Old St Mary's Cathedral

Our Sunday Mass:

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time 常年期第二十主日 2024 - Old St Mary's Cathedral, SF. Mass Chinese English Bilingual atOld Saint Mary's Cathedral + Chinese Missionhttps://www.oldsaintmarys.org/Presider: Fr. Joe Scott, CSPHomily: Deacon Simon T...

THE BREAD OF LIFE? A REFLECTION BY PAULIST FR JOE SCOTT

Shortly after I arrived at Old St. Mary’s, about eight years ago, I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease. This means my body is allergic to gluten. Any kind of bread or wheat product could kill me.

I feel very lucky. If I had been diagnosed with this auto immune condition when I was in my twenties, I could never have become a priest. Coeliac Disease is considered an impediment to the priesthood—in other words, I could not have been able to be ordained.

Now, of course, the Church is stuck with me! More or less happily, I hope. I’m blessed that low gluten hosts are now available, and Fr. Tom keeps me supplied with them.

Some folks with this disease are unable to tolerate even a small portion of wheat. I seem to be able to tolerate a very small fragment of the host, if necessary. But I’ve learned by experience that that a Coeliac condition is very unforgiving when it comes to making an error of judgment. My body treats wheat as a poisoned pill, so I have the immediate reaction one has with any type of food poison.

It's taken me awhile to appreciate the fact that while we celebrate the Eucharist as the bread of life, for me bread, which is wonderful to taste and eat in all it forms, can sadly bring me death. I have been aware for a while that many more people than we may think simply can’t process bread and require a gluten-free host.

Sadly, the Catholic Church has not been very helpful with such Catholics who would become very ill by simply consuming an ordinary host. In fact, while low gluten hosts are accepted, completely gluten free hosts are still not permitted for use by the Church, according to a document written by Pope Benedict XVI, which has never been rescinded. So far as I know, Pope Francis had not made a big deal about enforcing this, but it’s still on the books. A good issue to write the pope about or pray to the Lord about!

The Eucharist is Jesus’ Last Will and Testament, his life-giving presence among us. We must do whatever we can to make this Bread of Life available to all who seek it for their healing and nourishment.

Bible Study, tomorrow at 5:30pm. Readings attached, zoom stuff below. Fr. T
Fr.Tom Tavella is inviting you to Bible Study

Time: Thursdays-5:30PM

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Our Sunday Mass:

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 常年期第十九主日 2024 - Old St Mary's Cathedral, SF. Mass Chinese English Bilingual atOld Saint Mary's Cathedral + Chinese Missionhttps://www.oldsaintmarys.org/Presider: Fr. Ivan Tou, CSP Deacon Simon Tsu...

A DAY WHEN ATTENDING MASS WASN’T BORING: A REFLECTION BY PAULIST FR. JOE SCOTT

September 11, 2011, was a date I remember. I was living in downtown Manhattan, and that morning I was on my way to my work as an editor at the Paulist Press in Mahwah, New Jersey. I was driving my car, approaching the George Washington Bridge, when I heard on the radio that the two towers of the World Trade Center were on fire and close to collapse. I made it across the bridge just as it was closing, closing as it turned out for the next three days.

When I arrived at Paulist Press, I discovered that the president of the Press was trapped by these events at an out of town meeting. So I was the only Paulist priest to able to reach New Jersey that morning. The Press employs about 150 workers. Everyone was upset about what was happening that day. Although we were located across the Hudson River, nearly everyone knew a relative or friend or neighbor who had gone into the city as a firefighter or police officer or a rescue team as soon as they heard. Now all those rescuers were known to be in serious danger. No one had any good information that might reassure us, just rumor.
At the Press, everyone was trying to get their work done, but no one was truly paying attention. I remembered that we celebrated Mass on every Thanksgiving in the Press library. I asked the managing editor if he thought we could celebrate a Mass on this day, and he agreed.

