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30 Aug 2015 - Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

The Pharisees, along with some religion scholars who had come from Jerusalem, gathered around him. They noticed that some of his disciples weren’t being careful with ritual washings before meals. The Pharisees—Jews in general, in fact—would never eat a meal without going through the motions of a ritual hand-washing, with an especially vigorous scrubbing if they had just come from the market. The Pharisees and religion scholars asked, “Why do your disciples flout the rules, showing up at meals without washing their hands?” Jesus answered, “Isaiah was right about frauds like you, hit the bull’s-eye in fact: These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their heart isn’t in it. They act like they are worshiping me, but they don’t mean it. They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy, Ditching God’s command and taking up the latest fads.” Jesus called the crowd together again and said, “Listen now, all of you— take this to heart. It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life; it’s what you vomit—that’s the real pollution. Obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness—all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution” (from Mark 7). Taken from The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2014 ); actapublications.com; 800-397-2282.

Rules Purity Law Rituals

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07 Jun 2015 - Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), Cycle B

"We do the same thing over and over.” This is the common lament of churchgoers routinely bored in the pews. Not all of these eye-rollers are children and teenagers, please note. Some folks who’ve attended Mass for decades are still confounded by the need for ritual. It doesn’t change, may not edify, rarely entertains, and isn’t always artfully performed. So why do we do it—over and over? All ritual is fundamentally a mnemonic device. Take the evening ablutions before bedtime. Most of us do them in the same order with the same tools in the same way, night after night. That way we’re sure to do it all and not to forget some aspect of hygiene. Once you’ve found the best toothbrush, toothpaste, face soap, and comb, you don’t mess with success. You squeeze the toothpaste from the bottom or top, according to your standard rite. You may tie back your hair or wash your entire bald pate, depending on circumstances. You stand at the same sink, in the same slippers. The end result is good news: You get to keep your teeth, gums, and skin in good working condition. That’s a prosaic example, but it’s a model for how most ritual works. Ritual requires preparation: If you don’t buy a new toothbrush or launder your towels occasionally, the ritual breaks down. Also, you have to supply a certain amount of intentionality to the effort, or the dentist will say you’re missing the backside of those upper teeth again. If you think ritual prep isn’t necessary for Mass, guess again. While most of us don’t have to remember to buy more wine or hosts, or launder the linens involved in Eucharist, someone does. Someone also sets the multitude of ribbons in liturgical books for lectors to proclaim the readings and presiders to offer the prayers. Someone vacuums the carpets, repairs broken kneelers, returns hymnals to their place, retrieves abandoned bulletins. (My 87-year-old mom personally dusts down the shrine to the Sacred Heart statue in her parish.) Someone selects flowers, hangs seasonal banners. The music leader chooses hymns and choir members rehearse. Eucharistic ministers, lectors, acolytes, and ushers are routinely trained and scheduled. And of course, preachers thoughtfully prepare homilies every single week! Why do these armies of folks prepare so much for Sunday Mass? Because Jesus asks us to celebrate this covenant supper with him. It reminds us that his life and ours are one life. This ritual keeps the whole church united with Christ until Kingdom Come: on the same page, moving toward the same goals. Even Jesus prepares for his ritual through the man with the water jar, the owner of the upper room, and the elements of the Passover meal. In ritual nothing is taken for granted. Because this ritual keeps the community, and this community is a light to the world. Related scripture links The ritual sin-offering: Lev. 16 Ashes of the heifer: Num. 19:1-10 Covenant stories: Gen. 9:9-17; 15:1-21; Exod. 19:1-8; 2 Sam. 7:8-16; Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 34:23-31; Isa. 7:10-15; 49:15; 55:3 Water and blood: Rom. 6:3-4; 1 John 5:6-8 Supper discernment: 1 Cor. 11:23-29

Authors Alice Camille

Ritual Preparation

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11 Jan 2015 - Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Cycle B

