ADDRESSING HUMANS

A just and compassionate people should be able to maintain all the essentials needed to uphold the dignity of the person and make sure no one who could be marginalized is overlooked.  Ideally this should be weighing heavy on the conscience from the voters to the politicians.  

I propose that any individual, and thus apparent at the macro level, has natural impulses for justice to be upheld.  Such impulses should:

1:Honor diversity while maintaining unity 

2: Transcend the day- to -day grind to a truth that inspires meaning to life while being mindful of the next generation.  

Let’s do that.  

There.  I’ve solved it.  We can all go home now.   

If only justice was that simple. Each day it grows more complicated to articulate and problem-solve. It is complicated because there are competing ideologies to accomplish those goals and also in the age of identity politics.  With identity politics there is are passionate arguments based on individual experiences and ones cultural narratives.  Some of those narrative are inter-generational.  

I remember hearing from a coworker an acronym that could work for discussions about diversity. I widened my eyes thinking about the complexity of the human population reading it.  I had hopes that this acronym could crack a code in the mechanism we call humanity.  I had little education at that time.  I am now a licensed therapist and I think there is a lot to figure out on this.  

I also want to address the needs of the person with a faith- based point of view and not just psychological or sociological.  Those respective views do not have to be in conflict. But first the acronym on addressing diversity which is literally ADDRESSING  

Age

Disability

Dominant language

Race

Ethnicity

Sexual orientation

Socio-economic background (e.g context of family of origin).  

Income

National origin

Gender

By the time I read this I had been working with different marginalized populations for many years and saw some good sense in this to start. I was hoping to get more clinical education but wondered if there is a concrete way marginalization can be addressed from the Christian faith. 

My understanding of the Christian tradition at that time on how to honor the dignity of the marginalized was to “love your neighbor as yourself”.  This is a valid commandment but was thought out with the story of the Good Samaritan.  For those who are not familiar with the story, Jesus used it to illustrate to a Jewish audience, who did not affirm worth to Samaritans, that they were capable of kindness and therefore had intrinsic value too.  The Samaritan in the story was the only one who was kind to the mugged Jew after he was passed over by two Jewish clergy.  Jesus taught to love ones enemies and “bless those who curse you”.   

Some years passed when I started looking at Bachelors in Social Work (BSW) programs including some Christian programs.  One of them had a testimonial video from one of their students saying that Jesus was the first social worker.  The head of the program rolled his eyes and inferred that was too simplistic. 

I agree with his critique even more now. A critique of some of my Christian experience is that other things have been oversimplified or incorrect like Christian based partisanship, fideism (idea that reason, science or philosophy is the enemy) and others.  

Years later I have come to agree with that program director and see the difference: Jesus was an “everything worker”.   He came to address the needs of all of the person rather than some either/or dilemma.  It should “follow” that his followers do work for all of the person.  In a way I do now in the sense that I refer to resources outside of my scope of practice.  

As for my social work education journey I entered into a secular BSW program.  I brought up the ADDRESSING acronym, she resonated with it and shared an article that covered it.  I was excited and proceeded with an open mind into my cornerstone class which she taught about social justice.  

I was open but unfortunately to a rude awakening. For key points of marginalization she said in class one night that an operational word that fosters oppression is color blindness as it dismisses the experience of minorities and is even integral to white supremacy.  

I raised my hand and asked, “How should that work when Martin Luther King said he had a dream that ‘a man would be judged not by the color of their skin but the content of their character?’ ”  

She was not having it.  She got defensive and raised her voice.  Fellow students came to my defense.  In all fairness she cried the next week and apologized.  

From experiences like that in academia up to the MSW level I would offer some critiques that are worth considering in the social justice paradigm.  For solutions the best of social justice with critical race theory is still going to be fueled by some errors.  I want to emphasize there are some great points to what I learned which were very applicable.  But there is theory and there is dogma.  To bring even honest questions to theory today can make one branded the equivalent of a heretic known as “canceled”.  The following are some things I have found in social work academia and practice. 

1: Confirmation bias to judge contemporary or historical events on how systemic oppression must have been the dominant force.  With such confirmation bias it causes an absence of examination on events that have mitigating or negating evidence.  Countless times I looked at summaries of historical events and found them to be unreliable due to original document material or seeing a logical fallacy like correlation means causation.

2: Utilitarian interventions.  It could be considered seeing persons or groups as a means to a social justice end. Such ends justify the means.  Another way to say it is situational ethics.

3: Moral norms rest on the desire of the most enlightened populace.  That most enlightened populace is either the marginalized or those who are intellectual elites in the social sciences or activists or both.  The dangers in this is if someone raises a moral objection to that which is “progressive” citing natural law of the person or inconvenient facts they are judged as “repressive” or needs to “check” their privilege.

For me it is even worse.  I am White, a Christian and, “worst of all”, I discerned into the Catholic Church less than a year after earning my BSW.  It could be considered an even “bigger mistake” in that I am not a “cafeteria Catholic” (pick and choose teachings that match my personal temperament).  

After education on the “patriarchy” of religious institutions, how could I become more institutional?  

To address that challenge without an in-depth history lesson, I have a “confession” to make.  At the beginning of this blog I mentioned those co-existing paradoxes but I really “stole” them.  I still maintain that those paradoxes either are achieved to various points or are naturally attempted in every society regardless or faith tradition or even atheism.  

However, the more the errors I wrote on of social justice are implemented the more they fail in those bright objectives out of lack of correct view of humanity.   A secular progressivism fails because the more there is a premise that compromises truth about humanity the more everything else is up for compromise to the detriment of anyone and everyone.  Religion and philosophy are upstream from policy.  

For my faith tradition I will now integrate four traits from the Nicene Creed, hence the “stole” reference above.  Traditionally based Christianity is mostly united in the interpretation of this creed including the traits “one, holy, Catholic and apostolic”.  What is written below is the neutral details and how they are addressed in Christianity.  

1: Honor diversity while maintaining unity- – – -“Catholic” as the figurative sense of being universal.  What is true for a person in Asia on the design of humanity is true for someone in Europe.  “One” is a unity that is tangible.  

2: Transcend the day- to -day grind to a truth that inspires meaning to life while being mindful of the next generation.  “Holy” is a dedication of ones holistic self to God and conscious of a heavenly destiny.  “Apostolic” is passing on a tradition to the world around you and especially the next generation.  

I will now make a disclaimer as a believer: Christianity is full of imperfect believers and we often fall short in implementing the gospel as it was intended.  In fact, there have been many in authority who have oppressed those who were weaker than themselves which has no excuse in any shared, objective morality.

However, that is a historical observation of bad Christians and not bad Christianity. Therefore, I do not have to defend bad Christians to defend Christianity.    

Christianity as defined in the deposit of faith and not on administrative or prudential judgement decisions has always held up when implemented as intended.  When Christianity is rightly expressed to the person in the message of Jesus Christ, the dignity of the person is elevated and not demeaned.  A second century saint and doctor of the Church, Ireneus of Lyon, wrote, “The glory of God is man fully alive”.  

This is elaborated on also in the Nicene Creed in describing Jesus.  

God from God. Light from light.  True God and True Man.  Begotten, not made.  Consubstantial with the Father you came down from heaven. 

So is Christianity condescending? I hope so.  I say that in the sense that Jesus condescended to all humanity in his divinity and humanity.  Christians who wish to extend to the world Christ as “The Everything Worker” should be mindful of their own sins and either in words or deeds serve the marginalized like one beggar telling another where the bread is.  

Thus, humanity is celebrated in the Christian faith as is reason in a complimentary sense. The combination is uplifting and universal as described below.  

Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves (Fides Et Ratio, Pope John Paul II, 1998).