I passed the word that I would celebrate Mass at noon. The room was filled with our workers who were so worried about their loved ones, and all who were trapped in those towers.

I couldn’t figure out any good words I could say for a homily, I was pretty shaken up myself. So at the homily time, I asked people to share their feelings about what was happening. It was one of the most inspiring experiences of my life. Not a single person spoke of anger or revenge, as understandable as such feelings would have been. Instead, everyone shared words of compassion for those trapped in the Towers, and prayers that peace and better world might come despite of or because all this awfulness.

This is one time I remember when I was completely present at Mass, aware of God whose presence was so visible in my fellow worshippers.

Ever since that day, I try to remind myself when I may be tempted to feel bored or uninspired at Mass, that at least one person at that Mass may be going through their own personal or family 9-11 experience—devastated in heart, and holding on those around them in the pew as if they could be a lifeline to a better world.

Greetings one an all! Here are the readings and zoom info for Bible Study tomorrow (Thursday) at 5:30. See you there. Fr. T
PS. the first reading is one of my favorites. The challenge for you all--why?

Fr.Tom Tavella is inviting you to Bible Study

Time: Thursdays-5:30PM

Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 819 3641 0610
Passcode: 016304

Our Sunday Mass:

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 常年期第十八主日 2024 - Old St Mary's Cathedral, SF. Mass Chinese English Bilingual atOld Saint Mary's Cathedral + Chinese Missionhttps://www.oldsaintmarys.org/Presider: Fr. Ivan Tou, CSPHomily: Deacon Simon Ts...

WHO IS THE BODY OF CHRIST? WHO IS THE BLOOD OF CHRIST? A REFLECTION BY PAULIST FR. JOE SCOTT.
Some years ago, while on a sabbatical in Jerusalem, I was invited by a young Palestinian worker to visit the home he shared with his parents in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Bethlehem.
My first impression of the camp was the absolute predominance of gray, whichever way I looked. With my young friend I walked by small, flat shelters thrown together with concrete blocks, and dirt-baked streets scattered with a rubble of stones. The house I was to visit appeared to have only one small room, dark and threadbare, containing little more than a couple of rickety chairs, a folding table and a bed, undoubtedly my host’s, pushed against one wall.
Ali’s parents, in traditional dress and head coverings, took their rest in a small shed outside which must have barely provided shelter against the Winter’s evening chill. They were stooped and aged beyond their years, yet their wrinkled faces beamed with friendliness as they tried out a few English words on me.
After their greetings the frail couple began a process of disappearing into the shed and reappearing a few moments later with something for me to eat: first a small cup of mint tea, then a plate of flavorful sauces in which to dip slices of flat bread, some olives and figs, a few honey-soaked cookies and at last a tiny cup of bracing oriental coffee. I felt more than a little uncomfortable devouring what I guessed was the entire contents of their small cupboard. Yet I don’t know when I’ve ever felt more welcomed into someone’s home.
I long ago lost touch with Ali. His parents must by now have passed on to the great banquet of eternal life. But what Ali and his family taught me was not the needs of the poor, which I can so readily ignore, but their generosity and hospitality.
The families in the camp tried to help one another out of their meager resources as thoughtfully as they reached out to me, a stranger from afar. In a world scarred by regular indignities and bursts of violence they managed to preserve a graciousness that touched my heart in a way I will never forget.

“God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God, and God in them.” I John 4:16.”

Rejoice and be glad! I got the stuff out on time for you at last!!
Readings attached--zoom stuff below. See you all tomorrow evening at 5:30.
Fr. T.

Fr.Tom Tavella is inviting you to Bible Study

Time: Thursdays-5:30PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81936410610?pwd=SUpxZHVCOUU4dnZLV3dnVDh4clJ5QT09

Meeting ID: 819 3641 0610
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Our Sunday Mass:

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 常年期第十七主日 2024 - Old St Mary's Cathedral, SF. Mass Chinese English Bilingual atOld Saint Mary's Cathedral + Chinese Missionhttps://www.oldsaintmarys.org/Presider: Fr. Ivan Tou, CSPHomily: Deacon Simon Ts...

