Blog Archives

The Golden Rule

10/29/2018

Today, this Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time we have the opportunity to hear the same piece of Scripture twice! In the First Reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, we hear Moses say the Shema Israel (a prayer which Jews recite twice each day); a prayer with which we Christians are familiar. “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”

The second part we know specifically as the “Golden Rule.” “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If you study all the great world religions, you will find this basic tenet contained in all of them. It is all about giving credit to God for all there is (loving God), and respecting all of His creation. Jesus, as a good Jew, knows that God is always first; and then He also ties the love of neighbor to God. The two rules are conjoined: you can’t love God and then treat others badly, carelessly, thoughtlessly and hatefully.

There was a story of a great Talmudic rabbi named Hillel who lived around the time of Jesus. A Pagan man came to him and told him he would convert to Judaism if Hillel could teach him the (entire) Talmud while standing on one leg. (That would be somewhat like teaching the entire Bible while standing on one leg.) Hillel stood on one leg and said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. That is the whole idea of the Talmud─the rest is just commentary. Now go and learn.”

We know the Ten Commandments, we know our laws and prohibitions, but it really does come down to these two simple phrases of Jesus in the Gospel. All we believe as Christians boils down to a very simple tenet: love. In all things we are called to always act and speak in love alone. The hard thing is to live this law, to live this Golden Rule. We see this so clearly these days—just turn on your TV, look at facebook or follow twitter. The challenge we face as true disciples of Christ is to live always in the consciousness of loving God and each other with everything we have, to be present and to be aware of God as love, with everything we are—all of our being. Then, as Jesus says today, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” I’d like to see that kingdom here and now, wouldn’t you?

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

God Goes Camping

10/20/2018

Did you know God goes camping? He’s done so with the Israelites for thousands of years, and continues to do so today with the New Israel - the Catholic Church - through His Sacraments. God has pitched His tent among us in order to teach us His ways and draw us into an ever deepening relationship with Him. If you’re looking for where in Livonia God has pitched His tent, look no further than our new tabernacle here at St. Aidan’s.

“Tabernacle” means “tent” and was the place where God dwelled among His people Israel in their journey through the desert to the Promised Land. When the Israelites pitched camp, this portable tent was erected to house the Ark of the Covenant. In the center of the Israelite’s camp, the Lord dwelled in their midst.

The tabernacle concept is picked up in the New Testament, where the author of the Letter to the Hebrews identifies Jesus as the priest of the heavenly tabernacle, which is the true one (cf. 8:2, 5). In the end, this heavenly tabernacle will descend to earth, where God will dwell with His people, hence the imagery of the new heavens and the new earth mentioned in the Book of Revelation (cf. 21:3).

During this in-between time prior to the consummation of the world, Jesus dwells among us in Catholic churches through His Eucharistic Presence, reserved in a tabernacle such as our new one. The reservation of the Eucharist is a reminder to us that Jesus’ presence comes about in the Sacrifice of the Mass. But it is also a reminder of the charity we are to have for the sick and the dying, for reserving the Eucharist was first done for their sake, and it is some of these Hosts that are brought to these of our parish who cannot join us for Mass.

The prayers employed in the blessing of a tabernacle give us a deeper insight into its function:

In adoring Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist, we should be led to a deeper appreciation of the mystery of the saving work He wrought for us;

Invisibly present with us in the tabernacle, we pray that the grace which comes from Jesus’ one sacrifice may be of help and strength to us as we journey to heaven;

Finally, in prayerfully visiting Jesus dwelling in the tabernacle, we should realize that only in Him are life’s deepest desires met; that in Him alone will we find life’s real source of satisfaction and the final answer to the longings of our heart.

Grateful for God’s tabernacle among us,

David J. Conrad

Singing Servants

10/20/2018

This Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time both the Old Testament reading and the Gospel today speak of suffering servants. In Isaiah we hear that the will of the Lord will be accomplished through the suffering of God’s servants. The Gospel today reminds us that Jesus came to serve, and we disciples are called to emulate His example.

How can we not answer the call to serve? Service may be lived out in our parish and our Community in many ways, and in many ministries—indeed, this weekend we will have our Festival of Ministries at St. Aidan. All of our liturgical ministries need volunteers—including the Music Ministry for which I am responsible. Our Church documents remind us all that although there are some particular Ministers of Music (the actual members of the ensembles), all members of the body of Christ are called to sing! (I sometimes look around when announcing the hymns to see who bothers to pick up a hymnal…)

You can ask: why sing? Or even, why join the Music Ministry? Our Church documents tell us that the liturgy, our Sunday worship, is “the great song of praise of God’s people.” This song forms us into the body of Christ, into union, and into Communion with each other. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) says singing together will “intensify the unity of the people.” This is our mission! In the liturgy, the Music Ministry helps the Assembly to hear and to pray the Word of God; and so helps us all encounter Christ⎯the living song of God. We are all called to sing in thankfulness of God’s faithfulness. We all sing that God’s mercy is greater than our sin; we sing that God’s love is stronger than death.

