Still Missing Chris

My best friend, soulmate, and late night bon-vivant, Christine, died in October of 2022.  At that time, I couldn't really understand the scriptural reading, at her funeral Mass. 

"Death where is your sting?" This is from Paul's letter to the Corinthians 15:55.  "Death where is your sting?"  "Are you serious?" I thought.  The sting is in my heart, in the tears in my eyes, and in the lump in my throat blocking my speech. "Death where is your sting?"  "Didn't you feel it, Paul?"

(sigh)

Of course, I'm not that obtuse to know that Paul was referring to the resurrection and not thinking of the physical death of a dear one. Now that I think of it, Paul wasn't there, when Jesus died.  No wonder he could so blithely ask, "Death where is your sting?" 

(sigh)

Again. I'm thinking of a dear one whom I once physically touched, hugged, kissed, and laughed with, and Paul is preaching the Resurrection. The physical world versus the abstract theological world.  It's good thing we humans have both, or we'd be wallowing only in the physical with no hope for anything better.

S-o--r-r-y.  I'm doodling.

I was talking about my friend, Chris, who although she has been gone, for going on three years, I still am reminded of her when I have a spinach artichoke appetizer, a strawberry marguerita--salted, or I see a mutual friend.  I still miss her because I still love her.  Love still lives. 

When she first became sick almost 20 years ago, and she had been gone for a while.  I wrote this poem:

Missing Chris

Happy is he who find a friend and he who speaks to attentive ears. Sirach 25:9

My soul mate, Chris would help with my mess,

over spinach artichoke dip, nachos,

ice tea, girl-talk, dope slaps, and laughter;

deftly would your perspective fix my problem;

snap smooth wrinkled excuses and cobwebbed thoughts,

as we share late night secrets and pray for grace.

 But she became well, not completely healed, but well enough for us to hang out together, again.  She was a football fan.  Living a town away from Gilette Stadium, she cheered for the New England Patriots.  Tom Brady, the quarter back was an obsession.  If she couldn't get to a game, she went to a sports bar right in Gillette Stadium and in that charged atmosphere she watched her team play on the big TVs.  She would have loved the movie '80 for Brady.  This movie is about four octogenarians who love the Pats and Tom Brady just like Chris did.

Myself, not being a fan of elderly ladies talking dirty and acting sexy, I would never have even entertained the thought of seeing the move, '80 for Brady.

Now, if you don't believe in heavenly intervention, then listen up.  The Senior Center had a raffle to go see the movie.  I thought to myself, "OK Chris, if I win, I'll go for you."  

I won a ticket to go. 

I had the best time.  It was "wicked awesome!" Thus, I was inspired to write another poem for Chris: 

Cheering for Chris

My friend, Chris, who loved the Patriots,

       would have wanted to see “80 for Brady.”

And so I went for Chris, to see, to laugh, and maybe

       to lessen the feel of my grief laden cross.

Chris would have howled with laughter,

      and so I watched for the two of us.

Cheering, clapping, enjoying, plus

      thinking of your happiness ever after.

So now is the sting gone?  Depends. When I need a confidant, I feel

 the sting. But when I have a 

spinach artichoke dip, or a margarita, I smile and send love up to 

Chris because love still lives.  Now, another poem is composed: 

Still Missing Chris

Twice this morning I went to text you

about a thought or two, I knew

you would enjoy.  But then.....

Then my mind halted

and I erased my words.

Of course, I know it's necessary to have an ending before you can have a beginning.

But love doesn't end.

That's proof of God, you'd say.

Life goes on for both of us.  Mine is here and yours is there.

But Chris, I can't text you there.

Sure, you can.  No words are necessary

when you speak from your heart.

I finally get it, Paul.  Love doesn't end with death.   Death doesn't win.  Love conquers all.  "Oh Death, where is your sting."

Salutations

 My "cloistered brothers" love the fact that St. Paul was a prisoner.  Also, that due to his confinement, he wrote letters.  We owe the New Testament to Paul, because much of the New Testament were letters Paul wrote, while in prison.

