The Bread of Life Discourse (17Th Sunday OT Cycle B)

    Today is a very special Sunday. If you are a liturgy geek like myself you will know that in the church we use a three year cycle for the Sunday readings. Meaning every 3 years we repeat the same Sunday readings; so today’s readings we have not heard since 2014 and we will not hear them again until the year 2021. Now the reason why today is special is because today’s Gospel reading is the beginning of what is known as the Bread of Life discourse, and I say the beginning because for the next 6 Sundays we will read the whole story.
   Now, if you are a bible geek like myself, you will know that the gospel reading for today comes from the 6th chapter of the Gospel of John.  And if you are a theology geek like myself you will also know that for Catholics this section of the new testament is one of the most important sections in the whole of the bible. Why? Because this is the point in Jesus ministry in which he begins teaching His disciples about the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith. How important are these readings? Think about it, without faith in what Jesus tells us in these readings, that He is the bread of life who came down from heaven and that we need to eat His body and drink His blood in order to have eternal life, everything we do at mass, every single day and especially on Sundays, would have no meaning. In fact if Jesus were not present in the Eucharist, everything we do at mass could be considered idolatry.

     What Jesus begins teaching us today will culminate not 6 weeks from now but on the day of the Last Supper or Holy Thursday, the day in which for the first time, he gives himself to us in the forms of bread and wine, and gives His disciples to power to transform this bread and wine into His divine body and blood. He himself becomes the bread that comes down from heaven. 
  Now, when we look at today’s gospel again, we will notice that the Lord Jesus begins his catechesis on the Eucharist not with deep philosophical or theological ideas but with the one very common, very human act. The one act who gives life to the human race, eating and drinking. Of course the Lord could have used some other human act to remain with us. Before the first Jewish temple was destroyed by the Babylonians the Bible states that the presence of God resided in the temple as a form of permanent cloud in the Holy of Holies.
   Why would God select the form of bread and wine to remain with us “until the end of times”? Because he knows very well human hunger. physical hunger as well as spiritual hunger. The physical hunger can be taken care of by the substance of the bread and wine, but our spiritual hunger can not be satiated by material things. Some people try to do this by filling their lives with “stuff”. Some use money, some use sex, some use power, others use alcohol, or pills or illegal drugs, but what they are really doing is covering over the emptiness the carry in their spirit.
  But the only thing which can satiate this hunger is God himself, who created us with this hunger for him, a hunger which will not leave us until we fill our spirit with him. This is why we receive communion, to allow God to become part of who we are. To become part of our cells and our DNA and to allow him into our hearts to fill the emptiness we all carry inside..
  Like I said, today is just the first part of the Bread of Life discourse, in the next 5 weeks we will see how Jesus slowly moves from feeding 5 thousand people with 5 loaves of bread, to giving his body to be eaten and his blood to be drunk by the whole world.
  If you are a Catholic geek like myself, you will realize during this next few weeks that there is no life without partaking of the Eucharist, that we were created for this moment and that we will never be closer to the Lord than when we quietly kneel on our, pews after communion. GBYMBAS

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What if Aliens Landed Today and Other Questions

  I just had a very interesting interaction with a young lady on Facebook and thought that this would make a good blog post. Here is the original post:

To which I answered:

Which elicited this answer from her.

Because religion teaches that man is special, that the earth is the center of creation. Life on other planets would disprove this. What if aliens on another planet say Jesus is not god? What if they say God doesn't exist and that they have proof of how the universe was created and can present it? The bible says God created man and angels, and animals/plants of course. Catholics say Christ is lord of the universe. HOw is this possible? Was he born elsewhere and died elsewhere on the cross? Did he pick disciples there? So far, I think only the Mormons believe Christ traveled to other planets to preach.

What follows was my answer to her questions and the main body of this blog post.
Enjoy!

