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Thursday,
March 30, 2000
The Southern Cross, Page 9
lna Nutshell
Is the parable of the unjust steward about honesty in
business dealings or about being astute in spiritual matters?
If we concentrate on a parable’s central point, we can
approach the heart of Christ’s message.
Faith that centers our lives and guides our actions in all the
varied arenas of society: Isn’t this what the parable of the
yeast is about?
The laity’s parable
By Dolores R. Leckey
Catholic News Service
p
X ondering the Gospel parables I
am naturally drawn to all the stories
of finding the lost: the lost coin, the
lost sheep, and of course, the lost son.
Maybe that’s because the idea of God
going to all that trouble gives me a
sense of overflowing mercy and love,
and that’s consoling.
But it is the parable of the yeast or
leaven that really speaks to my life as
a layperson.
The parable is short — only a few
lines. Jesus compares the reign of God
to a woman kneading yeast into the
flour that soon will
become bread.
Jesus must have
watched women
working the dough
and perhaps he
marveled (as I do
on the rare occa
sions when I bake
bread) how alive
the dough be
comes. It takes only a tiny bit of yeast,
together with some attentive work, to
effect a huge change in lifeless flour.
While the yeast can be thought of
as faith (and I do think of it as such),
over the years I have come to associate
it with the Christian lay people.
We laity bring faith into all the re
cesses of the world. We are in schools
and laboratories, offices and the halls of
government. We establish families,
and build homes and communities.
A faith which centers our lives and
guides our actions in all these varied
arenas of society can make a differ
ence not only to us but to the environ
ment we inhabit.
A woman in my parish, worried
about neighborhood resentment to
ward the increasing numbers of im
migrant children in the schools, asked
the school board to form a committee
to foster communication between the
different ethnic communities. She
served as the first chairperson.
The following year she was elected
to the school board where she keeps
the needs of society’s newest members
before the wider community. She at
tributes her willingness to undertake
this extra commitment, beyond her
family duties, to our pastor’s support
and encouragement — (Kneading the
dough, perhaps?).
Some years ago I wrote an article
inviting readers to write to me about
how their faith impacts their work
life. Hundreds of people responded
with eloquent testimonies.
An office worker from Alabama
wrote about a mural on his office
wall depicting the earth and the
spaceship Columbia. “When people
comment on the beauty of the mural
I speak about God’s creativity mani
fested in the planets, the engineers
who developed the
spaceship and the
human person’s
relationship to all
the rest of cre
ation,” he wrote.
From a physi
cian: “I am discov
ering a deepened
sympathy for pa
tients recently
widowed. This has led me to establish
a grief support group.”
One of my favorite accounts was
written by the wife of a house painter.
They spent some time one evening
discussing my question and the
woman wrote down her husband’s
thoughts. “I like to think I bring
beauty to the world in the hanging of
beautiful wallpaper. Even plain wall
paper or vinyl brings a look of cleanli
ness and orderliness,” he said. He ex
pressed concern about bosses who
want him to cut corners, for example,
putting on one coat of paint when the
contract calls for two.
These lay faithful engaged in daily
labor — on the school board, in a
medical examining room, among
paint brushes and wallpaper and in
an office — are serving as yeast. Their
small, everyday actions speak of
Christ’s joy, peace and justice.
They make the reign of God real.
(Leckey is a senior fellow at
Woodstock Theological Center,
Georgetown University.)
e laity bring faith into
all the recesses of the world.
We are in schools and labo
ratories, offices and the halls
of government.”
Parables today
By Father James A. Wallace, CSSR
Catholic News Service
re there parables around to
day?
Quite a few.
Although today’s parables do not
focus explicitly on God’s kingdom,
they do cast light on our fragmented
human condition. Occasionally, they
even convey a sense of God’s grace
penetrating life in unexpected ways.
When Charles Schulz died the
day his last “Peanuts” strip ran in
the Sunday papers, that occurrence
itself seemed something of a par
able: His race run, he passed on to
receive the laurel crown for his
achievement.
Schulz had given us a parable
that went on for 50 years in the
world peopled by Charlie
Rowling’s tales of Harry Potter, the
young boy whose magical powers take
him into a world of wondrous school
subjects, fantastic sport competitions,
and an epic struggle between good and
evil.
For more adult tastes, Cormac
McCarthy’s gift of creating a mythic
world of natural beauty and wonder,
of human complexity and cruelty,
makes his three-volume Border
Trilogy (All the Pretty Horses, The
Crossing, Cities in the Dust) a won
derful coming of age tale of two
young men in the American south
west.
However, I find the strongest
presence of “parables” in movies
“The Talented Mr. Ripley” (U.S.
Catholic Conference rating, A-
IV) serves as a chilling tale of
our ability to become what
we behold, no matter how
CNS photo by Bill Wittman
and, of course, Snoopy. The Washing
ton Post said that his work captured
the “American sadness” located in the
fear of being insignifi
cant, along with the
sense some have of the
world’s innate deprav
ity and that God is in
different.
But there were
more positive signs:
Charlie Brown’s will
ingness to trust
Lucy yet again to
hold the football,
Lucy’s hope that
Schroeder might no
tice her, Snoopy’s dancing for joy
and Linus’ faithful vigil in the
pumpkin patch.
It was a parable for the second half
of our century, reminding us that
even in the face of anxiety, loss and
disappointment, we could go on — to
gether.
I find a parabolic quality in J.K.
ers, or how empty and unfulfilling
the object of our desires can be.
Tom Ripley’s ability in this film
to seduce and savage
in such swift succes
sion is mesmerizing
a prodigal son going
further and further
from home.
Then there are
the storytellers and
essayists who con
tinue to provide us
with tales, old and
new, which bring in
sight, laughter and
a quickening of the
human spirit.
Consider Father William Bausch’s
A World of Stories for Teachers and
Preachers, Annie Dillard’s For the
Time Being, Megan McKenna and
Tony Cowan’s Keepers of the Story
and John Shea’s Elijah and the Wed
ding Feast.
Any parables around? Just about
everywhere.
Lt was a parable for
the second half of our
century, reminding us
that even in the face of
anxiety,... we could go
on — together.”
FAITH IN THE MARKETPLACE
What “words to live by,” what “wisdom” would you proclaim to your surrounding world if you could?
“What you are is God’s gift to you. What you become is your gift to God.” — Ann Corcoran, Fort Ann, N.Y.
“He may not give you what you want, but he’ll always give you what you need.” — Patti Panowicz, Cairo, Neb.
“Treat people as you would like to be treated: That’s No. 1. And No. 2: A smile never hurts.” — Linda Fox, Cincin
nati, Ohio
“What comes to mind right away is the ‘Golden Rule’: Treat people in the way that you want to be treated. It’s
simple wisdom, but it works.” — Ann Lancaster, Charleston, W.Va.
An upcoming edition asks: In how many languages is the liturgy celebrated in your diocese? If you would like to respond for
cvCV /~> possible publication, please write: Faith Alive! 3211 Fourth St. N.E., Washington, D.C. 20017-1100.
(Redemptorist Father Wallace is a
professor of homiletics at Washington
Theological Union, Washington,
D.C.)