St Paul: Why Suffering in Love? August 1, 2008

Chapter 1, Verse 29

This comes from God,

for you have been granted the privilege

for Christ's sake

not only of believing in him

but of suffering for him
as well.

Just a few seconds of thought and you might ask "How can a loving God's Son be a cause of suffering for me because I believe in him?" You might as if this is really a reward?

I say to couples preparing for their marriage "Do you really love Mary?" and "Do you love John?" Usually after a tender look to each other there is a response such as "Of course." Or a simple but firm "Yes, yes." Then, after what is sometimes an uncomfortable pause, I say "Well let me tell you this: your love for each other is going to bring you suffering." Imagine the reaction from each of the parties. After asking why, they learn what I hope will always be with them in many years of a happy marriage. Marriage is the most difficult of vocations especially in our times and culture. Why? Economic stress; learning to surrender much personal independence and freedom; enduring the rough days of raising a family; and accepting each other's idiosyncrasies -- especially in the later years of life!

What Paul is teaching us is (a) suffering is an integral part of loving; (b) believing means we in effect are willing to accept a way of living that is based on the teachings and life of Jesus Christ; and, (c) a Christian, a true follower of Christ, is willing to give oneself totally to Jesus.

How does Paul come to this? We are called to believe that the reason there is a Bethlehem is because Jesus accepted the Father's will to become a human being to give his life for our salvation, our redemption. God's gift of redemption would not be gained by Jesus' simply giving up his divine life to accept the limitations of human life. As well the love for the Father's will and for us sinners bring suffering because crucifixion and death were part of his love. Perfect love could not be shown to a sinner in a fuller expression. Jesus knew that his love for us would be affirmed by his own suffering and death. This was the environment of his journey.

We should understand Paul: "we have been granted the privilege for Christ's sake not only of believing in him but of suffering for him as well." (New Jerusalem Bible) We don't have to seeking suffering. If we say "I believe," we can expect suffering to be a part of belief which is our expression of love to God. Recall what Peter said when asked by Jesus "Do you love me?" Peter responds, "You know everything, Lord; you know I love you." Immediately the suffering mission was awarded to Peter when Jesus replied "Feed my sheep."

Today, in the first reading, listen carefully to a story you have heard many times. The phrase "he tried again" is important. It is message God gave to Jeremiah as well as to Ignatius of Loyola.

Knowing the pottery process is important. When an object has been made but fails to please, the potter begins a serious program of renewal. The artist destroys the attempted work by squeezing it together into a lump. Before spinning the wheel again the artist flattens the mass of class with heavy pounding that is severe. Why? To remove the almost invisible air bubbles. Once finished, the formation process begins again. Something somewhat different is created ... never exactly the same as its predecessor. But the clay is not lost.

Ignatius Loyola, like Jeremiah, had to be reformed, shaped anew. The air bubbles of sin and mistrust had to be removed from their lives. For Ignatius the pounding was being hit by a canon ball, a shattered knee, several operations and a lengthy hospitalization. Suffering greatly and at times severely to atone for his sins, he accepted all of this, allowing God to remove the air bubbles from his life.

Today we might ask ourselves at least two questions. Do I see myself as clay in God’s hands? Do I need to allow God to remove the air bubbles of a particular sin from my life?

It is through prayer that we answer these questions. For in prayer we move away from kidding ourselves, no easy move. Fr. Henri Nouwen describes the process well. Prayer he wrote, "leads us from false certainties to true uncertainties, from an easy support system to a risky surrender, ... from the many safe gods to the God whose love has no limits."

Ad majorem Dei gloriam!

For the greater glory of God!

Papal Vacation Has Begun: July 30, 2008

The Internet has everything! Pope Benedict XVI this year has returned to the Alpine village of Bressanone. This is a picture of the once Cardinal Ratzinger, brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger and an unidentified third party strolling in Bressanone several years ago. Brother Georg and the Pope vacation together regularly so that the two priests can spend time sharing their musical talents. Msgr Ratzingner was formerly the director of the choir at the Regensburg (Germany) Cathedral. One might suspect that the only lacking with be Julie Andrews who, with the brothers Ratzinger, could make the Bressanone hills come alive with the sounds of music!

