Very big week, intercessor- wise (need any mountains moved? Pray up!). Fr. Z's the bees knees for your Monica & Augustine needs. He's also got a good Augustinian sermon on John the B. Dig the marriage metaphor. If you want to understand the Church, you need to know something about Jewish marriage customs....Popery:
Sunday's Angelus tackled Christ's troubling-to-confront saying that we only enter heaven by the narrow door.
What does this "narrow door" mean? Why do many not succeed in entering through it? Is it a way reserved for only a few of the chosen?
Indeed, at close examination this way of reasoning by those who were conversing with Jesus is always timely: the temptation to interpret religious practice as a source of privileges or security is always lying in wait.
Actually, Christ's message goes in exactly the opposite direction: everyone may enter life, but the door is "narrow" for all. We are not privileged. The passage to eternal life is open to all, but it is "narrow" because it is demanding: it requires commitment, self-denial and the mortification of one's selfishness.
Calling yourself a Christian, going to Church, being a member of St. Blog's --these things are not talismans that get you in:
Jesus recalls further that it is not on the basis of presumed privileges that we will be judged but according to our actions. The "workers of iniquity" will find themselves shut out, whereas all who have done good and sought justice at the cost of sacrifices will be welcomed.
Thus, it will not suffice to declare that we are "friends" of Christ, boasting of false merits: "We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets" (Lk 13: 26).
True friendship with Jesus is expressed in the way of life: it is expressed with goodness of heart, with humility, meekness and mercy, love for justice and truth, a sincere and honest commitment to peace and reconciliation.
We might say that this is the "identity card" that qualifies us as his real "friends"; this is the "passport" that will give us access to eternal life.
Sigh. I wish I found that reassurance consoling. I so like my wide road. Speaking of which...
Yesterday's audience was a continuation in the series on the early church, with focus today on St. Gregory of Nyssa (brother to St. Basil). After a bit of biography, he gets to a kind of hymn to man, citing the saint:
"The sky was not made in God's image, not the moon, not the sun, not the beauty of the stars, no other things that appear in creation. Only you (human soul) were made to be the image of nature that surpasses every intellect, likeness of incorruptible beauty, mark of true divinity, vessel of blessed life, image of the true light, that when you look upon it you become that which he his, because through the reflected ray coming from your purity you imitate he who shines within you. Nothing that exists can measure up to your greatness" ("Homilia in Canticum" 2: PG 44,805D).
Take that, you who think the Church despises the body! The Pope continues, again citing Gregory:
"If, with a diligent and attentive standard of living, you will wash away the bad things that have deposited upon your heart, the divine beauty will shine in you. … Contemplating yourself, you will see within you he who is the desire of your heart, and you will be blessed" ("De Beatitudinibus," 6: PG 44,1272AB). Therefore, one must wash away the bad things that have deposited upon our heart and find again God's light within us.
- His Holiness also expressed solidarity with flood & fire victims --and condemned the Greek & Italian arsonists.
- And mourned the passing of Cardinal Gagnon.
- The Pope's going to Loreto next weekend.
- And to Austria the following one.
I must confess, I wasn't inclined to receive what Cardinal Daneels had to say very warmly, since I associate him mostly with his headline-making remarks about condom use and those afflicted by HIV. This, however, is a lovely interview. It's rare, for example, to hear --for wont of a better term-- a "liberal" Cardinal speak thus about celibacy:
Is it difficult to remain true to your vows?
“In itself it is not difficult to remain true. Not when your ideal, your life plan, is clear. If you put God absolutely above yourself and others. Those vows are symbolic. You are really saying that your life for Christ is worth more than money, passion, getting married, children, or power. It becomes more difficult when your ideal fades, when the inner vitality and dynamics are not there anymore.”
And:
The most talked about issue is still the vow of chastity. Does celibacy add extra value for you personally?
“Yes, of course. It is the expression of your putting God above everything. That you can dedicate yourself totally to him. That is a point of principle. There is also a practical element. Because by being celibate you have much more time to dedicate to your pastoral task. I’m not saying it is never possible to combine - doctors, for instance, also combine their family and a very demanding job, and there are good ministers who are also able to do that - but it does make everything more difficult”.
And:
Do you know what you are missing?
“Yes, of course. I cannot say it does not affect me, to miss a wife and children. If a man says he doesn’t care about those, I question that. I knew it in advance, and I had been informed beforehand. Yes, I miss that. But there are so many other things in life that you might have to miss. People always talk as though celibacy is the worst of the worst, but that is not true”.
And note carefully what he says about the Pope, ye Media Folk perpetually taken in by dissenters who claim there is no dialogue in the Church:
Could you think of circumstances in which you could not remain faithful to the pope?And who of a certain age doesn't agree with this shrewd remark?
“The obedience to the pope implicates also the frankness to say what you are thinking. And he is happy with that. Inside the church there is room for dialogue, more than you would think. I feel confident in that, and that is the reason I confide in him from time to time. Or ask: is that really necessary? Especially this pope, Benedict XVI, will respond to that. It is easy to have a conversation with him, man to man. But when he, after thinking it over, says that he wants to do things a certain way, than I accept that. Often I realize afterwards that he is right, that he has made me see things in a different way. It is therefore certainly not blind obedience”.
Are you also that faithful in your political preference?And finally: Welcome to Vatican Air. No holy water allowed.
“The vote is secret. But I have always been steadfast. Only the party changed its name at times (smiles).
- Afghanistan: Priest in charge of clergy in Afghanistan none too happy with SoKo's negotiations with the Taliban.
- South Korea's Bishop You Heung-sik overjoyed, however.
- Egypt: Samir Khalil Samir covers the effort of two converts to Christianity to have their conversion recognized --so their child can be raised Christian. Under Egyptian law, children “belong to the better religion”, i.e. Islam. That this is stated in a body of law explains the discrimination in question. For example, a Muslim woman does not have the right to marry a Christian man: since children belong to the father, their children would be “Christian.” Legislation as a whole is designed to Islamize.
- Vietnam: Missionaries from the Philippines are teaching English --via the Gospels on MP3s.
- Here's a good antidote to all the press suggesting Mother Teresa lost her faith just because she passed through a prolonged dark night of the soul. Um, not exactly, fellas. Quite the opposite in fact. (Note the date, too. Curtsy.)
- Sigh. The release of the final Harry Potter installment has re-ignited the Potter Wars. This piece comes the closest to expressing my own opinion on the matter. I don't agree with Fr.'s interpretation of the underlying philosophy, though he makes a good case. But his main point --that it's an open question, so we could try using our judgment instead of pronouncing anathemas one way or the other-- is refreshing. And charitable.
- Amnesty International hemorrhaging members because of its embrace of abortion. Even Christina Aguilera's mad.
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