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May 27,1982
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The Force Of Faith
IMPRISONED AFTER BEING
CONVICTED of killing his two young
sons, the man often was jeered by
other inmates. A prison guard
remarked to a visitor: “For what he’s
done I wouldn’t waste taxpayers’
money keeping him here. I’d roast the
... in the electric chair today.”
Everywhere the prisoner turned he
saw hate and disgust in others’ eyes.
(NC Photo by Rick Smolan)
The Christian Experience
BY NEIL PARENT
Father Maurice Monette, an Oblate priest
stationed in New Orleans, was shocked to
learn one day that two young boys he knew
had just been shot and killed by their father.
Only weeks before the priest had carried the
boys on his shoulders during a Mardi Gras
parade.
The deeply anguished father - I’ll call him
James - turned himself in. Later he became
the object of much contempt.
In prison, other inmates, aware of his
He later wrote: “I can’t comprehend how
God could let something like me live and
cause everyone so much pain and suffering.
They deserve all the beauty and happiness
God could create and I have given them all
the hell they should never have to
experience.”
However, to Father Monette, James was
someone who deeply needed understanding
and God’s forgiveness, immediately after the
shooting incident, the priest went to see
James and told him he would like to be his
priest and friend.
me and, because you’ve done that, I can
believe in your God.”
Others too were instrumental in stirring
the young man’s faith. In a letter to Father
Monette, James related that another prisoner
had told of praying for*him. The other
prisoner added that he knew how James
must feel because he too had a family; he
knew how much James was hurting and
wanted to offer “comfort in Jesus’ name.”
James went on to say in that letter that
this incident, added to letters from other
people and Father Monette’s visits, made
him “see that there must be a God to work
the love of his Son through these people. My
faith grew and still grows from all of this laid
at my feet.”
James’ story is dramatic, but hardly
unique in the world of faith. Each day,
countless people in all walks of life are
influenced by the beliefs of others - or more
correctly, by the results of their belief, such
as love, compassion and caring.
There is something highly compelling
about love. It is like a wave which buoys us
up and then carries us along, leaving us
someplace else. The distance we travel may
be short or, in the case of James, great.
Inexorably, though, its force cannot be
denied. We are moved, affected, altered.
People of faith do that to us. In them, we
meet God and experience his love. This is
why, I think, Jesus placed so much emphasis
on our being a light for others; a leaven for
the world; a salt that gives taste.
We are asked to be agents of Jesus. His
light shines through us.
When my friend, Father Monette, told me
about his meetings with James, I was deeply
impressed with the way God had worked his
forgiving love in that young man’s broken
life.
But, I was also genuinely moved by my
friend, who showed me how a true Christian
can and should act in the face of evil.
The priest’s example became a light that
penetrated me. I share this story here so that
it may also enlighten you.
Tapping Into
BY KATHARINE BIRD
In the lifelong process of learning how to
live as Christians, people often affect us
much the way a magnet affects metal. Our
practice as Christians is drawn out in vital
ways by what others do.
Special events in our lives also draw us
out. Sometimes they almost shock us into
awareness.
As theologian Tad Guzie puts it: “Life is
filled with experiences that we have
forgotten about or laid aside, or taken for
granted - until something happens which
makes us take a second look.”
The example of friendship is used by
Guzie to help make the point. The religious
educator, on the faculty of the University of
Calgary in Alberta, Canada, wrote about this
recently in the journal, “Religious
Education.”
With a good friend, Guzie says, “you
share good times and hard times alike.”
Then, unexpectedly, the friend moves to
another city, an event which causes both
persons to look at their friendship with new
eyes. “Perhaps only then are you led to
reflect on that friendship and come to a
realization of how much it has meant to
you,” Guzie points out.
Friendship is likely to be valued more
highly than ever from that time on. An event
in life has caused a shift in one’s attitude and
behavior.
Just as events often shock us into
awareness, people often surprise us by what
they do. We are surprised into the realization
that some of their ways of living as
Christians are possibilities for us too.
It is much like what happens when we see
a person in an unfamiliar role and are forced
to sit up and take notice.
One new father, for instance, frequently
takes his baby out by himself - without the
mother in tow - as he runs errands to the
grocery store or bank. That way the new
mother gets a break.
But the father admits he has been
astonished at the comments from people he
encounters during these casual forays. Many
people, he says, think it is surprising to find
a father alone in public with a baby.
But perhaps this shakes their perceptions
of what fathers can do. And that might
encourage others to expand their own
perception of what they, as fathers, might
do.
In similar ways people may be surprised
into an awareness of ways they can live -
and serve - as Christians by seeing what
others do.
Take the case of a woman who chairs a
parish finance committee. For many
parishioners, this is likely to be seen as an
out-of-the-ordinary role for her to fill. For
according to the stereotype, men are better
with mathematics and more interested in
financial affairs than women.