So with that in mind:

Social justice is a means, heaven in holiness is my end.

Uniformity demeans, proper unity uplifts.

Division is of discord, diversity completes.

Stagnation limits growth, I hope for what comes next.

Does this mean I have all of the answers now?  I wish.  Since my BSW in Portland, Oregon I moved to Arizona for 7 years with its own diversity complications and obtained my MSW.  I learned a lot and started to get comfortable.  Then a family move came up again and next came a city I felt guaranteed to not be complicated on things like race or class: Minneapolis the city of the George Floyd riots.  

So with faith and reason I do have dogma yet still have questions.  I am a Christian.  I am a social worker.  And I endeavor to learn and support the fulness of truth on humanity one day at a time with both.   

Right Currency for Right Relationship

There is a lot to say about looking on the bright side.  When there is dysfunction in a family it can be dysfunctional in itself to ignore the dysfunction.  It can also be a shortcoming, common in humanity, to not know what functional is. Or to use the analogy of bank employyes or Secret Service agents, the point is to get used to the real thing of currency and not know every single kind of counterfeit.

The point to be centered on regarding an existential sense of human existence is knowing what our “real thing” is supposed to really be.  This is a point where different disciples come in from humanity.  Unique to religion is where the view of humanity comes in with a divine revelation, and for those who are willing to receive it, a prescriptive directions from it. As we will see, this can be best articulated in the life and death of Christ.  And his life again.

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” …  So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman,
for out of Man this one was taken.” Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed (Genesis  2:18,21-25).

It is not good that the man should be alone– – – There can be an over-emphasis here that this line implies it is bad to be single.  However, the context was alone as in only.  In the passage there is a contrast of one single homo sapien surrounded by animals that are in pairs.  The application in the “not good” is the lack of community with fellow human beings.  To be alone is meant to be a sacrifice from discernment.  From a Christian standpoint we read a normative status of community we are all called to as part of God’s family,

And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:24-25).

This would be a faith and demonstrable life in the great work to belief in Jesus as sent from the Father (John 17:3).

We are meant to be both connected and answerable to God and each other since both domains are the realms of loving above and to our side.  So, some questions for those who would like to be married or improve their marriage are on their definition of community and how much they value it.

I will make him a helper as his partner– – – Eve would not be a slave nor would she take away from Adam’s value.  She would be his partner and he would be hers. In the ongoing stories in the Bible there is a theme of covenant which has the theme of being an exchange of persons and not a game of rights or credits earned.

But the term “helper” begs the question on what functioned is being helped. After all, the motivation of covenant is towards a goal of set of goals.  The work going on before was to guard and tend a sanctuary and function of worship.  For a person to be a temple means to be holy, radiating universally (catholic) and united (one).  It was not good for man to be alone because he could not be whole but also without a helper he could not glorify God with a next generation.  Adam would be self-referential and in that “it is not good for man to be alone”.   In fact, Adam plus another makes two.  And if the two are one in a complimentary way, a generating or generational quality occurs (apostolic).  And the two become three.  Ultimately, those three become icons of “Let Us make man in our image”.

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept– – – This bonding in marriage is about the parties but it is rooted in a reality that transcends the faculties of the flesh.  Adam’s unconscious role serves as a reminder to post-modern thinking that marriage is a social construct at minimum of natural law but better known as divinely oriented.

then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh– – – A simple interpretation on the rib is that it is a part of the body that communicates equality with the experience of being one.

However, it serves the reader of the whole Bible to read this passage from the lens from St. Augustine that, “the New is concealed in the Old, and the Old is revealed in the New”. We see in the second Adam, Jesus, being pierced post-mortum in his side where water and blood flowed out.  Thus a common interpretation in the Early Church Fathers and later commentaries is that this is a shows us Baptism and Eucharist with the latter pointing to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb mentioned in Revelation.  This is also brought well in the thoughts below.

The entire Christian life bears the mark of the spousal love of Christ and the Church. Already Baptism, the entry into the People of God, is a nuptial mystery; it is so to speak the nuptial bath. which precedes the wedding feast, the Eucharist. Christian marriage in its turn becomes an efficacious sign, the sacrament of the covenant of Christ and the Church. Since it signifies and communicates grace, marriage between baptized persons is a true sacrament of the New Covenant (Catechism of The Catholic Church, para. 1617).

he made into a woman and brought her to the man– – – While the mark of the man in the woman is his DNA.  But there is more glory than that in a woman.  For all of Adam’s existence he was interacting with God and things but not a peer. As a man, being relational with human persons was not his grounding experience on reality.  He opened his eyes for the first time to see just animals and things.  But for Eve the first of creation she interacts with is her peer.  This could point to how women are generally more relational than men while men have a tendency first towards things.  As a counselor I have often remarked on a general trait about men that if I speak to my guy buddy about a problem he will likely engage with me on fixing it.  Women process relationship problems with a highlight of processing the feelings. Both are valid purposes in creation.

a man leaves his father and his mother– – An implication can be in here that the generational aspect is integral to the nurturing of the child.  A father and mother are supposed to be involved and be a unit.  At the very least any deviation of this instance requires extra grace.  In context of the family of the Universal Church, the apostolic reference comes to mind from the Nicene Creed in that something is handed down.

the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed- – – Shame is a major fruit of the Fall.  Grace is the greatest fruit of the Cross.  If sin enters a marriage, it is not time to have wishful thinking but to have intentional faith with contrition and true repentance.  But on the other side of that grace is a knowledge by experience of being innocent again.  In how a family should function there needs to be a recurring theme of pointing to the basics of the gospel and also forgiving each other because shame does not sustain.

Children in turn contribute to the growth in holiness of their parents. Each and everyone should be generous and tireless in forgiving one another for offenses, quarrels, injustices, and neglect. Mutual affection suggests this. The charity of Christ demands it (Catechism of the Catholic Church, para. 2227).

There was on them a grace that covered them in that their sense of adequacy was grounded in the identity of God.  So too should the Church walk in the fulness of its calling in Her marriage to Christ. The Church Jesus founded is called to be a family of families.

“The Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of ecclesial communion, and for this reason it can and should be called a domestic church.” It is a community of faith, hope, and charity; it assumes singular importance in the Church, as is evident in the New Testament (CCC, 2204).

 

Creation of the 4 Point

For eight years I went to a church in Portland, Oregon called Imago Dei Community Church.  It emphasized worship and beauty, authentic community and truth with meaning.  The Greek words meant “image of God”.  The beauty was such a core part of it that often there was an artist on a stage drawing a picture related to what the pastor was sharing.  It was very fitting to me that the beauty of creation would be tied to the truths of God and that the title affirmed humanity as made in the image of God. This is a core element of the Judeo-Christian tradition.  A cornerstone passage of that understanding can be hopeful and instructional in a way that frees us to aim for God as our highest in love and service.   This serves us in knowing God as a communion of persons and how humanity can reflect that order and go forward.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:26-27).

