For The Bulletin Of for Who He is, and Jesus responds by August 23, 2020 saying this insight was given to him by the heavenly Father. Jesus then names him “Peter,” a Greek term meaning “Rock” (though in Aramaic the terms is Kephas). to this, no person in recorded history had been named “rock.” It is as though Jesus named someone “Window.” For us today, who are so familiar with the name “Peter,” it sounds standard. But in antiquity, this nickname would have sounded odd. And for that reason, most scholars believe the name “Peter” goes back to the historical Jesus.

Jesus then says that on this “rock” (whether “rock” in this instance refers to the person of Simon Bar-jonah or his confession of Jesus THE 21ST SUNDAY IN as the Christ is debated) he will build his ORDINARY TIME “church.” The term “church” appears in the gospels only in Matthew, and only here and

in Matthew 18/17. Historically churches From Father Robert developed later, so it seems anachronistic The man came to the scripture class seeking for Matthew (or any evangelist) to use the not only answers by ammunition. His term during the historical . Protestant friends were telling him that Peter It’s partially for that reason that the phrase is was not the first . They had scripture thought to be a Matthean addition. Even so, passages to back up their claims. He was Matthew is informing, or reminding his sure there was something in the he audience that Peter was a spokesperson for could use to counteract their arguments. the group, confessed Jesus as the Christ, but Now the man was asking the instructor for even this was not due to his insight but from three other scripture passages he could use a gift of the Father. that would trump theirs. He was a bit

disappointed when the instructor said that’s As Catholics, we read scripture holistically, not the way Catholics read scripture – how not cherry-picking verses from here and he had wanted the equivalent of three aces to there, and then applying them in a context play during the next go-around with his divorced from their own. A Protestant friends! approach to Scripture seeks to understand

the context in which the book, letter, or The story in today’s gospel reading from verse was written; the intent of the author, as Matthew is a favorite in Catholic-Protestant much as possible, and how it corresponds to dialogue or even debates on the role of Peter other Scripture. If we are looking for and the development of the papacy. But the Scripture verses to use in theological debate papacy is a long way from the setting of this with other Christians, we are playing the particular story. Instead, if we read it on its wrong game. terms, we see that Simon Bar-jonah confesses Jesus as the Christ. He recognizes

1

we will become familiar with Christ Himself.

Today’s scripture and preaching are sure to raise questions. What have you believed about the gospel you have heard today? What were you taught?

In the first reading, God says of His servant Eliakim, “I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot.” Which spiritual leaders do you look to for their constancy and steady guidance?

The psalmist sings, “When I called, You Living The answered me.” When have you had an There is a saying about the Bible, experience of being answered by the Lord? “Familiarity with Scripture is familiarity with Christ.” Though Catholics have not St. Paul in the second reading writes to the had a long history of being familiar with early church at Rome, “Oh, the depth of the scripture, there are more and more Bible riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!” studies available today online and in How do you continue to grow in your faith , from university level to adult faith intellectually? formation. Commentaries abound and even the New American Bible is available for free And, finally, in the gospel, Peter answers with its footnotes on the USCCB website. Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I Since Vatican II, Catholics have been am?” by proclaiming, “You are the Christ, encouraged to become familiar with the Son of the living God.” How do you Scripture, “The soul of theology” (according announce who you believe Jesus to be to Vatican II itself). through your words and actions?

Jesus Himself knew Scripture and often cited it. We would do well to do the same. When we learn about the Bible, read footnotes, examine commentaries, and pray with the text, we likely put to death ignorance and instead raise to life knowledge and understanding. To live the paschal mystery is to become familiar with Scripture, not so we can cite passages in theological debates, but so that the wisdom On behalf of our , we join in of sacred writ washes over us as waves on a congratulating the following couples who beach. Over time, the waves shape the entered into Holy Matrimony this past beach as the Scriptures shape us. Let us live weekend: the paschal mystery by embracing Tyler and Dani Jorgensen; Lucky and familiarity with Scripture, for in so doing, Kaitie Thammalangsy; and Arjun and Anastasia Dhillon.

2

May God richly bless your unions and continue to give you all that is necessary for At the border strong and growing faith, hope, and love. Pencil Preaching for Sunday, August 16, 2020 by Pat Marrin

Spirituality

Once again last Saturday morning, our wonderful group of church cleaners came together to continue to maintain the church, even though we are unable to use it. Our thanks to: Jun Bajet, Carole Miller, Reno and Thelma Benasfre, Mency Osborne, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be Rose Salamanca, and Al Cosce. The done for you as you wish” (Matthew 15:28). bathrooms were cleaned by Finian Anyanwu and Steve Rojek. Twentieth Sunday of the Year

Isa 56:1, 6-7; Ps 67; Rom 11:13-15, 29-32; Matt 15:21-28

Jesus encounters a desperate woman at the border pleading for her daughter. This Gospel story could have happened yesterday, and the drama spans the centuries from first century Palestine to the Rio Grande Valley. How are we supposed to respond to foreigners in need?

Jesus’ meeting with the Canaanite woman has its own context, a theological theme familiar to Jews who believed that God’s was universal rather than exclusive to Israel. Other nationalists argued that the promise was only for the “Chosen People.” Jesus seems to begin there, but the

3 pagan woman at the border shows him that nationalism when confronted with tears and the Spirit is already at work beyond the “lost prayers of parents carrying the belief that sheep of the house of Israel,” and her faith their long journeys would bring them to a expands his ministry and that of the early nation once founded on immigrants, the land church for whom this story was composed. of opportunity instead of a place of terror Matthew’s faith community in Antioch was and indifference? already half pagan converts. Empathy requires insight and experience, But the heart of the story is about and for most of us these issues compete with compassion overriding both nationalism and so many concerns, some real and some religion. The woman is also teaching Jesus being generated by the politics of an about the power of a mother’s love for her unprecedented campaign season in a divided child. She will not take “no” for an answer. nation. How can we be better informed to She calls him Lord, Son of David, help decide the future of the country we acknowledging that God is with him. When want to be, hope to be? he ignores her, she persists. When he insults her with a common Jewish slur for pagans as A challenging but even-handed documentary “dogs,” she outdoes him with her own image series on Netflix titled “Immigration Nation” of hungry puppies getting scraps under the is one way to take our faith virtually and table from the children. His resistance vicariously into the world of suffering and becomes astonishment, and Jesus knows that hope where the soul of America will be God has already granted her plea. Where either lost or redeemed. To better understand there is faith, there are miracles. today’s Gospel and to prepare for the elections, consider viewing it as an act of For many Americans, the border is far away Faithful Citizenship. and the refugees and immigrants in our midst are living in the shadows as they harvest our food, process our meat, fix our roofs, make beds and clean bathrooms in motels, care for our elderly in nursing homes, essential workers during the pandemic, hoping for relief and recognition from our national policies. In 2018, many parents crossing the border as asylum seekers lost their children before being imprisoned or deported. High profile, politically motivated directives focused on Dear CYO Families, all undocumented persons instead of criminals, deporting thousands of workers Due to the current, continuing pandemic, all and stranding their families without income. CYO activities in the Diocese of Oakland will be suspended until at least January 1, Mixing God’s Word and contemporary 2021. This action is based on the issues is why we break open the scriptures uncertainties of the progress of the from the pulpit and in our hearts. How pandemic, the challenges in keeping our many women at the border are begging for young people, volunteers, and families safe their children? Will compassion override in sports, and in accordance with guidelines

4 from the State of California along with directives from the Alameda and Contra Five things Costa Health Departments. This suspension should do while is taken after consultation with the presidents of the CYO leagues in the imprisoned by the diocese. pandemic The suspension includes CYO Cross Aug 14, 2020 Country, CYO Basketball and Girls’ CYO by Thomas Reese, Religion News Volleyball practices, games, and activities Service scheduled to begin this fall. The presidents of each of the CYO leagues will meet in late October to assess the situation at that time and to make recommendations about the feasibility of playing modified schedules for these sports. There will also be a consideration regarding the spring CYO sports.