JESUS WAS A FAILURE: A REFLECTION BY PAULIST FR. JOE SCOTT

Jesus was a failure.

He never wrote a book. Later disciples had to write his story for him, long after he died. He never became a rabbi. He never was a priest. He never designed a building, not even a church building like St. Peter’s. He never became rich. In fact, he wasn’t all that excited about money. His crucifixion didn’t make the local news.

The earliest image we have of Jesus comes from the Romans who were skeptical and scornful of those strange new Christians. It shows a crucified man with the head of a donkey. the other word we might use is “ass.” Underneath this drawing are the words, “this Christian worships his God.” When life is going well for us, if we have privilege and power, it’s easy to ridicule a nobody, a failure, an ass.

In truth, Jesus was not all that persuasive a teacher. 5,000 people came to the desert to be fed by Jesus, but when he preached to them about the true food of his body and blood, they all left in disgust, every last one of them. Only Peter stayed with Jesus, and he HAD to be there.

Jesus taught: “love your enemies, be good to those who hate you, pray for those who persecute you.” Has anyone EVER believed that--ever?

Jesus never founded the Church that took his name. But rather than preach the loving and merciful God, as Jesus did, the church for centuries has preached hell and damnation by an angry God.

Even today, many Christians are embarrassed by Jesus. He seems too soft, too wishy-washy with all that love and forgiveness talk. John Wayne makes a much better hero and motivator for many of today’s Christians. If you doubt this, read the recent book “Jesus and John Wayne” by the author Kristen Kobes Dulmetz. John Wayne wins all the way.

Jesus was an observant Jew who believed that his God wanted the fulfillment of the Law of Moses. The Church has spent much of its history persecuting and killing his Jewish brothers and sisters. The holocaust might have not happened without the support of leaders of the Catholic and Protestant communities.

The one thing Jesus did well was suffering. Suffering is what Jesus has best to teach us. That’s one of the good reasons why old people like me still come to Mass, even though so many young and middle age people have long since left. Old people know that patient endurance is what we need to get through our lives, each and every day. We know that Jesus can teach us how to do it with grace.

Jesus on the cross is a disgraced criminal, in the company of two other disgraced criminals. The only other thing they have in common is their suffering. Jesus can’t move, because his hands and feet are nailed to his cross. But with a kind word and a smile. he brings paradise to a fellow sufferer.

If we want to find Jesus today, don’t look among bishops with their fancy robes and harsh orders. Instead, look to our fellow sufferers. All we may have to offer each other is a smile and a word of kindness—but that was enough for Jesus.

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, I forgot to send out the stuff for tonight. We are having bible study tonight!! Readings are attached and zoom stuff is below. See you all there. Fr. T.
Fr.Tom Tavella is inviting you to Bible Study

Time: Thursdays-5:30PM

Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 819 3641 0610
Passcode: 016304

MARY MAGDALENE: APOSTLE TO THE APOSTLES!
PART 2 OF A REFLECTION BY PAULIST FR. JOE SCOTT

In last week’s bulletin, I spoke of the misunderstanding about Mary Magdalene that developed through the Church’s history. Truth be told, all the gospels portray Mary Magdalene, not as the great sinner we were taught to accept, but rather as the Apostle to the Apostles!

The gospels tell us six things about Mary of Magdala:
She was one of the women who traveled with Jesus, and supported
him and his disciples out of their own financial resources.
She was one of the women present at the foot of the cross.
She accompanied the body of Jesus to his tomb and was the one who anointed his body for burial, a very sacred act in Jewish custom.
She was the first witness to the empty tomb, before Peter and John
She was the first disciple to whom the risen Jesus appeared.
She was the one who brought the “good news” to the apostles in hiding—truly the apostle to the apostles!

