Category Archives: Essays

Today’s Paradox

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Today’s paradox is an examination of receiving what we already have. Take for instance, God’s love for us. We know He has given us a full measure of His love. We know as His children He could not love us any less or any more than He already loves us. Yet, there are those overwhelming moments of gratitude and thankfulness, when His presence, His providence and His love come streaming into our lives, surrounding us and our circumstances with His radiance. Perhaps, for some of us, this can be understood as an awakening. When in our worldly realm, we recognize and encounter what we know we have held in our hearts; what He has already given us.

  There is another aspect of receiving which is not paradoxical; it is an addition, a gift from Grace. Not a deepening of faith and understanding of His glory, something new, something which strengthens our reflection of His image and likeness in our creation. This is the gift of the Holy Spirit.  

  I have long struggled with the biblical reconciliation of what appears to be the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament. Realizing that God has never changed, could not change; how is it that the God of the Old Testament seems to be caught up in a world of cause and effect, stuck in an endless world of narrative discourse and dialog, entangled in fear and punishment? I explained this to myself, using the rationalization that I could not really understand the mindset, the mentality of the first century Zionist. I am not from an era of tribal  identity. I have never lived in a community of extended family. I do not know famine or the fear of famine, never witnessed war in my homeland, never watched my wife draw water from the well or trimmed my lamp at twilight. This leads me to the simple observation that the Bible was not written to us we are not the audience. The Bible was written for us; it is up to us to read, study and understand what is being taught to us through Holy Scripture.

  What also seems to be a reasonable observation, is how crucial to the process is the lens one looks through when considering Holy Scripture. Am I an anthropologist studying human behavior, looking for clues to why the civil constructs were formed the way they were, how the buildings reflected the ideas of the time, discovering how the priorities of the society shaped its goals? Am I a historian, tracing the dates and events, finding the key components which led up to the events and then evaluating the results? Am I a person of faith, looking up to the cross as our Lord looked down on us? Is it through His words that I search all the possibilities, looking for what is beyond my thinking, freeing myself from my frames of reference, striking out in a new direction into unexplored arenas and beyond the near horizon? And now I realize what all these options have in common; they are all about me, and in this lies the fatal flaw. None of it is about me and where I am in it. It is all about Him and the gift He brings, the Holy Spirit.

  Christ Jesus came into this world and  changed everything. As a Catholic, I realize through transubstantiation, substance is changed to essence. Beyond this sacramental process, every bit of the material world is affected by His coming which brought about a deeper reflection of God’s creation.  His baptism served as a model for all of humanity and His divinity changed the Jordan River into holy water. His ministry ushered in a new era of understanding, social justice, beauty and kindness which had never been witnessed in this worldly realm. His miracles showed the world the true glory of the Father Almighty, a glimpse of what lies beyond the unimaginable. His life fulfilled the prophecy of old and foretold of a coming age, a victory of peace and love. Christ Jesus is the bridge between death to life; all His promises are true, He will stand between us and the Father, not as our judge, as our Savior. He is the bread of life. We can share the body, blood, soul and divinity, in all times, in all places throughout the world,  and for all times. Through this sacrament, the Eucharist, Christ gifts us a portion of His union with the Father. Yet through all this majesty, the blessings, and the gifts, nothing is greater than the gift of the Holy Spirit. My peace I leave you, My peace I give you. His love written in our hearts, His presence forever with us, in every instance of every second.

   In His presence the Apostles received the Holy Spirit. He breathed on them, into them and through them, into a waiting world. A world suspended in the lifelessness of empty time. A world steeped in the identity of self. A world conceived in and of a man and woman, humanity without divinity. Christ Jesus changes all of this. It is this missing component, the Holy Spirit, in their lives and in my thinking, which is the obstacle. The Bible, written to an audience who could not understand God without His presence in their lives. It isn’t God who differs from one age to the next, it is His people, now fully alive, endowed with the Presence of their Maker, who are now ready to embrace His goodness. To see Him as He is, not as they made Him out to be. I see now that I was asking the first century Christians to witness and testify to what they had not seen or known. I see now that I was expecting the impossible. They like us, have to be shown the way; no one gets there on their own. Those who have eyes to see, should see and those who have ears to hear should hear.

