Bishop Robert Baron on Punishment and Gift

I occasionally catch up on Bishop Robert Baron's Word on Fire videos, my nearest attempt to keeping up with popular culture. His commentaries generally start with a current event and connect it with other current events, philosophical thinkers, ecclesial teaching, etc., so I generally find them interesting.

This particular video was fascinating to me. It explores the connection of American comedian Stephen Colbert to J.R.R. Tolkien and John Henry Cardinal Newman.

The historical connection of providence is interesting, but in particular the Tolkien quote that prompted his reflection struck me.

 "Are not all of God's punishments also gifts?"

I noticed this partly because of my own experience and partly because of my Old Testament Narratives course, in which a major focus is the Babylonian Exile and post-exilic period in which the Jewish people had to reexamine their past and relationship to God in light of a traumatic experience.

From the very beginning of human experience when man sinned, God gave punishments not for despair but for hope. Work could be man's burden but also a source of his dignity; childbearing would be painful but also how God himself would enter the world in the most intimate way; the relationships of men and women would be plagued by misunderstanding and strife, but a constant reminder that their search for fulfillment is ultimately a search for God and not each other.

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me if you seek me with all your heart.         Jeremiah 29:11-13

God has allowed trials and suffering in my life. Often I do not want to reflect on it and speak to God about my experience; often I just want to cry out for relief from pain. 

And how do I see my suffering? Is it a poison or a medicine? 

Jesus entered into the world of suffering and pain not as a teacher but as a priest and victim to make us an offering to God (cf. Friday vespers responsory). He sanctified suffering beyond what God decreed in the Protoevangelium (Genesis 3:15) so that it is no longer simply a spur to rouse us from complacency and reveal our need for God but actually a way to encounter him in our brokenness. 

Nowhere is this more explicit than the message of Divine Mercy. 

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Luke 5:32).

The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy (Divine Mercy in My Soul, 723).

My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

The icon of this Mercy is Blood and Water flowing from the pierced side of Christ, the grace he pours out in Sacraments to fill suffering sinners beginning at the points of greatest brokenness and pain in our life. 

This means opening the wounds, allowing the dead tissue to be removed and the salve to be applied, which is scary! It demands deep trust, but there is only One who heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds (Psalm 147:3). 

Passion Saturday

Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God.

John 11:51-52

My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Ezekiel 37:27

"Destiny" is a word that has become associated with sappy romantic comedies, something no one serious or simply practical can take seriously. And if destiny is understood as a force of the universe, something impersonal yet potent beyond chance, then it is certainly silly to believe it exercises power over us. This is because impersonal forces do not exercise personal power; this is the will, a faculty found only in persons. 

This is why destiny only makes sense as an intensely personal force, something strong because it is the act of a personal and indefatigable will, a will so strong that it removes obstacles, even if the obstacles include our own faults. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that we might not be kept from our eternal destiny of beatitude in his presence, but that when he is revealed, we will see him as he is in infinite goodness.

Ostinato:

Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

Passion Tuesday

Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you!

Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress!

Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call!

-Psalm 102:1-2

Ostinato:
O Lord, hear my prayer! O Lord, hear my prayer! When I call, answer me.

O Lord, hear my prayer! O Lord, hear my prayer! Come and listen to me.

God never fails to hear our prayer. The answer may not be what we expect, it may not be the resolution we immediately desire, but God will never fail to hear a cry of the heart. The Lord is close the the brokenhearted, and every spirit crushed he will save. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord rescues them from all affliction. Our heavenly Father has loved sinners so greatly that he came to us in his Son; even when we have not loved him, he has loved us and never ceased to hear our prayers. For this, even in great suffering, we can bless the Lord at all times and exult his name together.

(Quotes from Psalm 34)

Original recording:

                                    

Ostinato:
O, usłysz mój głos, o usłysz mój głos; Panie mój, wołam Cię! 
O hear my cry, O hear my cry; O my Lord, I call to you! 

O, usłysz mój głos, o usłysz mój głos; przyjdź i wysłuchaj mnie!
O hear my cry, O hear my cry; come and listen to me!

The Eparch and the Cenobite

After a modest celebration in honor of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, (my classmate who is Slovak and I tracked down some pivo; not surprisingly, few others even knew who we were talking about) I felt inspired to share about their significance for me.

Until recently, my knowledge went little beyond knowing that Papa referred to them all the time and I was almost named Methodius. However, some major changes in life experiences of brotherhood and missionary work have added some perspective. 

Brotherhood's teasing and nitpicking in the early years sometimes seemed to be more trouble than it was worth, and I think I really under-appreciated the time we had together while growing up. As many good times as there have been, I have come to realize more how difficult it is to maintain those relationships as we age. That said, time doesn't level all lumps and I think just the fact that these brothers worked together diligently unencumbered by jealousy or discord shows heroic virtue. 

While I have not gone beyond missionary-lite in hospital ministry, I have still learned a great deal about what it means to bring the Gospel of Christ to those who have little or no hope and may not realize their need. But mine is the work of "revanglization," and I stand on the shoulders of giants who developed systematic theology and learned to express the Gospel in new languages that had never spoken of a Triune God or the remission of sins - work pioneered by the Holy Brothers who brought the Word to forty percent of Europe in a tongue that had never been used for Christian rites. 

So, having encountered some of the difficulties of growing in the Christian life, I can better appreciate the heroism of the Svätých Bratia and have more reasons to say 'na zdrovie!' today and ask for the blessings of Svätí Kiril i Metoda.

Quo Vadis?

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. After a 15-day hiatus that included most of my mid-term exams, I hope to return to regular bi-weekly updates.