The Acts of the Apostles tells us that when the eleven apostles gathered after Jesus ascended into heaven, their first order of business was to choose a new twelfth apostle to fill the vacancy that Judas had left. The criteria for the selection to select their candidates was first, to be a disciple who had walked with Jesus throughout his ministry on earth, and second, to have been one of the disciples to whom Jesus had appeared after his resurrection. A disciple by the name of Matthias fit the bill.

One of the criteria for selection could NOT, of course, be the apostles who had faithfully stood by Jesus at the foot of his cross, because they had ALL run away in fright, every last one. (The unnamed disciple in John’s gospel is often identified as John, but some scholars have argued that it was, in fact, Mary Magdalene, since the synoptic gospels ALL mention her there!).

A great discomfort of the early church was that the risen Lord did NOT first appear to Peter, but rather to Mary of Magdala in the garden where she had anointed his broken body. It was Mary, not Peter or John, who brought the good news to the disciples still hidden away in fear. Mary of Magdala WAS the first evangelist. When Peter and John do arrive at the empty tomb, it was to confirm, by their act of faith, what they had already received from Jesus, through Magdalene. The gospel came alive in what Mary Magdalene saw with her eyes and believed with her heart.

Mary was never one of the Twelve who had been chosen to represent the new twelve tribes of Israel. But it was St. Paul who argued for a wider definition of the term “apostle”, which would include, of course, himself!

Should we acknowledge Mary Magdalene as an esteemed member of this wider circle of apostles? It was because of her missionary work on Easter morning that the Missionary Society of St. Paul(the Paulist Fathers) chose Mary Magdalene as one of our patrons. Certainly, we can pray that the Catholic Church will begin to observe on July 22 feast day equivalent to those for Peter and Paul!

Ready for this week's bible study? The 16th Sunday in Ordinary time. Tomorrow evening (Thursday) at 5:30 (remember the new time!) See you all there. Zoom stuff below, readings attached. Fr. T.
Fr.Tom Tavella is inviting you to Bible Study

Time: Thursdays-5:30PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81936410610?pwd=SUpxZHVCOUU4dnZLV3dnVDh4clJ5QT09

Meeting ID: 819 3641 0610
Passcode: 016304

Such a compassionate man...

Donald Trump hasn't called the family of a man killed at his rally Corey Comperatore’s wife told the New York Post that Biden did call, but she refused to take it

Our Sunday Mass:

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 常年期第十五主日 2024 - Old St Mary's Cathedral, SF. Mass Chinese English Bilingual atOld Saint Mary's Cathedral + Chinese Missionhttps://www.oldsaintmarys.org/Presider: Fr. Ivan Tou, CSPHomily: Deacon Simon Ts...

MARY MAGDALENE THE GREATEST OF SINNERS OR THE APOSTLE OF THE APOSTLES?? PART ONE OF A REFLECTION BY PAULIST FR JOE SCOTT.

July 22 is the feast of Mary Magdalene. Pope Francis has, at last, given this feast the attention it deserves. Before this, the church calendar “honored” her with the smallest possible mention. To be completely honest, the Catholic Church was embarrassed by Mary Magdalene. The gospel tradition seemed to place her way closer to Jesus than a woman should be.

In 1896, an interesting document was discovered in a Coptic monastery in Egypt. It is titled the “Gospel of Mary Magdalene.” Every other copy of this writing had been trashed and burned by the male leaders of the Church many centuries ago.

It’s a remnant from the Gnostic teachings, which were not accepted by the Catholic Church then or today. but one thing this ancient document reveals is very interesting. It talks of the male authorities of the Church, Peter and Andrew, as uncomfortable about Mary Magdalene as “especially beloved” by the Lord. These early leaders are also portrayed as dismissing the authority of Mary Magdalene to teach “in the Lord’s name.”

One of the mysteries of the early church is how a community in which Jesus expressed understanding and regard toward women, and St Paul later made women leaders in his local communities, later became so deeply hostile to women, by the second century promoting almost universal virginity as a remedy for the temptations offered by the female s*x.

