United to the Crucified Christ

          Why do Catholics portray a crucifix when most Protestants only use a cross? Why do Catholics have images of the bloody and beaten Christ while Protestants only have images of the risen Christ? I believe this difference in art between Catholics and Protestants reflects a difference in theological understanding on both the crucifixion of Christ.

As Catholics we recognize that we cannot separate Christ into two different persons. Yes we are an Easter people and Easter is the greatest feast in the Church year but there is no resurrection without the passion and death of Christ. St. Paul reminds us that we are heirs to Christ and if we wish to rise with Christ we must first die with him. He says in his letter to Philemon “That I may know him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Phil 3:10-11)  Simply put, just as Christ freely endured His passion and death, we too are called to endure suffering and death so that we too may rise with Christ.

When we as Catholics develop this crucifixion mentality presented by St. Paul the problem of pain and suffering no longer seems like a problem. St. Paul teaches that suffering came into the world as a result of sin.[1] God does not stand off in the distance and watch man suffer; rather he enters into our suffering. Christ experienced the many hardships of man, suffering with us, even to the point of death on a cross. Christ further invites us to enter into suffering for our own salvation. Even in the midst of our suffering Christ is their present with us.

While the cross may appear to be a moment of weakness for God it is not. A closer look however, shows us that it was precisely at that moment of greatest physical weakness in Christ’s life that he transformed into His greatest act of redemptive suffering. This paradox applies to us as well. Even in our greatest suffering we have Christ with us who has conquered death. St. Paul reminds us that it is through our suffering the Christ becomes manifest.[2] While we may be called to endure many hardships we can have the confidence that if we enter them with Christ we will be victorious because Christ has already won the battle through His resurrection from the dead.

St. Paul reminds us that we are to glory in the cross. “But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Gal 6:14) When we offer our sufferings up and unite them to the suffering of Christ on the cross we are blessed to participate in the crucifixion of Christ and can cooperate with the suffering of Christ for the salvation of souls. St. Paul is clear “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2:20)

 

 

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[1] Rom 5:12

[2] 2 Cor 4:8-11

A Church for all ages

           The more time I spend around both the youth and the elderly the more heartbroken I become realizing that many of these people feel they have no place in the Church. I have often found that these two groups of people frequently feel alienated from the Church. They have a mistaken notion that the Church is for the middle aged. Nothing could be farther from the truth.  Pope John Paul II’s Post-Synodal Apostolic exhortation beautifully shows that each person, no matter his age, is a part of the body of Christ and can and must contribute to the health of the body.

            The Holy Father is very clear that the youth are an important part of the Church. He says that the young “ought to be encouraged to be active on behalf of the Church as leading characters in evangelization and participants in the renewal of society.[1] Bishop Rice, the auxillary bishop of St. Louis summarizes point well in his homily when he reminds those to be confirmed that the older generation do not have the energy, vibrancy, and creativity they have so the Church needs them to use their energy, vibrancy, and creativity for the good of the parish and indeed the whole Church. I think the youth often underestimate the abilities they have. I think it would be beneficial to find ways to get them involved in the life of the parish and to hold up role models of young people in our world today who are making global impacts.

            The Holy Father also reminds the older generation that they have a role to play in the Church.  The older people can be a gift to the rest of the Church by “being a witness to tradition in the faith both in the Church and in society, the teacher of the lessons of life and the worker of charity.”[2] He reminds those who are in good health and past the point of retirement that they now have the privilege of dedicating their time to the apostolate of the Church. Being retired and now having time on their hands they have the opportunity to use their time to serve the Church. Most importantly however, even those who are elderly and bedridden contribute to the Church and Her mission by their prayers.

            All people regardless of their age and status in life are called to be active members of the Church. As a body, the Body of Christ, we, as a Church, are only operating properly when all the members of the body are participating. While the way we participate in the Church may change as we go through life we are called to participate throughout our life.