Abandoned, Alone: Reflection: July 30, 2008

In the words of Jeremiah today we hear of one man’s struggle to believe God’s promise to stand by him because his efforts to respond to God’s call result in strife and contention. Suffering aloneness can open awareness of God’ great love for us.

Yesterday we heard words about Martha’s complaining to her dinner guest, Jesus, about all the work she had to do. Today we witness Jeremiah’s complaining about the consequences of the prophet’s mission entrusted to him. Words that once were a source of confidence and satisfaction had become a thorn in the people’s hearts and great unrest in his soul. He was suddenly standing in a "treacherous brook." Of course he, like Martha, complains to the one who has a special relationship to him.

God replied to the prophet’s complaints. He called him to repentance because of his lack of trust: "Repent. I shall restore you and you will become like a brass wall." Return and I will be with you is the promise.

Who is there who does not run into feeling abandoned by friends or by God? Events or the words or actions of friends and loved one’s might overwhelm us. Indeed there may be a time when God seems to have gone out of our existence. Isn’t it the natural reaction in such moments to abandon those friends, loved one and even God? We are hurt because we feel the painful loss of a genuine support.

In such moments we are tested. In those painful times we are challenged to examine our hearts. So often these moments are a sign that we have become distracted. The late Fr. Henri Nouwen’s words give us a solution. "The mystery of God’s presence can only be touched by a deep awareness of his absence. It is in the center of our longing for the absent God that we discover his footprints, and realize that our desire to love God is bring out of the love with which he has touched us (Words of Hope and Healing, p 9).

Like Martha and Jeremiah, we, in our feeling of aloneness we have an opportunity to experience the reality of God’s love for us.

Pope Benedict XVI: Books About the Pope

While Pope Benedict XVI most likely will not have the years on Peter's throne that John Paul II had, there are already several publications about the man who seems to be showing the world a different side of his personality.

On June 9, 2008 The (London) Times On Line provided a list of several books in an article, "The Best of Benedict: a selection of papal biographies.." The article can be found at Times On Line.

So for some summer reading that is a little different from usual under the sun reading, you might find an interesting option. Any one of these books would most likely make you stand out among those reading in the sands!!

The Service Model: St. Martha --- July 29, 2008

Today I think back to my earliest years. Communications and travel were very different than they are today. Then the community was the neighborhood; today the neighborhood is the world. What was so far away now is "just up the road."

Today we are often called to serve more than the aging relative or the sick neighbor. Today our outreach is called for those whose language and culture we might not understand. With the click of a computer mouse we can watch on our computers the terrible natural disasters and even the destruction of war in places far away in travel time but now technically seconds "just up the road."

While we may feel the same "burden" that Martha grouses about, St. John’s letter reminds us that we have a calling to love one another. This is a genuine debt that we carry because we ourselves have been the object of another’s love or care or forgiveness. Our Creator God loved each of us. He fed our ancestors in the desert, on grassy plains, by a well and so on. But more than that our God gave us his Son to be our nourishment, to guide us when we have been lost and to give us when we are in need ... because we, too, have asked for his help. And he answered us.

Martha gave herself to others. Ours today is also a vocation quite similar because we too are the object of God’s love. Service to others is, perhaps, the reality of a rainbow: your service is the pot of gold for others!

Photo: From collection of Josiah Newton Covert

The Other (Petrine) Charism: July 28, 2008

Welcome to the University at Tubingen, Germany ... the school of many scholars, a number of them in theology and church history. Many Christian and Catholic scholars studied and taught at Tubingen. Among them these known theologians: Karl Barth, Dietrich, (Cdl) Walter Kasper, Pope Benedict XVI, Hans Kung. Recently, 2007, a recently retired Professor Emeritus, Martin Hengel produced a "slim volume" entitled "The Undervalued Peter." Hengel sifted through he letters of Paul and the gospels to develop a more informed understanding of Peter. In particular, Hengel focused on the early decades after the first Easter Sunday.