Nothing could be more common than water. It’s available in plastic bottles everywhere we go, offered by the glass for free on most restaurant tables. It comes out of the tap in our homes and we take that privilege for granted—except in those rare moments when it’s just not there for some municipal reason. The typical American family of four uses 400 gallons of water a day for drinking, cooking, showering, laundering, lawn maintenance. Also, one-third of our national water usage gets flushed away in our bathrooms, to the tune of $5 billion every year. In the biblically arid land of Israel—dependent on one viable lake and a single unimpressive river and its tributaries for its water source—water was deeply prized and appreciated. Maybe the idea of a water ritual sounded different to such people than it does to those of us who shower routinely or take a dip at the pool and think nothing of it (although the Ice Bucket Challenge sure got a lot of press this past year!). Some water rituals do remain a source of fascination, like the old-time dunking pond. When it costs you something to plunge under the water, it suddenly makes sense to be in the moment and pay attention. Water rituals such as the dunking pond, Ice Bucket Challenge, or Baptism are not really about the water, which is the most visual aspect of the event. It’s about the person undergoing a test of nerve and resolve. Are you in or out? Do you have what it takes to brave the moment and endure the thrill of the uncertain plunge? Because water, like wind and fire and earth, contains an element of danger. Drowning and flooding happened often enough in ancient times to imprint its terror on the human psyche. Babies still cry when the trickling baptismal water touches their scalp. We know instinctively that an encounter with water could cost us something, perhaps everything we have. Our RCIA graduates could probably say more about the cost of Baptism than those of us who encountered the sacrament pre-verbally. For adult catechumens, Baptism starts with a conscious decision to enter into a long process of preparation, study, and self-examination. At first, the road to adult Baptism requires mostly the investment of time, itself a dear thing in our chronically active age. It also asks us to be in the moment, to pay attention, to ask the right questions, to test our hearts against the answers. We do a lot of things every day in a half-aware state, hardly remembering where we went, what we ate, how the hours fled or dribbled away. The focus of those preparing for Baptism is to wake up, and to stay awake. Maybe if we used ice water, and the whole assembly had to take the plunge annually, our baptismal commitment would really get our attention! Related scripture links God sees what is in the heart: Luke 16:15; Acts 15:8 In Christ no Jew or Gentile: Gal. 3:26-29; 4:6-7; Col. 3:11 God’s anointed: Luke 4:16-21 The Father and Jesus are one: John 22-23

Authors Alice Camille

baptism Rituals

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The inner word

10 Jun 2012 - Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), Cycle B

While all the sprinkling of blood in the first reading may be a little more gory detail than you might have wanted, the story of this ritual offers you something to consider for the celebration of the Body and Blood of Christ. For the ancient Israelites, life was in blood. No blood, no life. If the blood stopped flowing or left the body, the creature died. Blood, then, had a sacred or sacramental quality, especially the blood of an animal sacrificed to God. And if people came into contact with the blood of the altar, that meant they were one with the giver of life, God. So when you drink the cup of Christ’s blood, you join yourself to Christ’s life and accept the covenant to follow him on your own.

Blood Ritual

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Who's listening?

01 Jan 2012 - Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord; Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, Cycle B

The great blessing scripture speaks of this week is Jesus Christ, born of Mary, the one through whom God became human. As a human being, Jesus lets all of us become adopted children of God. But spiritual childhood is not simply a matter of spiritual childishness. In a homily at the conclave that elected him pope, Benedict XVI emphasized the importance of being "true adults in the faith." While we are children of God, we are also called to mature faith. What can you say to the people to help them be both mature and childlike—to make the life of faith neither too simple nor too complicated?

pope benedict xvi spiritual mature Faith

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26 Jun 2011 - Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), Cycle A

The readings and the solemnity itself speak of the living bread, the Body of Christ; the bread of eternal life and the church in which the many baptized come together as one to share that bread. This day should also awaken a hunger for God. How would you describe your deepest spiritual hunger? Spiritually, what do you need the most? What spiritual food would be most satisfying? How is this nourishment available to you?