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[1] Pope John Paul II, Christifideles Laici December 30^th 1988. Par 46

[2] Pope John Paul II, Christifideles Laici December 30^th 1988. Par 48

What does St. Paul really teach us about praying to the saints and for one another

            The writings of St. Paul are essential for understanding our relationship with the saints in heaven and the intercessory power they have for us. St. Paul teaches that “We were baptized into one body in a single Spirit, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as free men, and we were all given the same Spirit to drink.[1] By our baptism we become partakers of Christ and in becoming partakers of Christ we become partakers in the wellbeing of one another. This relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ does not end at death; rather it is strengthened because the saints are face to face with God and possess perfect charity. If this communion ceased at death it would be impossible for us to remain in communion with Christ, but since we continue to remain in communion with Christ we continue to remain in communion with the saints. The Body of Christ is composed of the church triumphant, the saints in heaven, the church militant, us here on earth, as well as the church suffering, those souls in purgatory who are completing the race and one day will join the ranks of the church triumphant.[2]

            The word saint literally means holy ones. In one sense we could say all members of the Church who are free from mortal sin are saints, yet in the proper sense of the word saints refers to those who are in heaven. Our state here on earth is much different from those who have completed the race and have become eternal saints. St. Paul teaches that we live in an imperfect state. “Now we see only reflections in a mirror, mere riddles, but then we shall be seeing face to face. Now I can know only imperfectly; but then I shall know just as fully as I am myself known.”[3] While we see only reflections in a mirror the saints, having attained the fullness of sanctity see God as He truly is.

            The earliest Christians believed in the existence of saints are their ability to pray for us. The earliest Christians prayed to the martyrs and in many cases offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on top of their tombs. They further prayed for those who died. It was not, in fact, until the reformation that the intercessory power of the saints was strongly contested. Martin Luther appealed to St. Paul’s letter to Timothy to argue against praying to the saints for intercession. He argued that St. Paul’s statement “for there is only one God, and there is only one mediator between God and humanity, himself a human being, Christ Jesus,”[4] meant that one should only pray directly to God.

Yet Luther looked at this passage too narrowly. Catholics agree with St. Paul that Christ is the one and only mediator. Christ as the sole mediator does not prevent us from praying to the saints asking them to pray to Christ who is the mediator to the Father. When we pray to the saints we trust they pray through Christ, after all being in heaven they know Christ is the one and only mediator.

To understand this more clearly we can see that asking someone else for prayers is similar to asking the saints to pray for us. St. Paul is clear that we should ask for the prayers of other Christians. “In all your prayer and entreaty keep praying in the Spirit on every possible occasion. Never get tired of staying awake to pray for all God's holy people. And pray for me to be given an opportunity to open my mouth and fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.”^[5] St. Paul not only teaches that we can ask someone else for prayers he asks the Ephesians to pray for him. In his writings to Timothy he further teaches that we ought to pray for other people.[6]

We see from the writings of St. Paul that so long as we remain in union with Christ we remain in union with the whole Body of Christ, the church triumphant, the church suffering and our fellow members of the church militant. We further see St. Paul’s exhortation that we should all pray for one another. Our prayers do not remove Christ as the sole mediator but rather our prayers are directed to Christ, to who we conclude our prayer through Christ our Lord. Praying to the saints is thus a powerful source of intercession because the body we share continues to exist for the saints in heaven and if the saints are full of grace how much more powerful must their prayers be.  

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[1] 1Cor 12:13

[2] While a teaching of the existence of purgatory is beyond the scope of this reflection St. Paul makes allusion to it in 1 Cor 3:12-15

[3] 1Cor 13:12

[4] 1 Tim 2:5

[5] Eph 6:18-20

[6] “I urge then, first of all that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving should be offered for everyone.” 1 Tim 2:1

A Nonpolitical Post Election Thought

Pope John Paul II’s Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici should be read by all Catholics who are upset about the direction of our country after the recent elections. In reading the exhortation Catholics will find hope, words of encouragement and a blueprint for the path they must follow as Catholics for at least the next four years.