So, where, then, is the suffering part of suffering servants? For our St. Aidan musicians it means keeping the Thursday evening rehearsal commitment when it is easier to stay at home for some (or any) reason. It is wanting to sleep late and attend the 11:30 Mass, but you get up and go early because we are scheduled to sing the 9:30am Mass. It is letting our families know when planning gatherings and events that you are serious about this ministry commitment. It is singing for Christmas Midnight Mass (or the Easter Saturday Vigil) and then getting up the next morning to sing Mass again although your formal ‘obligation’ to attend Mass has already been fulfilled—not that this suffering, really. It is Sacrificial—but such a joy to serve!

Of course, we all know this is obviously not the same suffering as what Christ endured for us; but it is serving the Community with your ability, your gifts; your time and talent and treasure (all gifts from God)—even when it is not convenient or easy. The funny thing is that while serving the people of St. Aidan, you will find that you will receive in turn: the satisfaction of helping someone; the joy of relationships in communities of work, service and love; the fulfillment of working in this ‘field of souls.’ And this weekend you will find that there are so many ministries in our parish from which to choose!

If you do have the gift of a pleasant voice and can sing in tune; and if you love music—please consider signing up for the Music Ministry. If you play an instrument, come and see me, talk to me. If music isn’t in you, isn’t your particular forte, then find another mission at the Festival. Still, and always:

Keep singing! (At least from the pew…)

Elizabeth Dyc

Wisdom & Weddings

10/15/2018

Today, the readings for this Twenty-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time are some of my all-time favorite scripture. The readings today are very special for me because my husband James and I chose this particular day⎯the Twenty-Eighth Sunday (in Cycle B)⎯as the date for our nuptials. We celebrate eighteen years together! We married in the presence of the St. Christopher Community during a regularly scheduled Saturday afternoon Mass, with Fr. Rick Hartmann as the Church’s witness (and my former boss and pastor twice, the last time before I came to St. Aidan). Jim and I picked the date of our wedding from the Lectionary based on these readings because they spoke to us about our faith belief and our future together.

The First Reading is an exquisite piece of poetry from the Book of Wisdom comparing wisdom to a woman. If you turn from power, wealth and beauty in favor of wisdom, all good things will “come together in her company” for you, and you will receive “countless riches at her hands.” Certainly, in these terribly divisive times—where many choices seem driven by money, greed, power and profit—our hope and prayer would be that all persons (especially those in any position of leadership) would heed this wisdom from above. The riches you receive from wise choices and actions are not about your bottom line… This reading was Jim’s favorite of the readings today, as he said it represented how he felt to marry late in life, having finally found the right girl…

My personal favorite is the Psalm for today (#90): “Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy.” I love the ‘singing for joy’ as a response to being filled with God’s love. I feel that it describes what drives my Ministry! This Psalm is also a petition for God’s guidance, wisdom and kindness—and we all have need of that—most especially at the start of forming any new family! We also pray in this Psalm that the care of God will be ours; and that He will prosper the work of our hands.

The New Testament reading from the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that “the word of God is living and effective, sharper than a two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.” The Word of God cuts deep and to the bone. There is no hiding from the truth, no alternative facts, as we will all “render an account” to God for our words and deeds.

The Gospel today is the familiar story of the rich man compared to a camel passing through the eye of a needle. It is all about our priorities, our choices and our chances for salvation.

These readings for this day, my Wedding Anniversary, will ever be a reminder for Jim and me of God’s place in the everyday life of husband and wife and home. Today we ask for: the wisdom of God above all earthly things; to be filled with God’s love; to prosper our work; to live in the truth; and to choose salvation. The readings today use marriage as the paradigm relationship for all who are Baptized in Christ. God always, first and foremost; and we all need to love, honor and cherish each other. What a great gift! Happy Anniversary, Jim!

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

The Church is...

10/7/2018

…holy. Wait. What? Yes, the Church is holy, “though having sinners in her midst, because she herself has no other life but the life of grace. If they live her life, her members are sanctified; if they move away from her life, they fall into sins and disorders that prevent the radiation of her sanctity. This is why she suffers and does penance for those offenses, of which she has the power to free her children through the blood of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit” (CCC, 827). What is this “life of grace” that the Church has despite “having sinners in her midst”? Why is this life difficult to see sometimes? This apparent contradiction can lead people to exclaim, “How can the Church make claims X, Y and Z, yet fail to live up to what it preaches?” People look at the Church with incredulousness, some even with downright scorn. Catholics themselves feel shame and experience confusion; some are scandalized and tempted to leave the Church, or suggest that if only the Church were reshaped in some way bad things wouldn’t happen.

