catholicism, and of Christianity in general, because those who say only the negative, and often distort the reality, are so much more effective that we have been getting the word out.

When the Church began, a small handful of people with no resources but the Gospel story and the grace of God were able to change the world forever.  The surrounding culture was extremely hostile; they thought following someone who had been crucified was the dumbest thing they had ever heard, and they held to highly decadent values.  Nonetheless, the mightiest empire that the world had ever seen was helpless to stop the Church from growing.  We have all the resources that the early Church had and more.

When most Catholics are taught the faith, we not been taught to be evangelists.  We have been prepared to be customers in the Church.  Even in the seminary, we were not really taught how to spread the faith to others, but rather how to deal with people who already believed. Much of the way we are taught to talk about the faith only makes sense to those who already accept its basic premises.  Furthermore, many, many Catholics stop learning about the faith after twelfth, eighth or even second grade, so they never learn the faith on an adult level.  But, they keep learning in other areas, so that faith falls behind.

We know that Jesus, the Son of God, became man and died on the cross to save us from our sins.  Okay, but what does it mean that He is the “Son of God”?  What does dying on a cross have to do with saving us from our sins?  Why do we need saving? What does it mean to save us? What is “sin” anyway and why does it matter?  When if we can’t explain that in language that they can understand, it is not going to make sense to them.  We are so used to our religious language, we have not learned to talk about this stuff without it.

Many people were raised Catholic and have left because they think it doesn’t make a lot of sense, or doesn’t make a lot of difference.  I’ve talked to a lot of them, and if I understood Catholicism the way they did, I wouldn’t be Catholic either. I wouldn’t be Christian at all.  They can have some strange ideas, and say terrible things about the faith (like, “so you believe that God put us here to guess the right religion, and if we guess wrong he will burn us in fire forever and ever, but he loves us.”). Whatever they were taught growing up, this is what they absorbed. It is futile to get mad at them for saying such things.  We need to focus our energy on getting the faith out more effectively.

We have work to do.  We need to understand our faith story better, and we need to learn to express it in ways that the world can find compelling.  If what we claim to believe is true, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most powerful transformative force in the universe.  We just need the will and the skill to do it, and the world can be transformed.  Our weapons are the Word of Truth and loving action. God wants us to succeed.

Love and Baloney

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Baloney.jpg[1]

Love and Baloney

Imagine a young man and a young woman.  They have very little money, but he goes out into the fields and collects some flowers.  He makes them baloney sandwiches and puts them in a paper bag.  He spreads out the picnic on newspaper, and says to her, “I love you more than the sun, the moon, the stars, brook trout and the Green Bay Packers. Will you be with me for the rest of our lives?”  She melts.

Now, it is their fiftieth anniversary.  Even though they live in an upscale condo in the center of a large city, he drives to the country and picks wild flowers.  He makes baloney sandwiches, and puts them in a paper bag.  He spreads newspaper on the table, and says to her, “I love you more than the sun, the moon, the stars, brook trout and the Green Bay Packers. Will you be with me for the rest of our lives?”  She melts.

Someone who didn’t know the history might say to him, “Are you crazy? Your fiftieth anniversary, you could easily afford roses and catering, and you do this?”  It is the connection to the history of the relationship that gives it meaning that it would not otherwyse have. In relationships, rituals, signs and symbols can have a power beyond what they are because of what they mean. (I suspect he also took her out to a nice restaurant, but that is another story.)

In religion, there are a lot of signs, symbols and rituals. Many who don’t know their meaning will disparage them and say they have nothing to do with God.  Many times they are practiced by those who don’t know or don’t care about their meaning, and then they fail in their purpose, and can even do harm (see I Corinthians 11).

There are many who say that a personal relationship with God is something separate from religion, and that they love God but have no use for religion.  I suggest that they either do not understand how ritual, structure, sign and symbol can be a key part of a relationship, have never been taught the meaning of these activities, or experienced people who went through the motions without attending to what they meant.  A kiss is meant to be a sign of affection and caring.  If someone gives you a kiss and then treats you like garbage, that sign is worse than useless.  It even does harm.

Many have left the Catholic Church or are minimally connected because they have not experienced it as a powerful encounter with the love of God. However, if they could only understand that every aspect of the Catholic faith is about encountering, walking with, and loving God.

A next step is with the book A Biblical Walk through the Mass by Dr. Edward Sri, or even his video study program:

http://ascensionpress.com/t/category/study-programs/the-mass/biblical-walk-through-the-mass

And that’s no baloney.

Contracts and Coventants

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contract    coventant rings

What issues are more important than how we relate to others? I would suggest there are two basic ways of relating: contract and covenant.  A contract is an exchange of goods and services: this is what you will do for me and this is what I will do for you. A covenant is an exchange of persons: this is who I am to you and this is who you are to me.  What we do for each other in a covenant relationship flows from the nature of the relationship and draws meaning from it. The things our beloved does for us are special because they are done out of love. It is one thing to buy cookies and eat them.  It is another to eat cookies that your grandmother made just for you with her arthritic hands because she loves you so. If you hire someone to mow your lawn for $20, that is a contract.  If the lawn gets mowed and nothing is broken, he gets his $20, and it doesn’t really matter if you like each other, the lawn is mowed and the money is paid.  If someone says to you, “He’s just doing that for the money.”  That’s okay.  As long as he fulfills the contract, it isn’t a problem.  On the other hand, if you give your heart to someone who you believe loves you dearly, it matter very much what you think of each other.  To find out this person is only interested in your money would be devastating, a profound betrayal. The difference between contract and covenant is literally the difference between prostitution and marriage.

