The Cross?

We have moved from the short Ordinary Time, with its pondering the Incarnation, to the season of Lent, and what we call the Pascal Mystery. But wait…let’s not let go of the Incarnation so quickly. It has three steps, all of them down: the Baby, then the Cross, then the Bread. As Jack Shea wrote, “Like a baritone in a bar, he never goes home.” Drunk with love, Catherine says.

We enter the season of the cross. Have you ever wondered why we had to be saved this way? With that Baby, all grown up, hanging on a cross? Be attentive to the sequence of the readings. We are given a preview of how it will all end: the transfiguration. Then we are told he thirsts, not for water, really, but for us. Next, we learn that we really are quite blind to what is going on, and finally, that like Lazarus, we need to be brought back from the dead.

 So Love sets out in search for us. He goes looking for wherever we are. And where are we? Human trafficked during the Super Bowl. Demeaned and exposed on the Porno-screen. Tortured in Ukraine. Buried in rubble in Seria. This is where we are. This is today’s cross. The crucified is no stranger. He swallows death, the poison pill, and dies. But Love like his cannot die. Instead he does away with death, and safe in this Shepherd’s arms, so shall we.

 I don’t like to look at you…

 hanging there, all bloody.

 I don’t like to watch the news either.

 For there you are again, in all your disguises.

 What will we invent next, to wound you?

 So, they all went home Good Friday night.

 Surely, this is no way to save a world…

 or is it?

 And the Father said, “Watch Me!”

 In the darkness of our winters

 we too wait…to be brought back from the dead.

The Key: Listening to the Scriptures

We’ve reflected on the image of ‘Enlarge the space of your tent,’ faced the hesitations voiced by respondents, and identified the ‘pillar’ of the effort in the common dignity of the baptized, as we have considered the insights of this theological working document for the continental  stage of the synod process. This set the context for…you guessed it…touching base with the sacred scriptures. What do we learn?

 The document goes straight back to the tent image, and offers the sense of exile as a start. There is the call for discernment. The many local reports envision a Church as an expansive, but not homogeneous dwelling, capable of sheltering all, but open, letting in and out, and moving toward embracing the Divine and all of humanity.

 Enlarging the tent means welcoming others into it, and making room for diversity. This means ‘dying’ in a way out of love to my selfish preferences, and finding myself again in Christ, in his openness and love. This is going to be asked of us as an entire Church. “Unless the grain of wheat dies…”  (Jn. 12:24).

 The fruitfulness of the Church depends on accepting this death. It is not an annihilation, but an emptying in order to be filled. The selfishness must go, to be replaced by the Christ and his Spirit. The result is richer relationships and deeper ties to God and each other. We open ourselves to grace and transfiguration. “Have among you the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus…Who…emptied himself…” (Phil.2:5-7). This is a liturgical and Eucharistic act.

 It is only under this condition, that we, the members of the Church, each and all together, will be able to cooperate with the Spirit of God in fulfilling the mission assigned by Jesus to his Church.

Get ready. It is to this mission we will go next.

White Martyrdom

 We are into the short ‘Ordinary’ Time. The readings are a call to faith in the Word, come to make us whole. Faith is like wearing 3-D glasses. It allows us to see beyond where our reason can go. The Incarnational Mystery has been presented to us. The Word…in whom all things came to be…has married us. We have a bridegroom we cannot see…except in the faces of our brothers and sisters and in our own face in the mirror. Our senses aren’t any help. We have to rely on our 3-D faith-lenses.

The Christmas season presented Mary to us as the model of ‘pondering.’ She pondered what was happening to her. She is an expert in using her 3-D faith-glasses. She believes. She signed a blank check. She never gave in to her doubts…and make no mistake, she was tempted as are we. But she hung on by her fingernails in tough times. She was like a magnet on a refrigerator door. Try to pull it off. Feel the resistance. It knows where it wants to be. So do we. But the storms get pretty wild sometimes.

Faith at times demands a white martyrdom. There is no blood. There is just struggle. It’s like we’re frozen inside. Nothing seems able to move. We fell like a lump. The doubts swarm about us like bees coming in for the sting. The suggestion is that we are just idiots. There is nothing there…we are beating the air. Prayer is a waste of time. No One is listening. Be not deceived. Nothing can produce only nothing. But, there IS something…! Lots of something…! So…hang on…!

 The Greek word for ‘believe’ as it appears in the Gospels carries a meaning we miss in English. To believe means to adhere to, to cling, as glue does. Maybe that is what the prayer of faith is. We just hang on to God…like glue. Maybe it’s just a form of holy stubbornness.

