Author Archives: vhoagland

St.Ignatius of Antioch: October 17

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Ignatius, bishop of the large early Christian center of Antioch, was put to death in the third century in the Colosseum in Rome during the reign of Trajan. His death by wild animals is vividly portrayed in the picture (above) in the church of San Stefano Rotondo in Rome. We celebrate his feast October 17th..

On the way to Rome, Ignatius wrote seven letters to important Christian churches. The letters show him as a skillful teacher and writer; he must have been an eloquent preacher.

In his letter to the Christians at Ephesus,  however, you sense his days for words are coming to an end. He’s entering the silence of death where words are not important, Ignatius writes–  faith and “ being faithful to the end,” are what count:

“It is better to remain silent and to be than to talk and not be. Teaching is good if the teacher also acts. One teacher ‘spoke, and it was done,’ yet what he did in silence was worthy of the Father. He who has the word of Jesus can also listen to his silence…”

What does Ignatius mean? The Word of God silent? True, in his early years at Nazareth, Jesus is silent. Before his baptism in the Jordan by John he’s silent, until the voice of the Father says, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.”

Then his public ministry began, yet many didn’t hear him at all. Finally, when he’s arrested and taken to the cross to die, the evangelists say  Jesus was silent.

Silence is part of facing the mystery of God. Here and now, some things can’t be known or explained. Like terrorism, natural disasters, the suffering of children. Why? God is silent. Again,  Ignatius:

“He who has the word of Jesus can truly listen also to his silence.”

Martyrs like Ignatius made early Christians aware of what it meant to follow Jesus. It meant following Jesus into the silence of his death and his promise of resurrection. Some, however, were not so brave. As religious persecutions increased, many Christians abandoned their faith rather than face death. All they could see was this world.

The martyr became a significant figure in Christianity, a faithful follower of Jesus, an example for Christians to see further than this life. That’s why martyrs are so frequent in our calendar.

The martyr was also a powerful advocate for the mercy of God, who could turn our fear of death into hope. In the pictures of above, powerful lions tear into the saint, but his face is not turned to them, but to the One who promises life “I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.”

Who are the Romans Paul writes to?

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Who are the Romans Paul writes to in his letter to the church in Rome? Historians say Jews were the predominant group that first embraced Christianity in Rome, but there were not many Jewish converts at first. A substantial population of Jews at the time lived in Trastevere, across the Tiber River. Claudius had to expel some of them from the city around the year 47 because of violent disturbances in the Trastevere synagogues over Christ. It’s unlikely there was a large number of converts to Christianity from Judaism when Paul wrote his letter. 

Many Jews in Rome, faithful to Judaism, would strongly question Paul’s argument that the law was a failure.

Not many Romans, Gentiles, embraced the gospel early on either. I doubt the majority of the Romans would agree with Paul that the Roman gods had failed. Rome was a powerful, successful empire in Paul’s day.  I doubt many thought too much about its flaws.

The Christian community made up of Jews and Gentiles was not large, if my reading of Paul’s time is accurate. The Christians of Rome were fervent, but few. 

In his letter, Paul pictures sin as a cosmic reality, but cosmic sin is not always easy to see. It was not easy to see in Paul’s day, nor is it easy to see in our day. We identify sin with personal sin, murder, theft, cheating, adultery. Paul is aware of personal sin, yet his focus is on cosmic sin. Harder to see who’s responsible for cosmic sin. Who’s responsible for the sin in wars, armament races, manipulation of world markets, plundering the environment? 

The Letter to the Romans has a large place in the Sunday and weekday readings of our lectionary. It can be difficult to read, but we need Paul’s larger picture, which calls for a larger hope. Until the final coming of Jesus, we must live in the world pictured by the apostle. 

We thank God for his grace of forgiveness and his promise of new life.

Epistle to the Romans: Cosmic Sin

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We read this week and for the next 4 weeks from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, Paul’s most important letter. The letter isn’t easy to follow, but that shouldn’t stop us from reflecting on it. Paul preaches a gospel that reveals the power of God, and it’s meant for everyone, Jews and Greeks alike. “ There is no partiality with God.”

Paul describes the failure of the Gentiles who were able to know God through creation:

“Ever since the creation of the world,
his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity
have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made.” (Romans 1:16-25)

Jews and Gentiles alike were given the light of creation:                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

“The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day,
and night to night imparts knowledge.” (Psalm 19)

Like the Jews blind to the Law, the Gentiles failed to see God’s wisdom revealed in creation. Both fell into the darkness of a sinful world. 

Both are saved by a righteous God, a God whose love is revealed in righting what’s wrong, the wrong found in a sinful world. 

Paul describes a sinful world held in the grip of cosmic sin, which is like cancer that spreads beyond human control. Only God can break its hold. We cannot save ourselves or the world we live in. God’s power alone can save us and our world, even as God asks us to share in his saving work.

What is cosmic sin in today’s world? It’s racism that denies all are equal before God, consumerism that looks for heaven in things and human experiences, market capitalism that pursues economic goals unmindful of the poor.  Cosmic sin is war multiplying worldwide; it’s an arms race ending in destruction instead of security; it’s the plundering of creation.

