Stuff I've been watching: a belated Friday traditio

Given my schedule yesterday, it was impossible for me to post a Friday traditio. Even though today is Saturday, I am going with this as a belated Friday traditio. The main reason for this is that I was able to give some thought to what I might post.

Since the start of 2024, I haven't had much time to read. This is a situation that gets to me in short order. I have had the chance to watch a couple of docu-series on Hulu. The first one I watched was Daughters of the Cult. This tells the stories of some of the children of Ervil LeBaron. LeBaron was the violent leader of a break-way Mormon polygamist cult. He became prominent in the late 1970s after he orchestrated the murder of another polygamist leader, Rulon Allred. In addition to Anna and Celia, who are the main subjects of the series, their brother and one of the women involved in the cult also feature in this retelling of a chilling story.

For those who do not know, I am a convert to Catholicism from the LDS Church. I have no direct experience of polygamy, except that growing up LDS it was still taught as an eternal principle. It is still taught today though, like a lot of LDS distinctives, greatly deemphasized. Setting aside distinctives began when Gordon B. Hinckley was LDS president. Hinckley was prone not only downplay but outright deny certain teachings in an effort to make the Mormons appear more mainstream (see "'Then shall they be gods, because they have no end' (D&C 132:20").

One of my great-great grandmothers on my mom's mother's side was more or less forced into a polygamist union with my great-great grandfather, who ran away from a seminary in France where he was studying to be a priest, went to Switzerland where he met and married his first wife and converted to Mormonism before emigrating. She was very much younger than he was and, even by the accounts I heard, never very happy.

In the past on this blog, I wrote about some of these things (see for example "'Oh, Say What Is Truth?'- Joseph Smith, Jr and polygamy"). Therefore, I don't have much to add. No longer being Mormon and later becoming Catholic were two distinct phases in my life.

I also watched The Secrets of Hillsong. Watching this I was appalled all over by the use of corporate means and entertainment methods in contemporary U.S. evangelicalism. I also have to say that I was quite bothered by the generous use of Catholic visuals throughout the series. It's difficult for me to imagine a less Catholic group than Hillsong, who are not in any way sacramental or liturgical. I found myself thinking (again), who wants to go to church in a studio, a sound stage? Apparently, a lot of people! Quantitatively, this seems to often be successful. What is succeeding, however, is pretty much a faux Christianity.

The preaching and theology in these organizations are thin gruel, with a lot of emoting, and fake vulnerability. It strikes me as attenuated prosperity Gospel fluff and b.s. Success, wealth, and good health are God's blessing on the obedient, the chosen, the faithful. This is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not even close. I mean, do these people even read the Bible beyond cherrypicking verses and employing them wildly out of context, using them as a launching pad for a TED talk or motivational speech?

As the late Joe Strummer said not long before unexpectedly passing away: "It's time to take humanity back into the center of the ring and follow that for a time." In the person of Jesus Christ, God became human, truly human, as human as you and I- this is what Christmas is (or should be) all about, not a sentimental timewarp adventure to a highly sanitized manger scene. This is the cornerstone AND foundation of Christian theology. Incarnation even comes before Trinity. Jesus of Nazareth was, in the words of the late Rich Mullins, "a man of no reputation, who loved the weak with relentless affection."

Therefore, our belated Friday traditio is Rich Mullins' "Man of No Reputation"-

Lord Jesus, make all those who follow you, especially those who lead those who follow you, want to be more like you in this regard. Give us the courage and the strength to want to be nobodies, servants in God's kingdom.

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Readings: Acts 10:34-38; Ps 29:1-3.9-10; Mark 1:7-11

Christmas is about the Incarnation. It is about the only begotten Son of God, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, becoming consubstantial with us through the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As with all liturgical observances, Christmas is not merely a remembrance of things past, of something that happened a long time ago in a land far, far way, in a culture we have difficulty understanding.

Really, the focus of Christmas is that Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is born in us. Our reading from Acts is what is usually called “the Pentecost of the Gentiles.” The first Christian Pentecost, if you remember, happened in Jerusalem as Jews from throughout the Mediterranean world and beyond gathered in the Temple for the festival of Shavuot.

