Every Part of the Body of Christ Is Important

On the weekend of January 23rd and 24th, the second reading at Mass is from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Paul offers a wonderful analogy, comparing the Church—the body of Christ—to a human body. He explains that a “body is not a single part, but many.” Each part has its own important function, and all the parts work together to produce a single, unified, healthy body.

Even though some parts of the body are more prominent than others—the head compared to the feet, for example—all the parts have an important role to play. It’s the same, Paul teaches, within the body of Christ. Each believer has been given a job by God, some much more prominent than others, but all very important.

Paul’s lesson is crystal clear: if all the parts of the body of Christ do not step forward and perform their assigned functions, the entire body, the Church itself, will not be unified and healthy.

In recent generations the Catholic Church in America has not followed Paul’s lesson very well. We had a small group of highly trained ordained clergy doing all the work, and the rest of us, the vast laity, pretty much sat in the pews like lumps. According to the old saying, our only functions as lay people were to “pray, pay, and obey.”

But in this present generation, we cannot do that anymore. It’s no secret that there are simply not enough priests to go around. It’s time for the laity to stop being lumps in the pews and get up off our ample posteriors and help out.

All the various individual functions within the Church are geared toward the primary function of the Church, which is to spread the Good News of the Gospel. But there’s one slight problem: most lay Catholics are not quite sure what the Gospel message is.

Professor Peter Kreeft describes this disturbing lack of knowledge in his book, Fundamentals of the Faith: “Well over three-quarters of all the ‘educated’ Catholic college students I have taught do not know, after twelve years of catechism classes, how to get to heaven! Their answer to that question is usually something like ‘be sincere’ or ‘try your best’ or ‘don’t hurt people’ or ‘work for peace’ or ‘have a nice day’ or some such trumpet blast. They rarely even mention Jesus when asked that question. Why should they? Warm fuzzies are not stronger than death.”

The solution to this “lack of knowledge” situation can be found in this week’s Scripture readings. All three readings describe a similar setting: a group of believers listen as a speaker encourages them to greater faith through the reading of the Word. This is the key: the Word, the Holy Bible. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”

Many Catholic parishes now host Bible study classes (although we do a fairly lousy job of publicizing that fact). Start attending your parish’s Bible Study group. If your parish doesn’t offer one, then pull your dusty Bible off the shelf and start reading on your own. Begin with shortest gospel, Mark. Then read John’s gospel. Then then move on to the Acts of the Apostles. If you finish that, send me an email and I’ll suggest what to read next.

The Church is in crisis today. Too many parts of the body of Christ are sitting back expecting other parts to do all the work. Each of us has to do our duty. The first step is to learn and understand the Good News of the Gospel. We do this by studying Scripture. 

Oh, and by the way, at the Final Judgment, there WILL be a test on this material.

Wedding Feast at Cana

This weekend the Gospel reading at Mass is the Wedding Feast at Cana. Here is an excerpt from my book, “The Gospel According to Morty,” where Morty relates his experience at the Wedding Feast.

But first, a little background is necessary: Morty is the unknown 13th apostle. He’s now an old man, explaining what it was like to be a teenager and travel around with Jesus and His disciples. Morty’s main reason for telling these stories is to counter the claim that Jesus never laughed. Morty offers many instances where Jesus displayed a very keen and jolly sense of humor. Such as this one…..

Soon after, there was a big wedding feast in a nearby town called Cana. I think Jesus got his sense of humor from his mom. Mary was friends with the family of the bride-to-be, and she was invited to this wedding. When she saw the mother of the bride a few days before the wedding, she asked if it was OK to bring along her son. The mother said sure. Then Mary said, “Would it be OK if my son Jesus brings a couple of his friends?”

The mother said, “Sure, it’s going to be a big wedding. There’s plenty of room. By the way, how many friends will your son bring?”

Mary said, “Oh, you know, maybe one or two or twelve.”

