Conventional wisdom over the past few decades has created an image of Jesus as a crusading liberal. He is seen as a rabbi working against the conservative and rigid Pharisees, trying to establish a more tolerant religion which accepts all people, no matter their preferences or practices.

In reaction, many conservatives have created a Jesus in their own image: he was a prophet who advocated a strict morality and did not make any attempt to overthrow the existing government structures.

Depending on whether you think Jesus was a liberal or a conservative will influence which parts of the Gospels you will emphasize.

So, was Jesus a liberal or a conservative?

The answer is neither. And both. Fundamentally, Jesus was a radical. By “radical” I do not mean the common usage of the term which associates it with 1960’s radical politics like the Weathermen. I mean it primarily as an adjective: Jesus was a radical liberal as well as a radical conservative. He was radically liberal when it came to overthrowing the calcified human traditions that had grown around Judaism, and he was radically conservative in preserving the core teachings of the Israeli religion.Whether he was conservative or liberal depended on the specific issue (Divorce laws -> conservative; Sabbath laws -> liberal), but he was always radical.

For what does it mean to be radical? The word comes from the Latin for “root”. A radical, in other words, gets to the root of a matter. And this is exactly what Jesus did. For example, when it came to divorce laws, he went to the root of the issue: what exactly is marriage? This led him all the way to the beginning and Adam and Eve. By going to the root of marriage, he taught that divorce is always wrong, and that the allowances for divorce under the Mosaic law were actually liberalizing deformations of the original meaning of marriage.

Likewise, when it came to Sabbath laws. What is the purpose of Sabbath restrictions? They are to help the individual to draw closer to God and to the people and world around him. All the additional rules added later in order to “conserve” the sacredness of the Sabbath needed to be thrown away in order to get to this root meaning of the Sabbath.

The radicals in the 1960’s would sometimes even resort to planting bombs in an attempt to undermine structures they opposed. Jesus also planted “bombs” within Judea and Galilee by his radical teachings and his radical death and resurrection. These actions lead to the most subversive organization that the world has ever seen: his Church. And this Church is called to be a destabilizing force in all generations, upending existing structures that reject God and His laws, and calling people to the roots of our human experience, which always leads to repentance, conversion, and a return to our original vocation as sons and daughters of God.

Jesus was a radical. Are you?

I just finished watching an address given by Houston Cardinal DiNardo at the Convocation of Houston Baptist University. His talk was focused on John 14:6 (”I am the way, the truth, and the life”).

Wow.

I’ll say it again: wow.

If you want to see how someone uses Lectio Divina (“divine reading”) to interpret a Scriptural passage and lead us to a deeper understanding of Christ, take the time to watch his address. It is just amazing. Cardinal DiNardo effortlessly uses Scripture, the Fathers, and the whole Tradition to explain this passage. And it all is for one purpose: to bring us closer to Christ.

Over the centuries, Christians have represented the Cross of Jesus Christ in a wide variety of forms. The original Cross was most likely a simple one, but meditation on the mysteries of the Passion have lead to more elaborate Crosses which represent many theological truths about Christ’s redemptive death.

One of my favorite Crosses is the “three-bar Cross” which is typical to the East. Here is a good explanation of that particular Cross, courtesy of Fr. Theodore Jurewicz over at Charming the Birds from the Trees:

The Top Bar – The Explanation:
The top bar is the title-board, which Pilate ordered to be hung in mockery over Christ’s head on the Cross. On this board was inscribed: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin (abbreviated to the Greek initials ‘INBI’ or the Latin initials ‘INRI’ in the Western tradition). This is replaced with the Christian inscription: “King of Glory” – below the knees of the angels. On the title-board is inscribed the initials ‘IC XC’, being the first and last letters of Christ’s name in Greek. In addition, just above Christ’s arms we see the inscription: ‘NIKA’, which in Greek means: “He conquers” or “He is victorious.” Frequently, we see these last two inscriptions together: ‘IC XC NIKA’, meaning: “Jesus Christ is victorious” (over death and sin).

