What does Peace Look Like? Two Signs and the Amazon Synod

Today's homily by Father Lobsinger takes a fresh look at the scripture passage in Zechariah 8:1-8. The background history is that the Jewish people had been in exile in Babylon for 70 years and in an amazing demonstration of God's providence, they were allowed (and even financially supported by their captor!) to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Now this new generation of Israelites were born and raised in captivity and didn't know what Jerusalem meant to them and not all the people are as enthusiastic about traveling so far to do what appeared to be an impossible job. But,
"Thus says the Lord of hosts: Even though it seems impossible to the remnant of this people in these days, should it also seem impossible to me, says the Lord of hosts?" (verse 6)

The Lord of hosts promised two signs:
"Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their great age." (verse 4)
"And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets." (verse 5)

and the Lord of hosts further promised:  "I will save my people from the east country and from the west country; and I will bring them to live in Jerusalem. They shall be my people and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness." (verses 7 & 8)

The promise of peace in the midst of turmoils and uncertainties is simply this:
"Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. Thus says the Lord: I will return to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts shall be called the holy mountain." (verses 2&3)

Our God is a jealous God and He has promised to dwell in our midst!

The Message translation says it this way:
"A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“I am zealous for Zion—I care!
    I’m angry about Zion—I’m involved!”

“I’ve come back to Zion,
    I’ve moved back to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem’s new names will be Truth City,
    and Mountain of God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
    and Mount Holiness.”"

Today's message is a much needed message for me as I have been struggling with understanding God's purpose for the upcoming Amazon Synod. This article "Lay Faithful to Gather in Rome to Pray for the Church on Eve of Amazon Synod" described the grave concern for faithful Catholics. My wife and I have been praying the 54 day novena along with some 50,000 Catholics about this. These are the main prayer requests:

"We, a group of Catholic friends, both lay and consecrated, therefore want to pray — together with all those who wish to join us — as close as possible to the tomb of St. Peter, where the popes, with few exceptions, have always desired to reside. We are asking God for these graces:

1. that the sexual and financial scandals that disfigure the face of the Church stop, and that the clergy who are involved in these scandals not be promoted to leadership positions but, on the contrary, be removed and invited to repentance;
2. that the depositum fidei [deposit of faith] — of which no one in Christ’s Church, not even the Pope, is master —not be adulterated;
3. that religious families, bishops, priests, and professors who are faithful to Christ and the Church no longer be taken over [commissariati], persecuted, or dismissed without concrete and verified accusations, for the sole reason of their attachment to the “faith of all time”;
4. that the Church’s hierarchy be courageous in preaching the Gospel and hold up her saints as an example to the faithful —not those who have divided and lacerated the Church (like the monk Martin Luther, in times past), or those who fight against life on a daily basis by supporting abortion, free drugs, and euthanasia … (like Emma Bonino, in times present);
5. that the priority of those who lead the Church be to proclaim the faith in Jesus Christ the Savior, leaving to “Caesar what is Caesar’s,” and that they avoid acting like sociologists, political scientists, climatologists... and “logists” of every kind;
6. that the men of the Church cease not to proclaim the “non-negotiable principles,” in particular the defense of life and the family, and that they come to terms with the culture of death and gender ideology;
7. that love for Creation no longer be confused with pagan and pantheistic ecology, nor the “mercy” of God with moral relativism and religious indifferentism;
8. that we listen to the cry coming from the African church (“May the West not deceive our young people with false myths and false promises!”) and the churches of Eastern Europe which repeat, with John Paul II, that “one’s country is also a mother for each person, in a very true way” and that the “defense of one’s own identity” has nothing to do with nationalism or other aberrations;
9. that Chinese Catholics not be sacrificed to the Communist dictatorial regime in the name of impossible and unjust agreements, as Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun has repeatedly denounced;
10. that persecuted Christians throughout the world, who face torture and death for the sake of Christ, no longer hear from Rome that Allah and Jesus Christ are the “same God.”"

God wills the diversity of religions?

In this article "Pope Francis signs peace declaration on ‘Human Fraternity’ with Grand Imam" it discusses the signed document entitled “A Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” in which it states:
“The pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings...”
It further explains that "This statement must be read in the proper context and perspective, said Dr Chad Pecknold, associate professor of systematic theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.... God wills that all men come to know Him through the free choice of their will, and so it follows that a diversity of religions can be spoken about as permissively willed by God without denying the supernatural good of one true religion..."

