Christianity
Where Is God?
3rd Sunday of Lent
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: March 20, 2022
Funny story that I have heard before. A couple has two mischievous boys, ages 8 and 10, who were always into trouble, both at home and around town. The mother of the boys heard that a local priest had been successful in disciplining children, so she asked if he would speak with her two boys. The priest agreed and asked to see them individually.
The 8 year old went first, in the morning. The older boy was to see the priest in the afternoon. The priest, a huge man with a booming voice, sat the younger boy down and asked him sternly, “Where is God?”
The boy’s mouth dropped open, but he made no response. The priest repeated the question, “Where is God?” Again, the boy made no attempt to answer. So, the priest raised his voice some more and shook his finger in the boy’s face and bellowed, “Where is God?”
The boy screamed and bolted from the room. He ran home and dove into his closet, slamming the door behind him. When his brother found him in the closet, he asked “What happened?” The younger brother, gasping for breath, replied, “We are in real Big trouble this time! God is missing, and they think we did it!
Where is God???
Our basic Catholic catechism would say, “God is everywhere.” For God is infinite spirit, not something in the universe, rather God embraces the entire universe. So, we can say that God is everywhere.
But, people are more likely asking a slightly different question. Where can I find God?
What advice or suggestion would you give someone who was asking, where can I find God?
We just heard the story of Moses encountering God in the burning bush. God calls him closer but tells him to remove his sandals from his feet for he was standing on holy ground. He experienced the transcendence of God, that he was on holy ground, this required that he show deep reverence. When Moses asks God by what name he is called, God’s response is “I am who I am.” God has no name since God is beyond our control, remains a mystery to us. Where do we experience holy ground, where do we experience the holy one calling us to deep reverence?
In the Incarnation, God took on flesh and blood, came as one of us. In Jesus, it is revealed that each human being is holy ground. If we are to find God, we need to be able to recognize the image of God through our fellow human beings. It is for this reason that St. John Paul II in an encyclical once defined Christianity in this way, “Christianity is an attitude of amazement at the dignity of the human being.” Jesus reveals the deep mystery and dignity of the human being.
In the Gospel today, a crowd comes to Jesus and are wondering about a group of Galileans who were killed in a brutal way by Pilate and about another group who died when the Tower of Siloam fell on them. Jesus is clear that they were not any worse than others, not greater sinners than the others.
Our human tendency is to see God as a God of vengeance, wanting to punish human beings, ready to condemn. When bad things happen in this life we wonder if it is punishment from God, if we deserved some bad thing that happened to us. Jesus rejects this as a false vision of God.
When bad things happen to us or others, we do not see that as punishment from God. God does not desire to punish, to condemn, to harm us. God is like the gardener who asks for more time, wants to work on the ground to help the tree to produce fruit. It is the merciful patience of God.
Moses took his sandals off at the burning bush, for he was on holy ground. We should symbolically take our shoes off in the presence of one another, for in the presence of another human being, we are on holy ground. We should treat each human being as holy, with care and reverence. Including yourself. Fundamental to our Christian faith is the dignity of the human being. This approach should guide how we see everything in our life, including our politics, our economic views, our way of seeing all that is happening in our society and world.
If we truly saw the dignity of each human being, if we treated each human being as holy ground, how would we see the following issues today? Capital Punishment, our prison systems, abortion, what type of economy we promote, poverty. As we watch what is happening in the Ukraine, the refugees, those facing bombs and violence, does this reflect the dignity of human beings, does it see them as holy ground?
Where is God? God is everywhere. Where will I find God? Only when I recognize that I am on holy ground before each human being I face.
Before each person you encounter, you should hear God speaking to you, “remove your sandals from your feet, for you are on holy ground.” We will only find God if we are able to recognize holy ground before our fellow human beings.
The Catholic Faith Video Series: Your Tough Questions Answered [Video #15]
Question: How many branches of Christianity are there? How come there are different branches of Christianity, what do they agree and differ with that made them branch off?
Please watch video below for answer:
If you prefer to read, below is Fr. Mark’s Answer:
There are many branches within Christianity. In fact, one of the challenges of Christianity from the very beginning was to maintain unity. Jesus himself in John’s Gospel, in his great prayer to the Father on his last evening, prays that his followers may be one as he and the Father are one. The apostles and first believers had disagreements and tensions. The letters of Paul constantly refer to divisions and disputes among the believers and Paul is always encouraging them to be united and not to separate into various factions.
In the first centuries there were great disputes over the Church’s teaching about the identity of Christ. This led to some groups separating into their own churches.
Historically a major cause of tension was the split of the Roman Empire into an Eastern and Western side. Over time, different practices, liturgical rites, and so on led to difficulties. This combined with political issues led to the first great schism of the church in 1054 when both East and West excommunicated the other.