Of course, I was not invited because I was only 17. But I did what I often did back in those days to get into banquets and parties and other events that were for adults only: I tagged along behind Jesus and his disciples to see where the party was, and then I went over to the servants and offered to give them a hand. Naturally they were thrilled to have some extra help. So that’s how I was able to go to the banquets and see and hear what Jesus did.

This wedding feast was a huge celebration. Let me ask you something: what do people do at weddings? No, I don’t mean the Macarena and the Chicken Dance. I mean: they laugh and they have a good time. The table with Jesus and the apostles was by far the loudest. 

Ever been to a wedding where there’s an open bar, and one table has 13 young men? Need I say more? People kept looking over at them and saying things like, “Who are those guys?” and, “They’re making quite a racket,” and, “You sure they were invited? Maybe they’re in the wrong room and they’re supposed to be across the hall at the Steinberg bar mitzvah.” They were really enjoying themselves.

But then, disaster struck. The wine ran out! And I think we know which loud table played a major role in causing that to happen. So Mary went over to Jesus, smiled at him with that wonderful smile of hers, and said, “They have no more wine.” Then she looked at all the apostles—who were feeling no pain at that point—and raised her eyebrow slightly, as if to say, “I guess we should’ve seen that coming.”

Jesus smiled at her and said, “What has that to do with me?” Mary didn’t say a word, but she looked at the apostles again, and the expression on her face clearly said, “And whose friends are these?” Mary turned to the headwaiter and said, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Then she looked at Jesus and smiled. The twinkle in her eye made it clear she was sending him the message: “You’re not going to disappoint your momma, are you?”

Jesus chuckled, kissed Mary on the cheek, and went back toward the kitchen. In the kitchen, he pointed to some stone water jugs and ordered them filled with water. And guess who had to do that chore? Right, it was me! And let me tell you, a stone jar filled with 30 gallons of water ain’t light! I can’t wait for someone to invent the forklift.

So we dragged in six of these jars. Then I saw Jesus close his eyes and take a deep breath. Then he told me to scoop some out and bring it to the headwaiter. The headwaiter took a sip and was stunned. He said it was the best wine he ever tasted. Then he noticed there were six jars filled to the top, 180 gallons of fantastic wine. He ran to get the father of the bride, and told him to promise the band extra money to keep them playing, because this party was now going to go all night long.

The father of the bride came over to Jesus with tears in his eyes. He said, “I am so thankful! You’ve saved me from a terrible disgrace. How can I ever repay you?”

Jesus smiled and said, “Wait till you get my bill.”

Then Jesus laughed and said, “Just kidding. This is my gift to your lovely daughter.” The father of the bride hugged him. Jesus smiled again, and said, “How’s the food supply? Are you running low on loaves or fishes?”

We didn’t know what that meant until much later. But Jesus thought it was really funny.

[By the way, "The Gospel According to Morty" is available at an amazingly low price on Amazon Kindle. Just sayin'.]

A Heartfelt Letter to Mom

Dear Mom:

Is there something wrong? You’ve been acting strange toward me lately. You’re not still angry about the lawsuit, are you? I told you over and over, it wasn’t personal. A product liability suit is not vindictive, it’s just, well, a matter of fairness. After all, this is the 21st century. If I’ve been victimized, I should sue, right?

You have to admit, the evidence was overwhelming. The food you fed me in the 1960s and 70s set the stage for my high cholesterol condition. You remember the courtroom testimony from Dad and Sis — all those mornings of bacon and eggs; all the pot roast, fried chicken, and butter? You heard those expert witnesses, that team of cardiologists from Yale New Haven Hospital, who said I’ll probably need bypass surgery soon. There was no question in the minds of the jurors.

I know you didn’t do it on purpose, Mom. I know you were sincere every time you said, “Eat, eat! It’ll make you big and strong!” You didn’t know that doctors in the future would come up with a brand new rule for nutrition: “If it tastes good, it’s bad for you.”

I didn’t file the lawsuit because you intentionally tried to hurt me, but only because your actions we’re inadvertently harmful. However, you know how the legal system works: ignorance does not relieve one of liability. Please don’t take it personal, Mom. I hate it when you’re mad at me.

