Charge up Catholic teens

An idea for parents, youth ministers, pastors, teachers etc. of teens:

Trust in God the Father alone: The Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the beautiful encyclical letter, Lumen fidei, a letter begun by Pope Benedict XVI and finished by Pope Francis, faith is contrasted with idolatry.

The temptation of that sin was great, the popes explain. Why?

In place of faith in God, it seems better to worship an idol, into whose face we can look directly and whose origin we know, because it is the work of our own hands. Before an idol, there is no risk that we will be called to abandon our security, for idols "have mouths, but they cannot speak" (Ps 115:5). (Lumen fidei, no. 13)

Faith involves "risk". Better said, it involves trust.

As Lumen fidei explains, faith involves recognizing that God himself is faithful. The encyclical cites St. Augustine, "Man is faithful when he believes in God and his promises; God is faithful when he grants to man what he has promised" (Lumen fidei, 10; citing Augustine, In Psal. 32, II, s. I, 9: PL 36, 284).

This quote essentially sums up the message of the readings this Sunday. Let us take a closer look at them.

FIRST READING: ISAIAH 49:14-15

Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me;
my LORD has forgotten me.”
Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget,
I will never forget you.

Zion here is an image for the people of God. In context, Zion is in mourning because of the suffering of the exile. Zion appears to have been left abandoned.

In other passages, Isaiah describes the future hope of a return to Zion of both God and the exiles. Yet, awaiting that future day, it seems that in the interim Zion has been cast aside.

Here the Lord speaks with great love for his people, using the language of maternal love. The exile resulted from Israel's infidelity, not God's. The LORD has not forgotten his people or his covenant.

And, yet, during the time of suffering, that is exactly how it can feel. The psalmist will famously cry out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Ps 22:1).

The Tolerance of Paganism

David Bentley Hart, in Atheist Delusions, writes about the kind of religious culture early Christians left behind when they accepted baptism:

"Quite apart from their more revolting ritual observances, however, the religions of the empire were— to a very great degree— contemptible principally for what they did not do, and what in fact they never considered worth doing. Occasional attempts have been made by scholars in recent years to suggest that the paganism of the late empire was marked by a kind of 'philanthropy' comparable in kind, or even in scope, to the charity practiced by the Christians, but nothing could be further from the truth (as I discuss below). Pagan cult was never more tolerant than in its tolerance— without any qualms of conscience— of poverty, disease, starvation, and homelessness; of gladiatorial spectacle, crucifixion, the exposure of unwanted infants, or the public slaughter of war captives or criminals on festive occasions; of, indeed, almost every imaginable form of tyranny, injustice, depravity, or cruelty. The indigenous sects of the Roman world simply made no

VIDEO: Pope Francis speaks to Protestant Charismatic Group

Pope Francis begins speaking at about 31:30.

Loving Your Enemies: The 7th Sunday in OT

 

This Sunday’s Readings include some of the best known—and hardest to practice—passages from the Gospel, including Jesus famous command to “turn the other cheek.”  Biblical scholarship can only go so far in elucidating some of Jesus’ challenging commands; beyond that, we need the saints. 

1.  Our Readings start off showing the continuity between Jesus’ teachings and the Old Testament, quoting a section from Leviticus (19:1-2, 17-18):

The LORD said to Moses,
“Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them:
Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.

“You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart.
Though you may have to reprove your fellow citizen,
do not incur sin because of him.
Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
I am the LORD.”

The Book of Leviticus is the heart of the Pentateuch from the point of view of literary structure.  It is typically the first book

Church, Temple, Lighthouse: The Fifth Sunday in OT

The Readings for this Sunday remind me of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, which I’ve had the privilege of visiting a couple of times in the past few years.  This beautiful church is built on a hillside and is easily visible from much of the modern city of Nazareth.  The architect designed the dome of the basilica to look like a lighthouse, symbolizing the light of Christ going out to all Nazareth and the rest of the Galilee region, in keeping with the theme of last week’s Gospel, “Those walking in darkness have seen a great light.”

The theme of light continues in this Sunday’s Readings, in which Jesus calls the people of God, the Church, to be a kind of lighthouse or beacon calling the whole world to the safe harbor with God.

1. The First Reading Isaiah 58:7-10:

Join Me in Saginaw this Tuesday and Wednesday

 I will be in Saginaw, Michigan, this Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, Feb. 4-5, speaking at 6pm at Holy Family Church.  On Tuesday I'll be giving my talk, "How to Get through the Bible in an Hour!" (complete with stick figures!), and on Wednesday, "The Seven Sacraments in the Gospel of John."