Faith
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
My favorite Church song is a bit haunting. Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, like much of our liturgical life, is based on a line from the Book of Habakkuk. Its melody is dark, heavy, and somewhat ominous. It’s without a doubt a song about the return of Christ, a moment in history that will be unrivaled in absolute drama.
The lyrics paint a picture of a great battle, the host of heaven pouring into earth, “rank on rank.” It evokes images of the great medieval battles where combat was hand-to-hand, and massive armies clashed in open fields. Light and goodness pouring forth, finally vanquishing all evil in one last fell swoop.
With victory in hand, the angels turn in veneration at God’s arrival, the end of time now at hand, and all things made new.
Reading the lyrics, there’s reason for fear to stir up in our hearts. It contemplates the reality of the unbridled power of God, unleashed in torrents on His enemies. The truth of His reign acknowledged by all as the forces of evil are vaporized.
It’s for that reason that I love this song. It’s easy to think that the end of the world that Jesus promised is some far off date, and unlikely to happen in our lifetimes. With so much to focus on here, now, today, not taking a moment to pause to comprehend the magnitude of this event is easy. The song brilliantly reminds us of the virtue of fear of the Lord. We will experience this great last battle, and if we are on the right side, it will be a time of complete joy.
We shuffle through life mostly asleep; this is one song that wakes you up. The struggle is real, and the effort is worth it. One day, Truth will arrive, and all of our suffering will be vindicated.
Sacred Silence
Without doubt, there’s real renewal happening in the Catholic Church. The new guard is stepping into the breach, reminding us of the sacred and special nature of our faith. At a time when the public places so little importance in religion, we’re getting back to basics and rediscovering our core identity.
It’s not easy, and not without its downsides. In many parishes, and at many Masses, the weekly liturgy is indeed a time for the community to gather. It’s also, regrettably, a bit of a gabfest. Think of the low roar of conversations as people catch up on the news of the week in the minutes before Mass begins. After a week at work, in the noises world humanity has ever encountered, we enter into a sacred space and bring all that chaos with us.
A non-confrontational, and somewhat polite, way to counter this tendency is to institute communal prayer before and after Mass. This is a tradition of the Church, and one that fits naturally with the liturgy. As the community gathers, they’re immediately swept up into prayer. At the same time, the end result is the same as before, albeit less inappropriate.
There’s little refuge in the world, too few spaces for sacred silence. In the Bible, time and again, God uses the quiet to reveal Himself and His heart. Drown out by noise, He chooses to not pierce through.
Our Churches, and our sanctuaries specifically, are built to be a refuge from the world. They are the physical residence of God among us, the holy of holies. There is true power in communal prayer; that is what the Mass is. But we must not rob ourselves of the true peace found in sacred silence. It’s where God waits, patiently, to share His whole self with us.
Heavenly Delights
On Saturday, my daughter, Felicity, received her First Holy Communion. It was a day that she’d looked forward to for months, and why wouldn’t she? Children are receptive to ideas that are hard for adults. It’s what makes them vulnerable, but sometimes vulnerability is a gift.
In the Gospel, we hear about how many people “went away” from Jesus as He gave His catechesis of the Eucharist because the truths were “too hard.” For a devout Jew, who observes restrictions about eating the flesh of certain animals, this is understandable. Jesus instructs His followers to not only eat flesh, but human flesh. Blood was understood as the source of life, so to drink someone else’s blood was an outrageous instruction.
I can’t fault these holy people who sought to more deeply obey God’s instructions. They, unlike us, didn’t have the benefit of thousands of years of theology. Like a child, they had to accept Jesus’ instructions at face value.
In the revised translation of the Mass, one of my favorite concluding prayers starts with, “Having consumed these heavenly delights…” It evokes the Jewish people in the desert, looking out of their tents to see manna waiting to feed them; bread from Heaven come to save us, having all sweetness within it. Felicity can now fully participate in the Mass. As she does, may she find fulfillment in these Heavenly Delights.
A Blast of Trumpets
The design of our parish draws heavy inspiration from the great Italian basilicas. A large dome binds together the transepts, and the oversized sanctuary, adorned in stone, creates a huge, open space with the altar perfectly centered. It’s the kind of design that elevates the mind; beauty that shocks the faithful out of the routine of our daily lives and reminds us of the specialness of this place.
To accompany the breathtaking architecture, we also have a robust liturgical music department. At many Masses throughout the year, guest instrumentalists join the organ and choir to truly elevate the music. A few weeks ago, a trumpet and trombone played at Mass on Mother’s Day. The musicians are seated right up front, off to the right, but where the expansive sanctuary meets the dome. The result, in addition to the acoustically friendly building materials, is a church-filling sound that resounds throughout the entire space.
