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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 1987)
Page 2 • Faith Today Faith Today • Page 3 38 A religious Pied Piper... in Zen Buddhist robes? By Father David K. O'Rourke, OP NC News Service S everal years ago I was working on the staff of a human relations pro gram for high school students. The local school district wished to familiarize their student leaders with the different social, religious and ethnic backgrounds represented in Southern California. So we took groups of more than 100 older student leaders away for a week at a time. There were several religious leaders on the staff, and I was the priest. The rabbi, whom I shall call Jesse, and I had a lot in common. We were both good teachers, in volved in community affairs and leaders in our own religious com munities. We had helped design the program for high school students and also were good friends. We could not have ob jected if someone had pinned an activist label on us. By contrast, there was a Bud dhist monk who used to come to our camp in the mountains for one day out of the week. He was friendly but restrained. He never took part in any discussions of social issues. He sat smiling softly as our debates roared on. Then he would unpack a portable shrine, put on his robes and demonstrate Bud dhist ritual with great artistry. And the youngsters absolutely flocked to him. He w r as a religious Pied Piper in a Zen Buddhist robe. Jesse and I would grump as we watched our Je wish and Catholic youngsters offer incense and ring bells, fascinated by the ritual. “Here I am,” Jesse would grouse, “trying to teach my kids about creating a just society, and they’d rather burn incense.” “Maybe I should forget about the bishops’ teachings on peace and war,” I would respond, “and focus on celebrating Mass in Latin.” Our comments about the “com petition” were good-natured, but the youngsters were pointing out one of the realities of American religion. Both the rabbi and I, like many of our colleagues, are involved in major social issues. The quality of life for all people in America is im portant to us. But the quest for justice, vitally important as it is, represents only one dimension of our traditions. There is also the meditative and contemplative dimension of our lives. There is the human need for the quiet in which stress can drift away; for religious rituals that can calm our unruly side. It was this need, I believe, that Jesse and I watched surface in our youngsters. Religions that emphasize quiet and ritual, including ones with their roots in the Orient, can exer cise an appeal for Americans who live under such great pressure. In terestingly, the Catholic tradition also is very rich in this area. It is a dimension of the tradition that has perhaps been underemphasized of late. But as Jesse and I continually learned, the need is there and the thirst seems real. We saw firsthand that an encounter with another religion may cause us to take a dimension of our own faith more seriously. (Father O’Rourke is on the staff of the Family Life Office in the Diocese of Oakland, Calif.) Inseparable traditions By Father John Casteiot NC News Service T he first place St. Paul headed when he entered a town to preach the good news was the synagogue. And he was arrested at the end of his last missionary journey when he went to the temple in Jerusalem to fulfill a vow he had made. The first generation of disciples were all full-fledged members of the synagogue. They even modeled their worship on that of the synagogue; in that regard their legacy persists to this day in the church’s Liturgy of the Word, the part of the Mass containing the readings and the homily. After Paul’s conversion he still worshiped the same God as ever. It was just that he came to realize that God’s saving plan had been brought to a climax in his Son, Jesus. True, Paul’s attitude toward the Law became rather liberal, but he still considered himself a Jew. In Romans 9-11, Paul agonized over the fact that his co-religionists by and large did not accept Christ. But in doing so, he showed how close he felt to them, crying out in an eloquent overstatement: “I have great sorrow and con stant anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were ac cursed and separated from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kin according to the flesh” (Romans 9:1-4). We often divide the early Chris tians into Jewish Christians and gentile Christians. This is misleading. All the first Christians, whatever their ethnic background, were Jewish Christians in varying degrees. They came into the Chris tian community by way of Judaism, at least to the extent of being given a thorough grounding in the Old Testament. Some gentiles converted to Judaism before Christian mis sionaries addressed their synagogue congregations. In any event, ail the first missionaries were Jewish and they instructed their converts in God’s saving plan, beginning with Abraham’s call and continuing through the whole Old Testament period. One of Luke’s purposes in writing his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles was to convince his gentile readers of their roots in Judaism, By giving so much atten tion to the missionary journeys of Paul, the founder of their com munities, Luke was getting across the point that they went back through Paul to the Twleve, to Jesus, to Israel. All the figures in Luke’s gospel story of Jesus’ birth are devout Jews, like the aged Simeon, who “was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel” (2:25). Mary and Joseph are a devout Jewish couple, who have the baby circumcised on the eighth day (2:21) and bring the boy on pilgrimage to the temple (2:41-50). And look at the opening sentence of Matthew’s Gospel: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” This is followed by a family tree of Jesus that traces his origins back to Abraham, father of the chosen people. If we speak today of a Judeo- Christian ethic, it is because the two traditions, Jewish and Chris tian, are inseparable. Christians never can forget their ties, their debt, to Judaism. They never can forget their roots without losing their true sense of identity. (Father Casteiot is a professor of Scripture at St. John’s Seminary, Plymouth, Mich.) There's no place • like home By Rabbi Daniel F. Polish NC News Service 1 remember this story • from my youth: It is said that when the father of a family comes ^ home from synagogue as the sun is setting on Friday night he is followed by two angels. One wishes the family * well, another wishes it ill. When the father reaches home, the angels look through the window. . If they find the home ready for Shabbat (the Sabbath), if the table is set beautifully with candles, wine and wine cups for the kid- ' dash (the sanctification of the Sab bath day), the family beautifully dressed to greet the Shabbat as a % special guest — then the angel that wishes the family well says, “May all of this family’s Sabbaths be like this,” while his companion 1 is forced to say “Amen.” But if the house appears as it does on a regular weekday — the # family isn’t ready, there is discord — then the angel that wishes them ill says, “May all of this family’s Sabbaths be like this.” • The other sadly responds “Amen.” What must be striking about this story to non-Jewish eyes is that the focus of Jewish observance is in the home. Precious as the synagogue is as a house of study, a place of gathering and of wor ship, the fullness of Jewish life is lived in the home. How much in keeping with this is the well-known injunction of Deuteronomy 13: “Thou shall * love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this* day shall be upon thy heart. Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children and shalt speak of • them...when thou liest down and when thou risest up.... Thou shalt write them upon the doorposts of thy house and upon thy gates.” These words, repeated in every Jewish prayer service, speak of ac tions that in the main take place - in the home: when we lie down, when we rise up. Jews have interpreted the Deuteronomy passage by creating a mezuzah, a small case with a parchment inside containing these words, the Ten Commandments * and other words of Scripture. It is traditionally hung on the right doorpost of Jewish homes. We kiss it when we enter and when we leave as an expression of reverence. A mezuzah, traditionally hung on the right doorpost of Jewish homes, contains a small case with a parchment inside on which are written the Ten Commandments and words of Scripture. When Jews talk about their religious life a common thread soon emerges. Our formative memories center around obser vances at home. In Eastern Europe, where most Jews in America trace their roots, people lived meagerly. But the Sabbath was always a time for re joicing. If there was one good meal in the week, it would be served Friday night as the Shabbat was greeted. This meal is accompanied by singing and storytelling. Candles are lit to welcome the Shabbat and the kiddush is sung. It is a meal that can stretch into the night as family and friends ex change news or teach stories from the tradition and sing. For most Jews, the most power ful childhood memory is the Seder ritual with which the Passover is greeted. Again a meal is served. This service is a good bit longer and more structured. We read from our Haggadah, the story of the exodus from Egypt. Special blessings are said, songs sung and special foods eaten, each a symbol of some aspect of the story of our liberation. It is also a custom for every family to build a succah — a frail booth — in its backyard at the Feast of Booths, the autumn holi day of Succot. Then friends and relatives are invited to share a meal under the starts and to say the blessings expressing gratitude for the freedom we earned thousands of years ago and which is our fortunate lot today. And it is a time to give thanks for the bounty of the harvest that sustains body along with soul. Of course this is in addition to study, prayer at meals, the morn ing and perhaps evening worship which traditional Jews practice every day in the home. Tradition talks about the family table becoming a mikdash ma 'at — a small sanctuary. By investing the home with sanctity, the rest of the life there is changed. The religious experience felt there becomes associated with the family’s love. To live a truly Jewish life, every moment must be infused with sanctity and every place with holiness. In our homes we feel the presence, the nearness of God. All of this so that “we may remember and do all his commandments and be holy unto our God.” (Rabbi Polish is senior rabbi at Temple Israel in Los Angeles.) FOOD FOR THOUGHT Pope John Paul II met with Jewish leaders in Miami during his 1987 U.S. visit. He was addressed by a rabbi and also delivered an address. Then he met with interreligious leaders in Los Angeles. Among those who addressed him was a rabbi. Why does the pope meet with Jewish leaders? Why is this important? The Holocaust of the Jews during World War II is an event that can never be forgotten by Jewish people. Recently Pope John Paul II made it known that the Vatican will develop a major document on the Holocaust and on anti-Semitism. Why is a profound understanding of the Holocaust important for Catholic-Jewish relations? If Christians enter a Jewish synagogue for a religious service, what are some things that might seem familiar? What will seem different? Why does Dominican Father David O’Rourke suggest that the major world religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, have something to teach each other? Second Helpings. “We in the church have tended to look on the Hebrew Scriptures only as prelude, only as giving us glimpses of the New Testament message. We have generally failed to appreciate its spiritual richness in its own right,” write Servite Father John Pawlikowski and James Wilde in When Catholics Speak About Jews. Sensitivities about Judaism need sharpening; consciousness needs raising and prejudice needs confronting, they say. The book is “about healing a relationship through the kind of preaching and teaching demanded by Vatican II” and its historical docu ment on Christian-Jewish relationships. The book intends to help people become better informed “about how to handle complex scriptural texts on the delicate matter of Jewish-Christian relations,” the authors add. (Liturgy Training Publications, Archdiocese of Chicago, 1800 N. Hermitage, Chicago, Ill. 60622. 1987. Paperback, $5.95.) Your Will Can Be A Prayer Your Last Will and Testament can be more than a legal document. It offers an opportunity for serious reflection and prayer — a holy process of putting all things in order. That’s because writing a will requires more than a mere listing of posses sions. It’s also a time to review the feel ings you have for your family, friends and the Church. Doesn't it make sense that such an important document be an extension of your faith? Your will then becomes a statement of your belief in God and His Church. Extension’s latest will planning booklet, “Your Will Can Be a Prayer,” offers suggestions on how you can make the drafting of your will a simple spiritual exercise. Write today for a free copy. The Catholic Church EXTEIVSIOM Society Dear Father Slattery: □ Please send me Extension’s free will planning kit. Rev./Sr./Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms. Address City State Zip. Birthdate / /. Telephone ( ) _ This information will be kept strictly confidential. FT 0938