Dr. Hengel sees that Peter was not focused ONLY on a mission to the Jewish people as one might understand from the following words from Galatians 2:7:

On the contrary, when they saw I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised.

Rather, again as Fr. Byrne noted, Peter was the leader of a mission rather extensive in scope. The Gentiles found Peter's mission appealing. The Australian scholar is of the opinion that if Prefessor Hengel's investigations are correct, the difficulties between the two early Church leaders, especially at Antioch, became visible in two rival missions that created tensions in some of the cities of Asia Minor where each was proselytizing.

Byrne says that "while open to the Gentiles, the Petrine mission would represent the kind of closer continuity to the Jewish heritage, notably the Torah, that ultimately emerged in the gospel of Matthew."

Both of the saints experienced martyrdom in Rome, bringing an end to their missions. After a time, however, the words in Luke-Acts related each apostle's role in the Evangelist's writings. Luke repositions Paul more to the center -- where Peter stood. This positioning certainly would not have set easily with Paul. Fr. Byrne calls this the taming of Paul!

This ends the reflections on the charisms of Peter and Paul. Hopefully Fr. Byrne's insights and the works of contemporary scholars has helped you come to appreciate an aspect of Peter and Paul that does have some significance but which is not too publicized except in scholarly circles. But these charisms are important for the Church in understanding how it came to where it is today. Pope John Paul II once remarked that the Church has to breathe with both lungs --- Peter and Paul!

Where is my treasure? Reflection, Sunday, Jluly 27, 2008

How often does this kind of thought enter your mind and heart: "I wish I had ....(whatever)? From today’s readings we have much that can help us understand how we might fill in that blank. The wisest person was Solomon ("and after you there will come no one to equal you [I Kings 3:12]) who, when asked by God to request something of him, responded "Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people (remember, he was to succeed his father, King David) and to distinguish right from wrong." How many of us would have put wisdom at the head of our list of wants? Perhaps at this moment in our national economic struggle and our days of discernment prior to casting a November vote, we should be making a Solomon-like response.

The gospel today speaks to us about finding a treasure. Jesus offers several descriptions of treasures that he likens to the kingdom of God. He is teaching his listeners that the greatest treasure we can seek and find is the kingdom of God ... not in some after-life but in our very midst. He tells the hearers that he will help them (and us) find it because it is God’s plan for the world, for you and me. "Seek (it) and you will find (it)" Mt: 7:7.

The genuine "proof in the pudding" is what we find in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ great teaching moment on the mountain when he said, "Where you treasure is, there also will you heart be" Mt 6:21.

When frustrations and disappointment take true joy from your heart, call to mind what treasures have taken over your heart. Is it the wisdom you truly need? And, lastly, recall Paul’s words in the second reading, "... all things work for good for those who love God."

New Perspective on Paul: Saturday, July 26, 2008

Romans: 11:25-32

So that you may not claim to be wiser than your are, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand this mystery: a harden has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written,

Our of Zion will come the Deliverer;he will banish ungodliness from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.

As regards the gospel they are enemies of God for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved, for the sake of their ancestors; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.

So what is the New Perspective on Paul that has stirred the waters of Catholic-Jewish relations? Again, as Jesuit Father Byrne writes in the article cited earlier, it is "basically a revolt against (this) long-standing caricature of Judaism purportedly based on Paul. The great apostle had to deal with a "legalistic pattern of religious behavior where one attempted to gain salvation through 'doing the work of the Law' rather than relying, in faith solely on the grace of God."

Dr. Sander (initiator of the New Perspective") demonstrated that legalism was not the basis of Judaism. That it is a religion based on covenant and its response to grace. The earlier interpretation of Paul's feelings of dissatisfaction toward Judaism was not the cause of the great conversion on the Damascus road. Rather it was Paul's personal discovery of Jesus Christ.

