As you know, I post the texts of my homilies here, and I'm always grateful for any discussion or criticism that arises from them. In this case, I'd like to refer you to a homily that was written for today, and presumably preached today, by Dr. Frederick "Fritz" Bauerschmidt. Like me, Fritz is a deacon - I believe he is in the Baltimore Archdiocese. Unlike me, he is also very learned in theology: he is chair of the Theology Department at Loyola University in Maryland.
Fritz is also a clear and concise writer. He posts from time to time at the Pray Tell liturgy blog. In this case, he posted the text of today's homily. It is here. Even though he knows a lot, this one, like all of the homily texts he posts, is extremely approachable. Enjoy.
Looks as if Deacon Fritz studied at the pencil of Peter Maurin. When I get stuck with lectoring, I wish St. Paul had learned to write like that.
ReplyDeleteI have often said that if I ever get 1 John 4:16 right I will have arrived. This is a great description of the destination. Worth memorizing, even.
And 3, I disagree, slightly, with his suggestion of taking out the first 100 or so words. That's good advice for some preachers, but for others it's the last 100 words ("tell them what you said") that could be lost to good effect.
What is Christianity about? Gustavo Gutierrez has a very simple answer in his preface to the 20th anniversary edition of WE DRINK FROM OUR OWN WELLS: The Spiritual Journey of a People:
ReplyDelete“ the place where the love of God is daily intertwined with the love of our neighbor. The knot they tie is where spirituality is situated.”
For Gutierrez “spirituality” is Christian life as it is actuality lived concretely in people’s lives. Theology is reflection upon that experience. The encounter with the Spirit occurs when we both read our lives in light of the Gospels, and read the Gospels in the light of our lives.
Spirituality has varied widely in Christianity from the desert solitaries of early Christianity, through the communal households of the Benedictine Rule, the evangelical poverty of the Franciscans and Dominicans to the modern teaching and missionary orders such as the Jesuits. And of course, now in the spirituality of the poor born in Latin America.
I find Bauerschmidt's simplicity too abstract, as if Christianity could be discovered in a set of five ideas. The Bible itself consists of Two Testaments of many diverse books. The Gospels are fourfold. And the New Testament vision of Christianity is incomplete without Acts and the Letters of Paul and others.
The reality of Christianity is even more complex over the ages, both within and outside of Catholicism. Gutierrez insight from Bernard of Clairvaux and M.D.Chenu that theological thinking develops out of lived Christian experience, not just books, places him in the top ranks of theological thinkers. I think his understanding of Christian life as spirituality is even more important that his contributions to Liberation Theology.
Nice homily, but I see my job as a believer (of some sort, not sure what any more) to live out my love in the world at large, not just in the parish. In fact, the people in the parish are the hardest ones for me to love most of the time.
ReplyDeleteI also find love through the crucifixion more and more an important part of the mystery. You get old enough, you start sitting at the bedside of people you love who are dying. You realize you can't do anything about the fact that they're going, but you can try to make it less painful and terrifying. Much is forgiven by those of us who sit at death beds. Seeing someone suffer has a way of stripping away anger and leaving tenderness.
One hopes God feels the same way.