Why did this happen? The answer is found perhaps in the many documents, like the Gospel of Mary, that were trashed and burned by male bishops, between the second and fourth centuries.

The reputation of St. Mary Magdalene, one so suspiciously close to Jesus of Nazareth, became the casualty of this. Pope Gregory the Great, in 591 C.E, went so far as to identify Mary Magdalene with the “sinful woman” who had washed the feet of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, and then attribute to this Mary ALL seven of the “deadly” sins. That’s a lot of sinning! Who could possibly trust a woman like that!

No one in the 600 years before Pope Gregory’s words had regarded Mary Magdalene as a great sinner. But this image captured the imagination of the medieval church. More works of art have been created about Mary Magdalene as a repenting sinner than of any other saint of the New Testament except for the “other” Mary, the mother of Jesus. Magdalene’s tears of joy at witnessing the risen Lord in her midst somehow became her tears of transgression and shame. The words “the Magdalene” became shorthand in the Church for a female sinner deserving of punishment, as evidenced by the terrible “Magdalene” homes that imprisoned and neglected young u***d mothers in Ireland.

So what is the truth about “the Magdalene?” Read it all in next week’s bulletin!

Welcome back. Hope you had a good 4th!
We will have Bible Study tomorrow, Thursday. We will start at the new time: 5:30. Hope to see you all there. Zoom stuff below, readings attached.
Fr. T
Fr.Tom Tavella is inviting you to Bible Study

Time: Thursdays-5:30PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81936410610?pwd=SUpxZHVCOUU4dnZLV3dnVDh4clJ5QT09

Meeting ID: 819 3641 0610
Passcode: 016304

Tell the Oklahoma State Superintendent: Christians oppose forcing public schools to teach the Bible Oklahoma's state superintendent has announced that all public schools in the state must now teach the Bible, including the Ten Commandments. He went so far as to claim, "[T]he separation of church and state is a myth." Let's speak out for religious freedom for ALL >>

hImportnat understandings...

Left-leaning priests’ association says they can’t participate in National Eucharistic Congress An association of American Catholic priests claims that its offer to participate in the upcoming National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis was rescinded because their view of the Eucharist was viewed as “threatening and undermining.”

BLACK AMERICAN CATHOLICS TO CELEBRATE

We American Catholics recently celebrated with Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Washington when Pope Francis gave him the rank of Cardinal. This makes him the first African-American eligible to vote in an election for Pope. We saw Cardinal Gregory participating with new President Biden and Vice-President Harris at the pre inauguration prayer service for those who have died from the Covid 19 virus.

February 1-March 1 marks Black History Month. It’s a good time for us to remember those Black Americans who have contributed much to our country through the great gifts inspired by their Catholic faith. Here are three from our own time:

Thea Bowman was a Franciscan Sister whose great enthusiasm for life blessed all who met her. Born in 1937 in rural Mississippi, she was baptized Catholic at age 10 and after earning a PhD. In English, returned to work with the church in Mississippi and Louisiana. She helped found the Institute of Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University. She loved to work with music and dance, and was a powerful speaker and story-teller. “What does it mean to be black and Catholic?” She asked. “It means I come to my church fully functioning. I bring my self, my black self...I bring my whole history, my traditions, my experience, my culture, my African-American song and dance and gesture and movement and teaching and preaching and healing and responsibility as a gift to the church.” Sister Thea died in 1990 sadly young, but full of grace.

Clarence Rivers provided liturgical music for a generation of black and white Catholics. Most of us may have grown up with his hymn “God is Love” without knowing much about who wrote it. Fr. Rivers was raised a shy, insecure boy in Selma, Alabama. He was ordained in 1956, the first black priest ordained to the Cincinnati archdiocese. He was not accepted by the parishioners of his first two assignments, a reminder that all of these three prevailed in the face of their many encounters with the sin of racism. He ministered for many years at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Cincinnati’s West End. Catholics traveled from far and wide to attend the Masses he celebrated. He performed “God is love” in 1964 at the National Liturgical Conference(the first high Mass celebrated in English in the Catholic Church of the United States. He died in 2004, but his memory and his music remain alive far beyond St. Joseph’s Church.