These letters follow the same form: who the sender is, to whom the letter is for, a greeting, then the purpose of the letter.  For example, look at Romans 1: 1-2,7.

Let's try it.

Greetings from Faith, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be a disciple and set apart to proclaim the Word, as a Lector, to bring the word to prisoners, beloved of God and called to holiness, grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I know this is a run-on sentence, but I was copying Paul.  You should try reading aloud to the congregation, these run-on salutations.

The Final Doxology

 

LECTIO;

Rom 16:25-27

Brothers and sisters:
To him who can strengthen you,
according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ,
according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages
but now manifested through the prophetic writings and,
according to the command of the eternal God,
made known to all nations to bring about the obedience of faith,
to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ
be glory forever and ever. Amen.

STUDIUM:

Good Grief, Paul!  This is one long salutation!  However, it's at the end of this letter to Romans.  It's called the Final Doxology.  A doxology is a hymn of praise to God.  Is one of Paul's titles "Saint of verbosity?"

MEDITATIO:

I get it, Lord.  You are God.  You are omnipotent, omnisciencent, and we owe everything to You.

ORATIO:

I join Paul in praising You for your love and care, especially giving us Your Son, Jesus.

CONTEMPLATIO:

 Thank You, Jesus, for loving me.

RESOLUTIO:

I must never, never, forget to praise and give thanks to God.

Preach like Paul

 

LECTIO:

1 Thes 1:5c-10

Brothers and sisters:
You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake.
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord,
receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit,
so that you became a model for all the believers
in Macedonia and in Achaia.
For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth
not only in Macedonia and in Achaia,
but in every place your faith in God has gone forth,
so that we have no need to say anything.
For they themselves openly declare about us
what sort of reception we had among you,
and how you turned to God from idols
to serve the living and true God
and to await his Son from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead,
Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.

STUDIUM:

Paul is probably referencing the miracles God performed in his ministry around the countryside. He is in Achaia, writing to those who live in the northern regions, Thessalonia.

   Evidently, these people are converts from paganism.  Hence, the reference to their pagan idols.  The God of Israel is the living God.  The last sentence mentions the return of Jesus and the wrath to come.  Paul thought Jesus was coming back soon and would punish unbelievers.

MEDITATIO:

I like Paul's salutation, "Brothers and sisters."  Usually, it's just "brothers."  Paul obviously doesn't let his detractors and physical hardships bother him.  He concentrates on the miraculous powers God has bestowed on him.  I wish I could do that.  Paul, also, is among Gentiles.  Today, my world is full of Gentiles.  What would Paul do, today? When I started teaching in 1968-69, there were four boys named "Paul" in my class.  Today, no one has the name Paul.

ORATIO:

Lord, we are closer to the end of times, now, than Paul was.  I need to be prepared and help others, too.  At least my family should be aware.  My witness in my behavior.  My conversations let everyone know Christ is among us--I hope.  Plus, I pray for all.

CONTEMPLATIO:

Lord, help me stay awake and faithful.

RESOLUTIO:

Keep preaching.

 For Christians around the world, the road to Damascus is a symbol of transformation.  According to the Bible, the Jewish pharisee, Saul of Tarsus persecuted the followers of the Nazarene, Jesus.  One day, on the road to Damascus to persecute more followers, Saul was blinded by light, possibly heat lightning, and for the next three days, Saul was blind.  We presume that during those three days, Saul was instructed by God because he converted and became the evangelist Paul, that we know from the New Testament.

Long gone are those days of early Christianity.  Today, Christians only make up about 10% of Syria.  

We must pray for poor Syria, not only for the too many years of civil violence, extreme terrorists' organization, but also for natural disasters.  

 

Was Paul Boring?

 Did you laugh at the end of today's Second Reading?  Today is the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time.  The Second Reading was 1 Corinthians 1: 10-13, 17.  The last section said:

...For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with

human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.

So Paul had no human eloquence.  And listening to him was a cross!  Listeners were suffering.  Actually, this may have been true.  Remember Eutychus?   

