Newspaper Page Text
March 19,1981
PAGE 5
Parish In The Global Village
BY FATHER PHILIP J. MURNION
As a child, Mission Sunday was special for
me. My parish celebrated it by having school
children dress in the many garbs of religious
orders doing work in the missions. The
children, in a great variety of cassocks and
religious habits, walked in procession
through the church and then took part in
minidramas celebrating the efforts of
religious orders to bring the Gospel to
foreign lands.
This ceremony was one way the parish
tried to teach that the Gospel and the
church belong to the whole world. Through
this vivid drama we learned about our
brothers and sisters in God’s family who
lived in distant lands and different cultures.
Ceremonies like these can convey far
more vividly than eloquent words how we
belong to a church of many nations.
Whatever happened to Mission Sunday?
Catholics still contribute to the
“missions.” We still support those who carry
the message of the Gospel in word and
action to people who have little knowledge
of Christ. Lately we have come to appreciate
more fully the importance of each of these
peoples.
We realize too that the meaning of the
Gospel is made clear through actions that
help people in other lands to enjoy freedom
and a more humane life.
There is a new appreciation today that we
have as much to learn from Asians, Africans
and Latin Americans as they have to learn
and receive from us.
For example, the Latin American and
African churches have given us the notion of
“base communities,” that is, smaller groups
of Catholics who are taking more and more
responsibility both for deepening their own
faith and for carrying out the work of
justice. Their example is being imitated by
many parishes where it has been found that
much that is good can be accomplished
within small groups that continue to meet
over a period of time.
We even have benefited from insights into
the spiritual life that come from the East.
Through dialogue with those of Eastern
religions -- for example, Buddhists - an
insight can often be gained into the human
quest for union with God. The late Thomas
Merton, one of the most popular Christian
writers of the 20th century, was one who
studied this possibility in depth.
Of course, everyone knows that today we
are learning better how much our lives
depend on the resources of other countries -
resources such as oil, tin and other minerals.
The term “global village” has been used to
describe our awareness of how “small” the
world is, how much the lives of people
throughout the world are tied together. In
other words, there is a growing awareness
that we all receive as much as we give.
Mission Sunday celebrations in the way I
remember them have all but disappeared;
but we are more aware than ever of the
many peoples and nations of the world. We
realize there are inescapable bonds among all
the world’s peoples.
I would like to recommend that the
celebration of Mission Sunday be brought
back -- but with a new twist. People are
tempted, and even encouraged, to view other
nations as competitors. Perhaps Mission
Sunday could become a time to celebrate
the mutual dependence of the family of
nations - their interdependence. It could be
a time when we recommit ourselves to
spreading the Gospel to all the world; a time
for listening to the ways God speaks to us
through the many peoples in the world.
There are several ways of doing this.
Parishioners representing differing
national backgrounds can serve as a resource
for the parish, telling the stories of their
families and of the church in other lands.
This is a strong possibility for parishes at a
time when more and more parishes have
Southeast Asian refugee families, Latin
American families and African families
among their members, in addition to the
many other families of differing national
backgrounds.
The music and the poetry of other
peoples also offer helpful ways of looking at
the world through the eyes of “others.”
The world faces great challenges to unity
among peoples who often find themselves in
conflict because their interests do not
coincide. One lesson of the church has to be
that this is one family with many members.
Then we can begin to approach the
challenges of a multicultural world with
correct assumptions about the bonds that
inevitably exist among us.
Who Wrote
The Gospel Of Matthew?
BY FATHER JOHN J CASTELOT
All available evidence leads to the
conclusion that the Gospel of Matthew was
written between 80 and 90 in a city of Syria,
just to the north of Palestine. But by whom?
Before trying to establish the author’s
personal identity, it may prove interesting
and helpful to see what type of author
emerges from the pages of this Gospel.
Until quite recently, it has been taken as
practically certain that the author was a
Jewish Christian. He betrays an amazing
knowledge of Jewish law and custom, even
quoting the Old Testament explicitely about
41 times, twice as often as the other
evanglists.
Moreover, he seems quite at home in the
Jewish thought world and quite at ease with
rabbinic argumentation. In fact, it has been
suggested that he, like Paul, was a former
rabbi.
However, in recent years, a minority view
has been growing in popularity. According
to this view, the author was a gentile, a
learned one certainly, who had come into
the Christian community by way of the
synagogue - a not unusual route in those
days - or was just a member of a
predominantly Jewish church.
Those who hold this view point to the
overall attitude of the author, an attitude
which would be hard to explain if he were of
Jewish descent. He appears somewhat hard
on Israel. And, for example, there is a
scathing denunciation of the pharisees in
Chapter 23 which is almost shockingly
harsh.
Some scholars find indications that the
writer of Matthew’s Gospel was not all that
familiar with the Jewish situation in Jesus’
day or with some of the common
characteristics of Old Testament literature.
These arguments, while not compelling, are
enough to make one think twice about the
type of man this author may have been.
But whether he was a converted rabbi or a
learned gentile, by practically unanimous
'consensus he was not Matthew the converted
tax collector. Nor was he one of the 12
apostles. The only one in antiquity who
suggested “Matthew” as the author was
Papias, whose testimony does not stand up
under critical examination.
An even more serious consideration is the
fact that the author of Matthew used the
Gospel of Mark as a resource and not as his
only source. On the hypothesis that the
author was Matthew the converted tax
collector and one of the Twelve, he would
have been an eye witness to the public
ministry of Jesus. Why, then, should he have
bothered with secondary sources like Mark?
What need would he have had of other
sources at all?