Oh, and regarding the behavior of my lawyers, I want to apologize. It was not my idea to compare you to a tobacco company. They felt it was necessary to get the jury to award large damages. (That was a HUGE amount, wasn’t it?!)

Now, about the media. Honestly, that was the absolute last thing I expected. I never thought that loudmouth Bill O’Reilly would do three consecutive shows about us. I can’t fathom why he was so outraged. People go to court all the time. It’s no big deal. And yes, I agree with you, that Geraldo fellow can be quite obnoxious.

Another thing, Mom. I swear, it wasn’t me who gave The National Enquirer that old snapshot of our family sitting around the Thanksgiving table. For them to label it “The Den of Death” was simply despicable.

By the way, I was talking with Dad the other day. He’s usually such a calm guy. Funny thing, when I saw him, he didn’t seem calm at all. He muttered something about a “long walk” and a “short pier.” If I didn’t know better, Mom, I’d think you were saying nasty things about me to Dad.

There is another reason why I’m writing to you, Mom. As you know, my birthday is coming up soon. I just want you to know it’s OK if you don’t buy me a gift this year. I’m sure your attorney has told you the appeal process can be lengthy. You may not actually be forced to pay me anything for a while. But having that huge damages award hanging over your head is probably making you cautious about spending money. If you don’t get me a present this year, Mom, don’t worry. I’ll understand.

There is one thing you could do. You know how I love chocolate cake. It would be really nice if you could make me a big birthday cake, just like the old days, with candles and the works. I’d really like that.

I’ll plan on stopping by next Sunday. Oh, and don’t forget, use only those special “egg whites” when making the cake. I wouldn’t want to have to sue you again! 

Love, your devoted son.

Do You Long for a ‘Burning Bush’ Moment?

Do you ever have times when it seems like God is so distant, you start to wonder if He even hears your prayers? Well, you’re not alone. Even the great saint Mother Teresa went through long spells where she could not sense the presence of God. I don’t think she ever thought God had abandoned her, but she did wonder why God moved out of state and did not leave a forwarding address nor His new phone number. (OK, I’m pretty sure Mother Teresa didn’t phrase it that way, but you know what I mean.)

Personally, when my faith life is weak and it feels like God is a million miles away, I long for a “burning bush” moment. Remember in the Bible, how God appeared to Moses? There was a bush engulfed in flames, but it was not consumed by the fire, and God spoke to Moses out loud.

Oh boy, if that ever happened to me, my faith life would be energized. I immediately would do three things: 1. drop to my knees in worship; 2. vow to live the Gospel and spread the Good News to everyone I know; and 3. toss my shorts into the washing machine. (I mean, think about it, if God appears in a burning bush and speaks out loud, there is going to be an accident.)

If not a burning bush moment, then I’d like to have a “Joseph’s dream” moment. You remember Joseph’s dream, right? When he found out his fiancée Mary was pregnant, and he knew he wasn’t the father, he decided to leave her. But then an angel of the Lord appeared to him while he slept. And this was no ordinary weird dream, like after you eat too much Mexican food. Joseph knew the difference between a mere weird dream and this miraculous event. (Afterward, just to be safe, Joseph never again ate at Mexican restaurants.)

During the dream, the angel’s appearance to Joseph was vivid and real. The angel told him things he never could have known, and gave him clear instructions to take Mary as his wife. When Joseph woke up, he didn’t say to himself, “Wow, that was weird, and I didn’t even eat anything spicy yesterday.” No, he said, “Wow, that was real! I must immediately take Mary as my wife. But first I have to toss my shorts in the washing machine because, um, that was also rather terrifying.”

In God’s infinite wisdom, He only occasionally reveals Himself to people in dramatic and spectacular ways, such as with Moses and Joseph. For the rest of us, God reveals Himself in much more subtle and quiet ways. Some of these ways include the laughter of a child, the smile and gentle touch of a spouse, the beauty of a sunset, the sublime wisdom in the pages of Scripture, and the peaceful joy that envelops us when we kneel in front of the tabernacle and bask in the knowledge that the body and blood, soul and divinity, of Jesus is present there.