Norman Francis was born to a poor family in Lafayette, Louisiana. His parents instilled in him a desire for education and a faithfulness toward his Catholic heritage. His brother became the Auxiliary Bishop of Newark. He worked his way through Xavier University in New Orleans and later received a doctor of jurisprudence degree from Loyola University Law School. He turned from law to education, believing it offered him an opportunity to help more people. He worked at Xavier University, becoming its President in 1968. The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament(the order founded by St. Katherine Drexel) had been in charge of St. Xavier from its founding. They chose Dr. Francis to be its first lay, first male and first black President. He spent 47 years in that post, expanding the size and scope of the University and establishing a pioneer program to train black undergraduates for acceptance into Medical School.

Each of these three overcame the obstacles of racism within the United States and within the Catholic Church. They were pioneers in our own time, and each left a memory of affection not only for themselves, but for the loving and life-giving God they served.

Take time this month to remember and pray for those Black Catholics who have inspired or supported you to be a better Christian!

Our Sunday Mass:

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 常年期第十三主日 2024 - Old St Mary's Cathedral, SF. Mass Chinese English Bilingual atOld Saint Mary's Cathedral + Chinese Missionhttps://www.oldsaintmarys.org/Presider: Fr. John Ardis, CSPHomily: Deacon Simon ...

WHAT DO WE CELEBRATE WHEN WE OBSERVE THE FOURTH OF JULY?
A REFLECTION BY PAULIST FR. JOE SCOTT

The name Carl Schurtz is not well known even perhaps among American historians, but he was a great example of the gift immigrants so often bring to this nation. Born in Prussia, he immigrated to the United States at the age of 19. He became part of a German American neighborhood striving to become accepted in a primarily English-speaking land. He began his adulthood as a spokesperson for the rights of his neighbors.

Schurtz served as a Union General during the Civil War, fighting for the abolition of slavery. He was then elected a United States Senator. As Secretary of the Interior in the 1870’s, he was one of the very first leaders in our history to fight for justice for the Native American.

Schurtz survives in our common memory mostly as the author of one-half of a quotation from a speech he made to his fellow senators in 1872.

The half=quote is: “my country right or wrong.” Sadly, most leave out the full context, the critical second half. What Schurtz actually said was: “my country, right or wrong: if right to be kept right, IF WRONG TO BE SET RIGHT.’ Look it up in the Congressional Record! Schurtz devoted his life to fulfilling the SECOND half of his statement. He was an American reformer.

Reform is always in the air in America. Every so often we witness the excitement and discomfort of protesters in the streets, in our nation’s capital or in our own San Francisco. In truth, protest and reform can make Catholics a little uneasy—perhaps we’ve never fully recovered from the Protestant Reformation!

But the word “reform” is not truly about something new bringing unwelcome changes, but about “re-forming”—going back to our roots, back to what originally made us one, Reform is not a dirty word., The Church ALWAYS needs reform. Our nation ALWAYS needs reform. You and I ALWAYS need reform. A more “Catholic” word to express this is “conversion.”

What originally declared our independence were the words “all men are created equal.” Thomas Jefferson found these words in the speeches of an English parliamentarian John Locke, who is thought to have discovered them in the treatises of St. Robert Bellarmine. St. Robert surely believed, as Jefferson proclaimed, that all human persons are endowed with our Creator with certain unalienable rights.”

�To be honest, Thomas Jefferson would not have thought “all men” to apply to women (who were not able to vote until 1917) or to the Black slaves who staffed the buildings and worked the fields and factories of his Monticello plantation.

