Getting to Know You

In the readings for tomorrow's daily Mass, the Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas,  we continue our survey of the second book of Samuel.   In this particular reading we see King David's response to God's promise to him.  God has just promised him an everlasting kingdom, that David's throne will last forever.  David wanted to build a house for God, but instead God built an eternal home for David!  We see David as the quintessential king of the Jewish earthly Kingdom.  Scripture claims that David was a man after God's own heart. (Acts 13:22)  This particular pericope shows us exactly why.  David's response is not to gloat, his response is not to cheer and brag;  no, David responds with great humility.  He wonders in a prayer of thanksgiving who he is, or who his family is that God has even allowed them to come this far, let alone make such a generous and merciful offer to him.   He prays for his people.  He submits himself to God's will completely, proclaiming God's words to be truth and life.

David realizes as the Church proclaims today that God's word is truth.   It can be trusted.   It does not return to him void, but it accomplishes the task for which it was sent. (Isaiah 55:11, CCC 215)   That's because God himself is truth.  He doesn't just have that characteristic, but he is the source of all truth.  (CCC 2465)  That is why we as Catholics do not believe in relativism.  We believe that truth itself is static, it does not change.  That's because truth exists outside of ourselves.  If it only existed inside of us, as some sort of intellectual endeavor, then every person is right.   That would mean believe that Hitler, Bundy, Stalin, etc. were all right in their actions.  Their belief that people should be murdered was truth... it just wasn't our truth.  "You do you, and I'll do me" the kids say.  "We will agree to disagree."  "Your truth is yours, but I believe...."  That is a dangerous slope.  One I do not wish to tread down.

Jesus gives us another way.  He tells us in the Gospel that the light of God cannot be hidden under a basket, but that God's word must be placed like a city on a hill, for all the world to see.  God's truth is not something that is hidden, it's not some Gnostic truth that can only be found with the right words, right rituals, or right amount of intelligence.  Rather, God's truth is evident through reason, logic, and rational thought.  Nature itself calls out to the existence of God and to the basic truths of our universe.  God has given us a Natural Law, one that calls out to not only his existence, but to an order.... It calls out to a static truth, a source of truth outside the human experience, a truth that says some things are just wrong... period.. no matter who does them, no matter what they believe... It says that in essence, it doesn't matter what your opinion or my opinion is.. the truth is not affected by opinion.. but exists in and of itself.

Saint Thomas Aquinas saw this miraculous nature of the universe and spent a great deal of his life studying and writing about it.   His genius has formed the philosophical nature of our faith as we have come to know it today, and has been a major influence on mankind.  He was indeed a light for God, shining throughout time to lead people to the truth.  He worked tirelessly to explore proof of God through scientific and philosophical means, and indeed wrote many documents proving just that. As a Protestant I believed in Scripture Alone... oh, how sad that must make the Father when he has given us such beautiful insight into his nature throughout the ages.  Two thousands years of writing completely ignored, reason and logic out the window, a church pushed to the side out of ignorance.. yes, a city on a hill that Luther tried to put a basket over.

You see, the Catholic church sees dogma as a light along the path of faith, a light to illuminate our path and make our footing secure. (CCC 89) God shines his light into the darkness and nothing is hidden from it.  There is a catch though.  In order for us to be the light of the world, we must come into a closer union with Christ.  It is a shame when the love of Christ is hidden behind a lukewarm spirituality.  His heart must ache terribly at all the grace that is refused by his children out of their own free will.  We must find a way to express that light, to bring that heart out into the world.  It finds its fullest expression in mercy, peace and love.

Those were the qualities of King David that God saw as a heart after his own.  A merciful, peaceful, loving King.  You and I are baptized as Priest, Prophet and King.  Jesus Christ is the epitome of that role.  Thomas Aquinas saw him as the ultimate end, the meaning to all things.  If you want to understand peace?  Look at Christ on the cross.  You want to understand joy?  Look at Christ on the cross.  You want to understand the beatitudes?  Look at Christ on the cross.  You want to understand patience?  Look at Christ on the cross.  You want to understand mercy?  You guessed it, Christ on the cross... Obedience.. humility... despising earthly things... detachment.. all found in this one man, this one figure, this one God.  

