The diaspora, "a group of people who live outside the area in which they had lived for a long time or in which their ancestors lived." For many reasons, Catholics have experienced separation from the place where they grew up, where their ancestors lived. They live in the diaspora. The ministry of Catholics in the Diaspora is focused on reaching out to these members of the family of faith, a community that is one with the great cloud of believers. Please journey with us.
Today is a day to unplug from social media, news reports,
and the anxiety they breed in the name of free expression of “the truth.”It is time to revisit the upper room of the earliest followers of
Jesus.They had watched their friend; their
love; their hope be crushed. The voices of doom surrounded them. They were
afraid.
Their Love returned to them and brought them his essence, the
Comforter, the peace the world cannot give.It took only a word, “peace.”
No pundits. No corrections. No doomsday prophesies.
Just the Love that brings peace.
In the end three things endure faith, hope, and love; and the greatest
of these is Love.
1 Corinthians 13:13
Saturday, December 24, 2016
This Christmastide finds us
in confusing and trying times. The news
reports a new nuclear arms race; unimaginable.
It just keeps getting more and more unsettling.
In the midst of this chaos,
comes the Divine Light, human like us.Years of teaching about “disruptive technology” leads me to think of
this world changing event as the ultimate disruptive event of all time.Into the chaos of the Jewish community
enduring the Roman Empire, the Word became Flesh. The Light made a dwelling among us, to be with
us; to bring “Light and Life” to our everyday.
Each year we sing this
heartily in the hymn “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”Again this year, I muse at Wesley’s skill as
a lyricist.Here he captures the
fullness of salvation history.The
necessity of this birth is clear with only one driving force – to bring
salvation and healing to a broken world.
The allegory of the nativity
story draws us into a deep understanding of the focus of this mission.The outcasts (shepherds), local leaders
(Herod) and global leaders (Magi) all are invited into this grace.Some accept.Others reject.This is no
soothingly romantic scene.The gospel
writers capture the essential drama of the Garden of Eden: do we say yes to the
Light and embrace salvation or do we continue to live in darkness?
We share so much with the
young family growing up under Roman occupation and the corruption of that
leadership.Jesus knows our fears and
uncertainty as he knows our joys and dreams. The current world drama is the
same today as ever it has been.Will the
world embrace the Light, the healing Love that is salvation?More importantly, are we peaceful enough to affirm
our baptismal call and live the fullness of the Love of which we are members?
For me, Christmas is much
more challenging than Easter.It is
difficult to see past the romantic, soft and very comfortable story told again
and again.Easter is filled with triumph.
Christmas we get a schmatta.It is just
plain hard to see Love in such a messy scene and yet, here it is.
My prayer for each of you
and the world is that the greatest disruption of all time — the unfailing,
limitless Light of Divine Love — enfolds you and infiltrate you with peace; to know
the “healing in His wings.”This is our
time to say, “Yes” and offer “Amen” to the grace that opens us to the light
brings the truth that “God and sinner reconciled”
It has been quite sometime since I found myself in a place
where the imperative to write has been this strong.Life has marched on with its daily challenges
to be engaged in and present to the baptismal call to be “a holy nation, a
people set apart.”
Today, I am preparing for leading a Morning Prayer service
at the national gathering of Call to Action in Albuquerque, NM.I selected Nan Merrill’s paraphrase of
Psalm 36 as part of the service months ago.In this time of national transition, these
words touch me in a new way.
I hurt me at a visceral level to see the people I know and
cherish turning toward judgmental, shaming words focused on their neighbors and
friends.Many years ago, I lead hundreds
of high school students through an exercise that challenged them to pause
before having sexual encounters at a party by closing their eyes and seeing my
face.They all shrieked and laughed! (as
well they should.) It was a moment that brought front and center the idea of
“think before you act.”
Here we are at the open door of new leadership in the
United States of America.We know a
great deal about the groundwork being laid. We know Rudy Giuliani, Newt
Gingrich, Jeff Sessions and Chris Christy.We may not all agree with them but we know them. To know them gives each
of us important information on at least the basic framework that is
emerging.This knowledge must begin to
shape how we will each move forward in the dialectic that we cherish in this
nation of ours.