Therefore, when a woman shows she can
excel in financial matters, she forces others
in the parish to rethink the stereotype.
Perhaps then other women with similar
talents recognize new ways of serving the
parish.
Many other examples could be found.
What is happening in them is that the
possibilities for Christian service are broken
down and refashioned in new ways.
For the full scope of Christian living is
hard for any one person to keep in mind.
The experiences and examples of others are
needed to keep us constantly alert to the
infinite possibilities of Christian life.
As Guzie writes, “We do not create our
personal stories out of whole cloth ... in
isolation from what goes on around us.”
Instead, we can tap into the experiences of a
wide variety of Christians, including those in
our family and our church community to
help us along the way.
We also can look into the example of
Christians acting throughout the centuries.
Among all these experiences and stories,
Guzie remarks, we can “pick and choose,
with greater or lesser awareness, what makes
for meaning’’ in our own particular
circumstances.
Guzie concludes that, as we go through
this process over the years, gradually our
own stories as Christians “take shape.”
< *
KNOW
YOUR FAITH
(All Articles On This Page Copyrighted 1 982 By N.C. News Service)
crime, jeered mercilously. One prison guard
was said to have told a visitor: “For what
he’s done I wouldn’t waste taxpayers’
money keeping him here’ I’d roast him in
the electric chair today.”
James was to say later that everywhere he
turned he saw hate and disgust in others’
eyes.
But no one hated what James had done
more than he did. James longed to somehow
retrieve that insane act that snuffed out his
sons’ lives and nearly killed his wife. He felt
terribly isolated and weighted down with a
guilt that seemed beyond forgiveness.
Peter’s Request
BY FATHER JOHN CASTELOT
Peter has an interesting reaction to the
encounter of Jesus with the rich young man.
Afterward, Peter reminds Jesus that the
disciples “have put aside everything to
follow you.” His reaction is marked by a
certain self-satisfaction and an implied
request for a reward.
In response, in Chapter 19:28-31 of
Mark’s Gospel, JesUs replies that the
disciples will receive a rich reward indeed,
but not without persecution. Once again
Mark emphasizes his main point: There is no
crown without a cross!
Now we hear a third -- and more detailed
- prediction of the Passion of Jesus. And the
misunderstanding of the disciples reveals
that their blindness has increased rather than
diminished.
Jesus’ final instruction on discipleship
spells out the meaning of his death and its
implications for his followers.
The section closes with an ironic story of
the blind Bartimaeus. In spite of his
blindness, Bartimaeus has the persistent faith
to receive the gift of sight while the
disciples, with their perfectly good eyes, are
more blind than ever.
For the first time Mark mentions Jesus’
destination by name - Jerusalem. It is the
stronghold of forces hostile to Jesus, the
place he must fulfill his messianic destiny.
Mark pictures Jesus as striding toward
Jerusalem with resolute determination.
There is an air of dark foreboding about
the notice that the mood of the disciples
“was one of wonderment” and “fear.” The
detailed prediction of the Passion does
nothing to relieve the impression of tension.
Once again the disciples show themselves
quite unready to accept the truth. They
prefer to think in terms of glory and
Thus began a relationship that proved to
be the occasion for God’s forgiving love.
During many visits thereafter both priest and
penitent clasped hands across the table that
separated them and openly wept together.
Buoyed by Father Monette’s friendship,
James began to disclose his intense isolation
and his overwhelming sense of guilt and loss
over his sons. Finally one day he said to the
priest:
“You know, I never believed that a person
could forgive and continue to care about
someone who had hurt him. I never could
believe in God either; but you’ve forgiven
personal advantage.
Mark illustrates that point by telling how
James and John request places of honor
when Jesus comes “into his glory.” Their
request draws two answers. One is the blunt
rejoinder that the distribution of such plums
is out of the hands of Jesus; his father
decides such matters.
The other is Jesus’ assurance that James
and John will indeed share his lot. They
don’t realize it, but it will mean drinking the
same cup of pain and being immersed in the
same sea of suffering.
. The two brothers are not alone in their
obtuseness. And once more Jesus tries to get
the message across. This instruction deals
with their conduct as members of the
Christian community.
Mark succinctly explains in advance the
meaning of Jesus’ death and its serious
implications for anyone who would be a
follower of Christ. The ideal of authority in
the Christian community is service:
“Whoever wants to rank first among you
must serve the needs of all.”
Jesus himself must be the model: “The
Son of Man has not come to be served but to
serve - to give his life in ransom for the
many.”
All through this section Mark has been
instructing his own community. Peter and
the disciples typify Christians who are
willing to share in the victory of Christ, but
are reluctant to follow in his footsteps.
No matter how often they hear the
message of the cross, they shrug it off in
favor of the message of Easter. To persist in
this attitude is to court dissillusionment and
discouragement.