Whoever wishes to live perfectly should do nothing but disdain what Christ disdained on the cross and desire that which he desired, for the cross exemplifies every virtue.  (Collatio 6 super Credo in Deum)

Aquinas saw the glory of who God was.  He wrote volumes upon volumes about the mystery of God.  In the end though, he came to realize that God was so much more than we can describe with mere words.  God is so immense, so beyond understanding that Saint Thomas declared before his death when asked to continue writing he simply stated "I cannot, because all that I have written seems like straw to me."  At that point Thomas had gone beyond the point of trying to capture God in mere words, and sought only Christ himself.  He desired only one thing for all his labor, Jesus.

We have much to learn.  Knowledge is indeed important.  St. Jerome said "Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." (CCC 133) We need to spend time with the written word of God in order to understand who God truly is.  Reading the writings of Saint Thomas and the early Church Father's is a worthwhile endeavor, something we should all strive for.   The wealth of information there is something beyond value, something that should never been hidden or taken lightly.  However, the goal is not knowledge.. it's relationship.  The goal is Christ himself.  It's not getting ot know an equation, but a person.   It's not memorizing a text, but having a conversation. 

Jesus taught his disciples in parables.  Those parables were not intended to be hidden and coveted as a knowledge that only a select few were given.  Rather, they were to become the teaching of his Church.  His Church is here to lead us, to guide us, to teach us... but more especially to bring us into relationship with the God of the universe.  That's what the Sacraments are all about.  That's what the Eucharist is all about.   Book learnin' can only take us so far.. we must spend time with Him.. we must receive Him.. we must listen directly to Him.  That is why the Sacred Scriptures declare that the Church is the pillar and source of truth (1 Timothy 3:15), and the Church in turn declares that the Eucharist is the source in summit of our faith(CCC 1324), because in the end this is about a marriage... between God and man.  You have been invited to that great wedding feast, as both a guest, and as a member of the bride..... In the end, it's all about Christ!  Do you know your husband?  Do you know your Lord?  It's time to get whatever is standing in the way out of the way, to look up at Him during the Mass and say "Lord, I believe.  Help my unbelief."  (Mark 9:24)

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

Wlil we ever learn?

The more I study scripture, the more I realize how we humans seem to repeat the same patterns over and over.  The Israelites of the old testament consistently came back to God.. but then as soon as they got comfortable... fell off again to do other things. An endless cycle of falling away, hearing God's call, coming back.. then falling away again.

It's easy to judge them harshly isn't it?  Looking back we see how stupid it is to do that.. but then when we look at our own lives, we find that same pattern.  After a disaster like 911, the pews are full.   People come looking for answers.  Looking for comfort.  Looking for hope.   They stay for a while, but eventually it begins to dwindle again.  They go back to their lives, their comforts, their 'joys.'   The same with all of us really.   Even those of us who continue go to church find ourselves in ruts.  We find ourselves in the pew becoming mechanical for a while.   Then we go on a retreat weekend, have some of those nice mountain top experiences, and then we are charged for a while.  Then that 'buzz' begins to fade and we go back to our old ways.

Saint Paul in the first reading for tomorrow talks about this.  He talks about how hard it is to not sin.  That though our will is so very ready to do the right thing, we find ourselves falling away to do the other.   How that our mind and desires are at war with each other.   We know the right thing to do, but our flesh wants us to do the thing that feels good.  We want to listen to those things that entice our ears, eat those things that entice our pallets, touch those things that tickle our senses.   Then we fight with that desire trying to do the 'good' thing, and avoid the bad.  Then he cries out at the end of this dissertation "Who will deliver me from this mortal body?" Thanks be the God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

That's really where I find myself having the most trouble.  It's not that I don't know the right thing to do, my conscience is well informed.   It's not even that I am not making a commitment to do the right thing either.   I do truly and firmly mean it when I say in confession that I intend to change.  The real problem is when my ego gets in the way.   When I say "You know, I think I've finally beat this habit."  When I start feeling like my own personal discipline and effort has somehow made me a better person.  Rather, I agree with Saint Paul the Apostle, when he says: "I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh."

