"However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children's children." Dt 4: 9
The word tradition is from the Latin verb tradere, which means to hand over. It is an important word for Catholics because we insist that there are two fonts of revelation, scripture and tradition. Scripture alone, without an official commentary, can easily be misunderstood. At the same time, the less than careful use of tradition can become oppressive. Scripture and tradition are the two fountains out of which our faith flows.
Furthermore, when we read the scripture in concert with our Tradition, we should always remember that God's revelation is intended to set us free, not bind us up. Our Jewish brothers and sisters often say that the Talmud, or the commentary on the Bible, is like a fence. The intent of the commentary is to protect the integrity of the word in much the same way that our Constitution protects the vision of the founding fathers. Tradition lets us know we are on the right path, but it is more like a compass than a map.
Tradition is the compass we hand onto our children to guide and console them. In the light of our Tradition, they are challenged to become the living word of God by embodying the best of who we are as Catholics, and discover ever new ways to proclaim God's Good News in the changing world within which we all find ourselves.
Today, be the tradition. Be transparent in your love for Jesus Christ.
Who was your most important teacher about matters of faith?
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Forgiveness
"You should know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue which you set up.” Dn 3:18
The remarkable story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego always lifts my spirit. Thrown into a raging fire because they refused to to worship King Nebuchadnezzar's God or the golden statue he made, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego assure the king that their God will protect and save them even if he allows them to die in the fire. That they are protected from the fire, while spectacular, is almost incidental because they are living the simple truth that saints have always insisted upon. They serve God, pray and care for the needy, not to be successful, but to be faithful, and it is the failure to live faith in this way that condemns the servant in today's gospel who, after being forgiven a large debt, refuses to forgive his fellow servant in a small matter.
God protects, God forgives and God sets us free over and over to begin again. Made in God's image, we are to save one another from the "fire" of shame that reduces people to objects of need, rather than subjects of our compassion. If God is compassionate, understanding and accepting, so must we have hearts of kindness and mercy
Today, offer someone who cannot repay you an ear of compassion.
Has anyone ever stood with you in suffering without judgment?
The remarkable story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego always lifts my spirit. Thrown into a raging fire because they refused to to worship King Nebuchadnezzar's God or the golden statue he made, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego assure the king that their God will protect and save them even if he allows them to die in the fire. That they are protected from the fire, while spectacular, is almost incidental because they are living the simple truth that saints have always insisted upon. They serve God, pray and care for the needy, not to be successful, but to be faithful, and it is the failure to live faith in this way that condemns the servant in today's gospel who, after being forgiven a large debt, refuses to forgive his fellow servant in a small matter.
God protects, God forgives and God sets us free over and over to begin again. Made in God's image, we are to save one another from the "fire" of shame that reduces people to objects of need, rather than subjects of our compassion. If God is compassionate, understanding and accepting, so must we have hearts of kindness and mercy
Today, offer someone who cannot repay you an ear of compassion.
Has anyone ever stood with you in suffering without judgment?
Monday, March 12, 2012
Truth
"They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong." Lk 4:30
The setting of today's gospel is astounding. Imagine it. Jesus, preaching in his hometown synagogue, has been very direct with his neighbors, castigating them for not accepting him as a prophet, and reminding them that other prophets suffered the same fate. Hurt and angry at what they perceived as a slight, his community drives him out of town. Were they literally chasing him, forcing him to run away? Would they have actually hurled him over the hill and into oblivion? The gospel tells us that Jesus was able to slip through the crowd and escape. It almost sounds like a James Bond movie. People intent on murder, which was not justified by the Torah or Roman law, and the prophet finding a way to avoid capture.
Clearly, the gospel writer wants his readers to know how much danger Jesus was willing to submit to in order to do his Father's will, and how angry the crowds were with him. Truth can do that to people. Truth drove Jesus to tell the truth, and the truth about their unwillingness to change so upset the people that they drove him out of town.
When we don't listen to common sense, to the law of God and to our own best instincts, when we refuse to listen to those with whom we disagree or dislike, we risk not hearing and responding to the God who lives at the center of every ordinary event and moment of our lives.
Today, listen to someone who annoys you.
Are there any difficult people or situations from whom you learned more than you expected?