Then God said, “Let Us make man– – – In looking at the four traits of the Church as a reference point (one, holy, Catholic and apostolic), we should see the making of man as apostolic just as we see the sending of God the Son (John 3:16) since apostle means sent one.  The Father sent the Son who is eternally begotten. But in the first man we see, according the New Testament,  “Adam, the son of God” (Luke 3:38 c).  Man would be an icon or reflection of the divine Godhead on earth distinct from the animals.  Papa Bear would not have the highest mark of dignity in creation but Adam would.  Though a bear has a soul, the soul of a man is different in how, “[T]he glory of God is the living man, and the life of man is the vision of God.” (Ireneus, Book 4, Chapter 34, Section 7. Against Heresies).

according to Our likeness —With the “Us” being the Trinity we know from Sacred Tradition and Scripture that the Father loves, the Son is Beloved and the Holy Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son.  From the deposit of faith and biology that points to a mirroring dynamic we see the husband as the initiator, the wife is the receiver and a third person arises nine months later that also has a distinct name. Such a family, in the safeguard of the intent of the marriage covenant mirrors the Trinity even better.  If the couple are true to marriage as a covenant then what flows between them would be the unselfish love of God that says “I am yours”.

and let them rule– – The key point is God did not make us to be submitted to creation in an endless sense of awe nor to worship it.  Humanity initiates rule over creation.  There are to be wise judgments that do not abuse it and disrespect the cycles of it but a dignified creation gives glory to God and is not a deity. This is done in a groaning for restoration of life before the Fall. Humanity does this by willful, meditated worship.  It is fitting in the design to appreciate goodness, truth and beauty. It is fitting that this appreciation is extended through the family. What will be pointed to below is to see how the traits of the Church extend in a godly family.  The classic traits of the Church covered in the Council of Nicea laid a broader context to what God would effect in the world.  They are “one, holy, Catholic and apostolic”.  I could paraphrase it as united, not of only worldly interests, universal with a holistic context and moving out to the next generation.

He created him; male and female He created them– – –  Therein is an earthly sign of the Trinity.  Adam and Eve were created in the finite constraints to time.  This is a contrast in the time context to the Christology we find in the Nicene Creed which says of Jesus is “begotten, not made”. But they mirror the Trinity in how the Father loves and the Son is beloved.  Adam initiates and Eve receives.  When they join in marital embrace they are one, show a whole realization (Catholic comes from Kataholos meaning “according to the whole”) and make a third person possible.    But in eternity the Holy Spirit is eternally the love between the Father and the Son.  Next generation in the Nicene Creed is apostolic and in the “church of Adam and Eve” this happens too as the child is a product to their love.

But in viewing what it means to be family we fall short if we appreciate it in only a natural sense.  Just as a human being has a higher dignity than a bear, a family is designed to be fully in its dignity when cooperating with a heavenly vision.  Especially in this post-modern world there is a lack of clarity.  With the right questions under the right premises the search for home is not only hopeful but achievable and outward in influence to the world at large.

Seeking a 4- Point Family

Our household has a tradition every night before bedtime.  We pray the Our Father, throw in prayer requests and say amen crossing ourselves according to Catholic tradition and a mix of us figuring things out as we go.  After the amen, we sing “Jesus Loves Me” with a vocal quirk of upping the pitch at the end thanks to my quirky personality from years ago when my wife was out of town for work. Between the prayer and the song we pray some common prayer requests that need something special of the presence of God in their lives.

A layman’s term for this would be an expression of the domestic church that God wants to see among those who calls themselves Christian.  It is not fancy nor high cultured in any way.  But I believe that God hears us, he is pleased with use and we are passing on something sacred to our children.

In the Church and in many observable families there is not always a functionality of trust, giving, order and good communication.  But that does not mean we do not work towards that anyway.  We can point to examples particularly in the family where someone misses one or all of these four traits grievously.  It does not have to be that way.

I will draw some insights from my personal experience, scripture, and tradition. I intend to encourage the reader from my background as a therapist, catechist, husband and dad though I am perfect in none of those roles.  In a view of Sacred Scripture, I will draw from the Trinity, Adam and Eve, The Holy Family, The Church and the domestic church. Except for the Trinity, at least one party of those groups is a sinner.

However, I would qualify this as only one part of an expression of the domestic church that we are called to have as Christians. Without a principle of faith working towards love as a family we are only kidding ourselves with empty ritual.

In the earthly family there is room for application but first one should look at the example in Blessed Trinity.  In the Trinity is the first community of persons who are one in essence but distinct in personhood. God is love and therein is a functionality of love.   The Father loves the Son.  The Son is beloved of the Father and eternally begotten with an accompanying responding love and familiarity to say, “I love you too”.  The love between the Father and the Son is the Holy Spirit (more literally translated as breath).  In a way the relationship between the members of the Trinity speaks to the exchange of persons in the biblical concept of covenant.  Covenant is not a matter of goods but an exchange of persons.  It is complete trust and self-gift that say in a non-dominating context “I am yours and you are mine”.

The Church is meant to be on a mission and to be a mission that reflects that back in the role of Bride to Christ the Bridegroom. It important to see that the Church is not shown in scripture as a metaphor to my mortal marriage on earth.  Christians err in that thinking since the presumption is there for the couple to think the kingdom of heaven revolves partly around their experience on earth as a couple. If that were true, then the couple is self-sustaining in divinity.  Instead, the Church can be seen as birthed from the death of Christ on the cross with blood and water flowing from the side of Jesus.  Her calling is to be the voice of Jesus and to be a light to the world.

In different faith traditions there is a recitation in the Nicene Creed (325 AD) that mentions traits for the Christian people to be defined by in Christ and, by implication, to live by.  These traits are: “one, holy, Catholic [often interpreted as universal] and apostolic.  I will address and review what that looks like for the general Church but I would contend these traits are applicable to the family as well.

One—-  “I pray they may be one as you and I are one” (John 17:21).  That was the prayer of Jesus.  However, for that wholeness to be connected, there is an unselfish giving intended for the members and they truly should rejoice and mourn together.

Holy—While God is holy and unmovable, the Church in its foundations has a beginning marked in time and is tangible on earth in being encountered.  The Church is not called to be heavenly minded without earthly good.  This is why the grace of Christ is expressed through the Holy Spirit in sacraments.  All seven of them are both scriptural and consistent with how the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Jesus is recorded in the New Testament to say, “this is my body” in instituting the Eucharist.  God is both holy and love.  Both spiritual and tangibly understood.  This holiness of God being incarnate or in the flesh  is central to Christianity.

Catholic–  This literally means “according to the whole” but has figurative understanding in tradition to mean universal.  The Church preaches the gospel of the kingdom and administers the sacraments.  Not all want to be Christian but the reality of Christ through his Church is meant for everyone. But there is a complimentary dynamic in that wholeness for those who are in the life of the Church.  Though there is a universality that does not mean uniformity.  Just as the persons of the Blessed Trinity are distinct and do not steal from the dignity of each other, neither is the Church of Jesus Christ to have that insecurity. The Trinity is distinct yet complimentary within itself with a proposition of love through the Church to live a familial life.

Apostolic—Reading this from a post-modern perspective one would think this is about the 12 apostles.  That is only one small part of it.  Paul wrote to Timothy “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2).  This suggests an apostolic succession of four generations for spiritual fatherhood.  In both letters to Timothy, Paul mentions several times the laying of of hands in the sense of what tradition calls apostolic succession.  This is a selective entrusting from Paul through Timothy.  The life of Christ is shown on earth as potentially expressed in the generation before and the generation after since Jesus is eternally begotten of the Father.

Since the Church Jesus founded was his called out, holy community, it is fitting that the same traits be mirrored in the calling of the Christian family to be intentional as the domestic church.  God looks for these traits in the domestic church.

One in marriage means being one flesh with the math being 100-100% not being 50-50.  This does not make sense in math but is reflective of the mystery of Christ and the Church in the sense of unselfish giving and not keeping score (often as a therapist I have seen many applications of conventional compromise to be score keeping).  The highest calling for the couple is unselfish love and not guarding ones entitlements which is a chief reason for division.  One as a family with children is also of unselfish love in that discipline does not cause the children to anger but still honors the parents.  They are under the same roof but the diverse persons still bring uniqueness to the whole.

