Sunday Homily 8-17-08, 20th, Ordinary Time
Readings: Isaiah 56, 1-7; Psalm 67; Romans 11, 13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15, 21-28.
Romans: For months we have been using as our second reading Paul's letter to the Romans. I have not mentioned it or even included in the homilies for two reasons:
- It is not related to the other two readings. The Gospel & the first reading attempt to follow a theme. The second reading continues the same book week after week and if it relates it is accidental.
- It is dense. 7 letters are considered written by Paul who wrote this one probably around 55 A.D., while he was in Corinth, Greece, and in anticipation of a visit to Rome. It is the most complete statement of his understanding of the Christian faith. Some scholars consider it his masterpiece, but it is often difficult to understand.
The Assumption
This past Friday the Catholic Church celebrated one of its big feast days, the Assumption of Mary into heaven. The meaning: Mary, after she finished her time on earth, was taken bodily into heaven. Let me talk about this feast. 4 observations.
1. The history of the belief. The idea that Mary was taken up bodily into heaven got going by at least the 5th century. People thought that she was rewarded for her role in redemption by this action on God's part.
2. The history of the declaration. In November, 1950, Pius XII declared this event to be a dogma of the Catholic Church, that is, you have to believe it if you are a Catholic. It was the first and only doctrine declared under papal infallibility, a doctrine proclaimed by Pius IX in 1870.
The story behind both of these dates is quite interesting. 1870 is the date of Italian unification. Up to this time there was no united peninsula, no Italy like today. There were at least three big parts: north, south, and right in the middle the Papal States.
The people wanted those states to be part of the whole. Pius IX was adamantly against ceding an inch of his property. When the people won the property deal , Pius withdrew into the Vatican, declared himself a prisoner of the Vatican, appealed to France who did not help him, and finally declared that what he said as pope on faith & morals was infallible, despite the advice of the majority of his consul tors.
In 1950 the Second World War was finished and the world was stunned into shock by the revelation of the Holocaust. Pius XII himself was downcast by the Holocaust. Moreover, he was getting some heat because he did not stand up more strenuously to Hitler. He had been Vatican ambassador to Germany during the build up of the Third Reich, so he knew the atmosphere well. On top of that, there was evidence that at least one senior vatican official was complicit in sending Jews to the death camps.
Pius XII might have experienced some shame. In the face of the brutality of the Holocaust, Pius decided to make a dramatic statement to show the sacredness of the human person, body included, by declaring the assumption of Mary's body into heaven a dogma.
3. The basis in Scripture for the doctrine. There is none. What is taking place here, is that Pius is articulating what has been considered a belief for centuries. It has been believed for, say, 10-15 centuries. Therefore, it took place. There is a weakness here, of course. What can be asserted a fact without evidence, can be discarded without evidence.
4. The Assumption in my life. 50 years ago Friday I walked into the Jesuit novitiate in Grand Coteau, LA. 30 of us entered more or less together. Two of my classmates celebrated Friday in New Orleans or Mobile when the Jesuit Province gathered to celebrate anniversaries.
On that day 50 years ago my life took a 180 degree turn from being a typical bratty teen ager to a monk. From days spent with friends, girls, music, cars, and radios, I entered a world of silence, meditation, physical work, and study. Feast days were eagerly anticipated and the Assumption was one of the big ones. I took vows twice on August 15 and the date is still big with Jesuits. It comes at a convenient time at the end of the summer and before the school year.
I still celebrate August 15, and in 2004 I did it in a special way. You may have heard. This is the story. It was earlier that week that I returned from the annual Yosemite trip and was told unexpectedly that I had been suspended by the bishop because of an anonymous letter saying Stack wanted to get married. Why then? Who knows? I had been saying this for years, ever since returning from East Africa.
August 15 that year was a Sunday. Where was I always on Sunday mornings? St. Marks. 10:30 that morning, when I would have been starting the cafetorium Mass, Rosemary & I were watering trees at Fretz Park, Belt Line & Hillcrest. I had gotten out of the truck to repair a tree, got up, and went into a disassociation state that lasted until about 5:00 that evening. I woke up looking out the bay window of the living room on Tulip Lane. Rosemary & Libby had taken me to the emergency room, thinking I had a stroke. I had been released when they found nothing. It was stress induced. I have run into this defense mechanism in people over the years as a priest & psychotherapist. I never thought that I might try it, but you never know totally what your inner spirit is feeling.
The stress, of course, was over getting suspended, being turned away by St. Marks, and facing another 180 degree turn around in my life.
Guess what: it was all worth it and I could not be happier. Actually, both 180 degree turns in my life were special blessings.
The Assumption was the feast Friday. What do you think about it? What do you believe?
AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-08-17.mp3