Category Archives: Musings

Authority and Humility

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The first reading for today is from the Book of Wisdom (6:1-11), which at first blush you might think does not apply to you: “Hear, O kings, and understand; learn, you magistrates of the earth’s expanse! Hearken, you who are in power over the multitude and lord it over throngs of peoples!” Surely, the passage is for the high, mighty and powerful – not for the regular folks like us. Afterall it is a warning to kings and rulers that their power is not their own; it is given by God and therefore must be exercised according to His justice and mercy. But Scripture never speaks to one class of people alone. The Word of God always echoes in the hearts of those who listen with faith, and this passage holds a lesson for all of us who bear responsibility in any form — however small it may seem.

Parents exercise authority in the home; teachers shape minds; supervisors guide workers; parishioners model faith for one another. Each of us, in one way or another, is entrusted with responsibility over others — even if only in the form of how we speak, how we treat others, and how we witness to Christ in our words and actions.

The passage reminds us that authority, in any measure, is a trust, not a possession. “Authority was given you by the Lord,” the text says. This truth should remind us to be humble. Whatever talents, positions, or opportunities we have, they are meant for service, not self. The real test of greatness is not in how much control we have, but in how we use what we have been given for the good of others.

The Book of Wisdom also says: “The Lord of all shows no partiality… he provides for all alike.” This is both comforting and challenging. God’s justice is perfectly fair. He looks not at the size of our title or the wealth of our name, but at the faithfulness of our heart. That means the mother who patiently cares for her children, the worker who acts honestly when no one is watching, or the neighbor who helps quietly—these are the ones who live the wisdom of God in daily life.

For the “regular folks,” this reading becomes an invitation to live every small duty with great integrity. To remember that we too will be held accountable, not for ruling nations, but for how we loved, how we forgave, how we treated those who depended on us.

In that sense, the Book of Wisdom is not simply a warning—it’s a call to holiness in the ordinary. Because in God’s eyes, every act of justice, patience, or mercy, however small, participates in His kingdom.

May the Lord God, source of all wisdom, teach us to use whatever influence we have with humility and faithfulness. May we govern our own hearts according to his Word, that his justice and mercy may be known through us in our daily lives. Amen.

Image Credit: Parable of the Unjust Steward (A.N. Mironov), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Invitation

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In this day and age, we receive all manner of electronic invitations (evites): to meetings, parties, events and more. Upon receiving the invitation, are we excited? Were we just hoping for a day or evening off? Does this seem more obligatory than interesting? Do we have to rearrange schedules? Are hoping something more exciting comes along? We have choices – delete, never open, don’t answer, answer with regrets, or accept. And then come all the consequences of all those choices we make, intended or not. Does all this seem like a phenomenon of the internet age? Not really. It is as old as time and part of the gospel.

Just this weekend, All Saints and All Souls remind us that every human life receives the invitation to join God in the Kingdom. Every life is moving toward one of two destinations: either we sit at the banquet of the Lamb, or we stand outside by our own choice, occupied by other concerns..

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells of a great banquet prepared with care and generosity. The invitations go out, but one by one, the guests make excuses: a new field to inspect, oxen to test, a marriage to attend. All seem reasonable enough — yet in the end, each one chooses something else over the invitation of the King.

The Kingdom of God is not a casual opportunity to be accepted when convenient. It is a summons that demands a decision — now. The tragedy of the invited guests is not that they thought so little of the host, but that they preferred something else, something mundane, something profane. They allowed the good to become the enemy of the best. But we don’t do that, right? 

  • “Yes, I’ll pray more… once things calm down.”
  • “I’ll forgive… after I’ve had time to cool off.”
  • “I’ll follow You more closely… when life settles.”
  • “It’s an open invitation, right?  Let me get back to you.”

And the moment of grace passes. Life swallows you up. The seat prepared for you grows cold. One of the problems with procrastination is that it can make it harder to accept God’s call later, as you become accustomed to not listening. 

The saints we celebrated two days ago were ordinary people who simply said “yes” to God’s invitation — not someday, but today. They made room for the banquet of grace in the midst of work, family, suffering, and daily duty. The souls we prayed for yesterday are those still being purified of hesitation, learning to love God completely.