CYO will continue to be a vital ministry in our Church for our young people. We will resume play with our leagues when possible and through the dedication of our many players, coaches, athletic directors, Pope Francis delivers his blessing from the coordinators, and volunteers. While we wait, window of his private library overlooking an we will all continue to pray for those empty St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, March 22, 2020. During his weekly Sunday affected by the pandemic, that our churches blessing, held due to virus concerns in his and schools will open soon and that our private library in the , he urged children will stay healthy and safe. all Christians to join in reciting the ''Our Father'' prayer Aug. 19 at noon. For most people, the Bill Ford new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate CYO Director symptoms. For some it can cause more severe Diocese of Oakland illness, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems. (AP/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis is at heart a pastor who likes to be with his people, but the COVID-19 pandemic has made that impossible. He cannot travel or invite crowds to St. Peter's Square. He cannot hug the sick and disabled. He cannot talk to pilgrims. He cannot even celebrate the Eucharist for crowds of people.

Francis has become a prisoner of the Vatican, the very thing he never wanted to

5

be. What should he do with all his extra Who in the United States and in Rome knew time? about his transgressions and when did they know it? Here are five ways the pope could use his time. A report that would answer these questions was ordered up by Francis. Where is it? My First, Francis should preach and write about guess is that the Vatican (including, perhaps, the pandemic to Catholics and the people of Francis) is dragging its feet because the the world, to give people consolation and report will make the last two papacies, hope. He needs to tell people and especially that of John Paul II, look bad. governments how to respond to COVID-19 What did these know? What did the in a way that reflects Christian love and people around them know? Why did the . vetting process for McCarrick's appointment to three dioceses (Metuchen, Newark and Second, Francis needs to convene a virtual Washington), plus his promotion to cardinal, meeting of experts to discuss how to use the fail? internet and social media to foster small virtual communities in the church — parish- Fourth, the pope needs to deal with financial level groups that could, for example, reflect corruption in the Vatican and the church. and pray over the upcoming Sunday Scriptures before they hear from their priest Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI gets credit for on Sunday. These lay-led groups could plan beginning the reform of Vatican finances educational and social projects to help the during his papacy by bringing in Moneyval, poor. There is already a lot of an international financial agency, to deal experimentation going on around the world, with money laundering and the financing of and a conference of experts and practitioners terrorism. But time and again, attempts to would be a great way of sharing knowledge, clean up the finances met opposition and the experience and best practices. reformers were eventually forced out.

This should not be a meeting of , A major success was cleaning up the who are incapable of thinking outside Vatican bank. Outside auditors spent many hierarchical structures. We have plenty of billable hours examining all the accounts. online preaching and teaching. What is New procedures were implemented, staff needed is an openness to interactive lay was retrained and better supervision was put participation, particularly from experts in in place. technology and those who have already been using technology to foster community. But we still need a full explanation of why top officials at the Vatican's Financial Third, Francis needs to finish dealing with Information Authority lost their jobs. When the Theodore McCarrick scandal. someone like René Bruelhart, with an impeccable international reputation, is McCarrick, who was a cardinal , forced to resign, something is terribly was dismissed from the priesthood for wrong. sexually abusing children and sleeping with seminarians. People still want to know why The bank reforms are a template for how to he was able to rise so high in the church. pursue reform: Outside auditors must be

6 brought in to review every agency. If most joyful day in the liturgical calendar amid Francis does not want to spend the money to the sorrowful reminders of the devastation accomplish this, major donors in the United wrought by the coronavirus pandemic. (Pool via States and must volunteer to pay AP/Andreas Solaro) for it. The fifth project for the pope while he is The audit reports must also be made public stuck in Rome is reform of the Vatican in order to begin restoring trust in the Curia, the bureaucracy that helps him church's finances. govern the church and the State. The Vatican must then put in place procedures to eliminate corruption and Church finances are part of that reform but incompetence. This is not rocket science. not the whole story. The Vatican needs a Governments, businesses and nonprofits do professional human resources office to be this every day. New procedures were involved in hiring, compensating, training, recently announced for dealing with the supervising, promoting, retiring and Vatican's vendors and contractors; that's a terminating employees. All employees step in the right direction, but conflict of should be treated fairly but also need to be interest rules are needed as well, as are doing their best to serve the pope. disclosure rules about every employee's outside income, including gifts. That should Francis has been somewhat successful in include cardinals. changing the culture of the Vatican, according to bishops and others who have Lay experts need to be more involved in visited recently. Officials who once simply Vatican finances, as staff and as members of lectured visiting clergy are more willing to supervisory boards. The recent appointment listen. Another positive change is the pope's of six expert women to the Vatican Council consolidation of smaller offices into fewer, for the Economy is a step forward. larger ones, so that fewer people report directly to the pope.

The consolidation also de-emphasized or effectively closed certain offices without really saying so. But it also lumped together offices with little in common. The same happens in civil governments; take a look at the major departments in the U.S. government.

It would also be good to consolidate all the prosecutorial functions in one office, like a department of justice. It makes no sense for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Pope Francis, small white figure at center left, Faith to deal with abusive priests, nor should delivers his blessing during Easter Sunday Mass bishops be investigated by the very inside an empty St. Peter's Basilica, at the congregations that promoted them. These Vatican, Sunday, April 12, 2020. Pope Francis congregations don't want to admit they and Christians around the world marked a solitary Easter Sunday, forced to celebrate the

7

failed in vetting the men for the episcopacy eventually compromise his reputation. The in the first place. time is now.

A department of justice could be in charge of investigating financial crimes, in the Letting go Vatican and in dioceses. It could be staffed Monday, August 17, 2020 by lay investigators with experience in law by Pat Marrin enforcement.

The Curia, meanwhile, is still run on the Spirituality model of a royal court, where cardinals and bishops play the roles of princes and nobles. Francis should end this system by ending the practice of making Curia officials bishops and cardinals.

Cardinals and bishops, like princes and nobles, are hard to fire and expect an equivalent position if they are removed. (See, for instance, the consternation caused in 2017, when Cardinal Gerhard Müller did not receive a prestigious appointment after being terminated as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.) Simple priests can be simply reassigned back to their dioceses. “You will have treasure in heaven” (Matthew 19:22). The Curia needs to see itself not as between the pope and the bishops, but as servants to Ezek 24:15-23; Matt 19:16-22 both. This would be easier to do if they were simply priests and laypeople. Today’s Gospel about the rich young man asking how to gain eternal life is like other These changes would also shrink the effect stories in the Gospels in which scribes try to of ecclesial ambition. If a curial cardinal test Jesus’ knowledge of the Scriptures. In wants to be pope, he will not focus on what those encounters, the intent is often hostile, is good for the church, but on advancing his and the question is about the first chances in the next conclave. If curial commandment. In this story from Matthew, officials were not cardinals, such politicking the question is about eternal life and the man would be eliminated. seems sincere in his desire to go beyond the commandments he is already keeping, but Sadly, there is a lot for Pope Francis to do feels he is still lacking something. while he is confined to the Vatican. Francis hates this kind of administrative work — for What is interesting is how Jesus takes each him, it's the ecclesial equivalent of cleaning conversation to a deeper level. He traps out the basement — but it comes with the those who are trying to trap him by going to job, and unless he deals with it, it will the heart of the commandments, which is about loving God with your whole heart,

8

mind, soul and strength. He enthralls his already setting out today to be Good News questioners in their own love for the Law, to the world, healing and joy to everyone then tells them that they are not far from the they meet. Kingdom. In today’s story, Jesus challenges the young man to let go of both his emphasis on legal perfection and the many 'It is what it is.' The possessions that are holding him back from Assumption says no! seeking God whole-heartedly by following Aug 15, 2020 him. by Carmen Nanko-Fernández In Mark’s version (10, 17-31), Jesus looks at the young man with love. This is the same Spirituality look Jesus focuses on his disciples when Theology calling them. Eternal life is about more than keeping the commandments, even perfectly. It does not require that you be perfect, only willing to step beyond all self-assurance to entrust your life to Jesus.

This passage survives as one of the saddest stories in the Gospels because the rich young man was not ready to take that step. He began with self-assurance, eager to display his readiness of go deeper, but he may have wished he had never asked the question or met Jesus. He walks away sad, and we feel his sadness. We also feel his risk of letting go of the illusion of security his wealth and virtue had provided. We feel his confusion that keeping the law was somehow not enough. He was on the Detail of ceiling painting of the Assumption of threshold of the Kingdom of God but unable Mary in the Santa Maria Immacolata church in make the leap from law to love. He was rich Rome, 2015 and virtuous, but he was not ready for love, Back in a summer that now feels like forever the ultimate good, the one thing necessary ago, I sauntered into an empty church in and the essence of eternal life. Barcelona. With the casual cluelessness of a

tourist freed from constraints of having to Every Gospel is in a sense an encounter with care what day or time it is, I was startled by Jesus, God’s Word. If we seek him, we what appeared to be a deceased person being should be ready to be captured by the look waked on the steps before the sanctuary. On of love and the invitation to take the next closer scrutiny, I could see it was a statue of step. The cost of conversion is to leave María laid out on a bier and surrounded by behind what is holding us back from a closer flowers. In that moment an epiphany: la relationship with God. But the risk cannot madre de Jesús really did complete the compare to the freedom to travel light in the course of her earthly life, and this day of my company of Jesus and his disciples, who are visit was the Solemnity of the Assumption.