Contracts can be broken and indeed are broken in a broken world.  But a valid, marital covenant can no more be broken up than the Trinity itself.  There are many Christians, often well meaning in response to a bad situation ask about grounds to dissolve a marriage.  The right question is if there were valid grounds to begin with for a valid covenant.  Jesus stated “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Matthew 19:6). Marriage is to be one like the Church.

Holiness in marriage does not have room to serve two gods with two ideologies.  Two human beings joined in sacramental matrimony are still called unto God and his design. But there is a grace from God for that marriage so, if they cooperate with it without being holy by themselves, they partake of the holiness and love of God.  Also this produces a ripple effect that is to be recognized by the community that is of consequence as the Church is a family of families.   ^“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral” (Hebrews 13:4).  The honor that the couple gives each other in the marriage bed could also be said to be, “this is my body given for you”.  It is a loving sacrament not despite being holy but because of it.  Marriage is to be holy like the Church.

A catholic marriage (small “c” for emphasis) is to enjoy a unity that is applied by diversity and not despite it.  At the risk of giving some readers a “micro-aggression”, God did create the marriage to male and female. They are designed to give and receive fully.  It is the nature of marriage to communicate unselfishly in the giving and receiving in any act of intimacy.  They are the same but different. Holy Matrimony enjoys a celebration of the differences of the persons in the nature of their marital embrace as making a whole.  It is fitting that in the etymology of “catholic” it meant “according to the whole”.  In that sense a marriage should indeed be considered catholic even by those who do not consider themselves of the Roman variety.

An apostolic marriage may seem like a strange wording to use but it is reflective of God the Son and the generational concept mentioned above.  Together they produce another generation and have other ripple effects for the next in all of what they do.  As for a couple that are not blessed with children, they can adopt or foster.  The famous writer GK Chesterton and his wife very much wanted children but carried the cross of infertility.  They fostered many children and gave sacrificially for many poor children to get a quality education.  They were not parents in the conventional sense but were highly “apostolic” in being a couple that loved the next generation. I would add, they may have been far more apostolic than parents who biologically reproduce and “phone it in” on passing the faith.

But there is another fine point of a person involved in this discussion: Satan.  When my family and I pray the “Our Father”, it ends with the phrase to “deliver us from evil”.  Some translations say “from the evil one”.  Satan wants the Church to be divided, unholy, falling short of the whole of the person and sterile enough to not reproduce the life of Christ into the world.  He introduces ideologies, temptations and direct attacks against those traits in the Church and the family. In our families we should submit to God and the devil will flee from us because we know God as a loving Father who tends and guards us if we ask and cooperate with him.

So with cooperating in God’s grace, I intend to resist the devil as a husband and a father all the more as I write this.  As I go on to write the things as I study, I hope to be my own best customer as a work in progress in my vocation. After all, my hope for my family is to be an icon in some way of the fellowship in heaven and be a light to the world.

The Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. In the procreation and education of children it reflects the Father’s work of creation. It is called to partake of the prayer and sacrifice of Christ. Daily prayer and the reading of the Word of God strengthen it in charity. The Christian family has an evangelizing and missionary task (Catechism of The Catholic Church, para. 2205, emphasis added).

Straight Writing, Crooked Lines

A few sayings come to mind about good news which are commonly said.  One is that “good news travels fast” and the other is that some news is “too good to be true”.  

When the universality of the gospel of Jesus Christ was infallibly defined by Peter in the Council of Jerusalem, the now unified leadership instigated a proclamation that was universal on this as a matter of faith and morals with an authoritative voice.  The delivery system would be the hands and mouths of apostles and prophets.  It would be good news that would travel fast but for some in the fringes it “was too good to be true” and would still work to sabotage that.  If Jesus could have his Judas, the Church could have its saboteurs as well.   

Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsab′bas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren,  with the following letter: “The brethren, both the apostles and the elders, to the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cili′cia, greeting. Since we have heard that some persons from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us in assembly to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch; and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. And when they read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation. And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, exhorted the brethren with many words and strengthened them. And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brethren to those who had sent them. (Acts 15:22-34) 

Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church– – The term “seemed good” is showing already an articulation of faith and reason working together.  And this harmony was not a privileged one but for the laity in Jerusalem as well.  In the Greek this means to suppose or reason.  Though there is divine revelation to be experienced, reason is complimentary to faith does not inherently oppose it.  Nearly 2,000 years later this truth was articulated well, “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth” (Pope John Paul II, Fides et Ratio, 1994).  

to choose men from among them….leading men among the brethren- – – Not all leadership has to be formally ordained ministers. There is no indication in the New Testament that prophetic persons received Holy Orders.  

Judas called Barsab′bas- – It is worth considering a few things about the names here.  Likely the most famous Judas in the minds of Jewish Christians at this time was not Judas Iscariot but Judas Maccabee.   The latter was a major leader for the Jews in 2nd Century BC who hunkered down and resisted their oppressors with tireless and dangerous work.  But Barsabbas meant “son of the Sabbath”.  The Sabath is the seventh day and is a day both of rest tied in Hebrew etymology as covenant promise and rest.  The affectionate name of this Judas was a reference to complete covenant in Christ.  God’s people are not to strive in the flesh anymore but rest in God. It is all the more important that they were not officially ordained members of the authority structure but as prophets could speak true among them when needed.   

Let the spiritual shepherds recognize and promote the dignity as well as the responsibility of the laity in the Church. Let them willingly employ their prudent advice. Let them confidently assign duties to them in the service of the Church, allowing them freedom and room for action. Further, let them encourage lay people so that they may undertake tasks on their own initiative. Attentively in Christ, let them consider with fatherly love the projects, suggestions and desires proposed by the laity. However, let the shepherds respectfully acknowledge that just freedom which belongs to everyone in this earthly city (Lumen Gentium, para. 37).  

brethren of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cili′cia– – – This verse does not mention the word “Katholikos” (meaning “according to the whole”).  It is also no coincidence this is the founding etymology of Catholic.  But in prior verses similar to this in Luke and Acts, there is the use of the phrase, “ekklesia kath holos,” which is translated “the Church throughout all.”  “Katholos” is derived from this prepositional phrase, “throughout all” (kath oles), which appears in several contexts of Christ’s ministry or his Church beginning to surge (Luke 4:14; Luke 23:5; Acts 9:31; Acts 9:42; Acts 10:37). Here Luke is mentioning a footprint of Christianity that is getting to the largest amount yet.  

Since we have heard that some persons from us have troubled you with words- – – Though this part is not part of what should be considered a template of what the Church wants to have, it is worth noticing the attentiveness of the leadership to maintaining unity.  

it has seemed good to us with the whole church– – – Here they want to make clear that this is the reasoning of the Church in unity, for such unity and the deliberation is over in a decision by emphasis. 

with our beloved Barnabas and Paul– – – What is implied is not just a brotherly love but that these two men were joined to God’s agape love since the word for “beloved” is agapētos.  

For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us- – – The context of this discerned good is now magnified in a heaven and earth context and thus as an objective truth.  The Holy Spirit does not lie but is the “Spirit of truth”.  This is declared as completely infallible.  As the next foundations of the Church are being rounded out, the involvement of the Holy Spirit integrates as the Church cooperates.    

to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things- – -In my personal and professional life I have worked closely with prescribers of pharmaceutical medications.  The underlying, conscious philosophy expressed by such professionals is prescribing what gives the best effect with the least side effect.  This letter could be seen as doing the equivalent of both.  

when they read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation- – – The Greek word at work here is paraklēsis.  What is implied in the Greek and already established tradition was an encouragement that was substantive, objective and tied to the work of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus spoke of the work of the Holy Spirit as, “The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26). The word for “Counselor” here is paraklētos.  Since this word has also been translated as Comforter and Helper, it is fitting they would rejoice.  

Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, exhorted the brethren- – – As we have seen previously, the apostolic is fixed but the prophetic comes a bit more unexpectedly.  So it is fitting that the encouragement of this issues were resolutely decided and accompanied by both valid forms or charisms of the ministers and laity.  

We have seen a developed example of the kingdom of God in Christ with the apostles teaching, fellowship of the brethren, breaking of the bread and prayer (Acts 2:42).  This is not a work of man.  The infusion of the Holy Spirit creates the fruit of Christ or formation of Christ when the people are ready to surrender to Jesus Christ and his kingdom.  

Such surrender includes  the both/ and of the moral demands of the gospel and informed liberty. This is by a correct view of the meaning of the cross and of how humanity, touched by grace, can cooperate in the fruit of it.  This is in the “one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church” (Nicene Creed, 325).  This work in the Body is by the merits of the Christ the Head in tandem with the Holy Spirit that can be, “Giving the body unity through Himself and through His power and inner joining of the members, this same Spirit produces and urges love among the believers” (Lumen Gentium, para. 7). 

The Church is full of sinners and from the beginning was bound to have struggles at times.  One of the first 12 apostles was a traitor.  Peter, the first domino in the Spirit led season to be more inclusive, sided with prejudice in his personal behavior later and was rebuked for it.  However, we see here the Church working submissively to the Holy Spirit to self-correct.  Schisms would rise and fall through the coming historical eras but divinely inspired authority brings clarity.   This is the Church of Jesus Christ uniquely designed to proclaim Christ and his kingdom.  

As a social worker, I am educated on a less optimistic view of how groups of people can be.  A skeptic could raise several questions like the following. 

1:  Unity could not happen like this.  These groups should share grievances of their micro-aggressions.  I agree, except by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

2:  Hierarchy is bad.  For an authority structure led by males is inherently bad and oppression is bound to be sustained.  I agree, except by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.  As I write this, I am aware of moral rot that has come into the Catholic Church.  I don’t trust any single leader in the Catholic Church by any inherent moral fiber.  But I trust Jesus who predicted his cross, death, burial and resurrection.  And I trust that he built the Church that the gates of hell will not stand against (Matthew 16:18).  

Day 2- Right Principles as Whole People.

I like stories of drowning people being saved by a good lifeguard.  The images that come to mind are often the flapping in the water, gasping for breath and tunnel vision right before a powerful hand swoops in to save the day.  The intervention in those stories range from the lifeguard being fully in the water to being anchored in something that floats.  The trick is that the lifeguard may not be received in full trust as a gift to be received fully and simply.

To this point of not receiving that help is a story by Watchman Nee.  There once was a man who got a cramp and was drowning in a lake.  A champion swimmer stood by fully dressed and did not move until the man began to go under.  When he did, he got out of his sweats and saved the man.  When asked what took him so long he said that the drowning man had to be at the end of himself or they both would have drowned.

When John the Baptist formally presents Jesus to the crowd he uses words for  Jesus to fulfill in several dimensions and continues to fulfill when we cooperate.

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’ I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him. I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit.’ Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.” (John 1:29-34).

Behold, the Lamb of God– – Where a lion is known to conquer, the lamb is known to be conquered and consumed.  Jesus is proclaimed as one who would give all and not take like kings of old nor exploit the resources of the people.  Jesus is counter-intuitive as a gift for our redemption that we are unable to obtain for ourselves.  So we depend on Jesus for that.   Jesus is wholly self-giving.

takes away the sin of the world– Here is indicated that the gift of self is beyond Israel but to the world (John 3:16).  The gift is not tied anymore to a temple in a certain city but is universal.  Salvation as a gift for the world is shown in the Church which Jesus founded and as early as 110 AD was called that by Ignatius- – Catholic. And before Jesus came this was foreshadowed of Jesus being re- – presented by the people of God like this.  Jesus is wholly accessible.

From the rising of the sun to its setting, my name is great among the nations;

Incense offerings are made to my name everywhere,

and a pure offering;

For my name is great among the nations,

says the Lord of hosts (Malachi 1:11).

he existed before me–  Here John shows Jesus to be beyond the time of a human life span.   The gift is divine.  After all, one can look at the gospel of Luke and see that John was conceived three months before Jesus if one views Jesus only according to the flesh.  John opens  a perspective  later seen more fully by Paul that, “from now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer” (2 Corinthians 5:16).  The gift transcends understanding.  Jesus is timeless and thus must be discerned with eyes for the eternal than the timely.

I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him– The only time before that the Holy Spirit had come down on a single direct object was the temple of Solomon.  One more reason that Jesus said,  “I say to you, something greater than the temple is here” (Matthew 12:6).  The gift is consecrated because Jesus is that gift and he is holy.

will baptize with the Holy Spirit– – Christ through His humanity and in partnership with the Holy Spirit brings in those who are His with adoption that is beyond a legal transaction.  If it was only legal, the relationship between God and the believer would be contractual in what I have is yours.  Instead it is “I am yours”.  To have a relationship with the Blessed Trinity that is covenantal is to be in synch to the original creation of humanity.  “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba [Daddy], Father” (Romans 8:15)! The gift is intimate and is forward towards oneness.

Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God– – John has already spoken that Jesus must increase and he must decrease.  By saying this officially, John steps back for Jesus to shine.  He does continue to baptize but the traffic continues to be more to Jesus.  Just as John yielded to Jesus, so in the process of conversion and formation towards Jesus there is a yielding to happen.  This yielding to Jesus as the gift is informed by how he redeems, transcends understanding, is consecrated, is universal, and is intimate. To hear John’s words right, is the beginning to getting Jesus right.  Such is the fulness of the proclamation of the gospel in the Church that Jesus wants. To yield is to be on mission in disposition.  And to be on mission is to be sent.  And to be sent is to be apostolic.    In one sense, all who have “testified” to the fulness of Jesus are apostolic.

The design for a people that are transformed and have ongoing connection to the authority of Jesus as Lord is one with the traits above.  And to water down these traits with a forgetting this kind of encounter is to move with the world that God wants to redeem through Jesus.  To hold on to these is to be the Church that instead moves the world as the “pillar and foundation of truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).

Jenga, Church and a Reflection

I have come to the end of my first year at Kino Catechetical Institute.  It has been a great year as a student learning so much as a new Catholic and long-time before that Protestant Christian. This last class was ecclesiology which is the doctrine of the Church.  We operated out of the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and good lectures.

The first section of this paper is about what my favorite paragraph was of each week’s reading and why.  The second part is about which week reading was my favorite and explain its themes and how it communicates the nature of God.

I said a funny thing early on in this class.  The instructor asked bus to describe what the Catholic Church is.  I responded it is like Jenga the game where you put blocks integrated into each other and whoever has their tower collapse first loses.  I added that the blocks in use by Jesus are oneness, Catholic, apostolic and holy.  And Jesus cheats at Jenga by using concrete and that is why it has existed for 2,000 years.

Needless to say, that seems strange.  But as I put my thoughts down in this final paper, I hope I made more connections that draws a picture for those who are out there seeking God and how he shows himself on earth. This is for the people that are Catholic, Protestant, unsure or neither.  A bit of food for thought for the journey.

688 The Church, a communion living in the faith of the apostles which she transmits, is the place where we know the Holy Spirit:

– in the Scriptures he inspired;

– in the Tradition, to which the Church Fathers are always timely witnesses;

– in the Church’s Magisterium, which he assists;

– in the sacramental liturgy, through its words and symbols, in which the Holy Spirit puts us into communion with Christ;

– in prayer, wherein he intercedes for us;

– in the charisms and ministries by which the Church is built up;

– in the signs of apostolic and missionary life;

– in the witness of saints through whom he manifests his holiness and continues the work of salvation.