Mark wants to assure Christians that
suffering and death is part of being a
committed Christian. As Jesus says, “If
anyone wants to come after me, he must
deny his very self, take up his cross and
follow in my steps.”
Caught Between Assurance And Hope
BY DR. THEODORE HENGESBACH
Recently I was talking to a Mormon
friend about a family trip to the Western
United States. I told him how we had
followed along the Platte River in Nebraska,
the same route once taken by the persecuted
Mormon community traveling West.
We talked about the hardships and
sufferings of earlier settlers. I mentioned
having read about pioneers who nearly each
mile of their trip came upon the grave
markers of those who had gone before them.
Then my friend told the following story.
He told me of a young Mormon pioneer
who gave birth one day while traveling West
with her husband. Later in their journey, the
woman and her husband noticed the baby
was motionless and cold and, apparently,
was dead.
Reluctantly, the parents decided they had
no alternative but to bundle the baby in
blankets and leave the child along the trail
on the treeless prairie. For because the
gound was frozen, they could not even dig a
shallow grave. Nor could they find rocks to
provide protection for the baby from
predatory animals and birds.
The wagon train moved on then, amid the
protesting and mourning of the child’s
mother who could not believe her baby had
died.
After camp was set for the night, the
mother urged her husband to return with her
back down the trail. The husband attempted
to comfort her but considered it folly to
honor her request. It was extremely
dangerous to leave the security of the group,
especially at night.
In the morning, the mother was nowhere
to be found. Members of the group searched
the immediage vicinity. Then her husband
recalled her anxious request of the night
before.
Immediately he rushed back down the
trail. Suddenly, in the distance, he saw her
lone form stumbling toward him, clutching a
bundle close to her breast. Falling into his
embrace, the mother showed the baby to her
husband - the child was still alive!
The mother had been convinced her child
still lived. Faith impelled her to endure the
cold, the darkness, the fear of getting lost or
SOMETIMES WHEN WE SEE A
person in an unfamiliar role we are
forced to sit up and take notice. In
doing so, we may change our
presuppositions of what that person
can be, or even of what we can do
ourselves. If a new father, for
instance, takes his baby daughter out
by himself on walks or prepares
dinner for her, neighbors might be
astonished by this until they become
used to it. This just might encourage
other fathers to take their babies.out
alone without concern for what
people might think. (NC Photo by
Dale G. Folstad)
even of being attacked by animals or human
enemies.
According to my Mormon friend, this
woman’s faith had nurtured a miracle -- had
nurtured renewed life.
I don’t know whether the details of the
story are all true in the strict sense, or
whether it is in some sense a legend of faith.
But I don’t think that is the point.
I think the story reflects an insight of
Christianity. Our life of faith is paradoxical
- we are caught between assurance and
hope.
St. Paul described faith in the Epistle to
the Hebrews, Chapter 11: “Now faith is the
assurance of things hoped for, the conviction
of things not seen.”
Paul’s statement seems simple and direct
enough. Nevertheless, I have always found it
paradoxical since it pits two seemingly
contradictory notions opposite each other:
- Faith offers assurance and conviction.
- But faith is placed in what is hoped for
and not seen.
Can one really have firm convictions
about unseen, future realities?
Such faith, says Paul, stimulates us to
believe that God created the world. It
motivated our Old Testament forefathers; it
motivated Abel, who offered acceptable
sacrifice to God; it motivated Sarah, the wife
of Abraham, who conceived a child in her
old age.
It motivated the blind man named
Bartimaeus in Mark’s Gospel.
The paradox, however, remains. But it
does not block spiritual development.
Rather, it impels us, like it impelled the
young Mormon mother.
It impels us to actions of love and service
which go far beyond what may be required
or considered prudent.
Like the young 'mother of our story, such
faith may generate new life into a world
often given up for dead.
Discussion Points And Questions
o Think of an occasion recently when the way an acquaintance
served as a Christian surprised you simply because for a very long time
you hadn’t thought of serving in that way yourself. Did the experience
help you see yourself - the potential of your faith -- any differently?
® Why does Neil Parent find the story of the priest who befriended a
convicted killer so extraordinary?
• In Parent’s article, what was the response of the man to the priest’s
concern? How can this be a lesson for other people?
» What is the point behind the example of the young father
appearing in public with his baby daughter, according to Katharine
Bird? Does this surprise you? Why?
o From reading Ms. Bird’s article, why do you think she says that
becoming a Christian is a process that takes place over the course of an
entire lifetime?
• How does the story of the Mormon pioneer woman help Theodore
Hengesbach understand a passage in St. Paul better?
« In Hengesbach’s article, does it matter to him if the story is true in
the strict sense?
• According to our writers this week, how does the example of other
people help Christians in the discovery of the scope of their faith?