Today I have the distinction of being cantor for the Office and Mass on the first ever memorial of Blessed John Paul II, and while this morning was not too different from any other Monday I'm sure I will look back on it as a noteworthy occasion. Below is the text released for the Office of Readings.

October 22
BLESSED JOHN PAUL II, POPE

Charles Joseph Wojtyla was born in 1920 in Wadowice, Poland. After his ordination to the priesthood and theological studies in Rome, he returned to his homeland and resumed various pastoral and academic tasks. He became first auxiliary bishop and, in 1964, Archbishop of Krakow and took part in the Second Vatican Council. On 16 October l978 he was elected pope and took the name John Paul II. His exceptional apostolic zeal, particularly for families, young people, and the sick, led him to numerous pastoral visits throughout the world. Among the many fruits which he has left as a heritage to the Church are above all his rich Magisterium and the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well as the Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church and for the Eastern Churches. In Rome on 2 April 2005, the eve of the Second
Sunday of Easter (or of Divine Mercy), he departed peacefully in the Lord.

Office of Readings

SECOND READING From the Homily of Blessed John Paul II, Pope,
for the Inauguration of his Pontificate
(22 October 1978: AAS 70 [1978], 945-947)

Peter came to Rome! What else but Obedience to the inspiration received from the Lord could
have guided him and brought him to this city, the heart of the Empire? Perhaps the fisherman of
Galilee did not want to come here. Perhaps he would have preferred to stay there, on the shores of Lake of Genesareth, with his boat and his nets. Yet guided by the Lord, obedient to his
inspiration, he came here!

According to an ancient tradition. Peter tried to leave Rome during Nero's persecution. However,
the Lord intervened and came to meer him. Peter spoke to him and asked, "Quo vadis, Domine?”
-"Where are you going, Lord?" And the Lord answered him at once: “I am going to Rome to
be crucified again." Peter went back to Rome and stayed here until his crucifixion.

Our time calls us, urges us, obliges us, to gaze on the Lord and to immerse ourselves in humble
and devout meditation on the mystery ofthe supreme power of Christ himself.

He who was born of the Virgin Mary, the carpenter's Son (as he was thought to be), the Son of
the living God (as confessed by Peter), came to make us all “a kingdom of priests.”

The Second Vatican Council has reminded us of the mystery of this power and of the fact that
Christ's mission as Priest, Prophet-Teacher, and King continues in the Church. Everyone, the
whole People of God, shares in this threefold mission. Perhaps in the past the tiara, that triple
crown, was placed on the Pope’s head in order to signify by that symbol the Lord’s plan for his
Church, namely that all the hierarchical order of Christ’s Church, all “sacred power” exercised in
the Church, is nothing other than service, service with a single purpose: to ensure that the whole
People of God shares in this threefold mission of Christ and always remains under the power of
the Lord; a power that has its source not in the powers of this world, but instead in the mystery of
the Cross and the Resurrection.

The absolute, and yet sweet and gentle, power of the Lord responds to the whole depths of the
human person, to his loftiest aspirations of intellect, will and heart. It does not speak the
language of force, but expresses itself in charity and truth.

The new Successor of Peter in the See of Rome today makes a fervent, humble and trusting
prayer: Christ, make me become and remain the servant of your unique power, the servant of your
sweet power, the servant of your power that knows no dusk. Make me a servant: indeed, the
Servant of your Servants.

Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid to welcome Christ and accept his power. Help the Pope and
all those who wish to serve Christ and with Christ’s power to serve the human person and the
Whole of mankind.

Do not be afraid. Open, I say open wide the doors for Christ. To his saving power open the
boundaries of states, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and
development. Do not be afraid. Christ knows “that which is in man.” He alone knows it.

So often today, man does not know that which is in him, in the depths of his mind and heart. So
often he is uncertain about the meaning of his life on this earth. He is assailed by doubt, a doubt
which turns into despair. We ask you, therefore, we beg you with humility and with trust, let
Christ speak to man. He alone has words of life, yes, of life eternal.

RESPONSORY

Do not be afraid. The Redeemer of mankind has revealed
the power ofthe Cross and has given his life for us.
-Open, open wide the doors for Christ.

In the Church we are called to partake of his power.
-Open, open wide the doors for Christ.

Concluding Prayer: (also the collect for mass)

O God, who are rich in mercy
and who willed that the Blessed John Paul the Second
should preside as Pope over your universal Church,
grant, we pray, that instructed by his teaching,
we may open our hearts to the saving grace of Christ,
the sole Redeemer of mankind.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

St. Augustine

I don't have much time for a post today, but I couldn't let the feasts of St. Monica (yesterday) and St. Augustine of Hippo (today) pass unmarked. In their honor, here are some excerpts from the Doctor's Confessions that have been significant for me in my spiritual growth:

"Belatedly I loved thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new, belatedly I loved thee. For see, thou wast within and I was without, and I sought thee out there. Unlovely, I rushed heedlessly among the lovely things thou hast made. Thou wast with me, but I was not with thee. These things kept me far from thee; even though they were not at all unless they were with thee. Thou didst call and cry aloud, and didst force open my deafness. Thou didst gleam and shine, and didst chase away my blindness. Thou didst breathe fragrant odors and I drew in my breath; and now I pant for thee. I tasted, and now I hunger and thirst. Thou didst touch me, and I burned for thy peace."

"Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee."

"And men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, yet pass over the mystery of themselves without a thought."

"No one knows what he himself is made of, except his own spirit within him, yet there is still some part of him which remains hidden even from his own spirit; but thou, O Lord, knowest everything about a human being because thou hast made him... Let me, then, confess what I know about myself, and confess too what I do not know, because what I know of myself I know only because thou hast shed light on me, and what I do not know I shall remain ignorant about until my darkness becomes like bright noon before thy face."