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July 2009 - Worth Noting

HEAVENLY GARMENTS? … In my editorial in the August-September issue I raised the question about whether or not resurrected persons wear clothes. As a result I received a letter from Irene Colligan Groot telling me that she had been studying this matter for some time and had gathered much information from the writings of the Fathers of the Church. She offered to write an article on this for HPR if I was interested. I told her to write it and send it to me. Now we have the article in this issue, entitled “Twice robed.” She argues from the Fathers and from the Bible that resurrected heavenly persons are robed in light and in heavenly garments unlike anything we know.

RELATIVISM IN U.S. CATHOLICISM … A recent opinion survey reveals that a large percentage of Catholics in the United States do not consider essential Catholic teachings on points of doctrine and morals to be “very important.” It is also shocking to read that one out of every ten Americans is an ex-Catholic. In this issue Professor Cynthia Toolin offers us the numbers relating to key questions. The survey finds that over half of American Catholics do not consider Church teachings on same-sex marriage, abortion, contraception and Church authority to be “very important.” Here readers will recognize the views of friends and family members.

WIVES AND HUSBANDS MIRROR THE CHURCH AND CHRIST … When the passage from Ephesians 5:21-32 is read at weddings and at Sunday Mass some wives and husbands feel uncomfortable. Here St. Paul tells wives to be subordinate to their husbands as the Church is subordinate to Christ, who is the Head of his body, the Church. In this issue Deacon Rex Pilger explains the imagery used by St. Paul in this important passage, which highlights the dignity of both husband and wife. St. Paul tells husbands to sacrifice themselves for their wives as Christ did for us, his Church. Since Christ is the Bridegroom and we, the Church, are his Bride, we are all feminine in reference to Christ. — Kenneth Baker, S.J., editor

Ephesians 5: Bridegroom and Bride

By submitting herself to her husband, the wife is allowing her man to sacrifice himself for her.

By Rex H. Pilger

It is Mass on the Twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time, in late summer only a few years ago. Fortunately the air conditioning seems to be holding up, for this year at least. The celebrant offers the Opening Prayer, asking the Father for help, to seek the values that will bring lasting joy in a changing world. Seated beside the celebrant, the deacon at this Mass, I join the assembly in preparing to listen to the Word of God. The Scripture readings are from Year B, and we hear the stirring invitation of Joshua: “Decide today whom you will serve…As for me any my household, we will see the Lord” (Josh. 24:15). The cantor leads us to respond: “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”

But next comes the one passage that no one really seems to listen to; out of all of Scripture proclaimed over the complete three-year cycle, this is one passage that is consistently ignored, rejected or misinterpreted—I call it the “nudging” Scripture. After twenty years of ordained ministry, sitting in the sanctuary behind the ambo, every third year I can watch for the elbows. The reader begins: “A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians. Brothers and sisters, be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Show humility and defer to others, as we often hear in other readings, but are we ready for the next sentence? “Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.”

Suddenly, the many male faces are alert; the wives of the quickest feel an elbow against their arms. And the faces of some women fall, eyes cast down; it is as if their minds can read: “Oh, no. Not again. Not this Sunday.”

The Mass is Serious Business

The priest must do everything in his power to directly instill an attitude of seriousness and reverence in the faithful.

By Bryce A. Sibley

As a Catholic priest and pastor, a great source of sadness for me is the large number of Catholics who do not attend Sunday Mass as they ought. These are not just “fallen-away” Catholics, but even more those who attend Mass on an irregular basis. The excuses given for this sporadic attendance often vary: too busy, overslept, a family gathering, intended to make the evening Mass but were unable to make it, etc. However, what I find more bothersome than their irregular attendance is the attitude that many of these individuals have toward their Sunday obligation. Too often they will confess missing Mass numerous times over several months, and confess it with an air of nonchalance, as if failing to keep the Third Commandment is not grave matter. Yet most of them, if not all, know that it is. Unfortunately, the frequency of such confessions demonstrates that many Catholics do not take seriously their obligation to regularly attend Holy Mass each Sunday and on Holy Days.

The roots of this problematic attitude, rare during the years before the Second Vatican Council, are certainly manifold today. The likely suspects are often identified as the influence of secularism and materialism, poor catechesis, perfunctory practice of the faith, and simple laziness. However, we would be remiss not to put a significant portion of the blame on the priests and pastors and their irreverent and apathetic celebration of Mass. By his very words and deeds, such a priest states that the Mass is trivial. Consequently, the faithful, seeing this poor example, adopt the same lackadaisical attitude. These priests have failed to demonstrate that Holy Mass, as well as one’s attendance at it, is to be taken seriously. Again, if the sheep do not see their shepherd taking Sunday Mass seriously, it will inculcate in them a similar attitude.

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Heaven is not an abstraction

The realism or concreteness of Catholicism is startling to minds conditioned only by abstractions or by materialism alone.

By James V. Schall

“Today’s feast (Assumption) impels us to lift our gaze to Heaven; not the heaven consisting of abstract ideas or even an imaginary heaven created by art, but the Heaven of true reality which is God himself.”
—Benedict XVI, Homily, Feast of the Assumption, 2008.

“The teachers are terrified of the thought that they might really have something divine to teach. They are terrified of dogma, or Tradition, or of Divine Revelation, of Divine Law, of authority, of ‘Thus says the Lord.’”
—Peter Kreeft, Jesus Shock.

“Let there be one common festival for saints in heaven and for men on earth. Let everything, mundane things and those above, join in festive celebration. Today this created world is raised to the dignity of a holy place for him who made all things. The creature is newly prepared to be a divine dwelling place for the Creator.”
—St Andrew of Crete, Discourse, Feast of the Nativity of Mary.

Though full of ideas, the characteristic of Catholicism is its stubborn concreteness. It talks about a “real presence,” as opposed to an unreal or merely symbolic one. Its Trinitarian God is different from the classical concept of a First Mover or the Good. The Trinity means personal relations within the Godhead itself and, from there, not to “humanity” in general, but to each existing human being. “Humanity” is a logical abstraction, in fact, an abstraction from an abstraction. Christ did not become man to save a logical abstraction, but to save Suzie, John and Henry, actual human beings with names. Indeed, properly speaking, the Word was made “flesh,” not “man,” just to be sure we have the idea straight and what it refers to. But it is an idea that we must carefully spell out and define so that we know exactly what is at stake and what is meant.

The ingredient for priestly vocations

In order to fulfill their ideals and challenges, young people are in desperate need of priestly inspiration.

By Jacek Stefanski

It is truly uplifting to read about the great number of people who are received into full communion in the Roman Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil in so many parishes across the United States. This gives the Church a reason to rejoice and fills her with hope, for the Lord is thereby giving us another sign, that he does not abandon his Church. Moreover, it is a beautiful indication that Christ’s command to the apostles—“Go and teach all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”—is carried out even in places where prosperity and a misunderstood notion of freedom often divert man’s thoughts from his eternal destiny.