THE POPE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily or talk for this 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time A is, “The Pope.”

What’s your take on the Pope?

Today’s gospel can challenge us to ask, “Who do you say that I am?” to two people: Jesus and Peter.

It hit me that I would like to ask that question not to Christ, not to Peter,  but to those who followed Peter: The Popes.

“Who do you say that I am?”

CATHOLICS

In general Catholics and Protestants differ significantly on the following interpretation or use of today’s gospel story. Some Protestant groups would say that yes Jesus is singling out Peter for a special role and title here in the early church - that he is the head, the rock, the leader. Then they would disagree that this role moves on to the successor of Peter: who was Linus who was followed by Cletus. then Clement, all the way to the 265th pope: Benedict XVI.

There were bumps in the road, but this is what we Catholics call, “Apostolic Succession.”

BORN CATHOLIC - SOME WONDERINGS

I was born Catholic - with Pope Pius XII as pope all through my young years. He was pope from 1939 to 1958.

A wondering came up as I was thinking about all this: “It must be different being a Christian Catholic to have a pope in one’s way of seeing and thinking - than being a Christian Protestant and not having a Pope in one’s way of thinking. What’s that like?

Next I wondered: what is it like for someone who becomes a Catholic as an adult - and the reality of the Pope enters into one’s religious thinking. What’s that like? I don’t remember ever talking to anyone about this.

I also wondered if a priest is more conscious and more aware of the pope in one’s life than those Catholics who are not priests. I would assume the answer to that is: “It all depends.”

Another wondering that came up: “Is there a different outlook and attitude about the Pope in one’s life as Catholic in 2011 compared to say, 1960?”

Did the Vatican Council I [1869-1870] and then Vatican Council II [1962-1965] change people’s attitude about the Pope in one’s life as Catholic?

THE PERSON AND THE OFFICE

There is a difference between the person and the office.

It’s obvious that different bosses have different personalities.

We see this at work. We see this in parishes. We see this with popes and presidents. Kids see this in step parents in second marriages. Kids see this every new school year with a new teacher.

Pope John XXIII - Angelo Roncalli - was certainly different than the trim, slim, Pope Pius XII. Benedict XVI is different from John Paul II. Paul VI was different than Pope John Paul I - who was only pope for about a month.

I would assume for Catholics that the key thing is not the person - but the office. He’s the Pope. And if the pope came to Annapolis and said Mass at the Navy Football Stadium - we’d all be there - regardless of our take on this pope compared to other popes. We would be going to see the Pope.

I would assume that we Catholics are embarrassed by various popes in the 15th and 16th centuries: the Borgia’s, the Della Rovere's, the Medici’s. There have been popes who have been saints and popes who have been scholars, popes who were quiet as a church mouse and popes we rather not talk about. We can be proud of the popes of past few centuries - aware that no one was perfect. I rather hear the take of scholars and historians - who do their research and then put it all out on the table - in a book - that tells us the good, the bad and the ugly - than seeing the pope as in a popularity contest.

The old saying that an old lady from Jersey City said about the clergy can be said of the popes, “The five marks of the Church are: It’s one, holy, catholic, apostolic and survives its clergy.”

I’ve heard Christians - who are not Catholics - imply that we Catholics are centered on the pope and they are centered on Christ. Some Catholics might be that way - but we know the role of the pope - as well as the role for all of us - is to get out of the way and let Christ shine forth. And some Protestants might be centered on their founder more than Christ. Without calling him or her a pope, in a way, that’s what they might be - depending on the role that person played in the life of that community. But I hope we’re past the Catholic - Protestant fights.

The Pope helps. He’s called the Servant of the Servants of God - to challenge us to discover God and our neighbor in our midst when they need our love.

The Pope teaches. In Spain this weekend he’s talking to Young Catholics from all over the world. Yesterday’s Capital had a short piece that he said to our youth that too many people have amnesia when it comes to God - and too many people have made things their god. The Pope is a teacher and a preacher. We have had great encyclical letters from our popes down through the years - on Faith, Hope and Charity, on war and peace, work, labor unions, the economy, the poor amongst us, society, the environment, etc. etc. etc. . Being a poet, I have often wished that they had more imagery and examples and stories in these letters - but that’s the pain a dreamer has to deal with.

The Pope is our chief shepherd. I am happy Pope John Paul II made all those pilgrimages reaching out to youth and to so many people. We’ll never know how many people he kept in the fold - how many people he got thinking - how many people had a conversion of heart and manner. Then there are those who think this pope and the last pope should have as pope done more about stopping the abuse of young people by priests.

That’s one point: the difference between the person and the office.

IF I WERE POPE

Here’s a question for the dinner table - or when you’re sitting around with a few Catholics - on the back porch: “If you were pope, what would be 3 things you would do as pope?”

I like to joke at time and say, “If I were pope, I have my top 10 changes. I’d announce them in the first week.” Then I add that I would probably be shot or poisoned the next day.