 This faith thing can be like winter…

Cold, frozen, and dark.

Whistle in the dark,

and stick out your defiant tongue

when doubt comes at you like a cold blast.

Someone once said it well:

‘In the midst of this winter

I discovered in me and invincible summer.’

You are my safety.

I will wait for you all my life.

The Authentic Pillar of a Synodal Church

 Last month we began our reflection on a document called, The Working Document for the Continental Stage of the Synodal Process: “Enlarge the space of your tent.” This expression comes from Isaiah 54:2. We let this tent image speak to us: the tent itself, its ropes and its pegs, as referring to the Church.

 This month we will consider what the General Secretariate of the Synod considers the very pillar or foundation of a truly Synodal Church: a deep re-appropriation of the common dignity of all the baptized. This new awareness and ownership is the theological foundation of a unity that is capable of resisting homogenization, Why? Because we might tempted to think, “OK, so now we are going to do away with hierarchy, priests, and bishops, and everybody is going to do everything.” On the contrary. Not homogenization, but a unity that enables us to promote and make good use of the variety of charisms that the Spirit pours out on the faithful. It is the recognition of differing gifts that create true Church unity.

The Secretariate has been reading the reports sent by Churches across the world. These reports give voice to the joys, hopes, sufferings and wounds of all of us. They also reveal a Church we would like to see, a Church that is inclusive, open and welcoming, a Church that is enthusiastic to respond in active participation, a Church that is not just priests and bishops. Even in this first phase, the process bore immediate missionary fruit…the open and honest expression of opinion, and the meeting with groups outside the Church.

 The early reports also revealed immense challenges. These stem from a distrust of the synod process itself and the fear it will change some of Christ’s teachings, to pushing the Church into democratic-type mechanisms. Then there is the view that the Church is a rigid institution, unwilling to change; the outcomes of the synod process are thus already determined. The resistance of some priests and bishops was expressed, and the passivity of a laity that feared to express itself openly. There is a widespread perception of separation between the priesthood and the people of God. The exhaustion of priests was expressed, and at times, the priest was viewed as an obstacle to the participation of the laity. An open wound remains from abuse by members of the clergy, spiritual, sexual, economic, or of conscience. There was a strong call for greater transparency, accountability, and co-responsibility. Bloody conflicts, whether political or tribal, remain, and give counter-witness to the unity of the Church.

 The foundational reference to Baptism where we all share a common dignity and vocation, needs to be a felt identity. This brings into focus the key to the synodal process itself and the actual realized mission of the Church. Walking together as a synodal Church is the way to become a missionary Church. This includes ecumenical encounter. The reports present the synodal process as an experience of novelty and freshness, the return from a collective exile. If the entire People of God is not synodal, no one can really feel fully at home.

 

Ordinary Time…Again ??

 As the saying goes, “What goes around comes around.” But make no mistake, when Ordinary Time appears at this time of the liturgical year there is a new twist. The Church is telling us something. Keep in mind that an Ordinary Time period follows the two central mysteries of our faith: the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery. Ordinary Time is ‘absorption’ time…time to soak the soul.

 Our New Year begins with the celebration of Mary, Mother of God. Now why would Mary be placed before us to begin this time? Ah…because Mary is the one who ponders in her heart…and that is what we are invited to do. She is the Mother of believers, and that’s us.

 The Word has bonded with our DNA…our carbon and calcium, our double helix. He asked Mary for a body so he could be part of our day-to-day struggle. Only by bonding with matter could he suffer from the inside, not just as a compassionate observer. The Epiphany reveals that this is universal…for everyone. On our side, we bond with him in our baptism, so we ponder that he meets us there. The month ends with the Beatitudes. They show us what we will look like when all is said and done; when the struggle is over.

 Little Tyke,

 you have us wrapped around your little finger.

You knew how to get our attention.

Who can resist a baby?

Love bent so low to fit into a tiny body…

God with skin on.

 

 

2023: Where Shall it take Us?

The New Year is here. We again receive the gift of time. As women and men of the Word, as Dominicans, in these reflections we have been keeping our ear close to the heart of the Church by listening to our Shepherd. Francis. This attentiveness has brought us smack against the topic of synodality, for this is where his developing thought for the Church leads in what he has written from Joy of the Gospel, to Laudato si, to Fratelli tutti, to Let Us Dream.