Christ born in you and being baptized “with the Holy Spirit” are synonymous, they refer to the same reality. Stated another way, this reality is God sharing divine with us. God sharing divine life with us also serves as a great definition of grace.

Each of the Church’s sacramental rites features what is called an epiclesis. Put simply, an epiclesis is a “calling down.” What, or, better yet, who is called down is none other than the Holy Spirit. In the Eucharist, the Holy Spirit is called down to transform the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ.

In baptism, there is an epiclesis that occurs in the exorcism that precedes the anointing with the oil of catechumens: “We pray for this child: set him (her)free from original sin, make him (her) a temple of your glory, and send your Holy Spirit to dwell with him (her).” Another one happens when the baptismal water is blessed, when the celebrant, be he bishop, priest, or deacon, puts his hand in the water and says, “We ask you, Father, with your Son to send the Holy Spirit upon the water of this font. May all who are buried with Christ in the death of baptism rise also with him to newness of life.”

In the baptism of Jesus, not just the waters but all of creation is blessed, sanctified, and reoriented toward God as Jesus goes down into the water, is immersed, and arises from the river Jordan. As he emerges, the Trinitarian theophany occurs as the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove and the voice of the Father is heard expressing his pleasure with his Son. This is the Incarnation. This is Emmanuel, God with us!

Jesus was the Son of God even prior to his baptism by John. There is an ancient heresy known as “adoptionism” that holds that it was through the event of his baptism Jesus became God’s Son. This is important for us too, as we think about our own baptism. Baptism makes explicit what is already implicit in us.

Human beings are made in God’s image and, at least originally, in his likeness as well. Our likeness to God is lost through sin and restored by grace through baptism. Baptism, not ordination, is the fundamental sacrament of Christian life.

Our life in Christ is nourished and strengthened by our participation in the Eucharist, which culminates with our reception of communion. This life is restored by grace through the sacrament of penance when have wounded it, weakened it, abused it through sin.

My dear friends, as we bring this Christmas season to a close, let us recommit ourselves to living the life of grace, the divine life into which you were plunged by baptism, was strengthened by confirmation, and is nourished through this Eucharist.

Seeking and finding the newborn king

Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-2.7-8.10-13; Ephesians 3:2-3a.5-6; Matthew 2:1-12

This year the Church in the U.S. almost celebrated Epiphany on 6 January. We did if you count last night's Vigil. Close enough, I guess.

Here in the U.S., we have one more day of the liturgical season of Christmas. We bring this season to a close with tomorrow's celebration of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. I've grown fairly fond of ending Christmas in this quiet way.

In Matthew's account of the visit of the magi, these magoi, as they are designated in koine Greek, symbolize the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah about people from every nation, not just Israel, "proclaiming the praises of the LORD." This, of course, fits nicely with what he heard in our second reading from the Letter to the Ephesians about the Gentiles being "coheirs" and "copartners," through Jesus Christ, in the one covenant God seeks to enter into with human beings- those he made in his own image.

In order to restore us to God's likeness, the Son, the second person of the Most Holy Trinity, took on our image, that is, entered space and time through the womb of the Blessed Virgin. He did this to reconcile all of creation with God.

It's interesting to pay attention to the journey of magi as Matthew sets it forth. Following a new star at its rising leads them to Jerusalem, to the court of King Herod. Their reason for following this particular star is that they believed it would not only lead them to "the king of the Jews," but to a "newborn" king.

It doesn't take much insight to realize a couple of things about their journey to that point. First, their search for the "newborn king of the Jews" had to be prompted by a familiarity with Jewish scriptures and they had to unferstand it rightly. Second, if you go all the way to the penultimate chapter of Saint Matthew's Gospel, after nailing Jesus to the cross, the Romans also nailed a sign with the charge that led to the Lord's crucifixion over his head: "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews" (Matthew 27:37). Rather than paying him homage, like the magi, the Romans were chiding the Jews. Unlike Herod, Caesar did not feel threatened by this nobody from Nazareth.