So today’s Gospel presses the same question upon us: When the Lord invites us — in prayer, in service, in conversion — do we respond, or do we delay?

To make a decision for Christ means to live each day as if the invitation has just arrived — because it has. Every Mass is a foretaste of that eternal banquet; every “Amen” at Communion is our RSVP to the feast of heaven.

The Feast of the Great King is ready today — not tomorrow, not a time when it’s convenient. The Gospel does not say, “Come when you can,” but “Come — everything is ready.” “Now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor 6:2)

May we not delay our response. May we say yes now — so that, when the great banquet is finally opened, our places will be waiting, and we will hear the words every saint has longed for: “Come, everything is ready.”

Image credit: St. Francis of Assisi via Canva.com | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Time, Tide and Formation

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419px-United_States_Naval_Academy_insignia_2

Since moving to Northern Virginia, I have been afforded the opportunity to connect with many of my classmates from the United States Naval Academy Class of 1974 – as well as an amazing array of graduates from classes before and after my time… these days, well after my time. There are two parishioners currently at USNA in the Class of 2027! Yikes!

There is an expression that “Time, Tide, and Formation wait for no person.” And there an inexorable march of time and markers along the way to help us remember. Not only meeting the new generation of midshipmen and commissioned Naval and Marine Officers, but also the passing of classmates.

Last year at our 50th Reunion we held a memorial service for our classmates who have passed away in the line of duty and in life. It was an interesting prelude to our celebration of All Souls Day this weekend. All Souls is a day when we remember all the faithful departed, known and unknown, whose souls are in the hands and mercy of God. Most often we focus on our family members and a small circle of intimate friends. But All Souls is a day we cast the net of our family and prayers much wider to souls known and unknown to us.

Certainly there is a very strong bond between Academy classmates, but in truth I did not know most of the 900 or so graduates. One’s sphere is generally limited to the Company of men with whom you lived for four years, people in your academic major, and perhaps your sports team. In my case, swimming was a year-round sport making my world even smaller.   Though I did not know (or could not remember) many names on the memorial list, it was still sobering to read the list of classmates who has passed away. One of my roommates was on the list; he passed away while I was living in Kenya. Many of the early deaths were aviators whose career was certainly higher risk than life in submarines. As we aged into our late 40s and into our 50s the list began to acquire more names and the causes of death more connected to our age than our military careers.

Yesterday classmates and friends gathered to celebrate the life of Rich Johnson. He was my roommate sophomore year (“youngster year” in the parlance of USNA) along with Tom Rathbone. Rich served as a Naval Flight Officer (NFO) – think of Goose in the backseat of Maverick’s jet fighter in “Top Gun.” In fact, Rich attended Top Gun as an NFO. I should have asked his wife Sarah if he serenaded her with “Great Balls of Fire.”

As I sat in the church, in the quiet, the words of the Second Eucharistic prayer came to mind. It comes just after we have prayed: “Remember also our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection.” In a way, we recall the good people known to us in this lifetime. But what about the ones we did not know? I am comforted by the words as the Eucharistic Prayer continues: “and all who have died in your mercy: welcome them into the light of your face. Have mercy on us all, we pray.” The souls of all the departed are in the hands and mercy of God. They are in our prayers.

May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, though the mercy of God, rest in peace.

The Foundation

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The gospel for today’s Feast of St. Simon and Jude is the simple list of the Apostles as given in the Gospel of Luke. Early Christian writers and later stories link Simon and Jude as missionary partners, evangelizing together in Persia (modern Iran) or Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) where they suffered martyrdom together. For this reason, their feast days were merged very early on.

On this feast day, my attention was drawn to the first reading: “So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.” (Eph 2:19-20)  Specifically, I thought about the way St. Paul used the term foundation. In 1 Cor 3:11, St. Paul writes: “for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ.” And what are we to make of Matthew 16:18 – “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”  That sounds pretty foundational.

It caught my attention because of the way different Christian denominations understand and misunderstand the Scriptural use of the same word as well as the broader metaphor of “building” the spiritual life in Christ. Consider 1 Peter 2:5 – “...like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” The “spiritual house” clearly needs a foundation.