The Middle Bar – The Explanation:
The middle bar is that on which the Lord’s hands were nailed. On either top corner we see the depiction of the sun (left) and the moon (right), for “The sun hid its light, and the moon turned to blood.” (Joel 2:31) The inscription: “Son of God” is placed on both sides of Christ’s head, and below His arms we read the inscription: “Before Thy Cross we bow down, O Master, and Thy holy Resurrection, we glorify”. The halo of Christ is inscribed with three Greek letters meaning “The Being” or “He Who Is”, to remind us that Christ is the same God Who identified Himself with those words to Moses in the Old Law.

The Bottom Bar – The Explanation:
The slanted bottom bar is the footrest. There is some question of whether it was actually on the Cross of Christ, but it is acknowledged to be a necessary attribute of the Cross, worthy of veneration and prophetically alluded to in the words [Let us] worship the footstool of His feet… (Ps. 98:5). In prayers for the Ninth Hour, the Church likens the Cross to a type of balance of righteousness: “Between two thieves Thy Cross did prove to be a balance of righteousness: wherefore one of them was dragged down to Hades by the weight of his blasphemy whereas the other was lightened of his transgressions unto the comprehension of theology. O Christ God, glory to Thee.” The meaning of this prayer is as follows: the Cross of Christ stood for a scale of justice between the two thieves: for one of them sank in to hell, dragged down by his blasphemous words; and the other, the wise thief, ascended into heaven, because of his repentance. The church fathers attempted to render tangible the thought of the unfaithful thief going to hell for his blasphemy through the just judgment of God (the lower end of the bar), and of the wise thief going to heaven for his repentance and his praise of God (the upper end).

The Images – The Explanation:
On the Cross is our Savior, Jesus Christ. Note that He does not wear a crown of thorns, and that His feet are nailed with two nails. Behind the body of Christ, on either side, are a lance (which pierced Him) and a sponge (which was soaked with gall and offered to Christ to drink) on a pole made of reed or cane. On the body of Christ is depicted blood and water flowing forth from His side. Below the feet of Christ is four Slavonic letters meaning: “The place of the skull became Paradise”. Hidden in a cave under the earth is ‘the skull of Adam’. We are thus reminded that Adam our forefather lost Paradise through the tree from which he wrongly partook; Christ is the new Adam, bringing us Salvation and Paradise through the tree of the Cross. The city of Jerusalem is depicted in the background, for He was crucified outside the city wall.

1 in 3 Presbyterians Affirm Jesus as Only Way to Salvation

The teaching of John 14:6 (”I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”) has become one of the most controversial declarations of Christianity in our modern world. No one in previous generations would have thought twice that Christianity teaches Christ is necessary for salvation. But today it has become “offensive” if anyone proclaims that their religion is the way to salvation (just look at the reaction to the Brit Hume/Tiger Woods situation), especially Christians. Yet that is what Jesus himself tells us.

It is understandable for non-believers to reject Christ as the only way to salvation. After all, if they believed that, they wouldn’t be “non-believers” anymore, would they? But to see self-identified Christians rejecting the plain words of Christ is troubling. And as Catholics, we cannot look smugly at the Presbyterians, for although our Church has declared definitively time and time again (and most recently in Dominus Iesus) that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, it seems that many self-identified Catholics reject this teaching. This has tragic consequences for evangelization and missionary work, for if Christ is not necessary for salvation, why bother telling others about him?

The unique salvific need for Christ is not something that should make us Christians arrogant or proud. In fact, the very opposite: we should be humbled that we have been given such a gift and should ask the Lord for the means in which to share this Good News with those around us.

St. Paul and St. Francis Xavier, pray for us!

Today is the start of Ordinary season, when we come off the high of Christmas and everything (liturgical) turns green and “ordinary”. So what is the Gospel reading to start off this season? Well, it is anything but ordinary:

After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God:

“This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Then they left their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them.

So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him. (Mark 1:14-20)

Although Mark does use rather ordinary language to describe this scene, think about the extraordinary step that these four men – Peter, Andrew, James and John – just took. They left their entire livelihood to take up with an itinerant preacher who, up to this point, had done nothing really spectacular and had no real following. Yet they answered Christ’s call and followed him. We have witnessed much greater works than they had up to this point – but are we following his call?

As our days become more ordinary, let us pray that we might make the extraordinary step each day of Ordinary time of leaving everything behind to follow Christ.

