Caritas et Veritas

Once again, I ask for your forgiveness as I am almost a week late in getting this reflection up. Regardless, I do want to say a few things regarding this last Sunday’s reading as His Holiness puts it in his 2011 Message for Lent. Here is what he says:

On the fifth Sunday, when the resurrection of Lazarus is proclaimed, we are faced with the ultimate mystery of our existence: “I am the resurrection and the life… Do you believe this?” (Jn 11: 25-26). For the Christian community, it is the moment to place with sincerity – together with Martha – all of our hopes in Jesus of Nazareth: “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world” (Jn 11: 27). Communion with Christ in this life prepares us to overcome the barrier of death, so that we may live eternally with him. Faith in the resurrection of the dead and hope in eternal life open our eyes to the ultimate meaning of our existence: God created men and women for resurrection and life, and this truth gives an authentic and definitive meaning to human history, to the personal and social lives of men and women, to culture, politics and the economy. Without the light of faith, the entire universe finishes shut within a tomb devoid of any future, any hope.

Rembrandt's "The Return of the Prodigal Son"

As has been mentioned before, Lent is a great time to make a good confession. Especially as we rapidly approach Easter, there’s no better time than now to think about receiving the grace of that special sacrament. I was recently made aware of Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s Lenten letter on confession which he sent on St. Patrick’s Day, and I thought I would post the link to it here, and encourage everyone to read it, since it’s such a beautiful and timely piece on this great sacrament.

Archbishop Dolan’s Letter can be found here: http://blog.archny.org/?p=1109

If you haven’t read Scott Hahn’s, Lord, Have Mercy: The Healing Power of Confession (available from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Have-Mercy-Healing-Confession/dp/0385501706/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302302428&sr=1-1) you might want to pick that up and read it. Most importantly, go to that great sacrament of mercy. As Christians, we need to begin-again all the time, telling Jesus we’re sorry. The confessional is a privileged site for such mercy, and those who avail themselves of the sacrament frequently, know its rich benefits. Every act of contrition is a new beginning, and every confession is a welcome home.

Flinck's "The Return of the Prodigal Son"

Please forgive me for being a couple of days late for this reflection. Nonetheless, the Gospel for this past Sunday–the fourth Sunday of Lent–was beautiful. Let us begin with what the words of the Holy Father:

The Sunday of the man born blind presents Christ as the light of the world. The Gospel confronts each one of us with the question: “Do you believe in the Son of man?” “Lord, I believe!” (Jn 9: 35. 38), the man born blind joyfully exclaims, giving voice to all believers. The miracle of this healing is a sign that Christ wants not only to give us sight, but also open our interior vision, so that our faith may become ever deeper and we may recognize him as our only Savior. He illuminates all that is dark in life and leads men and women to live as “children of the light”.

It seems to me that this Gospel reading, the story of Jesus and the blind man, is about freedom–though certainly not limited to that. “He illuminates all that is dark in life and leads men and women to live as ‘children of the light’”. Darkness inhibits life. The inability to interact with reality and to be a receptor of the created order fundamentally separates one from an abundant life. Enter Christ.

Letter & Spirit volume 6 has finally been completed, and I would recommend pre-ordering it now to get your own copy when it comes hot off the press anyday now (http://www.amazon.com/Letter-Spirit-Vol-Salvation-Humility/dp/1931018685/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301604708&sr=1-1). This volume has been a long time in the making, and in some sense, can be said to be inspired by the 2008 Synod on the Word of God. That October synod was an amazing event, and I am sure it will bear much fruit to come. Pope Benedict XVI’s recent post-synodal apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini(http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20100930_verbum-domini_en.html) is one of the results of the synod. One area which the synod left uncompleted (as did Verbum Domini) was the issue of the nature and scope of biblical inspiration and the related issue of inerrancy. Pope Benedict XVI has asked the Pontifical Biblical Commission, an advisory body composed of biblical scholars, to study the issues of inspiration and inerrancy. Letter & Spirit 6 represents a significant contribution to the conversation about Catholic views concerning biblical inspiration, and interpretations of Dei Verbum no. 11.

Here’s the journal’s contents for those of you who are interested:

Today’s Gospel reading is about Jesus’ dialogue with the Samaritan woman about thirst and water. The Holy Father’s brief synopsis from his lenten reflection is the following:

The question that Jesus puts to the Samaritan woman: “Give me a drink” (Jn 4: 7), is presented to us in the liturgy of the third Sunday; it expresses the passion of God for every man and woman, and wishes to awaken in our hearts the desire for the gift of “a spring of water within, welling up for eternal life” (Jn 4: 14): this is the gift of the Holy Spirit, who transforms Christians into “true worshipers,” capable of praying to the Father “in spirit and truth” (Jn 4: 23). Only this water can extinguish our thirst for goodness, truth and beauty! Only this water, given to us by the Son, can irrigate the deserts of our restless and unsatisfied soul, until it “finds rest in God”, as per the famous words of St. Augustine.