In New Testament writings we see the foundation described in Ephesians as  the Apostles (New Covenant witnesses of Christ’s resurrection) and the Prophets (usually understood either as Old Testament prophets or Christian prophets active in the early Church).  In this view the foundation represents the historical and revelatory basis upon which the Church is built. Christ is the keystone or cornerstone, the essential aligning and sustaining element. The Apostles and Prophets are the human instruments through whom the divine revelation and structure of the Church are communicated.

Other scripture points to Christ as the only foundation: “According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 3:10-11) Here, Christ himself is the sole and irreplaceable foundation and the subsequent building (the Church’s growth and ministries) is built upon that foundation. Whereas Ephesians emphasizes apostolic tradition and continuity, Corinthians stresses Christ’s primacy.

In the letter to the Hebrews we read: “Therefore, let us leave behind the basic teaching about Christ and advance to maturity, without laying the foundation all over again: repentance from dead works and faith in God, instruction about baptisms and laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.” (Heb 6:1-2). Here, the foundation is doctrinal, not personal. It refers to the basic tenets of Christian faith and practice. The metaphor casts the foundation as the core teaching that allows growth toward spiritual maturity.

In the Book of Revelation we read: “The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” (Rev 21:14)  This usage takes the eschatological image of the new Jerusalem as permanently built upon the apostolic foundation. Christ is the Lamb, but the Apostles are the named foundational stones — indicating the enduring authority and witness of apostolic teaching in the Church’s eternal form.

What does this all mean? It is what the Catholic Church has always proclaimed: the ultimate foundation of the Church is Christ Himself — the one in whom revelation, salvation, and unity originate. In his human lifetime Jesus was the means of communication, the teaching, eschatological fulfillment and “continuity.” After his death and resurrection, the foundation in the world rests on the teachings and story of Jesus, but now continuity is dependent upon the sure transmission of the faith via the Apostles and those appointed by them. This apostolic foundation refers to the instrumental mediation of the revelation of Jesus. They are the foundation through whom Christ’s word and authority are transmitted. They are the foundation in witness and structure.

The Church is the sure means by which you “...like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 

Image credit: Flevit super illam (He wept over it) | Enrique Simonet (1892) | Museo del Prado, Madrid | Wikimedia Creative Commons | PD-US

Becoming what we watch

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Freya India posted an interesting article on “The Free Press” website (and on her substack channel also). The basic premise is that what we watch on TV or stream is wasting our lives on mindless entertainment – but more than that some lives are becoming mindless entertainment for others as people post their lives in images and video on all manner of social media … all for the clicks. It was an interesting read. Enjoy.

“Why look good without getting a selfie; why go out without uploading an Instagram Story?” writes Freya India. (Illustration by The Free Press)
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Adoption into Glory

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For more than a week we have been reading from The Letter to the Romans.  We transitioned from hearing about Abraham as an example of faith working its way through human imperfection to the source of that imperfection: sin. “Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death.” (Rom 5:12) The readings that followed traced the unfolding of the consequences of sin unleashed into the world. But St. Paul offers us hope in the person of Jesus Christ. “…just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous.” (Rom 5:18-19)  St. Paul is making the point that now it is the obedience of the faith that keeps us on the path of righteousness as an antidote to the death brought about by sin.

That obedience is necessary because we live in a world where temptation roams unrestrained emerging from an evil that St. Paul describes as an entity seeking to corrupt the good of the world and people so that we experience death rather than glory. Evil seeks to reign over all, and rob us of the glory God intended for us. It is as St. Peter (1 Peter 5:8), evil is on the prowl and means to devour you. And it is not just you. It is as Paul describes in Romans 8, “…creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Rom 8:21). The whole world waits for us to accept our adoption as daughters and sons of God. That acceptance brings us into the presence of God.

Being in the presence of God is a big deal, as big as it comes. Being in God’s presence was lost in Eden and perhaps the rest of Scripture can be thought of as God’s efforts to restore us to that intimate presence afforded to the family of God.

