Shalom: a
Multifaceted Diamond
(Naming Your Fear)
Acts
To the church in the
diaspora[1]
& to the church of
the unchurched[2]
Introduction
An
insensitive expression
On Easter morning Mary Magdalene went to the tomb
of Jesus and found that the stone in front of it had been rolled away. She peered
inside and saw that the body of Jesus was not there. So she ran to tell Peter
and John. They hurried to the tomb and saw for themselves that it was
empty. Scripture says, “They saw and
believed” (Jn 20:8). When the disciples left, Mary stayed behind, and Jesus suddenly
appeared to her. She hurried to tell the disciples that she had seen the Lord
(Jn
That was Easter Morning. Though Peter and John saw
the empty tomb and believed, and though
Mary actually encountered the risen Lord, by late evening their faith seems to
have waned, and they found themselves trembling behind doors locked “for fear
of the Jews” who might be out to get them as they got Jesus (Jn 20:19).
In an old Latin concordance
of the Bible printed on parchment in
What insidious roots of
anti-Semitism lurk in that expression when it is read insensitively to the Sunday
assembly down through the centuries! Fear of the Jews easily and subliminally turns
into hatred of them!
Two out of
eight
I have a volume with eight
different English translations of the New Testament from the original Greek, placed
side by side for comparison. It’s helpful to read all eight versions of a
particular passage to get the feel of what a certain text is trying to say. I find that six of the eight translations of
this particular text are insensitive. The official translation read at Mass
this Sunday is also insensitive. They all
blatantly read that “the doors were locked for
fear of the Jews.” Only two of the eight are sensitive. They read that,
“the doors were locked for fear of the
Jewish authorities.” There’s a big
difference between “the Jews” and “the Jewish authorities,” and it is a matter
of sensitivity to be careful about that difference.
Fear & prisons of certainty
The gospel says that fear locked up the church
behind closed doors. Fear locks things up in prisons of certainty. Fear of the Protestant Reformation at the Council
of Trent (1545-1563) locked up the church in prisons of certainty about many matters
for four whole centuries. (That’s no criticism; it’s simply the old story of action
and reaction and of swinging pendulums.) Then along came the Second Vatican
Council (1962-1965), and it unlocked doors and opened windows closed for
centuries.
For four hundred years fear of the Protestant
Reformation which attacked the institution of the church locked the church up in
a prison of certainty concerning the very
nature of the church itself. That fear wrote the old seminary text books
which defined the church as “a monarchical (papal) hierarchical (episcopal) society!”
As a pre-Vatican II professor of theology I taught that without blinking an eyelid! (It’s very difficult to fall in love with a
monarchical hierarchical society!) Then along came Vatican II and said, “I beg
your pardon. The church is not the hierarchy; the church is the People of God!” Mirabile dictu!
The Copernican Revolution of
That incredible course correction in ecclesiology is
written with gold ink in the Council’s most important document entitled Dogmatic Constitution[4]
on the Church.[5]
The bishops forged a remarkable revision of the preliminary document on the
church presented to the Council for discussion and debate! The original document
placed the chapter on the Hierarchy before the chapter on the People of
God. The bishops wittingly or unwittingly decided to fix that egregious mistake!
They switched the order of precedence. They placed the chapter on the People of
God before the chapter on the Hierarchy. That was right order! But it
was not as innocent as it looked. There’s nothing innocent about implying that
the hierarchy exists for the People of God and not the other way round. By a
vote on
That historic switch is considered to be the Copernican Revolution
of Vatican II. And while there remains to this very late day a great distance
between talking the talk and walking the walk, the document stands as a constant
reminder of the promise which Vatican II made to the church, and it also stands
as a document of the church in council judging the church today in its present
condition!
Redeeming
the promise of Vatican II
On the occasion of my dismissal from Old St. Mary, one
lady wrote the following to the pastor with carbon copies to Archbishop Dolan
and Bishop Sklba.
I am disappointed that your action shows that a
very pernicious traditional modus operandi of Church leaders, whether
simple priests or hierarchs, has not been discarded. That objectionable way of
acting is decision-making without any consultation with those affected by the
decisions.
What
is that modus operandi that has not
been discarded and of which she complains? It is placing the Hierarchy before or
over the People of God. She is complaining that the promise of Vatican II to
place the People of God before the Hierarchy is not being honored! She is calling
for the redemption of the Council’s promise to put the Hierarchy at the service
of the People of God and not vice versa.
