Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 342

The Five Faces of Christ

How do you know it's Jesus?



There are dozens of religious experiences out there to be enjoyed. It's a buyer's market, and in this age of commercialism the hucksters of religion are pretty good at slapping together a neat religious experience. In the mega churches you can get a whizz bang combination of light rock music, hologram sermons from the mega preacher, a touch of self help philosophy and a dash of feel good inspiration.



The old time Protestant religion gives you solid Bible preaching with a splash of guilt to make you feel bad/good. They usually do a nice line in imprecations against the ungodly and worldly folk (of who you and yours are definitely not) and that will make you feel warm all over and 'close to Jesus'. The main line Protestant denominations offer peace and justice for all. All are welcome there and it makes you feel good that all ethnic minorities, homosexuals and feminists can all come together under a rainbow banner to embrace one another. With this they offer some righteous indignation against all the oppressors, the rich and the 'self righteous wicked bigoted conservatives.'



All of this in the name of Jesus. But where do you encounter Christ, and how do you know it was Jesus? In addition to all the above you can throw in the charismatics with their 'experience of renewal' or any number of study groups, church groups, religious communities and home groups all who invite you to 'experience Christ'--which is code for "have the sort of religious experience I have had you'll really like it." Lest I be accused of cynicism, I am not really down on all these sorts of groups. I'm actually in favor of a religious marketplace. The only question I want to ask is, "Err, how do I know I'm getting the real thing?"



C.S.Lewis once commented about a form of religious experience that it might make him feel good, but then he could get much the same feeling from having had a rather good dinner.



The Catholic Church offers plenty of 'religious experiences' but we also rest those experiences on the objective experience of Christ in five ways, and these five ways are not only taught in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but in the gospel itself.



The first way is through the community of believers. Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered in my name there I am in the midst of them." Good. So I experience Christ therefore within and through the church. It is in my fellow believers and in our worship together that Christ is known. My own personal subjective experience must be validated by the corporate reality of Christ in the Church.



The second way is through the Eucharistic species. The bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. "This is my body" he taught. It's pretty simple. We know Christ through communion and through Eucharistic adoration. In that action we move out of ourselves and into communion with the objective reality of Christ in the Eucharist--made present in and through his Body the Church.



The third way is joined with the first two. We know Christ in the person of the priest. He said to his apostles, "Those who hear you hear me, and those who hear me hear the one who sent me." and "As the Father has sent me I am sending you." By direct commission Christ not only sends the apostles, but is present in and through them through the miracle of ordination and apostolic succession. "Whaat!" I hear you gasp "I am to see Christ in old Father Layabout who has a drink problem?" That's right. "I am to see Christ in Father Volcanic who blows his top at every little problem?" Uh huh. It's a mystery, but there it is. Most of all, of course, we see Christ when that frail and human priest is celebrating Mass, hearing confessions and doing what only a priest can do.



The fourth way is through the sacred Scriptures. "The Word was made flesh." We therefore come to know Christ through the study of Scripture and the hearing of the word of God.



The final way is in the face of the poor. Do you you want to experience the mystery of an encounter with Christ? Do you want to know that it really is Jesus? Then see his face in the face of the poor. Don't just write a check to your favorite charity. Get out and meet them and you will meet Christ. He said that too didn't he? "Inasmuch as you did this for the least of my brethren you did it for me."



These are the five faces of Christ. You might as well forget about the rest of that piffle. The best all that other stuff can do is lead you to the five faces of Christ. The worst it can do is distract you away from the five faces of Christ because you will have mistaken a poor counterfeit for the real thing.

Forgiveness at Mass

If someone tells me about something they've suffered and says, "It's alright Father, I've forgiven them and forgotten all about it." I feel like saying, "Then why are you telling me about it?"



Thing is, if we've been hurt really badly--or even worse--our loved one has been hurt badly, and if that injury is unjustified, and if we are really a victim, then I don't think we can actually forgive. In our own power, that is, I don't think we can forgive. The Pharisees were right when they said, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?"



You try forgiving a wrong and you just can't get rid of it can you? No. But Christ forgives, and the only way we can forgive is by tapping into his forgiveness. We have to plug into the power source for forgiveness which is the cross of Christ. See, there the forgiveness of the world was won. It is only as we plug into that power source of forgiveness that we can hope to have that forgiveness channel through us to others.