What could keep us from that presence? In the language of the Old Testament it is because something has rendered us “impure” in that we have come in contact with Death. Death that entered the world through the sin of one man. The Book of Leviticus has two whole sections on ritual and moral purity. Leviticus provides rituals of thanksgiving and atonement with one purpose in mind: that we be mindful that we worship the God of Life – Life that is meant to be whole, complete, and without the corruption of decay. Life that is meant to be lived in the presence of God. Life that is Holy as God is Holy.

In the Old Testament, there were regulations to keep the faithful from contact with that which would make them impure and not ready to enter into the presence of God. These regulations were designed so the impurity of forbidden things (e.g., a corpse) would not “infect” the person. The rituals were to restore the person.

In the New Testament, Jesus reaches across those regulations to touch the ritually impure. The lepers, the blind, and in today’s gospel, the woman who was “crippled by a spirit” and as a result was so “bent over” that she was “completely incapable of standing erect.”

Jesus reached out to touch her. Was Jesus made corrupted and rendered impure? No, his holiness “infected” the woman, removing that which was never desired or intended by God. Now she stands upright, a child of God, an heir to the glory of God. 

Now she may draw near into the presence of God as the taint of death has been removed.

May we realize that in this Eucharist we are again touched by Jesus that we may be made holy and live fully in the presence of God. We are “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ … that we may also be glorified with him.”

Image credit: Healing of the Crippled Woman. By Theophylact, Byzantine Archbishop of Ochrid and Bulgaria. 1055 AD | PD USA

Through One Man: Sin and Death

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In today’s first reading our selection from The Letter to the Romans moves on from its prior focus on Abraham as a model of trust/belief/faith even when he has moments of doubts. Moving ahead to Chapter 5, St. Paul now takes on the matter of sin and death. Paul’s claim that “Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death” would have been nothing new to anyone familiar with Genesis chapters 2-3 and the Jewish understanding of those chapters. This “man” is, of course, Adam, whose very name means “man.”

Throughout Romans Chapter 5 and well into Chapter 8, Paul attributes to “sin” a very active role: 

it “reigns” (5:20; cf. 6:13, 14), can be “obeyed” (6:16–17), pays wages (6:23), seizes opportunity (7:8, 11), “deceives,” and “kills” (7:11, 13). In a word, he personifies sin, picturing it as a power that holds sway in the world outside Christ, bringing disaster and death on all humanity. Through this personification, Paul shows that individual acts of sin constitute a principle, or “network,” of sin that is so pervasive and dominant that the person’s destiny is determined by those actions. In the present instance, then, the “sin” that enters the world is more than an individual sin; it is the bridgehead that paves the way for “sinning” as a condition of humanity. The fact that Paul attributes to Adam this sin is significant since he certainly knows from Genesis that the woman, Eve, sinned first (cf. 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:14). [Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, 1996; p.319]

The verse above is incomplete. The entire verse reads: “and through sin, death, and thus death came to all men, inasmuch (houtōs) as all sinned.” The word houtōs is one of those words that depending on how it is translated has lots of different implications. Remember it is all tied to the expression “through one man.” That being said, the majority of commentators think that “houtōs” draws a comparison between the manner in which death came into the world—through sin—and the manner in which death spread to everyone—also through sin. The implications are death is universal because sin is universal: “all sinned.”

But it is not the only possible rendering. Perhaps the most famous alternative is the translation “in whom,” adopted by Augustine and others. For, assuming that “the one man” is the antecedent of the pronoun, we have then an explicit statement of “original sin”: “in Adam all sinned.” St. Paul’s single verse has resulted in centuries of debate and caused deep divisions among Christians over the “transmission of original sin.”

However, St. Paul’s main interest is not to talk about sin or death, but rather to draw a contrasting picture of Adam and Christ, prominent figures of the beginning and the end time respectively. Adam is a “prototype” of the person to come, namely, Jesus, who would far surpass what Adam did. The world was changed by both of these individuals.

