Yesterday I had the privilege to attend the baptism of my neighbor’s daughter, along with the baptism of about 14 other Hispanic children. It was the first time in a long while that I had entered the local Roman Catholic Church. I enjoyed the service and listened attentively to my brother priest as he addressed the gathered families and friends in Spanish.
I was the appointed picture-taker and jockeyed into position several times to ‘get the shot’. After the service, the priest posed with each family for the expected picture ‘with the padre’. When the family’s turn came, I dutifully snapped the picture. As we took our leave, the priest noticed my Tao cross and asked with enthusiasm and joy if I was a religious and from what parish? I told him that I was a priest. His excitement built as he recognized a possible ally and helper with the large Spanish-speaking congregation. What diocese he asked? Virginia, I replied. To reply to his bewildered look I told him that our Catholic Church was not part of the Vatican Church. The joy, excitement and enthusiasm drained from his face like a stopped up sink that had just been unplugged. “Oh!” He retorted in a dismissive manner. “What’s your name?” he asked. I replied. “Oh you’re the guy that’s been working in this area!” “Exactly,” I replied, as I patted him on the shoulder and took my leave.
How sad that he saw me as an adversary. Was I not in ‘his’ church, in support of ‘his’ people, showing my support for the sacred sacrament that ‘he’ was ministering? Are we both not, by virtue of our ordination, charged with feeding the lambs and tending the sheep by proclaiming the Good News and by ministering to the people in their spiritual needs?
I am reminded of the not-so-pleasant encounters that are related in Scripture between the followers of John and the followers of Jesus. As human beings we always want to divide ourselves into camps, into groups. We do so for self-identification and to be part of a mechanism that supports our belief system. Were not John and Jesus two sides of the same coin, a singular entity with two descriptive sides that in its totality made up the complete value, a coin with a single value and purpose?
It is true that only Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. There are, however, many paths to Jesus, each one expressed through the language, culture and mores of individual societies. Jesus’ message, the Good News, is made easier to understand when told and heard through the cultural filter of the targeted people. The filter does not diminish the message but the astute preacher will use that filter to make the message understandable and more easily accepted.
Each of the two camps, the followers of John and those of Jesus, felt threatened by the presence of the other. The fact that the other existed and did things differently according to their understanding was an affront to each group’s authority….or so they imagined. Jesus did not chastise each group’s arrogance in thinking they and only they were doing the right thing, the right way and had all the answers. Jesus’ only reply to the situation and discontent was, “If they are not against us, then they are for us”. John and Jesus were human cousins but spiritual brothers in working for the Kingdom of God. Each one had a different purpose and function but with a singularity of purpose and vision.
Have a blessed and spiritually rich Holy Week.
I was the appointed picture-taker and jockeyed into position several times to ‘get the shot’. After the service, the priest posed with each family for the expected picture ‘with the padre’. When the family’s turn came, I dutifully snapped the picture. As we took our leave, the priest noticed my Tao cross and asked with enthusiasm and joy if I was a religious and from what parish? I told him that I was a priest. His excitement built as he recognized a possible ally and helper with the large Spanish-speaking congregation. What diocese he asked? Virginia, I replied. To reply to his bewildered look I told him that our Catholic Church was not part of the Vatican Church. The joy, excitement and enthusiasm drained from his face like a stopped up sink that had just been unplugged. “Oh!” He retorted in a dismissive manner. “What’s your name?” he asked. I replied. “Oh you’re the guy that’s been working in this area!” “Exactly,” I replied, as I patted him on the shoulder and took my leave.
How sad that he saw me as an adversary. Was I not in ‘his’ church, in support of ‘his’ people, showing my support for the sacred sacrament that ‘he’ was ministering? Are we both not, by virtue of our ordination, charged with feeding the lambs and tending the sheep by proclaiming the Good News and by ministering to the people in their spiritual needs?
I am reminded of the not-so-pleasant encounters that are related in Scripture between the followers of John and the followers of Jesus. As human beings we always want to divide ourselves into camps, into groups. We do so for self-identification and to be part of a mechanism that supports our belief system. Were not John and Jesus two sides of the same coin, a singular entity with two descriptive sides that in its totality made up the complete value, a coin with a single value and purpose?
It is true that only Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. There are, however, many paths to Jesus, each one expressed through the language, culture and mores of individual societies. Jesus’ message, the Good News, is made easier to understand when told and heard through the cultural filter of the targeted people. The filter does not diminish the message but the astute preacher will use that filter to make the message understandable and more easily accepted.
Each of the two camps, the followers of John and those of Jesus, felt threatened by the presence of the other. The fact that the other existed and did things differently according to their understanding was an affront to each group’s authority….or so they imagined. Jesus did not chastise each group’s arrogance in thinking they and only they were doing the right thing, the right way and had all the answers. Jesus’ only reply to the situation and discontent was, “If they are not against us, then they are for us”. John and Jesus were human cousins but spiritual brothers in working for the Kingdom of God. Each one had a different purpose and function but with a singularity of purpose and vision.
Have a blessed and spiritually rich Holy Week.