----------------------
   Hi Yesi, First let me commend you on taking time to think about these things. It is my experience that the majority of people never give a second thought to these things. It is refreshing to see someone so young wrestling with these sort of questions.

You said: "Because religion teaches that man is special, that the earth is the center of creation."

First, your use of the term "religion" is too general. There might be some religions who teach what you say but there are others that most certainly don't (Like the Catholic Church, the "CC" from now on). So, for the sake of argument, I will assume you refer to "Christianity" when you use that term. In addition, since I'm a Catholic I will give you the CC version. I make no claims about other "flavors" of Christianity.
  Having said this, lets break this first statement down into parts: "Because religion teaches that man is special" The CC teaches that man has "a special dignity" (See the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 1700). The issue of "Is man the ONLY creature in the whole of Creation with this dignity?" is still an open question.
  "The earth is the center of creation" The most I can say here without a long discussion is this: when Catholics say this they mean "center" as a "central event". Think about it this way: about 10.4 billion years ago all the energy concentrated in the Big Bang singularity was directed towards resulting on our planet being born and the development of intelligent life. Again, the issue of other planets being born and other intelligent life being developed is still an open question. The CC makes no claims about this. So as you can see, the Catholic position in its essence is the same as the science position: "Wait and see".

You said:  "Life on other planets would disprove this."

By my answers above it is easy to see that the discovery of life, even if it is intelligent does not disprove the Catholic point. The most it would do is force us to reinterpret the central event in the history of our planet (i.e. the birth life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ) and what does this mean to all these new "islands" of intelligent life scattered around the universe. (More on this later in my answers)

You said:  "What if aliens on another planet say Jesus is not god?".

OK so... what if? Your question seems to imply that because these "aliens" are more advanced than us technologically, WE have nothing to teach THEM. Just look at human history. How many times have we as a civilization lamented the loss of some special knowledge from this or that tribe, or group of people that we have conquered or absorbed? This is an indication that less technological advanced groups can still teach something to more advanced beings. One would hope that the "aliens" have grown enough in their philosophical development to be open to what we have to teach them.

You said:  "What if they say God doesn't exist and that they have proof of how the universe was created and can present it?"

Your questions ring more as speculations than as questions. What if it is the other way around? What if they come and say "We have been looking all over the universe for the planet in which the Creator of the universe entered history...and you guys are it". As I see it, the most we can say is that there is a 50-50 chance for either of these two to happen. So again... what if?  What if they have been looking for us because of the Christ event?  Would this change your mind?  That is the problem with speculative questions.
    Now lets apply the same answer to my previous question to this one. On the event that your speculation is true... Just because they are more technologically advanced doesn't mean they have everything figured out! I would think that we would take their evidence and place it under the light of our divine revelation and see what it all really means. However we would do this without fear because Catholics believe that truth is universal and that truth is not a concept but a person: Jesus. I am certain (In fact I'm excited about this possibility!)  that any "alien's" proof would end up shedding light on His person and it would help us understand Him and ourselves better.

You said: "The bible says God created man and angels, and animals/plants of course. Catholics say Christ is lord of the universe. How is this possible?".

Christ is the Lord of the universe; we can only speak for what we know in our little corner of this universe and what God has revealed in our own history. Why does it seem so far fetched to think that, outside of planet Earth, God has revealed himself to other creatures? Look at the Christmas story (as it is presented in the first few chapters of the Gospel of Mathew), God revealed to "Magi from the East" that he was going to enter history in the womb of a young Jewish girl and then he led them to a back-water town of northern Judea. Why is it so far fetched to think that he has not revealed himself to other intelligent beings? And that he is leading them to a back-water planet in an unremarkable galaxy to meet Him personally?

You said: "Was he born elsewhere and died elsewhere on the cross? Did he pick disciples there?".

