Psalm 37, Part 1

A. A general note on reading the Bible, or a spiritual classic: I often encourage parishioners and friends to study sacred Scriptures, and seek to derive wisdom from them. Of course the sacred texts to be studied are not only our Old Testament (the Hebrew Bible) and our New Testament, but other spiritual classics from various traditions. It seems to me that any human being, seeking to grow in genuine spiritual insight, would do well to study not only our present Bible, but such classics as the Dhammapada of the Buddha, the Bhagavad Gita from the vast Hindu tradition, the poems of Lao Tse, and surely the earliest texts of the Greek philosophical tradition, (such as the preserved sayings of Heracleitos and Parmenides), and the dialogues of Plato. There are more secondary religious writings, such as the Koran, or writings from within various cults, such as the Book of Mormon and Mary Baker Eddy’s Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, but in my opinion, given limited time and vast literature of high quality, I recommend giving careful attention to the Scriptures and spiritual classics just noted. Spiritual reading, or divine reading, lectio divina, has a time-honored place in the spiritual life of the Chosen People and of Christians. Studying spiritual classics has a time-honored place among Hindus and Buddhists, and among students of philosophy in various cultures. One closely reads a spiritual classic, seeking to contact the living God in and through the text. Such spiritual reading does not assume that one has accepted an ideological belief in the “infallibility” of the text, or that it is of “divine origin,” in the sense of every word coming directly from God through the “sacred writer.” We can leave such beliefs to those who like to make unquestioned assumptions of dubious value. For example, I remember reading in the Catholic Encyclopedia or similar work many years ago that a leading Catholic theologian described the Bible as the “norma non normans.” Perhaps he kept the claim in Latin to make it sound more impressive, but it means that this theologian considered the Christian bible to be “the unmeasured measure,” or “the standard not subject to another standard.” I find such a claim unnecessary and frankly absurd. The only unmeasured measure is that which by tradition we call “God.” I would call every other unquestioned standard of truth to be a form of idolatry, whether the claim is made for the Bible, the Koran, the Book of Mormon, or a self-professed “prophet’s” revelations in the night. Many people like certainty, and they want to have a text which is “true,” and a reliable source of wisdom. I prefer to think that the only utterly reliable source of truth is Truth itself—the I AM who spoke to Moses—and be content with much uncertainty in life.  In the wise words of Plato, “God alone is wise,” so the best we can do is to be “lovers of wisdom,” not self-deluded possessors of wisdom. Those who think they are wise in effect make themselves fools, as the Apostle Paul warns: “Proclaiming themselves wise, they became fools….” The search for divine wisdom requires that one is aware of his or her own ignorance, and limitations. One begins with questions, and follows them out. Or, one can take a respected and respectable text, such as the writings of Jeremiah, or a Gospel, or the Dhammapada of the Buddha, read it, and question the text as he or she proceeds. The alternative to thinking about what one reads, and questioning its truth, is simply to assume that everything it contains is true; and I suggest that such an assumption is unnecessary, and is in fact a hindrance to a genuine search for truth. To seek truth, as through reading a Scriptural text, one must be aware of one’s own ignorance, and be both respectful of the text, and willing to question it actively. The attitude of not questioning, of not thinking about what one reads, of not trying to discern what is true in the text, and what may be false or misleading, betrays a spiritual immaturity at best, and possibly just plain foolishness. From my years of dealing with Christians of various types, for example, I have long noted a widespread lack of interest in spiritual truth. The words of Jesus seem to be remembered as a saying, rather than lived: “Seek, and you will find. Ask, and you shall receive.” Anyone who assumes that they have already attained wisdom, or sufficient wisdom, is not prepared to gain from spiritual reading. B.  On the choice of a text to consider for this present exercise The central prayer book of the Hebrew and Christian traditions is the collection of prayers and poems known as “The Book of Psalms.” Often I have encouraged parishioners and friends to study these psalms, and especially to find the ones that most speak to them, and read them often. There are 150 psalms in our bibles, so nearly any adult or reasonably intelligent child could find a few psalms that speak to him or her. Note that the psalms are so important in the Catholic tradition, that we read or sing from them at virtually every Mass celebrated, 365 days a year. And the psalms form the core of the “Liturgy of the Hours” prayed at various times daily by Catholic religious and clergy. At Mass we hear psalms as “responses” to the first reading, which is nearly always from the Old Testament, or from the Acts of the Apostle during Easter season. As often as Catholics hear or sing the psalms at Mass, however, I do not often find regular church-attending Catholics who make an effort to sit down and pray the psalms. Catholic religious and clergy are required to pray the psalms, and often Protestant ministers and the faithful do read and pray psalms. But to date I have known few Catholic lay people who have said to me, “I study and pray the psalms.” Why? Perhaps because Catholics were instructed for years “not to read the bible.”  Many do not seem to want to make the effort. For this particular meditation today, I have chosen Psalm 37, and I do so for several reasons. Psalm 37 is part of a sub-collection of the Psalter comprised of psalms 30-41. I have not found any biblical scholar who isolated this little collection, but in my years of reading the psalms, it seems to me that these 12 prayers are all related to one another, and probably come from the same author. Moreover, they are all wisdom psalms, in my opinion.  