9

Her ubiquitous presence in Catholic bishops of the world asking what their imagination and popular religious practices clergy and people thought about the had in effect made it possible for me to Assumption and whether, in their judgment, avoid the truth that the had it "can be proposed and defined as a dogma indeed passed from this life into the next. of faith." Her familiar images are so scattered about the spaces of daily living that it is easy to forget. A decades-old calendar from a parish church in Puerto Rico remains taped on a closet door, each month devoted to a different or milagro. A Spanish tile with Nuestra Señora del Carmen hangs on a wall. Nacimientos de Navidad sit with family photos on a bookshelf, because Nativity scenes are never really out of season. The presence of Mary carries on even in our very names, across generations of mi familia: Maruja, María Luisa, Anita María, Jessica Marie, Carmen Marie and even Concepción.

In Mary, Mother of God, Mother of the Poor, Latin American theologians María Clara Bingemer and Ivone Gebara A statue of Mary in a church in Barcelona in 2008 (Carmen Nanko-Fernández) somewhat paradoxically propose that it is precisely through her assumption that "Mary The timing of this move deserves attention. herself remains in the world and within the Pius XII began his papacy in March 1939, church as someone who is living and six months before the outbreak of the intensely present, a living being with whom Second World War, and sent his letter eight communication is possible, not only through months after hostilities ceased. Hints to the remembrance and memory, but also through influences of this violent context appear a relationship." early in the 1950 promulgation. "Now, just like the present age, our pontificate is Seventy years ago this coming November, weighed down by ever so many cares, Pope Pius XII promulgated anxieties, and troubles, by reason of very Munificentissimus Deus, the apostolic severe calamities that have taken place and constitution defining the dogma of the by reason of the fact that many have strayed . For centuries, away from truth and virtue." the sensus fidelium recognized, in belief and practice, the glorification of her body and The global upheaval that marked the first soul, so much so that Pius notes the "Church decade of the papacy of Pius XII produced a has never looked for the bodily relics of the veritable litany of the debasement of human Blessed nor proposed them for the dignity. Complicity and indifference abetted veneration of the people." The dogma the atrocities of the era even at the most resulted from a global consultation initiated ordinary levels. The intentional by the pope. In 1946, he sent a letter to marginalization and brutal annihilation of

10 human beings was grounded in notions of supremacy sustained by anti-immigrant and superiority supported by anti-Semitism, anti-Hispanic rhetoric and policies eugenics and racism. The technologies of emanating from public officials. In Chicago total war resulted in incalculable destruction alone, 38 children have died this year from of people and the planet, too often making gun violence often trapped in the crossfire of little to no distinction between combatants a fight not of their making. Caught at the and non-combatants. The war's aftermath wrong place in the worst of times, five were brought countless displaced peoples, under the age of 10, the youngest was a exacerbated tensions, new oppressions, 1-year-old baby. weapons of obliteration. We live in a precarious time. Broken store In response to this degradation of human windows on the Magnificent Mile may bodies and communities, defining the dogma garner more concern than bodies broken by of the Assumption was seen as a way of violence, and statues get better protection contributing to the benefit of society. It than the bodies of children. The value of life affirmed the goodness of the body and is assessed on a utility spectrum that renders offered an alternative vision for a shared some expendable and reduces others to destiny. The expressed hope was "that those collateral damage or acceptable losses, in who meditate upon the glorious example other words — "It is what it is." Mary offers us may be more and more convinced of the value of a human life In its own age, the proclamation of the entirely devoted to carrying out the heavenly Assumption challenged the logic of "it is Father's will and to bringing good to others." what it is." The promulgation of the teaching on the Solemnity of All offered On this 70th anniversary, amid our own further signs of resistance. It situated María troubled times, is it worth considering what in the vast company of a host of those who the Assumption may have to offer, or is it an had sought to bring good to others in accord esoteric antique, a day of obligation? August with the expectations of the reign of God. At 2020 bears witness to a troubling litany of the same time, contextualized within the loss and assaults on human dignity. COVID- days Catholics remember our dead, the 19 has claimed the lives of at least 165,000 Assumption affirmed the resurrection hope people nationally, and more than 744,000 that death cannot destroy the bonds of love. globally. Too many are counted among our Relationships persist. most vulnerable, and how many remain uncounted because their inconvenient deaths More from Munificentissimus contradict optimistic predictions of a "return Deus: "Consequently it seems impossible to to normalcy?" think of her, the one who conceived Christ, brought him forth, nursed him with her milk, A legacy of systemic racism pricks the held him in her arms, and clasped him to her national conscience, but a price paid in the breast, as being apart from him in body, lives of too many unarmed Black citizens at even though not in soul, after this earthly the hands of dysfunctional policing remains life. Since our Redeemer is the Son of Mary, unaccounted for still. The memory of 23 he could not do otherwise." people gunned down in a Walmart in El Paso is fresh a year later, a crime committed One way to understand the action of God in in support of xenophobia and white the mystery of the Assumption is to

11 recognize it as a divine exclamation of It Must Happen to Us "¡Presente!" The Assumption reminds us Monday, August 17, 2020 that "it is what it is" is not our destiny. The

Assumption is an affirmation of life lived in Sooner or later, if we are on any classic the embrace of God's reign, of relationships “spiritual schedule,” some event, person, honored, of stubborn resistance to . death, idea, or relationship will enter our In response to this mystery, we are in turn lives that we simply cannot deal with using called to affirm our mutual obligations our present skill set, our acquired toward each other and to proclaim, with our knowledge, or our strong willpower. It will words and deeds, ¡Presente! — for those probably have to do with one of what I call who have passed and those whose dignity the Big Six: love, death, suffering, sexuality, cannot and must not be erased. infinity, and God. Spiritually speaking, we will be led to the edge of our own private [Carmen M. Nanko-Fernández is professor resources. At that point we will stumble over of Hispanic theology and ministry, and a necessary stumbling stone, as Isaiah calls director of the Hispanic Theology and it (8:14). We will and must “lose” at Ministry Program at Catholic Theological something. This is the only way that Life– Union (CTU) in Chicago. The author Fate–God–Grace–Mystery can get us to of Theologizing en Espanglish (Orbis), she change, let go of our egocentric is currently completing ¿El Santo?: Baseball preoccupations, and go on the further and and the Canonization of Roberto larger journey. Clemente (Mercer University Press).] There is no practical or compelling reason to leave one’s present comfort zone in life. If Richard Rohr's Daily it’s working for us, why would we? Nor can Meditation we force ourselves into the second stage of From the Center for Action and Contemplation disorder (though we must certainly be open to it). Any conscious attempt to engineer or plan our own enlightenment is doomed to failure because it will be ego driven. We will try to “succeed” in the midst of our failure and “order” our time in disorder! But unexpected weaknesses, failure, and humiliation force us to go where we never would otherwise. We must stumble and be brought to our knees by reality. “God comes to you disguised as your life,” as my friend Paula D’Arcy wisely says. We must actually be out of the driver’s seat for a while, or we will never learn how to give up control to

the Real Guide. It is the necessary pattern.

Week Thirty-three There must be, and if we are honest, there Order, Disorder, Reorder: always will be at least one situation in our Part Two lives that we cannot fix, control, explain,

change, or even understand. Normally a job,

12 a fortune, or a reputation has to be lost, a house has to be flooded, an illness has to be Let's use the title 'co- endured. Some kind of falling, what I call worker' for laypeople in “necessary suffering,” is programmed into the journey. By denying our pain or parish leadership avoiding our necessary falling, many of us Aug 18, 2020 have kept ourselves from our own spiritual by Christine Schenk depths. We still want some kind of order and reason, instead of suffering life’s inherent disorder and tragedy.