The reason this paragraph was my favorite was my growing curiosity on how the Holy Spirit operates in the Church.  In the actual working out of Jesus founding and building His Church, the Holy Spirit works as the binding and illuminating agent through all of the mentioned processes.  The last point is important because each individual is a member of the Body and the holiness referred to permeates to the micro and not only the macro level.

771 “The one mediator, Christ, established and ever sustains here on earth his holy Church, the community of faith, hope, and charity, as a visible organization through which he communicates truth and grace to all men.”¹⁸⁴ The Church is at the same time:

– a “society structured with hierarchical organs and the mystical body of Christ;

– the visible society and the spiritual community;

– the earthly Church and the Church endowed with heavenly riches.”¹⁸⁵

These dimensions together constitute “one complex reality which comes together from a human and a divine element”:¹⁸⁶

The Church is essentially both human and divine, visible but endowed with invisible realities, zealous in action and dedicated to contemplation, present in the world, but as a pilgrim, so constituted that in her the human is directed toward and subordinated to the divine, the visible to the invisible, action to contemplation, and this present world to that city yet to come, the object of our quest.¹⁸⁷

O humility! O sublimity! Both tabernacle of cedar and sanctuary of God; earthly dwelling and celestial palace; house of clay and royal hall; body of death and temple of light; and at last both object of scorn to the proud and bride of Christ! She is black but beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem, for even if the labor and pain of her long exile may have discolored her, yet heaven’s beauty has adorned her.¹⁸⁸

Paragraph 771 shows that the Church is in nature very much both/and.  More to this point, the Church is described in heavenly and earthly language in this paragraph because it transcends in its full existence in the realms of heaven, purgatory and earth.  I also like the reference to it being a “visible organization” because one can better quantify the continuity of delegated authority through the magisterium by Christ.

826 Charity is the soul of the holiness to which all are called: it “governs, shapes, and perfects all the means of sanctification.”

If the Church was a body composed of different members, it couldn’t lack the noblest of all; it must have a Heart, and a Heart BURNING WITH LOVE. And I realized that this love alone was the true motive force which enabled the other members of the Church to act; if it ceased to function, the Apostles would forget to preach the gospel, the Martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. LOVE, IN FACT, IS THE VOCATION WHICH INCLUDES ALL OTHERS; IT’S A UNIVERSE OF ITS OWN, COMPRISING ALL TIME AND SPACE – IT’S ETERNAL!

Paragraph 826 reminds me of “the love chapter” of 1 Corinthians 13 but in light of its ecclesiastical application through salvation history in the Church.  Also, the inference of “comprising all time and space” points to how God, who is love, holds the universe together by His good will towards creation.

901 “Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvelously called and prepared so that even richer fruits of the Spirit may be produced in them. For all their works, prayers, and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit – indeed even the hardships of life if patiently born – all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. In the celebration of the Eucharist these may most fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of the Lord. And so, worshipping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world itself to God, everywhere offering worship by the holiness of their lives.

Paragraph 901surprised me.  It contextualized through a eucharistic lens on how to offer up my suffering and mundane events to God at mass with a meaning that is humble, processed contemplatively and worshipful.  The last line where it referred to how “the laity consecrate the world itself to God” particularly struck me in what the priesthood of all believers concept is all about.

970 “Mary’s function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin’s salutary influence on men . . . flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it.” “No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source.”

This paragraph meant a lot to me as a former Protestant in how it explains that God’s goodness that is radiated does not have any limitations on it for intercession roles.  As for Mary, this paragraph shows how the holiness of Mary is extrinsic and dependent on the graces of Christ and not to be seen as a hinderance. Indeed, good Mariology is good Christology.

748-810  

This section is about the Church in God’s Plan/Characteristics of the Church. The central themes revealed in this section are about the reflection of Christ’s presence, its eucharistic nature, example of divine love, nuptial purpose, accessibility and prophetic mission.

On reflecting God’s presence, we are show how the Church is “like the moon, all its light reflected from the sun” (CCC 748).  The light of truth is shown in Christ by the Church.  This recurrent theme is shown in the references to the Magisterium and Sacred Tradition guarding the deposit of faith for the benefit of all humanity.

The eucharistic nature that is communicated is in its reference to the sacramental lived out in small communities in a liturgical context.  “She exists in local communities and is made real as a liturgical, above all a Eucharistic, assembly” (CCC para. 752).  This shows the Church in its mystical expression as the Eucharist is a meeting and communal with the divine that communicates how Christ’s ecclesiastical design transcends earth.

As to the showing of God’s love, this section points to the Church.  The Catechism states that though the world is “creation” that his display of love that is ongoing is in the Church  (CCC para. 760).  The Church accomplishes this in all of the expression in both evangelization and catechizing.

The Catechism in this section points to a nuptial context that is born from the Cross.  It states that the Church more specifically is, “born primarily of Christ’s total self-giving for our salvation, anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross” (CCC. para. 766). The point of self-giving alone has often a marital context in Catholic parlance.  This is used especially in the teachings of regarding marriage and points to the laying down of Christ’s life for the Church which is His bride.  “the Church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross” (p. 766).  The Church is able to connect with that fact in the Eucharist.

In paragraph 771 there is much said about the accessibility of the Church on earth as an extension of God’s love and divinity.  This extension is visible, hierarchical,  spiritual and heavenly enriched.  In being complex between these above elements the Church is an expression that is “both/and” in its experience.

The last central theme that stands out is the prophetic nature of the Church.  This applies to members in both the lay and clerical state starting with understanding and standing in the faith.  The testimony of Jesus being the spirit of prophecy is carried out by the Church in a manner consistent with what is “delivered to the saints” by the sovereignty of God (para. 785).

God is to be understood very much in this section and covenantal through Christ and the sacraments and in that process a divine kinship for us as His children.  Paragraph 766 points to the Church being born from Christ’s side.  This points to a historical reference point where the work of the spiritual birth of each believer started (Galatians 2:20).

The themes that resonated with me personally were how the Church is shown to be transcendent, apostolic, and missional.  For the transcendence I would say there are many points about heaven and earth simultaneously involved in personal and corporate prayer.  How the sacraments are explained in the community setting reinforces the reality of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection in a manner that is experienced with the both/and experience.

In the apostolic nature I like it is twofold in being around for millennia and being visible.  The Church is shown to have an authoritative word and deed for the world that speaks to the nature of Christ.  The references to a hierarchy is in itself one of the many aspects that communicate a kind of order for maintaining and passing on the deposit of faith.  How it is explained in this section is very reassuring to me.

The Church is missional in this section by the references to being a light to the world.  It is shown to be a light repeatedly in this section through love.  The best example is in paragraph 826 in how God’s love is fully elaborated upon.  The power of God’s love to the world that is glued continually and increasingly to extend God’s love to the world means the world to me.  My impression from this passage is that a good case is made that the best environment for the love of God to be fostered and explained is in the Catholic Church unlike any of my prior Christian traditions.

Crossing The Tiber– Three Years Later and Going Strong

It is an interesting divide at times since I became a Catholic.  There are some in my professional field of social work/counseling that would see me as a cultural throwback and obstinate to change.  My brothers and sisters in Christ in the Protestant communities would say that I have gone way back to Mosaic law and yet that I would attempt to not be in a black and white Christianity.