            We live in a world that appears to be rapidly deteriorating. Christifideles Laici points out that we live in a world that is becoming more secularized, rejecting religion, violating human dignity, rising men to the rank of God and committing extreme acts of violence. The negative growth of our world has its affect on the Church which lives in the world. This affect on the Church is apparent when we look at the decreased number of people in the pews and the number of Catholics who hold views that conflict with the teachings of the Church. While seeing this decline is painful it should not be a cause for despair, Jesus Christ has promised that he will never leave His Church, the Church will never fall. No matter how bad things get the Church will remain the light on the mountain top guiding all who want to follow to the heavenly Father.

While the Church, being in the world, is affected by the world it also at the same time has the ability to affect positive change on the culture. For the Church to have an effect on the world no person can sit idle. The Post Synod Apostolic Exhortation reminds us that there is enough labor for everyone.

While the clergy are essential to the Church, after all without the priests there would be no Eucharist and without the Eucharist there would be no Church, the lay faithful carry the burden of the work. It is the laity who are out in the world, who see and work amongst the evils of the world. If the world is going to be transformed it is going to be because of the laity.

What then is this labor that is to be done by the laity. I think and Christifideles Laici seems to support that Christians must remain people of joy and hope. We can never forget that no matter how bad things get the battle has already been won. Christ has died and opened the gates to eternal life, our destiny. Joy and hope are contagious. As Christians live out their lives faithfully according to the example of Christ and the teachings of the Church in a spirit of joy and hope other people will be attracted to that joy and hope and realize that it is the Christ through the Church that brings true joy and happiness to the world.

St. Paul on Marriage

The Epistles of St. Paul, especially his letter to the Ephesians, have much to teach us about the Sacrament of marriage. St. Paul is very clear that marriage is not only good but is a sacrament. He goes on to explain the relationship that should exist between a husband and a wife.

We know that Christ considered marriage good; after all he performed his first miracle while present with his mother at a wedding, the wedding of Canna.[1] St. Paul goes further to acknowledge that marriage is not just a good thing but is a sacrament. In the book of Ephesians St. Paul calls marriage a sacrament, saying “sacramentum hoc magnum est.” (This is a great sacrament)[2] In marriage the husband and wife, who are both members of Christ’s body by virtue of their baptism, become a living symbol of the union that exists between Christ and His Church. Thus when couples live together, giving their lives for each other, they accurately express the reality that exists between Christ and His Church and are a source of edification for the whole Church. On the other hand, however, when couples don’t live their marriages faithfully they are a cause of great scandal to the Church.    

St. Paul goes on to elaborate on the roles of the husband and wife. St. Paul does not tell husbands and wives exactly how the affairs of the household should be ordered but does make it clear the spouses should be subject to one another and that husbands are heads of their wives and wives should be submissive to their husbands.[3] Many modern day feminists baulk at this statement of St. Paul and call it sexist. If one continues to read, however, they realize how beautiful this statement really is. St. Paul continues “husbands should love their wives, just as Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her.”^[4]

The words of St. Paul placing the husband as heads of their wives can then only be understood in the context of Jesus Christ. St. Paul places married love in the same context as sacrificial love. Husbands are called to sacrifice for their wives just as Christ sacrificed for the Church. Christ gave up everything for his Church. He underwent extreme torture, had a crown of thorns placed on his head, was hung naked on a cross for all to see and had most of his closest friends abandon him, all done out of love for the Church. It is this exact love demonstrated by Christ that husbands are called to give to their wives. What woman does not want that love? It seems that these feminists argue against St. Paul’s theology of marriage because they have not yet experienced true manhood.

When understood properly the sacrament of marriage is beautiful. The love shared between husband and wife mirrors the love that Christ has for His Church. This love of Christ for His Church is a sacrificial love and thus married couples are called to live out lives of radical sacrifice for each other.

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[1] Jn 2:1-11

[2] Eph 5: 32

Our current translation reads “This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and the two become one flesh. This mystery has great significance, but I am applying it to Christ and the Church.”(Eph 5:31-32)  Yet the Latin vulgate cited above more literally translates “this is a great sacrament.”

[3] Eph 5: 21-24.

[4] Eph 5:25