My favorite part of this interpretation is found in the ending, when the Holy Father tells that it is the Holy Spirit alone who can “irrigate the deserts of our restless and unsatisfied soul”. The human person is thirsty. Without a doubt, there is some sort of primeval emptiness in the human heart, a perennial search for completeness. What can satisfy the heart, the core of man?

Hebrew written over Akylas' Greek translation of the OT

Up until recently, common scholarly opinion was that Jews stopped using the Greek translation of the OT fairly early.¹ Even when scholars conceded that Ethiopian Jews continue to use the Septuagint (LXX), the claim was that this is completely unique within the world of Judaism, without even remote parallels. Recently, scholars at Cambridge University working on the documents from the Cairo Genizah have discovered OT texts from the medieval period that are in Greek translation, but were transliterated into Hebrew. What that means is that these texts are in the Greek language—they are translations from earlier Hebrew copies—but then scribes wrote the Greek words using Hebrew letters.² This is not the only example of such transliterations within Judaism, e.g. the Constantinople Pentateuch from 1547 includes side-by-side columns of the Pentateuch written in Aramaic, Greek, Hebrew, and Spanish, all in Hebrew script.³ The Cambridge find, however, is absolutely amazing! And it shows that the Greek OT was in use within the world of Judaism long into the medieval period (10^th to 13^th centuries!!!). Different Greek translations are present in these Genizah documents, but they include the LXX.⁴

Continuing on with our journey through Benedict’s Message for Lent this year, we come to the Second Sunday of Lent, which is the Transfiguration. The Holy Father writes:

The Gospel of the Transfiguration of the Lord puts before our eyes the glory of Christ, which anticipates the resurrection and announces the divinization of man. The Christian community becomes aware that Jesus leads it, like the Apostles Peter, James and John “up a high mountain by themselves” (Mt 17:1), to receive once again in Christ, as sons and daughters in the Son, the gift of the grace of God: “This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favor. Listen to him” (Mt 17:5). It is the invitation to take a distance from the noisiness of everyday life in order to immerse oneself in God’s presence. He desires to hand down to us, each day, a Word that penetrates the depths of our spirit, where we discern good from evil (cf. Heb 4:12), reinforcing our will to follow the Lord.

A few days ago, I posted some quotes and reflections from C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. This will likely turn into a series, as I find more and more awesome Lewisian utterances! Consider the following:

What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like gods’–could set up on their own as if they had created themselves–be their own masters–invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside G0d, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history–money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery–the long terrible story of man trying to find something other God that will make him happy.

This quote by itself could generate a post (if not more) alone. To be brief, let me point out one point that struck me. I think Lewis is suggesting that man will most mess up, when he attempts to be his own author. The self cannot self-construct itself. It may only be discovered in others, and in sum, in the Ultimate Other, namely God who is the Creator.We possess nothing: not ourselves, not the capability to invent or construct the self, and certainly not the power to invent entities of happiness or self-satisfaction. I propose that the most mature self is the emptiest, most kenotic, self. That’s when the “self” is, in fact, most itself: when it is in the hands of God at the service of others.

In Jeffrey Morrow’s recent post, he suggests a prayerful reading of Pope Benedict XVI’s lenten message. I second that suggestion. The Holy Father’s words are touching, beautiful and enlightening. As somewhat a response to Morrow’s post, I have decided to write a brief, personal reflection over the text of the Pope’s lenten message. What I would like to do is develop this into a short series given each week of Lent. I propose this because the Holy Father, in his message, offers a theological synopsis of each Gospel reading on the given Lenten Sundays. Hence, he writes this message with a chronological, theological flow in mind. As best I can on a blog and with my limited theological knowledge, I want to reflect upon and follow the theology weekly. And I invite you, reader, to accompany me on the journey! Let us begin:

The Holy Father begins with an invitation to the Church: to intensify her journey in purifying the spirit, “so as to draw more abundantly from the Mystery of Redemption the new life in Christ the Lord”. Through this invitation, Benedict introduces Baptism, explaining that this life “was already bestowed upon us on the day of our Baptism, when we ‘become sharers in Christ’s death and Resurrection’, and there began for us ‘the joyful and exulting adventure of his disciples’”. After quoting from the writings of Paul, the Holy Father comes to a beautiful conclusion:

Lent is upon us. It is a time of renewal, a time of purification. I thought I would post just a few comments to help get us in the right frame of mind.

I love the season of Lent. It is the perfect time to get one’s life in order. It is the perfect season to reflect upon our relationship with God in an even deeper way than usual. We have many disciplines to help us, especially the practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. To be clear, it is important that we pray at all times and in all seasons, not just in Lent. Likewise, it is good for us to fast and habitually practice small mortifications, small penances, small acts of loving reparation, throughout our lives even outside of Lent (and outside of Fridays throughout the year). And, it’s never a bad time to give alms; “now” is always the perfect time. But in Lent, the Church lays a special emphasis on these practices to help us through our desert journey. In Lent, we travel with Jesus (and with all of the saints who have gone before us) into the wilderness, toward the joy which Easter brings.