Nevertheless, that tiny but potent word “all” set a restlessness going in the American imagination that grew into the Emancipation Proclamation and the civil rights legislation of the 1960’s, and those welcoming words of the poet Emma Lazarus, which have greeted new immigrants (including my grandparents) to our shores for generations. Yes, those ARE the words on the Statue of Liberty!

These are milestones in a citizenship rising over time to the challenges of reform. The tensions in politics these days remind us that we still need reform—when within our hearts, it’s called conversion—to truly welcome the tired and the poor, to provide a home for the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free”, whether it’s from Ellis Island or from the border of El Paso, Texas.

It’s what we pledge when we dare to name ourselves “a nation under God.” Beyond the fireworks and the hotdogs-- and the tamales and the sticky rice desserts and the Chinese noodles!--on the Fourth of July we pledge to fulfill the daring hopes of our ancestors, and truly live as a nation under God, by exercising not the freedom to hate, but the freedom to love.

Well Folks, our new internet is installed! We'll wait an see if it is a good as promised.
Bible study--tomorrow (Thursday) at 5:00. Zoom stuff below. Readings attached.
See you tomorrow.
Fr. T.
Fr.Tom Tavella is inviting you to Bible Study

Time: Thursdays-5:00PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81936410610?pwd=SUpxZHVCOUU4dnZLV3dnVDh4clJ5QT09

Meeting ID: 819 3641 0610
Passcode: 016304

HE CORPORAL W0RKS OF MERCY: A REFLECTION BY PAULIST FR. JOE SCOTT

As a young man, Benjamin Franklin didn’t attend a church, but was interested in theological concerns. He was skeptical about the reality of an afterlife and critical of the angry and judgmental view of God many of the churches of his time espoused. But he greatly admired the good works and care of the poor practiced by some of the churches, He was a practical man and believed that the “good” churches were the ones who practiced what we would call the Corporal Works of mercy, like the Quakers with whom he was familiar.

Many years later, the pioneer psychologist, William James, wrote his book: “Varieties of Religious Experience”, the first major scientific study of America’s religious belief. His work is considered one of the two best works about religion written by an American in the English language. I’ll let you guess the other book that was so chosen!

James distinguished between what he saw as two major ways of expressing religious belief.

The first was what he terms “the religion of the healthy minded.” This was reflected in their naturally happy temperament. They believed that God was loving and that most of God’s work in the worth was about healing and guiding people toward heaven, the destiny of human life. James saw the Unitarians and Quakers as models of this sort of faith in his own time.

In contrast to the “healthy minded”, James described those whose believed God was to be feared rather than loved. They believed that most people were destined for hell, not heaven. Their believe was reflected in the kind of “mystical “experiences they experienced, which James described intently. They tended to be quite judgmental about other people’s chances of going to a happy heaven in the afterlife.

In evaluating these differences, James used what he termed a “pragmatic” approach. Like Franklin, he judged religions to be effective in our culture to the extent that they helped to alleviate the world’s poverty and suffering in concrete ways. Although he didn’t use these terms, the “corporal works of mercy” are what he had in mind as his standard for being effective.

Benjamin Franklin and William James were not people of faith. But they had a layperson’s interest in how religions effected American society,

There’s good evidence that American culture at large still responds this way, in evaluating religious belief. The Church of the Latter-Day Saints (Mormons). The Mormon theology is different and quite challenging in many ways from mainstream Christian theologies. Yet Mormons have a highly practical system of helping those in need. Is it that much surprising that more than one Mormon has made a serious challenge for the Presidency, and that many have served in both houses of congress, in cabinet positions and in the courts, with no hint of a public outcry?

Even with Catholics, the most well-regarded Catholic priest in America is probably not a theologian or an evangelist, but Fr. Greg Boyle, a Jesuit who works, in a most business savvy fashion, developing successful jobs for homeboys from the poorest neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

We Catholics can get very concerned about our theology, and whether we are heretics or orthodox believers, or even correct in the way we worship. But shouldn’t we be more concerned about how we witness to Jesus by actually trying to live as he lived, by practicing corporal works of mercy?`