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Daily Scripture

+ 5th Week in Ordinary Time

It still has meaning.

1 Kings 8:1-7, 9-13 Psalm 132:6-7, 8-10 Mark 6:53-56

The priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place beneath the wings of the cherubim in the sanctuary, the holy of holies of the temple. There was nothing in the ark but the two stone tablets which Moses had put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel. [1 Kings 8:6, 8]
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In recent years there has been much discussion in liturgical circles about the proper location of the tabernacle in the worship space. The directives implementing the Constitution on the Liturgy by the Second Vatican Council prescribed that the tabernacle be located in prominent location in the church or chapel, preferably in a chapel dedicated to the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament and appropriate for veneration. In any case, it was not to be located on the altar table used for the celebration of the Eucharist. As a result in many churches renovations, the tabernacle was moved to the ‘side altar’ previously used for the veneration of the Blessed Virgin or St. Joseph and in some churches, it was placed on the old altar previously used for Mass. In situations the old altar was replaced with a permanent pedestal on which the tabernacle was placed.

In liturgical matters, nothing is simple. Those of a more conservative disposition insisted that the location of the Tabernacle on the side altar reduced the status of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist thereby diminishing its meaning in the devotional life of the faithful. Others of a more liberal persuasion opined that in fact, the location in a separate chapel within the church assigned to the sacrament greater prominence thereby increasing the devotional aspect. Moreover, in as much as an emphasis of the ‘action’ of the Mass as the repetition of the “Lord’s Supper” was promoted by the Council, it seemed to liturgists that the location of the tabernacle in the main sanctuary behind the free standing Eucharist table would compete with the ‘action’ of the Mass as a sacred meal.

The most recent prescriptions in the United States provide that the tabernacle be located in the main sanctuary on suitably ornate pedestal. It is ironic that in the major basilicas including the basilica of St. Peter in Rome, the tabernacle is located on a side altar that is not very prominent.

Whatever the location, it should not be a bone of contention worthy of a liturgical battle. The public and private devotion to the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is rooted in the long tradition of the Church and should not be disparaged. In the same way in which the tablets of stone on which the Ten Commandments was symbolic of God’s presence in the temple, so too, the reservation of the Eucharist Bread has been one of the longest-standing practices of the devotional life of Catholics. It is intended to extend the meaning and the effects of the Eucharistic celebration into the life of the faithful who continue to spend time in prayerful meditation on the mysteries of the life of Jesus not the least of which is his faithfulness unto death on the cross for the salvation of the world. The two aspects of Eucharist need not be in competition. The ‘Mass’ continues to be considered a “sacrificial” meal. But we need to be clear that its connection with the passion and death of Christ even as the lamb of God is not to suggest that his death was mandated to satisfy and angry God. That in my opinion is not an appropriate application of Old Testament sacrifices. No, Jesus sacrificial death was the completion of his entire sacrificial life of unqualified and indiscriminate love in the same way as the sacrificial love of partners in marriage offer their sacrificial love to one another or in the manner that Mother Teresa offered her live in sacrificial service to victims of poverty in the streets of Calctta. It is in this sense that devotion to the Eucharist in the tabernacle takes its extended meaning.

During the celebration of the Eucharist, we become what we eat. Through our devotion to the Eucharist reserved in the tabernacle, we are reminded that the Eucharistic presence in our mind, heart and soul extends into all the good works of our lives with the hope that we too will always think and act with the same sacrificial love as did Jesus in his earthly life.

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'B'

Sunday July 19, 2009

We are shepherds one to another.

It is our belief as Catholics that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and was written for all times, for all seasons and for every age. Moreover, although the biblical authors wrote with a particular purpose in mind called a ‘literary bias’ and even with specific intentional applications, Scripture scholars agree that God had other purposes and applications far beyond those of the inspired authors. This is called ‘sensus plenior’ or broader meaning. The broader truth gradually unfolds as we peel off the layers of meaning over time.

Nevertheless, biblical authors in both the Old and New Testaments were aware that new meanings and applications could be assigned to ancient stories and in fact did put a different spin or twist on old stories in order to instruct people of a later time, place and set of circumstances.

We do the same thing with our family stories. It’s not that we twist the truth. We expand the truth and tweak the details so that their underlying meaning and the perennial lessons of life are not lost.

This is called ‘redaction’ or ‘retelling’ the story “with a ‘sacred’ spin,” as it were. In the same way that contemporary writers are influenced by the circumstances in which they live, so too biblical authors were affected by what was going on around them and so they reached back into ancient literature citing past incidents of what they believed to be God’s intervention as examples of how God continually interacts with individuals, communities, governments and institutions both secular and religious. Moreover, Luther was not completely wrong in suggesting that individual believers can find in the inspired Scriptures, unique applications to their own spiritual lives. Saint Benedict called this ‘lectio divina, or a prayerful reading of the Scriptures.