In
the same letter she also complains about people who can’t see that “the church
is a huge tent” which is capable of harboring many kinds of people. She has a profound understanding of the word
catholic.
For four hundred years fear locked up the church in prisons
of certainty not only about the very nature of the church itself but also about
many other ancillary issues like celibacy, birth control, homosexuality,
ordination of women, etc. Whenever we lock up issues in prisons of certainty
whether in the household of God or in our own houses and among our own
families, we effectively remove those issues from the domain of human dialogue
and spiritual discernment, and that’s no path to peace.
Naming our fears
It
is important to name the fears that lock us up in prisons of certainty. What is
the name of the fear which locks up the church in a prison of certainty that married
men and even women cannot be ordained priests? What’s the name of the fear
which prevents the church from revisiting the encyclical Human Vitae which declares all artificial birth control as
intrinsically evil? What’s the name of the fear which prevents many bishops (who
believe that artificial birth control is not intrinsically evil) from saying it
publicly?
What’s the name of the fear which drove two
skinheads to beat to a pulp Matt Shepard (a gay student from the
A presently raging fear
What
is the name of the fear which at the present moment drives the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) to regard with suspicion the writings of
Jesuit Fr. Jon Sobrino? At one time he was a theological adviser to Archbishop
Oscar Romero of
The
CDF says what’s drive it is fear that Sobrino does not
sufficiently emphasize the absolute uniqueness and divinity of Jesus, and that
that could prove harmful to the faithful. Is that the fear which drives the
CDF? Or is it also (and maybe especially) fear that Sobrino’s writings (replete
with ideas of democracy and justice) will eventually challenge the structure of
the church, which is a gerontocracy and aristocracy?
An
old bumper sticker comes to mind. It reads, “God said it! I believe it! That
settles it!” It’s the bumper sticker of a bible-totter. It’s the bumper sticker
of one who, at heart, is filled with fear. His task is to name his fear, but very
probably he never will because his very bumper-sticker conveniently dispenses
him from naming it.
Conclusion
Shalom: a multifaceted diamond
This
second Sunday of Easter might be called “Shalom
Sunday.” The gospel relates how Jesus wishes his
disciples Shalom (Peace) not once but
three times.
Jesus came and stood in their midst and
said to them, “Shalom!
Peace
be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Shalom! Peace be with you” (Jn
The
Hebrew word Shalom is a multifaceted diamond.
It is so rich in meaning that it’s difficult to find a one-word translation to
do it justice. So we often don’t translate it but simply keep it as Shalom. The seventy men who translated
the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek (and gave us the bible known as the Septuagint) used twenty-five different
Greek words in different contexts to express the many facets of Shalom.
In different
contexts Shalom says different things,
but they all have a common golden thread weaving through them. Sometimes Shalom simply says “Peace!” Sometimes Shalom says, “Stop your worrying! Everything
will be OK.” Sometimes it says, “Relax! Let go and let God.” Sometimes Shalom says, “Quit your complaining! Count
your blessings.” Sometimes it says, “Let go of your anger or your hate! It’ll
only poison your soul.” If you’re trembling with fear behind locked doors Shalom says, “Don’t be afraid!”
To a church which
tackles easy issues like washing the dishes
after Mass but fears to tackle difficult issues like celibacy, artificial birth
control, divorce, homosexuality and especially the acute shortage of priests, Jesus
says (or rather commands) “Shalom!
Peace to you popes and bishops! Don’t be afraid to tackle the hard stuff!” To
those who fear the writings of honest people and the harm that they might cause
the faithful Jesus says (or rather commands) “Shalom! Peace to you scholarly protectors of the faith. Don’t be
afraid! The uniqueness and divinity of Jesus are powerful enough to protect themselves!”
There
are those who fear Call to Action
Catholics, and who wish to purge the temple of them with a whip of cords (Jn
Shalom is a multifaceted diamond. On this Shalom Sunday
Jesus bids us to choose the facet we need.
[1] Diaspora is a Greek word
meaning dispersion. Originally it referred to the settling of scattered
colonies of Jews outside
[2] By the “the unchurched” is especially meant not those who have left the church but those whom the church has left!
[3] It’s a harvest feast. During harvest time the
Israelites lived in tents.
[4] A Dogmatic Constitution is the most solemn form
of teaching of an Ecumenical Council.
[5] Also
known from its opening words as Lumen
Gentium --The Light of the Nations.