Thoughts and opinions from a Priest in the PNCC
It is the custom in my country,
that on Christmas Eve,
at the first star’s appearance
in the sky,
people as one
break biblical bread,
and with great love share all they feel
in this bread.
Translation by Dcn Jim
Jest w moim kraju zwyczaj,
że w dzień wigilijny,
przy wejściu pierwszej gwiazdy
wieczornej na niebie,
ludzie gniazda wspólnego
łamią chleb biblijny,
najtkliwsze przekazując uczucia
w tym chlebie.
A reflection from Fr. Randy Calvo of Holy Name of Jesus Parish in South Deerfield, MA:
I have been attending sporadically a Jewish Midrash and myth Bible study group at Schoen Books here in South Deerfield on Wednesday evenings. The group has extended an invitation to me and has been wonderfully patient with my ignorance of the Hebrew terminology and teachers. I have found it extremely interesting to hear readings of the same texts that I have read since I was a child in a wholly different light, and maybe most amazingly of all is that I have found the readings enlightening to my Christian faith in an unexpected way. Sometimes as Christians we may approach the Old Testament with an air of condescension based upon the belief that we know a fuller meaning of the text than its original recipients because we recognize that it all points to the coming of Jesus as the Messiah.
I thank my teachers of the historical-critical method of Old Testament study, Fr. Michael Barone and Rev. Bruce Dahlburg, for helping me to read these books in their own right. These Midrash classes have helped me to deepen that insight. The closest parallel I can offer is that Midrash treats the biblical word in similar fashion to Christian patristics. Midrash uses the inspired text as a springboard to further spiritual insight and theological exploration. It is some of these musings that have led me to a deeper appreciation of the Incarnation, of God’s entrance into human history at Christmas.
Maimonides, the great Jewish philosopher of the 12th century, expounded on the idea of —good— as repeated numerous times in Genesis 1. He concluded that creation is good in and of itself. The goodness of what God has made is not dependent upon how it serves humans. Their goodness is intrinsic as made by God. He further stated that the repetition of the word implied that the whole of creation is good in a way that is greater than any isolated part of that creation could ever be alone.
Six hundred years later Shneur Zalman, again expounding on Genesis 1, speaks of God’s creation of the dry land of the earth on the third day. Zalman believed that the earth manifested the presence and power of God more than the rest of creation because it held the power to make things grow, and he found this in the verse: —Let the earth put forth vegetation …— (Genesis 1:11) The rest of creation is created by God, but the earth creates like God. Zalman imagined that God’s radiance from on high shown down through all of existence, but that when it reached the bottom, the earth, it reflected back toward God through the earth’s power to create. The presence and power of God, therefore, are most clearly expressed not only in the goodness of creation, but especially in the goodness of the miracle of the process of life.
Genesis is the creation story of the Jewish people. We have adopted it as our own, but it was born in the Jewish faith. I find it bothersome that Holy Scripture tells us of the inherent goodness of creation and also of the goodness of the process of life, and then some of the teachers of the church would insist that we profess instead that creation is inherently evil and that this evil is passed from generation to generation through the process of life. Zalman was fleeing from the armies of Napoleon and a certain death sentence when he wrote these words. He was not naïve. That the world is not perfect does not equate with the world is evil. That the world has been created by God, and has been called —good— by God, does mean that creation and life have been sanctified. The church does a disservice to this revelation when we insist on having people believe in original sin and all that accompanies it.
When God physically enters creation in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, He testifies to the holiness of ordinary life. Christmas is a time to remember that the presence of God not only showers down upon us, but is reflected back towards God in the goodness of this creation. Perfection belongs to heaven, but Christmas reminds us that there are sparks of the divine, that there is hidden holiness, all around us. Being able to see that again is part of the joy and wonder of the season of Jesus’ birth and one of God’s greatest Christmas gifts to us all.
…and I would add that our baptismal regeneration and membership in the Church requires just this sort of witness. It is the building up of man and woman in light of Jesus’ salvific action. That action began at His incarnation and will end when our plea of Maranatha is answered. Christ’s entry into human life forever changes our relationship to life — to the eternal.
On October 11, 2009 Bishop of Rome, Benedict XVI, proclaimed five new Roman Catholic saints among which was Archbishop Zygmunt Szczęsny Feliński of Poland. Among his virtues was the defense of the Polish subjects of Russian occupied Poland in the lead up to the January Insurrection of 1863 (Powstanie Styczniowe), which was brutally put down by Russian troops. Abp. Feliński was Archbishop of Warsaw at the time and protested in vain to the Czar. When his protests fell on deaf ears he resigned from the appointed City Council and soon was exiled from Russian-ruled Poland to what is now Ukraine where he remained for over twenty years. After being granted a czarist amnesty he was required to remove himself to Austrian-ruled Poland where he spent the remainder of his life mainly in a small community tutoring children.
In the photo to the left, taken a few weeks before his departure for the United States, Seminarian Franczisek Hodur (front center) is seen with three of his closest friends. Second from left is Gerard Feliński, nephew and ward of Archbishop Feliński. Abp. Feliński died in 1895 and it is quite possible that Seminarian Hodur had met him while a student in the Kraków seminary, attached to the Jagellonian University. According to Vincentian sources it is reported that conditions in that seminary, managed by the Vincentians, were quite harsh.
Mike Rasberry who blogs at Ponderings discusses the National Council of Churches in National Council of Churches–A leftist Group of Individual Denominations.
Mr. Rasberry indicts each and every member of the organization, from the Orthodox and PNCC to the Quakers. He paints each and every Church as grossly liberal and supportive of every sort of evil, including abortion, although he does give a bye to American Conference of Catholic Bishops calling it a “rare exception to this group.”
The problems here are obvious and really enlightening as to the ignorance among certain Christians. Some Christians know nothing of their brothers and sisters. That ignorance starts in a refusal to study the policies and theologies of other Churches. Couple that with this mix of personal politics and religion and you get just this sort of diatribe. Of course Mr. Rasberry sees Roman Catholics as ok because they happen to have a good PR team which focuses almost solely on one or two hot issues — at least he’s read that in the MSM. If he really went deeper and understood the Roman Church’s anti-war, anti-death penalty, justice for immigrants, and pro-labor stances he would equally tar them as leftist whack jobs.
Lesson to be learned – if you are going to criticize thirty-five of thirty-six different Churches and encourage people to refuse their support, all based on personal politics – you will find yourself in a very lonely place. If you are going to deny Christian fellowship with the vast majority of those who still identify as Christians in this country then you might as well join the Westboro Baptist Church — Fred Phelps will welcome you.
Rather, I highly suggest study so you at least know what you’re criticizing. Learn what Churches really stand for. They just might agree with you on most things (or not). Then again, its easier to pick at the speck your perceive in someone else’s eye (Matthew 7:3-5).