This, we can answer with certainty. No. If we look at human history it seems the Christ event was unique to us.  Why? Because way before the birth of the Christ, civilizations without any knowledge of Judaism prefigured this coming of a "savior". We we just have to extend this fact to the rest of the universe and I feel we have a better that 50-50 chance to say that this was a one time vent within the history of creation. Now this is a big topic. I would recommend the Roy Abraham Varghese excellent book, "The Christ Connection: How the World Religions Prepared the Way for the Phenomenon of Jesus". If you ever get to read it, we can talk about this in more detail.

I hope my answers give you a different perspective. I would also like to recommend two other books: Jesuit brother Guy Consolmagno's "Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial?" So you can get a more extensive exposition of what the Catholic Church teaches about these issues. I would also like to recommend the C.S. Louis "Perelandra" trilogy in which he explores what I have been saying in my post, but as a work of Science Fiction. Lastly, I hope you don't mind but since this answer was so long, I posted it as an article in my blog (at www.DeaconHarbey.com) If you would like to continue our discussion I would ask you do it there since the interface of a blog comment box is more suited to deal with long posts than the Facebook interface.

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A Conversation between Francis and a Hufftington Post Blogger

   I came across a post this morning which got my attention. I usually get all sorts of articles about religion in my news feed. Some are pro and some are against, every-once in a while I get one which makes me think, and every-once in a blue moon I get one which makes me sit and write a blog post. Today is that blue moon I guess.

   The article in question was published (of all places) in the religion feed of the Huffington Post.(If you do not know about the Huff-post I should tell you that it is one of the major hubs of all things Liberal in cyber-world, they usually give what I would call a less than balanced view of religion, and specifically the Catholic Church). The article, by Kerry Huston Reightley.  a mother from Washington state,  has a very catchy title for someone like me, involved in ministering to people interested in the Catholic Church; "Are You Catholic Curious? If so, What One Question Would You Ask the Pope?".

So with much curiosity I clicked in the link to see what was it all about. I have to admit, the first paragraph didn't look too promising:

I confess: I'm Catholic curious. Sort of. I've always been fascinated--and, admittedly, frightened--by this notion that Catholics can slip behind a closet door, confess any kind of sin, from the monumental to the mundane; and, theoretically, emerge with a clean slate. A true tabula rasa. Where do I sign up? Simply admit my sins, and I'm back to zero? Is there a credit card with these kinds of benefits?

  ...but, like I said, since this is the sort of statement I'm used to hearing from non-Catholics (And some Catholics too!) I kept reading. Following this "first salvo", Kerry tells the story of her husband, a pilot, meeting a group of ladies which while meeting Pope Francis were speechless until Francis broke the ice with some good old "papal humor" (Based on the effect this event had on Kerry it seems that she doesn't  realize that some recent popes have been quite hilarious). This encounter inspired her to ask random friends simply: "What would you ask the Pope?", an action which generated quite a list of questions:

Since like I said, I'm in the business of answering questions about the Church, and since these questions are answered with just a few words. I decided to compose this post with what I think Francis would say. (I do not know of any Canon Law which specifically prohibits clergy from speaking for the Pope without his permission so I figure I'm in the clear (and I can always follow Kerry's advice and go to confession... right ???))

Here we go, Francis musings will be in "quotes".

• If God sends people to Heaven, and the Devil punishes bad people by sending them to Hell, then isn't the Devil good?

"Actually God doesn't send anyone to Heaven, and the Devil has no power to send anyone to Hell. We send ourselves by our actions. God just provides the standard by which we are judged and the Devil derives pleasure by punishing those who decide to "do their own thing" instead of listening to God. So no, the Devil is not good."

• Why is the Christian faith more real to him than any other faith?

"Because the founder of the Christian Church is the only one who said: "I will be killed and in three days I will return from the death" and actually did it." 

• I don't know who he is, but I would rather ask questions to my parents than ask someone who is Catholic.