Immaculate Heart of Mary

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Most Holy Trinity, we put the United States of America into the hands of Mary Immaculate in order that she may present the country to you. Through her we wish to thank you for the great resources of this land and for the freedom which has been its heritage. Through the intercession of Mary, have mercy on our president and all the officers of our government. Grant us a fruitful economy born of justice and charity. Have mercy on capital and industry and labor.

(Taken from the act of consecration of United States to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.)

I am constantly being drawn to examine what is biblical and what is worldly. This is not in terms of how they may be separate, more as to how they complement each other. What I find compelling about this prayer taken from the act of consecration of United States to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is first we bring our gratitude and our thankfulness and then we ask for mercy appealing to God through Mary for His grace. For me this is the formula, the way our prayers should be structured. Now, look through this formula and see what we find. There is a great appeal to the biblical to grant us fruitfulness of spirit grounded in justice and charity along with worldly success centered on capital, industry, labor and prosperity.

 Notice how different these two aspects appear to be. In the worldly, we would expect great struggle and great risk to lead to great rewards. Rightfully so, in the world, a healthy psychological equation would demand that great risk would have an equal or greater reward. Biblically, we find great love doesn’t lead to great gain, benefits or rewards; great love leads to great suffering. Bishop Barron tells us love is willing the good of the other for the sake of the other. This necessarily means giving of ourselves in self-giving love. Nothing says this better than the Cross and the lives of Mary and the martyrs. In our lives, this aspect means giving of ourselves without being in the equation, not expecting and demanding a return on our investment. There is also the painfulness of giving yourself for the sake of this unconditional love. In our ego driven world, the realization of giving up some of our own aspirations, time and energy for the sake of others can lead to some very undesirable responses, bitterness, feeling unappreciated or resentment come to mind. For the believer, the focus remains in the moment. The love is the reward, standing alone, its own merit. The love has no need of the worldly, of joy postponed, of expectations to be met. The love biblically blossoms into compassion, kindness, empathy and hope. Pope Francis tells us optimism can be disappointing; hope is eternal, never changing, always faithful.   

Pilgrimage

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A pilgrimage by its very design is a quest. The question is, what do we seek? Are we looking for what has been forgotten or perhaps something lost? Is it a moment of spiritual epiphany or a glimmer of psychological clarity? Have we reached the point when we finally realize, what we are looking for, is not what we thought we wanted? Have we discovered the greatest paradox of all; we will never find what we earnestly want? What a comforting realization. How much easier has life just become. If you know me, you know I am looking for the next better question, not the best answer. The best answer never changes, it’s always the same, stop trying and start being.

If this all sounds like some mumbo jumbo; then consider this: you can’t find a gift, you can only receive one. In this world you may expect one, and rightfully so; it’s the Christmas season, or Valentine’s Day, or that long awaited graduation. This is similar in the sense that perhaps you have prepared for the gifting event, or maybe a life event has thrust you into circumstances which make you receptive to the gift you are about to receive. Perhaps it is an unexpected prayer answered or a long-awaited prayer fulfilled. The point being a journey has a destination; a genuine gift is beyond expectation.

The Perfect Paradox

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Perhaps the perfect paradox is, the perfect answer lies outside the parameters of the question. When the Jews brought the adulterous woman to Jesus and asked, what should we do with this woman, Moses said, “a woman like this should be stoned, what do you say?” They were expecting an answer somewhere between, stone her or let her go; Jesus found the answer in the third way. When Satan tempted Jesus after the 40 days in the desert, turn these stones into loaves, he was expecting a yes or no; again, Jesus found the third way. If this perfect paradox seems plausible, that the perfect answer lies outside the parameters of the question; then one conclusion would be; that the perfect question lies outside the parameters of any possible answer. It wouldn’t be the perfect question if it had an answer. Conversely, if the answer did lie within the parameters of the question, then you would have to admit that you already knew the answer before you asked, or you would never recognize the answer was the answer. If this is plausible, then, there can only be one perfect answer to the perfect question. So, if you see the only answer to this seeming endless ‘catch 22’ is; the perfect question is the perfect answer, then you would be absolutely right. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. He is the cause and the effect. He is the question and the answer.