My wife and I regularly watch Dr. Taylor Marshall's podcasts. Like us Dr. Marshall is a convert to Catholicism and has been very helpful in explaining our faith, in particular, his New St. Thomas Institute is a wealth of practical and helpful theological explanation of the Catholic faith. He did this  podcast entitled "212: Pope Francis: Does God Will Many Religions? Cardinal Müller Responds" on this particular issue.

The reason I got onto this topic is that the scripture passage this morning from 1 Timothy 2:1-8 contains these verses (3&4) according to the translation used by the USCCB:
"This is good and pleasing to God our savior,
who wills everyone to be saved
and to come to knowledge of the truth."

I then read a couple of other translations:
(NRSVCE) "This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,  who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
(NIV) "This is good, and pleases God our Savior,  who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."
According to the original text (MOUNCE) the Greek word used is "thelō" which, according to the Strong's Lexicon (G2309) can be translated in various ways in the many appearances in scripture:

•     to will, have in mind, intend
•         to be resolved or determined, to purpose
•         to desire, to wish
•         to love
•             to like to do a thing, be fond of doing
•         to take delight in, have pleasure

USCCB makes reference to 2 Timothy 3:7 and 2 Peter 3:9. I was particularly impressed with the reference in 2 Peter 3:9:
"The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. "

So 1 Timothy 2:4 does not really address the plurality of religion. And the word "Will" can be used in various ways throughout scripture and is not necessarily the "Permissive Will" of God.

The basic premise of salvation to me is still, according to John 3:16,
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."
and Romans 5:8,
"But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. "
that God loves everyone and gave up His Son Jesus to die on the cross as an atonement for our sins. But it is still up to each one of us to accept this sacrifice to have eternal life instead of "perishing".
But in John 14:6,
"Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
the Christian churches (especially the Catholic church) is still the best way to find our way to salvation.

I weep because you do not weep.

Wow it's been 3 months since my last post! Found myself a free morning and I had just heard a wonderful homily at Mass this morning. Our new priest Father Lobsinger spoke on Colossians 1:24 - 2:3. He spoke of Saint John Vianney, who was known to spend hours hearing confessions and was commonly seen weeping as he listened to confessants. When asked why he wept, he gave this answer which became a famous quote: “I weep because you do not weep.”

I found this article "The Secrets of His Holiness - A Lesson in Sanctity for All of Us" about this saint:
"In confessing people, this holy man, who had a fundamental knowledge of sin, strove after one thing only—to save souls. This was his ardent desire, and for the sake of it he suffered all the tortures of his daylong confinement in the confessional. This great saint heard confessions from 13 to 17 hours a day, and could tell a penitent’s sins even when they were withheld. In order to save souls, one must be possessed of that holy love of men which consumed the priest of Ars. He would often weep in the confessional and when he was asked why he wept, he would reply: “My friend, I weep because you do not weep.”"

This story in some way fits today's Bible verse in Colossians 1:24 "I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.".

This verse is problematic for many people, especially the evangelicals. Christ's suffering (and death on the cross) is sufficient to make atonement for our sins. What is still lacking, and Christ cannot do it for us, is our reparation for our sins. Reparation is necessary to prepare us to one day meet the perfect and holy God, as we shall see Him as He is.

"Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure." (1 John 3:1-3)

And we purify ourselves by suffering - it's a gift from God to prepare us for that Blessed day...

"...You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich; and white robes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see." (Revelation 3:17b-18)

"You do not realize"... Yes even when I confess my sin to a priest, do I have perfect contrition? Do I make a firm commitment to never to sin again? I try to do an "Examination of Conscience" every day. It often does not produce the kind of contrition I should have. A holy priest like St. John Vianney would easily pick this up and would cry for me... Oh pray for me St. John Vianney!

The other famous verse in today's reading is Colossians 1:27 which is "To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." This verse was the conference theme of Camp Trent (I think it was in 1977 at Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario), which was "Christ in You, the Hope of Glory". I remember my faith took a giant step forward at this conference. But it still took many more years before I truly understood what this verse really meant. What is "Christ in You, the Hope of Glory"?

Now I understand that it is referring to the Holy Eucharist! The mystery of the transubstantiation which is Jesus' gift to His Church, His body. "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." (John 6:53).

It is not easily understood...that's why "When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?”" (John 6:60)

Contrition... confession... consecration... consumption of His Body and Blood... all found in the Mass this morning. That's why the Holy Mass is "the source and summit of the Christian life" and I was there this morning! Bless the Lord!