Most telling, his account of the call of the
tax collector is taken almost word for word
from Mark. Almost. Mark and Luke call the
tax collector “Levi,” while Matthew calls
him “Matthew.” To further complicate
matters, Mark and Luke have no Levi in
their lists of the apostles.
In any event, if the author had been the
one involved in this call of the tax collector,
we would expect him to inject at least some
personal note into his account.
All we can say positively is that the
author of Matthew was a leader in a
Jewish-gentile Christian community in the
late first century.
Discussion
Points And Questions
1. Why does Fatner Philip Murnion feel that parishes should pay
greater attention to the ethnic backgrounds of parishioners? What
suggestion does he make for doing this?
2. Richard Lawless lists several specific ways for people to build their
understanding of the needs of people in other countries. Which do you
think would be most practical for you? For your parish?
3. People often act as if their obligation to help is taken care of by
writing a check. Why do people feel like this, according to Lawless?
4. Who is the author of the Gospel of Matthew, according to Father
John Castelot?
■ i
5. How familiar was the author of Matthew’s Gospel with the ways
of the Jewish people? Was Matthew one of the 12 apostles?
6. What recent contact have you had with a person from another
country? What can you do to show your interest in the needs of people
in other countries? How do their needs compare with your own?
CATHOLICS CONTINUE TO CONTRIBUTE for the
missions. We still support those who carry the message of
the Gospel in word and action to people who have little
knowledge of Christ. We have come to appreciate that we
have as much to learn from the people of Asia and Africa
and Latin America as they have to learn and receive from
us. Verona Father Ray Pax of Celina, Ohio, celebrates Mass
in an open field in Gilgil, Kenya. (NC Photo)
Getting In Touch With Whole World
BY RICHARD LAWLESS
Lots of commentators had a field day
when former President Jimmy Carter
announced, during his television debate with
Ronald Reagan, that “nuclear proliferation”
was his daughter Amy’s chief worry for the
world.
Gould reaction to the remark say more
about us than about Carter? Despite living
on the brink of various disasters, we hope
that somehow our children do not know
about such things.
Maybe it is too painful to think otherwise.
Maybe we feel guilty about our
powerlessness. Or perhaps we have a
romantic memory of an idyllic childhood.
Lots of us know how to “tune out” talk
about Hiroshima, a famine in the African
Sahel region and violations of human rights
in the Soviet Union or Central America.
Even when such matters are discussed in
homilies, individual and collective follow-up
is often tinv.
Why?
Ask a harried priest or busy lay
professional “why.” They will probably
respond that their horizons get steadily
reduced by the press of many expectations.
Busy volunteers energetically tackle special
concerns and have little time for additional
tasks. Parish adults and teens claim, with
much justice, that the demands of job,
school and family leave little room to move
beyond reading the headlines about global
issues.
Face it -- many of us lead hectic lives. We
slip easily into church for worship or
religious education seeking a brief respite, a
few moments of calm.
Yet certain things nag at us. Schools, civic-
organizations, churches and synagogues have
a pretty good record when it comes to
raising funds for the needy. We scan pictures
of children with bloated stomachs and
willingly write a check or sign a petition. But
we know that this scant response may just
be a Band-Aid for mortal wounds.
How can we move beyond useless guilt
and minimal aid? As the world gets smaller,
what awareness and action are needed in
regard to all the “others” who share in its
life?
Here are five suggestions for individuals,
families and parishes. Perhaps they will help.
1. r Look at your own world carefully.
Start with the food and drink on your
table. Who raises it? And for what return on
their labor? The TV advertisement allegedly
showing a coffee picker, Juan Valdez, does
not seem to match reality.
Yet the lives of people in Brazil, Somalia
and Bangladesh do connect with our own.
Catholic economist Barbara Ward has several
books that vividly convey how Topeka
relates to Timbuktu and Seattle to Salisbury.
Local action groups and churches often have
materials with hints of how interrelated all
humans are.
2. Change small horizons to global ones.
What do your children learn in school and
religious education classes about other
cultures? Is a global consciousness nurtured?
Mission programs, such as the Holy
Childhood Association, and many overseas
relief programs, are excellent ways to
educate people on the need to act, from a
global standpoint, in light of gospel values.
They also point out the connections
between economic structures and varying
lifestyles.
3. Join with others.
As individuals, we may be weak in the
face of massive problems. But united with
others we can be strong. Bike-a-thons and
youth “fast-ins” are opportunities to join
with religious persons of other traditions. If
a handful of people in a church gather and
then seek ways to join with similar handfuls
in other religious bodies, they may be able
to launch a strong effort.
4. Combine worship with practical help.
Perhaps your parish and its people can find
ways, occasionally, to integrate such
programs as the Rice Bowl into Sunday
services. In some places, this may mean
KNOW
YOUR
FAITH
(All Articles on This Page
Copyrighted 198^ By N.C. News Service)
increasing the times when canned goods are
brought forward at Masses for local food
closets that feed the hungry. Sponsor
occasional “learning” coffees after Mass with
printed materials to take home.
5. Bring the world to your doorstep.
Invite foreign students, speakers from
international organizations such as Amnesty
International, and world travelers to a parish
gathering or a neighborhood supper. It’s
hard to ignore the people of the world if
you’ve shared with them.
Again, tune in a TV documentary about
another country or world problem as a
family activity.
#:?-* >
AN INDONESIAN FARMER works with his oxen in an
irrigated rice field. Richard Lawless suggests that as we sit
down to eat we look at the food on our table and consider
the people around^he world who labored to produce that
food. (NC Photo)