For this reason I call this collection of 12 psalms the “Little Wisdom Psalter.” In the midst of it one finds Psalm 37, which in Hebrew is an acrostic poem, a style often found in Hebrew wisdom literature. An acrostic poem is one in which each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Because of this particular literary device, one should not expect the poem to follow in a logical order, but to be more of a collection of wise sayings, more or less centering on one theme, and possibly with some development or elaboration as the poem unfolds. Hence, in meditating on Psalm 37, and in writing this brief essay, we need not consider every verse, but may select several or more verses for reflection. We will consider the first third or so of the poem. Another personal reason for choosing this psalm for our consideration is that my spiritual mentor in the monastery, Fr. Daniel Kirk, OSB, often quoted one or two verses of this psalm to me, and told me how much he appreciated its wisdom. So Psalm 37 came well recommended to my consideration since about 1984, or thirty years ago. C.  Selected Verses from Psalm 37, with non-scholarly commentary We will draw from a standard English translation of Psalm 37, from the text as found in the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). My knowledge of Hebrew is very limited, and I have not consulted the Hebrew text in offering these notes. They are intended to show a style of spiritual reading, and to spur thinking about what one reads, and are not intended as a scholarly explication of the passage.                                                         Psalm 37                                                         Of David Note: I think it highly unlikely that this text was composed by King David.  Why? King David flourished around the year 1000 B.C., but verses in this psalm reflect life in Israel after the Babylonian captivity or exile, which ended in 539 B.C. The psalm is within the tradition of Jewish wisdom literature, which flourished in the centuries immediately before Christ. Note that often in the Psalter, poems are ascribed to David, as books in the wisdom literature are ascribed to King Solomon, although they were composed many centuries after Solomon. Why the editors of the Psalms included this inscription, I do not know. What I notice is that every other psalm in the Little Wisdom Psalter, #30-41, is also assigned to David, often with additional phrases; the one exception to this rule is Psalm 33, which has no inscription in the Hebrew or in our English bible.              1-2.  Do not fret because of the wicked,                          do not be envious of wrongdoers.                    For they will soon fade like the grass,                         and wither like the green herb.            Comment: The first thought here is good advice, that one should not be disturbed or envious of evildoers. Being troubled by evil doers is a common human experience, and hence worthily addressed by a sage. The second thought is more challenging. Yes, in time evildoers will fade and die, as do all creatures. But they may live longer and healthier lives than many who act justly. In this world, it is often the case that evildoers not only thrive, but that they get away with their crimes, perhaps being exonerated by those in high places. Dealing with “the insolence of office and the law’s delay” is all-too-common a human experience.               3-4. Trust in the LORD and do good,                          so you will live in the land and enjoy security.                   Take delight in the LORD,                         and He will give you the desires of your heart.            Comment: There is considerable wisdom here, and such a verse should be memorized and chewed on during the day, as a cow chews its cud. (Such an exercise is an important part of divine reading in the monastic tradition.) Only a fool would dispute with the advice, “Trust in the LORD and do good.” But one may wonder, “Which Lord? Who is meant here?” That question is fair. The psalmist would no doubt intend YHWH, Yahweh God, by our translation “Lord.” In the Christian tradition, the name “Lord” applies mainly to Jesus Christ, but it may also be used for the one God. In whom do you trust? In what, or in whom, do you place supreme confidence? Who is your “Lord”? Do you perhaps trust only in yourself? Would that not be foolish? Note here the claim that if one trusts in the LORD, then one will “live in the land and enjoy security.” Here we are seeing a fundamental stance of this psalmist, who seems to equate what he wishes to be true, for reality. It would not be difficult, however, to find many devout Jews in Israel today who live in the land but who surely do not enjoy security, as missiles are recklessly and wickedly fired at them. Faith in God, real faith, is no guarantee that one will be protected from evils, or even from an untimely and horrific death. The psalmist is presenting an ideal type, a wish, that simply does not meet with the truth of human experience. “Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Often I call these words to mind. They are a beautiful promise, but alas, perhaps not always as true as one would wish. For the man or woman whose first and foremost delight is the living God, they would indeed know much happiness and joy. But even loving God first and foremost is no guarantee that one’s dearest friends, family members, prized possessions, would not be taken away, killed, destroyed. Then again, consider that one who truly delights in God above all else, even when they lose their dearest friend, still have God, and so have the ultimate source of peace and joy in their life. For those who truly seek to do God’s will faithfully, they may not gain or keep what they love in this passing world—as all must die—but in loving God, they love what God loves, and that includes every creature. Delighting in God as God is, not as we wish God were, one will be set free, little by little, from the sense of losing what one loves. For in God, nothing is lost. In words of Jesus from the Gospel of John, “In this world you will suffer. But be of good cheer, for I (the LORD) have overcome this world.” The same fundamental experience is found in those who through meditation and compassion, follow the way of the Buddha. One “crosses over” from the world of suffering into the bliss of Nibbana (Nirvana).               