"This is a strange statement (I suspect it comes from a child). I guess the only thing I could say is if you are buying a car and want to buy a Corvette would you ask questions about the Corvette to the Honda sales person? I'm reminded of what Bishop Sheen once said "In the US there are less than 100 who hate the Church, the rest just hate their own idea of what they think the Church is."

• How do you hope to address the issue of poverty?

"By telling the rich nations they have to do something about poverty, and by encouraging the many Catholic Charities in the world to continue serving the poor. There is a reason we are the largest charitable organization in the world, but we can always do more (Not just the Church but all of us)"

• I'd applaud him for truly embracing what a Man of God should be in today's society. And I'm not Catholic.

"Thanks! please pray for me as I will pray for you. "

• What are your thoughts on the afterlife?

"There is an after life, Jesus proved this fact. To quote St. Paul, "Human eyes have not seen nor human mind conceived what awaits for us in the after life."

• Do you believe that our loved ones come to us in our dreams, and give us messages?

"Yes, God can use anything to reveal himself to us."

• Will we see our loved ones in heaven?

"Yes, without a doubt."

• Do we stay the same age in heaven, as we did when we died?

"St. Thomas Aquinas (A doctor of the Church) believed that heaven will bring the best of each one of us. He mused that 18-24 years are the years in which we are "at the top of our game" so this will be the age our "heavenly bodies" will show. Now imagine a whole heaven filled with people 18 to 24 year old...quite a picture if you ask me!"

• How will he utilize the digital-age computer to teach the younger members about the Catholic Church?

"Here the Church is making strides but it still has a long way to go. We could learn much about how our Protestant brothers are using "new media". I would be remiss if I do not mention that I know of this deacon in Maryland who has a great blog, I'll tweet you the link later."

• "Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent? Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent? Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?" - Epicurus

"I think God would like us to prevent evil first, before we sit down and wait for him to "take care of business", this is why he gave us Free Will so that we make use of it for good. Evil "cometh" from our violations of this free will, specially when we do not use it to love others.  About omnipotence I would say that many people have an erroneous idea of this concept. Just because God is omnipotent doesn't mean he can act in any way he wants.There are things God can not do, for example he can not act illogically and he can not contradict himself, but most importantly He will not violate our free will. This freedom, which is a gift from God is too precious for Him to break and for us to squander away."

• What's his favorite work of fiction?

"I'm partial to South American authors, Gabriel Garcia Marques is always a good bet. "

• How can anyone--from any religion--think they're the only ones who will be saved?

"The desire for salvation is universal although different traditions do not express this desire in the Christian way. There are longings in the human heart which transcend time and nationality. We all want to be loved, and we all want to love. We all gravitate towards what is safe and beautiful. Because of our human frailties we tend to become insular and think that "only my group" is worthy of this love and beauty. The reality is God is the only one who will allow us entrance into His kingdom. I suspect that many of us will be very surprised when we meet some of the people who made it through."

• What is your vision of God?

"Loving father. "

• I'd have him pray for "Unc."

"I will pray for him...her...it??? "

• How can Christians, or any faith, justify killing in the name of religion?

"I suspect that there is not much difference between people regardless of what religion they are. People kill because they have closed themselves to God's love, to a point that they have stopped using their God given capacity to reason, and allow others to use them for their own selfish interests. I think we should not hate these people, we should pity them and pray for the light of God to illumine their hearts so that they realize the evil they are causing.  "

• Who would he like to go to lunch with?

 "St Ignatius of Loyola."

So there you have it; solid Catholic teaching in just a few lines. There is one more question Kerry would like to ask Pope Francis, here it is with what I think Francis would answer:

• Why does the church continue to shield criminals, who have [sexually] abused generations of devoted, innocent followers?