Bread spiritual hunger body of christ

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22 May 2011 - Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

MOVING INTO A new situation can seem like heaven—at first. Whether it’s the first day of school, a new job, new digs, or a new haircut, each facet of change feels fresh and clear of all the old obstacles. This time we’ll get it right. We’ll stay on top of the assignments, make the right friends, get organized, and stay that way. It will all be grand. Starting from the beginning again, there’s a chance to do better. Worn foundations may have a few warped boards, if not fundamental cracks. Some old things evoke nostalgia but others are simply decrepit. Wisdom dictates, at times, a fresh start as the only course of action. The biblical God likes to make things new, according to prophecy. The divine plan is full of fresh starts, things torn down so that new things can rise up, fields cleared to be replanted. What gets cleared may be an individual leader, a plot of ground, or an entire nation. Sometimes it’s the slate upon which the past is scrawled that needs to be wiped clean. When God plans a new spiritual household, as in the writings of Saint Peter, the new will be built on the best of the old. A host of earlier scripture passages are thoughtfully transplanted to prepare the foundation: the cornerstone from Isaiah 28; the rejected stone from Psalm 118; a stumbling block (Isaiah 8); the chosen race (Isaiah 43); a royal priesthood (Exodus 19); and a holy nation (Deuteronomy 7) which is God’s own (Malachi 3)—all brought together to substantiate that this new house is not a repudiation of the old but a vital restoration and extension. When Jesus offers his friends a place in the new household of God, it not only seems like heaven, it is. He will go on ahead to make sure that all is in order for their arrival! What could be better? Well, their reception of the idea, for one thing. Thomas complains he doesn’t know how to get there—even though Jesus just said he’d come back to lead the way personally. Philip is suspicious, not merely of the route but of their host. That seems downright rude. Jesus must be used to that by now. He casts out demons, and they call him a devil. He shares joyous table fellowship, and he’s labeled a glutton and drunkard. He tells the truth, and they call him a liar and blasphemer. He offers them a place in the reign of God, and they want to see God’s credentials. It might be nice for a change, when Jesus says he’s the way, the truth, and the life, that we fall in behind him, accepting that it could all be that grand. Related scripture links Let go and let God: Matt. 6:25-34 Advice for Christian leadership: Matt. 9:35-38, 10:5-10, 24-31, 20:20-28, 23:1-12 Deacons doing the work of apostles: Acts 6:8-7:60, 8:4-40 Church unity vital: John 17:20-21; 1 Cor. 12:4-26; Eph. 1-6; Rom. 12:3-8 Jesus can be seen "in a little while": John 16:16 Catechism links Chosen, royal, priestly, holy: CCC 709; 782; 901-903; 908-913; 931-933; 1141; 1268; 1546 Living stones: CCC 552; 756; 1179; 1268 Jesus is the way: CCC 459; 516; 661; 1025; 1698; 2466; 2614; 2795

Authors Alice Camille

Heaven reign of god divine plan living stones spiritual household

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Homily stories

22 May 2011 - Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

Is Hannah dead? A 4-year-old asked his mom about a little friend he hadn't seen in a while. The mother could see the bewilderment and worry in her son's face. Death had become a big issue for him even though he didn't quite understand what it was all about. "Oh, honey, of course, not," the mom assured him. "We'll get together with her soon." In a similar vein, Christians of every age worry about where Jesus is and what's to become of us. We ask questions about things we don't really understand. And when Jesus provides answers, we're even more confused. Like a child's innocent queries, our questioning is all part of our spiritual development and growth, but for the sake of a good night's sleep, we should remember Jesus' words of consolation when our concerns run too deep: "Do not let your hearts be troubled."

death consolation jesus spiritual development

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08 May 2011 - Third Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

Dorothy followed the Yellow Brick Road through the Land of Oz and came upon all sorts of signs pointing to different ways back home. In the end, she had the secret to getting back to Kansas right at her heels. But, as the Good Witch of the North tells her, she couldn't have been told the secret to achieving her heart's desire. She had to discover it for herself. Jesus' disciples on the road to Emmaus and all Christian disciples down through the ages have a similar challenge before them as they skip along on their spiritual journeys. The secret to finding their way home to God lies within their burning hearts, but they don't discover that until they've taken a few wrong turns and been set straight by the collection of characters they encounter along the way.

Road to Emmaus spiritual journey

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