5-6.  Commit your way to the LORD;                          trust in Him, and He will act.                  He will make your vindication shine like the light,                          and the justice of your cause like the noonday.         Comment: Again, there is much wisdom here, but one must keep it balanced by the truth of practical experience. Through entrusting oneself to God, who may indeed discover that God acts, including in and through the one trusting—in and through you, as you trust.  However, one must also keep in mind that “My ways are not your ways, nor are my thoughts your thoughts.” God’s way of acting may so surpass our understanding that we do not see it. Or again, God may act in ways that religious or good people never expected. Jesus was utterly outside and beyond the expectations of his own people—learned or simple, pious or sinners. On the other hand, if we truly seek to do God’s will, and apply ourselves to doing it to the best of our understanding, we often may indeed experience divine action. As for making “your vindication shine like the light,” and so on, the psalmist has the rather naive expectation of many religious believers: If one is good, others will come to see one’s goodness. On the contrary: It often happens in the present life that the guilty get off “Scott free,” while the innocent are left suffering. One will be deeply disappointed if one expects virtue to always be rewarded in this world, and vice to be recognized as such and punished. For anyone who thinks that the justice of the good person shines forth “like the noonday,” as the psalmist says, he or she should meditate on the cross: the truly just man who leaves this world as a criminal, as one condemned to a most violent death by the powers that be. Such is often the experience of goodness here. Millions of innocent Jews were exterminated in Nazi death camps, and hundreds of thousands of Germans were killed by Allied bombs in World War II.               7.  Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;                          do not fret over those who prosper in their way,                          over those who carry out evil devices.             Comment: We are reminded of the famous verse in a psalm, “Be still and know that I AM God.” “Be still before the LORD” is rich in overtones, ranging from the advice to wait for God to act, all the way to a simple formula for meditation: Keep the mind and heart still in the divine presence. Wait in silence. To this I would only add that fretting over anything is largely a waste of time, and fretting over those “who carry out evil devices” would only embitter one’s heart. The greater wisdom here is to keep one’s mind and heart centered on God, not on the evils of this present age. Unfortunately, “believers” of various stripes often fret over what they cannot in truth change.               8-9.  Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath.                           Do not fret—it leads only to evil.                   For the wicked shall be cut off,                           but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.       Comment: Again, we find the combination of practical wisdom with unrealistic or overly pious expectations. To “refrain from anger” is wise, especially when the anger smolders and burns as “wrath.” As it says in the Letter of James, “The wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God.”  Human wrath is often unreasonable, irrational, extreme, destructive. And yet, there is a place for moderate, well-controlled anger, to motivate one to act for justice, and against injustice. The advice, “Do not fret—it leads only to evil,” is, in my opinion, sane and prudent advice for anyone, anytime. I have never known anyone who “frets,” who stews over matters, who gets all worked up, or simply depressed with worry, who achieves any good by those squandered emotions. “Fretting” is a neurotic, foolish way to handle one’s problems. And yet it is so common, that we do well to attend to such words often. In positive words, “Keep your soul in peace.” Or in the practical and sane words of Fr. Daniel Kirk, mentioned at the outset: “You have a choice: You can worry, or you can pray.” Once again, however, such practical wisdom is joined with the naive belief that in this world, justice triumphs over evil. “The wicked shall be cut off.” Perhaps—but perhaps not. While it is true that Hitler’s wickedness did not thrive for long (publicly from 1923 until 1945), the amount of evil he accomplished, the sheer destruction of human lives and property, is beyond comprehension. Hitler was at last “cut off”—by a bullet he shot into his own throat. As for the promise or prediction that “those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land,” from experience we can say: they may inherit or keep the land, or they may be uprooted by evil-doers. Waiting for the LORD is good, but waiting must not be used as an excuse not to act justly to the greatest extent possible. We have all met “religious people” who choose not to act, but just “wait for the LORD,” and so do little or nothing to right wrongs, or to tackle the hard problems of life. They may “wait for the LORD” and keep traveling about, ever avoiding coming to terms with their real duties, here and now. There are many ways to hide from reality, and from doing what one ought to do.  D. Brief concluding note Let this much suffice for the present. I attempted to show a way to do spiritual reading: Not just absorbing every word or thought as if it were true, but thinking about its meaning, questioning its truth, and applying the words to one’s life.  It could be that the practice of questioning the truthfulness of a religious text, such as a bible, would surprise someone. And that points towards a recurring problem in contemporary Christianity: Many Christians seem to forget that they have obligations as human beings to “seek God and live,” and that seeking God means seeking the truth about God and His way. Uncritically to accept whatever one is told, or reads, as true is to place oneself outside the human condition and a basic moral obligation: “Seek the truth and do it.”