The righteous  God rights the sinful world through Jesus Christ, who brings forgiveness and is a sign of God’s patience.

St. Teresa of Avila: October 15

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October 15th is the feast of Teresa of Avila, one of three women “doctors of the church.”. On the 500th anniversary of her birth, Pope Francis described her as “primarily a teacher of prayer. The discovery of Christ’s humanity was central to her experience.”

The aim of prayer for Teresa was not to bring inner balance or get your blood pressure down– goals some see for meditation today.“ For Teresa prayer opens new horizons; it’s a call to a great undertaking, to see the world with the eyes of Christ, to seek what He seeks and to love what He loves. We should listen to her.

Far from taking us away from the world and retreating into ourselves, prayer calls us to go beyond ourselves.

Teresa knew what living day by day means. She lived day by day herself. How did she do it? By daily prayer, by following Jesus Christ daily, by looking for the daily bread God gives us, by doing God’s will.

Saint Teresa, wise woman you are, be with us  these days. Make them days of blessing!

Here’s a prayer found in her prayerbook, which she must have said everyday.

Let nothing disturb you,
nothing frighten you.
All things are passing,
God is unchanging.
Patience wins everything.
Who has God lacks nothing.
God alone suffices.

Follow Jesus Christ, Teresa says:

“Unlike our friends in the world,  Jesus will never abandon us when we are troubled or distressed. Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near. Look at the glorious Saint Paul: it seems that no other name fell from his lips than that of Jesus, because the name of Jesus was fixed and embedded in his heart. 

Once I had come to understand this truth, I carefully considered the lives of some of the saints, the great contemplatives, and found that they took no other path: Francis, Anthony of Padua, Bernard, Catherine of Siena. A person must walk along this path in freedom, placing himself in God’s hands. If God should desire to raise us to the position of one who is an intimate and shares his secrets, we ought to accept this gladly.

Whenever we think of Christ we should recall the love that led him to bestow on us so many graces and favours, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of his love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love him. For if at some time the Lord should grant us the grace of impressing his love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and without effort.”

Writings, Teresa of Avila

Callistus: Slave Becomes Pope

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St. Callistus, Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere

Callistus, the saint in our calendar today, was a slave who became pope in 217 AD. Slaves not only did lowly demeaning work in the Roman Empire, they were bank managers and school teachers and fulfilled other professional duties as well. Tradition says Callistus was a Christian slave who was a financial manager for one of Rome’s royal families. He was accused of mismanagement but then found innocent.

 When Zephyrinus became bishop of Rome, he called on Callistus to serve as deacon in charge of a large Christian cemetery along the Via Appia, which today bears his name. Not only did Callistus bury the dead, he also cared for and supported the families they left behind.

Zephyrinus died in 217 A.D and Callistus succeeded him as pope by popular choice. Roman Christians saw him, not a slave, but a man of faith who could guide and lead them. The church grew under his leadership.

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Tradition says Callistus built a place of prayer where healing oil welled up, at or near a hospice for old or sick soldiers in Trastevere. Today the beautiful Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere stands on the spot. Inscriptions from the cemetery of Callistus are embedded in its structure.The place where the healing oil was found is marked in the church and Callistus’ remains are buried under its main altar. He’s pictured in the great mosaic in the church’s apse. (above)

As pope, Callistus advanced certain causes. He favored free women being able to marry slaves. He favored ordination for men who had been married two or three times. He also maintained that the church could forgive all sins, even the sin of denying one’s faith.

Some opposed Callistus because his views clashed with their own rigorous views, but Callistus shared St. Paul’s conviction: There is “neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free person, neither male nor female.” (Galatians 3,28) Mercy is God’s gift to be experienced by all..

Callistus’ remains were found by archeologists in 1960. He is counted as a Christian martyr, but the circumstances of his death remain uncertain. The historian Eamon Duffy says he was murdered by a mob angered by Christian expansion in the already crowded district of Trastevere. (Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes, p 14) As Christians grew in number the church became a substantial property owner, caring for 1,500 widows and other in need by 251 AD.

On August 2, 258, Pope Sixtus II and four deacons were martyred while celebrating the Eucharist in the catacombs of Callistus in Rome. Four days later, Lawrence the deacon was executed. Rome’s emperors, like Decius and Valerian, annoyed by Christian expansion and seeking their assets, began a series of persecutions that led to the church’s further growth.

Santa Maria in Trastevere, interior

Paul’s Letter to the Romans

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We read Paul’s Letter to the Romans this week and for the next four weeks. It’s his longest and most theological letter. He assures the Romans he’s coming to Rome as a visitor on his way to Spain, but he never will get there. He arrives in Rome under arrest and is killed outside the city.

Paul knows a surprising number of people in the Roman church. He obviously hopes they will support him on his Spanish mission. His mission is to bring the gospel to the whole world. 

In his letters Paul doesn’t refer to incidents in Jesus’ life, such as his miracles, or quotations from his teaching or his parables. We do that as a matter of course in talking or teaching about faith today. 

