If you were to look for an icon of the Holy Trinity, surprisingly the most famous one takes its inspiration from the Old Testament, from today's first reading (Gn. 18). In this reading Abraham gives us the perfect model of Hospitality.
When we think of virtues we think of things like patience, or the three theological virtues of faith, hope and love. In the OT one of the most important virtues is that of hospitality. As a somewhat nomadic culture, they understood that it was necessary for survival. We understand it as an aspect of love.
In the story three men are coming down the road. They do not approach Abraham and ask for help. It is Abraham, as the good host, who goes out and invites them, begs them, to do him the favor of stopping. He then goes on to offer them the best that he has.
After they have eaten they tell him that this time next year he will have a son. And we get the famous moment when Sarah laughes.
Later Christian iconographers, like Andrei Rublev, will use these three men as the image of the Holy Trinity.
It is worth noting that at the time Abraham offered the hospitality to the strangers, he had no idea that they were any thing more than travelers. Abraham saw three men traveling on a hot road and felt compassion. His compassion gave rise to his hospitality.
Most of us would like to think that we are compassionate. The real measure, it would seem, is whether or not our compassion moves us to action. If not, are we truly compassionate, or is our compassion merely an abstract idea in our minds?
Like all virtues, the only way we grow in them is by practice.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
The often forgotten Hagar
Today we turn to what happens when Abram and Sarai become impatient and loose hope in the promise God made them. When they turn from trust in God, sin comes quickly.
While many of our English translations use the word maid, the reality is that Hagar is a slave. Sarai give her to her husband who rapes her and when she discovers she is pregnant, she is rightly angry.
Some commentaries try to justify the slavery and rape by saying that it was accepted custom in the land from which Abram came. This ignores the fact that slavery, adultery, and rape, are all contrary to the law of God, regardless of what human law might accept them. It is important for us to cast this in stark clarity because it was precisely our human capacity to rationalize sin, that lead Abram and Sarai into such sin.
God made a promise. He did not fulfill it in what they saw as a reasonable time, and so they decided to take matters into their own hands. The fundamental dignity of every human person, the fundamental dignity of Hagar, was lost in their desire to have a child, NOW.
This would seem to be a story from the ancient past but for the fact that slavery, or human trafficking as we politely called it, still exists in the world and in the U.S. It doesn't get much attention but is very real. As we remember the tragic story of Hagar, let us pray for the thousands who live in slavery today.
Click here for More information from Catholic Relief Services
While many of our English translations use the word maid, the reality is that Hagar is a slave. Sarai give her to her husband who rapes her and when she discovers she is pregnant, she is rightly angry.
Some commentaries try to justify the slavery and rape by saying that it was accepted custom in the land from which Abram came. This ignores the fact that slavery, adultery, and rape, are all contrary to the law of God, regardless of what human law might accept them. It is important for us to cast this in stark clarity because it was precisely our human capacity to rationalize sin, that lead Abram and Sarai into such sin.
God made a promise. He did not fulfill it in what they saw as a reasonable time, and so they decided to take matters into their own hands. The fundamental dignity of every human person, the fundamental dignity of Hagar, was lost in their desire to have a child, NOW.
This would seem to be a story from the ancient past but for the fact that slavery, or human trafficking as we politely called it, still exists in the world and in the U.S. It doesn't get much attention but is very real. As we remember the tragic story of Hagar, let us pray for the thousands who live in slavery today.
Click here for More information from Catholic Relief Services
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Nature, Nurture, or something else
In today's gospel we hear the famous metaphor of the fruit tree, and how you can judge a tree by it's fruit. For as true as this may be, there is one striking difference between humans and trees. No matter how I raise an apple tree, I cannot get it to bear oranges. I tree cannot change the kind of fruit it bears.
Growing up in the 60's in Danville, my parents were foster parents to an enormous number of children, mostly newborns. Including the three of us whom they adopted, I believe there were more than 100 total. I got an up close look at how human personality takes shape.
In those days there was a great shift occurring. An older generation saw humans much like other animals. For them it was a matter of breeding. You would hear them use expressions like "bad blood", convinced that people were doomed to turn out like their parents. We then shifted to a model that wanted to believe that they all came into the world the same, it was all about how they were raised, the nurture camp.
Happily we seemed to have come to recognize that it is not an either or, but a complex of both. Watching those babies, what science now acknowledges was clear. There are certain aspects that we are born with. There are also other aspects that are the result of how a child is raised.
What the debate seems to forget is the third part of the equation, and for my money the most important part, will. Will is the part that truly sets us apart and makes us human.
More and more we discover that part of who we are is hard-wired into us, it is indeed part of the genetic code. There are other aspects that are clearly the result of the family and culture in which we were raised. But over and above both these is how we choose to respond to both our traits by nature and traits by nurture that distinguishes us. What separates us from the trees is that we can choose how we respond to our inclinations, our urges, our cultural bias. We have the freedom to decide on a daily basis what kind of fruit we will bear. On a minute by minute basis we choose.
