Our Golden Calf

Posted on June 22, 2013 by Michael

Have our needs become our gods?  All too often we seek happiness and security in fulfilling them.  Our needs may be financial (money, wealth), bodily (sexual, food, sensual) or emotional (power, fame).  Whatever, they are.  We become obsessed with them.  Our eyes see the world through them.  Our heart is focused on them.  They consume us.   They become our god.  They enslave and imprison us.

We all too often, like the Israelites, lose hope and fail to trust God and replace Him with a Golden Calf, hoping the Calf will provide.   For we fear that God is not present or, if present, is not listening.

But, Our Father in heaven knows our needs, and will provide.  “I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25)  “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.  Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.”  (Matthew 6:32-34)

We need to focus our eyes on Christ and listen to what God has written on our hearts.  We need to yoke ourselves to Christ, for his yoke is easy and his burden light (Matthew 11:30).

Posted in Essays, Meditations On Biblical Verses | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Living the Christian Faith

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Michael

Living the Christian faith is more than a personal relationship with God.  It is more than attending church on Sunday and more than a compassionate concern for others.  The Christian faith is a way of living.

Christians are called to be salt of the earth.  As salt brings forth the full flavor of food, Christians are called to bring forth the full beauty and truth of God and His creation.  The saltiness of a Christian is how they bring to others, through their words and actions, the beauty of God and His creation.

Christians are also called to be the light of the world.  The light a Christian brings to the world helps others to see, hear and understand the truth God has written on their hearts.

Christians are called to be leaven to all nations, peoples and tongues.   Leaven lifts all of the dough, not just some of the dough. The leavening of dough is done in the public square as part of public discourse, so too is the salting and casting of light.

A Christian’s personal relationship with Christ is realized through his relationship with the others.   In particular, how the Christian brings Christ’s mercy, forgiveness, and compassion to those who thirst and hungry for Christ’s forgiveness and seek His righteousness and mercy.

A Christian life is not lived in insolation and is more than a personal pray life and worship.  A Christian life is a life lived with and for others in union Christ.  A Christian is called to follow Christ and proclaim, as He did, that the Kingdom of God is at hand.

Posted in Essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Why I Prefer a Crucifix to a Cross

Posted on June 15, 2013 by Michael

A cross is a reminder of Jesus’ death and a symbol of the Christian faith.   It is the object to which Jesus’s body was nailed.  It is also the object to which numerous criminals and insurrectionists were put to death on.

Jesus’ sacrificial act was his death by crucifixion.  The crucifixion of Jesus is central to the Pascal mystery and new covenant.  This is why I prefer a crucifix, a cross bearing the corpus of Christ.   Christ’s corpus on the cross is a vivid reminder that it was Christ who died and rose from the dead.  It was his death on the cross that destroyed death, and his resurrection that restored life.  There cannot be a resurrection from the dead without a death and there cannot be a covenant without a sacrifice.

Seeing the Corpus of Christ on the cross is a reminder that it is he who destroyed death, he who died for my sins and he who is King and redeemer.  It is not the cross that redeems; it is Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross that redeems.   Salvation is not through the cross.  Salvation is through Christ crucified.  This is why I prefer a crucifix to a cross.

Posted in Essays | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The Sabbath and The Lord’s Day

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Michael

The Table below summarizes some of similarities and differences between the Sabbath of the Old Covenant and the Lord’s Day of the New Covenant.

The Sabbath

The Lord’s Day

Saturday

Sunday

Seventh Day of Week

First or Eighth Day of Week

Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (Deuteronomy 5:12)

The seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord (Exodus 31:15)

The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath. (Mark 2:27-28)

This the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24)

Eschatologically represents the Present Age.

Eschatologically represents the inauguration of the Age to Come.

For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it (Exodus 20:11)

Jesus rose from dead on the first day of week (Matthew 28:1 and John 7:23)

Recalls creation and the day the Lord rested.

Recalls Christ’s resurrection, the eighth day of creation or first day of the new creation (of the Age to Come).

