July 4^th Greetings:

Best wishes for Independence Day. Wherever we are it is time to pray that our republic has the strength which, as our first reading tells us, only comes from virtue. Mass will be celebrated on July 4^th at 12:10PM.

 

Sacraments:

Sacramental preparation for non-Baptized people who would like to be Baptized, for Baptized non-Catholics and for Catholics who have not received Holy Communion and/or been Confirmed will begin in the Fall. The classes recognize the busy schedules of members of our community and are quite flexible. Please see Fr Smith after Mass, call him at 718-625-1177 ex. 409 or email him at pastor @stcharlesbklyn.org.

 

First reading

Wisdom of Solomon” (1:13-15, 2:23-24)

Thirteenth Sunday of the year

July 1, 2018

 

The reading from the Old Testament this weekend is from the Book of the “Wisdom of Solomon” (1:13-15, 2:23-24.) Although it sounds ancient it is perhaps the last book in the Old Testament and could have been written as late as 30BC. Also, although it takes the name of King Solomon of Jerusalem from about 1000BC it was most likely written in Alexandra Egypt for the children of the Jewish elite who were immersed in the Roman world and tempted to give up their faith. There is much of interest here.

The conceit of the book is that King Solomon is presenting to the other kings and princes of the world the mind of God. Note it is assumed that God has created the entire world and his laws are based on this creation. Memorably he begins:

 Love justice, you who judge the earth;

think of the LORD in goodness,

and seek him in integrity of heart; (Wisdom 1:1-3)

 

Justice connects us to reality and reveals God’s Goodness. It may be found only by those with integrity of heart. The consequences of this are revealed in the first part of today’s reading:

 

¹³ Because God did not make death,

nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.

¹⁴ For he fashioned all things that they might have being;

and the creatures of the world are wholesome,

And there is not a destructive drug among them

nor any domain of the nether world on earth,

¹⁵ For justice is undying. (Wisdom 1:13-15)

This is an important passage because it directly addresses prominent Greek ideas which would have been attractive to the young elite. When older Jewish writings promised life to those who lived justly they meant health, prosperity, children, etc. in this life. If there was an afterlife it was a pale reflection of this one. Wisdom claims that there is an afterlife that is positive and robust because the world reflects the goodness of God and just as god is everlasting so is his creation especially we who are specially created in his likeness.

The life of which he speaks is not so much continuing breathing but an existence which reflects the presence of God. To deny the image of God in the way we live our lives is to invite destruction of our very being. We were created for bliss, but we can embrace destruction. As the concluding section of today’s reading puts it:

23 For God formed man to be imperishable;

the image of his own nature he made him.

24 But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world,

and they who are in his possession experience it.

Although this is not a prophetic book, it speaks to some of the same issues and gives a more philosophical understanding for thoughts and actions. Justice is not just something nice but reflects the way the world is created. To be unjust is to be literally unreal and dying in the here and now. Justice is also not just a series of actions that can be detached from the rest of one’s life, but part of our very being. As we saw in the very first lines of this book, without integrity of heart, wisdom will always escape us, because whether a king or a pauper only the just person can live a worthy life.

The past few days have reminded me why people try to leave city in the summer and I hope that you will all be able to do so. While you are away I have two requests: Please pick up bulletins from the parishes you will be attending. They can be very helpful in seeing what other places are doing. Also, if you are in a vintage Church, especially a Victorian one like ours, please take pictures and send them to me at [email protected] I am particularly interested in the color scheme in general and the columns of the church in particular.(To marbleize or not to marbleize that is the question.). Also, of course, how bathrooms were installed to fulfill both the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and aesthetic obligations. We members of St Charles are entrusted with a treasure and we will be guided by the most experienced and talented professionals available but there are a few preferences that we will need to set, and I would like as much information as possible. Consider this ecclesiastical and architectural crowd sourcing. I will share with you some of the most directly applicable pictures. Wishing you a great summer, I remain

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr William Smith

Pastor, SCB

 

 

First reading 

12^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

June 24, 2018

Isaiah 49:1-6

 

Many of the readings that we will examine this Summer from the Hebrew Bible bring us back to the Fall of Jerusalem, in its several stages from 597 to 586 BC, the subsequent captivity of the Jewish leaders in Babylon and the offer the Persian King Cyrus to send back to Jerusalem those who would work for him beginning in 539. Last week with Ezekiel,  we saw the beginning of the exile; today we follow those who accepted Cyrus’ offer and returned to their homeland to be his administrators and rebuild the temple.