Working with mental health patients for a number of years I saw those patients who would choose to take their medicine and those who would not, knowing the results that would follow. Only those with the most extreme forms of mental illness or developmental disability can be said to lack this ability. For the rest of us it is a choice.
It may be that you have a tendency to be short tempered. It may be that you have a tendency to be stubborn, or judgmental. But you can choose whether or not to express that in your words and actions. We are nature, nurture, and free will.
Peaches or persimmons which will you bear today.
Growing up in the 60's in Danville, my parents were foster parents to an enormous number of children, mostly newborns. Including the three of us whom they adopted, I believe there were more than 100 total. I got an up close look at how human personality takes shape.
In those days there was a great shift occurring. An older generation saw humans much like other animals. For them it was a matter of breeding. You would hear them use expressions like "bad blood", convinced that people were doomed to turn out like their parents. We then shifted to a model that wanted to believe that they all came into the world the same, it was all about how they were raised, the nurture camp.
Happily we seemed to have come to recognize that it is not an either or, but a complex of both. Watching those babies, what science now acknowledges was clear. There are certain aspects that we are born with. There are also other aspects that are the result of how a child is raised.
What the debate seems to forget is the third part of the equation, and for my money the most important part, will. Will is the part that truly sets us apart and makes us human.
More and more we discover that part of who we are is hard-wired into us, it is indeed part of the genetic code. There are other aspects that are clearly the result of the family and culture in which we were raised. But over and above both these is how we choose to respond to both our traits by nature and traits by nurture that distinguishes us. What separates us from the trees is that we can choose how we respond to our inclinations, our urges, our cultural bias. We have the freedom to decide on a daily basis what kind of fruit we will bear. On a minute by minute basis we choose.
Working with mental health patients for a number of years I saw those patients who would choose to take their medicine and those who would not, knowing the results that would follow. Only those with the most extreme forms of mental illness or developmental disability can be said to lack this ability. For the rest of us it is a choice.
It may be that you have a tendency to be short tempered. It may be that you have a tendency to be stubborn, or judgmental. But you can choose whether or not to express that in your words and actions. We are nature, nurture, and free will.
Peaches or persimmons which will you bear today.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
The easy road
One of my favorite books is C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letter. Lewis writes the book from the reverse, as a series of correspondence between a senior level demon, and his nephew who is only a junior tempter. The book gives instructions on how to lure humans away from the enemy, God, and into their Father's House, hell.
In today's first reading we see a similar style in the character of Lot. While in Genesis we can count on Abram to do what is right, we can also count on Lot to do the wrong thing. Lot symbolizes the bad tendencies in us.
It is worth noting that both these men are quite rich. People tend to think of Abram as a man who walked off with nothing but the clothes on his back. This does not square with the story.
In today's reading, the two families are quarreling so much that Abram asked that they separate and give Lot the choice. Lot, of course, chooses the area that looks the best, the land that appears to be most fertile. Abram contents himself with what is left. In Lot part is the city of Sodom.
Lot thinks he is smart, taking what look best, pitching his tents near the city. We of course know what really happens.
Before we judge Lot too quickly perhaps we need to use Lot as the mirror in which we judge ourselves. How often do we like Lot judge by appearance? How often do we keep the best for ourselves and our kinsmen and give what's left to others? How often do we choose what appears at the time to be the easiest path?
How many of us, in a similar situation, would have really followed the example of Abram, and been willing to step down in a fight, been willing to let the other person choose, been willing to content ourselves with the leftovers?
In today's gospel Jesus addresses these choices using the image of two gates, wide gate and the narrow gate. While our natural inclination would be to use the wide gate that is easy to get through, Jesus tells us to choose the narrow gate.
Today let us look for those opportunities to put someone ahead of ourselves, let someone go first, do the thing that makes a little more work for ourselves but in the long run is better for our environment. Have the courage to choose the narrow gate.
In today's first reading we see a similar style in the character of Lot. While in Genesis we can count on Abram to do what is right, we can also count on Lot to do the wrong thing. Lot symbolizes the bad tendencies in us.
It is worth noting that both these men are quite rich. People tend to think of Abram as a man who walked off with nothing but the clothes on his back. This does not square with the story.
In today's reading, the two families are quarreling so much that Abram asked that they separate and give Lot the choice. Lot, of course, chooses the area that looks the best, the land that appears to be most fertile. Abram contents himself with what is left. In Lot part is the city of Sodom.
Lot thinks he is smart, taking what look best, pitching his tents near the city. We of course know what really happens.
Before we judge Lot too quickly perhaps we need to use Lot as the mirror in which we judge ourselves. How often do we like Lot judge by appearance? How often do we keep the best for ourselves and our kinsmen and give what's left to others? How often do we choose what appears at the time to be the easiest path?
How many of us, in a similar situation, would have really followed the example of Abram, and been willing to step down in a fight, been willing to let the other person choose, been willing to content ourselves with the leftovers?