In a contract there is a list of the things we are required to do and the things we are required to expect.  In a love relationship, love will take many forms and no one can predict what will happen. What we must do depends on what is needed and what we are able to do. In a contract, it’s about the value of the goods and services.  In a love relationship, it is how much of ourselves we put into what we do for our beloved.  (Which is worth more, the bunch of dandelions your grandchild collected to give to you, or the bouquet that the salesman had delivered to all his customers?)  See Matthew 12:41-44.

The Scriptures repeatedly compare the relationship between God and His people to marriage. One of my favorites is Isaiah 61:

1 For Zion’s sake I will not be silent,

for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep still,

Until her vindication shines forth like the dawn

and her salvation like a burning torch.

2 Nations shall behold your vindication,

and all kings your glory;

You shall be called by a new name

bestowed by the mouth of the Lord.

3 You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the Lord,

a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

4 No more shall you be called “Forsaken,”

nor your land called “Desolate,”

But you shall be called “My Delight is in her,”

and your land “Espoused.”

For the Lord delights in you,

and your land shall be espoused.

5 For as a young man marries a virgin,

your Builder shall marry you;

And as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride

so shall your God rejoice in you.

All of salvation history culminates in the wedding of the Lamb and the Bride at the end of the Book of Revelation.

God calls us to a covenant of love.  He does it out of pure love, for there is nothing we could ever do that could benefit Him; He’s already perfect. Unfortunately, people have tried to treat it as a contract.  Psalm 50 is an extended teaching about those who think offering sacrifices is going to buy God off, and then they can act however they want. God is not interested.  See also Isaiah 1:

14 Your new moons and festivals I detest;

they weigh me down, I tire of the load.

15 When you spread out your hands,

I will close my eyes to you;

Though you pray the more,

I will not listen.

Your hands are full of blood!

16 Wash yourselves clean!

Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes;

cease doing evil;

17 learn to do good.

Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,

hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.

18 Come now, let us set things right,

says the Lord:

Though your sins be like scarlet,

they may become white as snow;

Though they be red like crimson,

they may become white as wool.

He doesn’t need anything from us. He wants us. He taught them to offer sacrifices so they could learn to give of themselves.

God is calling us to a covenant of love. If people have learned the faith as so much less than it is, how can we be surprised that people leave the faith? If they never learned in the first place why it is so precious, how it connects to the deepest part of our humanity and reframes every aspect of our lives, it won’t take much to get them to leave.   Is our relationship with God more like a contract relationship or a covenant relationship?

Next: Love and baloney

Unholy Holes

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Hole.jpg[1]

Many years ago, I heard the story of a beautiful summer day in a downtown, when a truck pulls up to the side of the road. Two guys get out and dig a hole. Then two other guys get out and fill in the hole.  They get back in the truck and drive forward twenty feet.  The first two guys get out and dig a hole, and then the second two guys fill in the hole.  This goes on for a while. Finally, people ask, “What is going on?” They said, “We work for the city. The guy who plants the trees is sick today.”

You can have a lot of activity without accomplishing your primary purpose.  This leads to a key question for Church work: Are we fulfilling our primary purpose?  Having a lot of good activities does not, in itself, answer the question. Of course, to do that it would help to know what that purpose is.

I have asked a number of practicing Catholics “What is religion?”  Many have a hard time coming up with an answer.  Some say it is a belief.  Some say it is a set of practices. Is that all it is?

I suggest that religion at its core is a love relationship with the God who loves us very much.  Everything is about that.  A love relationship is different from anything else that is, and nothing can substitute for it. A collection of beliefs and tasks is much, much less than an all-transforming love relationship.

Some people have told me that their relationship with God is one thing, and their religion is something else.  But then what is religion?  If it is not our relationship with God, then why do it?  If we do it to please God, to express our love, devotion and obedience to Him, to encounter Him, then is it not our relationship with God? There may be aspects of our relationship with God that are informal and don’t directly involve Church, but I suggest that in religion there is love relationship with God, and there is nothing else.

According to Sherry Weddell’s Forming Intentional Disciples, only 60% of Catholics believe in a personal God at all, and most Catholics are not certain that they can have a personal relationship with God. If so few Catholics understand what I had thought was the most basic of truths about the faith, then how well have we been communicating the faith?

If we are bringing people into the Church and getting them involved in activities, that is good. But if we are not leading them to an all –transforming love relationship with God, then I suggest that we are not fulfilling our central function. Our tree planting guy is sick.

According to Forming Intentional Disciples, only 30% of those raised Catholic in America are currently coming to Mass once a month or more.  Maybe people have stopped coming because they have not found the Church to bring them to a love relationship with God. In any case, these numbers suggest to me that we need a serious re-examination of how we look at Church and how we do Church. What do you think?