Admittedly, in our day-to-day struggles, we have times when these subtle manifestations of God don’t touch us. We don’t see Him, we don’t sense Him, and we start to wonder if He’s really there. That’s when we get those desires to experience a burning bush moment. 

However, we have to keep something in mind. When God reveals Himself in spectacular ways to select people, He does it to call them to undertake a very important, and usually very burdensome, mission. So we can be thankful He reveals Himself to us in quiet and subtle ways. Don’t forget that old expression: “Be careful what you wish for.”

The ‘Wait, What?!’ of the Week, January 8th, 2015

Recently the U.S. Congress passed a bill which would defund Planned Parenthood. (Soon after, of course, President Obama vetoed the bill.) During the debate over the bill, Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee said this from the House floor: “We just came through Hanukkah and Christmas, and we ought to think a little bit about what Hanukkah and Christmas were about and what Moses and Jesus would be about. I think they would be about saving lives and about giving everybody an opportunity to live.”

Rep. Cohen made these comments in defense of Planned Parenthood. He argued that taxpayer money should continue to be given to Planned Parenthood.

Wait. What?! He LIKES Planned Parenthood?! He actually used the phrases “saving lives” and “giving everybody an opportunity to live” in connection with the nation’s largest chain of abortion mills? Seriously?!

Not surprisingly, Rep. Cohen is a Democrat, and not surprisingly, just like the rest of his party, he supports abortion-on-demand so passionately that he's completely oblivious to the utter foolishness of his words. He does not comprehend the macabre irony in saying that Planned Parenthood must be funded because it gives “everybody an opportunity to live.” Yeah, everybody except the child being dismembered inside the P.P. clinic.

To Cohen and his fellow ideologues, it doesn’t matter if countless infants are killed each year; it doesn’t matter if Planned Parenthood callously sells baby body parts; it doesn’t matter that the founder of the organization was a racist who endorsed the Nazi’s eugenic efforts. All that matters is keeping the secular sacrament of abortion legal.

I’m reminded of the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil” (Is 5:20). 

If God doesn’t chastise our sinful nation soon, then He really owes Sodom and Gomorrah a big apology. 

More Musings on Old TV Antennas

About a month ago I wrote about those old-fashioned rabbit ears TV antennas. I received a lot of emails in response to that column. Many folks reminisced about the rabbit ears antennas of their youth. They remembered constantly twisting and turning those telescoping rods, trying to point them in the exact right position for the TV program to come in clearly. Sometimes they attached pieces of wire or aluminum foil to the tips of the antennas in a desperate attempt to achieve better reception.

A few people claimed TV shows came in best only when they forced their youngest brother to grab one antenna with his left hand and extend his right hand in the direction of Hartford while clasping a metal sauce pan. The older siblings thought this was terrific, since they could see Topo Gigio clearly on The Ed Sullivan Show. However, one of the younger siblings I heard from said he would’ve preferred being water-boarded rather than hold his arm out for a full hour. Fifty years later he still breaks out in a cold sweat when he sees a sauce pan sitting on the stove. And he simply faints whenever someone mentions the name Topo Gigio.

Other readers discussed another amazing device from the pre-cable television days: the automatic antenna turner. This was a mechanical system that actually rotated the TV antenna up on the roof. There was a little box on top of the television set with a dial. This box was connected with wires to a small motor on the roof. You would turn the dial to a point on the compass (north, south, east, west), and then you would hear that unmistakable sound: “Click-click. Click-click. Click-click.” As the dial slowly and methodically turned, the antenna on the roof also moved. It was always a moment of joy and wonder when the TV screen transformed from a hissing mish-mash of static into the image of Walt Disney welcoming everyone to this week’s show (in living color, no less).

