The Community at Prayer
Reflection by Father Paul M. Baca
January 30, 2011, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time
See the readings
On the front page of the current issue of NCR, there is an article by Tom Roberts under the heading of "Authority and Identity." I would like to quote the first paragraph, "When Phoenix bishop Thomas Olmstead issued his December 21 decree that St. Joseph Hospital and Medical Center no longer qualifies as a Catholic entity, he intended to establish what he felt the hospital had previously refused to accept: that he was the diocese's sole arbiter of both the truth about a clinical procedure and about an institution's Catholic identity."
The concept of Catholic identity has always held an important place in my beliefs and my experience. Catholic hospitals were known for their willingness to care for the poor and many others not per se poor, but unable to pay for health care on a routine basis. When I was a student in Denver I suffered an acute case of appendicitis resulting in a hospital stay of twelve days. There was no way in the world that I could have paid for that and I never received a bill. When I was assigned to St. Joseph's Parish in Anton Chico, I had a complicated tonsillectomy at St. Anthony's Hospital, and again, no charge. In my long life, Catholic identity has never, ever been a matter of one issue; but rather, the many Catholics who seriously listen to the words of Jesus and sacred scripture and find the courage to live the challenge have projected the Catholic identity.
The opening words of our first reading, "Seek the Lord all you humble of the earth who have observed his law; seek justice, seek humility ... they shall do no wrong and speak no lies nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue." And again, in Psalm 146, the responsorial psalm for today's Mass, "The Lord keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets captives free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord raises up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the just, the Lord protects strangers.
Of course all of this is sustained in everyday life by the works of great scholars, theologians and those who spend their lives studying the scriptures. For over 2000 years now they have clarified and helped us understand what God expects of those that he calls into the church through baptism. We have been reminded time and again of the importance of keeping the Ten Commandments but in order to do this we have to understand the full extent of each one of them. Perhaps a very important teaching that Almighty God gives us is the one lived by all those who are truly saints. And this reads,
"Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Authority has been paramount in the church from its infancy going back to that moment when Jesus said, "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." Authority, like power, is a huge challenge to those in authority and in power; and the proper use of it has been an identity factor in the church.
Since the 80's so many Catholics have become seemingly one-issue Catholics and this has minimized the importance of the wonderful aspects of the social teaching of the church. I have yet to meet someone who is totally pro-abortion. Yet in our social environment there are those who feel that the term 'pro-life' refers only to preventing abortion by any means. Then too, I find a huge vacuum in what should be heroic efforts to stem the causes of abortion, and these are many. For me to live my Catholic faith means more to listen to the words of scripture, the challenges that Jesus gives us to pro-create with him a world of peace and justice on our journey to heaven.
Please note: In our world where words are twisted and turned for making a political point, it is good to note that for a better understanding of worlds in scripture, we can find sources that explain them: The Greek word that we translate as "righteous" is "dike" (pronounced, dee-kay). And while the ancient Greek meaning was tendency, the use of this word in the bible implies justice and conformance to established standards. Justice means doing the right thing; and conformance to established standards (in the bible) refers to following the ways of God. So, the word righteous can also be translated as just since righteousness is so closely tied to justice.