This is one of the reasons why I become irritated with the concept of Mass as fellowship meal being made the main image of understanding the Mass. It's not. It's a secondary image. The primary understanding of the Mass is now, and always has been, a re-presentation of the cross of Christ. The once for all sacrifice of Calvary is brought into the present moment through the action of the Mass and applied to our needs here and now.



This means that the forgiveness that Christ has won is present here. Present now when we go to Mass, and that's why it is so important to attend Mass every week, because we need that forgiveness infusion every week. We need to connect with the one, full, final sacrifice. There we are forgiven and find the strength to forgive. There the forgiveness of Christ covers us and flows from us to those who we need to forgive.



This really, actually works, and I wouldn't be a priest unless I believed it. When we come to Mass and understand the whole action of the Mass as an offering for sin and an offering up of our sin and a transaction of forgiveness, then suddenly the Mass takes on its full and mystical meaning. It is not just a fellowship meal and a time for us to gather and be inspired about how we are going to go out and change the world and be nicer more middle class people.



Instead something visceral and primitive is here. Here we offer sacrifice and we connect with a primal level of humanity that still throbs within our seemingly sophisticated selves. Here we lift up the chalice of salvation. Here the bread becomes the flesh of God. Here we dine on the death that wins our forgiveness. Here we connect with the dark threads woven through humanity's terrible and wonderful story. Here Christ hangs suspended in the cosmos as the arch linking heaven and earth; linking my mortality with immortality.



Here we touch the dark.



But here also we glimpse the light.

ABC to quit early

The Daily Telegraph reports here that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, is to retire ten years early. It's easy to knock the poor fellow, but being Archbishop of Canterbury is a pretty much impossible job. See, the problem is, you're supposed to stand up and offer leadership, but you're in charge of a church that is latitudinarian in principle. For those of you who need a vocab brush up, go here for the definition of latitudinarianism.



Bl. John Henry Newman summed up Protestantism when he said that they must fall either into the latitudinarian error or the sectarian error. The latitudinarian sacrifices unity of doctrine for unity of form, whereas the sectarian sacrifices unity of form for unity of doctrine. As usual the brilliant Bl. JHN (may be soon be canonized) pegged it. Anglicans (and other mainstream Protestants) consider the most grievous mortal sin to jump ship, to split off, to leave the mainstream. You may believe whatever you want to believe, and pretty much do whatever you want to do, as long as you stay on board. The ship may be sinking, but we will dash about bailing out the bilge water, manning the pumps, caulking the leaks and re-arranging the deck chairs, but we will not abandon ship. So they retain unity of form, but they sacrifice unity of belief.



The sectarians, on the other hand, have discipline of sorts when it comes to doctrine and morals, but they can only achieve this unity of belief by sacrificing unity of form. In other words, the Foursquare Independent Gospel of the Fifth Revision (Covenant 357) Friendship Church has kept the pure faith by accepting the New International Version of the Bible (sixth edition) and had to break fellowship with the Foursquare Independent Gospel of the Fifth Revision (Covenant 357) Friendship Church of God because they have refused to adopt the new version of the New International Version.



The ever growing problem with the Anglican Church is that increasing numbers are not really happy with their latitudinarian heritage. See, latitudinarianism is such an 'English gentleman' sort of thing. "You know old boy, it's just not cricket to make a fuss about something--unless of course it is for one's own advancement..." The English have always been very good about this latitudinarian thing. They've turned it into an art form. Always ones for compromise and double talk--geniuses at saying one thing and meaning another, the English formed Anglicanism (and the Christian faith) in their own image.



Problem for any nice, dithering self respecting, theologian type Anglican bishop who aspires to the throne of Canterbury is that the majority of Anglicans nowadays aren't English at all. They're African. Not only are they African, but they're fire breathing, Bible thumping, Oxford educated Africans who think homosexuals should be put in jail, women should not be ordained priest (much less bishop) and who believe in the supernatural, the miracles of the Bible, exorcisms and all that other awfully un-English sort of stuff.