In today's gospel Jesus addresses these choices using the image of two gates, wide gate and the narrow gate. While our natural inclination would be to use the wide gate that is easy to get through, Jesus tells us to choose the narrow gate.
Today let us look for those opportunities to put someone ahead of ourselves, let someone go first, do the thing that makes a little more work for ourselves but in the long run is better for our environment. Have the courage to choose the narrow gate.
Monday, June 20, 2011
The Beginning
We think of the beginning of the bible as the story of creation. We now know that the creation stories are not the oldest part of Genesis.
Today's first reading really takes us to the beginning of the story of the people of Israel, the call of Abram (not yet Abraham.)
75 years old the story tells us, a sign of dependence on God. Not by his own strength and prowess will he do what he does.
God calls his, tells him to leave his homeland, and does not tell him where he is going, he simply made a list of promises to him.
Abram trusted God's promised, packed up, and left. The German translation captures the Hebrew better than the English. (Da zog Abram weg)The English says merely he left. The German makes clear that this wasn't just leaving one home to move to another, this was leaving like a nomad to wander, with no clear sense of the destination. This was the first great leap of faith in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
No matter how many times I read this passage I am always left with the same question, do I trust God that much? Do I have that much faith?
Faith here is not assent to a list of beliefs. Faith here is an absolute trust, an absolute confidence that the promises made by God will be fulfilled. For us as Christians it's promises like
I am with you always until the end of the earth
the one who lives and believes in me will never die
Do I have the absolute confidence of Abram? Am I willing to follow Jesus even when I don't see the exact destination of a particular journey? Can I simply follow him today, and trust that he will be there to lead me tomorrow?
Today's first reading really takes us to the beginning of the story of the people of Israel, the call of Abram (not yet Abraham.)
75 years old the story tells us, a sign of dependence on God. Not by his own strength and prowess will he do what he does.
God calls his, tells him to leave his homeland, and does not tell him where he is going, he simply made a list of promises to him.
Abram trusted God's promised, packed up, and left. The German translation captures the Hebrew better than the English. (Da zog Abram weg)The English says merely he left. The German makes clear that this wasn't just leaving one home to move to another, this was leaving like a nomad to wander, with no clear sense of the destination. This was the first great leap of faith in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
No matter how many times I read this passage I am always left with the same question, do I trust God that much? Do I have that much faith?
Faith here is not assent to a list of beliefs. Faith here is an absolute trust, an absolute confidence that the promises made by God will be fulfilled. For us as Christians it's promises like
I am with you always until the end of the earth
the one who lives and believes in me will never die
Do I have the absolute confidence of Abram? Am I willing to follow Jesus even when I don't see the exact destination of a particular journey? Can I simply follow him today, and trust that he will be there to lead me tomorrow?
Saturday, June 18, 2011
When do we have enough?
In today's reading St. Paul continues to boast about his weakness and particularly the famous thorn in the flesh. No one knows what this particular problem was . What we do know fro, St. Paul is that he begged God to take it away and God did not.
God simply tells him, "My grace is sufficient for you."
The word used here carries the sense of someone who has enough, someone who is content. Imagine if we could each say that from the heart.
God's grace is enough for me.
Paul clearly did not come to this understanding in an instant. One has only to read his letters to know the struggle in his own life. In our own moments of discontent can we hear the voice of Jesus speaking to us those same words, "My grace is sufficient for you." Can we meditate on these words as we receive this grace in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, allow the grace to fill us, and be content with what we have received.
God simply tells him, "My grace is sufficient for you."
The word used here carries the sense of someone who has enough, someone who is content. Imagine if we could each say that from the heart.
God's grace is enough for me.
Paul clearly did not come to this understanding in an instant. One has only to read his letters to know the struggle in his own life. In our own moments of discontent can we hear the voice of Jesus speaking to us those same words, "My grace is sufficient for you." Can we meditate on these words as we receive this grace in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, allow the grace to fill us, and be content with what we have received.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Weakness
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
So ends the first reading today. But how many of us are really willing to follow the example of St. Paul. Instead, we attempt to declare our weakness a medical condition. We feel the need to give every child a prize so that they never know what it feels like to lose. We call our senior groups things like "young at heart" to avoid the reality of aging. And I'm sure each of us can find many other example of how we flee from our own weakness and human frailty.
St. Paul follows Jesus in teaching us that it is only when we can face our weakness head on, name it, and embrace it, that Christ can begin to truly heal. It. Sometimes that healing means taking it away, and some times it does not.
I have Cerebral Palsy. I am disabled. I am handicapped. I have never felt the need to call myself "differently abled." But which of us does not have some handicap in this life. The CP just happens to have been visible from day one. Some could argue that makes it easier. Was I ever angry at God? Did I ever cry "Why me?" Did I ever wish it would go away? Sure.
In the end we learn that Paul is right. The path to happiness lies in embracing our weaknesses, visible and invisibles, and commending them to God so that they may be transformed into sources to strength, as Christ transformed the Cross into a sign of life and hope.
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