The Eastern Church became what we refer to as the Orthodox Churches who were no long in union with the Pope, the bishop of Rome. Over the centuries there were efforts to restore unity between East and West which were not successful. But, it did lead to some churches of the East being formed that were once again in union with the Bishop of Rome within the Catholic Church.
We see them today in various Catholic Eastern Rites such as the Ukrainian Catholics, Greek Catholics, Maronite Catholics and so on. We saw one of these Catholic Eastern Rites when the Pope recently visited Iraq. The largest church there is the Chaldean Catholic Church which is in union with Rome. These Eastern Catholic Churches have their own Rites, languages, traditions and practices. But, they are fully in communion with the Catholic Church in union with the Pope.
The next great division within Christianity took place in the Western Church. We refer to it as the Protestant Reformation beginning with Martin Luther in the 16th Century.
Beginning as a desire to reform the Catholic Church, human sin and failings on both sides led to division. The Protestant communities gradually divided into many different sects and groups. Later on the Church of England split from Rome under King Henry VIII, forming what we now know as the Anglican Church.
Beginning in the twentieth century new efforts began, first of all among Protestant missionaries, to strive for greater Christian unity for the sake of the mission of evangelizing. We refer to this as the ecumenical movement.
At first the Catholic Church was not involved in any formal way with this movement. But, at Vatican Council II in the 1960’s the Catholic Church officially embraced a commitment to strive for Christian unity. It was expressed in the Decree on Ecumenism. This began a great movement with theological dialogues between the Catholic Church and the various Orthodox and Protestant churches and communities. It led to great change as we began to see other Christians not as heretics or as people to be avoided, but as brothers and sisters in Christ. We now pray together, work together on social needs, and continue to look for greater unity as the Church of Christ.
The Catholic Church is committed to the ecumenical efforts for Christian unity. The unity of the Church is not seen as uniformity, but unity in diversity. This commitment to unity is rooted in the will of Jesus that his followers be one. Theologically it is rooted in the Trinity, one God in a diversity of Persons. The Church is called to such a communion. Rather than being in competition with other Christian churches, we are to see them as brothers and sisters in Christ. Rather than looking at differences, we see it as gift sharing, as we share our diversity and the gifts we bring to the Christian mission.
Unfortunately Christianity has experienced divisions through the centuries. We as Catholics today are called to be instruments of unity, to work and pray for unity, to see other Christians as brothers and sisters in Christ. Each Catholic is called to embrace an ecumenical spirituality, being guided by the Spirit into the unity that Jesus wills for his church. Our parish community will be called upon to be in good relation with the other Christian communities within our parish area. To find ways to pray and work together. All of us need to be open to a change of heart, a true conversion. As we are led to deeper unity with Christ it will lead to deeper unity among each other.
The Catholic Faith Video Series: Your Tough Questions Answered [Video #13]
Question: Was Christianity practiced differently in the past than it is now?
Please watch video below for answer:
If you prefer to read, below is Fr. Mark’s Answer:
The simple answer to this question is Yes. But, not only has it been practiced differently in the past, but it is practiced differently now in different areas of the world and different cultures. There are several different Catholic Rites in the world. Such as Roman Catholic, Ukrainian Catholic, Chaldean Catholic and so on. Each has its own Rite for the Mass and have some different practices in their traditions. The core of the faith remains the same, but there are distinct traditions and rites that have developed in time in various areas.
Historically we see these changes and differences from the very beginning. The first disciples of Jesus were Jewish and continued to follow primarily a Jewish style and practice. During that first century as the church moved out and embraced Gentile peoples, there was a gradual struggle to embrace the difference in cultures, initially a Greek culture and language. We see the struggle over this change described in Act 15. Soon the primary language of the church became Greek since the church existed mainly in the Greek speaking world.
Kyrie Eleison we sometimes sing for the penitential rite is a sign of the connection to this early history of the church. Later on as Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire, there were changes that reflected the influence of the culture, including the Latin language which eventually became predominant. Beside the languages that changed in history, there were local customs in ways of praying, in vestments, in architecture and so on. Sometimes the different practices and customs in different areas of the church led to problems.
One of the major difficulties was between the East and West of the Roman Empire. This eventually led to a split forming the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church in the East. After the Protestant Reformation leading to the split in the Western Church, the Catholic Church was concerned about loss of the true faith and emphasized the unchanging nature of the Church. There was concern about the unity of the church often by striving for a uniformity. This led Catholics to believe that nothing did or could change in the Church.