Commemorates Passover and Old Covenant — You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out thence with mighty hand and outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.  (Deuteronomy 5:15)

Commemorates Christ’s Passover and New Covenant — For Christians the day of Christ’s Resurrection, the day following the Sabbath, The Lord’s Day, the first day of week, the first day the New Creation, the day Christians celebrate paschal mystery – the Eucharist; a day to keep holy and a day of solemn rest, holy to the Lord

A day for worshipping God.

A day to abstain from labor and concerns that impede worship of God.
Posted in This & That | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Elisha’s Feeding of a Hundred Men as a Prototype of the Eucharist

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Michael

In 2 Kings 4 a man from Ba’al-shal’ishah brings to Elisha twenty loaves of barely made of the first fruits of the earth.  Elisha instructs the man to place the twenty loaves before a hundred men to eat.  The man is concerned that twenty loaves will not satisfy the hundred.  But Elisha responds, “Give them to men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and has some left.’”  The men ate, and had some left, as the Lord had promised.

Elisha’s feeding of the a hundred men with a twenty loaves of barley prefigures Jesus’ feeding of 4,000 in Matthew 14-15 with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish and 5,000 in John 6 with five barley loaves and two fish.  After feeding of 4,000 men (not counting women and children) with seven loaves of bread and a few fish, Jesus’ disciples collected seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over; and after feeding 5,000 they collected twelve baskets of fragments from the five barley loaves.

Both Jesus’ and Elisha’s miracles are prototypes of ultimate mystery of Christianity, the Eucharist.

Posted in Eucharist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

You will be Persecuted and Reviled

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Michael

What are we as Christian to take of Jesus’ opening and closing statements of his public ministry, where he speaks of the rejection and hatred that we, his followers, will experience?  In the opening sermon of his ministry, Jesus speaks of the persecution and revile his followers will face  (Matthew 5:10-11).  In the closing moments of his earthly life, just prior to his crucifixion, he prays to his Father asking for protection of his followers from the hatred and evil of this world (John 17).

Like the poor who will always be with us, Jesus and his followers will always be persecuted and reviled until he returns in glory.  Are we to take this persecution as an inescapable given and, therefore, do nothing?  By no means!

As we have a responsibility for the care and comfort of the poor, the widowed and the orphaned, we also have a responsibility towards those who reject Christ, His Father and the Holy Spirit.  We must bring God’s love with great charity to those who reject God and his Son.

St. Francis of Assisi instructed his monks to “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”  Our daily actions should proclaim the Gospel to all who we encounter.  Our faith is not only our private relationship with God; it is also how we live our life in relationship with others.   The commands are clear about this – three commandments deal with our relationship with God and seven deal with our relationship with others.  The Christian faith fully lived is lived in the public square in the service of others.

The latter part of St. Francis’ instruction to his monks is to use words when necessary.  We are to speak out with charity when lies, misinformation and ignorance need to revealed and countered.

We are called to be the salt of the earth and light to all nations.   Salt to bring flavor to life and light to reveal truth.  We are to draw all peoples to God and his Son.  This is the work we must carry out in service to Christ and his Gospel.

Posted in Meditations On Biblical Verses | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My Son, My Son

Posted on June 8, 2013 by Michael

A Meditation on the Parable of The Prodigal Son

My Son. My Son.  The pain!

Conceived in my heart.  Sprung from my loins.

Your debauchery of your birthright does not pain.

Declaring that I am dead to you pains.

In anguish, my heart cries.

You are of my flesh.

You are of my blood.

All my love I pour into you.

On that day, over the horizon I watched you separate yourself.

All day, every day, that horizon I longingly watch in anticipation of our reunion.

I yearn to engulf you with fatherly love and mercy;

I am not dead, my love and mercy endures forever.

Come.  Return.

Learn of my love and mercy.

The home I prepared for you from the beginning awaits.

Come, let’s celebration your return with great joy.