Gateway to Action & Contemplation: What word or phrase resonates with or challenges me? What sensations do I notice in my body? What is mine to do?

Prayer for Our Community: O Great Love, thank you for living and loving in us and through us. May all that we do flow from our deep connection with you and all beings. Help us become a community St. Paul at the home of Aquila and Prisca, that vulnerably shares each other’s burdens depicted in a fresco at the Basilica of St. Paul and the weight of glory. Listen to our hearts’ Outside the Walls in Rome longings for the healing of our world. [Please add your own intentions.] . . . I am frustrated by the Vatican's Knowing you are hearing us better than we recent instruction on "The pastoral are speaking, we offer these prayers in all conversion of the parish community in the the holy names of God, amen. service of the evangelizing mission of the church," issued on July 20. Story from Our Community: I recently made the trip to my family's old At first, the document evokes an expansive cottage on a remote lake. As I settled in [to vision of parish transformation by citing the cottage] on an unusually clear night, my Pope Francis' call for "creativity" in eyes began to adjust to the lack of ambient "seeking how best to proclaim the Gospel" light from car headlights and shopping and that "the Church, and also the Code of centers. I looked up at the very same sky I Canon Law, gives us innumerable had left at my suburban home and saw not possibilities, much freedom to seek these just a few stars, but constellations, then things." clouds of stars, until the night sky seemed more light than darkness. It's times like Then the instruction tantalizes reform- these when I'm startled by how close and minded Catholics by saying, "Parish abundant God's love really is, whether my communities will find herein a call to go out eyes and heart are open or not. —James M. of themselves, offering instruments of reform, even structural, in a spirit of communion and collaboration … for the proclamation of the Gospel."

13

But I find no structural instruments of encouraging and appreciative language" reform here. about lay leadership. Kasper tactfully suggested the world's bishops' conferences With one notable exception, the instruction should have been consulted before the is essentially "all hat and no cattle" as my document was issued. Texas friends like to say. The prefect of the Congregation for the The Congregation for the Clergy's Clergy, Cardinal Beniamino Stella, instruction restates (somewhat defensively) has invited German bishops to Rome to long-standing church rules that mandate a discuss the issues. I hope our German male-celibate-priest-centric and priest- brothers can get through to presumably well- controlled vision of parish community. intentioned Vatican officials who seem to This vision is already moribund in both the have little understanding of the realities of global north and the global south because — parish life in a time of fewer priests. news flash — there are too few priests to serve the world's expanding Catholic A caveat — there is one big positive in this population. document: It gives laypeople significantly more leverage in canonical In Germany, the instruction appeals to preserve their parish was interpreted as an effort to stop moves by communities. German bishops to encourage both priest and lay leadership in consolidating parishes For 14 years, I have worked closely with and providing . One German FutureChurch's Save Our Parish canon lawyer succinctly said the instruction Community initiative to support countless "answers today's questions with yesterday's ordinary Catholics accessing their canonical answers." right to appeal the closure (and eventual sale) of their vital, solvent parishes and In a pastoral letter to his Magdeburg churches. Diocese, German Gerhard Feige wrote, "I won't let myself be paralyzed Too many bishops were (and are to this day) and blocked by their restrictive orders, since treating parish communities like Starbucks much in it is quite unrealistic — especially franchises, rather than the body of Christ with regard to our extreme diaspora that they are called to shepherd — not to situation, which they evidently cannot sell. imagine — and since no positive solutions are indicated in view of the mounting lack of When the project began, there were no priests." canonical guidelines for this important work. But the late Sr. Kate Kuenstler was a gifted Feige also fears Rome's instruction will turn canon lawyer whose religious community — lay Catholics away from working for the the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ — church at all. supported her work on behalf of the canonical rights and responsibilities of His concern was echoed by German laypeople. Sister Kate worked with hundreds Cardinal Walter Kasper, who, while of parishioners until her untimely death last defending the instruction, also said it would October. have benefited from "more positive,

14

Her pioneering canonical expertise helped instruction says these criteria now apply to develop the new jurisprudence in canon law parish mergers as well. which is now reflected in the instruction. Are bishops being held to a stricter standard In the process, Catholics began to win their before they can merge parish communities? appeals and to counter misguided diocesan Yet these rather esoteric canonical decisions that scattered their parish distinctions may amount to little more than communities with the goal of closing and "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic," selling their churches, in many cases as a retired seminary rector once opined to shore up diocesan finances. when I asked his views on Vatican efforts to address the priest shortage. An important operating principle for the Save Our Parish Community initiative was We do know at least one promising solution (and is) the belief that destroying parish to the priest shortage: We could open communities is not the way to solve the ordination rather than close parishes! male-celibate-priest crisis. The church's hierarchy has yet to agree, although the in Latin The new Vatican instruction seems to agree, America, as well as in the United States, insofar as it specifically says a bishop support both married and women priests in should not merge a parish or sell a church significant numbers, according to a 2019 because of "the lack of clergy, demographic Pew Research article. decline or the grave financial state of the diocese." By far the most ironic and frustrating part of the July instruction is that it has the temerity Yet "the lack of clergy [and] demographic to cite St. Paul's letters referring to house decline" are the exact reasons given by most churches as "a foretaste of the birth of the — if not all — U.S. bishops seeking to first 'Parishes.' " consolidate parishes. What the instruction conveniently fails to Detailed canonical procedures for merging a mention is that these house churches were parish and closing and selling the church founded by a married couple — Prisca and were first issued in 2013 when the Aquila — whom Paul calls his "co-workers Congregation for the Clergy in Christ Jesus" (Romans 16:3-5; 1 issued procedural guidelines for the Corinthians 16:19-20). This couple founded modification of parishes. These pointed to house churches (aka proto-parishes) In the need for two separate canonical decrees, Corinth, Ephesus and Rome. With Aquila, one for suppressing and merging a parish Prisca probably presided at early eucharistic and another for closing its church in celebrations held at their house church. preparation for sale. Equally ironic, given the instruction's dim view of giving laypeople titles such as The 2013 procedures said a bishop should "coordinator," "parish manager" or not close and sell a church because of "the "chaplain," is the fact that the U.S. lack of clergy, demographic decline or the Conference of Catholic Bishops used this grave financial state of the diocese." It did Pauline title in its groundbreaking 2005 not apply these same criteria to parish document on lay ecclesial ministry, "Co- suppressions and mergers. But the new 2020 Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord."

15

So, I suggest using the title "co-worker" for the journey. Whole churches and even laypeople who exercise parish leadership. cultures experience times of disorder and St. Paul well understood that mutuality in disruption. In the United States, many of us ministry works far better than rigid are discovering that a large number of hierarchical rules. things we believed to be true—about our nation and ourselves—are not entirely true. Will our bishops follow his example? I believe this is a necessary step that we must take for the sake of healing and justice [St. Joseph Sr. Christine Schenk, an NCR in our nation and our world—no matter how board member, served urban families for 18 “disordering” and even disorienting it may years as a nurse midwife before co-founding be. Perhaps I can only say this because I FutureChurch, where she served for 23 believe so completely in the possibility of years. Her recent book, Crispina and Her Reorder! Author Austin Channing Brown, Sisters: Women and Authority in Early who teaches on issues of racial justice, was Christianity, was awarded first place in the raised in a devoutly Christian home and has history category by the Catholic Press worked in and with churches for most of her Association. She holds master's degrees in professional life. I hope you can read her nursing and theology.] words with the openness they deserve.

I learned about whiteness up close. In its Richard Rohr's Daily classrooms and hallways, in its offices and Meditation sanctuaries. At the same time, I was also From the Center for Action and Contemplation learning about Blackness, about myself and about my faith. My story is not about condemning white people but about rejecting the assumption—sometimes spoken, sometimes not—that white is right: closer to God, holy, chosen, the epitome of being. . . .

Our only chance at dismantling racial injustice is being more curious about its origins than we are worried about our comfort. It’s not a comfortable conversation

Week Thirty-three for any of us. It is risky and messy. It is

Order, Disorder, Reorder: haunting work to recall the sins of our past. But is this not the work we have been called Part Two to anyway? Is this not the work of the Holy

Spirit to illuminate truth and inspire

transformation? The Disorder of Dismantling Racism Tuesday, August 18, 2020 It's haunting. But it’s also holy.