When the angels went away from them to heaven,
the shepherds said to one another,
“Let us go, then, to Bethlehem
to see this thing that has taken place,
which the Lord has made known to us.”
So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph,
and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this,
they made known the message
that had been told them about this child.
All who heard it were amazed
by what had been told them by the shepherds.
And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.
- Luke 2:15-20

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world,
and the world came to be through him,
but the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own,
but his own people did not accept him.

But to those who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God,
to those who believe in his name,
who were born not by natural generation
nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision
but of God.

And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.
- John 1:1-5, 9-14

Today you will know the Lord is coming, and in the morning you will see his glory.

- Invitatory Antiphon for December 24th.

One of the most important aspects of Christianity is the Incarnation: we believe God became man, not in some mythological primordial time, but in a specific time and in a specific place. God didn’t just become man, he became Jesus of Nazareth, a 1st century Jew living in Roman Palestine. The reality of the Incarnation makes the following discovery especially profound:

First Jesus-era house discovered in Nazareth

Just in time for Christmas, archaeologists on Monday unveiled what may have been the home of one of Jesus’ childhood neighbors. The humble dwelling is the first dating to the era of Jesus to be discovered in Nazareth, then a hamlet of around 50 impoverished Jewish families where Jesus spent his boyhood.

Archaeologists and present-day residents of Nazareth imagined Jesus as a youngster, playing with other children in the isolated village, not far from the spot where the Archangel Gabriel revealed to Mary that she would give birth to the boy…

Based on clay and chalk shards found at the site, the dwelling appeared to house a “simple Jewish family,” Alexandre added, as workers carefully chipped away at mud with small pickaxes to reveal stone walls.

“This may well have been a place that Jesus and his contemporaries were familiar with,” Alexandre said. A young Jesus may have played around the house with his cousins and friends. “It’s a logical suggestion.”

The discovery so close to Christmas pleased local Christians.

“They say if the people do not speak, the stones will speak,” said the Rev. Jack Karam of the nearby basilica.

As we celebrate Christmas this week, let us remember the reason God emptied himself to become man in such a small, humble town: so that we might one day be glorified with him in heaven.

Today is December 17th, which means that we are in the final seven days of Advent – a time with deep liturgical significance. The readings at Mass are no longer from the 3rd or 4th week of Advent, but are specific to the date. Likewise, the prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours are also specific to the date. And, of course, today we begin one of my favorite traditions, the O Antiphons:

The seven antiphons to the Magnificat in the ferial Office of the seven days preceeding the vigil of Christmas; so called because all begin with the interjection “O”. Their opening words are:
(1) “O Sapientia”,
(2) “O Adonai”,
(3) “O Radix Jesse”,
(4) “O Clavis David”,
(5) “O Oriens”,
(6) “O Rex Gentium”,
(7) “O Emmanuel”.
Addressed to Christ under one or other of His Scriptural titles, they conclude with a distinct petition to the coming Lord (e.g.: “O Wisdom … come and teach us the way of prudence”; “O Adonai … come and redeem us by thy outstretched arm”; “O Key of David … come and lead from prison the captive sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death” etc.). Couched in a poetic and Scriptural phraseology they constitute a notable feature of the Advent Offices.

These antiphons are properly said during Vespers, but many families [including mine] simply recite them in the evening independent of the full Vespers prayers. I have always been attracted to contemplating the titles given to Christ (so much that I even wrote a book about it!), and this devotion is a wonderful way to prepare for Christ’s coming at Christmas.

I encourage everyone to say these prayers the next seven days. Here is one version in full (source):

O Sapientia: “O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation.” Isaiah had prophesied, “The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.” (11:2-3), and “Wonderful is His counsel and great is His wisdom.” (28:29).

O Adonai: “O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.” Isaiah had prophesied, “But He shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.” (11:4-5); and “Indeed the Lord will be there with us, majestic; yes the Lord our judge, the Lord our lawgiver, the Lord our king, he it is who will save us.” (33:22).

O Radix Jesse: “O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.” Isaiah had prophesied, “But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.” (11:1), and A On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious.” (11:10). Remember also that Jesse was the father of King David, and Micah had prophesied that the Messiah would be of the house and lineage of David and be born in David’s city, Bethlehem (Micah 5:1).