So the Archbishop of Canterbury has to turn up at international bishops' conferences hoping for a quiet cup of tea and a cucumber sandwich with the Mother's Union and perhaps a theological reflection on the 'dazzling darkness of God' with a gentlemanly debate about vicar's funeral fees to liven up the afternoon, and instead he is faced with rabid fundamentalist feminists from New York City, the homosexualist campaigners with Mary Flashpool and Jean Robinson at the head of the pride parade, and on the other side the wide eyed Evangelicals from Africa who consider such people to be an abomination--balanced by the fervent Anglo Catholics who still think the Anglican Church will one day "embrace her Catholic patrimony" and be re-united with Rome.



No wonder he wants to retire to a nice cosy chair of philosophy in Cambridge. "Gosh, is that the time? And is there honey still for tea and shall we tootle off to Kings' for Evensong? Shall we?" There the poor man can forget all the troubles of the Anglican communion and conduct tutorials in theology and ponder the imponderables and perhaps preach from time to time at Little Saint Mary's where they have incense and very nice vestments and a select few retire to the Vicar's for Sunday lunch.



"More sprouts archbishop?"

Peter Claver

One of the joys of being a Catholic is discovering new saints--that is to say, saints you'd never heard of before. St Peter Claver was born in Spain and became a Jesuit missionary to the new world. He came in 1610 to Cartegena in what is now the country of Columbia, and he embarked on his mission to the wretched slaves who were being brought from Africa to work in the mines and plantations.



Claver called himself 'the slave of the slaves', and as soon as a slaving ship arrived he went on board and began ministering to the slaves. They were kept in the most appalling conditions, half starved, frightened, diseased, naked and alone. He learned their native languages, catechized them and baptized hundreds of thousands over his thirty three year ministry. He visited them in prison and followed them to the mines and plantations where he was reviled and persecuted for his work by the rich and powerful.



In the last four years of his life he was half paralyzed and left alone in a room--neglected by the servant who was supposed to care for him. He never complained.



Stories of saints like this remind me to stand on my head. In the worlds' terms what a failure he was. The world we think is so normal and ordinary is a world gone mad, and it is men and women who have gone mad in the service of God and the poor who suddenly look sane.  "There never was such a fool who could fail--pulling the whole sky over him with one smile." We turn things upside down and see that Peter Claver became a slave of the slaves only because he was walking in the way of St Paul, who also called himself 'the slave' of those he served, and St Paul himself was only walking in the way of Christ who "though he had the form of God did not consider this something to be clung to, but lowered himself and took the form of a slave that he might save some."



If we dare to do this we stoop to conquer, and the grim news is that this is not 'a way' to heaven. It is the only way to heaven. Sooner or later we must follow Christ, and that means to take up the cross and learn from him how to serve. To echo an earlier post we must stoop or be stupid. Stoop and become wise. Put yourself on top and become stupid.

e.e.cummings

may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know
and if men should not hear them men are old
   
may my mind stroll about hungry
and fearless and thirsty and supple
and even if it's sunday may i be wrong
for whenever men are right they are not young
   
and may myself do nothing usefully
and love yourself so more than truly
there's never been quite such a fool who could fail
pulling all the sky over him with one smile

Raleigh Cathedral

Here is the proposed new cathedral for the Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina. What is exciting about this design is that it is not only traditional in style, but it is being built by an architect who understands and has studied not only traditional Catholic architecture, but traditional ways of building.



It's great that more and more parishes and pastors are planning traditionally styled churches, but too often those who want a traditionally styled church simply go to the local architecture firm and ask for it to 'look traditional'. So what happens is Joe Architect, who is used to building dentist offices and shopping malls and hospitals and schools gets the job to build a church. He puts up the usual steel box, and then to make it 'look traditional' he slaps in a few arches and 'churchy' looking decorations made out of studs and plasterboard, and what you end up with is a church that just looks like a dentist's office, but with arched windows or interior arches that don't really do anything.



Then there is one step better than that, where the architect understands traditional church architecture, but he still builds with a steel structure which he then clads with a brick or stone veneer and with pretend stone effect on the inside--complete with faux arches and plastic groin vaulting. Often these churches even come with walls that are given 'the illusion of depth'. Many people will like these churches a bit more than the dentist office churches, but will still find them too much like Harry Potter world--where the engineers and designers do wonderful things with concrete. What is lacking is an inner integrity between method and materials.



