"He lost his ability to love or be loved"

Last night I took the risk of re-watching Terry Gilliam's 1991 movie The Fisher King, which starred Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges. Williams plays "Parry," a man, a former professor, rendered mentally unstable by the traumatic event of his wife's brutal murder, which happened right before his eyes and was precipitated, not carried out by, but likely caused by Jeff Bridges' character, Jack, a Howard Stern-like shock-jock. It is an amazing movie. I thought so back when I first watched it. I saw it at the cinema and, a few years later, watched it again on videotape. It is a modern take on the quest for the Holy Grail and a tremendously moving one at that.

In a pivotal scene, Parry takes Jack to Central Park at night to engage in what he calls "cloud busting." According to Parry "cloud busting," which is laying on your back and staring at the night sky, is best done nude. So, Parry takes of his clothes and dances about, which makes Jack uncomfortable. Jack, who is broken by what happened and who realizes Parry is a victim of his shock-jocking, but is no less self-absorbed, starts to leave, but just can't. Remaining clothed, Jack lies next to the nude Parry as they contemplate the full moon. It is then that Parry tells the story of the Fisher King:

Then let's begin with the story itself.

It's a story of the Grail myth...And although there are several variations, my favorite begins with the Fisher King as a young boy... who had to spend a night alone in the forest to prove his courage... and during that night, he is visited by a sacred vision. Out of the fire, appears the Holy Grail - God's highest symbol of divine grace. And a voice says to the boy, "You shall be the guardian of the Grail, that it may heal the hearts of men"...But the boy was overcome ...Innocent and foolish, he was blinded by greater visions - a life ahead filled with beauty and glory, hope and power...Tears filled his eyes as he sensed his own... invincibility. A boy's tears of naive wonder and inspiration. and in this state of...radical amazement...he felt for a brief moment, not like a boy, but like God... (Jack listens intently) ...And so he reached into the fire to take the Grail. And the Grail vanished. And the boy hands were left caught in the flames...leaving him wounded and ashamed at what his recklessness had lost him. When he became King, he was determined to reclaim his destiny and find the Grail... But with each year that passed, with each campaign he fought, the Grail remained lost, and this wound he suffered in the fire grew worse... He became a bitter man. Life for him lost it's reason. With each disappointment, with each betrayal... with each loss ... this wound would grow... Soon the land began to spoil from neglect and his people starved...Until finally, the King lost all faith in God's existence and in man's value...He lost his ability to love or be loved And he was so sick with experience... that he started to die. As the years went on, his bravest knights would search for the Grail that would heal their King and make them the most respected and valued men in the land, but to no avail.

Pretty soon, finding the Grail became a ruthless struggle between ambitious men vying for the King's power, which only confirmed the King's worst suspicions of man, causing his wound to grow. His only hope, he thought, was death. Then one day, a fool was brought in to the King to cheer him. He was a simple-minded man... not particularly skilled...or admired... He tells the King some jokes...sing him some songs, but the King feels even worse...Finally, the fool says, "What is it that hurts you so much? How can I help?"...And the King says, "I need a sip of water to cool my throat"...So, the fool takes a cup from the bedstand, fills it with water and hands it to the King...Suddenly, the King feels a lot better. And when he looks to his hands, he sees that it was the Holy Grail the fool handed him...an ordinary cup that had been beside his bed all along...And the King asks, "How can this be?...how could you find what all my knights and wisest men could not find"? And the fool answers, "I don't know. I only knew you were thirsty."... And for the first time since he was a boy, the King felt more than a man - not because he was touched by God's glory...but rather, by the compassion of a fool

Later in the movie, Parry and Jack go cloud busting again, but Jack, too, does it in the nude.

I love Michael Card's song "God's Own Fool," the chorus of which goes as follows:
"So we follow God's own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well."

God is merciful and worthy of praise

In our second reading for this Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, taken from St Paul's Letter to the Romans, we hear: "For God delivered all to disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all" (Rom 11:32). At least for me, this sentence seems to be the interpretive key for our readings this week. The Greek word translated as "delivered" in the New American Bible, which is used in the Lectionary for Roman Catholics in the United States, transliterated as sugkleio, means to "shut up on all sides," or "to enclose." So, God permits everyone to be enclosed by disobedience so that He might have mercy on us all.