This was an arduous task and most of the leaders did not accept it, as it entailed a long journey to a mostly destroyed community. The first part of today’s reading gives us a sense of their understanding of their role. However, before examining this, let us first look at Isaiah. The name means: “Yahweh is salvation”. The book of the Prophet Isaiah was authored by several people over several centuries. The first Isaiah lived in the 8^th century BC (c. 740 – 686). He had a keen sense that God acted in history and that He demanded obedience to his word and justice to his people. The Isaiah who we read today lived c. 520 BC and like the original Isaiah saw the hand of God in History.

 

¹ Hear me, O coastlands,

listen, O distant peoples.

The LORD called me from birth,

from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.

² He made of me a sharp-edged sword

and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.

He made me a polished arrow,

in his quiver he hid me.

³ You are my servant, he said to me,

Israel, through whom I show my glory.

 

He knows that he has been chosen for a great task. He not only takes the name Isaiah but uses a common story that prophets are set aside before birth for their task (cf. Jeremiah: 1:10; 25:15 ff. and today’s feast and Gospel). He does not however understand his vocation and here he speaks as representative of his entire people. As we see in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, the work of rebuilding the temple and indeed the society went very slowly, and it was soon clear the at the temple would not be unusually magnificent. If their purpose was purely national and to be judged by the standards of power and spender, it was not worth the effort or the trip.

Isaiah however is brought to a new revelation both for himself and for his people:

 

⁴ Though I thought I had toiled in vain,

and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,

Yet my reward is with the LORD,

my recompense is with my God.

⁵ For now the LORD has spoken

who formed me as his servant from the womb,

That Jacob may be brought back to him

and Israel gathered to him;

And I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,

and my God is now my strength!

⁶ It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,

to raise up the tribes of Jacob,

and restore the survivors of Israel;

I will make you a light to the nations,

that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

 

The reason why the people were brought back to Jerusalem to once more offer true worship was to be God’s means of bringing all people to Him, they were the seed and the sacrament. It is here that the Jews understood their vocation as a people: We read in the book of Zechariah (8:23), a near contemporary to today’s Isaiah:

Thus, says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men of every nationality, speaking different tongues, shall take hold, yes, take hold of every Jew by the edge of his garment and say, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

Jesus understood this clearly and note that he brought the 12 Apostles, representing the 12 tribes to the upper room so that the Holy Spirit would begin with them and only after that did he send them into the world. In this he was exhibiting a very Jewish understanding of group solidarity and vocation. It is this which has characterized the Jewish people and from which we can learn. We have seen in our own age that many Jews were at the forefront of the fight for civil rights and other causes. This reminds us that our most powerful expression of the relationship with God is not as individuals, but as a community: a community that is not “saved” for itself, but to be a light to the ends of the earth.

 

 

 

 

SUMMER GREETINGS:

Summer will be here next week, and I hope that we all will finally thaw out after the longest Winter in, at least my, memory. Many parishioners will be travelling or staying in summer homes, so we will be using email to keep you informed about parish activities and plans. Much will be about the structure of the church but also much is being planned for the new “Church and School” year beginning in September. I will also be using this opportunity to try an experiment. While visiting family several weeks ago they mentioned that whenever they see Green Vestments on the priest the first reading is from the Old Testament. They rarely understand it immediately, rarely hear a homily on it and usually just forget about it. These readings are chosen to reflect and hopefully amplify some aspect of the Gospel for that Sunday and can be very helpful in understanding not only that in particular but our faith in general. Therefore, I will be providing a brief examination of the “first reading” every week in the summer in this email. We can discuss continuing this in the Fall.