One such well meaning brother I will call Bob would like to see me come back into the light and see things clear.  The catalyst for this letter is that he wanted me to respond on the verse “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father but through me” (John 14:6).  I did not want to respond to this on my iPhone.  I also thought about how we do not communicate with each other as well as I wish.  That is me with him but many of his other friends that are in the loop.  One of many things I hope to point to is the sense of mystery that God has in the Christian faith and particularly in the Catholic Church.  I also address below a sense of the need for the right authority on doctrinal matters.  Ultimately, I would say that if there is no standing authority to sort out what the Bible “clearly says” then I would have to question the Lord part in Jesus Christ.  After all, he said “upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”

Last, before my Protestant brethren read my retort below, please know that I appreciate what I got out of the Protestant communities over the years I was in them.  I learned to appreciate the Bible, I learned first about the power of community, prayer and the many roles of the Holy Spirit.  Most importantly I was first formed in my walk with Jesus there.  I do not wish to offend anyone.  But please know that if you still will not “cross the Tiber” into the Catholic Church that you will consider that we could be brothers in Christ right now.

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So now that I have time on my hands and the kids are quiet (by the way, I hope you and “Janet” had a Happy Easter), I can write out better on my response with my Mac rather than my iPhone.

A few things are coming to mind where it seems we are talking past each other.  The first is the role of Sacred Tradition (which lends itself to apostolic succession).  I immediately recoiled at the Catholic Church when I remembered that I would be heading into “the traditions of men” and that I “did not want to be religious”.

This worry dissipated after considering several things.

!: Protestants have about as many traditions as Catholics.  It’s just that Catholics are better at writing them down.

1: There are Traditions and there traditions.  I know a married priest in the Byzantine rite who does not personally do the rosary.  He is not against it.  It is just not his thing.  And they have rosaries in his rite.  The canon of the New Testament is an example of Tradition.  I assume you agree with that one.

2:  Christianity has survived for 2,000 years.  It survived until 402 when Pope Donasus ratified the canon.  But it did not do it alone.  Jesus set up a Magisterium with a line of succession and that line of succession including the popes discerned under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the Bible.

3:  You can deny that last premise.  But like RC Sprout said in that matter “We have a fallible list of infallible books”.  This is difficult.  Hebrews almost did not make it in.  The Epistle of Barnabas, 1 Clement and the Shepherd of Hermas almost did.  Maybe the apostasy had started already and those books are meant to be in.  I am a big fan of two of those non-canonical books but I trust the sovereignty of Jesus working through the Church that he has preserved from dogmatic error including the pope when he speaks ex cathedra.

4:  Just as I said about traditions are on both sides, there are magisteriums as well.  Below are leaders in these respective denominations who stated their cases of where the Bible is very clear.  Remember, I am not quoting people on the social fringe like David Koresh or the Westboro Baptist Church of Kansas.  Their titles and statements speak for themselves and show that sola scriptura is found wanting.

“The Bible clearly teaches, starting in the tenth chapter of Genesis and going all the way through, that God has put differences among people on the earth to keep the earth divided.” – Bob Jones III, defending Bob Jones University’s policy banning interracial dating/marriage. The policy was changed in 2000.

“The right of holding slaves is clearly established by the Holy Scriptures, both by precept and example.” – Rev. Richard Furman, first president of the South Carolina State Baptist Convention.

“People gave ear to an upstart astrologer who strove to show that the earth revolves, not the heavens or the firmament, the sun and the moon. This fool…wishes to reverse the entire science of astronomy; but sacred Scripture tells us that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, and not the earth.” – Martin Luther in “Table Talk” on a heliocentric solar system.

He added the word “alone” to Romans 3:28, to make it read “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith ALONE without the deeds of the law.  This was to buttress his new philosophy that we are “saved by faith alone.” He also kicked out 7 books of the Old Testament that he didn’t like – Sirach, Wisdom, Baruch, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Judith, and Tobit. These books were all included in the very first printed bible, the Gutenberg Bible, in the century before Luther was born. He also changed the nuanced meaning of other verses to make them more “German,” and more in line with Luther’s thinking of what God should have said. Imagine if some Pope did this!  The Protestants would be up in arms, and rightly so. But because Luther did it, and stuck it to the Catholic Church in the process, he gets a pass.

“If your Papist annoys you with the word (‘alone’ – Rom. 3:28), tell him straightway, Dr. Martin Luther will have it so:  Papist and ass are one and the same thing.  Whoever will not have my translation, let him give it the go-by: the devil’s thanks to him who censures it without my will and knowledge.  Luther will have it so, and he is a doctor above all the doctors in Popedom.”, from J. Dollinger, La Reforme et les resultants quelle a produits. (Trans. E. Perrot, Paris, Gaume, 1848-49), Vol III, pg. 138.

“Sometimes the Scripture declareth women and children must perish with their parents…We have sufficient light from the Word of God for our proceedings.” – Captain John Underhill, defending the Puritan decimation of the Pequot tribe.

“The evidence that there were both slaves and masters of slaves in churches founded and directed by the apostles, cannot be got rid of without resorting to methods of interpretation that will get rid of everything.” – Rev. Leonard Bacon, in defense of American slavery. (Christian ministers wrote nearly half of all defenses of slavery, often citing Scripture to make their case.)

“The Bible is the revealed will of God, and it declares the God-given sphere of woman. The Bible is, then, our authority for saying woman must content herself with this sphere…Who demand the ballot for woman? They are not the lovers of God, nor are they believers in Christ, as a class. There may be exceptions, but the majority prefer an infidel’s cheer to the favor of God and the love of the Christian community.”  – Rev. Justin Dewey Fulton in his treatise against women’s suffrage.

“Wherever we have the races mixed up in large numbers, we have trouble….These religious liberals are the worst infidels in many ways in the country; and some of them are filling pulpits down South.  They do not believe the Bible any longer; so it does not do any good to quote it to them.  They have gone over to modernism, and they are leading the white people astray at the same time; and they are leading colored Christians astray.  But every good, substantial, Bible-believing, intelligent orthodox Christian can read what the Word of God and know that what is happening in the South now is not of God.” – Bob Jones Sr., in his treatise against integration entitled, ‘Is Segregation Scriptural?’

Someone needs to be a body of interpretation.  Like the Protestant JND Kelly said about Moses, “Moses taught without error”.

Now this gets practical in what is called a theological normative.  This term applies to a doctrine or practice that is the norm but allows for God to work in a mysterious way.

“If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe that God has raised him from the dead you will be saved”.  Great! Hallelujah!  But what if you were born without a tongue?  Hell for you.  The thief on the cross did not know about the resurrection.  No belief?  Hell.

“It is appointed once to die…after that, the judgment”.  Amen!  Except what about Lazarus, the son of the widow of Nain, Jairus’ daughter and Dorcas?  It’s a miracle!  They have to be alive today!  We should find them.   Hope they speak English.

Now as to John 14:6.  “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father but through me.”  But how can an unborn baby or severely mentally disabled comes to God?  What if there is a mystical encounter with Christ that comes in the twinkle of an eye between life and death?  Then through that encounter with Jesus that we in our flesh can’t witness Jesus brings them to the Father with all their faculties intact.  This is why I have confidence that the three children I have lost are in heaven.  As a Catholic I have hope.  I see not under a God of law or the courthouse.  I have a God who is gracious yet holy.  If the day came that I embraced again your theology I would have to accept that my innocent children are in the lake of fire for all eternity.  I would then lose 7 books of the Bible, sacraments that were founded by Jesus in the scripture (I can give you verses if you wish) and by default embrace a Christianity that died after Carthage but was revived by an anti-Semite named Martin Luther.  I would also have to question if Jesus is Lord because then there is no evidence of this “True Church” between Carthage and Luther though Jesus said the gates of hell would not prevail.

As a member of the Body of Christ, my eyes are fixed on Jesus.  But my ears are not he successors to the apostles.  After a while in my discernment I was down to  Catholics, Orthodox and maybe Coptics.  Now I enjoyed all of Jesus’ grace and am more free to love God and love my neighbor standing on Jesus and “the church, the pillar and foundation of truth”.