In light of our first reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah, which looks forward to "foreigners," that is, non-Jews, joining "themselves to the LORD," and serving him, "loving the name of the LORD, and becoming his servants" (Isa 56:6), along with Paul's reference to salvation coming to the Gentiles, in order to make God's chosen people, Paul's people, "jealous," it is no wonder that our Psalm response is "O God, let all the nations praise you!".

There is no better way to illustrate this theology than Jesus' encounter with the Canaanite woman during His sojourn in the region of Tyre and Sidon. She called to Jesus using a messianic greeting, which is a bit odd considering she was not a Jew. She cried out, "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon" (Matt 15:22). At first it seemed that Jesus was ignoring her. But she was so relentless in her cry for mercy that the Lord's disciples implored Him, "Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us" (Matt 15:23). Jesus, as it seems He often did, replied to their request obliquely, saying, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt 15:24). These words seem to mean that He was not going to heed her cry, but neither was He going to send her away.

Then, the woman came right up to Him, did Him homage, and implored, "Lord, help me" (Matt 15:25). To this Jesus, referring back to His declaration that He was sent only to gather the lost sheep of Israel, stated, "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs" (Matt 15:26). The children are Israelites and the dogs are Gentiles (i.e., all non-Jewish people). In Jesus' day the terms "dog" and "swine" were Jewish terms of contempt for Gentiles. Rather than being cruel, it seems that Jesus was making a point, not to the poor woman, but His other hearers, most likely His own disciples.

Christ and the Canaanite Woman, by Germain-Jean Drouais, 1784

The woman's humble reply to Jesus' seemingly harsh and dismissive words moves Him deeply: "She said, 'Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters'" (Matt 15:27). In the presence of the Lord, who is, as Origen described Him, autobasileia, "the Kingdom in person," she was content to eat scraps from the table.

In the first volume of his three-volume work on the life of Jesus, Pope Benedict wrote:

Jesus himself is the Kingdom; the Kingdom is not a thing, it is not a geographical dominion like worldly kingdoms. It is a person; it is he. On this interpretation, the term "Kingdom of God" is itself a veiled Christology. By the way in which he speaks of the Kingdom of God, Jesus leads men to realize the overwhelming fact that in him God himself is present among them, that he is God's presence (49)

In light of her response, Jesus could not but say, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish" (Matt 15:28). As He spoke the demon left her daughter, who was healed.

The point is not that in order for our prayers to be answered we must grovel. The point is that Jesus has mercy on those who are humbled by life's circumstances and yet still call out to Him in faith, call out to Him from their great need, recognizing their dependence on Him. It seems to me that living through what we are living through these days, violence in Syria, Iraq, and the Holy Land, the whole debacle in Ferguson, Missouri, the suicide of Robin Williams, which caused comedian Jim Gaffigan to tweet this week: "Is it me or are things on this planet just getting worse by the minute?," that we too need to cry out to God for mercy. The prayer revealed to St Faustina seems well-suited for this heartfelt plea: "For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."

The Servant of God Msgr Luigi Giussani expressed this well in his testimony, given publicly before Pope St John Paul II in 1998, when was advanced in age and getting quite frail: "Existence expresses itself, as ultimate ideal, in begging. The real protagonist of history is the beggar: Christ who begs for man's heart, and man's heart that begs for Christ." This week let's take a lesson from the Canaanite woman by praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy each day during the 3:00 PM hour. "Jesus, I trust in You."

Life, death, and the Blessed Virgin's Assumption

Today is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Blessed Virgin's being bodily assumed into heaven shows us the power of Christ's resurrection. The Virgin Mary was the first to believe that Jesus is the Christ. In the Catechism we read, "The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians" (par 966). So, a happy solemnity to one and all. For those who observe meatless Fridays, it is not appropriate to do so today. So, have a cheeseburger, pray the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary, and go to Mass!

You may have heard that Robin Williams died this week. I don't mind saying that my two favorite movies he was in are The Fisher King and Dead Poet's Society. So, our Friday traditio is one of my favorite scenes from the latter film:

I think this very true and accurate:

We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race, and the human race is filled with passion. Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for

Heeding the Lord's call, overcoming fear

This Sunday's readings continue in the same dramatic mode as those of the past few weeks. No matter how many times I encounter the event of St Peter walking across the water to where the Lord was, before faltering and beginning to sink, I have a tendency to ask, "Why did he let himself sink?" But the answer is simple: fear. Upon noticing "how strong the wind was" he was scared an began to doubt whether he could remain walking on the water, whether he could make to where Jesus was.