What I suggest though is a different way to overcome those sins.  (We all have them btw, that personal sin that we just can't seem to shake.  That thorn in our flesh that God does not take away.)  That sin that we constantly need to confess and repent of, and we keep trying to do better but failing... How do we overcome it?  We do resist it.  We do try to mentally and physically prepare ourselves to avoid it.  We avoid whatever occasion of sin that draws us to temptation.  Then we give it over to God, and ask him instead to 'get this.'   It's no longer me saying "I got this,"  but rather me saying "you got this." It's when I allow God's grace to flow through me via the sacraments, when I prayerfully look to God to cleanse me of my sin, and then work with him, not on my own.. but aligning my free will with His will that things begin to change. 

That to me is the meaning of Holiness.   To align our will with God.  To conform ourselves to Christ.  As the Psalm declares:

R. (68b) Lord, teach me your statutes.
Teach me wisdom and knowledge,
for in your commands I trust.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
You are good and bountiful;
teach me your statutes.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Let your kindness comfort me
according to your promise to your servants.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Let your compassion come to me that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Never will I forget your precepts,
for through them you give me life.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
I am yours; save me,
for I have sought your precepts.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.

Jesus reminds us in the Gospel that we have been given reason, logic, and the faculties to understand and make use of both.  He reminds us that we know what is right, why do we keep doing wrong and having to go the magistrates to solve our issues?  Rather shouldn't we just give it over to God and lower our ego, settle our petty differences and avoid any sort of prison?  What does this mean spiritually?  Are you looking for the signs?  Do you look to see if you are ready?  Do you examine your conscience daily?  And when you find that you've done something wrong?  Instead of waiting for the day of Judgement do you throw yourself at the feet of God, asking for his mercy now while on the journey, before you get to the 'court'?   Do you receive the sacraments regularly?  Confession?  These are our ways of settling now, by casting our sins down at the foot of the cross and allowing God to forgive our debt now.. because if we wait till the last day... well, it'll be too late to settle.  Get ready, be ready, stay ready. 

In Christ, His servant, and yours;

Brian

Are you ready? Are you sure?

A documentary I just watched talked about the beatitudes. How that each one called us to a further detachment from the world, and a radical attachment to God. Then it spoke about how happiness, true happiness, was doing God's will... All of that I believe and have thought of on some level...  In fact, detachment is such an appropriate word for how we as exiled children of God should see this world.

I believe sincerely that God created each man with a spiritual void in his heart, one that can only be filled when we are in communion with our God. Just like those little blocks we had as kids, with the ball or cube that had a hole for each one. The star went in the star shaped hole, the block went in the block shaped hole, the triangle in the triangle shaped, etc. We as humans often try to fill that hole with something other than God.. and just like when we were kids sometimes we could shove the triangle into the square shaped hole.. but it had to be beaten in.. and it never stayed comfortably. Sometimes we even had to dig and pry to get them back out.

Thomas Aquinas said there were four attachments in this world that we usually try to fill the void of God in our hearts with. Wealth, pleasure, power and honor. Four of the beatitudes (the negative ones) deal directly with those four things.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3) (wealth)

This one reminds us to not be attached to material things. It is not necessarily a call to radical poverty, nor a demonization of wealth. It is though a reminder that love for money is an evil, and that we must have the right attitude with money. We must be detached from it so that if we are blessed with it, we can reach out and bless others with it. We must have a radical gratitude that makes us want to share that blessing with others. Not so very common in our society.

“Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4) (pleasure)

Here again we see a powerful call to detachment! A detachment from pleasure. So often we think that we have to be comfortable, we have to be happy all the time. We then go out and try to take things in this world and make them make us happy. This doesn't mean that we have to be dour and taciturn, on the contrary, it means that when we are detached from personal pleasure we can begin to see pleasure in our lives by doing things for others, and by serving God. That we can be happy, comforted even, when we are suffering! That we can follow the will of God, even when it means suffering, without fear but with joy!