The apparent contradiction derives from the fact that the Church has an “inside” and an “outside”. The “inside” of the Church consists of those realities that make her what she is in God’s saving plan: the continuance of the Incarnation and of Pentecost, the Body of Christ living with His Spirit and so able to bring human beings to the Father. On the other hand, the Church has an “outside”: a public, social existence in human history. This “outside” must find expression through her liturgy, law, the culture in which she finds herself, because all of these – worship, government, making, thinking, doing – are necessary features of any human society here on earth, where we are in the condition of pilgrims on the journey to heaven.

As we have been painfully reminded, there will never be a perfect correspondence between the “inside” and “outside” of the Church. Instead, there is the promise of Christ that the reality of salvation will always be communicated through the Church no matter what human frailties afflict her in her earthly course. This does not mean that attention to the outward aspect of the Church is a waste of time: her liturgical forms, law, sacred art, theological life and practices are of vital importance.

From the perspective of those outside the Church, her public side is all that is seen. If that outward side is seriously distorted, then the inward reality will be obstructed in its’ outworking. To perceive the inwardness of the Church always requires God’s grace; if its outward expression is distorted people will need special grace. From the perspective of the Church’s members, corruptions of the Church’s self-expression in the world tend to negatively impact the way the faithful think of the theological glory within. If the Church as an observable body in human history is too ghastly, it becomes harder to maintain our dogmatic faith that she is, nevertheless, Christ’s own Body, and yes, still His Bride.

Fr. Ron Rolheiser, in his book: “The Holy Longing,” succinctly sums up this simultaneous “inside” and “outside” reality of the Church:

To be connected with the church is to be associated with scoundrels, warmongers, fakes, child-molesters, murderers, adulterers and hypocrites of every description.

It also, at the same time, identifies you with saints and the finest persons of heroic soul of every time, country, race, and gender.

To be a member of the church is to carry the mantle of both the worst sin and the finest heroism of soul because the church always looks exactly as it looked at the original crucifixion, God hung among thieves.

The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church; Christ’s mission remains and the Church is His vehicle for it. May we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in manifesting the Church’s inner reality, as it deserves to be.

David J. Conrad

One Flesh, Our Vow of Love

10/7/2018

You are most likely familiar with today’s first reading if you have had the opportunity to attend a wedding recently. This Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time begins with the familiar Genesis reading in which God creates a partner for man: “It is not good for man to be alone. God took one of his ribs…built it up into a woman…brought her to the man. The man said: “This one…is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh…”

The Gospel reading speaks about marriage and divorce⎯but it is less an instruction in this than it is about hardness of hearts in any relationship. Think about the image of marriage: vows to love, cherish and honor one another⎯this is what we are called by our baptism to do for all people! Today we are asked to examine our attitudes and behaviors that shape all of our relationships; whether in marriage or family or parish or community.

The vows in a marriage ceremony contain the words; “No longer two, but one flesh. Let no one divide what God has joined…” This would be great advice for any and all relationships! We are joined in community, in the body of Christ, by our baptism and our belief. So: today we will choose to live in love. Our human existence is full of jealousy, cynicism, hat, and judgement, so we will not allow those toxic attitudes to dominate our lives. Instead, we can choose to consciously imitate Jesus' example of loving people—even, and especially, the ones we don't like—by turning the other cheek and returning good for evil. We have promised to love, cherish and honor each other. We can only keep doing our best; we will make mistakes, and all we can do is forgive and just keep trying to do better.

Today we live in such a fractured and divided society; we are driven by partisan feelings and choices, and yet we know that God has made us in His own image. It takes a holy resolve to honor our promises as baptized Christians to escape being tossed about by feelings of fear, greed and selfishness. So: today we can choose to will live by our faith. We don't know what lies ahead or what surprises (joyful or sorrowful) may come to any of us today. But we know that God has promised to be with us to strengthen, guide, and deliver us. We can live in confidence knowing that there is nothing we will face today that we, with God, cannot handle. We are God-confident in all the vagaries, temptations and crosses of our lives today and every day. And we may be confident of where our journey will end.

Living in love and faith today, we will live in hope. We can rejoice at the thought of tomorrow because of the promises God has attached to our futures. We will not be afraid of failures, for God has promised to work all things for good in the lives of those who love him. So regardless of how we may feel about certain situations today, we have the power and knowledge to choose to live at a higher level: in faith, hope and love—choosing always to live by our Baptismal vows. We don't have to be ruled by our partisan and divisive feelings, for we know that God has made us for better things!

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

The Golden Rule

God Goes Camping

Singing Servants

Wisdom & Weddings

The Church is...

One Flesh, Our Vow of Love

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