Making this a Holy Week

Many years ago I ran across an illustrated book called something like, 'the new catholics,' or something of that nature.  It contained cartoon images of how catholics live today.  One was the ability to attend Holy Week services away from one's home parish.  Another was having musical instruments other than an organ.  Now this book was composed in the nineties; which caused me to wonder where these people had been for the last thirty years at least.

For these last several days we have read from John's Gospel in which Jesus is engaging in a lively dialogue with the Pharisees and other religious leaders.  Jesus attempts to draw the leadership into a new understanding in regards to the depths of God.  The religious leadership refuses to move from what they have always held as truths.  What Jesus is proposing is a radical sort of faith.  It asks people to take responsibility for faith, and even more so, calls men and women beyond following law.

John's Gospel begins with the observation that men and women preferred the darkness to the light.  And Jesus is the light that will be opposed.  Now w are not just talking about darkness as in sinfulness, but the lack of willingness to engage in the truth and to seek out matters of truth.  If you ever get a chance to read any Flannery O' Conner, it is well worth the read.  She will always put a twist in her stories so that just as we believe we know who the hero's and heroine's are, she changes everything.  Early on Jesus will remind his listeners to follow the teaching of the religious leaders, but not to imitate their lifestyle.

As we had our last soup and speaker last night I was most aware of how much our people love to come together to share faith and hear stories of other's faith.  Faith has nothing to do with how well we sing or the number of candles around the altar, but how we deal with the people like the Samaritan woman, the blind man, the Lazarus' that sit at our gates, and the lepers.  Jesus is trying to move the conversation away from how many angels fit on a pin-head, to how to engage the cross in the world today.

As a young priest I remember the 50+ year old men I would be seated next to, who would tell me that they no longer went to church because Sr. Cornelius yelled at them when they were in third grade.  I go to Church because hearing the Word of God and receiving the sacraments offers a starting point in which to minister, console, and guide.  Listening to stories about the Good Shepherd, helps me be a better Shepherd.  This is the week to pay attention to the journey of Jesus Christ, to hear his words, and sense his long lasting compassion and love.