Honoring Christ

"Do you want to honor Christ's body?  Then do not scorn him in his nakedness, nor honor him here in the church with silken garments while neglecting him outside where he is cold and naked.  For he who said:  'This is my body,' and made it so by his words, also said, 'You saw me hungry, and did not feed me,' and 'inasmuch as you did not do it for one of these, the least of my brethren, you did not do it for me.'  What we do here in the church requires a pure heart, not special garments; what we do outside requires great dedication.

"Let us learn, therefore, to be men of wisdom and to honor Christ as he desires.  For a person being honored finds great pleasure in the honor he desires, not in the honor we think best.  Peter thought he was honoring Christ when he refused to let him wash his feet; but what Peter wanted was not truly an honor, quite the opposite!  Give him the honor prescribed in his law by giving your riches to the poor.  For God does not want golden vessels but golden hearts.

"Now, in saying this I am not forbidding you to make such gifts; I am only demanding that along with such gifts and before them you give alms.  He accepts the former, but he is much more pleased with the latter.  In the former, only the giver profits; in the latter, the recipient does too.  A gift to the church may be taken as a form of ostentation, but an alms is pure kindness.

"Of what use is it to weigh down Christ's table with golden cups, when he himself is dying of hunger?  First, fill him when he is hungry; then use the means you have left to adorn his table.  Will you have a golden cup made but not give a cup of water?  What is the use of providing the table with cloths woven of gold thread, and not providing Christ himself with the clothes he needs?  What profit is there in that?  Tell me:  If you were to see him in that state and merely surround his table with gold, would he be grateful to you or rather would he not be angry?  What if you were to see him clad in worn-out rags and stiff from the cold, and were to forget about clothing him and instead were to set up golden columns for him, saying that you were doing it in his honor?  Would he not think he was being mocked and greatly insulted?

"Apply this also to Christ when he comes along the roads as a pilgrim, looking for shelter.  You do not take him in as your guest, but you decorate floor and walls and the capitals of the pillars.  You provide silver chains for the lamps, but you cannot bear even to look at him as he lies chained in prison.  Once again, I am not forbidding you to supply these adornments; I am urging you to provide these other things as well, and indeed to provide them first.  No one has ever been accused for not providing ornaments, but for those who neglect their neighbor a hell awaits with an inextinguishable fire and torment in the company of the demons.  Do not, therefore, adorn the church and ignore your afflicted brother, for he is the most precious temple of all."
- St. John Chrysostom, Homily on Matthew

The Path to Unity

The Wrong Question – 21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

From the very earliest times of the Church, the problem of Gnosticism has always plagued the Christian community.  Though it has many forms, Gnostic teachings essentially seek to limit the number of those to be saved into an elite group privileged to have a special knowledge or enlightenment from God.  Only those so initiated into these esoteric insights are admitted into the company of the saved.  Gnosticism and other forms of elitism is always a temptation for those in any spiritual tradition.  Throughout her history, the Church has always tried to insist on the fundamental message of salvation history that finds its fullest expression in the Lord Jesus:  God invites all to a relationship with Him.  

In today’s Gospel the disciples ask the wrong question of Jesus:  “Lord will only a few be saved?”  As is typical when they ask the wrong question, Jesus does not answer it.  Instead, he takes the opportunity to teach the disciples what is truly important.  Rather than concerning ourselves with the math problem, Jesus instead orients us toward an examination of our own lives with regard to salvation.  Are we living in imitation of the Lord Jesus?  Are we in right relationship with God and other people?  The author of the Letter to the Hebrews also employs this tactic.  All of us are called to holiness – to an intimate relationship with God and others, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah found in the first reading.  God is for all, not just for an exclusive race or group of people.

What motivated the disciples to ask this question of Jesus?  Is the question in any way relevant for them or for us?  Various factions of Jews were prone to an exclusivist mentality.  The Pharisees, for example, saw themselves as those to be saved since they were diligently following the minute detail of every external law.  At the same time, the Essenes removed themselves completely from larger Jewish society by creating exclusivist communities in the eastern desert of Judea.  For them, the wider Jewish community was thoroughly corrupt and could not be saved by God.  Only these desert communities would be saved by the Teacher of Righteousness when he came to redeem Israel.  The disciples may have seen this community of Jesus in such Pharisaic or Essene terms. 

Jesus, however, continually rejects the temptation to close off his community of disciples.  While maintaining the ideals of right relationships with God and others, Jesus extends the invitation to the kingdom of God to all.  Gentiles become great examples of faith, and the message of Jesus extends to all peoples.  The question is, then, not how many will be saved, but rather will I be saved?  By a daily examination of our lives we can focus properly on the right question while at the same time avoiding the wrong questions.  And since we are only qualified to examine our own lives and not that of others, we can thus avoid the temptation to judge others in relation to ourselves.

At the beginning of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s pontificate, he made a comment about the Church becoming smaller in our times.  Many took this sentence out of context and began a campaign of driving out people from the Church who did not fit their particular criteria of membership.  The pope in no way intended his words to be used in such a way, as the larger context of his remarks indicates.  However, the temptation to exclusivism is ever present, and it exists in both traditional and progressive circles. 

The entire sweep of salvation history in the biblical texts, however, is that of an expansive invitation to the kingdom of God.  Our fundamental mission, then, is to extend that invitation to a relationship with God and others to everyone.  We accomplish this mission most effectively by living authentic Christian lives that imitate the example of Jesus the Lord. 

All of us fall short of the ideal to which the Lord Jesus calls us.  We are ever in need of renewal as we seek to be more effective followers of Jesus.  As we come together to once again find nourishment and inspiration on our journey to the reign of God, we pray:  “Let us pray with minds fixed on eternal truth.  Lord our God, all truth is from you, and you alone bring oneness of heart.  Give your people the joy of hearing your word in every sound and of longing for your presence more than for life itself.  May all the attractions of a changing world serve only to bring us the peace of your kingdom which the world does not give.  Grant this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.”