And when we talk about race today, with all The universal pattern of transformation I’m the pain packed into that conversation, the writing about these three weeks is not Holy Spirit remains in the room. This limited to religious or spiritual growth. Nor doesn’t mean the conversations aren’t is it only individuals that are invited to make

16 painful, aren’t personal, aren’t charged with When Pope Francis quoted St. Basil in 2015 emotion. But it does mean we can survive. that the unfettered pursuit of money was We can survive honest discussions about “the dung of the devil,” he rattled the ears of slavery, about convict leasing, about stolen both wealthy venture capitalists and some land, deportation, discrimination, and bishops dependent on their exclusion. We can identify the harmful philanthropy. Their shock was like the politics of gerrymandering, voter reaction of the disciples when Jesus said that suppression, criminal justice laws, and “It will be hard for one who is rich to enter policies that disproportionately affect people the Kingdom of Heaven.” They assumed of color negatively. And we can expose the that wealth was a sign of God’s favor in this actions of white institutions—the history of world, not an obstacle. segregation and white flight, the real impact of all-white leadership, the racial disparity in Jesus knew that wealth, if it was the driving wages, and opportunities for advancement. motive in someone’s life, distorted the We can lament and mourn. We can be livid common good and infected the and enraged. We can be honest. We can tell interdependent nature of markets and the truth. We can trust that the Holy Spirit is institutions everyone relied on. He did not here. We must. hesitate to upend the money changers tables and animal selling when they intruded on For only by being truthful about how we got the central purpose of the temple as a place here can we begin to imagine another way. of prayer. He knew that where there was wealth for the few it created poverty for the many and divided society into castes. In the Money story that preceded today’s Gospel, he saw by Pat Marrin the effect wealth had on a young man seeking a closer relationship with God who Spirituality went away sad when offered the chance to become a .

The image of the loaded camel unable to squeeze through the narrow gate kept open for latecomers after the main city gates were closed was a familiar saying that captured the burden that wealth becomes when it defines life. Peter spoke for the others when he asked Jesus, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus made clear that conversion is possible only with God’s help. Peter pursued the topic by asking Jesus what they would gain by their sacrifices in following him. “We have given up everything. What will there be for us?” “What will there be for us?”

(Matthew 19:26). It is hard to know if Jesus winked when he Ezek 28:1-10; Matt 19:23-30 assured them that they would get one hundredfold for everything they gave up, for

17

he knew the costs of their discipleship would be great when he himself went to the Scandalized by mercy cross. He may have overheard them on the Aug 18, 2020 road imagining the thrones they would sit on by Pat Marrin when he was revealed in glory as the Messiah in Jerusalem. They would find glory, but in a very different way.

They would be cast out into a hostile world to imitate his self-emptying mission and preach the paradoxes of being last in order to be first in God’s eyes. The reality of their greatness and wealth was that they would take up the burdens of servant leadership, responsible for the needs of growing faith communities. They would find eternal life in losing their lives as preachers and pastors “Am I not free to do as I wish?” over the flock of the church, and most of (Matthew 20:16). them would die for his name among the first generation of Christian martyrs. Ezek 34:1-11; Matt 20:1-16

The desire for and pursuit of money is so Because the provocative of the pervasive in our consumer culture, it is hard Vineyard Workers is unique to Matthew, it to discern all the ways in which it has come is worth asking what issues it may have been to rule our attitudes and values. We have addressing in his faith community. It seems seen how money dominates our political crafted to infuriate anyone who identifies system, mass media and our with the early birds who work a 12-hour day democracy. Capitalism’s influence on every for the same wage as the latecomers who aspect of American life is seamless and only work one hour. As an image of the clear, from healthcare to education, tax laws, Kingdom of God, it is ultimately about God, social and military spending, foreign policy the owner, who chooses to pay everyone the and the distribution of wealth and same daily wage. But it is also about how opportunity. Money defines success and everyone in the Kingdom is called to show drives the system. the same unconditional regard to others. Jesus preached God’s limitless mercy, but Catholic Social Justice Principles are he also challenged his disciples to be clearly at odds with many priorities and “perfect as your heavenly Father in perfect.” norms. If today’s Gospel and the words of Pope Francis about the dangers of money The original parable may have been directed shock us as they did the disciples, we will be at righteous people who were infuriated at better citizens and voters if we apply them to Jesus for claiming that God loved everyone our choices in the upcoming elections that and that even repentant sinners would be will define the nation well into the future. welcomed into the Kingdom. In Matthew’s mixed community of Jewish and Gentile converts, the first group may have insisted that because they were part of the Chosen

18

People and had kept the Mosaic Law, they held special status in God’s eyes. The heresy of oversimplified The tension between these “super Christians” and the late-comer pagans is Christianity evident in Acts and in St. Paul’s Aug 19, 2020 letters. Separate Eucharists were even being by Daniel P. Horan held in Antioch. Paul had to go to Jerusalem to argue that the Gospel itself was at stake in Theology such distinctions. Salvation comes as a grace to all and cannot be earned. Anyone who receives the gift of faith in Jesus is saved. If it can be earned by human effort or by keeping the Law, this makes Christ’s transforming sacrifice irrelevant.

The parable is so well crafted, it still provokes audiences to cry “Unfair!” when it is read, and it is difficult to preach to get people past this feeling. It is part of the parable and clearly intended to provoke us. One key to understanding Jesus’ compassion for sinners is to note that the owner keeps Detail of pen-and-ink drawing of "The Parable going out during the day looking for anyone of the Mote and the Beam (:3)" by who has not yet been hired. He is like the German artist Ottmar Elliger the Younger, circa shepherd who seeks out the lost. As for the 1700 (Metropolitan Museum of Art) other workers, everyone is treated justly. Each one receives the daily wage he needs One of the best definitions of heresy I've to support his family. Being part of the heard over the years describes it as the Kingdom, God’s vineyard, is the real gift experience of mistaking part of the truth for Jesus is offering everyone. Salvation is fully the whole truth in a matter of faith or and freely given to all who respond to God’s doctrine. This description generously reveals invitation. what is so appealing about heresies and why so many Christians inevitably fall for them. If we sit with the parable, it may probe our Heresies are always partly correct, but in the own memories of feeling neglected or the absence of the necessary nuance and old joke, “Mom always liked you best.” In complexity that Christian theology requires, families, problem children often get more a heretic unwittingly fails to accept the attention, and siblings learn a valuable totality of the orthodox position. lesson if a parent has to tell them that they love everyone, but at times some children Most classical Christian heresies condemned need to be loved more because they need by church councils follow this sort of more love. This was precisely Jesus’ pattern. In each case, well-meaning and message about God’s mercy for sinners and faithful Christians debate the definition of preferential love for the poor. beliefs, seeking to understand their faith better. Eventually ideological camps form and history reveals that it's often the

19 oversimplified and reductionist side that The problem is not with the attraction to falls in error. religion in general and Christianity in particular as an anchor in the perceived Pelagianism is heretical not because it gets stormy sea of modernity. It is that too many human freedom wrong, but because it fails people refashion Christianity — its doctrinal to adequately factor in the reality and teachings and moral guidance — into an idol consequence of that of their own making in order to grasp a deleteriously affects the exercise of human misguidedly simple and falsely clear freedom. Various forms of Gnosticism are message. Typically, such people heretical not because Christian faith has unintentionally fall into a kind of heresy nothing to do with the intellect or because they appropriate ideas, propositions, knowledge, but because they fail to perspectives and elements of the Christian recognize that authentic Christianity is not faith only in part and only insofar as it reducible to knowledge — let alone "secret serves their worldview, in an attempt to knowledge" reserved for a select few — and assuage their anxiety about the complexities that the created world is indeed good and of life. Ironically, such unknowing heretics was lovingly brought into existence by the purport to be "traditional" or "orthodox," one God. touting an absolutist line from their propositional worldview that in turn rejects As Pope Francis noted in the second chapter the broad range of legitimate Christian of his 2018 Gaudete et perspectives and the development of Exsultate, "On the Call to Holiness in doctrine. Today's World," the specters of Pelagianism and Gnosticism continue to haunt the We can see this in many contemporary church, albeit in new forms. But even discussions of Christian faith and morals. without the retro labels of ancient errors, the We see this in the way that some Catholics general underlying predisposition of desired obsess about the real presence of Christ in simplicity, binary framing, and black-and- the Eucharist, but to the exclusion of the white thinking continues to threaten three other ways the church teaches that orthodox belief for modern Christians. Christ is made present in the celebration of the Liturgy. And how the eucharistic species It is understandable that people throughout of consecrated bread and wine become history have sought easy answers and simple pawns in sectarian battles rather than the frameworks in an effort to make sense of a means by which Christ's true sacramental changing and, at times, inexplicable world. presence is communicated to the church, Especially during periods of turmoil and which is also the body of Christ. fast-paced social and cultural adaptation, many people look to religion to be an anchor We see this in the way that some Catholics of meaning and a source of security. And reduce the rich and nuanced moral teachings they should. The most central tenet of of the church to focus exclusively on Christianity is that God so loved the world abortion to the exclusion of other equally or that God entered that world as one of us to greater pressing social sins, such as capital reveal fully who God is and who we are. punishment, torture, economic inequality, That foundational belief about God's euthanasia, racial injustice, among others. incomprehensibly generous and And how this distorted single-issue unconditional love should be reassuring.

