Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter

“You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen,

The Christian religion is rooted in Jewish history and faith; without those roots we lose our association with Jesus. His message and his meaning would be lost on us. Tragically this has often happened in our history. As incomprehensible as it sounds, many Christians have despised Jews. They see the passion narratives as a proof of Jewish “perfidy” and do not recognize the perfect sign of love in Jesus’ crucifixion. We might pity such Christians, but we must avoid their error. It is fatal to the gospel seed in our hearts.

The Gospel of John and especially this conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus represent the stunned incomprehension that existed between the two communities in that difficult first century. Jesus challenged the well-intentioned but uncomprehending Nicodemus, “You do not understand this?” As John tells the story, Nicodemus would later make an enormous contribution to Jesus’ burial (one hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes!); but he does not say that Nicodemus became his disciple. He may have remained with his Jewish community and kept his position in the sorely-troubled Sanhedrin. Perhaps that is where God placed him and that’s where he belonged. The story of Nicodemus in John’s gospel may represent the Christian gratitude to devout, faithful Jews. 

The Christian community, through the liturgical experiences of Baptism and Eucharist, was persuaded that Jesus was the Jewish messiah. There was a tremendous intellectual fervor among converted Jews, especially among the scholars, as they methodically studied the Hebrew Scriptures and found passages that seemed to be fulfilled by Jesus. Though their interpretations were novel, they were nonetheless traditional by Jewish standards. Today, some of us might scratch our heads and wonder how they managed these imaginative leaps of faith, but it all made sense to them.

But to many Jews it made no sense at all. It was too new, too strange, and too demanding. They might have followed the logic but they had not received the Spirit of Jesus. Very likely, during those days of passionate and painful controversy, neither community could imagine that God intended for them to remain separate for twenty centuries and, perhaps, until the end of time. If there is only one God, shouldn’t there be only one faith in that God? If Jesus is the savior of the world, shouldn’t the entire world believe in him? Five centuries later a third religion would be born from the Jewish and Christian communities of Arabia. Muslims would believe their mission was to resolve the differences between the Jews and Christians and introduce the whole world to the worship of Allah.

I certainly would not claim to know the mind of God in this matter, nor would I dare to predict the future and how these three traditions might be melded into one. But I believe every person should follow his own vocation. In most cases, God invites people to stay where they are, and to practice the faith of their ancestors. In some cases, he will lead them into other congregations. In every case the decision will be reassuring, peaceful and blessed with God’s gentle spirit.

Periodically the news breaks into our prayer consciousness and must be addressed. Recently Pope Benedict XVI has also been implicated in the “cover-up” regarding priest pedophilia. We in the United States have not quite passed through the trial of fire which began in the mid-1980’s. The Scandal has touched virtually every diocese and every religious community of men in our country. Though some Europeans seemed to think this was only an American problem, others knew the day of reckoning would arrive in every country in the world. Protestant, Jewish and other faiths have also suffered or will suffer their own humiliation.

Especially since the “Dallas Charter” of 2002, the province of Our Lady of Consolation has taken very deliberate and stringent measures to protect children, vulnerable adults, and all those entrusted to our care – which is virtually anyone in contact with a member of our province. We are following the new guidelines, observing both the letter and the spirit of the laws.

In the meanwhile we must pray for our Church. We should pray that God will give us – clergy, religious, and laity – a rebirth of wonder in the Gift of Purity. As I said, in my first blogged homily about the Sacrament of Marriage, I believe that virginity is a gift from God. Through persistent prayer, our sexuality can be healed of the damage it suffers from sexual abuse, sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, masturbation, pornography and other assaults.

However low its morals, our world expects the Church and its leaders to be a city shining on a hill. Now, more than ever, we must rise to this crisis and welcome it as a blessed though terrifying opportunity.