But, historically things have changed and will continue to change in the practices of the Church. There is a different between essentials and those practices which are changeable. We speak of large T Tradition versus small t tradition. Not all traditions are unchanging. For instance, the language used at the Mass. The style of architecture or music. The Gospel can be embraced within different cultures. Today we may see different styles in Africa or Asia or North America. These are not changes of the basic essentials of the Catholic Faith, but differences that reflect different cultural realities.
So, we do not need to be afraid of change or diversity within the Church. Our different Catholic Rites show that we are not required to be in uniformity. Rather we have a unity in diversity. This actually reflects the mystery of God in the Trinity. Our Catholic Tradition is a living tradition, not a dead museum.
We have the challenge to embrace new knowledge, to express the faith in a way that is most able to express the Gospel in different cultures and times. This requires careful discernment and reflection.
Pope John XXIII offered the traditional guidance we are to follow: In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.
Christianity Is A Demotion
26th Sunday In Ordinary Time
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: September 27, 2020
Christianity is a demotion. Sometimes we think of being a Christian as a promotion, but it is actually a demotion.
We just heard St. Paul’s great hymn calling us to have in us the same mind as was in Christ Jesus. Jesus, “though in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited…”, “emptied himself… humbled himself” Became one like us.
Jesus suffered, wept and died. In eyes of the world he was a complete failure. He lowered himself down to us in order to raise us up to new life. You could say that the life of Jesus was the greatest demotion in history.
If we are to have the same mind as Christ Jesus then we also need to be willing to embrace the demotion of serving others, to lower ourselves down to the least among us. Not interested in fame, success, popularity.
The world pushes us to seek for promotions that put us above others, over others. The mind of Jesus pushes us to seek demotions that lead us down to serve others, to bring life to others.
Imagine how upset the chief priests and elders must have been with what Jesus says to them. He says to them that the “tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the Kingdom of God before them.” Two groups of people that were rejected by others, seen as immoral, impure, far from God. The chief priests and
elders saw themselves as superior to them, they saw themselves as the ones good with God. How angry they must have been with what Jesus said to them about tax collectors and prostitutes going ahead of them!
If Jesus was here today, who might he say is going into the kingdom of God ahead of us? Perhaps the homeless we see gathered in downtown Hamilton, perhaps refugees, perhaps even an atheist. How upset would we be, perhaps like the chief priests and elders, if Jesus said that the homeless, the refugees, the atheists would enter the Kingdom of God before us!
Daniel Berrigan, the Jesuit priest who was active in the peace movement was once asked in an interview, “Where does faith live? Is faith more in the head or in the heart?” His answer was colourful, and a little crass, he said, “It’s in neither, Faith is rarely where your head is at. Nor is it where your heart is at. Faith is where your ass is at!” In other words, it is not what you are thinking or what you are feeling that is central, it is what you are doing.
Think of the parent caring for their children. When children are being difficult parents do not always have nice thoughts about their children. When they are sick or struggling parents do not always feel like having to stay up with them. But, what matters is not what the parent is thinking about their child, or what they feel at that moment, what matters is what they actually do.
Simply being faithful to that vocation as a parent even when you do not feel like it. Same can be said of a priest. The vocation of a priest is not about thinking the right things, not about good feelings about what we do. It is about being faithful, saying yes to caring for the people we serve even when we do not feel some special consolation from God.
When I am called to the hospital in the middle of the night, my first thought is not about how glad I am. I don’t feel great about having to get up at 2am to go to the hospital. But, what matters are not my thoughts or my feelings at that moment, what matters is that I do get up and go.
For each one of us as a Catholic. It is the same with our Faith. It is not most important what we think, we all face doubts at times. That is okay. We do not always feel the closeness of God. In fact, often we feel dry spiritually. What matters is that we are still here at Mass, still here trying to pray, still trying to be faithful to the Gospel, even when we do not feel anything special.
A statue in my former parish had a quote that said, “Love is not a feeling, it is a choice.” Our vocation as a Christian, our faith, is not a feeling, it is a choice. To live it even when we do not feel much.
Imagine if parents, spouses, priests, Catholics only continued to be faithful to their vocation when they were feeling good about it?
In the parable that Jesus told in today’s Gospel, there were two sons, one said yes to his father, in his head and heart he said yes, but he did not go and do it.
The second son said no to the father, in his head and heart he said no, but he did go and do it. We need to be like that second son. At times when our head struggles to embrace the faith or our vocation, at times when our heart does not feel close to God or good about our vocation, then we need to choose to say yes by our actions. When our head and heart say no, we need to say by our actions.
Christianity is a demotion. We need to be ready to lower ourselves down, to empty ourselves like Jesus to serve and care for others. We need to do this even when our head and heart are thinking and feeling no. Then we choose to say yes by our actions.