What bothered Paul, as other scholars teach, was not the problem with "the works of the Law ... per se" but with particular aspects of Judaic religion such as circumcision, the keeping of the Sabbath, and dietary regulations. Fr. Byrne sees Paul's writings and sentiments as opposition to "an inflated sense of Jewish identity" and an effort to force Jewish ritual requirements on the people who converted from the Gentile world."

Scholars see the New Perspective as a charge against the core of the Reformation (the Pauline charism). Byrne describes it as "Gospel over against law, faith in God's grace against reliance upon human works. What the work and subsequent discussions and writings make clear is this: "we can never invoke the name of Paul in support of the old caricature of Judaism" (again salvation through work of the Law rather than relying on God's graces).

"Justification by faith alone" has lost much of its thrust as the central point of Paul's teaching. Now there is the opportunity to understand Paul in a way that "is congenial to Catholic tradition" says Fr. Byre.

On Monday, a look at Peter's charism ... so we can further understand St. Paul

The Petrine/Pauline Charisms today: Reflection July 25, 2008

As indicated in the last posting dealing with the Year of Paul, the two charisms -- of Peter and of Paul -- have had an impact in the lifetime of many alive today without their even knowing it!

Fr. Bryan Byrne, in the article cited previously, noted that the Pauline charism gather much impetus during the time of the Reformation. You might ask "What?" During that period of European history, the sixteenth century, religion was much more than a personal decision. Religion had become the foundation of society. It was a time when Christian humanism became very evident in communities. There was an effort to take the impact of the Renaissance and bring it to life in the reformative actions and thinking. There was a spiritual revival in mysticism most prominent in Thomas a Kempis' Imitation of Christ. In all that was happening was the vision, the hope to improve life. In a way we see in this historical period the surge of the Pauline charism -- "the challenge ... to traditional understanding and practice" that is likewise spurred on by the enthusiasm and challenge experienced in missionary activity.

The Church, clearly threatened by the Reformers' activities and movements that brought about division, turned to the Paterine charism to restore control and the preservation of tradition. In the 1870s the Petrine charism reached it resurgence with Rome's "definition of papal primacy and infallibility ...." This took place during Vatican Council One! The Petrine charism, it can be said, again repressed the spirit of the Pauline charism in the decades to follow. Then there came another Vatican Council, the second one.

Fr. Byrne noted that Vatican Council was the effort of the Catholic faithful trying to revive the spirit of the first great missionary of our Church, Paul of Tarsus. Many of us can recall the turmoil, the division created by the various consequences of the newer, freer Vatican Council. Priests and religious departed the Church; laity moved to mainline faith practices. The decrees of Vatican Council Two were too much for many. The new spirit, the fresh air that Pope John XXIII had brought into the Church, frightened many -- so called "liberals" and "conservatives" alike. All of this occurred when society was itself in turmoil and the revolutionary days of 1960s.

Caught in the struggle between the two charisms and the second pontifical leader of Vatican Council Two was a small man, a delicate man of Italian diplomatic heritage, names Giovanni Montini. He was elected Pope during the Council and chose the name Paul VI.

Most Catholics today wonder what happened to Vatican Council Two. Today, so it seems, many Catholics have departed from the Church and many are questioning why they remain in the Church. Clearly the thrust of Vatican Council Two can be said to have lost its energy, its thrust. Perhaps one of the blessings that our Church can embrace during the Year of Paul is the "chance to redress the balance."

Most Catholics without doubt would hardly see the struggles that led to the repressions expressed in the decrees of the Council of Trent and the weakening of Vatican II as the struggle between the charisms of our Church's earliest and primary pillars, Peter and Paul.

American scholar, E. P. Sanders initiated a flow of scholarly study and discussion. Sanders writing has prompted what is called the "New Perspective on Paul."

So, what has this to do with our daily prayer? Know Paul's writings and what he is teaching. It is important. From Paul we can get a hint of the way Paul heard the voice of God. It is a reason for our trying to perceive how the Holy Spirit was touching the mind and heart of our first century missionary. Tomorrow we will look at what the New Perspective has stirred up in scriptural study especially as Paul's writings impact relations between Catholicism and Judaism.

