Much to Adam's Relief: The Resurrection

We can come across an idea or insight that completely changes the way we think about something.  We could be in a terrible place in our life and not even know it.  The Resurrection is a good place to find new meaning.

The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead is a vast and underdeveloped piece of real estate for gaining direction in our lives.  There is an unfortunate tendency in the Church today to think that the resurrection of one’s body is of little consequence for the way we ought to live.  Of course, seeing the world in a predominantly spiritual way is the right thing to do. We think of life on earth and eternal life through the eyes of the Spirit we might say.  Unfortunately, however, the complete elimination of the importance of the meaning of the human body from the concept of human salvation is not an authentic Catholic approach.  Practically, many of us make the mistake of thinking that it is enough to let Jesus Christ bear the cross on which He battles against evil, while we remain bystanders. 

Are we to expect the salvation of our souls without living righteously for Him while here in our mortal bodies?  Jesus manifests His wounded, side, hands and feet to the Apostles thus showing them and us that sin has a lasting effect.  Doesn’t He mean that we too must bear this fight in our own bodies? On a more positive note, when He eats fish in front of them, isn’t this action reinforcing the fact that the human body, with its affections, is important in the Resurrection, in Eternity?  Even if Grandma is experiencing perfect happiness in Heaven, her happiness will increase when she gets her body back.  Our bodies have meaning.  Everything about the human body has meaning. And the harm done to the human person, both body and soul, is something that must be healed by the power of the grace of Christ.  The Great Physician gives us the medicine of salvation, but in and through our bodies we must follow our Divine Doctor's orders: “You must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.” (Mt 16:24)

Here is another point to ponder.  Isn’t it interesting, as the Acts of the Apostles says, that the Son of Man’s life was exchanged for the life of a murderer?  Peter said, “You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.” (Acts 3:14) What an indictment that is!  What does a murderer do?  He kills the body.  So the one who saved the human person through the Resurrection of the body, through restoring life to the body, is put to death instead of one whose true crime was killing the body.

It has been quite clear since the beginning of time that sin destroys the body.  This was always Satan’s intent.  He hates the human body.  Jesus was put to death in the body on account of sin and conquers Satan through this as He rises from the dead.  Sin enters into human history as a rejection of God at the same time as its bite injects its deadly poison into the human body.  The first sin is disobedience to God born out of distrust for His creation.  He created the human person, masculine and feminine, with all their differences and with each of their bodies being gifted for their proper roles on earth. 

Adam would have understood immediately the meaning of the wounded side of Christ.  We can surely imagine Adam gazing upon the Crucifixion as the lance opened Jesus’ side. The Old Adam would know and understand the importance of this because it is from his side that the first woman came.  From the side of Christ, the New Adam, flow the blood and water that give life to the bride of Christ, the Church.  He would know that this New Man does not run.  He does not shrink from the protection of His bride and He most certainly does not cause her to sin.  He helps her avoid sinning, all the time.  Even now, we can almost hear the sigh of relief as Adam witnesses, first hand, the undoing of his failure.

So Adam, where are you? Man of today, where are you?  Are you an old Adam or a new Adam?  Where are you, Adam, when your bride, your Eve, is subject to the threat of losing her soul through disobedience to God? Is she going to suffer anew on your account? Her body is at risk of suffering for all eternity because you would allow her to be used for an immoral purpose.  You Christian men, today, do you respect your wives, your beloved, your female friends and acquaintances? Are you like the old Adam or the new Adam, Jesus?  Do you distrust her body?  Do you seek to distort the feminine beauty of her body by pressure to do things below her human and feminine dignity? Do you distort the truth of love for the female body? Do you women distrust your own bodies? Do you fall prey to the domination that came from the fall so present in our culture?  You see, this is the root of the current crisis that the bishops are battling with the President.  That is why there is such a moral problem with contraception and sterilization.  They are sins against the body.  They are sins of distrust of God and his creation of the body.  These acts are choices for the life of the original murderer, the ancient serpent, over the life of the Savior whose body is given up to nourish the Church. They are sins against the Resurrection.

The power of the Resurrected Man, Christ, the New Adam, gives us, also, the model of the Church, the mother of those baptized into Christ.  When we approach Him at the altar, He gives us His body, consummating His love for His Bride, the Church.  Members of the Church must let this Lord lead them to a new respect for the body and human love.  Let Him be the model of relations between man and woman.  Science supports us in this. There have been many advances in the sciences in recent decades that fully support the way human beings were made, male and female, and are consistent with Christ’s teaching in the Church.  This new knowledge will allow you to live in accordance with God’s plan for your life.  This will help you faithfully and intelligently plan your family without offending God.  Please contact me if you want to learn more. 

This is your second chance, Adam.  Do not let the serpent bite you again.

For more information  check this website:  http://www.popepaulvi.com.

God Who Saves the Weak--Or a Weak "god"? Purity Makes the Difference

There is a huge difference between the God who saves the weak and a god who is created out of human weakness.

On its face, the account of the Transfiguration of Jesus teaches us that Jesus is God.  Seeing Jesus transfigured, taking on the radiance of His Divine Nature, speaking to Moses and Elijah, Jews like Peter, James and John would understand the meaning of this.  The Law, represented by Moses, and the Prophets, represented by Elijah, testify to the truth of Jesus, the one who stands before them.  What they see is God unveiled, not hidden, but God, awe-inspiring and majestic, just as Moses witnessed on Mt. Sinai.  This is the One, as St. Paul writes, Christ Jesus, who is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us.  This is the Beloved Son, who speaks for God and is God, the One to whom we are to listen.

There is, at the same time, in the account of the Transfiguration, a meaning that has practical significance for our spiritual journey during Lent.  It is about the discipline with which we approach it through prayer, fasting and giving alms.  It is about repentance, which only comes about when first we recognize that we have sinned.  The Beatitudes teach that the pure of heart are blessed; they shall see God.  The Jesus encountered on Mt. Horeb is the one we must make every effort to encounter ourselves.  Lent is designed to assist us in that quest as we seen to purify ourselves of all that is not of God in order to receive Him with a pure heart.  We are deceived in this world and this culture of death. As St. John’s first letter says: 1 John 2:15-17  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God abides forever.  Again, recall the Beatitude, “blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” 

We are being put to the test like Abraham who was told to go sacrifice his son.  Our Lenten test is much easier, however.  Our goal is to be purified, to put to death worldly desires.  Abraham was put to the test to see if he valued the one true God above even his own son.  In passing the test, Abraham gave us an image of God the Father who sacrificed the Christ for our sake.  Abraham, thus, walked with God.  St. Paul suggests that Abraham knew Christ even though he lived centuries earlier.  Abraham’s vision was pure.  His trust in God was not marked by anything less than the goal of eternal happiness.  His example, unique in salvation history, nevertheless is an example to us to be purified lest we not gain an eternal inheritance in the land of the living.

Let us ask ourselves, why do we not see this Lord in his glory?  Why is it that we refuse to lay aside everything in order that we might walk constantly with God and see his glory?

For the most part, God is not forcing the issue with us as he did with Abraham.  But this does not mean that we are left without opportunities to step out in faith.  We have Lent to voluntarily remove from between the Lord and each one of us the desires that cloud the vision of our minds and hearts and prevent us from ascending the mountain, that prevent us from seeing Jesus Christ as do the pure of heart.

If we are honest with ourselves we would have to admit that, on account of our desire for pleasure, our rebelliousness, our stubbornness, our pride, our laziness, or our greed, that we find the price of seeing God too great, much like the Israelites who fearfully refused to ascend the mountain with Moses in his day.

The Church today is in turmoil.  Publicly, Catholics openly deny the truths of the faith.  Where is the one who accepts in the heart that the Church speaks for God? Often, matters related to purity separate them from the Church.  Many Church leaders, those charged before God to protect the integrity of the faith, do nothing about politicians who are teaching falsehood and even claiming a greater authority than the bishops, or for that matter, than Christ himself. Many teachers of the faith do nothing about the errors that are thrust upon us, choosing instead to run while the wolf devours the sheep.  Catholics are as likely as anyone to fall into the errors condemned in St. Paul’s teaching regarding sexual purity and holiness in marriage.  Out of wedlock births now exceed 40 percent, and in some places, they constitute the majority of births.

If we are to see God, the Beatitudes say we must be pure.  Let me begin with the priests.  Priests must be pure in heart and body--and I speak of myself first--if we are to testify to the truth.  Young men and women must learn again the importance of purity of heart and of body.  They must learn to respect their bodies as God’s temples if they are not to lose their souls on account of the evils the unruly desires unleash.  The culture of death is against them. Who will rise up to protect them? Husbands and wives need to begin again to respect the proper role of purity and chastity in their marriage, be open to life, not contracepting, but trusting in God’s plan.  If God gives Abraham a son, cannot he not also provide for him?  Spouses can learn the sacred signs of fertility and space births scientifically and morally according to the way God made the body.  Learn to love and respect each other as God intended and the true Christ, radiant and powerful, will be part of marriage again.  You do not have to go to Mt. Horeb to see Jesus transfigured.  You can see him everyday in your homes if you, like Abraham, are willing to believe that God is all-powerful and put him first instead of some anemic god created out of human weakness.  There is a huge difference between the majestic God who comes to save the weak and a weak god created out of human frailty.

Homily for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

You have probably heard of the new movie called the Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  This is a prequel to the old Planet of the Apes movies that came out in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.  As with similar prequels, this movie imagines the world as it was just prior to the transformation that was the setting of the older movie. In the older movie, the character played by Charlton Heston and his astronaut companions land on an unknown world only to find out that they have traveled into earth’s future, one now dominated by intelligent apes. In that future, humans cannot speak and live basically like wild animals. They have lost their intelligence.  Charlton Heston’s character, the man from earth’s past, is captured and the apes are shocked to find an intelligent human, a human that can speak.

Human intelligence is a great gift that I spoke about last week.  It is at the root of our freedom.  Knowing what is good is part of the ability to act with freedom.  When I choose what is good, I am acting wisely and with understanding of what constitutes wisdom in human action.  Freedom is a capacity that allows us to love God.  In freedom we can choose to do good and avoid evil.

                              

When Solomon asks for understanding he is pointing us back to the Fall of Man from Paradise.  The Planet of the Apes is based on the idea of a fall of man, and probably a fall that is due to pride, just like in the Fall from Paradise.  Solomon, in humility, asks the Lord for an understanding heart to distinguish right from wrong.  The Lord was pleased with this request.

The movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes, though fictional, is a vehicle that allows us to contemplate the fact there are dangers associated with our freedom of action when we decide to eliminate God’s wisdom from our way of acting. Since many of us will probably see the movie, it serves as a good backdrop for me to speak about some of the scientific research which is actually going on and which is more troublesome than the research in the movie.

This is the Wikipedia description, as of July 23, 2011, of the plot of the Rise of the Planet of the Apes:

“Will Rodman (James Franco), currently residing in San Francisco, is working on a cure for Alzheimer's by performing tests on apes. The first test subject is Caesar (Andy Serkis). This "cure" genetically modifies his way of thinking to create a new breed of ape with human-like intelligence. Caesar learns well, but human authority continues to test him and contain him. In response to abuse from visitors, he eventually proves smart enough to break free from his cage and release the cure among other apes, affecting other apes like Caesar. Millions of apes begin to foment revolution. Soon, war breaks out between humans and apes. Rodman may be the only one able to stop them before the ape revolution ends with them becoming the dominant species on the planet.”

I haven't seen the movie so I don't know how accurate it is.  

The fact of the matter is that some scientific research going on today is actually much more dangerous than the plot of the movie.  Animal-human hybrid research involving human tissue has been going on for years.  Such research, in itself, is not necessarily immoral.  In fact, it can be morally good as well as beneficial. For example, research involving certain organs such as a pancreas to make insulin produced in animals more suitable for human use is not an evil act in itself, providing the animals are not treated inhumanely and the conditions of safety are met.  This type research respects the natural law for it does not seek to alter what it means to be human or animal.

On the other hand, many researchers having no respect for the natural law, would want to build a world without God.  They willingly play on our emotions in the name of medical research and cures to push the limits of morality and ethics beyond what is safe, humane, and morally decent.

I would like to cite are recent online report from Bioedge, July 23, 2011.  The report refers to the discovery of human-animal hybrid embryos created in the lab in Great Britain. 

The report states, (summarized in delivery)

“Lord David Alton, a crossbench peer, discovered that 155 hybrid embryos combining animal and human genetic material had been produced in three laboratories in the UK since they were legalized in 2008. …

According to Bioedge, Lord Alton said,

"I argued in Parliament against the creation of human- animal hybrids as a matter of principle. None of the scientists who appeared before us could give us any justification in terms of treatment. Ethically it can never be justifiable - it discredits us as a country. It is dabbling in the grotesque. At every stage the justification from scientists has been: if only you allow us to do this, we will find cures for every illness known to mankind. This is emotional blackmail. Of the 80 treatments and cures which have come about from stem cells, all have come from adult stem cells - not embryonic ones. On moral and ethical grounds this fails; and on scientific and medical ones too."

Unfortunately, the blending of human and animal genetic material is being done in many countries including the United States.  It is carried out even on the level of the reproductive cells, or what is referred to in science as the germ cells.  A recent report of the Academy of Medical Sciences in Great Britain states:

Animals containing human DNA and tissues are already used to explore the role of human genes in many aspects of reproduction from the development of eggs and sperm through to the process of birth. In experiments in this area, human reproductive tissues can be implanted in various places (such as under the skin) in the recipient animal rather than into its own reproductive system, so there is little possibility of fertilisation. But some work does result in the presence of functional human sperm and/or egg cells in animals – which raises the remote possibility that fertilisation between human and animal germ cells might inadvertently occur.

Producing  new organisms by blending human and animal reproductive cells is an unwise and immoral action.  It is too bad that we will probably have to suffer much before this is stopped.