Following the star to find "the newborn king of the Jews," led the magi to Jerusalem, to the court of King Herod. It was because Herod inquired of the chief priests and scribes that he was able to direct these visitors from the East to Bethlehem. It's tempting to write "Bethlehem of Judea" to sound more biblical but as the oracle cited by Matthew from the prophet Micah indicates, Bethlehem is notable because it is the least of the cities of Judah. Jerusalem is the greatest.

This brings us to Herod's request that after finding the child and paying him homage, these astrologers would return to Jerusalem and let him know where to find the infant. Of course, far from desiring to pay homage to the newborn king, Herod wanted to kill a potential rival, thus nipping in the bud any potential challenge to his position and his power.

It was because the magi, apparently sensing something was amiss about Herod and his request, returned home another way, thus avoiding Jerusalem. If we stick with Matthew's narrative, this is what led to the martyrdom of the Holy Innocents. Because Herod did not know who this newborn king was or where to find him, except somewhere in Bethlehem, he ordered the slaughter of male children two years old and younger.

Herod had no desire to personally encounter this foretold king. In fact, he wanted to obliterate him.

In its ordinary meaning, an epiphany is a sudden revelation or insight. As such, genuine epiphanies cannot be manufactured or staged. However, like the magi we can attend to the manifest signs and seek the Lord. As Gerard Manley Hopkins insisted in his breathtaking poem As Kingfishers Catch Fire: "for Christ plays in ten thousand places, Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his. To the Father through the features of men's faces." In other words, the world is full to overflowing with potential epiphanies.

This brings us back to the magi. They didn't just accidentally stumble upon the newborn king of the Jews. They searched the scriptures and discerned the signs of the times and then deliberately set out to find him. We employ this same intentionality by practicing certain spiritual disciplines, like lectio divina and the Examen. Let's not forget, the fruit of the fifth Joyful Mystery of the Blessed Virgin's Holy Rosary (i.e., finding Jesus in the temple). As scripture elsewhere teaches: "whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him" (Hebrews 11:6).

"You do a lot of nothing much"

We're deep into the first week of 2024. I hope your New Year is going well so far. It's funny, as I grow older, a lot of things lose their luster, especially holidays. Well into my 50s, my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. I like it because it is quiet and low-key, a little respite before the onslaught of commercial Kwazhaunakahmas.

This year, New Year's Day was a nice and quiet affair. My wife had to leave on New Year's Eve to be with he Dad in Ohio. So, my three teen boys and I had a nice, home-based New Year holiday together. Given how busy we are typically, we all really had a nice time playing games, talking, and doing some cooking. I hadn't had such a nice day for a long time. I am grateful for it.

Until my wife returned (with her Dad in tow) on Thursday, I was a bit busy single-parenting. I'd be lying to say anything other than I kind of enjoyed it. My Dad was a very home-focused and domestic man. These past few years, I have found myself enjoying that too. Left on my own, I tend towards a very monastic way of life.

Speaking of my Dad, it's always difficult this time of year because it was 19 December 2010 when my parents called to tell me my Dad had been diagnosed with late-stage cancer of the esophagus. He died on 17 January 2011. I will always remember staying the nights with him. sitting by his bed, praying, reading, thinking about the great mystery of life, of human existence. Of course, have some really great conversations with him, which will remain some of the most cherished moments of my life.

I don't mind saying that the transition into 2024 has been a little less smooth than I hoped. I am doing a 30-day course in spiritual resiliency. Today is day four. When I decide to do something like that I always wonder if it's right. It was validated today not once but twice. Once when I ran across verses from John's Gospel that is the focus of the first phase, "I am the vine; you are the branches" (John 15:5).

What I was struggling with became clear during the morning session of the resiliency course. In the same source that validated my doing the course (a book of Jesuit reflections), I ran across something that helped me with what I identified in the morning. Saint Ignatius was insistent that to desire something, like being more hospitable, is a start to becoming more hospitable. In other words, I recognize something, like a lack of hospitality, and desire to be more hospitable, and start there. It's a good desire but one that won't likely be realized in a single flash. Hey, you gotta start somewhere.