That having been stated, the texts this weekend are both challenging and consoling.

God continues to have high expectations for the ‘shepherds’ who are charged with the responsibility to lead his people. No, God does not expect perfection. As St. Paul pointed out just two weeks ago in his second letter to the Corinthians, “I am content with my weaknesses in order that he power of Christ may dwell with me; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

But God appears not to be patient with mediocrity.

Jeremiah used very strong words in his ‘attack’ on the shepherds of Israel: “Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pastures, says the Lord…. I will punish your evil deeds. I myself will gather the remnant of my flock… I will appoint true shepherds for them who will lead them…” And then he revisits the story of David’s unusual call — David, the young shepherd called out of time and order to be the shepherd-king of the united Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. We in the Christian era find a broader meaning (sensus plenior) in Jeremiah’s prophetic words and see in David, the prototype of Jesus, servant and shepherd not just of Israel but of all humanity. But even the great David had his ‘Achilles heal’ and succumbed to human weakness and his lustful urgings and even covered up his crime with murder.

In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul elaborates on Christ’s role as the shepherd of shepherds, presenting him as the model for all times and every age. “For he is our peace, he who made us one and broke down the dividing wall of hatred… that he might create in himself one new person, establishing peace reconciling us with God…” In other words, it is Jesus who ultimately shepherds us and to the extent that our earthly shepherds identify with him and speak his words, they are to be honored and respected and challenged when they do not.

Notice in the Gospel how Jesus invites the apostles to a quiet place to review their ministry to hear about how their partnership with him was unfolding. Jesus held them accountable for their stewardship. Notice too how the apostles reported what “they” had done giving the impression that their mission and ministry was rooted in their own effort rather than in the power of Christ. They failed to recognize that they were sent in the name of Christ who empowered them to preach and teach and celebrate the sacred mysteries entrusted to them.

And yet the more things change, the more they remain the same. The Church is a work in progress. Even the Pope can lose his bearings, suffer a mishap and break bone now and then. It’s an apt metaphor for the popes in history who lost their scriptural bearings and balance. The shepherds of the Church are not perfect and are not exempt from the human weaknesses that have plagued humanity throughout the course of human history.

In recent years we have witnessed the devastating worldwide effects of sin in the abuse of innocent children by some clergy and religious, rightly called the slaughter of the souls of the innocent and the subsequent cover-up by church officials. Matthew records Jesus’ severe warning to those who would bring harm to a child: “Better for them that they had never been born!”

But much good can come from even the most heinous crime when good people take their own shepherding role seriously. We have awoken to the fact that at Baptism, each of us was invited into a unique partnership with God in Christ. Ultimately, God speaks the loudest in the human heart.

Institutional reform is necessary and long before Luther we find in ancient ecclesiastical writings the phrase, “Ecclesia semper reformanda est” – the Church is always in need of reform—but institutional reform is not enough. We need to be renewed internally in the Spirit of Christ the Shepherd who is our true pastor — pastor of the universal Church, the pastor of this diocese and the pastor of this parish.

There are movements and initiatives within the Church and outside the Church that seek to bring together believers from both sides of the aisle to reflect how we can remain faithful to our Christian call within the Catholic tradition. Church leaders need to take care lest the Church become spiritually totalitarian. This is why they must respect the ‘sensus fidelium,’ that is, the sense of how the faithful receive the teachings of our tradition. This is what Vatican II was all about – the Church in dialogue with the faithful. This dialogue exercised in charity in the pursuit of truth can lead to a new truth appropriate to a new set of circumstances.

As individuals Catholics, we need to keep ourselves informed. We do not leave our brains or our intellect at the door of the church when we enter. We need to listen to the voice of the Spirit in the depths of our hearts in prayer. We also need to watch our script. It is not just what we say or do that matters but how we say and do it. You come into this assembly week after week and some of you, day after day not to be harassed or hassled but to be challenged by the Word of God and to be empowered by it to go out and live your vocation in the world. This is the essential mission of the Church as shepherd.

We all need to be affirmed by and encouraged to speak to our leaders about the “hopes and joys, the anxieties and sorrows of the people of our age.” [Church in the Modern World, Vatican II, 1966] The Spirit lives within the whole Church not just in our shepherds but we need our shepherds to articulate our hopes and dreams and to empathize with our pain and struggles that we may indeed come to know and live the compassion of Christ the shepherd.

We are indeed partners with God in Christ in our common mission to transform the world into a place where truth and justice can reign in genuine charity. Christ is our true shepherd “for through him we have access in one Spirit to the God” who has called us together to show forth his goodness and love to a world estranged from itself.

May his peace reign in our hearts today and always in your heart and in mine.