The Gift and Liturgical Experience of Wisdom: 32nd Week of the Liturgical Year, November 6-12, 2011

Wisdom chapters 1-19; Luke, chapters 17-18
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This week’s readings are loaded! The theme of them all, New Testament as well as Old — and of the Rite of Communion, on which Immersed in Christ focuses us during this season—is “wisdom.” But we have to keep in mind what “wisdom” is. It is defined both as “the habit of seeing everything in the light of our last end,” and as the gift of the Holy Spirit that is the logical consequence of that: “the taste for spiritual things.”

It figures: if we really see everything we do, everything we use, buy, seek and experience, in the “light of our last end,” we will have a “taste” for, a desire for whatever leads us to that; i.e. for “spiritual” things. Things like prayer, Scripture reading, Mass, the sacraments, the mysteries of our Baptismal consecration (three of them, remember?), whatever makes us more aware of the mystery of Christ’s presence in ourselves and others, and of the real value and significance of the time we have to work with on earth.

The “end time” is the special focus of the Rite of Communion. If we understand what we are celebrating during this part of the liturgy, we will see how it gives us--and is an experience of--wisdom.

Communion is not just a private, one-on-one experience of receiving Jesus into our bodies and souls. It is a communal experience. The “Bread of Life,” the Bread of heaven, is only served at a communal meal: the “wedding banquet of the Lamb.” We receive Christ in communion with others or we don’t receive him. That says already that we can only receive Communion if we accept the condition of total, universal forgiveness and reconciliation that is a characteristic of the “peace and unity of the Kingdom.”

That is the “end time,” the “last end” on which the Rite of Communion focuses us, and which the Gift of Wisdom keeps us conscious of in every choice we make while interacting with the created reality of this world. We evaluate every pleasure, every joy held out to us by asking how it fits, how it prepares us for the total joy of heaven. We deal with every suffering, every loss, trial and challenge, by placing it in the perspective of the “end time,” when “every tear will be wiped away.” More mystically (that is, with more awareness of the mystery of our life as members of the body of Christ on earth), we see how all that we do and suffer here and now, whether through afflictions, hard work, frustrations or other emotional distress, is a participation in the redemptive suffering of Jesus. With Saint Paul, we see that “in our flesh we are completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church.” That is the gift of wisdom.

The Rite of Communion is inseparable from the Eucharistic Prayer, when we celebrate and make present the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Seeing Communion in the light of the cross helps us to see our crosses in the light of the communion to which they lead: the full and glorious communion with God and others in the “wedding banquet of the Lamb.”

Keep this in mind as you read the readings and the Immersed in Christ reflections on them this week.

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An Image of the Church: 31st Week of the Liturgical Year, October 30-November 5, 2011

Romans chapters 11-16; Luke, chapters 14-16.

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If we take this week’s readings as a whole, they present us with a beautiful, an inspiring image of the Church. It is not in every respect the Church that is — Vatican II was explicit about that: “The Church... will attain its full perfection only in the glory of heaven, when there will come the time of the restoration of all things.” But in another sense, the true image, even of the sinful, struggling “pilgrim Church” we see, is the image of the Bride of Christ already radiant in splendor. The Church we see is the Church that will be. And she will be “without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish.” No picture of the present is complete without the projection of the future.

Knowing this, and seeing what the Church is called to be, we have to work for that as faithful stewards of the kingship of Christ.

What the readings this week particularly focus on is a Church united by several factors, none yet perfectly realized, but all promised as part of the victory of Christ. What do we see?

1. Equality with diversity. In the Church there are different ministries and different gifts to support them. But no gift and no ministry makes anyone “higher” or more important than another. In every ministry, it is Christ himself who is acting, and the same Spirit of Christ present in every gift. As Paul said, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus,” we say today: “There is no longer pope or bishop, laity or clergy, male or female; for all of us are one in Christ Jesus.

This does not eliminate the different offices or states of life in the Church. Paul was not saying there were no more ethnic Jews or Greeks, slaves or free people, men or women in the Church. He was saying that “differences make no difference” when it comes to the respect we show all, the acceptance of each one’s gifts and ministry, the right and call all have to speak and be heard, to act and be encouraged. The readings tell us that, yes, there are popes and bishops, laity and clergy, the teachers and the taught (Newman’s ecclesia docens and ecclesia docta), but all are exercising the ministry of Christ, and all must work together in unity and respect for one another. And in love.

2. We are all stewards. We are all charged to find, not faults but ways: ways to honor and respect each other, to serve with graciousness and generosity, to preserve peace through mutual recognition of each one’s gifts and ministry. This is the work of all, and all will enjoy together the fruits it produces.

This week we celebrate the Feast of All Saints. We need to celebrate it every day.

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The Face of Rome: 30th Week of the Liturgical Year, October 23-29, 2011

Romans chapters 8-11; Luke, chapters 13-14.

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The sights of Rome can arouse mixed feelings. I imagine that they might be related to the mixed feelings people had about Jesus and have about Christianity, once they begin to understand it. They come from seeing the divine identified with the human in a single person (Jesus) or in a single human-divine Church (us): the Church that, it could be said, shows its “winner” and its “loser” face in Rome.

Rome is a “boast in buildings” that the Church is a winner. Or, if we go deeper, that Christianity is a winner. Or, if we penetrate to the real mystery, that Jesus is not just a winner, but has won. The great buildings and monuments of Rome honor the triumpth of the Church, or give glory to God, or both, on the buried remains of the Roman Empire.

Sadly, this is also where the “loser” face appears. It really is not clear whether the great churches of Rome were built more to glorify God or the popes. One third of the huge inscription across the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica says “To the honor of the Prince of the Apostles.” Two thirds of the space glorify Pope Paul V, who built it. Other great churches are similarly credited. It detracts.

Are these churches more museums of art or places of worship? For believers, where the art is inspired by worship it inspires worship.

When thousands of pilgrims and tourists gather in front of St. Peter’s every Wednesday to see the Pope, does this make him upstage Christ? Does it minimize local bishops and dioceses? Pope Benedict was humble in dress, manner and speech. He preached on Scripture, and turned attention away from himself to honor pilgrims from all over the world. As he greeted the groups, some cheered, some sang a prepared song. A circus group did an acrobatic act. It was fun. The pilgrims had fun with the Pope.

This in itself makes one think: When do people meet with bishops just to have fun? To mix informally? What if bishops held an “open house” every week or month? Just to mix; to make mutual appreciation visible? To give a sense of a diocese enjoying each other? Would it put another face on the hierarchy? Would laity and bishops both grow into a new image of themselves as Church?

This week’s readings are all about the “stewardship of love”—preserving the memory of God’s gift of love. Making it present through celebration: by remembering with faith and looking forward with hope. Showing in our dealings with every person that the “Kingdom of God” is in fact here, and that it is growing in “length and breadth and depth and height” in every heart. And will grow to embrace the world. If nothing else, Rome supports that.

The columned galleries that form the half-circle enclosing the space in front of St. Peter’s were intentionally designed to symbolize the arms of the Church embracing the whole world. The Pope speaks for us all when he welcomes every race and nationality to the diocese that symbolizes Christian unity. In every parish church, and in every office and home, each of us is charged with the same stewardship of love. To walk into any parish should be like an audience with the Pope.


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