O Clavis David: “O Key of David, O royal Power of Israel controlling at your will the gate of Heaven: Come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; and lead your captive people into freedom.” Isaiah had prophesied, AI will place the Key of the House of David on His shoulder; when he opens, no one will shut, when he shuts, no one will open.” (22:22), and “His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, from David’s throne, and over His kingdom, which he confirms and sustains by judgment and justice, both now and forever.” (9:6).

O Oriens: “O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.” Isaiah had prophesied, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown.” (9:1).

O Rex Gentium: “O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart; O Keystone of the mighty arch of man, come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust.” Isaiah had prophesied, “For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.” (9:5), and “He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.” (2:4) .

O Emmanuel: “O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver, desire of the nations, Savior of all people, come and set us free, Lord our God.” Isaiah had prophesied, “The Lord himself will give you this sign: the Virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.”

O come our Savior!

I recently gave a two-part class at my parish entitled “Encountering Christ in the Scriptures: Reading the Bible Spiritually”.

The purpose of this class is to help Catholics read the Bible fruitfully. Too often the main focus of Scripture studies over the past few decades has been historical and scholarly details – who wrote this book, when did he write it, why did he write it? Those are important questions, but they are not questions which help the typical Catholic to draw closer to Christ and live a more fulfilling life.

These questions also neglect the intentions of the other author of the Scriptures – the Holy Spirit. My class is thus directed towards a “spiritual study” of the Bible, and the key to this study is encountering Christ in the pages of Scripture. I discuss how Old Testament figures such as Adam and Moses allow us to understand Christ better and deepen our knowledge of him. We see how all the Scriptures are directed towards Christ (see Luke 24:27). And all of this is done within the Church and as part of a sacramental life.

Here is a short (3 1/2 minute) sample from the class, where I talk about how the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 helps us to encounter Christ on the Cross:

You can listen to both classes in their entirety here and here. The first class is more theoretical – what does it mean to do a spiritual study, how do we do it? The second class includes practical applications of the theory. Each class is about 1 1/2 hours in length.

“[Christianity] is not a new philosophy or a new form of morality. We are only Christians if we encounter Christ…We can…encounter Christ in reading Holy Scripture, in prayer, and in the liturgical life of the Church – touch Christ’s heart and feel that Christ touches ours. And it is only in this personal relationship with Christ, in this meeting with the Risen One, that we are truly Christian.” – Pope Benedict XVI

In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus doing something he rarely did during his ministry:

Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist
(Matthew 11:11)

So what is so rare about this statement? Jesus is praising someone! If you look through the Gospels, he scarcely ever praises others – and the few he praises, such as the centurion (Matthew 8:10) or the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:28), are usually those not considered part of the people of God. He even follows his praise of John by saying, “yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (I can just see John thinking, “thanks a lot for the compliment, Jesus!”)

This reticence to dispense praise goes against the spirit of our age. How often do we hear from the pulpit how great our parish is? How often are we told to lavish praise on our children? How often is the slightest accomplishment praised as if it were equivalent to landing on the moon? Yet Jesus felt no need to praise other people. Why is that?

I think part of the reason is simply cultural. Christ did not live in a time in which the praise was given freely. If he had been the equivalent of the modern glad-handing salesman, most of his contemporaries would have thought him crazy.

But I think his restraint in giving out compliments goes deeper than that. Christ recognizes no one is good but God alone (Matthew 19:17); he knows that any good someone does is due to God’s grace. See what happens after Peter makes his confession of faith – a confession no one else was able at this point to make:

Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father (Matthew 16:17)

Jesus doesn’t say, “Great job Simon! You really are a bright guy! I’m so happy that you are part of my team!” No, Jesus instead points to the true source of Peter’s enlightenment: God.

We are complimented and praised so much in our day that it is easy to begin to think we are the source of our goodness. But this is a lie from the devil, one that he has been telling since the time of Adam and Eve. Anything good we do, any strength we have, any accomplishment we achieve: they all have their source in God alone.

To Him alone be praise and glory and honor.