It’s been many years since I attended a parish where Mass was a standing-room only occasion, where young families like mine filled the pews, and where songs were sung by more than just the cantor. Add to the mix the sound of brass and stringed instruments, and it’s hard to not get taken up in the transcendent experience.
I’m grateful to Fr. Mike Schmitz and Ascension Press for their Bible in a Year podcast. It was just a few years ago that I completed the journey, and I find myself frequently reaching back to what I heard and learned that year. Having that grasp, that context, of the Bible is enriching to my daily life. Hearing the brass horns blaring at the Mass is one of those times.
We go to Mass weekly, sometimes more often, and that can have the effect of lulling us into complacency. Our encounters with the Divine are expected, scheduled, and presumed. But when you are at Mass, and the entrance procession is welcomed with a trumpet blast, your mind is immediately pulled to Psalm 47 or St. John’s descriptions in Revelation. It becomes so easy to imagine the triumph of Jesus Christ mounting His throne to the fulsome blasts of trumpets. You’re instantly reminded of what it is that you labor for, and why we don’t just give up our values and drift mindlessly through life like most of our friends and neighbors.
When I stand there, surrounded by my family, the blast of trumpets reminds me who I am, Whose I am, and where I want to be. It’s enough to shake me awake, to get back in the game, and to keep fighting for that day when I hope to be admitted to the Heavenly Mass, where the trumpets never stop blasting.
Pray, Now
Many times, this blog has noted the depth and breadth of devotions within the Catholic Church. The dizzying array of options can lead to paralysis; having too many options and simply choosing none of them. The truth is that the best kind of prayer is the one that gets prayed.
Like diet, exercise, or any other lifestyle improvement we daydream about, many of us have visions of the perfect prayer life. It’s monastic, regimented, always perfect, and in the most beautiful of settings. The reality is that if you want quiet prayer in a house of children, it likely has to be before the sun comes up or long after it’s gone down. Even hiding in your room for less than five minutes is likely to set off the world’s greatest Search and Rescue efforts orchestrated by your children.
We need, and benefit from, all types of prayer. Group prayer, liturgical prayer, family prayer, and private prayer, it all places our day on pause and elevates our selves to communion with the God who created us. So there’s no point in designing the perfect prayer program, or waiting for just a few quiet moments during that nap time that’s unlikely to yield the intended results.
Simply pray, now.
Above All Things
Starting in our earliest years of formation, we learn that we were made to love God “above all things.” This ideal is a daily challenge to each of us to set aside our heart’s desires, the desires of our family, and to focus first on God, who provides for all things. Even in our Act of Penance, we remind ourselves of this truth by repeating these words.
I was watching the commentator Michael Knowles engage in a discussion with some sex workers, and he noted that one of them frequently wears a cross. He brought up this juxtaposition not as a condemnation, but as a symbol of the constant struggle with which we contend. Michael noted that he wears a scapular, and he will be reminded of that fact when he’s about to sin, and it presents an invitation to reconsider his course of action.
Loving God first, and trusting in His Providence, is difficult because we also know that God wants us to be people of action. We must balance between superstition and idleness in both our discernment and our action.
Regardless of our time, circumstance, or difficulty, the solution almost always is to love God above all things. If we love Him first, as we were made to do, all good things will certainly flow from it.
Mercy, Not Justice
Yesterday was the Feast of Divine Mercy, a holy day that Jesus Himself requested in His apparitions to St. Faustina. Mercy and grace are talked about frequently in Christian discourse and music, but it strikes me that many lack the comprehension of the completeness of God’s mercy.
In St. Faustina’s diaries, she records how Jesus describes His mercy. He uses words like “unfathomable” and “torrents.” The true meaning of these words is so deep that it’s beyond our comprehension. It’s akin to contemplating the depth and size of space, but even then, God’s mercy is beyond even that.
We receive God’s mercy for our venial offenses at the beginning of Mass, but to truly encounter the torrents of God’s mercy, we approach Him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
On the evening of Easter, when Jesus appears to the 10 Apostles in the Upper Room, His first words to them are the first absolution. Despite their intimate years spent traveling around their region with Him, seeing all the signs and wonders He performed, and living with Him, at His passion they all abandoned Him. So, when He appears in their midst, He forgives them, “Peace be with you.” He then establishes the Sacrament by granting to them to power to bind and loose.
Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the torrents of God’s mercy are unleashed on the repentant sinner, and even those mortal sins that have suffocated their relationship with God and destroyed sanctifying grace in their life are forgiven. Like Lazarus, they are brought back from the dead and restored to the life given to them at Baptism. That is truly complete mercy.
In the early days of her encounters with Jesus, St. Faustina brought these experiences to her spiritual director. Seeking to test them, to ensure that they were truly Jesus, her director instructed Faustina to ask Jesus what sins he had confessed in his most recent confession. The next time Jesus appeared to Faustina, she posed to Him that question, to which Jesus replied that He had forgotten. Complete mercy.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is not a sacrament of justice, but of mercy. In a true encounter with the risen Christ, out of total love for us, He forgives our worst failings so that we might be with Him forever. That is an unfathomable mercy.
Sequence
Christians, to the Paschal Victim
Offer your thankful praises!
A Lamb the sheep redeems;
Christ, who only is sinless,
Reconciles sinners to the Father.
Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous:
The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.
Speak, Mary, declaring
What you saw, wayfaring.
“The tomb of Christ, who is living,
The glory of Jesus’ resurrection;
bright angels attesting,
The shroud and napkin resting.
Yes, Christ my hope is arisen;
to Galilee he goes before you.”
Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining.
Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!
Amen. Alleluia.
Talent
Every priest has a unique gift that he offers the Church. Young men who go straight from high school to seminary offer their youth, extending their priestly ministry by years. Men who enter in middle age or even later in life bring their lived experience to inform their ministry. Some are great preachers, others stunning academics, and still others are driven to give a profound witness through audacious outreach.
Recently, one of our diocese’s scholarly priests celebrated a daily Mass that I attended. Daily Mass is known to be short, mostly owing to the truncated homily. This Mass, however, was different. The readings were on the servant for who his master forgave his “great” debt. The forgiven servant immediately goes out, finds someone who owes him a tiny amount, and throws him into debtors prison. The master finds out and has the wicked servants “handed over to the torturers” until the full debt is repaid.
The homily first took aim at the translation, a “great” or “huge” debt. Going back to ancient translations, he discovered that the debt was originally described in Talents, an ancient denomination. One Talent was equal to 20-30 years wages. Essentially, a laborer, through their whole working life, would earn the equivalent of one Talent. The wicked servant owed his master 10,000 Talents. Not great, not huge, but impossible!
The wicked servant’s debtor, however, owed him 100 Denarii, about 100 days wages.
The entire lifetime of wages for 10,000 laborers vs. 100 days wages for 1 worker.
This somewhat painful parable immediately highlights two things. First, we are indebted to God’s mercy for a debt that we could never hope to repay. Even though we frequent the Sacrament of Reconciliation and experience the wonderment of being in a State of Grace, we keep falling into the same trap. The Passion and death of Jesus, which we’ll soon celebrate, is the payment for the debt of sin that is impossible for us to repay of our accord.
Second, these parables put on full display the genius of Jesus that can only be attributable to the omniscience of God Himself. In a backwater, dusty, hot town 2,000 years ago, Jesus crafted a parable that was readily understood by his illiterate followers and is equally understandable by me, in the most technologically advanced society in the history of the world. They built buildings with simple tools and fished with literal rope. I wrote this blog on a computer only slightly larger than a magazine, using a keyboard that has no physical connections. Yet, the parable still fits exactly to my life.
The parable is reinforced through the Lord’s Prayer, the perfect prayer, “…forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
Contend
The nature of the human condition is that we each bear an overriding character flaw. This is colloquially referred to as our crosses to bear, but what it really means is that we will have a singular struggle with sin and failure throughout our lives. It’ll look different from everyone else’s, but it’s our pathway to sainthood.
The problem with habitual sin is the temptation to despair. Almost every time we approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation, it tops our list of failings. Year in and year out, we accuse ourselves, seeking God’s forgiveness once again. In our limited minds, we can understand if God were to grow frustrated with us, but it’s not our place to project onto God our limitations. It’s God’s place to reward our struggle with grace, patience, and ultimately, victory.
In this struggle, as we contend with ourselves and our failures. We’re back to our annual check-in, Lent, where we journey up to Calvary with Jesus, hoping to leave the tomb with Him on Easter morning. If you find yourself in line for Confession this Lent, lamenting your usual roster of sins, remember the line that you’re in. You haven’t given up; you’re still in the fight. God doesn’t want us to surrender to our failures, and He doesn’t want us to be perfect. He wants us to fight, to keep fighting, to keep showing that His love is all that we desire and nothing, not even our own stupid failures, will keep us from Him.