Eutychus he was sitting in a window listening to Paul and he fell asleep AND fell out the window.  Acts 20: 9.

               

 From the Salty Scrivener https://semperreformatadotcom.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/acts-20-2147447.png

Was Paul a People-Pleaser?

 Paul says, Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the Church of God, just as I try to please all men in everything I do not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, ...

Was Paul a people-pleaser?  No, Paul tried to please all people in everything.  What's the difference?

People-pleasers lose themselves in trying to please each person.  In trying to make everyone happy, one is not seeking common ground for the common good, and that is what Paul was trying to do.  In trying to please every single person, you may not really help. When seeking to please all people one is working for the good of all.  

Paul was looking to please all people for the common good.  That's the difference.

My Rebuttal

If you didn't listen to the last essay on yesterday's post's link, then you won't understand to what this essay is referring.  But I think you will be able to put two and two together.

The Conversion on the Way to Damascus (Conversione di San Paolo) is a work by Caravaggio, painted in 1601 for the Cerasi Chapel of the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, in Rome.

The last radio show closed with a piece explaining creativity.  St. Paul was used as an example of a creative spirit being utilized.

It was claimed that St. Paul was a phony.  On the road to Damascus Paul, who was an Ebionite, suddenly got a brilliant idea on how to win fame and fortune.  Instead of fighting the followers of the Nazarene, he would join them and make money off of them.

This claim sparked my creative juices because this depiction of Paul is contrary to the current popular depiction of Paul.  Historically, Paul is one of the most important figures in Western Civilization.  His letters give us knowledge of the culture, politics, and religion of the first centuries, and his biography in the Acts of the Apostles makes him a hero.

That being said, attacks against Paul have been surrounding him ever since he took that fateful journey to Damascus.  Usually, claims against Christian heroes pop up around Christian holidays.  Movies, magazine articles, books, social media, etc., will promote these ideas to sell their products.  You will hear that Paul was a Greek and became circumcised to win the favor of a Jewish girl;[1] Paul was a false apostle, Jesus was a twin, Jesus was married, Paul was married, etc.  All this is nothing new.  Some people like to rain on parades.  Wait for Thanksgiving when you hear that we shouldn’t be giving thanks for democide.  It should be a Day of Mourning.  Or, Columbus Day should be renamed Indigenous People Day.

However, this is not the subject of my essay.  My inspiration was the ending of last month’s reading with the statement, “And that’s the truth.”

What!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One thing everyone can agree on is that Paul was not stupid.  If what the Ebionites say about Paul making money off the followers of this New Way, is true, he must have been stupid.  Jesus was poor.  His Apostles were poor and the people they attracted were mostly poor.  It wouldn’t have taken Paul long to figure out that there was no money to be made going around preaching Jesus’ Gospel.  Paul was physically persecuted; he was beaten, stoned, left for dead, shipwrecked, imprisoned[2] and had to work as a manual laborer to support himself.[3] Where’s the money?  And this isn’t Paul’s personal claims, Paul’s life was witnessed by many others: Barnabas, Silas, Mark, Timothy, Luke, plus many Corinthians, Ephesians, Athenians, Romans, Philippians, Galatians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Hebrews, etc..

Personally, I think common sense would tell you that Paul was legit.  Let’s say Paul did create a scheme, as the Ebionites claim.  Then where did Ananias get the command to go to Paul and baptize him? Where did that come from?  Let me relate the event:

(Paul is in Damascus.  For three days he’s trying to make sense of things.) Now there was in Damascus, a certain disciple named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ And he said, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go to the street called Straight and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul. For behold he is praying.’…But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to the saints in Jerusalem. And here too he has authority from the high priests to arrest all who invoke your name.’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for this man is a chosen vessel to me, to carry my name among the nations, and kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.[4]

Ananias probably exclaimed, “Are you kidding me? No way, Jesus!”  because Saul would have killed Ananias. Where did this idea come from, if not from God, Himself?