"I believe that every time this question is asked the first words coming out of any minister of the Church should be "On behalf of every, bishop, priest, deacon, nun, and religious brother who have ever even thought about hurting anyone, I ask for your forgiveness". The next words should be "if you think you have credible information to arrest and throw these criminals and the people who are shielding them in jail, I implore you, drop what you are doing and contact the pertinent civil authorities",  The last thing we should say is "If you do not have any information about these people, and this statement is just based on your opinion, let me ask you two questions 1) Do you think it is fair to throw a shadow over the work of hundreds of thousands of good and holy people based on just "your perceptions"? 2) What would it take for you to change your opinion of 'The Church" in this regard, since the only thing you have is your perceptions and nothing else?"

And I think Francis would  end with

"Please pray for me, as I assure you of my prayers for you."


"Viva Cristo Rey!!" (Ok that was not Francis but me :-) )

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A Question About Homosexual Marriage

I was doing some cleaning in one of my old (2009) attempts at blogging and I found an answer I gave to one of our very inquisitive cathecumens. I thought my answer was worth posting, so I added to my old blog. Since I feel it is still relevant, here it is. First is the e-mail I received followed by my answer:

2) My second question is about homosexuality and gay marriage. This is not just related to Catholics, but is an issue being dealt with in many Christian churches. Coming from the Episcopal Church I am very aware of how deeply divisive the issue is, but I can't help but see it as a human rights issue. I understand the biblical arguments, particularly those from the Old Testament, but following the argument of St. Paul when dealing with the Jerusalem Church, those laws, especially from Leviticus no longer apply. Christian men do not have to be circumcised; we are allowed to eat pork, lobster, shark, rabbit and ostrich; modern Christian's do not believe that it is OK to hold slaves.

I also understand that St. Paul himself addresses and condemns this issue in one of his letters. The problem is he was not talking about two consenting adults entering into a mutually supportive consenting relationship. Rather he was talking about the very unequal ancient Greek practice of older men having relationships with young boys, as well as the practice of cult prostitution.

... The point is more that I don't think this statement from Paul applies to the current situation and so we are left without much scriptural guidance on a very controversial issue.

There are a number of points in your question. I hope I can cover them all! First it seems to me that you have 3 ideas in your mind:
1) Scripture’s and Church stance on homosexuality
2) Scripture’s and Church stance on Gay marriage
3) The place of Scripture on solving moral questions

Let me see if I can address them all. The claim that Christians are against gay marriage because of what scripture says can be attributed to the many evangelicals which use the scriptural passages you mentioned to justify their stance against the relaxation of the definition of marriage from “one man and one woman” to just “two people”. Now here let me first make an observation. This might surprise you but: The Bible never speaks directly against gay marriage. It directly speaks against homosexual acts, but it never even mentions the case of a marriage between two people of the same sex. This is not to say that scripture condones gay marriage since every time it refers to marriage it assumes the reader knows that what is meant is the covenantal union of one man and one woman. The reason for this is because natural law is implicit in scripture. The order God placed in creation existed before scripture. Since this law is written in our hearts there is no need to be specific on matters of natural law, although sometimes scripture IS very specific in these matters.

Now for our Protestant brothers and sisters, (Especially those who believe in “Sola Scripturae”) this is problematic. Since their argument falls flat on the face when confronted with the reasons you presented. For the Catholic Church it is a different story all together. Like in scripture, the Church condemns the homosexual act, but it does not condemn homosexuals. The moniker “Hate the sin but love the sinner” applies in this case. People with homosexual tendencies are called to live a life of chastity (in the same way all heterosexuals are called to live this life.) The CCC teaches:

2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

Having established this… What about homosexual marriage? If scripture is silent about this issue what to do? Why does the Church advocate a ban on the so called “Homosexual Marriage.” Like you said isn’t this a matter of just human rights? To answer this, the Catholic Church turns first to natural law. Starting from the simple question “What is the natural order of creation?” The CCC teaches that:

1603 "The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws. . . . God himself is the author of marriage."The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual attitudes. These differences should not cause us to forget its common and permanent characteristics. Although the dignity of this institution is not transparent everywhere with the same clarity, some sense of the greatness of the matrimonial union exists in all cultures. "The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life."