Dealing With Inadequate Translations

As a general rule, priest and lay readers ought to read the Mass readings and prayers at Mass as they come to us from approved Catholic sources. We are Catholic, and try to find our place within Catholic teaching and worship. It is not in the Catholic tradition for the priest, for example, to select readings for Sunday liturgies other than those assigned to be read. To the extent possible, I try to read the texts as they come to us. To be honest, however, sometimes the Scriptural passages are poor or misleading translations, and often I struggle to pray some of the prayers at the altar, because of the wording. Many of these prayers work fairly well in private if one can read them over several times, but public prayers should be understandable and fairly simple, in my opinion. In the words of the Apostle Paul, “In communal worship, your prayers and words should be with understanding (nous, intellect).”  

Many of our parishioners may not be bothered by the translations, in part because they may not know that they are misleading. For example, this Sunday we hear in the Gospel passage in which Jesus walked on the water, that “those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, 'Truly you are the Son of God.’” What does it mean, they “did homage” to Jesus? To date I have never heard a parishioner ever use the word, “homage.” No one in Belt or Centerville, for example, said, “I have come to Mass to do homage to Jesus.” The word “homage” is from medieval Europe, and it referred to the oath of obedience and respect which a serf gave to the lord of the manor, his master. The Greek text does not say “homage,” but it uses the word common at the time the Gospels were written to mean “worship,” as in “reverence given to God, or a god, or to a divine being.” Simply put, Peter and the Apostles worshiped the living God in Jesus. They did not just “do him homage.” It is the living God whom they are sensing in Jesus! It has long seemed to me that the translation used at Mass flattens out the mystical experience of early Christians. What the Apostles experienced when Jesus walked on the water and said “I AM” (not, “It is I,” as the translation says), is awe, reverence, even overwhelming fear at the mystery of God in their midst.  

Let me put the matter to you differently: You are free to do God homage if you wish. For my part, I want to be open to the experience of awe, wonder, and joy at the mystery of God in man, the mystery of Christ. I come to Mass, not to do anyone homage, but to listen to God, to love Him, and to share that love with my brothers and sisters in Christ. The One who came walking on the water, the I AM WHO I AM, comes to you and me in word and in sacrament, and is present in the depths of our souls. I believe that we are more truly aware of the divine mystery in which we are sharing than were some of the translators who speak to us in the approved texts. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  I truly want all of our people to be drawn into the life-giving mystery of God, and to share His joy with one another. And for this reason, at times, I modify the prayers so that you can understand the words and share with more love and understanding in the mystery of God with us that we are celebrating here and now.

"The Kingdom Of Heaven Is Like..."