Source of Living Water: Reflection: July 24, 2008

Jeremiah’s imagery at the beginning of the 2nd chapter of his writings calls to mind Adam and Eve but easily can be applied to ourselves. It is another picture of the spiritual journey we, as sinners, follow.

We begin our journey, our relationship with God, mindful of our own dedication and efforts to follow the Lord, living as he has called us. Then, at some point in time, each of us encountered our own moment when we bite into that infamous apple. That was the moment when, as Jeremiah writes, "You entered and defiled my land, you made my heritage loathsome. "

God charges Jeremiah to write, "Two evils have (they) done: they have forsaken me, the source of living waters; they have dug themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water." The broken cisterns are the idols we have built for ourselves. This is one way that God sees our sinfulness.

He uses the image of water because water is so essential for life. It is a wonderful image to draw us back to God when we consider his own description of himself: "the source of living waters."
How often we see advertisements offering a "fountain of youth" to extend our lives. The responsorial psalm gives us a clue that offers more than youth, it is the gift of life: "With you is the fountain of life, Lord." This is where we repair the broken cisterns we have brought in our lives to quench a thirst that takes us away from a God that has given us so much.

In the mind of God: Reflection, July 23, 2008

ST. BRIDGIT OF SWEDEN

Yesterday we considered Micah’s question: "Who is like God?" The answer? I am made in the image of God. Today, the prophet Jeremiah gives a further insight into who we are: there was divine activity in each of our lives even before conception. God knew each of us. He had a plan for you and me even before birth. From all eternity you and I had a place in God’s mind or, we might say, in his intention. He knew precisely when we would become a part of his world. We have been and are a part of God’s plan for the communities where we live, where we work and wherever we live out our life’s journeys.

Before we were born God in his infinite and divine wisdom had dedicated each of us to be, as was Jeremiah, a prophet or as mentioned earlier this month, an apostle. We were appointed to a specific spiritual mission for our God. If we take time to nurture this concept, time to let God speak to us about our mission, we might be frightened by the magnitude of this reality. It says, in essence, none of us is "just here" to take up space.

We cannot be overwhelmed or frightened by what is awesome. Just as God replied to Jeremiah’s fright and hesitation, God replied to any doubts we might have in living out what God wants us to be, to do. Don’t forget: he has promised his support. "Do not fear. I am with you."

Just as a child becomes like his or her parent through days of growth and formation, so too, is our God ever present to us. Our task is first and foremost to be open to God’s voice that we find in and through the words of scripture and the lives of saints who were, remember, men and women like you and me.

St. Bridget married and gave the world eight children. She heard God’s voice for her life. After raising her children and her husband’s death she founded a religious order of women, the Brigittine Order. Her primary message was this, again a note of perseverance as noted about Mary Magdalene: endure whatever suffering might come to you for the sake of Jesus Christ.

Pope's Words in Australia

Seemingly, another successful national tour for Pope Benedict XVI. Home to Castel Gandolfo for a few days of R&R.

For those who would like to read any of the public remarks of the Holy Father and to catch up on some the of pictures of the event, click on to the Whispers in the Loggia Link to the left of this posting. Editor, Rocco Palmo, once again, has provided his readers with up-to-date accounting of the papal visit.

The Holy Father said: The principal actors on the stage over these last few days, of course, have been the young people themselves. World Youth Day is their day. It is they who have made this a global ecclesial event, a great celebration of youth and a great celebration of what it is to be the Church, the people of God throughout the world, united in faith and love and empowered by the Spirit to bear witness to the risen Christ to the ends of the earth.

What a way to bring to a conclusion another WYD that will not doubt result in much healing, a renewed interest both in vocations to priesthood and consecrated life as well as laity participation in the Church's future. Pope Benedict left the continent with "...And as I bid you farewell with deep gratitude in my heart, I say once again: May God bless the people of Australia!"