This natural order is affirmed in scripture, to quote the CCC again:

1605 Holy Scripture affirms that man and woman were created for one another: "It is not good that the man should be alone." The woman, "flesh of his flesh," his equal, his nearest in all things, is given to him by God as a "helpmate"; she thus represents God from whom comes our help. "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh." The Lord himself shows that this signifies an unbreakable union of their two lives by recalling what the plan of the Creator had been "in the beginning": "So they are no longer two, but one flesh."

So as you can see if we look at the order of creation and what God has revealed we can conclude that the union between one man and one woman is ontological. It is part of who we are.

Once this is established we can make the argument that in fact gay marriage IS a human rights issue. Because any attempt to alter the order of creation will have a negative effect in the rights of the human person, and society (take for example paternity, children have the right to a one father and one mother. Anything else would be a violation of their rights as members of the human species). The common good demands that the marriage between one man and one woman be protected since it is a fundamental element of who we are as creatures and as a society.

I hope this helps

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Atheist Meme #2: On the many Gods of Man

I received this meme from an Atheist over my twitter feed:

The picture lists about 230 names of deities from different cultures and time periods, followed by a quote by Stephan F. Roberts. Now if you are like me the first thing you will ask yourself is :Who is Stephan F. Roberts? I recognize names such like Russel, Nietzsche, Frey or Dawkins but  Roberts? Is this a new Atheist philosopher I do not know? Of course a quick Google search produces this link. As it turns out this is just a guy who thought about this "witty" phrase, and time has enshrined it in the pantheon of Atheism "arguments" against theists. This only shows you the depth of contemporary Atheism's thought.

The meme itself is trying to make an argument I have heard many times. It goes like this: Throughout history there have been many deities. In fact almost each culture has developed their own idea of an omnipotent being. How are you certain that your God IS the right God? What about the others you dismiss?

I could go into a long explanation but I will let solid Catholic doctrine do the talking. Here is what  the Catechism of the Catholic Church, has to say about this:

    I.      THE DESIRE FOR GOD

27 The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for.

28 In many ways, throughout history down to the present day, men have given expression to their quest for God in their religious beliefs and behavior: in their prayers, sacrifices, rituals, meditations, and so forth. These forms of religious expression, despite the ambiguities they often bring with them, are so universal that one may well call man a religious being.

40 Since our knowledge of God is limited, our language about him is equally so. We can name God only by taking creatures as our starting point, and in accordance with our limited human ways of knowing and thinking.

41 All creatures bear a certain resemblance to God, most especially man, created in the image and likeness of God. The manifold perfections of creatures—their truth, their goodness, their beauty—all reflect the infinite perfection of God. Consequently we can name God by taking his creatures’ perfections as our starting point, “for from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator.”

Catholic Church. (2000). Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd Ed.) (13–14). Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference.

So as you see it is quite simple, the multiplicity of Gods in many cultures is the result of man's desire to know God. Responding to this desire many cultures have given an expression to their own, sometimes warped, always incomplete idea of a supreme being. So in a sense all "Gods" are a "shadow" of the one true God.

Of course now the question of how to know the One True God from this list becomes simple. You look at which one in this list revealed Himself into human history. A quick historical review yields of course Jesus the Christ, who "Became flesh and dwelt among us." (John 1:14).

One last comment about this meme. Looking at the list itself you will find some amusing points. For example, the list includes Yahweh, Jesus and El. Whomever composed this list didn't know that El is just the ancient name of Yahweh, . (This is why the names of archangels end with El such as in Gabri-el, Rapha-el, Micha-el and of course the name of the Jewish people Isra-el). Also some significant contemporary deities are missing like Ya, and Haile Selassie, the Rastafarian deity.

I hope this helps :-)

"Viva Cristo Rey!!"

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