With many blessings in Jesus, I remain

Fr William Smith

Pastor, SCB

 

FIRST READING:

11^TH Week of Ordinary Time,

June 17, 2018

Ezekiel: 17: 22-24

We often think of Prophets as having the gift of predicting the future. This occasionally occurs but the principal gift of the prophet is finding the presence or absence of God in the here and now. Their experience of God can be so profound that they understand from what he has done in the past what he will do in the future. There is no better example of this than the Prophet Ezekiel.

He was born about 622 BC in Jerusalem and died about 570 BC in Babylon and the dates and places tell his story. Jerusalem was situated on the trade route between Egypt to the south and whatever power was dominating the north. Never part of a mighty empire the Jews were able to play one power off against the other to maintain significant independence for over 3 centuries. Ezekiel lived at the time when this ended. In 609 BC they thought that the Neo-Babylonian empire was ascendant and allied themselves with it. By 597 the leadership felt that it was weakening, and they could assert more independence. This was a grave miscalculation and the Babylonians invaded conquered Jerusalem and took many Jewish leaders into captivity. Ezekiel was one of these and he spent the rest of his life in Babylon. In 586 there was another rebellion which resulted in the destruction of the city and the Temple and the exile of the remaining leaders of the people especially the royal court, the scribes and the priests, Without the temple how could the Covenant be maintained and without the monarchy how could the promise to David be fulfilled? All that could be seen was devastation.

Yet Ezekiel saw more. In the 37^th chapter he spoke of the dry bones.

4 Then he said to me: Prophesy over these bones, and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!

7 I prophesied as I had been told, and even as I was prophesying I heard a noise; it was a rattling as the bones came together, bone joining bone.
8 I saw the sinews and the flesh come upon them, and the skin cover them, but there was no spirit in them.

10 I prophesied as he told me, and the spirit came into them; they came alive and stood upright, a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.

This was the deadest thing that he could imagine. Bones left in the desert, bleached and brittle from the sun. Yet he said that these bones would take on life again.

He knew the workings of God in his own life and that of his people and knew that God would never abandon them. They would rise again.

And so, they did. The Babylonians were conquered by the Persians in 539. They had a different style of colonizing. Like the British they cultivated the elite and used them to administer conquered territories. They invited the Jewish leaders in Babylon to return to Jerusalem as their agents. They would be allowed some autonomy and could rebuild the temple. Most did not accept the offer and there was a vital Jewish community for as long as there was a Babylon but enough did that that the Jews could rebuild the city and more importantly the Temple

This occurred 30 years after Ezekiel’s last prophecy and notice how “Prophetic” is today’s reading: Ezekiel 17:22–24

²² Therefore say: Thus says the Lord GOD:

I, too, will take from the crest of the cedar,

from its topmost branches tear off a tender shoot,

And plant it on a high and lofty mountain;

²³ on the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it.

It shall put forth branches and bear fruit,

and become a majestic cedar.

Birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it,

every winged thing in the shade of its boughs.

²⁴ And all the trees of the field shall know

that I, the LORD,

Bring low the high tree,

lift high the lowly tree,

Wither up the green tree,

and make the withered tree bloom.

As I, the LORD, have spoken, so will I do.

This section is a summary of the beautiful allegory of the Eagle (Ez. 17:1-22) and may have been added by Ezekiel or one of his assistants’ later but reveals this insight: God promised the people of Israel that he would always care for them and so He will replant the family of David on his Holy Mountain, Sion, in a restored Temple.

The message is prophetic for us as well. We are experiencing a time of great confusion which threatens to erupt into complete chaos. Allies are now treated as opponents if not enemies and former enemies are treated as friends, we once expected social and financial mobility but now seem as stratified as the ancient regime. The list could continue. As we will see in today’s Gospel, God has not forgotten us, and we can expect that although he may chastise us he will never abandon us.

Next week we will return to this same experience but see it from the perspective of Isaiah, Until then, have a blessed week and may we all enjoy at least a week of Spring.