Adam unleashed an active hostile force into the world (sin), which had the power to cause definitive alienation (death) from God, the source of all life, inasmuch as or because all individuals have sinned through personal, actual deeds (v. 12). Thus death has two causes in human existence: Adam’s sin and personal ratification of that deed by individuals who sin. This was Adam’s effect on the world. In contrast, Christ’s effect is starkly different. Through the gracious gift, namely, the redemptive death of Jesus Christ uprightness and life superabound for all individuals who accept him. [Collegeville Bible Commentary, 1989, p.1086]

Debates aside, it is good to remember sin and death are real, but more real are grace and eternal life found in Christ as Lord and Savior.

Image credit: Pexels + Canva, CC-BY-SA 3.0

Trust and Human Imperfection

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“How could God listen to me after all that I have done?” Not an uncommon question asked of priests. The person asking is a sinner…and a saint…a complex person. Today’s first reading is from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, one of the most challenging and complex of all the New Testament books – and addresses an equally complex character in the person of Abraham. Known for his unwavering faith in God he is a person who is not always righteous and forthright; a person who sometimes acts in ways not in accord with the will of God. Consider some moments in the story of Abraham.

Early in his journey, Abraham doubted God’s promise of protection, which led him to lie about his wife Sarah being his sister to Pharaoh in Egypt, putting her in a compromising position. This act showed a lack of trust in God’s ability to protect them.  And this tale was repeated to King Abimelech making one wonder about his honesty and trust in God.

Both Abraham and Sarah laughed when God promised them a child in their old age. While this laughter can be seen as a natural reaction to an incredible promise, it also reflects a degree of doubt or disbelief, a lack of trust that led to actions reflecting that doubt.  At Sarah’s urging Abraham had a son via Sarah’s maidservant, Hagar. He essentially took on a concubine who bore Abraham’s son, Ishmael. The rivalry between Sarah and Hagar, and their descendants, the Israelites and the Ishmaelites, persisted for generations – even to this day.

Abraham’s negotiation with God over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah could be considered his hesitation to accept God’s judgment without question.

That is one side of the ledger. Abraham’s choices for and with God are a far longer list and one might say, on balance, Abraham “did good” and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Except it isn’t a ledger. 

It is a story that serves as a testament to the idea that faith can coexist with human imperfection. Abraham’s journey, marked by both faith and human flaws, is a central narrative in the Book of Genesis. It is as St. Paul notes it is not about the works, even when called for by God. It is not about the failings – for St. Paul notes, quoting the Psalms: “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not record.”

It is a story to accept the grace to trust in the One who can justify even the ungodly. It is a story about accepting the grace to take action in the world. It is a story about accepting the grace of forgiveness. It is a story about trusting and continuing the journey.

That’s how God can listen to us after all we have done.

Image credit: Pexels + Canva, CC-BY-SA 3.0

Jesus: …will He find faith on earth?

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The gospel for the 29th Sunday, the parable of the “Unjust Judge and the Persistent Widow,” concludes with: 7 Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? 8 I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Jesus’ comments make clear the intended parallels: from an unjust judge to God; from the widow to God’s elect.  The term “his chosen ones” (hoi eklektoi), used in Luke-Acts only here, echoes texts such as Isa. 42:1; 43:20; 65:9, 15, 22; Ps. 105:6, 43 (cf. Sir. 47:22), which use the term “chosen” in a context that emphasizes election to serve Yahweh (also refers to Deut. 4:37; 7:7; 1 Chron. 16:13; Ps. 77:31; 88:3). 

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The Widow

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The gospel for the 29th Sunday is the parable of the “Unjust Judge and the Persistent Widow.” Language and etymology can tell us a lot. The word chḗra, meaning “widow,” derives from a root meaning “forsaken.” Widows are associated with others who are disadvantaged, e.g., orphans, aliens, or day laborers. They suffer wrongs (Is. 10:2) or loss of rights (1:23). They are held in low esteem (54:4); cf. their special clothes (Gen. 38:14). Yet the OT enjoins all the righteous to be kind to widows. God is their refuge, and he helps them to their rights (Ps. 146:9; Dt. 10:18). He threatens judgment on those who wrong them and promises blessing to those who assist them (Ex. 22:21ff.; Jer. 7:6)

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