20 reductionism is deployed against those As this year's political season heads into the perceived to be political enemies. final stretch before a historic presidential election during a historic global pandemic, public debates and commentary about what constitutes "genuine" or "true" or "orthodox" Catholicism have and will continue to play out on the national stage. With former Vice President Joe Biden, a devout Roman Catholic, as the Democratic nominee for president, such discussions and debates are bound to grow more heated and contentious as political operatives seek to harness an oversimplified Christianity to help their electoral aims.

Already we have seen how some culture- warrior clergy, including bishops, have dismissed Biden's Catholicity according to Oil-on-wood painting of "The Parable of the this kind of logic. The idea is that because of Mote and the Beam" by Italian artist Domenico political party affiliation or legislative Fetti, circa 1619 (Metropolitan Museum of Art) support for policies in conflict with Catholic teaching (a reality that equally We see this in the way that some Catholics affects both Republican and Democratic treat sacred Scripture with fundamentalist platforms, neither of which is fully in line zeal, claiming certain things are immutable with church teaching), an individual or at least incontestable according to their Catholic Christian is wrongly dismissed or biblicist hermeneutic, despite the Catholic rejected as illegitimately or insufficiently Church's clear prohibition of a literal Catholic. The heresy here is the reduction of interpretation of Scripture. Scripture must be Christianity to a single issue — usually an interpreted, contextualized and understood issue of one's own personal preference or by its original audience in its own time in choosing — as the sole standard for order to understand how the Holy Spirit is judgment without any of the necessary speaking to us in our time. consideration of prudential judgment or conscience. The truth is that Christianity is not a religion for those who seek easy answers or black- But it is also important to realize that what and-white thinking. Whereas this false begins as heresy in faith leads to hypocrisy Christianity promotes "either/or" approaches in action. These culture warriors who paint to faith and morals, true Christianity has Christianity in general and Catholicism in always been a "both/and" tradition. The particular as reducible to a single issue do incarnation cannot be reduced to either not hold themselves or their preferred divinity or humanity, but always both God political party and politicians to the same and human. The moral tradition cannot be standards. I recall Jesus saying something reduced to concern for one life issue, but can about this kind of behavior with regard to only make sense in the promotion of a splinters and planks in the eye (Matthew consistent ethic of life that is inclusive of all 7:5). What the reductionists tout as populations.

21 orthodoxy is in fact heresy because it is only part of the whole picture; what they do in Richard Rohr's Daily practice is in fact hypocrisy because they are Meditation guilty of the same thing they accuse of From the Center for Action and Contemplation others in terms of unorthodoxy.

The way to avoid slipping into this kind of unwitting heresy is to steer clear of oversimplifying Christianity and accept the beautifully diverse, wondrously complex tradition that has been handed on to us. It may be discomfiting for some that doctrine cannot be justifiably reduced to propositional claims or that Scripture cannot always be read merely at face value or that moral dilemmas cannot be solved by memorizing a list of rules.

However, let us take comfort in the fact that the Holy Spirit is alive and active in the Week Thirty-three development of doctrine, the interpretation Order, Disorder, Reorder: of Scripture, and the formation of our Part Two consciences. Embracing this fundamental truth about the unavoidable complexity and range of the tradition is the beginning of an authentic and mature Christian faith. Dying as Disorder Thursday, August 20, 2020

[Daniel P. Horan is the Duns Scotus Chair of Spirituality at Catholic Theological Union Dying is not extraneous to life; it is a part of in Chicago, where he teaches systematic the mystery, and we do not understand life theology and spirituality. His recent book until we stand under death. —Richard Rohr is Catholicity and Emerging Personhood: A There may be nothing more disordering than Contemporary Theological Anthropology. being diagnosed with a terminal or chronic Follow him on Twitter: @DanHoranOFM.] illness. It upends our lives and yet, as Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen affirms, it can also be the doorway through which we “grow up” and discover our life’s purpose and meaning. At a young age, Remen was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, which affects all aspects of her life, but ultimately led her to her life’s work: helping doctors integrate their heart and soul into their clinical practices for the sake of healing their patients and themselves.

The view from the edge of life is different and often much clearer than the way most of

22 us see things. Life-threatening illness may cause people to question what they have Such ideas have the power to change the accepted as unchanging. Values that have way you see yourself and the world. been passed down in a family for generations may be recognized as inadequate; lifelong beliefs about personal In 'Life After the capacities or what is important may prove to Pandemic,' Pope Francis be mistaken. When life is stripped down to its very essentials, it is surprising how hopes COVID-19 will simple things become. Fewer and fewer things matter and those that matter, matter a change us great deal more. As a doctor to people with Aug 20, 2020 cancer, I have walked the beach at the edge by Thomas Reese, Religion News of life picking up this wisdom like shells. Service One of my patients who survived three major surgeries in five weeks described Vatican himself as “born again.” When I asked him about this, he told me that his experience had challenged all of his ideas about life. Everything he had thought true had turned out to be merely belief and had not withstood the terrible events of recent weeks. He was stripped of all that he knew and left only with the unshakeable conviction that life itself was holy. This insight in its singularity and simplicity had sustained him better than the multiple complex systems of beliefs and values that had been the foundation of his life up until this time. It upheld him like stone and upholds him still because it has been tested Pope Francis, white figure standing alone at by fire. At the depths of the most center, delivers an Urbi et orbi prayer from the unimaginable vulnerability he has empty St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March discovered that we live not by choice but by 27. (AP/Alessandra Tarantino) grace. And that life itself is a blessing. Since COVID-19 first began to spread, Pope Some of those who have had a near-death Francis has been challenging Catholics and experience, who have actually set foot over the world about the response to the that edge and then returned, have had an pandemic. As a pastor, he's also offered us additional insight. Their experience has hope. revealed to them that every life serves a single purpose. We are here to grow in Now, a collection of his messages on the wisdom and to learn to love better. Despite pandemic put together by Cardinal Michael the countless and diverse ways we live our Czerny, a Canadian Jesuit who works lives, every life is a spiritual path, and all closely with the pope in Rome, has been life has a spiritual agenda. published as "Life After the Pandemic." It contains eight papal addresses given in

23

March and April that show how the pope awake by wars or injustice across the world, thinks about living in this time. nor did we listen to the cry of the poor or of our ailing planet." Two of the pieces, "Urbi et orbi" addresses to the city of Rome and the world, may be Francis notes the other epidemics we face: familiar to some. Others are talks he gave to hunger, "wars fueled by desires for individuals and groups, even a message to domination and power" and "lifestyles that those involved in street newspapers sold by cause so many to suffer poverty." the homeless and poor. Returning to business as usual is not an As he often does, Francis in these speeches option. In the preface, Czerny asks: "Why calls to account the world's powerful, reinvest in fossil fuels, monoculture farming politically or economically. He is also and rainforest destruction when we know concerned with the "small part of the human they worsen our environmental crisis? Why family [that] has moved ahead, while the resume the arms industry with its terrible majority has remained behind." waste of resources and useless destruction?" Francis calls on government to put people The pope fears the world will respond to the first, even as he realizes this entails pandemic with "the selfishness of particular economic hardship. To opt for the contrary interests." We may "be struck by an even "would lead to the death of many people, in worse virus, that of selfish indifference. A one sense a kind of viral genocide," he says. virus spread by the thought that life is better if it is better for me, and that everything will The pope encourages "political leaders to be fine if it is fine for me." This will lead to work actively for the common good, to "discarding the poor, and sacrificing those provide the means and resources needed to left behind on the altar of progress." enable everyone to lead a dignified life and, when circumstances allow, to assist them in Rather, he hopes that we will "be profoundly resuming their normal daily activities." shaken by what is happening all around us." If we recognize that we are one family, then At the same time, the pope hopes "that our response must be "to eliminate governments understand that technocratic inequities, to heal the injustice that is paradigms [whether state-centered or undermining the health of the entire human market-driven] are not enough to address family!" this crisis or the other great problems affecting humankind. Now more than ever, The pandemic, and our response, is as much persons, communities and peoples must be a symptom as an illness in itself. The pope put at the center, united to heal, to care and asks us to "take a frank look at the facts to to share." see that our common home is falling into serious disrepair. We have polluted it, we The example of caregivers and frontline have despoiled it, endangering our very workers gives the pope optimism that we lives. … We have no future if we destroy the can think this way. He thanks "all who work very environment that sustains us." diligently to guarantee the essential services "Greedy for profit, we let ourselves get necessary for civil society … [who] have caught up in things, and lured away by helped ease people's difficulties and haste," he laments. "[W]e were not shaken suffering." He singles out the ordinary but