The automatic antenna turning system was very reliable — unless a bracket became loose on the roof and the antenna wouldn’t rotate; or unless one of the wires got disconnected; or unless rain water seeped into the motor’s housing and ruined the motor; or unless a high wind turned the antenna and caused north to be east, east to be south, south to be west, and west to be north. So in other words, the automatic antenna turning system was very reliable, upwards of ten-percent of the time.

In my family, we didn’t go for fancy and expensive mechanical systems that malfunctioned on a regular basis. My father figured, “Why spend money on electric motors and wires when I have sons?”

So when I was a kid, the automatic antenna turning system was the Dunn Boys. My father installed a metal pole, which rested on the ground and ran up the side of the house. Perched on top, way above the roof line, was the TV antenna. The brackets which held the pole were loosened a bit, so the pole could rotate in place.

Whenever it was time to point the antenna in a new direction, my father would send one of us outside. “Turn it to Hartford,” he’d say, or, “Turn it to New Haven.” 

Grabbing that metal pole was always a treat, especially when it was about 5 degrees outside. Good thing I’m the oldest. I could delegate that chore in the winter. My youngest brother recently told me after half a century, the feeling is starting to come back in his fingers. But it was well worth it, since we were able to clearly see Topo Gigio. 

The Jubilee Year of Mercy

As you may have heard, back on December 8th we began the Year of Mercy. Or as the Church officially calls it, the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Here is how Pope Francis describes mercy: “From the heart of the Trinity, from the depths of the mystery of God, the great river of mercy wells up and overflows unceasingly. It is a spring that will never run dry, no matter how many people draw from it. Every time someone is in need, he or she can approach it, because the mercy of God never ends.”

The Pope further explained that he wants our parishes to become “islands of mercy in a sea of indifference.”

During this Year of Mercy there will be an emphasis on the mercy of God and the sacrament of Reconciliation. The primary symbol is the parable of the Prodigal Son. Many people think this parable should be called the Prodigal Father. The word prodigal means “recklessly extravagant.” And certainly the rebellious son was quite recklessly extravagant in the way he sinfully squandered his father’s money. But when the boy came to his senses and returned home, hoping only to be allowed to live as one of the hired servants, his father was even more recklessly extravagant in the way he showered the son with mercy and forgiveness and love.

Jesus made it clear that the father in this parable represents God the Father. The reason Jesus told this parable was to let us know just how much God loves us, and to make sure we understand that whenever we drift away and embrace sin, our Father in Heaven will shower us with mercy and forgiveness and love when we return with a repentant heart.

Some people might view this Year of Mercy with a cynical eye. They might say something like, “Oh sure, after hundreds of years of being harsh and judgmental and condemning, the Church is finally going to act merciful? Well, about flinkin’ time!”

There is no doubt that over the years the Church has come across, in many people’s minds, as rather harsh and inflexible. To a lot of folks it seems the Church’s stance has been something like this: Here are the rules, if you don’t obey, you’re going to Hell. Case closed.

Whenever you have an organization that is run by human beings, there are going to be some who are selfish and power-hunger, and who give all the others a bad name. There have been plenty of people in positions of authority within the Church who have done some horrible things. And these people need God’s mercy, too.

On the other hand, if you get all your information about the Church from the secular media, you might think the Church is the most terrible organization in the history of the world. The mainstream media very much dislikes Christianity, and they always over-emphasize the bad things that occur, and hardly ever talk about the countless good things the Church does.

Something else to remember: there has never been a time when the Church did not preach the message of the mercy of God. It is a fundamental aspect of the Gospel. We are all sinners (including Church leaders) and we desperately need to have our sins forgiven. The mercy of God offers us just that, especially in the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Thank God that God is indeed merciful. I mean, think about it. God still could have been the all-powerful Creator, but just have a real nasty personality. Nothing says God HAS to be loving. That’s a sobering thought. 

So, take advantage of this Year of Mercy. Go to Confession. Show mercy toward others. Most of all, embrace God with a repentant heart, for He is the Prodigal Father, the father who is “recklessly extravagant” with His love and mercy.