True, the gospels were not written when Paul wrote, likely in 56 to 58 from Corinth, but certainly the stories of Jesus’ life and summaries of his teaching were circulating in Christian preaching at the time. Why doesn’t Paul use them?

Does he see the mystery of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus an immediate mystery, taking place now? The gospels bring us back to the time of Jesus, the events of his life and the words of his teaching. Does Paul see the death and resurrection of Jesus as a mystery happening now. Jesus is not dead, but living in the world here and now. 

Paul’s not interested in introducing us to someone of the past, but someone who shares himself and his promise with us now. Is that why Paul’s letters are read with the gospels, so that we may understand they are happening now, in our time, in us? Maybe so.

Fr. Frank J. Matera wrote a book “Preaching Romans: Proclaiming God’s Saving Grace” (Liturgical Press 2010) . I’ll be reading it as we go through Paul’s letter.

28th Sunday c: The Gift of Life

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For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

Pope John XXIII: October 11

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Three popes involved in the Second Vatican Council have been canonized: Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II.. They were declared saints, not just because they were popes, but because of their holiness and their involvement and promotion of the council. 

Three months after his election as pope in 1958, Pope John XXIII, whom we remember today,  called for a general council. It was to an “aggiornomento” , an updating of the church for bringing its message to the people of our time and the world of today. His official biography, which  can be found here ends, “Since his death on June 3, 1963, much has been written and spoken about the warmth and holiness of the beloved Pope John. Perhaps the testimony of the world was best expressed by a newspaper drawing of the earth shrouded in mourning with the simple caption, “A Death in the Family.” 

I was fortunate to meet Pope John personally in 1962 when Father Theodore Foley and I accompanied  Bishop Quentin Olwell, bishop of Cotabato, in the Philippines, on his “ad Limina” visit to Rome. The pope told me to “be like St. Gabriel.” That year Pope John was named Time Magazine’s Man of the Year. 

The popes often describe the council as the path the church must take into the future. Some years ago at a synod of bishops,  Pope Francis described that path as the road Jesus took from Jericho to Jerusalem to enter the  mystery of his death and resurrection.  It’s a winding road, not easy to travel. Here’s a  picture of it from the air in the 1930s.

That’s the road our church is on today. 

The Day of the Lord: Joel

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Tombs facing the Kidron Valley

Some prophets may leave little information about themselves. The Prophet Joel is a post-exilic prophet we know little about, yet he offers an important insight into the mystery of God in our readings from him this week at Mass.

The Day of the Lord will come, Joel says, when Judea is a desolate, impoverished land, without rain and infested by locusts. In those dire times the Day of the Lord will come. God will hear the cries of his people complaining about their enemies’ taunts: “Where is your God?”

He even predicts the place the Day of the Lord will come, bringing God’s justice and peace: the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the Kidron Valley, lying between the Mount of Olives and the temple of Jerusalem. There God will destroy his enemies and pour blessings on Jerusalem and his holy people, and for this reason Jews through the centuries wished to be buried there. (Joel 4, 12-21)

Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley on his way to the Mount of Olives the night before he died. On that dark night, he pleaded with his Father in heaven to take away the cup of suffering. He faced the great enemy Death, that cries out: “Where is your God?” He died and rose again in Jerusalem, on the Day of the Lord.

Surely Jesus remembered the words of Joel as he prayed on the Mount of Olives, facing the Kidron Valley and the Holy City.

The Apostle Peter quoted Joel when he spoke in Jerusalem at Pentecost forty days after Jesus’ death and resurrection: “It will come to pass in the last days, God says, that I will pour out a portion of my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams…I will work wonders in the heavens above and signs of the earth below…” (Acts 2, 17-19)

The Spirit is “poured out” on the living and the dead on the Day of the Lord.

The Prophet Malachi

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We are reading from the Book of the Prophet Malachi. Commentators call him a minor prophet and we read from his writings in our lectionary only one day. Hardly anything is known about him. The best guess is that he wrote shortly after or shortly before the Jews returned from exile in Babylon, and he describes what they were like.

The USCCB commentary says they have a “weary attitude, a cynical notion that nothing is to be gained by doing what God wants and that wrongdoers prosper.” In other words, they have given up and have no hope in God’s plan. They have given up hope in their own religious tradition. 

You have said, “It is vain to serve God,
and what do we profit by keeping his command,
And going about in penitential dress
in awe of the LORD of hosts?
Rather must we call the proud blessed;
for indeed evildoers prosper,
and even tempt God with impunity.”

Malachi may be a minor prophet, but minor prophets need to be heard too. Could he be describing our weary attitude today? How many have given up hope in their religious tradition, hope in the world, hope in God?

Yet, God is faithful. He has promised to “speak to the weary, a word that will rouse them.”  Another prophet said that.  There’s an interesting line in the reading from Malachi: “Then they who fear the LORD spoke with one another,
and the LORD listened attentively.” Those who fear the Lord need to talk with one another. Good advice.

This is a time to listen to the prophets.