24 often forgotten people: "doctors, nurses, listen to the proclamation that saves us: He supermarket employees, cleaners, is risen and is living by our side." caregivers, providers of transportation, law and order forces, volunteers, priests, "Embracing the Lord in order to embrace religious men and women" as well as hope," he says, "that is the strength of faith, "fathers, mothers, grandparents and which frees us from fear and gives us hope." teachers." A quote on the back cover of the book He mourns those we've lost, praying that summarizes Francis' thoughts and prayer: If God might "welcome the departed into his we act as one people, even in the face of kingdom and grant comfort and hope to other epidemics that threaten us, we can those still suffering, especially the elderly make a real impact. … May we find within and those who are alone." He singles out us the necessary antibodies of justice, those in nursing homes and prisons. He charity and solidarity. We must not be afraid sympathizes with those who are homeless or to live the alternative—the civilization of "live in tiny, ramshackle dwellings." love. … In this time of tribulation and mourning, I hope that, where you are, you Francis acknowledges the fear we still face. will be able to experience Jesus, who comes "Thick darkness has gathered over our to meet you, greets you and says: "Rejoice" squares, our streets and our cities; it has (cf. Mt 28:9). And may this greeting taken over our lives, filling everything with mobilize us to invoke and amplify the Good a deafening silence and a distressing void, News of the Kingdom of God. that stops everything as it passes by." He confesses, "We find ourselves afraid and lost." Dry bones For Friday, August 21, 2020 The pandemic "exposes our vulnerability by Pat Marrin and uncovers those false and superfluous certainties around which we have Spirituality constructed our daily schedules, our projects, our habits and priorities."

He calls for a relaxation of international sanctions and a reduction if not forgiveness of debts so that poor countries can care for their citizens. He hopes that fighting might cease so that the world can attend to the needs of migrants and refugees.

More than that, Francis wants people to remember that the Lord is still with them. “O my people, I will put my spirit in you "In the midst of isolation when we are that you may live” (Ezekiel 37:14). suffering from a lack of tenderness and chances to meet up, and we experience the Ezek 37:1-14; Matt 22:34-40 loss of so many things, let us once again I suspect that not many daily homilies this past week have been preached on the first

25 readings from the prophet Ezekiel. On and restoring the nation to its founding Monday, the sudden death of his wife was principles. Whether voters want to “Make the basis for his prophecy of the coming America Great Again” or “Build Back anguish and exile of Israel. On Tuesday, he Better,” they are expressing the desire to attacked the haughty king of Tyre and find life, to recover a vision of what the prophesied his downfall. On Wednesday he country was set on course to be, however excoriated the shepherds of Israel for imperfectly, when it was founded. We come abusing the flock. By Thursday, we began home to our best selves again by renewing to see some light with Ezekiel’s poetic the promises made when we began. promise that God would replace hearts of stone with hearts of flesh. Today’s first The coming two months of political reading is the memorable scene from the wrangling may seem more like the Ezekiel exile when he is told to call forth new life of disaster than the Ezekiel of hope, but his from a field strewn with dry bones. ultimate message is that crisis can lead to renewal and even dry bones can spring to In today’s Gospel, Jesus echoes that same life again by the power of the Spirit. Jesus powerful theme when tested by the reminds us that no society can survive or Pharisees about the most important flourish without love of God and neighbor commandment of the Law. He goes to the as its motivating principle. heart of the Torah, which they had surrounded with a thicket of 619 lesser rules extrapolated from the Decalogue. This Richard Rohr's Daily multiplication had led to a fussy legalism Meditation that was robbing the Covenant of its spirit From the Center for Action and Contemplation and purpose. Only love will revive the dry bones of the Law. Jesus reminds his critics that the greatest commandment, the commandment to love recited daily as the prayer known as the Sh’ma (“Hear, O Israel”), contained the entire Law. Their effort to accuse Jesus of not knowing the Law or undermining it with radical ideas failed.

Jesus affirms that authentic renewal begins with recovering fundamental principles. He Week Thirty-three reminded these proud scholars and models of piety that only love can inspire life. The Order, Disorder, Reorder: letter of the law can kill, while the spirit of Part Two

love puts human flesh on the bones that give structure to our lives. Love is the greatest commandment because it breathes life into Going on the Full Journey everything. Friday, August 21, 2020

It is not surprising that our political This journey from Order to Disorder must campaigns are rhetorically about renewing happen for all of us. It is not something just

26 to be admired in Abraham and Sarah, course, initially shoots for “happiness,” but Moses, Job, or Jesus. Our role is to listen most books I have ever read seem to be and allow, and at least slightly cooperate some version of how suffering refined, with this almost natural progression. We all taught, and formed people. come to wisdom at the major price of both our innocence and our control. Few of us go Maintaining our initial order is not of itself there willingly; it must normally be thrust happiness. We must expect and wait for a upon us. However, we must be wary of “second naïveté,” which is given more than staying in Disorder for too long. it is created or engineered by us. Happiness is the spiritual outcome and result of full Everyone gets tired of critique after a while. growth and maturity, and this is why I am We cannot build on exclusively negative or calling it “reorder” (much more about that critical energy. We can only build on life next week). Generally, we must be taken to and what we are for, not what we are happiness—we cannot find our way there by against. Negativity keeps us in a state of willpower or cleverness. Yet we all try— victimhood and/or a state of anger. Mere usually heading in the wrong direction! We critique and analysis are not salvation; they seem insistent on not recognizing this are not liberation, nor are they spacious. universal pattern of growth and change. It They are not wonderful at all. We only seems that each of us has to learn on our become enlightened as the ego dies to its own, with much kicking and screaming, pretenses, and we begin to be led by soul what is well hidden but also in plain sight. and Spirit. That dying to ourselves is something we are led through by the grace of God. When we move into the Larger Realm of Reorder, we will weep over our sins, as we recognize that we are everything that we hate and attack in other people. Then we begin to live the great mystery of compassion.

There is no nonstop flight from Order to Reorder, or from Disorder to Reorder. We must dip back into what was good, helpful, and also August 21, 2020 limited about most initial presentations of “order” and even the tragedies of “disorder.” Notice During the Covid-19 Otherwise we spend too much of our lives Outbreak rebelling and reacting. I’m not sure why

God created the world that way, but I have In solidarity, we at the Interfaith to trust the universal myths and stories. Peace Project stand together in these Between the beginning and the end, the times of heart break and upset. Some Great Stories inevitably reveal a conflict, a of you may have lost friends or family contradiction, a confusion, a fly in the members. Some of you may have lost ointment of our self-created paradise. This your job and your income; some may sets the drama in motion and gives it be working overtime to help with the momentum and humility. Everybody, of crisis. Some of you may be home and

27 alone and some may be trying to help in observing this day during this figure out a new way to live. Please time of physical distancing. let us know how we can help. If you would like a phone appointment with The International Day of any of us, give us a call. You may call Peace is very close to the mind, heart, or email Tom at: and soul of The Interfaith Peace Project. For us, there can be no Tom Bonacci World Peace without religious peace [email protected] and cooperation. As all of us know, 925-787- 9279 the influence and practice of religion can be a force for good or a cause for Shaping Peace Together justifying our fears and cementing our The International Day of prejudices. We, at The Interfaith Peace Peace Project, believe the faith practices and convictions of every September 21, 2020 person can be a source of love, understanding, and compassion by which all of us have a chance to live in peace.