And, for sure, the Church universal should be saying, "God bless you, Holy Father."

Photo: Mark Baker, through Whispers in the Loggia

Who is like God? Reflection: July 21, 2008

An Updated Reflection

In today’s first reading it is important to catch the prophet Micah’s question: "Who is like God?" Mary Magdalene is a model of one persevering in the search. Micah is telling the people that God is a God of mercy who forgives sins but also removes the guilt sinners might carry. For anyone carrying sins in his/her heart the picture Micah gives us is reassuring: God is a compassionate God who tosses our sins to the bottom of the oceans. Our God is compassionate: he grinds our guilt into the earth.

Micah’s question remains: "Who is like this God?" We might respond: "There is no one like him, of course." However, there is: perhaps a surprise. You and me, we have been made in the image of God: we are called to be like God.

How can this be? Through being willing to forgive others; through being slow in letting anger take over immediately in unpleasant moments; through being joyful in extending forgiveness to someone; through grinding down any grudges growing in our hearts.

Today’s feast honoring Mary Magdalene, should recall her perseverance. Pope Gregory the Great noted Mary did not recognize the Risen Jesus when he called her "woman" but only when he called her "Mary." This one word in effect was saying "Recognize me as I recognize you. I do not know you I know others. I know you as yourself."

This is truly a part of the challenge of our spiritual journey: to persevere in efforts to be like God. Saints, once sinners, a la Magdalene, should help us, strengthen us and, and when asked, intercede for us before our God.

Charisms of Peter and Paul: July 21, 2008

While the jubilee Year of Paul focuses upon the tent maker, has it ever made you wonder why neither Peter nor Paul has a feast solely for himself. Since the days of the fourth century our Church has yoked the two proto-martyrs together. Jesuit Father Brendan Byrne, professor at the Jesuit Theological College, Melbourne, Australia, raises this question: "Is it just historical accident or has it in fact bequeathed to the Church two distinct charisms? (The Tablet, July 12, 2008, p.16)

This blogger had never recognized the possibility or perhaps the reality. S0, Father Byrne's article -- presumptive of contemporary awareness of theological investigation -- presents an interesting picture of the two charisms or the two characters, if you will! He suggests that the Peterine charism should be presented as the standard bearer for "unity and continuity with tradition, and the faithful preservation and transmission of the tradition." Most would readily agree that (a) this is a good description of the Church that prevailed after Vatican Council I and (b) that may be returning front and center at the current time.

The Pauline charism can be understood as "the more outward-going missionary impulse, and the prophetic challenge to traditional understanding and practice that the experience of mission constantly raises." With these two different directions perhaps we can see Holy Spirit efforts in the fourth century! Surely the two positions face one another in a "state of tension." And, there is no doubt had these two powerhouse figures not been yoked together there most likely would have been an out-of-balance situation in growing Church.

As Fr. Byrne noted, Paul despite his "prophetic challenge" style, had a great love for the Church. This was evident in his effort to raise funds for the "mother community" situated in Jerusalem. The irony here might be that the annual international fund raiser to support our Holy Father's charity works each year is designated as "Peter's Pence" without any reference to Paul's development skills!

The driving force behind the gathering of bishops and cardinals in Rome for Vatican Council II seems to have been a "recapturing on the part of the Catholic communion of the Pauline charism. Keeping the two charisms together became the challenge for the heart and mind of Pope Paul VI. More on this in Friday's blog.

Sunday Reflection: July 20, 2008: Room for Everyone???

Put God's mercy and God's justice on the scales. What happens?

Today’s gospel, Matthew 13:24-30 offers each follower the opportunity to look within. What Jesus is preaching is what makes the spiritual journey so difficult for some, so hopeful to others. In short, Jesus is teaching again and in another way that God is a God of mercy. Our God is a God of patience. Unfortunately, if we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that God’s ways and our ways are not always in sync and so challenging.