I'm pleased to say that we have hired an exciting young architect/designer for our new church at Our Lady of the Rosary parish. Andrew Gould, of New World Byzantine, has already produced some exciting schematic drawings for a Romanesque style church, and we are soon to move on to the stage of having some watercolor renderings. He is teaming up with Matthew Alderman, who is going to work on the interior designs.



I hope to write extensively about architecture and the new church at Our Lady of the Rosary parish in the coming months. That Raleigh is designing a traditional new cathedral, and that Catholicism in the South is on the rise means that we may have the opportunity to establish a renaissance in Catholic architecture. It would be exciting for various young architects to show what they can do to build churches that are traditional and yet suited to Catholic worship for the twenty first century.

Success Makes you Stupid

Albert Einstein said, "With fame I become more and more stupid."



So springboarding from that-- here's one: success makes you stupid. Discuss.



What makes me say this is that here in America where success is king I see a lot of people around me who are successful but stupid. When I say 'stupid' I mean they are spiritually stupid. They are stupid in relationships. They do dumb, arrogant stuff and don't even know they are doing it, and nobody calls them on them because they're surrounded by subordinates and other big dogs who are just as arrogant and dumb as they are.



 They offend people, miss the point, have the wrong priorities and miss God and the gospel totally. I mean totally. But because they're successful they can't see it. They are blind to their faults and, whoo boy, do they dislike it if you dare to criticize. But that's why they're 'successful' right? Because they've charged through life with their eye on 'success' and missed everything else, trampled on everyone else and got where they got because 'success' was their God.



Even more scary is that I see myself falling into the same trap. Hey, I want to be 'successful' like everyone other red blooded American guy! I want to show off and be better than other people too. I want to be top dog. It's all there in my heart too, and the more I give into this temptation (which I believe the Sacred Scriptures call 'the pride of life') the more I see myself behaving in petty, nasty and stupid ways. Yep, success makes me stupid.



Instead of this 'pride of life' which puts success on the top of the heap give me St Therese and the Little Way. The  Little Way of Service to others instead of them serving me. The Little Way of Stillness not Activity. The Little Way of Suffering not Pleasure. The Little Way of Joy not Anger. The Little Way of Silence not Stupidity. The Little Way of Love not Pride.



You have to stand on your head to see this one, and standing on your head isn't easy.



It requires balance.

Rich and Poor

This just in from one of those bulk emails we all get:

As you open your pockets for the next natural disaster, please keep these facts in mind:

The American Red Cross President and CEO Marsha J. Evans' salary for the year was $651,957 plus expenses.  The United Way President Brian Gallagher receives a $375,000 base salary along with numerous expense benefits. UNICEF CEO Caryl M. Stern receives $1,200,000 per year (100k per month) plus all expenses including a ROLLS ROYCE. Less than 5 cents of your donated dollar goes to the cause. 

Meanwhile: The Salvation Army's Commissioner Todd Bassett receives a salary of only $13,000 per year (plus housing) for managing this $2 billion dollar organization. 96 percent of donated dollars go to the cause.  The American Legion National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!  The Veterans of Foreign Wars National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!








UPDATE: Check the combox for better figures. I did point out that this was from one of those bulk emails, but it turns out from a look at Snopes that the figures are way off. I'd delete the post, but it's raised interesting comments, and a worthwhile discussion--not least of which is really don't trust those bulk emails sincere people send you!

Labor Day

From the archives--on this national holiday in the USA, here's what I love about my country:



The list is in no particular order.