Another factor is that the other apostles accepted Paul.  Peter and Paul argued as teachers do: about dietary laws, circumcision, etc.  But Peter argues as one would with a respected colleague.  Paul was accepted as a bona fide teacher.

And what about Paul’s miracles: A man in Lystra with crippled feet, who was cured,[5] a possessed girl who was being exploited by her masters and Paul freed her,[6] the boy who fell from a great height and thought dead,[7] In fact, Paul’s miracles were so numerous that people just touched Paul with their handkerchiefs to take to others who were diseased, and they were cured?[8] Where did Paul get this authority if he were a false apostle?

Finally, there’s Paul message itself. Paul always taught the Old Testament and Jesus’ Gospel. No one said differently, especially not the other apostles. Paul lived in the same time as the other apostles and they vouched for Paul as specially chosen and anointed.

That being said, Paul does have his opponents: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Romans, the Hebrews, the Ebionites and some other Gnostics. The animosity between these groups and Paul was mutual.

The heresiologist[9] Origen, said the name Ebionites is derived from a Hebrew word meaning “poor.” The early Christians, especially Paul had a field day with the name, saying that the Ebionites were “poor in understanding!”

Unfortunately, the Ebionites faded from history and all we know of them is from their opponents. The Ebionites were Christian followers of Jewish laws.  No wonder the Ebionites and Paul butted heads.  The Ebionites insisted on circumcision and Paul taught that circumcision wasn’t necessary. The Ebionites also taught that Jesus was born as the eldest son of the sexual union of Jesus and Mary.[10] But the subject of this essay isn’t the Ebionites’ beliefs.  Let’s just say that Paul and the Ebionites were at opposite ends of the spectrum.

As I mentioned previously, sources refuting our accepted iconic ideas are nothing new. You will hear: new gospel found, Jesus’ grave found, even Jesus’ body found! Actually, nothing is new. Those who don’t know history, repeat it. There were many writings that didn’t make it in the Bible. Who knows the exact selection process?

                Why wasn’t my story accepted by that magazine? Why wasn’t I hired? Why didn’t I get
                that scholarship?

Selection is arbitrary. I’m sure if a gospel were written by a woman, it was thrown out--there went the gospel of Mary Magdalene, the Acts of Thecla. Maybe a source was just repeating what was already said. For sure, some writings were just too crazy to be acceptable and others, like the Ebionites, were considered heretical. The early church fathers who collected the different sources to collate the Bible couldn’t accept everything. The Bible is a big book as it is! But these sources are still around and will surface every now and then (especially around Christian celebrations) as “newly found.”  They are not new, they are old sources that weren’t chosen to be in the canon of the Bible. Sorry, history is written by the winners, and thus today’s western culture is shaped by the societal ideas and ethics of Paul and the other apostles of Christ.[11]

One last thought regarding the Ebionites and Paul is expressed in a famous metaphor expressed by Jesus warning us against false prophets and how to identify them.  It is Matthew 7: 15: By their fruits you shall know them.

Fruits represent the outward manifestation of a person’s faith and behavior and works.

Faith of the Ebionites – doesn’t exist any more.
Faith of Paul—one of the most influential people in human history in shaping Christian thought.

Behavior of the Ebionites—rejected by Jews and early Christians.
Behavior of Paul—performed miracles, martyred for the Faith.

Works of the Ebionites—never popularly accepted and died out.
Works of Paul—thirteen of the New Testament’s twenty-seven documents are Paul’s letters and the book of Acts is his biography, which adds up to half of the New Testament.

 

So be it.

And that’s the truth!

 

 

 

 

---

[1] Paulproblem.faithweb.com/ebionites.htm ; The picture of Paul as a disappointed lover is a typical creation of the folk imagination.

[2] 2Corinthians 11:23-27.

[3] 1Corinthians 4:12, 1 Corinthians 9:18, 1Thessalonians 2:9, Acts 18:3.

[4] Acts 9: 10-19

[5] Acts 14: 7-9

[6] Acts 16: 16-18

[7] Acts 20: 9-12

[8] Acts 19: 11-12

[9] Opponent of heresy

[10] Ehrman, Bart D. Lost Christianities. Oxford University Press. 2003, 96-99.