Anyway, it's time for the first Friday traditio of 2024. It's "Cloud 8" by Frazier Chorus:

At peace in all things

Beginning in January 2018 (hard to believe that was 6 years ago), after New Year's, the evening before we have to get back to what is usually called "real life," quite spontaneously I posted something from the spiritual classic The Imitation of Christ.

On 3 January 2018, I was up late, unable to sleep, due to anxiety and the restlessness that usually accompanies it. As I was eagerly seeking something to help relieve my anxiety, I found a website featuring Thomas á Kempis' classic spiritual text. After reading a fair amount of The Imitation of Christ that night. And then, composed a post of nothing but the passage I found helpful for me in that moment.

While I can't say I've done this every year since 2018, it is my intention to continue this tradition today. For many of us, "real life" after the Christmas respite starts tomorrow, 2 January. Not just the last day of holiday but very often the end of a weekend can be disconcerting. What we need is peace, to have peace, to cultivate peace, to maintain peace:

A good life makes a man wise according to God and gives him experience in many things, for the more humble he is and the more subject to God, the wiser and the more at peace he will be in all things (The Imitation of Christ, Book I Chapter 4)

Happiness, understood as joy, which is a fruit of hope, is what we all want and strive for. Peace is important, even a precondition, for joy. During the Last Supper Discourse in Saint John's Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples- "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid" (John 14:27).

And so, as you begin 2024 in earnest tommorrow, may the peace of Christ be with you.

Anno Domini MMXXIV

Since it's only 1 January, it's not too late to do something like a Καθολικός διάκονος Year in Review. It's a good opportunity to blog about blogging. In August of last year, my blog marked its 18th year. However, for those long-time readers, both of you, you'll remember (because I've written about it here before), that this cyberspace actually began in July 2005. Its original title was "Scott Dodge for Nobody." I did not really begin "blogging" in earnest until August 2006.

Either way, that's a long time. One thing about 2023, which was an incredibly difficult year for me, is that I posted fewer times than any year since I really started doing this, even fewer than the five months in late 2006. Of course, back then, being new to the medium and blogging being its heyday, I wrote about anything and everything. While there is a lot of what I wrote that isn't very good (i.e., not terribly insightful nor particularly well-written), as a result of this endeavor I am a better writer. That's just one-way blogging has helped me grow personally.

I don't mind divulging that there were a number of times last year I felt kind of bad, for my own sake, that I wasn't taking the time to compose more posts. Heaven knows there are enough things going on in the Church, in the world, and in my own life to keep supplied with matters with which to grapple.

While I still make New Year's resolutions, I am deliberative and careful about committing. Frankly, I don't need something else to beat myself about. I do plan to post more here in the New Year. I plan to get back to posting reflections on the Sunday readings for those weeks I do not preach. Of course, I plan to continue posting my homilies. I'd like to do a Friday traditio or something similar. I also want to post commentaries on events that strike me as warranting it.

I do not plan to get back to those days when I was posting close to 400 times a year. Rather, I am aiming for around 8-12 posts per month, somewhere around 120 posts this year. We'll see how it goes. In the last several weeks of 2023, I spent a huge amount of time planning and preparing for 2024. I did this in the hope of focusing solely on those things I need to do and spreading things out more than I have in the past. Hopefully, that will provide me with time to do things I enjoy. Among those activities are reading and writing.

I remain amazed by the medium of blogging. Way back in 2005, as I composed my first several posts, I was utterly blown away that someone, anyone, sitting at a computer connected to the world wide web could write and then make it available to anyone else on the web. Like all such things, it is a mixed bag. If nothing else, I hope my blog is a responsible and positive cyberspace. I also hope there are those who find value in what I post.

It's funny now that I serve as Director of Deacons and Director of Diaconal Formation for my diocese that I don't write more about the diaconate. But we'll see how that goes this year too.