The setting of today's gospel is astounding. Imagine it. Jesus, preaching in his hometown synagogue, has been very direct with his neighbors, castigating them for not accepting him as a prophet, and reminding them that other prophets suffered the same fate. Hurt and angry at what they perceived as a slight, his community drives him out of town. Were they literally chasing him, forcing him to run away? Would they have actually hurled him over the hill and into oblivion? The gospel tells us that Jesus was able to slip through the crowd and escape. It almost sounds like a James Bond movie. People intent on murder, which was not justified by the Torah or Roman law, and the prophet finding a way to avoid capture.
Clearly, the gospel writer wants his readers to know how much danger Jesus was willing to submit to in order to do his Father's will, and how angry the crowds were with him. Truth can do that to people. Truth drove Jesus to tell the truth, and the truth about their unwillingness to change so upset the people that they drove him out of town.
When we don't listen to common sense, to the law of God and to our own best instincts, when we refuse to listen to those with whom we disagree or dislike, we risk not hearing and responding to the God who lives at the center of every ordinary event and moment of our lives.
Today, listen to someone who annoys you.
Are there any difficult people or situations from whom you learned more than you expected?
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Anger
"He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables." Jn 2:15
Few gospel scenes are more dramatic than Jesus chasing the money changers out of the temple precincts, and with good reason. Jesus was angry, an emotion we rarely associate with him or Christianity, despite the fact that it is almost always anger that brings about change in a society. It was anger over taxation without representation that spurred the American revolution, and it is anger at oppressive regimes that is turning North Africa and the Middle east into hotbeds of change. Though uncomfortable, anger is an important emotion for all to feel.
Jesus is not angry that people are making a small profit exchanging one currency for another. His anger is at those who charge whatever they can get from pilgrims, most of whom were surely poor. In the Palestine of Jesus' day, pilgrims would come to the temple once in their life from all over the known world. If they were Greek, they would have to change their drachmas into shekels and then when they arrived at the temple they would have to change their shekels into temple shekels, and this last exchange was often usurious. Money changers, knowing those seeking temple shekels were not about to turn away from an impossible rate of exchange, would charge whatever their unsuspecting victims would pay. That this might mean the pilgrims and their families would not eat properly that day meant little to the moneychangers. Their profit ruled their consciences.
While all of us expect to pay more for basic services, like food and drink, when we visit a shrine or monument, gouging is never acceptable. That Jesus would defend those being abused by unscrupulous business men reminds us to do the same on behalf of the poor. Injustice and oppression, especially against the poor, is never o.k. Anger that leads to transformation is.
Today, examine your conscience regarding the practices you might employ to gain leverage over others.
Has the anger and outrage of others ever moved you to change?
Few gospel scenes are more dramatic than Jesus chasing the money changers out of the temple precincts, and with good reason. Jesus was angry, an emotion we rarely associate with him or Christianity, despite the fact that it is almost always anger that brings about change in a society. It was anger over taxation without representation that spurred the American revolution, and it is anger at oppressive regimes that is turning North Africa and the Middle east into hotbeds of change. Though uncomfortable, anger is an important emotion for all to feel.
Jesus is not angry that people are making a small profit exchanging one currency for another. His anger is at those who charge whatever they can get from pilgrims, most of whom were surely poor. In the Palestine of Jesus' day, pilgrims would come to the temple once in their life from all over the known world. If they were Greek, they would have to change their drachmas into shekels and then when they arrived at the temple they would have to change their shekels into temple shekels, and this last exchange was often usurious. Money changers, knowing those seeking temple shekels were not about to turn away from an impossible rate of exchange, would charge whatever their unsuspecting victims would pay. That this might mean the pilgrims and their families would not eat properly that day meant little to the moneychangers. Their profit ruled their consciences.
While all of us expect to pay more for basic services, like food and drink, when we visit a shrine or monument, gouging is never acceptable. That Jesus would defend those being abused by unscrupulous business men reminds us to do the same on behalf of the poor. Injustice and oppression, especially against the poor, is never o.k. Anger that leads to transformation is.
Today, examine your conscience regarding the practices you might employ to gain leverage over others.
Has the anger and outrage of others ever moved you to change?
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