Hot Dogs and Sauerkraut, Elvis Presley, It's a Wonderful Life, Drive In Restaurants, The Blue Ridge Parkway, Columbo, Amish people, Manhattan, Hamburgers, Flannery O'Connor, T-Shirts, Clear Creek Monastery, equality, Cole Porter, the saxophone, Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream, Katherine Hepburn, Makers Mark, Honda 750 Shadow Spirit, football, Shawshank Redemption, cranberry juice, generosity, Johnny Depp, shoo fly pie, North Carolina mountains, milkshakes, marching bands, T.S.Eliot, religiosity, Amusement Parks, Fiddler on the Roof, Aaron Copeland, Optimism, Indiana Jones, beauty pageants, Washington DC, Orthodontics, Frank Sinatra, Thomas Merton, Rib Eye Steaks, Charleston, Bar BQ, Tina Turner, ceiling fans, Myrtle Beach, Thanksgiving, gospel quartets, the community pool, oreos, baseball, clean toilets, Disneyland, Ray Ban sunglasses, B. B. King, Ronald Reagan, turtle track ice cream, Tennessee Williams, Entrepreneurial Spirit, Casablanca, Minnesota, pickles, Andrew Wyeth, pretzels, the Blues Brothers, Dorothy Day, patriotism, air conditioning, summer camp, Patsy Cline, speed boats, pecan pie, naivety, James Taylor, Manhattans, peanut butter, Catcher in the Rye, pizza, root beer, the pro life movement, friendliness, Dr. Pepper, conspiracy theories, peaches, front porches, EWTN, the Grand Canyon, corn on the cob, Renee Zellwegger, Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, hash browns, the open road, Empire State Building, enthusiasm, gangster movies, Buster Keaton, fresh shrimp, Knights of Columbus, Guys and Dolls, Gershwin, freedom, the Shenandoah Valley, taking risks, Ella Fitzgerald, fried chicken, Robert Frost, radio preachers, cheerfulness, interstate rest stops, Redwood forests, Robert Duvall, cook outs, Niagara Falls,

Mantilla the Hon on Lace

Guest blogger Mantilla Amontillado is the founder of Veritas Vestments. She holds a degree in Ecclesiastical Haberdashery from Salamanca University. She has done the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella three times on horseback and is engaged to the famous matador, Senor Augusto Torquemada.



OK, hon we need to talk serious for a minute you know? I am hearing people say a priest should not be wearing lace in his alb or lace in his cotta or lace in his surplice. Why is this? Why so many people talking about something they know nothing?



Listen to me hon. Mantilla has not studied Ecclesiastical Haberdashery at Salamanca for nada. OK, so maybe I say what I think, but then maybe Mantilla know more about stuff than other people you know what I mean hon?



Some people say the priest like to wear lace in his cotta because he is some kind of pansy. What kind of insult is this to our priests? You know what hon? Augusto and the other matadors wear those tight pants and little jackets with sequins and those little hats, but nobody say he is a sissy. Anybody say that to Augusto and he will get the toreadors on him, and let me tell you hon, those toreadors don't take no Toro mierde from nobody.



See Augusto and the matadors wear the fancy clothes because they are brave and strong, not because they are weak and sissies. The lace in the alb is something precious and beautiful. Real lace takes women who I buy it from many, many hours to make. At my company, Veritas Vestments, we put it in the albs and surplices not to adorn the priest, but to adorn the priesthood. Padre is doing something at the altar which is precious and rare and beautiful and good. The lace reminds us of this. No hon, the priest who wears the lace has to have some guts. I hear somebody say, "Only real men can wear lace." I think Augusto agree but say, "Only real men can wear sequins."



Some other people say, "Oh Mantilla, the priest should not spend so much money on putting lace in the alb. They should give the money to the poor." OK  hon. The priest should help the poor, but he should also make the worship at the Mass something beautiful for God. You know what hon? Mantilla tell you a secret. The people who always say this about the priest he should give the money to the poor? These people are never giving money to either the church or to the poor. One time Monsignor Quixote tell me about these people. We were doing a display of vestments in the cathedral and some man come up and say this about giving money to the poor instead. Monsignor Quixote say to him, "Amigo, the person who say this in the gospel was Judas." But the man was a communist and didn't never read the gospel anyway, and say something very stupid like, "I think Judas was much misunderstood." So Monsignor say to him, "If you like Judas so much maybe one day you will go and be with him."



OK  hon. It is true that lace in the vestments costs some money, but let me tell you. Things that are beautiful and true do cost money. Love is extravagant you know? It's like when a man buy a diamond ring for his fiancee when they get engaged. Nobody say, "Oh, that's too expensive you should give the money to the poor." No. They say, "Ohh. What a beautiful diamond. He must really love you very much." Anyway, that's what everyone say to me last summer in El Salvador when Augusto finally ask me to marry him. So now everybody asking me, "When is the day when you are getting married?" I think maybe in June hon, and don't worry I discuss it with Augusto and make sure you are going to be bridesmaid okay?




Just don't complain when Monsignor Quixote come out wearing that special alb I make him with lots of lace in it. Ok hon?