Continuity of Good News

PARAGRAPHS 74-141 OF CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

1. What are the central themes or ideas the Catechism is communicating in this week’s readings?

The central themes communicated in the first week’s reading from the Catechism are about the existence of God and  the transmission of Sacred Tradition in harmony with the Magisterium and Sacred Scripture.  To compliment the manifold experience of the believer in those points, there is a brief introduction to proper biblical hermeneutics.

There is also an important theme of the believer responding in taking in the truth of the above and specifically regarding scripture. The tone is set for all in the Church to participate in the deposit of faith.

The Church “forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful. . . to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ (para.133).

It cannot be plainer than that.  And by using the quote from St. Jerome of the 4th century, one can see the responsibility the Catholic Church puts on people to study the Bible for themselves.

2. What does this contribute to our understanding of who God is, and who we are as His children?

This teaches us that the Church in the trifecta of the Magisterium, Tradition and Scripture stand as an ongoing instrument of proposing His enduring love in salvation to be accepted in the gospel.  This gospel is applicable to all peoples in all generations. The figurative translation of “catholic” is universal while the literal one is “according to the whole”.  In this reading there are indications of both definitions as they are appropriated in and through the Church founded and maintained by Jesus free from all dogmatic error as shown below.

The Father’s self-communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church: “God, who spoke in the past, continues to converse with the Spouse of his beloved Son. And the Holy Spirit, through whom the living voice of the Gospel rings out in the Church – and through her in the world – leads believers to the full truth, and makes the Word of Christ dwell in them in all its richness” (para.74).

The beautiful inference here is that the proposal of God’s love is in fatherly and nuptial language. I can anticipate later how liturgical language comes in as part of our response to the proposal.  This also contributes to my understanding of God where it involves proposing versus imposing.   And this proposition is best presented in the character of Christ as demonstrated in the Penn Jillete clip played in class.

3. What was it about these sections of the Catechism that resonated with me, personally?  Why?

Coming out of Protestantism there was a constant duel with either/or paradigms one God’s election and man’s free will in soteriology. However, I find the approach in these paragraphs of the CCC to be altogether holistic and with humility to the mystery of God’s grace.  But that is not to say that it is entirely a mystery.  The message in the Gospel is the unveiling of God’s nature and explicit in the flesh and blood historical Savior.

I would also like to highlight much of my entire Christian journey before and after becoming a Catholic has been centered in Acts 2:42.  In paragraph 84 of the CCC, I see an ideal of the early Church called to grow under the guardianship of the Magisterium.

The apostles entrusted the “Sacred deposit” of the faith (the depositum fidei),⁴⁵ contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, to the whole of the Church. “By adhering to [this heritage] the entire holy people, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the “teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” [Acts 2:42]. So, in maintaining, practicing and professing the faith that has been handed on, there should be a remarkable harmony between the bishops and the faithful (para. 84).

Reading this is a humbling blow to the restorationist man I used to be.  The part on “the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” is a verse (Acts 2:42) that I used to think I had figured out.  Now I read this and remember that my instructor points to the four sections of the Catechism of The Catholic Church and shows how they nail each of those line items of scripture.  When I consider how the Church has nailed those essentials continually for two thousand years I am humbled that I could have found Acts 2:42 in its proper implementation at a Catholic (or possibly Orthodox) parish down the street when I noticed this verse in 1989.

As I reflect on the “should” there, I am inspired all the more to at least be a bridge to ecumenism and hopefully be even more effective in seeing my separated brethren come into the fulness of the truth in the Catholic Church.

From my degree in the social sciences I would say there is no logical explanation that this institution would last for two thousand years against so much opposition and much less be able to guard the “Sacred deposit”  so well.  But it has.  The oak tree looks different from the seed but the DNA is the same.

As I write this in my beginning of a two year journey in the Kino Catechetical Institute, and possibly seven if I go towards the diaconate ministry, I can do no less than cover my mouth and ask for God to teach me all that I can proclaim his love.

Homework For The World

I am sharing my homework here.  I have started taking classes through the Kino Catechetical Institute with the Phoenix Catholic Archdiocese.  Some who read my blog have no faith in God, believe in Jesus but not the Catholic Church and some are fully involved Catholics.  Whatever your background I hope that seeing my response to the homework causes some to think and seek God.

I am glad to be in this class.  My 14-year old self would call the Catechism the third testament of the Bible.  I would be wrong but in the neighborhood of being right.

Coming out of Protestantism where there was a constant duel with either/or paradigms one God’s election and man’s free will in soteriology, I find the approach in these paragraphs of the CCC to be altogether holistic to the mystery.  But that is not to say that it is entirely a mystery.

I am becoming more reinforced in my belief that God has a footprint of his presence over the whole world where individual cultures will point back to him by the nuances of their cultural schemas.

In many ways, throughout history down to the present day, men have given expression to their quest for God in their religious beliefs and behavior: in their prayers, sacrifices, rituals, meditations, and so forth. These forms of religious expression, despite the ambiguities they often bring with them, are so universal that one may well call man a religious being:

From one ancestor [God] made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him – though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For “in him we live and move and have our being.”  (Catechism of The Catholic Church, paragraph 28, 1994)

The search for the “Unknown God” is powerful in that there are signposts in our cultures that makes us thirst for purpose in the God who created us.

In several paragraphs in this assignment of 26-to 140 there are comments about natural law.  Where I have a pre-existing question that I hope to have answered is: where the natural law’s ability to instruct end and divine grace through the Holy Spirit begin? And what is the heart of the Catholic Church in addressing the needs of those who have reaped the repercussions of disobeying natural law and instructing them on how to start again?  Though the paragraphs of this assignment point to the philosophy of conversion being possible, they point to only the beginning.

But I see much humility in the Catholic Church about the chasm between truths that can be comprehended and appropriated seamlessly and those truths that are to be aprehended in mystery and prayed about continually.

God transcends all creatures. We must therefore continually purify our language of everything in it that is limited, image-bound or imperfect, if we are not to confuse our image of God–“the inexpressible, the incomprehensible, the invisible, the ungraspable”–with our human representations. Our human words always fall short of the mystery of God (para.42, CCC).

Now as to the revelation of God’s will in Church that was also addressed; this is near and dear to my heart.  In my young adulthood I was consumed as a zealous Protestant to be a part of my cult that supposedly got back to the restoring of what the early church really was and could be again based on our supposed insights given by God.

Years later I am even more deeply blown away by the “punk-hood” of my youth when I read the following.

The apostles entrusted the “Sacred deposit” of the faith (the depositum fidei),⁴⁵ contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, to the whole of the Church. “By adhering to [this heritage] the entire holy people, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. So, in maintaining, practicing and professing the faith that has been handed on, there should be a remarkable harmony between the bishops and the faithful” (CCC, para. 84)

Reading this is a humbling blow to the restorationist man I used to be.  The part on “the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” is a verse (Acts 2:42) that I used to think I had figured out.  Now I read this and remember that my instructor points to the four sections of the Catechism of The Catholic Church and shows how they nail each of those line items of scripture.  And the Church has nailed those essentials continually for two thousand years.

From my degree in the social sciences I would say there is no logical explanation that this institution would last for two thousand years against so much opposition and much less be able to guard the “Sacred deposit”  so well.  But it has.  The oak tree looks different from the seed but the DNA is the same.

As I write this in my beginning of a two year journey in the Kino Catechetical Institute, and possibly seven if I go towards the diaconate ministry, I can do no less than cover my mouth and ask for God to teach me that I can proclaim his love.