 The ancient name for the Pope is Pontifex, which means bridge-builder, and that is exactly what this present Holy Father is doing: he is building a bridge. From what to what we might ask? He is bridging from Vatican II into the future of this community we call ‘Church.’ He is leading us into a future we must create as we walk it- together. The time is past for just taking ‘orders from headquarters.’ We need to listen to one another…to what the Spirit might be doing in one another, and pay attention. This is very new for some of us…”Just tell me what I should do!” we have said in the past. Now we are being asked to share what the Spirit is doing in me, in us…and I need to pay attention to what is moving me to courage, to truth-telling, and to making sure I don’t injure love. For what injures love and unity is not of the Spirit. It is from darkness.

 As we enter this New Year, we will continue moving forward through our dedication to study. We will seek light to do this inner work. We will be using two sources. The first is a document from a specially appointed Commission. It is Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church from the International Theological Commission. The second document has just been released, and it comes from the General Secretariat of the Synod, called “Enlarge the space of your tent…” (Is 54:2). It is a Working Document for the Continental Stage of moving the universal Church into a synodal rather than a hierarchical mode of being and operation.

 We will begin with this new document, for it comes after some initial listening to the entire global body. You can find the entire document here: https://bit.ly/continental-stage. The title is taken from this scripture passage: “Enlarge the space of your tent, spread out your tent cloths unsparingly, lengthen your ropes and make firm your pegs.” (Is 54:2) In this one passage we are given the structure key to expanding a tent. We need to spread out the cloths, lengthen the ropes, and firm up the pegs. What an image for the Church…!

·       First, spread out the cloths unsparingly. Now the cloths are what protect from the sun, the wind, and the rain. They need to be spread out to protect and welcome those still outside this space, but who are called to enter it.

·       Then lengthen the ropes: they hold the cloths together and balance the tension needed to keep the tent from drooping with the softness that cushions movement caused by the wind. So, if the tent expands, the ropes must be stretched to maintain the right tension.

·       Finally, firm up the pegs. They anchor the structure to the ground and ensure its solidity, but they are moveable whenever the tent needs to be pitched elsewhere.

 So, the Church is called to stretch out, but also to move. At its center stands the tabernacle, the presence of the Lord. The tent is held by the sturdiness of its pegs, the fundamentals of faith that do not change, but can be moved and planted in ever new ground. The tent can then accompany the people as they move through history. But in order not to sag, the structure of the tent needs to keep in balance with the different forces and tensions around it. This calls for discernment. The many reports coming in envision the Church as an expansive, but not homogeneous dwelling, capable of sheltering all, but open, letting in and out (cf. Jn. 10:9), and moving toward embracing the Father and all of humanity. More to come. Fasten your seat-belts for an exciting ride…

 

The Mysterious Coming

This year Christmas is on a Sunday. Yes, we are remembering the coming of the Christ in history, and the Church will be reminding us during this month of the final coming in majesty. The humanness and powerful images captivate our attention. Yet there is a subtle coming that can escape us if we do not intentionally heighten our awareness of it.

The risen Christ in his transformed humanness meets us in a thousand disguises. His Easter message was “Now I will no longer be with you the former way. I will be wherever you are.” This nearness, this intimacy, can be unnerving, because it is so personal. He is always at my side. He accompanies me as I fold my laundry and brush my teeth. He holds me in grief. He guards me when I sleep. This mysterious ‘coming’ is something he decided long ago. It is I who am out and about. It is I who forget and mistakenly think I am alone. The result is often anxiety, worry, fear, and sadness. These unwanted guests are in my house all too often. But there is a holy trick. They can be put to service.

 In these dark days of winter, when my mood is heavy, there can be a sly smile on my soul. Each time I notice my mood I can call out, and I can use the awareness to remember. I can remember that no matter my mood, no matter the circumstances, no matter my discomfort or outright pain, nothing can separate me from him. The mysterious ‘coming’ is my own. I am coming to a deepened awareness. My Advent is a coming in mystery…a coming to a new awareness of a new truth. Yes, he came…and he has never left.

 I sometimes think my soul is empty

like an empty house

or a kitchen table with no one around it.

But I am mistaken.

My soul is an open window

and the Spirit’s breath

often blows in to kiss my cheek.

Through my soul I am connected with all of you.

I reach all those weeping and I sit with those with no home.

I gaze across the sea at those bobbing in lifeboats

hoping to reach a safe shore.

At the table of my soul sits a distinguished Guest.

He is there each day to have a cup of coffee,

and each day I am aware of his wounded hands and feet.

He makes himself at home.

Sometimes I forget.

But I am learning to remember he is just around the corner of my mind.

The One who is always coming…