The take away, as I see it, is that we, too, have to learn that our desire to go to where Jesus is, in the first instance, requires us to get out of the boat, which means overcoming both fear and doubt. I know, at least for me, the safety of the boat, even on a stormy sea, is preferable to stepping out of it. We sometimes hear people say about sky-diving, "You'll never catch me jumping out of a perfectly good airplane." For most of us, this understandable. Certainly being a Christian does not require us to go sky-diving, bungee jumping, or para-sailing. It does require us to step out of the safety of the boat to meet the Lord where He is. In terms of discipleship, this should cause us to ask, "What do I fear? What doubts, fears, hesitancy keeps me from walking towards Jesus?"

Like Peter, we can only take a first step towards the Lord, who invariably summons us. As we take our first steps, we, too, will begin to notice the strong winds and waves of life, which will probably cause us to look backwards at the boat. But we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and realize that it is His power and His power alone that makes this journey possible. As we make our way to Him the winds and waves will continue blowing on us and crashing around us, causing us to fear and doubt.

I find the most encouraging part of this whole episode to be when Peter started to sink. As he sank, "he cried out, 'Lord, save me!'" Upon hearing Peter's cry, we read that "Immediately," that is, without hesitation, "Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter." Once we step out and walk at His summons, Jesus will never let us sink. I have to say, I am not sure what this means in terms of the violence our Christian brothers and sisters are experiencing right now in Northern Iraq.

Elsewhere, in the context of teaching about the Eucharist, Jesus taught, "And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it [on] the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him [on] the last day" (John 6:39-40). In addition to praying that the violence and terror committed against our Iraqi sisters and brothers, as well as others, including some Muslims, will immediately cease, let us also pray that through the wind of waves now buffeting them, they can keep their eyes fixed on Jesus, who summons them towards Himself.

Today and every Sunday the Lord summons us to the Eucharist. He calls us out of our pews to walk towards Him in order that we may see Him and so He may fill us with life, which is nothing other than Himself by the power of the Holy Spirit. When we falter, our cry for help, for salvation, is going to confession, something we should do with more rather than less frequency. By so doing we can experience for ourselves both how He immediately saves us and savor the sweetness, a down payment, on what who He saves us for.

"Oh your mouth is poison, your mouth is wine"

What a world we live in. Each day I really find it more and more unbelievable and very disheartening. But I will spare myself and everyone else this morning.

In the face of everything, I realize this probably doesn't even rise to the level of trivial, but The Civil Wars, true to their name, announced they were breaking up this week. They were our Friday traditio just a little while ago, but I think their song "Poison and Wine" is a fine traditio for this week.

I wish you'd hold me when I turn my back
The less I give the more I get back
Oh your hands can heal, your hands can bruise
I don't have a choice but I'd still choose you

Homily for a wedding

Readings: Gen 2:18-24; Ps 112:1-9; 1 Cor 12:31-13:8a; John 15:9-12

It’s important to note that [the groom and the bride] chose these readings themselves from a lengthy menu of readings for the Rite of Marriage. The event of a wedding, while joyful, one of the most joyful events we are privileged to participate in, is also solemn, which is not meant as a buzzkill. Something can be simultaneously joyful and solemn. So, it is fitting that we turn to God’s inspired word in order to understand both the joy and solemnity of [the groom and bride] being joined together in the bonds of holy matrimony.

The theme of the readings [the groom and bride] chose, which culminate with the Gospel reading, is love. Love is a word we tend to use a lot. When we stop and consider the range of its meaning, the word “love” is rendered almost incomprehensible. For example, someone can say, “I love my wife” and “I love pizza.” Presumably he would be describing a different interior disposition by using the same word. It’s no wonder that the word “love” sheds meaning, ceases to have the significance it should have, especially when it comes to marriage.

Most of all, it is important for you to recognize that love between spouses, while it ideally possesses an affective dimension, it is not, at root, a feeling. At root, love is an act of the will, which is to say, love is a choice. It’s a choice that married couples have to make over and over again throughout the course of their lives together, even when the choice to love, to remain together, becomes difficult. I come from a pretty hot-headed family. One thing I learned early on is that anger is not the opposite of love; indifference is the opposite of love.