Posted in Poems | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Sacrifice of Able as a Prototype of the Eucharist

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Michael

Three sacrifices are presented in the story of Cain and Able following the fall of Adam and Evil.  After banishment from the Garden of Eden, sacrifice is the first interaction of man with the Lord.

Both Cain and Able offer sacrifices.   The Lord is pleased with Able’s, but not with Cain’s.  A close reading of the text is needed to understand why.  In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. Cain brought “an offering,” while Able brought “fat portions” of his “firstlings.” Cain brought just an offering, neither the first nor the best he had to offer, while Able brought his first and best.

From this we see that God desires the best we have.  Not because he needs what we have to offer.  Rather, he desires the best we have to offer to teach us how to give as he gives and to love as he loves.

Cain is resentful of God’s regard for his brother’s offering over his and slays Able.  Able’s blood is poured out upon the land and cries out to Lord.  In this regard, the pouring of the life force – blood – of Able upon the land is seen as a sacrificial offering.

The Church Fathers saw the food offerings of Cain and Able as prototypes of the bloody and non-bloody food offerings of Old Testament.  They also saw the lamb that Able offered as a prototype of the crucifixion of Lamb of God, the only Son of the Lord and best he had to offer, and accordingly as a prototype of the Holy Eucharist.

Posted in Eucharist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Fall of Adam and Eve as a Prototype to the Eucharist

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Michael

The story of Adam and Eve involves three covenants: God’s covenant with humanity; the marital covenant between man and woman; and the breaking of the covenant between humanity and God through an act of eating.

On the seventh day God binds himself to creation, making his creation holy and sacred.  Humanity, made in God’s image and likeness, is the highpoint of his creation.  God enters into a sacred familial relationship with humanity through the covenantal oath he makes on the seventh day.

The story of Adam and Eve also includes the marital covenant between man and woman. The sacred bond between man and woman included a flesh and blood sacrifice of Adam’s rib from which woman is formed.  Thereafter, Adam swears an oath to God concerning the marital relationship between man and woman, thereby establishing a sacred relationship between man and woman forever.

The story of Adam and Eve ends with Adam and Eve breaking humanity’s covenantal relationship with God through an act of eating.  Of all the trees within the Garden of Eden, God particularly points out two trees, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, whose fruit brings death, and the Tree of Life, whose fruit brings eternal life. Adam and Eve are forbidden to eat from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  But, the Serpent tricks them and they eat of its fruit.  Though this act of eating, they break the covenant.  They are banished from the Garden, are no longer in communion with God, and are to suffer death.  God further places an angle with a flaming sword to protect the Tree of Life and to prevent Adam and Eve from eating the fruit of Tree of Life and have life eternal in their fallen state.

The early Church Fathers saw the tree of life as a prototype of the cross and its fruit as a prototype the Eucharist.  As eating of the fruit of the Tree of Life would give eternal life, so too does eating the fruit of cross, the Eucharist give eternal life.  As the covenant was broken by an act of eating, the familial covenant between God and humanity is renewed through an act of eating.

Posted in Eucharist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Corpus Christi

Posted on June 2, 2013 by Michael

This Sunday was the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.  The solemnity celebrates Jesus’ institution of the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood at the Last Supper.  The Eucharist is the wellspring, from which we drawn life, and pinnacle of Christian life, eternal life with our Lord.

Christ instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice as a new covenant to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross until his return in glory.  Throughout the Old Testament God formed a series of covenants with humanity.  These covenants were prototypes of the Eucharistic covenant of Christ’s Body and Blood.  A series of postings that will follow will explore the relationship of the Eucharist with these prototype covenants.

A covenant is an exchange between two persons to form a sacred family bond between the persons.  The covenant includes five elements.  A sacred oath is taken.  A sacrifice is made.  A permanent sign commemorates the covenant.  A meal or food is eaten.  The covenantal exchange is made at a special place, typically on a mountain.

The posting to follow will explore the covenantal and Eucharist aspects of the fall of Adam and Eve.

Posted in Eucharist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment