No king but Caesar (Palm Sunday, Year C)

Backwash from the on-going Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal has finally swamped the papal slippers. According to very disturbing reports in the New York Times, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger stopped an official ecclesial investigation into the abuse of 200 children, some of whom were deaf, by a priest in Wisconsin. The Vatican’s response to this latest revelation by a secular newspaper is to cry foul and portray itself as the victim of a smear campaign. This is almost as disturbing as the allegation itself.

When will the Church (excuse me, the hierarchy) learn? Not anytime soon, apparently.

Sr. Jeannine Gramick is a good friend of mine. For many years she ministered to the lesbian, gay and bisexual subcommunity of the Catholic church. As you might expect, her work soon attracted the attention of the Vatican. When the investigators could find nothing in her writings or public talks that openly conflicted with or contradicted Church teaching, a bishop asked what she believed in her heart of hearts. In other words, this churchman wanted her to betray her conscience.

Long story short, she was silenced by the Vatican and prohibited from doing her important ministry. Sadly, before this happened, Sister Jeannine providentially found herself a passenger on the same plane with none other than Cardinal Ratzinger. She introduced herself and the two talked at length. She expressed her sincere belief that modern psychology and insights into human sexuality were compatible with the gospels. She voiced the pain of so many gays and lesbians at their sense of abandonment by the Church they had loved. Nothing seemed to matter to the Cardinal except “saving the Church from scandal.”

And so now, the proverbial chickens have indeed come home to roost. The scandal the Churchmen had so vigorously tried to avoid by silence has now engulfed the Vatican itself. How can the pope extricate himself from this mess of his own making?

The answer is in today’s solemn commemoration of the Lord’s Passion. It starts with Jesus’ “triumphal” entrance into Jerusalem, not on a white horse or in a Roman chariot, but on a lowly donkey. It was triumphant because the people rejoiced when the Messiah appeared as their servant.

Religious leaders of that day wanted to save their institution from scandal and discord, even if it meant turning Jesus over to the Romans for execution.

Unlike the religious leaders of his (and our) time, Jesus allowed himself to be sacrificed for the sake of the truth, he didn’t crucify the truth to save himself.

Before that he washed his disciples feet and asked that they wash one another’s feet. This was to be as much a Eucharistic sign of his presence as the Breaking of Bread. Last of all he gave his life.

Imagine if the Pope were to take upon himself the full responsibility for the decades of abuses and cover-ups. Imagine if he were to wash the feet, not of other clerics but of the victims. Imagine if he were then to resign the papacy and dedicate the rest of his life to prayer and penance.

Maybe then the world would truly see that this Church does, in fact, follow the example and teachings of Jesus. Alas, this will not happen. And the words and actions coming out of the Vatican inadvertently echo the claims of the religious leaders at the time of Christ” “We have no king but Caesar.”

Selective Scripture (5th Sunday of Lent, Year C)

In a few hours, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on whether or not to extend health care to 34 million Americans. There are many reasons to oppose this bill and there are many reasons to support it. But one of the dumbest arguments I have ever heard during the 14 months of sometimes heated and emotional debate, is that voting on this health care bill on the Sabbath is an affront to God.

I have problems with this on many levels. First of all, it’s not the Sabbath. Saturday is the Sabbath. Secondly, Jesus himself healed on the Sabbath, and the self-righteous, religious hypocrites of his day complained that this, too, was an affront to God. But most of all, I have problems when people try to cloak their meanness, their cruelty, their stupidity and their bigotry in the trappings of religion.

It’s funny, those same people who quote the Bible to denounce health care don’t ever quote that same Bible when it tells us not to mistreat the aliens and foreigners in our midst but to treat them as our fellow countrymen. Leviticus 19:33~34.

I have trouble when people use the Holy Bible to make life miserable for others. I have trouble when people suggest that anyone who opposes them and their twisted way of thinking must be enemies of religion and of God.

This was surely the way the men were thinking in today’s gospel who tried to trap Jesus with his own words and reputation for compassion. Jesus was known to be a healer and miracle worker. The problem was, he was also going around spreading God’s forgiveness to the worst possible sinners. Tax collectors and prostitutes were flocking to him.

So they laid what seemed the perfect trap for him. They caught a woman in the very act of committing adultery and forced her to stand there in shame in the middle of the crowd, but it was in fact Jesus whom they were putting on trial. The law is clear: Leviticus 20:10 “the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.” (If we still followed this practice today, we would soon run out of politicians, movie stars and golfers.)

So if Jesus said, “You are correct. That’s the law. Stone her,” then all the common people who had put their hope in Jesus would realize he’s just like the rest of the religions leaders. The so-called hero of the poor and the oppressed and of sinners would be exposed as a fake.

But if Jesus said, “No, you must spare this woman’s life,” then the Pharisees would exclaim “Aha! See? He puts himself above the law of God. He too deserves to be stoned to death!”

It was indeed the perfect trap, except Jesus was the perfect escape artist. The Law is clear. We all agree adulterers must be put to death. Now, who among you is qualified to execute this woman? Who among you has never committed a sin worthy of death?

Ever check your horoscope? Lev. 20:27 “Any man or woman who is a fortune teller shall be stoned to death.”

Leviticus 20:9 “Anyone who curses his father or mother shall be put to death.”

So Jesus challenges the woman’s accusers with the very Law by which they sought to stone her. And they dropped their stones and left one by one, beginning with the eldest? Why the eldest first? Because the longer you live the more sins you commit. The more you sin, the more you stand in need of God’s mercy.

Then there's that curious sentence in today’s gospel, about how Jesus bent over and wrote with his finger on the ground. Scripture scholars and theologians have speculated for centuries on just what did Jesus write. No one knows, but I have my theories.

I think he may have written “Where is the man?”

After all, they claimed to have caught her in the act of adultery, so where is the man with whom she committed adultery? You can’t commit adultery by yourself. Perhaps he was there in the crowd of her accusers.

The only man there who had the authority to condemn her, the only man there without sin was Jesus. And he refused to condemn her.

So who are we to accuse and judge and condemn one another?

Jesus risked his reputation and life to come to the defense of this sinner. One week from today he will stand accused and judged and condemned, but no one will come to his defense.

Let us approach these coming holy days more with gratitude than with guilt. We stood condemned and Jesus died in our place. We have been spared from punishment for our sins and given a chance to live new lives.

Let us resolve to live for him who died for us. Let us use the Scriptures to set people free.

Scandalous love (Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year C)

The parable of the Prodigal Son is about relationships, not just between the father and his two sons, but more importantly, between the two brothers.

Prodigal means “extravagant” or “wasteful” to the point of being scandalous. There is no doubt the actions of the younger one are scandalous, from the moment he basically says he can’t wait for his father to die, so he asks for his inheritance up front.

I cannot imagine any son, so matter how disrespectful, actually going up to his father and saying, “Hey Dad, you know, you’re pretty healthy for an old guy. You could linger on for years and years, God willing. I’m young and, well, you know, I could really use that money now, so if you don’t mind…”

But the actions of the father are even more extravagant and scandalous. He willingly gives in to the outrageous request of his impertinent son.

The younger son then goes on a binge of drinking, partying and prostitutes, squandering all his wealth until an economic downturn left him no choice but to take a job feeding pigs. For a kosher Jew, nothing could be more degrading. He is so used to living a life of luxury he doesn’t even have the initiative to help himself to the pig feed.

He decides to return to his father’s house, not because he feels sorry, not because he feels ashamed or guilty, but because his is hungry. He even memorizes a little speech, recognizing he has forfeited any right to be treated as a son but realizing as a servant at least he will be fed.

There is nothing nice about this son. He is suffering the consequence of his wanton ways. Our sense of justice is glad he has fallen on hard times and we can hardly wait till the father gives him a good, swift kick in the pants. We want him to be punished.

Instead, the father runs out to greet his son with hugs and kisses. Not a day went by when he didn’t scan the horizon looking for his son’s return. He has no patience for his son’s rehearsed apology. He orders the best treatment for this undeserving, poor excuse for a son.

However it is the action and attitude of the so-called loyal son that is the main point of this parable. He has said nothing till now; happy his annoying sibling is out of the picture. Reports of his younger brother’s scandalous living assured him he is now the sole heir to the father’s fortune. All he has to do is be a good boy, keep his mouth shut and bide his time. When his father dies, all this wealth will be his.

Now it’s the older brother’s turn to be scandalized, not just by his bratty brother’s return, but also by his father’s inexplicable generosity. Saying that all these years he “slaved” for his father betrays the attitude, not of a filial son but of a resentful and reluctant servant. I mean really, WTH? His father is being totally unfair, unjust and—most annoyingly—nonjudgmental.

Jesus directs this parable at the “good boys”— self-righteous scribes and Pharisees who grumbled about Jesus offering God’s forgiveness to sinners and tax collectors.

After all, if God is going to be gracious to sinners, why bother keeping all these commandments (all 613 of them!)?

Today, does God's mercy toward sinners scandalize us?

I mean, if God is going to bless atheists, why bother being Catholic?

If God accepts same-sex couples and their children, why send our children to Catholic schools?

If God loves alcoholics, drug addicts, gamblers, adulterers, and all sinners as much as he loves us “holy” people, why do we come to Sunday Mass, say the Rosary and and read the Bible?

Why? Not to win God’s favor or forgiveness, but to show God our gratitude. If God shows mercy to sinners, then God will show mercy to us.

This wonderful drama of the Prodigal Son confronts us with the scandal of God’s unconditional and boundless mercy. The only question left to answer is: which son are you?

There but for God’s grace (Third Sunday of Lent, Year C)

Earthquake in Haiti, earthquake in Chile, earthquake in Taiwan, earthquake in Indonesia. Chances are by the time this posts yet another country will suffer an earthquake. What are we to make of all this?

Blogs offer no end of opinions, from the sterile scientific to the bizarrely biblical. According to the U.S. Geological Society, there are thousands of earthquakes everyday and the number of major quakes of 6.0 or larger has been consistent over the past hundred years. Fundamentalists insist we are in the End Days and the Rapture is at hand.

What are we, supposedly level-headed and intelligent Christians, to make of these disasters? Today’s gospel offers insight. Pontius Pilate had massacred some worshipers in the Temple, mingling their blood with their sacrifice. People were curious what Jesus had to say about this. Rather than play their game, Jesus ups the ante. Those massacred people were no greater sinners than others in Galilee. Jesus then recounts a disaster in Siloam where a tower collapsed killing 18 victims. Those people were no more deserving of death than all in Jerusalem.

Jesus turns the tables on them—and us—saying worse things will happen unless we repent. But accidents and misfortunes are not necessarily the punishment for sin. Rather than seek consolation in learning why some unfortunate people died in such a horrible way, we should look upon all tragic deaths—both natural and manmade—as a wake-up call. We need to examine our own lives and repent, that is, remove from our thoughts, words and deeds everything that does not give God glory.

We exist in a world of unsettling freedom. Accidents happen all the time. A split second may be the difference between injury and death or escaping without any harm. A tree falls. It may injure passers-by or spare all or, more mysteriously, kill one person by not another.

Often we have little or no control over things that happen around us—or to us—but we can be aware of our attitudes and actions. Not all suffer the consequences of their actions. Not all smokers get lung cancer and not all who get lung cancer smoke. Life is not fair. We cannot control accidents, the weather or people intent on harming us. We can and should reflect on how we live each day.

I remember when I first met Father Dennis Dunne, who died a few years ago. In the 1970s Dennis had been a Peace Corps volunteer, like myself. He had been diagnosed with cancer and given less than six months to live. He was undergoing chemotherapy. He came to Maryknoll to take a break from his treatment and when we first met he was clearly close to death. We prayed for him and with him.

Two weeks later after returning home he went for surgery and the doctors were amazed. None of his six tumors could be found. He wrote me a letter (this was way before email and texting!) in which he reflected on passing the six-month mark during which he was supposed to have died. “From that date on,” he wrote, “I consider each day a bonus, a gift.”

What did he do with the extra time he was given? Among other things, he became a priest. He lived another 35 years, serving God, the Church and his brothers and sisters in overseas mission.

His words "Each day is a bonus, a gift" moved me to live more purposefully and with gratitude to God for each new day of life. But I had my own close call with death in 1983. On September 1, I was supposed to be aboard Korean Air Line Flight 007, which was shot down by the Soviet Union killing all 269 passengers and crew. A few hours before departure I had switched my reservation; I didn’t want to travel 18 hours in the dark, so I transferred to a Northwest flight that left in the morning. That one decision saved my life.

Why did those people die? Why did I live? I do not know. Have I lived every single moment since then in prayer, praising God and doing only good? Hardly. Have I lived a totally productive life? Yeah, right. But whenever I learn of other's misfortune, I cannot help but think, "There but for the grace of God go I."

Each day God has to shake me from my complacency. Each day I need to respond to God’s on-going call to conversion. The earth will continue to shake. People will continue to die. None of us has control over when and how we will die. It is enough to make a good-faith effort on how well and fully we will live.