The kingdom of God is clearly a place where the knowledge of the tree of good and evil is kept in its proper place.  As God tells Job, we were not there when He formed the limits of the sea.  Only God himself is able to judge the knowledge about what is good.   We need the humility to ask God, like Solomon, that He would give us understanding to know what is right and wrong.  We cannot create a world without God.  If we try, we will lose our very souls.  God’s law is a merciful gift that shapes our freedom and guards our actions, keeping us from harming ourselves by crossing into territory that is beyond our understanding.  The natural law, written on our hearts, is given to us to protect from such dangers.  We turn to God for guidance for our lives because we are not able to judge the deepest mysteries of life and death. 

The Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a work of fiction.  It is up to us to become involved in the political and moral issues surrounding scientific research so that we can make sure it remains a fiction.

A New Feature of the Blog-Homilies

Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Easter, Ordinary Form, May 8, 2011


Acts 2:14, 22-33
Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-11
1 Peter 1:17-21
Luke 24:13-35


(First all, I wish to extend my greetings to the mothers on this Mother’s Day. In doing so, I am confident in saying that any one of your children who reflects on the gift of his or her mother will have to humble himself in gratitude for your many sacrifices. Every day should be thought of as Mother’s Day and you should be treated royally, but most especially today.)

While we are two weeks out from the celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection, the Church’s liturgy continues to recount the events of the day of the Resurrection. We do not do this out of a poverty of scriptural texts about Jesus and the apostles worthy of consideration during this Easter time. Nor do we do this only so that we might be able to reflect more personally and deeply on the event of the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Reminiscent of the instruction given by Jesus in His encounter with the disciples in the Gospel of Luke that we read today, this is a period of catechesis and, particularly, instruction about the liturgy, the Holy Eucharist, the priesthood, and, to a certain extent, the Church herself.

We see in the account of the appearance on the road to Emmaus that the Resurrected Lord is not recognized by the disciples. They are confused and downcast. Their hearts are burdened with the death of the hope that Jesus of Nazareth had represented for them. We were hoping, they said, that He would be the one to rescue Israel. But it has been three days!

Upon hearing this, I think of what are called the Last Supper Discourses in John’s Gospel when Jesus tells the apostles, “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.” (16:16)

The Lord instructs these disciples on the road emphasizing the suffering and death of the Messiah in the instruction of the prophets. Now, this is quite striking to the ears because only now, only in the time of the Church do we receive this instruction from the mouth of the Lord. Not even the prophets or any other Jewish literature spoke of the Messiah suffering. We begin to understand more deeply that not seeing the Lord, as John puts it, is not simply about a loss of his physical presence. We come to understand that this lack of vision, this suffering, is profoundly theological and, to be even more precise, liturgical.

In John’s Gospel, when Jesus speaks of “seeing” him no longer, the apostles are confused by this. Even this teaching causes them sorrow. However, Jesus presses the point. “Amen, Amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. (Jn 16:20) …You also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. On that day you will not question me about anything.” (22-23)

We must conclude that this was a catechesis about the work that the Lord had entrusted to the Church in what would become the Sacred Liturgy. Why do we say this? Because the vision of the disciples is restored when He takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it and gives it to them--the four elements of the Eucharistic liturgy. The text of Luke places emphasis on this by calling our attention, once again, to the instruction of Jesus on the road about the meaning of the scriptures. The disciples also demonstrate, for us, hearts burning with love for Jesus’ Eucharistic presence as He spoke to them. And they have their questions answered, thus, they do not question Him about anything because now they see.

What do they see? Is it what they had hoped for? A victorious Messiah that would rescue the Jewish nation from their conquerors? Or was it the Lord Jesus who is the great High Priest, whose sacrifice on the cross now becomes a memorial sacrifice in the offering of bread and wine by those whom He has charged with this office and duty? Would He not have taught them about the offerings of Moses and Aaron, about the sprinkling of blood upon the altar, about the smoking holocausts, and the cereal and wine offerings of the priest Melchezidech? About the offering of the unblemished lamb in atonement for sins?

This challenges us even further, my friends. The Lord made it clear to them that the resolution to their sorrow was found in the memorial of His suffering and death in the Eucharistic action. What does the Church see in this new vision? The vision in the time of the pilgrim Church is always a vision of the unblemished offering, the suffering Messiah upon the Cross, who brings joy to the whole world. As Hebrews says, referring to the forgiveness of sins through the shedding of blood, “It was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified by these rites, but the heavenly sacrifices by better things than these. For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by human hands, a copy of a true one, but heaven itself, the he might now appear before God on our behalf….But now once for all He has appeared at the end of the ages to take away sins by His sacrifice.”

And the Lord has told us, regarding the Eucharistic sacrifice, “Every time you do this, do it in memory of me.” It is the "memory" that is characteristic of Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy adn the prophets as the Lord taught it to the disciples whose hearts burn to see the Lord and finally do, in the breaking of the bread.