While St Paul, in our reading from 1 Corinthians, is not writing specifically about married love as such, he characterizes divine love, of which married love is ordained by God to be a profound expression. The Apostle asserts that possessing all of the spiritual gifts avail a person nothing if s/he does not love, does not put her/his gifts at the service of love, and use them in a loving way.

It’s interesting that St Paul’s list of what love is not is lengthier than his list of what love is. I think this shows us that while it is fairly easy to grasp what love requires, it is not easy to really love another due to our selfish and, dare I say, sinful nature. Paul David Tripp noted that for a marriage to really work, or, stated another way, in order to put St Paul’s words to practical use, you must both grasp that you are a sinner married to a sinner. This is where your need for God’s grace clearly shines through. By His grace, God will teach you how selfish you are even as grace motivates you to live selflessly. Through grace God will reveal the extent of your weakness even as grace will give you strength well beyond what you believe is possible.

So, [my dear friends] be patient and kind to one another. Bear with one another in good times and in bad. Never lose hope that God is at work in your marriage. The best way to foster that hope, to be open to the grace God wants so desperately to give you, is to cross what I call “the final frontier of intimacy” together. The final frontier of intimacy is not what many might suppose, given that we often use intimacy euphemistically, but rather praying out loud together and doing so often.

Our reading from the second chapter of Genesis consists of what we might call the “Ur” verse in Scripture concerning marriage: “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body” (Gen 2:24). It is the verse cited by Jesus Himself in His disputation with the Pharisees about marriage and divorce (Matt 19:1-12; Mark 10:1-12). It is also cited in the fifth chapter of Ephesians, which is a magisterial passage on the meaning of Christian marriage (5:31). Becoming one body does not so much refer to “the marital act” itself, but to the fruit of that act, which is a child, a new person who is your love embodied, in much the same way that the Holy Spirit is the personification of the love between the Father and the Son. It is no surprise that no less a light than St Augustine of Hippo viewed the family as an icon of the Trinity. As part and parcel of marriage, parenting is another endeavor that moves us beyond our selfishness towards Christ-like selflessness, that is, a life poured out in loving service for others for the sake of God’s kingdom.

Our responsorial earlier was “Blessed the one who greatly delights in the LORD’s command.” In our Gospel reading, which is from John’s Gospel, Jesus tells us just what God’s command is when He says, “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you” (John 15:12). It’s funny that yesterday afternoon, as we were rehearsing for today, repeating out loud the responsorial, everyone, including me, kept leaving out the adverb “greatly.” But I think it is an important word in this context. It brings home the choice that is involved in loving as the Lord Jesus loves us.

If we were to push our Gospel reading just one verse further we would hear, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). [Dear friends] today you become more than friends. In a few moments you will be husband and wife. Hence, from this day forward, delighting in the Lord’s command for both of you consists of laying down your lives for one another. This is your calling, your vocation, your path to becoming like Christ.

This is the 2,800th post here on Καθολικός διάκονος

"This is going to take a long time"

Our Friday traditio, which is also my first post for the month of August, is "Only You" by Yazoo, usually known simply as "Yaz." The singer for Yaz was the incomparable Alison Moyet. The only other member of the group was Vince Clarke, who also in Depeche Mode and Erasure. Somehow it seems fitting to me to post something a bit elliptical today.

I don't mind saying that I find this video is what makes what is a pretty simple song quite profound. The video, I think, rescues the song from being merely sentimental. The video doesn't last for the duration of the song and is from the season premiere for the fifth and final season of the television show Fringe. "Only You," like a lot of Vince Clarke's compositions, in the words of television reviewer Ryan McGee, "is a synthesizer-based ballad. In other words, it creates beauty from inside the cold confines of technology." I don't know about you, but right now I need that kind of reassurance, the reassurance that beauty can be created from within "the cold confines of technology."

In the words of Rush's song, "The Spirit of Radio," - "All this machinery making modern music/Can still be open hearted/Not so coldly charted/It's really just a question of your honesty... One likes to believe in the freedom of music/But glittering prizes and endless compromises/Shatter the illusion of integrity."

This is going to take a long time
And I wonder what's mine
Can't take no more (can't take no more)
Wonder if you'll understand
It's just the touch of your hand
Behind a closed door