I would wager to bet that almost every American feels confident that they know who Jesus is. However, if you surveyed Americans about his characteristics, I’d also be willing to bet that the image of Jesus most commonly held would look little like the Jesus presented in the Gospels. The American Jesus would be a tolerant, meek, slightly-effeminate preacher who only said nice things to everyone except those mean nasty religious leaders. He never said anything offensive and surely never said anything threatening.

I thought of this when I read the Gospel reading for today. Or, more precisely, when I read what was NOT included in today’s Gospel. The reading is Matthew 21,24-27, which says:

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”

However, whenever a reading skips verses I like to go ahead and read them on my own so that I get the full context of the passage. In this case the skipped verses are 22-23, in which Jesus states:

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’

Not exactly a tolerant meek nonthreatening Jesus, is it?

I understand that perhaps those who chose the readings for today did not think verses 22-23 fit the season of Advent. But I think it is problematic when we take out the “hard” sayings of Jesus from our readings. We already tend to downplay the difficult statements of Christ in order to live more comfortably (how often do we try to ignore the fact that it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than a camel to fit through the eye of a needle?), so I think it would be useful to us all if we had to hear these passages during the Mass – to remind us that Jesus is not who we think he is.

What a beautiful picture (click to enlarge):

Eucharistic Procession during the National Catholic Youth Conference

See full story here.

A lot of reminders today about the close connection between being a follower of Christ and helping the poor.

First, today’s saint is St. Elizabeth of Hungary, who gave up her wealthy lifestyle to help the poor.

Second, today’s Gospel reading is about rich Zacchaeus who gave up at least half of his possessions as his way of following Christ. And what was Christ’s response? “Today salvation has come to this house” (Luke 19:9).

Finally, the pope recently stated,

“Opulence and waste are no longer acceptable when the tragedy of hunger is assuming ever greater proportions“

Or, in other words:

“Living like a typical American is no longer acceptable when the tragedy of hunger is assuming ever greater proportions“

Hopefully, American Catholics will not respond to the pope’s words like some of Christ’s disciples did: “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” (John 6:60).

I think Archbishop Chaput best summed up our obligation to the poor when he bluntly stated, “We’ll go to hell if we don’t care for the poor.”

St. Elizabeth of Hungary, pray for us!
St. Zacchaeus, pray for us!

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Leo the Great. Leo is best known as the pope who stared down Attila the Hun, thus delaying the fall of the Western Empire to the barbarians. However, I would argue that his actions against Attila are insignificant compared to his work in the area of Christology. Soon after Leo’s death the Western Empire did fall, but Leo’s declaration of the two natures of Christ still guides the Church to a proper understanding of Christ today.

After the legalization of Christianity under the Emperor Constantine in the early 4th century, the Church was engaged in a very public and very painful debate to answer the question that Jesus asked his apostles three centuries earlier: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter’s answer of “The Christ, the Son of the living God” needed further elaboration. Was Christ God? If so, was he still a man? Or was he some combination of the two, making him a third type of being? How can someone be both God and man at the same time? And if Jesus of Nazareth is God, what did that say about Mary? Was she just the mother of Christ or the mother of God? If Jesus is God, does that mean that God “died” on the cross? These are serious questions, and the answers the Church gives has major implications for the life of all Christians.

This was the situation in which Leo was Pope. After the Council of Ephesus in 431 the East was furiously debating the exact relationship between Christ’s human nature and his divine nature (the West was much more conservative in orientation and usually didn’t have these types of debates at this time), and their theological debates were not without major political ramifications (as is usually the case with theological debates). Into this mix Leo produced his famous “Tome” which clearly declared that Christ was a human person who had both divine and human natures and that there was no confusion between these two natures.

After reading this Tome out during the Council of Chalcedon, the Council Fathers proclaimed:

This is the faith of the fathers, this is the faith of the Apostles. So we all believe, thus the orthodox believe. Anathema to him who does not thus believe. Peter has spoken thus through Leo!

It was St. Peter who first answered Christ’s famous question, “Who do you say that I am?” and it fell to St. Peter’s successor to give us a better understanding of that answer, an understanding that still forms the basis for orthodox Christology today. If we want to know who Jesus is, we need to follow the confession of Peter and his successor, St. Leo.

St. Leo the Great, pray for us!