I’d definitely call for Vatican III. To prepare for that I’d first call for country Vatican III’s. To prepare for them, I would call for local parish and diocesan Vatican III’s. And all these meetings I would open it up to not just bishops, not just priests, not just religious, not just theologians, but to all Catholics.

I would assume that those in local Rome’s and the Rome in Italy would say, “Oh my God, are you crazy? Do you realize what that would unleash?” Underneath many would squirm - realizing the loss of power and control.

I jokingly say, “If I were pope, I’d get rid of the hats and a lot of the fanfare - knowing that there was a cut down of some of the pomp and circumstance back in Pope John XXIII and Paul VI’s time. I’d want more simplicity. Yet I know pope and pomp and circumstance probably helps the economy of Italy, etc.

 For the sake of transparency I’d have to say I’d be a jeans and tee shirt type of pope. However, I’ve never seen denim vestments.

I’d also want the popes to be younger - in their 50’s - so those who think my ideas are crazy can relax because I’m in my 70’s.

CONCLUSION

We have a Pope. We pray for him by name at every Mass - and then we name our local bishop - and we pray for him at every Mass as well. Jesus gave the Pope the Keys to the Kingdom. He is called to be a leader, a teacher, a servant. He is called to be a rock - so that we Catholics know we have a security - that our chief bishop is following the tradition of Christ and all that we have learned and discovered as our Church has down through the years.

The bottom line - the message we can glean from today’s gospel is that each pope does and says to the Church what Peter said in today’s Gospel to Jesus: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

Then the pope spells out the good news that Paul tells us about what Christ does and is as we heard in today’s second reading: Jesus is and brings us the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God…. For from him and for him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Or as Pope Paul VI said to Jean Guitton in his dialogues with him: I must disappear, Christ must appear and reappear. [1]





Notes:

Painting on top: Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter, Il Perugino, Sistine Chapel in Rome.

[1] The Pope Speaks, Dialogues of Paul VI with Jean Guitton, Meredith Press, New York, 1968.

REALITY  SHOW

Quote for Today - August 21,  2011

"And that's the way it is."

Walter Cronkite [1916-2009] Sign-off sentence, CBS Evening News

STEPS  

TOWARDS 

GOD 

Quote for Today August 20, 2011


"And almost every one when age,
Disease, or sorrows strike him,
Inclines to think there is a God,
Or someone very like him."

Arthur Hugh Clough

[1819-1861]

I AM PART OF ALL 

THAT  I  HAVE  MET

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 20th Friday in Ordinary Time is, “I Am Part Of All That I Have Met.”

It’s a line from the 1842 poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson, entitled, “Ulysses” - the great Greek character of many travels and adventures.

For some reason that line of that poem has become part of what I have met. I don’t know if an English teacher paused and underlined that line - or if I heard some preacher preach or speak about it. Whatever, it stuck we me.

And I have always intrigued and interested in autobiographies, biographies, memoirs, and questions of origins. At a preaching workshop the speaker once asked, “Why do you preach the way you preach? Who influenced you.”

I loved the comment the Greek poet and diplomat, George Seferis, made when talking this theme: “Don’t ask who’s influenced me. A lion is made up of the lambs he’s digested, and I’ve been reading all my life.”

Yet I believe it is good to know where we come from, where we have lived, what teachers influenced us, where we are in your family birth order, what our parents were like. I often ask couples who are to be married, “How do your parents argue?” There is usually a pause when I ask that question. Then when both start to answer that question, sometimes a light goes on.

As Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

TODAY’S GOSPEL

How many people were influenced that day when a Pharisee, a scholar of the law, as we heard in today’s gospel, asked Jesus, “Which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

And Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Was that scholar moved by Jesus’ answer? Was anyone in the crowd influenced? The moment was remembered and made it’s way into our gospels. How many people have read or heard that message ever since and changed their lives or focused or refocused their lives to practice these 2 simple commandment.

FIRST READING

Did one of the names in today’s first reading from the opening chapter of the book of Ruth ring a bell?

A little girl was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi on January 29, 1954. Her parents weren’t married. On her birth certificate they put her name as Orpah Winfrey - Orpah being the sister-in-law of Ruth. Both are mentioned in today’s first reading.

Orpah - became Oprah - a simple reversal of the letters “r’ and “h” - because those who knew the little girl found it easier to pronounce. As a result the planet had a new born baby named, “Oprah”.

On her show and in her writings Oprah Winfrey has told from time to time the influences on her life: her grandmother - church - poverty - going from her grandmother’s farm to her mother in Milwaukee - big time poverty - sexual abuse - going to her father in Nashville - and his insistence of reading, studying, discipline - being given opportunities to speak in public - church and school, winning beauty contests, being given a chance at 17 to read lines on a local TV station, a college degree, mistakes, drugs, sex, etc. Baltimore, Chicago, listening to suggestions, hard work, etc. etc. etc.