There are two books I'd like to share that have impacted my spirituality very positively. These are not big, complicated theological tomes. Rather, they are small, very accessible books on the basics of Ignatian spirituality. Both books are by Christopher Collins, SJ. The first book I gave to those who are in diaconate formation: Habits of Freedom: 5 Ignatian Tools for Clearing Your Mind and Resting Daily in the Lord. The second, the one I am reading right now, which has helped me rediscover the importance of making the Morning Offering each day, is Three Moments of the Day: Praying With the Heart of Jesus. The latter book was published in 2014 and the former in 2022.

Because I can't let myself rest too easily, I am also reading the fifth volume of Hans Urs Von Balthasar's Glory of the Lord, which is his engagement with modern Western metaphysics.

Anyway, Happy New Year. May 2024 be a wonderful year for you and for yours. As our reading from the sixth chapter of Numbers for this Solemnity puts it:

The LORD bless you and keep you!
The LORD let his face shine upon
you, and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly and
give you peace!⁵

Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God

Readings: Numbers 6:22-27; Ps 67:2-3.5-6.8; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21

Because New Year’s Day falls on a Monday this year, it is not a holy day of obligation. I think for most, if not all, of us here, we’re not present because we feel some burdensome sense of obligation. Rather, we’re here because we realize that time is the currency of life, and spending time worshipping God together is one of the best uses of our time.

What better way to start a new year than by gathering together for communion with God and with each other? I know there is nowhere else I would rather be this morning than here and nothing else I’d rather be doing than this. This implies that there are no other people I’d rather be with than all of you, God’s people. What a blessing!

I remember attending some sessions that Bishop Niederauer used to have with the youth of our diocese. He always liked to give the young men and women the opportunity to ask him questions. There were a handful of questions that seemed to always get asked.

One of these oft-asked questions went something like “Is it really true that I have to go to Mass every Sunday?” To which, Bishop George would respond by saying, “I like to think about this as I get to go to Mass.” He would continue by explaining that Mass doesn’t take that long and it gives everything else I do that day or that week meaning and purpose. If that’s true of Sunday Mass, how much truer is it of Mass on New Year’s Day?!

In the Nicene Creed we profess that Jesus Christ is “consubstantial with the Father.”¹ Because he is also “incarnate of the Virgin Mary,” as Son of Mary, he is also consubstantial with us.² This is the mystery of Christmas. It is through Christ, by our rebirth through waters of baptism, that we are children of God. This is why, as Saint Paul points out, we can call “Abba, Father!”³

Therefore, we can call the Blessed Virgin Mary “Imma, Mother!” As Abba is Aramaic for “Daddy” or “Papa,” so Imma is Aramaic for Mommy” or “Mama.” Because God is our Father and Mary is our Mother, Jesus is our brother. All of this is the work of the Holy Spirit, who is always at work in and through creation.

The “slavery” mentioned in our second reading from which are freed is not slavery to God. We don’t go from being God’s slaves to God’s children. No! We go from being slaves to sin and death to children of God who, through Christ, frees us from sin and death. This is the Good News!

Like a good Mother, Mary is here for us. As the opening of The Beatles’ song, Let It Be, goes:

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom
Let it be

And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom
Let it be⁴

Let's not forget, Paul McCartney is an Irish Catholic kid from Liverpool.

Never hesitate to seek our Blessed Mother’s help, her comfort, her consolation. Two ways to do this are by saying often the Memorare and by praying the Rosary. The Memorare is a great way to honor your commitment to pray for someone.

Each year on this Solemnity, I challenge everyone present to pray the Rosary, that is, one full set of mysteries (Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, Glorious), five decades, each day of this year starting today. You can pray the Rosary meditatively, sitting quietly, or you can pray the Rosary while walking, waiting, etc. I typically pray my daily Rosary while walking.

So, my dear friends, as we embark on a new year,

The LORD bless you and keep you!
The LORD let his face shine upon
you, and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly and
give you peace!⁵

As for peace, in addition to being the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, today is also World Day of Peace. And so, let us work for peace in the world always mindful that peace begins with me.

---

1 Roman Missal. The Order of Mass, sec. 18.^↩
2 Ibid.^↩
3 Galatians 4:6.^↩
4 The Beatles. "Let It Be."^↩
5 Numbers 6:24-26.^↩