[11] Tabor, James D. Paul and Jesus. Simon & Schuster. 2012, preface.

$ 500 or a Year in Prison

Due to the blizzard, Feb. 8, Governor Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency and closed all the streets at 4:00 PM and posted a fine of $ 500, or a year in prison, for violating the ban.  Hence, I’m stuck at home.  Fortunately, the electricity has not gone out and the television and computer are still operating.

In checking my email and Facebook, some friends were discussing the penalty for violating the emergency ban.  Joking, it was commented that perhaps being in prison wouldn't be so bad; they’d get some writing accomplished. 

 Mmmm, what would my “cloistered brothers” think about that.  Writing?  Pencils and pens aren't that readily available in prison.  Were they thinking of using a computer—in prison?  You would be lucky to be able to think.  There’s a constant din of noise; it’s not a hotel with privacy doors.  Would you like to use the toilet in your cell? Actually, that’s the only available seat.   Do you want a desk lamp?  Get real!  The lighting depends on where your cell is.  The overhead lighting in the halls and corridors are it.  Deal with it.

Yet, St. Paul managed to do quite a bit of writing, in prison.  And his writing was filled with hope and joy.  I’m sure there were deprivations, but Paul never mentions them.  His sufferings added depth to his words.  His chains were part of his apostleship. 

Others have done likewise.  Remember the religious sisters jailed for demonstrating against the US Army School of the Americas.  Their arrest, their diaries, and the publicity surrounding their imprisonment allowed their message to get out further than they thought it ever would.

Is the idea of getting their writing more publicity, enticement enough to want to risk prison?  Not, for violation of an emergency ban.  There’s no honor in that.  Better to book a weekend at an inn.  Do your writing in quiet with accommodating surroundings.  St. Paul says:

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.  May no temptations take hold of you but such as man is equal to.  God is faithful and will not permit you to be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also give you a way out that you may be able to bear it.  (1Cor. 10:12-13)

Make Up Your Mind

C'mon St. Paul

1 Cor. 11:5    contradicts      1 Cor. 14:34

I've looked up the commentaries and no answer satisfies me.

WTF?

Am I a too proud Pharisee?

Read Luke 18: 9-14

Read 2 Timothy 4: 6-8

What's the difference?  I know you're going to tell me that the Pharisee in Luke 18: 9-14 is giving credit to himself and not to God.  I don't see that.  Read 2 Timothy 4: 6-8.  Well?

Yeah, yeah...all the commentators say that the Pharisee's prayer was not as acceptable as the tax collector's.  And I'll take their word for it.  But the way these two readings are juxtaposed today on the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, certainly does not portray Paul any different than the proud Pharisee.

But Paul is a Pharisee.  And Paul's later writings show his spiritual progression, so we know him better than this quick look at the praying Pharisee.  But I think the contrast is nil, especially the juxtaposition of the two readings, today.

Let me put it this way;  which am I -- a Paul, or a proud Pharisee?

O God, I thank you for making me Catholic. 
I thank you for placing me in this country, in this time and place.
I have tried to obey your commandments and the Church's.
I thank you that I have not fallen like the rest of humanity--into our modern cultural morass.
I have always tried to do your Will.
Amen

Faith is Greater than Love

I know that 1 Corinthians 13:13, says that the greatest of the virtues is love. But that was before my time. Paul hadn't met Faith.
;-)
Just kidding. But that passage always went up one side of me and down the other. And I know why. Love without Faith is "eros" love. It's selfish love. You need faith in God to kick up the love, a notch or two.

When you act with charity towards another, it may just be an act of convenience. When you "make love" with another, it may be self gratification, or a fulfillment of personal needs. It is only when you serve the other for the love of God, that the love counts as LOVE. This is called agape.

BUT YOU HAVE TO KNOW AND LOVE GOD!

Thus, "FAITH" comes first. Faith is what turns "eros" into "agape."

I rest my case.