Imagine this scene: Jesus is with his disciples at the Last Supper, and he begins to teach them:

“I am God the Son, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God. I am eternally begotten and of one substance with the Father. God is actually three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – but only one divine nature. I am one divine person, but I have both a human nature and a divine nature.”

At this point I can just see Peter scratching his head, looking over at John, and going “huh?”

Of course, Jesus didn’t say the above, even though all of it is true, and is actually the bedrock of Christian belief about the Godhead and Jesus Christ. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus states quite plainly why he didn’t give such a speech: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now”, but then he follows this disappointing statement with a promise: “But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.” (John 16:12-13).

This is the foundation for the concept of development of doctrine. The mysteries of God are infinite, but the human mind is quite finite. Thus God simply cannot reveal all truth about Himself and His work immediately, but instead must do so incrementally. We see this clearly in the Old Testament, as God slowly leads His children to a deeper understanding of His nature as a loving and merciful God, and also prepares them for the coming of His Son. After the Revelation of Jesus Christ, there is no need for further revelation, but there is a need for a deeper understanding of that revelation. And that quest for deeper understanding can be a long, drawn-out process. As Jaroslav Pelikan, author of The Christian Tradition, a five-volume work on the development of Christian doctrine, once said,

For those who believe that you don’t need tradition because you have the Bible, the Christian Tradition has sought to say, “You are not entitled to the beliefs you cherish about such things as the Holy Trinity without a sense of what you owe to those who worked this out for you.” To circumvent Saint Athanasius on the assumption that if you put me alone in a room with the New Testament, I will come up with the doctrine of the Trinity, is naive. So for these readers I have tried to provide a degree of historical sophistication, which is, I believe, compatible with an affirmation of the central doctrines of Christian faith.

An understanding of the Christian mysteries entails hard work, especially for those who first received them. We do not live in a Matrix-style world, in which God simply dumps information into our minds; instead we are made to learn by meditating over information over a period of time. And in the case of the doctrine of the Trinity, it took over 300 years – with the guidance of the Spirit of Truth – to finally come to even a basic understanding of that mystery that could be put into human language.

The greatest expositor of the concept of the development of doctrine is of course John Henry Cardinal Newman. It was in fact his recognition of the development of doctrine that led him into the Catholic Church. He studied the early Church and realized that it was the earlier form of the modern Catholic Church – not identical, but instead a younger version of itself. Just like in his middle age he was not identical to his youthful self, so too the Church grows and develops over time.

But this growth is not haphazard and completely dependent upon sinful, finite man. No, Jesus promises us a guide: the Spirit of Truth. He will make sure that the Church comes to the correct understanding of the divine mysteries. He does not promise that it will not be a long, difficult journey at times, or that some people will not attempt to lead the Church down the wrong path, but he does promise that we will eventually be led to “all truth”.

For those interested in studying more about the development of doctrine, I recommend two works:

An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine – John Henry Cardinal Newman

The Christian Tradition – Jaroslav Pelikan (a five-volume series; link is to the first volume)

Do you smell that? It is that new-saint smell. Today, for the first time in history, we celebrate the feast day of St. Damien of Molokai, who was canonized just last year. I think it is quite an honor to be able to celebrate a saint’s feast day for the first time.

St. Damien of course is best known for his work among the lepers in Hawaii. He lived among these outcasts for years, ministering to both their physical and spiritual needs. But most importantly, he identified with them, becoming an outcast for the sake of outcasts. He took this identification to the greatest extreme: he contracted leprosy himself and eventually died of the disease.

We see the same type of identification through suffering in Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. She sought out those who felt abandoned and wished to identify with them. She prayed fervently to God that He would grant her desire to be like them in love. And He granted her request in an unfathomable way: He allowed her to feel abandoned even by Him. She knew what it was like to feel that no one loved her – not even God – and thus was able to fully love and identify with those she served.

And of course both St. Damien and Blessed Teresa were imitating their master, our Lord Jesus Christ. The incarnation is the most radical identification of them all: the Almighty Son of God became man out of love. And this identification went to the furthest extreme: suffering and ignominious death. This is the Christian answer to suffering: that God Himself joins us in our suffering; He can truly identify with everything we suffer. And in this identification through suffering, He lifts us up to Him in love.

Like St. Damien, we are called to identify with those who suffer: this is the path of true love. May we never turn our backs to the poor and suffering, but instead always join with them and bring them to our suffering God, who will lift them out of their suffering and into His loving embrace.

St. Damien, pray for us!

This is a cute video:

I admit that I am blissfully unaware of about half of her pop-culture references.

Since the first Easter morning, there have been two main lines of argument against the fact of the Resurrection. The first we hear in today’s Gospel reading (Mt 28:8-15): the disciples of Jesus stole his body from the tomb. As Matthew notes, this accusation was very common in the early days of Christianity. The second argument has been more common over the past 100 years: that the disciples had only a “spiritual” encounter with Christ after his death. Jesus did not rise in the flesh, but instead God confirmed his preaching and life by having the disciples have an “experience” of him while on earth.

In response, the testimony of the Church in regard to the Resurrection has always had two core components: (1) the empty tomb; and (2) the appearances of the Risen Christ.

And both of these components are necessary. If there were just an empty tomb, then the accusation that the disciples stole the body would have merit. And if the disciples just claimed to see Christ after his death, then it is quite possible that these were just visions, either heaven-sent or created in the mind, but either way no proof that Christ had truly risen from the dead.

But combined, they are powerful evidence for the reality of the Resurrection. If you read any of the Gospel accounts of the Resurrection, notice that they always emphasize these two parts of the Easter story, for they show us that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. Allelujah!

When you have time today, read this moving testimony from a former Jehovah’s Witness who converted to Catholicism. As she relates, she came out of darkness by the light of the Risen Christ.

Hallelujah! He is Risen!

At daybreak on the first day of the week
the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus
took the spices they had prepared
and went to the tomb.
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb;
but when they entered,
they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
(Luke 24:1-3)

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!