We have been hearing parables in which Jesus begins, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like….” According to the well-known parable of the sower and the seed, in those who “do not understand” what Jesus is saying, the seed is carried away from soil, and does not bear fruit. We need to understand what Jesus said, and what He means for us to understand.  For that reason, we will be focusing on the meaning of the phrase, “the Kingdom of God,” or in St. Matthew’s version, “the Kingdom of Heaven.”  What is “the Kingdom of God?”  And what is it not?

Jesus was a Jew speaking to Jews, and he used words that his people could understand. His words are expressions of His own thinking and understanding, and no doubt of His own spiritual experiences. When we truly attend to the words of Jesus, and think about their meaning, we are receiving into our minds and hearts His mind, His understanding, His way of doing things, at least to some extent. As Christ gives Himself to us in the Eucharist, so He gives Himself to us in his preaching, and however imperfectly, in the preaching and teaching of those who present Christ and His word to us. Again, if you and I do not listen and seek to understand what Christ Jesus means when He speaks to us, His words are in effect lost on us, they are “carried off by birds,” and cannot fulfill their purpose.  And what is the purpose of Jesus’ preaching? To open us up to the reality, the goodness, the beauty, the truth of the living God, and so to help us to do the will of God and live in His joy now and eternally. He wants us to “enter into the joy of the LORD,” to experience His peace, and “to bear much fruit.” Christ wants us to live fully as one with Him, with God Almighty, and so one with every creature to the extent possible.  

In preaching his parables, and in our listening with understanding, Jesus is drawing us into “the Kingdom of God.” Christ is sharing in God’s re-creation of reality, the restoration of God’s original will that all be happy and complete forever. Our duty is to accept God’s rule over us, God’s way of doing things. That is, I suggest, the primary meaning of “the Kingdom of God.” It is God bringing us, humankind, indeed all of creation into a complete and blessed union with He Who Is. To “enter the Kingdom,” to live in God, we must keep choosing God’s way, absorbing His mind, His words, and putting them into practice. As we do not do whatever we spontaneously want, but seek to do God’s good and life-giving will, we break from evil, sin, and death, and become “children of light,” advancing “from one degree of glory to another.”  

Sooner or later, many of us discover that God’s way really is the best way, and in this discovery, we are willing to let go of our own plans and pet projects in order to share in God’s life and joy. A disciple of Jesus learns again and again that God Himself is the “pearl of great price,” the one supreme good worth far more than all else the world can give. As with Jesus, so with His disciples: “Not my will, but your will be done.” To say these words, to mean them, and to forsake everything contrary to God’s way is to discover and to live in “the Kingdom of God.”

On Hearing the Word and Bearing Fruit

 

“Be not only hearers of the Word, but doers….who produce fruit a hundred-fold".

Fittingly, Gospel passages read at week-end liturgies during Ordinary Time often focus on Jesus as the Preacher of God’s Word, and Christ Jesus as the Word which must be heard and acted on, “if we will enter into Life.” The Word preached by Christ and his disciples derives its truth and power from its nature and origin in God. The Word of Christ embodies the mind of God for human beings. Through the Word preached to us, God Himself is reaching into our minds and hearts to draw us to Himself. We must cooperate in this drawing, in this divine movement in our souls, by heeding and obeying the Word. And that means that we must put into practice all that the LORD asks.

This much we all know, and may struggle to do. Why, we may wonder, do we resist? Why do some hear and not heed? What obstacles work in us, in one another? What is at work in you and me, keeping us from obeying the LORD wholeheartedly? Consider, for example, our recurring prayer, “Lord, have mercy on us.”  We ask for mercy, and we should know, that whatever we want from God, we are committing ourselves to act on to the best of our ability. In this case, that means that we who ask for mercy and forgiveness must extend it to one another, freely as the LORD gives to us. But then, we who ask God for forgiveness, must also seek to break from whatever sin or wrong-doing we are asking forgiveness for. Otherwise, we ask for forgiveness, and then in effect mock God by not seeking to change our ways in accordance with His will. “Do you not know that God’s mercy and forgiveness are meant to lead us to repentance?” What could it mean to ask for forgiveness, and not seek to change our ways? As we probably all know from going to sacramental confession, if we confess stealing, for example, we must also make full restitution for what we have stolen, or else our confession is meaningless, the absolution voided by our failure to return what we have stolen. Would it not be absurd for me to steal your cattle, and if caught, beg for your forgiveness, but not return the cattle? If I did not return your cattle, would you consider my begging forgiveness genuine, or a verbal ruse to cover up my crime? How many of us take from the LORD, ask for forgiveness, but do not amend and make restitution for what we have done?  