The great challenge for the Catholic in the Diaspora as it
is for all the baptized is to close our eyes and before we make a statement
that demeans or shames, no don’t see my face (although that will make you laugh
and break the tension), look into God’s eyes. See the Love that makes this
moment possible and respond in charity.
Do not fall prey to
Ignorance lives deep
in the hearts
Of those who know not
Love;
There is not reverence
for Truth
Before their eyes
Public figure, public policy, laws and governments can only
modify the structures in which we live.Fortunately, the rights of assembly and speech continue to be bedrock of
the USA.This freedom is extraordinary.
The change of the heart comes from another place.It is changed hearts that bring respect and
grace to any social framework.
Being agents of the heart in the framework of our political
process is the call of the baptized.Keep looking into the eyes of the Loving One and believe those who have been called, whether they
are Jews or Greeks, slave or free we believe in
a Christ who is both the power of God and
the wisdom of God.”Be the living expression of the freedom that
is ours in baptism.It is the freedom of
those who
Draw us in the Spirit's tether; For when humbly, in thy name,
Two or three are met together, Thou art in the midst of them:
Alleluya! Alleluya! Touch we now thy garment's hem.
As the brethren used to gather In the name of Christ to sup,
Then with thanks to God the Father Break the bread and bless the cup,
Alleluya! Alleluya! So knit thou our friendship up.
All our meals and all our living Make us sacraments of thee,
That be caring, helping, giving, We may true disciples be.
Alleluya! Alleluya! We will serve thee faithfully.
Percy Deamer (1867-1936)
Where two or three are
gathered in my name, I am in the midst of them.
A challenge of being a
Catholic in the Diaspora is the lack of community. There are few places where
we can gather in prayer, share the challenges and joys of our journey in faith,
and just have a good time laughing or crying.
The absence of this connection is painful. The disciples of Jesus gathered and shared
their fears and joys. We are called to
do the same.
But how? Where? When? These are questions I ask myself. Many of you
have posed the same and expressed hope that such an opportunity could develop.
So, with faith in the
Spirit and the urging of my friends, I
am floating the idea of a community of prayer.
I keep coming back to the idea that this eclectic group of seekers could
come together as a contemporary expression of the ancient traditions of
celebration, contemplation and action of the Roman Rite. I imagine a
confederation of people radical in the desire to return to the roots of faith
in the Baptismal call and contemporary in imperative to be in the messiness of
our daily living.
I also have this idea that
it might be time to explore the impact of rearranging the order of the
mass. I surely know all he reason why this
should “not” happen. I am not saying it
“should” but might it?
We are told, “When supper
was ended He took the cup…” (1 Cor 25) The singing of songs followed the meal. (Mark 14:26)
Today we close the family meal,
well that is when the sports schedule permits, with conversation. Even when we sing “Happy birthday”, we follow the
song with delicious delights and then conversation that tells tales of
birthdays long past. Over looking the
complication of the sports line-up, long, intimate sharing of stories around
the table bond the family linking the older generation to emerging future. These are the conversations that pass on
family stories, link the future generations to the past and strengthen the
bonds of family. This has been widely studied by scholars and reported in the
literature.
It is no mistake that the
important business meeting also center around a shared meal. Although a sale might happen before the main
course is served, it is the informal conversation that accompanies that
cappuccino that solidifies the relationship.
Why can’t this be a model for a Eucharistic
meal?
What I propose is
beginning with introductory rites that look at the collective praise of God and
seeking forgiveness. Then the Liturgy of
the Eucharist is the meal we celebrate together in faith. It nourishes us and fills us with the light
of understanding that enveloped the apostles at Emmaus, “And they knew him in the breaking of the
bread.” (Luke 24:13-35
Then filled with this
intimate knowing of Jesus and torn open by the gifts of the Spirit, we share
the stories of faith in the Liturgy of the Word. “Our hearts are opened” and the stories of
faith come alive. Like the family meal, nourished and well fed, we share the stories
of our faith and support each other for the work of church in the world.
Worship closes with a
commissioning.
I shared this idea with a
fellow pastoral musician who was aghast and said “There will be no one in the
church. You know everyone will leave
after communion!” I take this as a very sad
commentary on the state of the parish experience of the Eucharistic
celebration. “It is all about ‘getting
communion’ ,” he said. I must sadly
agree. This has been my experience as well.
I will stop here to give
you time to ponder. Your thoughts?