Jesus is attempting to explain to his followers what the meaning is in Luke 15:2 and Matthew 9:11. How could he befriend those who were known sinners and then share a meal with them as well? At times he reprimanded some because they lived the laws to an extreme and were very proud of their efforts. At other times he tolerated those who ignored the laws and seemed to have little interest in keeping the laws.

For the Jews of Jesus’ times this was a genuine challenge. Why? Because, as pointed out by scripture scholar Marion Soards, an expert of Pauline theology, "Judaism rested on the twin pillars of election and atonement" (The Apostle Paul, p. 16). God chose Israel as his chosen ones. To them he gave the Torah, the "law as the norm for Israel’s response to his divine election" (p. 13). A faithful follower of the Torah believed that he would be rewarded by his/her following the law and that he/she would be punished for disobedience to the law" (p.13).
The description of a farmer’s handling the weeds that had grown up with the good seeds, removing them from the same garden or field, made perfect sense to the Jewish people. It is a natural follow through of living the two pillars. But Jesus’ description of a farmer deciding to wait until the harvesting time stands as a surprise. And this experience is not different in our Church today.

Jesus is teaching a tough lessen to the purists among the Jews as well as the purists, the formalists, among us today. God is seen in the analogy of the patient farmer. God would in his time decide when the separation would be made.

This is a reality in today’s Church for so many Catholics. Some among us, faithful followers for sure, find it so difficult to accept a Church that has sinners both public and private. Some among us are surely saints. Others among us without doubt are sinners, folks who might not be producing a passing grade on their spiritual journey through life. Jesus could teach this because he knew that in the kingdom he was preaching, his Father’s kingdom, and, we can say, in the Church today, there is great space. There is room for saints and sinners.

Imagine, if you can, what our church would be like if sinners were dismissed, thrown out, because of public serious sin. Imagine, imagine this: we might not have had an Augustine; we might not have had an Ignatius Loyola. These are just two of the "greats" who have made our Church what it is. Might not one think even of the great apostle, Paul?

Too often in our Church today there is the experience of nailing a sinner to the cross and then dumping that person on a garbage heap. "Away from us, you sinner!" This is the easy way to resolve a problem. Toss it; it will not bother me any longer.

Why else would Jesus direct us not to separate the "true believers" from those so often called hypocrites? Listen carefully: "Pull us the weeds and you might take the wheat along with them." We are challenged not to forget that God’s mercy has more weight on the divine scales than does the justice of God!!!

Almost all of us experience this in our family lives. Most priests, no doubt, hear these words from folks who learn that a priest might have an errant sibling or parent: "Father, every family has someone like that." It is so difficult for those who struggle day after day to live a good life to believe that Jesus’ death and resurrection serve humankind as the two pillars at the entrance to the Father’s house FOR EVERYONE. And everyone includes the weak, the annoying, the embarrassing, the imperfect, THE SINNER. Egads! What a Church some might say!

The ultimate consideration of the reality of what Jesus is teaching and the reaction of some to it might be this: If the Church of Jesus Christ were as purified as some might like, hope for or actually think it to be, would there, could there, be a place for me?

Charity is no easy virtue, is it? Following Jesus what Jesus taught is truly painful at times, is it not?

Everything exposed by the light becomes visible,

for everything that becomes visible is light.

(Ephesians 5: 13-14)

For the human mind, human understanding, to deal with our faith, with the mystery of God, we have to make a shift from what might be called thinking directly on the subject to a thinking by analogy.

To bring our minds to dealing with mystery, we hear again and again about the "light" of faith. We know that it is from our experiences that we came come to some understanding of God and the mystery he is to and for us.

For example, it is our human experience of love that enables us to elevate our thoughts to God's love for us. It is our understanding of divine love that draws us ever closer to holiness.

Of course it is the human experience of a human being who happened to be at the same time Son of God, that greatly assists us in understanding what holiness can be for us. We have come, just as Paul did, to know of Jesus as holiness itself. For us to know this human Jesus is to again have the experience that leads us to a stronger relationship with God, the Father and the Holy Spirit.