Hearers of the Word must act on it. Otherwise, thorns and thistles choke out the divine Word in us, as Jesus so pointedly warns. “God’s Word is living and effective, sharper than a two-edged sword.” We may seek to hide from the all-penetrating Word, as Adam tried to hide in the Garden of Eden, but it will not work. The Word will echo in our hearts, even if we try to ignore it or drown it out with another swig of booze. The Word of Christ will pursue us, even if we try our hardest to tune out to God and spend our lives watching television, or endless entertainment. Unfortunately, many in our culture have not really heard the Word, because they have avoided encountering it. But you and I have heard. We present ourselves to the LORD at the Eucharist. We listen. But do we act on it? “Be not hearers only, but doers of the Word.”

"If You Put To Death The Deeds Of The Body, You Shall Live"

 

While serving as a priest in Iowa, a local evangelical minister invited me to attend a conference being offered for all of the Reformed ministers and their wives in the state. A minister gave a series of talks on the theme of “mortification,” a subject once familiar to Catholics, but not usually mentioned, as I found out, among Reformed, “born-again” Christians.  The speaker drew on early Reformed (Calvinist) theologians on the subject, in order to explain to his audience that “mortification” was not just a Catholic pre-occupation, but had a place among Reformation Protestants, too. The minister sought to explain to his audience that Christians needed to “put to death” in themselves whatever was not of God, including sin and the inclination to sin, such as desires to “get more and more” (covetousness). In response to his talks on “mortification,” one person after another asserted that they had nothing to “put to death” in them, because they had been “born again,” and were “saved.” They were already “holy,” they kept asserting, because of their faith in Jesus Christ, and all talk of “mortification to sin” in a “true believer” made no sense.

Apparently, similar kinds of thinking (really, non-thinking) are common among Christian “believers” today. These folks style themselves “born again,” “saints” or “holy,” who “believe in Jesus, and got saved.” Whereas they call “unbelievers” “sinners,” these “saved” Christians think that they really “do not sin,” and have nothing to “put to death” in their lives, in their souls. They always do God’s will. Or so they imagine.  Spiritual blindness takes many forms.

Would that these “saved” Christians studied the New Testament documents with open minds, and not with the blinders of their hardened beliefs. In one passage after another, early Christian writers tell all human beings—Jews, Gentiles, Christians—to keep undergoing a change of heart, conversion, growth in holiness. Consider the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:21: “Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.” I suppose these true believers would answer, “Oh, but we always do the will of God.” Therein lies the problem. It could be called self-deception, or lack of self-awareness. It is the same attitude of the Pharisees who belittled the teaching of Jesus and his call to conversion and holiness. It could be our attitude more often than we wish to admit.

Everyone—“believer” and “unbeliever” alike—needs to take seriously the words we hear from the Apostle Paul this Sunday (Romans 8:13):  “If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”  Either one is continually putting to death one’s self-will, selfishness, greed, lust, hatred, pride, laziness, and so on, or one is sliding into a spiritual death. What does spiritual death look like? Surely it looks like “holier-than-thou” attitudes, it looks like a hardened heart towards others, like a neglect of one’s own spiritual life, like a desire for more and more “stuff.”  Spiritual death also takes the more subtle form of a culture bent on “having fun,” constant entertainment, simply ignoring the need to seek God daily. Spiritual death looks like the abyss of darkness in my heart and in yours, if we will but face the truth about ourselves, and daily seek to live Christ, not act out of our own darkness.