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land” (Matthew 5:5) (power)

Ah, in this video by Fr. Barron he described this in such a powerful way. That only when we are weak do we truly have power! Only when we are detached from wordly power, when we are meek indeed, can we get out of the way of God and let him work through us. As he phrased it, free from the addiction to ordinary power — you can become a conduit of true divine power to the world.  Think about that for a moment... we, mere humans, can become a conduit of grace into the world. When we are no longer seeking power... we then can be channels for divine power... wow!

“Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10) (honor)

The most difficult at all, at least from my perspective. It seems like society calls out to us to have 'honor'. They tell us to strive our best, to always come in first! Our society is so consumed with the concept of honor, that we even give trophies to the ones who come in last or ribbons to those who don't even try. How wonderful a person we must be when we can forget honor, forget reocgnition, forget our own personal comforts and desires.. and put God first? When we can go do whatever God asks, even when that path involves being ignored, dishonored, and, at the limit, persecuted


All of that above is powerful! It's amazing in it's simplicity! It points to Christ as our ultimate example. It's all something that I have pondered in my own words already in my life, though not as vividly or as beautifully as he phrased it. It was the next part of the video that blew me away. The next part that challenged me to be a better Catholic.. to be a better human being. I know we must be detached. I know we must put things in their right context and put God first... but look at this image:

Fr. Barron then contended that the man on the cross, is the ultimate example of the beatitudes. I have  for the last few years of study always concluded that Jesus was indeed the way to live the beatitudes.. his life, what he stood for, his words.. his actions.. But the image in my mind was always the 'happy' Jesus. The laughing man surrounded by children, the loving man breaking bread for 5000+, the praying man with his head covered in linen... all of these was the Jesus who was living the beatitudes to me...

But there he is.. the man.. the God... completely detached from all things. Wealth? He doesn't even have clothing! Power? He's nailed to a cross, he can't even move to defend himself... Pleasure? If you've seen the Passion of the Christ you and both know there can be no pleasure on the cross.. his broken body bleeding out, his torn flesh pressed against the splintering wood! His lungs gasping for breath, forcing him to pull himself upwards to breath.. all the while pulling his nerves against the nails of his hands... His worn and aching body hanging in the sun.. with nothing to drink, no comfort to be had.. no pleasure.. Honor? The soldiers were mocking him, he had been spit on, beaten and bloodied. He was suffering the death reserved for the most heinous of criminals.. for the murderers, rapists, and scoundrels. There was no honor in the cross.. at least on the surface...

So this man here had nothing left. He had none of the four shapes to drive into the God shaped hole in his heart, in his flesh.. but he didn't need it.. because there he hung on the cross.. doing the will of God.. He didn't need any of that, because the flesh that was human just like yours and mine, the human heart that needed something in it to be complete, that part of all of our human flesh that calls out to God for completion... was already complete... he already had God in his heart.. not just because he was God.. but because this man, this messiah... gave his flesh over completely to God's will.

There he hangs.. on the cross. A happy man... Are we strong enough to be happy? Are we strong enough to go through whatever it takes? Will we hang on the cross and stretch our arms out for love of God and one another? Will we respond to God's call until we have nothing left but love in our hearts?

The next time you go to the Eucharist, picture for a moment that what you are about to hold in your hands is that man, that God, who died such a horrible death.. with happiness in his heart.. not because of his contentment.. not because of his wealth, his power, or his honor.. all of which he could have had... all of which he had been offered!!! No the happiness in his heart was for YOU!   He is there with open arms, offering himself for all eternity for you and me. Will you accept that call? Will you in turn walk forward and give yourself completely to him? Will you once again take that oath as you place God in your body? That is what we are called to do... Are you ready for that? I pray I am ready. I pray not only that I am ready for it each time I step forward.. but that God will make me ready for it, and that he will help me to strive to live the life that he calls me to live!

His servant, and yours.

Brian