It is knowing or experiencing Jesus as man that we come to find in our lives the light of Christ, the source of vision, of light in our experience of faith. At the same time it is in the knowing of Jesus, the man, that we are invited on a unique spiritual journey of knowing ourselves and the mystery that we are. We don't walk an easy journey in our lifetime when we are moving ahead without a genuine relationship with Jesus. Closely related with Jesus, trusting his teachings and his personal conversations in our heart, we learn so much more about ourselves. Again, he is the light that makes who we are visible to ourselves.

Imagine all of the "idols," all of the "theories," all of the "inventions" we experience in our lifetime. Do these realities bring us a deeper awareness of why God made us? Paul's insight is a great light. He came to see the light in his lifetime -- the light that in Jesus we come to know who we truly are.

As we begin this jubilee journey, assisted by the words of Saint Paul, see in these reflections an assistance to each person's personal journey toward the ultimate goal --- being with God. Let these insights and reflections serve each of us in deepening our understanding of God's presence in our lives.

Jesus, draw me into a deeper share in your risen and glorified life.

May my faith in you enable me to see that everything

that happens to me in this world

is meant to lead me

to your glory.

Amen.

Insights and prayer from John Janaro, "Praying With St. Paul,"

professor, Christendom College.

The Jubilee Year of St. Paul -- Inaugural Reflecton

On June 28th, His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, at Solemn Vespers celebrated at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Wall initiated the year-long jubilee year marking the 2000th birthday of the Saint. The year of Pauline study and prayer will conclude on June 29, 2009, the actual day assumed to be Paul's birthday.

At Vespers, Pope Benedict XVI reminded those present that Paul is much greater than a biblical personality of the New Testament. The Pope stressed that Paul was and continues to be a "teacher, an apostle and a herald of Jesus Christ."

Why a Jubilee Year? Besides the 2000th birthday celebration, His Holiness hopes that the year of a study and remembrance of the apostle and his writings will result in a "strong signal of Christian unity."

As anyone might sense from a reading of Paul's letters and the Lucan Acts of the Apostles, "repairing divisions is an urgent task." Paul understand our Church to be "the body of Christ" not another gathering of people.

Benedict is more concerned about what "the teacher of the gentiles in faith and truth" is bringing to our contemporary Church than to focus on historical events that are, in the Holy Father's words, "irretrievably passed." Benedict, the theologian, hopes that we will reflect upon how Paul's words served the development of theology.

Further, the Holy Father said of Paul, "His faith is not a theory, an opinion about God and the world. His faith is the impact of God's love on his heart. And so this same faith is love for Jesus Christ."

About Paul: Not one of The Twelve, this apostle was born in Tarsus which is modern Turkey. Scholars and historians estimate the year to have been 8 AD. He was brought to Rome Later, while in a prison in Caesarea, while writing his letter to Philemon, he attempted to secure a hearing before Nero who was in Rome. Paul was brought there where he was eventually martyred for the faith in the year 67 AD. His remains were found in a marble sarcophagus in the area beneath the main altar of the Basilica of St. Paul. Inscribed on the side of the marble sarcophagus were three words: Paul Apostle Martyr.

With this posting, Prayer on the Hill inaugurates what will be a Friday, Saturday and Monday presentation of reflections about St. Paul and his writings during the Jubilee Year.

Photo: Rembrandt

What's Happening in Australia with WYD and Pope?

World Youth Day Events

For an wonderful accounting and reporting on Pope Benedict's activities

as usual

visit on of the best Catholic blog sites

http://www.whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/

The Holy Father's talks to date and other commentaries

from Rocco Palmo.

Several pictures that might stir up our own young people!

Just a picture of what is happening "down under" at the World Youth Day celebrations. There's a full moon here tonight ... must be the same in Australia!!!" Seems Il Papa is having a good time away from Rome or simply because he is on vacation! One might ask, "Professional Good Humor Man?" or "About to Direct Traffic?"

Photo: Courtesy of Whispers in the Loggia