In today’s first reading we hear about Ruth and Orpah. At the death of a man named Elimelech, Naomi, his wife, was left with two sons who married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other named Ruth. After 10 years both sons died and Naomi was now left with two daughters-in-law. Orpah went back to Moab. Naomi said to Ruth, “Go back like Orpah to your people and your god.” Ruth stayed with Naomi saying, “Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you! For wherever you go, I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge, your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “I Am Part Of All That I Have Met.”

Ruth re-settles with Naomi and is spotted by Boaz. They marry and their son Obed becomes the grandfather of David. Ruth becomes one part of the long line of people that Jesus has in his geneology - (Matthew 1:5) as well as the first name of many women ever since.

Orpah becomes the birth certificate name of a billionaire woman in the 20 and 21st centuries.

+++++++++++++++++++++

Statue on top: Ruth and Naomi - by Leonard Baskin - outdoor sculpture in Wichita, Kansas, 1978

WHAT DOES IT COST?

Quote for Today - August 19, 2011

"Take what you want and pay for it."

Spanish Proverb
Tap, Tap, Left, Left,
mouse or pad
the picture
from the Market
in Helsinki, Finland
to see everything
up closer.

CHANGING  THE  PAST

Quote for Today - August 18,  2011

"Even God cannot change the past."

Agatjpm [c. 447 -  401 B.C.]

IF YOU WERE A TREE,

WHAT KIND OF A TREE

WOULD YOU BE?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 20th Wednesday of Ordinary Time is, “If You Were A Tree, What Kind Of A Tree Would You Be?”

I have always found self tests something that really gets people’s attention. I translate that to mean: people want to grow in self knowledge - and people want to know how they are coming across.

In today’s gospel [Matthew 20:1-16], Jesus provides a great self test in the Parable of the Vineyard. Am I like the owner? Am I like those who don’t like the owner’s generosity? Am I an early or am I a late starter? Am I like those Christians who are great Christians all their lives - but they don’t like it when Jesus says, “You can steal heaven at the last moment.” That’s what he said from the cross to the Good Thief and that’s one of the things he’s saying in this parable. [Cf. Luke 23:43]

The parables of Jesus are great self tests. All you have to do is read a parable and ask yourself: “Which character in the story am I?”

And there are lots of “If’y” Self Tests. If you were an animal, what kind of an animal would you be? If you were a dog, what kind of a dog would you be? If you were a car, what kind of a car would you be? If you were music, what kind of music would you be?

A ton more of attention arises if others in a group are asked to describe everyone in the group as an animal, a dog, music, a car, the weather, or what have you.

I would be a monkey high in a tree - with a boom box - playing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.

If you were a tree, what kind of a tree would you be?

TODAY’S FIRST READING

Today’s first reading from Judges 9: 6-15 triggers this reflection on self tests.

Jotham doesn’t like Abimelech who was made king by the citizens of Shechem. So he makes the top of Mount Gerizim his pulpit or platform or podium and tells the parable of the trees. There is evidence from Aesop and many others in the Middle East from way back that speakers often used in their speeches the differences in trees - trees being jealous and envious of each other - trees having strengths and weaknesses - comparing trees to people: kings, politicians, leaders, etc.

In the parable in today’s first reading Jotham tells the values and the pluses of the olive tree and the fig tree - as well as grape vines -and each in turn is asked to be king and all say, “No!” Each says, “I don’t want to spend my time waving to other trees. I want to spend my time producing oil or fruit or wine.” So they ask the buckthorn to reign over them. The buckthorn tree says, “If you wish to anoint me king over you in good faith, come and take refuge in my shade.” The message is, “Expect to be stuck and stung and cut and bleeding if you take me on. I come with thorns.” Jotham is telling the folks, “You have taken Abimelech as king. You fools. Don’t expect benefits. Expect cuts! expect to be scratched.”

To me it proves the scriptures, if one takes the time to sit in its shade, are saying, “So what else is new? Isn’t life the same old same old?”

Here we are in August of 2011 and politicians are going around waving their hands - running for election or re-election - and the next national elections are  not till November 2012.

Obviously, we want public servants - popes and presidents - priests and principals - teachers and doctors - to give us fruit - from their work - not hand waving - that they are working in the vineyard and not standing around doing nothing. If you were the pope or the president, what kind of a tree would you be?

APPLE TREE OR CHRISTMAS TREE?

One of my favorite sermon examples is the “Apple Tree or Christmas Tree” sermon.

A priest asked the congregation: Are you an apple tree or a Christmas tree? Then he said, “The Christmas tree just stands there, looks pretty and people lay gifts at its feet. The apple tree gives blossoms with a delicious scent in the spring, gives shade and rest in the summer and gives apples in the fall.”

CONCLUSION

Here in this church of St. John Neumann we are under the tree of the cross. Jesus does not wave to us. His hands are nailed. For starters, the call is to sit under this tree and eat of its fruits. Chew on Jesus’ last words. Console Mary. Say, “Blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.” Hear Jesus say about the tree of the cross, “Greater love than this, no one has, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.” “If you want to follow me, pick up your cross every day.”