For the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity

Having just celebrated Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Church now focuses our attention on honoring the One God, who in the Christian tradition is symbolized as “the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Each Eucharistic celebration is a prayer to the Father by Christ Jesus and his members (the faithful), by the action of the Holy Spirit in the Church.   Among the questions that we may ask on this Feast day—especially immediately following Easter-Pentecost, is this: How does one experience Christ, and how does one experience the Holy Spirit? Is it one and the same experience, because God is one and simple?   God is utterly simple, but we are not. In our movement into God, we are drawn by God in various ways. Christians—men and women in faith-union with Jesus Christ—have realized at least since the death and Resurrection of Christ that Jesus still speaks His word to the faithful (in scripture, in church teaching, in the living magisterium, in members of His body, in daily events, and so on); and we have understood that Christ’s love for us individually and as his mystical Body is real, personal, intense, life-giving. A believer in Christ experiences both Christ’s love and his wisdom in many and various ways. If he does not, he should at least begin to wonder, “Do I really have faith at all? Is my faith enlivened by love, or just more or less empty belief?”  Faith living by love brings us into a real union with Christ, and that includes with his word (wisdom, teaching), and his love (fully and publicly demonstrated on the cross). Does the believer also experience the Holy Spirit? If so, how is the Spirit’s presence distinct from the awareness of Christ dwelling in the heart of the believer?  Nearly forty years ago, while studying St. Paul’s letter to Christians in Rome, chapter 8 (especially verses 9-11), I observed how the Apostle, so gifted by spiritual experiences, interchanges his names for divine Presence in the believer:  “Christ,” “the Spirit of Christ,” “the Spirit of God,” “Spirit.” The Apostle can variously name the Divine power indwelling the heart or mind of the believer. It does not matter, in reality, whether one calls the indwelling Presence “Christ” or “Spirit of Christ,” and so on. What matters is the awareness of this divine Presence, its life-giving effects, and one’s personal “living by the Spirit” by “putting to death” actions contrary to God (“deeds of the flesh”).   For the most part, however, Christian faithful have used the term “Holy Spirit” to name God experienced as love, joy, peace, the power of self-control, forgiveness, enlightenment, wisdom, understanding, and so on. When speaking of divine Presence as personal, heart-to-heart, "I living in you, yo living in me," Christians have more often spoken of the presence of Christ Jesus. "Christ" names God as personal: "I love you". "You are mine." The "Holy Spirit"names the same God experienced by impersonal effects, especially love, joy, and peace.  God is One, and ever beyond our understanding, yet always present to each one who will but attend.

On Ascension and Pentecost: Changing Perspectives As We Change

The understanding of Christian dogmas and symbols of faith change as we change. As the goal of life is to mature into a living union with God, as we grow into this faith-union, our understanding of our faith and practice must necessarily change.  In my early years, I simply accepted the events of Christ’s Ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit in a literal way, so that I believed that these events occurred as described in St. Luke’s Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. But if someone had asked me, “What difference does the Ascension make in your life?” or “What does Pentecost mean to you?” I would have been confused and befuddled, and not known how to answer.  

Later on, as a Benedictine monk and then as a Catholic priest serving in parishes, I began to emphasize various themes on these two feasts in order to communicate to fellow Christians something of the meaning of the events celebrated. For the Ascension, I emphasized the physical absence of Jesus Christ from the world, and connected that to the necessity to have a faith and love for the God we cannot see, who is ever beyond our understanding. Then for Pentecost, I would speak about the closeness of God, to God dwelling in the depths of the believer’s heart or mind, whether experienced as present, or known only through simple trust. During these years I surely accepted the dogma of the Trinity, and I experienced a degree of peace and joy in faith that connected me to God.  Faith union was growing.

As I have aged and had more years to experience the reality of God, and move further a creedal belief, I have sought to connect our liturgical celebrations with our faith and love for God, the One who loves each and all beyond our understanding, and who alone is truly wise and just. On the feast of the Ascension, I may still use the account of Jesus’ return to the Father as the basis for the proclamation, but I keep asking myself questions in order to help make our celebrations more real and personal for those who attend. Whether or not I share the questions in a homily, I must listen to the questions and wonder: In what ways is Christ present to you, to me, here and now? In what sense did Jesus leave his disciples in the world, and in what ways is He ever with us? What is meant in the Church when we declare that “Jesus has ascended to the Father, and is Lord?” In what ways does Christ rule over human beings—some, or all—and in what ways is his ruling less than complete, not yet fully established? How does Jesus Christ connect us to the God who says, “I AM WHO AM,” to the God who is the Beginning, who brings forth everything that exists out of nothing—“the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” the God of Moses and the prophets, the God of Jesus Christ, the God who “enlightens every soul coming into the world”? Who is this God, and how can we experience His presence, and love Him more truly, obeying “every word that comes forth from the mouth of God”? What is meant by “the Holy Spirit who has been poured into our hearts?” I often wonder: Can one discern in one’s soul the difference between the spiritual presence of Christ, and the Holy Spirit?  And so on.  How can I share in God reaching out through word and sacrament into the heart and mind of the faithful?