Honest dialogue with others begins in the hearts and minds of each and every individual person. The International Day of Peace invites each and every person to practice peace in all the affairs of their lives. We seek to live the spirit of September 21st every day.

You may have noticed the As we prepare for the yearly calendar is frequently marked upcoming International Peace Day, with "International Days" highlighting we need to examine our beliefs, various topics of concern. The days convictions, and faith practices are markers by which we remember making sure we are contributing to the our responsibility to live lives for the well-being of all. Religion must never well-being and security of the entire be used to foster hostile governments, family of humankind. demeaning policies, or social intolerance of anyone. August 21st is one month away from The International Day of The United Nations decided Peace sponsored by the United the theme for this year's Peace Nations since 1981. Today we would observances will be "Sharing Peace like to call your attention to this Together." To foster this powerful important day and offer you some idea, The Interfaith Peace Project will offer eleven reflections on peace from the various faith perspectives

28 beginning on September 11 and concluding on September 21. You will receive these reflections in your email. Please feel free to share these reflections with others. You are welcome to share with us your own reflections on peace for future publication on our website. Hope Solutions: August 2020 Opportunities for Involvement Because of the pandemic, we Homework Club Support: As the new cannot gather as we would like. school year begins, we have started to plan However, we invite you to light for Homework Club. Although there are still candles, burn incense, pray, meditate, many uncertainties of what is to come for and read peace literature throughout the 2020-2021 school year, we are the Day of Peace on September 21st. determined to provide academic support for Make an effort to be peaceful in mind, the children in our program. If you are heart, and soul as you go about the interested in providing academic support affairs of your day. and mentoring, whether it is remotely, on site, or a hybrid of both please contact While there will be study Volunteer and Donations Coordinator at groups, observances, and various 925-448-2004. programs on the social network, the essence of the day is the practice of Justice Corner by Carolyn Krantz, peace for twenty-four hours. This is Pastoral Associate based on the powerful idea that if we As a student of history, I am always can be peaceful for one day, we can interested in how things change, and what be peaceful one day at a time for the things lead to tumultuous events. As an rest of our lives. older person, I have lived through many eras from World War II on. Through my Peacefully, heritage, I can reach back to my great grandparents and into Irish events that Thomas P. Bonacci, C.P. with the brought them to America. Through studies Board of Directors in spirituality, I can learn history almost five The Interfaith Peace Project hundred years ago which still influence the church today. But now we are in a unique period where change has sped up and the pandemic has brought about shifts we can only imagine for the future. One hand reaches back into the past. The other reaches forward through the mist.

The Gospels of the next two Sundays are like that. On the one hand Peter responds from his past experience of Jesus and says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” for which Jesus calls him “Blessed.”

29

Then next Sunday, when Jesus reaches into both physically and spiritually to the human the future to predict the cross, and Peter effort.”* Teilhard was “captured by the recoils, Jesus calls him “Satan.” beauty of the person of Christ at the heart of a glowing universe and by the Divine So what does our new future hold, blessings Presence radiating from the depths of or curses? What do we see in the swirls of blazing matter... He sensed that the turmoil light and darkness that appear of our in the world was simply a sign that humanity horizon? Where is the God who is “up is experiencing a major transition.” (p. 122- ahead” leading us? Here are some ideas: 23) His final prayer in Hymn to the Universe was: Methods of communication and learning are drastically changed. The internet and social “Once again, Lord...I have neither bread nor media are here to stay. So while computer wine, nor altar. I will raise myself beyond skills have improved, personal these symbols. I will make the whole earth communication has faltered. We know how my altar and on it I will offer all the labors to text and write short messages. We know and sufferings of the world...I will place on computer language shorthand, but our ability my paten, O God, the harvest to be won by to be with one another and to share deeply is this renewal of labor. Into my chalice I shall being lost or curtailed. We can fix that pour all the sap which is to be pressed out through education and sharing. Many of us this day from the earth's fruits.” This is a are learning how to “Zoom.” good prayer for all of us, a “morning offering” we can daily repeat. There are many warnings about climate change, the need to limit greenhouse gases *Duffy, Kathleen, Teilhard's Mysicism: and living with less carbon generated Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution, material things. We see the effect on our Maryknoll, NY, :Orbis Books, 2014, p. 121. forests and parks, on the rain forest and the loss of animal habitat, but despite the non- Parish Perspective by profits who have emerged to deal with this Peter Degl’Innocenti, Pastoral Associate problem, we cannot seem to change fast Gut Punched enough. Even when the “stay at home” Just as things were steadily on their way to orders came down and we could see the becoming “normal” again, wham! Mother difference in the air quality, we still Nature steps in and gives us a gut punch “reopened” with more cars on the road. We with record high heat. Heat can be a real have not yet learned to let out hearts beat killer especially for older people of which with the heart of the earth. our particular parish is mostly comprised. Before it kills it can do many strange things Our spiritual writers and holy ones tell us we to body and mind. It saps strength from the must immerse ourselves in the suffering body even with constant rehydration. world. We have examples like Mother Granted, it doesn’t take much strength to Teresa who did just that. Jesus, too, left attend a Liturgy, but in addition to heaven to empty Himself and become like weakening physical resolve it challenges our us. Teilhard DeChardin's approach to ability to focus on tasks and instructions. It holiness was to “work in harmony with the makes it harder to focus on and comprehend goals of the Cosmic Christ, who is a homily. We think too much about how hot embedded in the cosmos and is thus linked it is, when will we be cool again, and the

30

ever-present “when will it be over.” These Mother’s Day, you filled the church with are not the conditions that favor full, active, baby clothes, wipes, diapers and other conscious participation in worship. It is supplies for the clients of Brentwood difficult, to say the least, to be fully Birthright. Each August, you filled the conscious, actively engaged, and have church with backpacks containing school pinpoint focus when 108 degrees of summer supplies for the students of our adopted heat has sent your own salty sweat drops to . Even though the ongoing sting your eyes. Not fun. pandemic forced these projects to go virtual this year, you continued your tradition of I remember the old Johnny Carson joke generously supporting these two about a heatwave in L.A. Johnny would organizations, this time with cash donations. start, “It was so hot.” The audience would respond, “How hot was it?” He replied, “It As of Sunday, August 16th, $1,570 has been was so hot, a dog was chasing a cat and they raised for Birthright of Brentwood were both walking. A robin was pulling and $2,030 has been raised for St. Peter worms out of the lawn…with an oven mitt. Martyr School. The funds will be combined Cows in the San Fernando valley are giving with any additional “summer outreach” evaporated milk. It was so hot the NBC donations that come in this Sunday and commissary bread store is now toast!” So, forwarded to the organizations this coming we don’t want any of our parishioners week. Thank you to everyone who was able becoming “toast,” we already have a large to support these outreach efforts. enough backlog of funeral liturgies to do. Wisely, all Sunday services were canceled.

All things must change, and the oppressive heat will also fade from recent memory. Something new will take its place and at that time will seem insurmountable and equally as devastating as this heatwave does now. Rest assured the God of all creation is still in charge and has seen to humanity’s needs since the beginning. Stay hydrated, turn on the A/C to a tolerable level (you don’t have to freeze yourself out either), turn on a ceiling or portable fan, and apply cool compresses as necessary.

That’s it for this week. Keep cool and keep the Lord in your heart; the one place that

should always be warm and inviting.

Summer Outreach Results For over a decade, the Mary Project that

benefited Birthright of Brentwood and the Backpack Drive that benefited the students of St. Peter Martyr School were two of our longest running outreach efforts. On

31

St. Ignatius of Antioch 11th Annual Grand Raffle Progress Report

500 Books Goal: 500 Books 375 Books Books Sold as of 225 Books Sunday, August 16: 125 Books 85

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ARE ABLE TO SUPPORT THIS IMPORTANT FUNDRAISING EFFORT THAT BENEFITS OUR PARISH. Turn in ticket stubs and money to the parish office, drop off at the rectory (209 Tanganyika Ct., Antioch) or drop in the collection basket if attending Mass or receiving Holy Communion on Sunday in the parking lot. Early returns are eligible for bonus tickets, so return your sales proceeds today. Request additional books from the parish office by calling (925)778-0768.