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NAVIGATION: You are presently looking at Part IV
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AN EMMAUS PEOPLE
People are the Christs of today!
We begin this fourth essay by encouraging each reader to open your New
Testament to Luke's 24th chapter and
carefully read verses 16 to 35
You can also read it online at the USCCB
website: www.usccb.org/nab/bible/luke/luke24.htm
The first community of followers meet the already crucified Jesus on
the road to Emmaus and they talk. Trying to locate the historical village
is difficult; could it be that mysterious meeting place where Jesus "rises"
as he meets his friends. (Wikipedia has interesting
information). The following paragraph contains this writer's condensed
interpretation, ideas by which I have fashioned my entire spiritual life
and ministry.
A faith journey
Notice how Jesus suddenly appears; he walks the same path,
"on their way" to a village, seven miles from Jerusalem. They
are sad and talk, without first recognizing Jesus, about "
the
things that have been happening there for the past few days"
and Jesus asks "what things?"
Dialogue takes place around the Passion and death of "a
great prophet" and here the first Christian community
is formed
"where two or three are
gathered in my name, there I am". These journeying Jews
are waylaid from temple worship and treated to a classroom lesson on how
the Jerusalem Jew can connect the Crucified One to Mosaic history; later
they are treated to a simple "Mass", a breaking of bread among
people during which "they recognized him".
Explanation of the words "day",
"on the way", "evening",
"seven miles", "recognizing",
"breaking bread", "slow
to believe the prophets" and "eyes
opened" need further explanation, not possible here. These
Genesis-style words are "God talk"
and "God time", meaningful
to the Jewish mentality of the day, words to describe a human relationship
to their concept of the Divine. The Emmaus role of Jesus is human teacher
(cf, M. Morewood IS JESUS GOD?)
and those on the Emmaus journey (you and I in 2008) are disciples, learning
from the Master. I would fantasize that the process chronicled in Luke's
19 verses might take more than ten years + (or perhaps a lifetime) with
many dialogue walks "on the journey of faith", a holy (seven)
distance from institutionalized religion (Jerusalem); the process of evolutionary
Christianity has its beginning as an early community takes to the "road',
Jesus' way. Unlike the Yellow Brick Road to the Land of Oz this was/is
a faith journey.
The Great Teacher
Do you find an ordained priest in the story? I find a teacher, The Great
Teacher coming and going
in and out
always present
then drifting away, where a few gather to talk about those troubling things
and who have time to break bread in universal loving friendship. Early
Christianity had only one teacher, Jesus
the one anointed with oil, a sign of popular people approval. After
the chaotic superstition-filled Middle Ages the Council of Trent makes
a sacrament of Holy Orders and the ordained male is seen as the "alter
christus", the other Christ, the anointed one by bishop
approval. The people are taught this for four hundred years until the
era of Vatican Two. Educated people are uneasy, many confused as their
"promised right to go to heaven" through the medium of the priest
is threatened; clerical scandal has dethroned the clergy and as people
silently question the ordained clergyman they fail to see the returning
role of a priestly people. The genuine Emmaus follower makes a priesthood
out of her/his daily life. Vatican Two returned Jesus
to the people and by self-dedication and commitment a Christian becomes
another Christ ; this is what took place in early Christianity. We need
to eliminate the superstitious practice of infant baptism.
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Emperor
Diocletian
245-313 CE.
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Ranks came to the Christian-Catholic institution as simple people community
gave way to the feudal system; when Constantine
gave the green light for Christianity to exist in the Roman Empire. Bishops
were already in authoritarian civil place, they being Roman officials
in charge of the emperor's lands and finances. Diocletian,
Emperor 284 ce, fearful of overthrow by a too-powerful legion commander,
broke down the empire into smaller units (dioceses) with lesser military
forces; each diocese had a legion general and an episcopus/overseer
(bishop), a political dominance that eventually took over the religious
system. Christianity became the sole religion of Rome, Constantine's brand
of Roman Catholicism dominating Western Civilization.
Like spiritual soldiers inside a Trojan horse
As the downfall of the Roman Empire progresses the papacy moves into
the emperor's role; the once roman military outposts are today's dioceses,
with the bishop having the same duties of the Diocletian era. Benedict
the 16th, as did John Paul 2,
wants a restoration of a united old Catholic Europe and seeks to keep
Islamic Turkey out of the European Union. The Roman Catholic Church is
a military duplicate of the old Roman Empire with its base in roman law
and order. The Emmaus Jesus
the teacher of human unity, mercy, peace, justice, and forgiveness
has difficulty in finding his place in the Roman Institution. Roman
theology has misled us until Pius the 12th
(Mystici Corporis) and Vatican
Two (The Church in the Modern World)
look again in the Emmaus story and see the women and men who chat with
a friendly Jesus ordinary persons
who become the Church "on the way"; persons who become apostles
are ordinary people, already inside the fortified walls of Romanism with
a commission "to go and teach the whole world". Christians
today are like spiritual soldiers inside a Trojan horse. That is the phenomenon
of Jesus alive today, a 2008 Christ resurrected
from the tomb of a dead clericalism, literally bypassing the old European
structure (now a religious tomb) and coming to life as the People of God.
People are the Christs of today. The original Pentecost is a beautiful
example of ethnic diversity in the family of God.
But wait
as we dance through this fantasy (based on the teachings
of Leo the 13th, Pius
the 12th, and John the 23rd)
we need make an act of faith that the Mystery of God has implanted a Holy
Spirit in all creation and this Mystery which we dare to name in human
terms is very much in charge. The continuous resurrection of the teacher
Jesus is the great hope of today; Jesus
never fails to show up if a community is faithful in dialogue. Pius
the 12th spoke of the people as a giant awakening; I see
them as Jesus bursting forth from the ruins
of medieval religion. We have the privilege of allowing the Holy
Spirit to use us as instruments of the ever re-forming mission
of Jesus. This is priesthood. We are a people
in progress.
Now back to the Emmaus people
The Emmaus people
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Fr
Bernard Haring CSsR (1912-1998)
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Who are they? Today
you and me
..in my imagination (Schillebeeckx:
hard data is difficult to come by). I think I find this unique and curious
community in a 7th century rural celebration of "Mass" with
farm folk, joyfully celebrating life and the Lord's Day, bringing their
produce to offer and now, growing in size and following the Roman customs
of orderliness, they have a presider who washes his hands (present day
levabo) after placing the gifts of the people on the altar. I imagine
this presider as dressed in normal contemporary clothing, he being "appointed"
from within the community by community assent. The community effort is
directed in thanksgiving to the Creator with their ceremonial "priest"
a simple master of ceremonies. Echoing Hans Kung
in WHY PRIESTS? and Bernard
Haring in PRIESTHOOD IMPERILLED
I see future priest as one who knows the people and the territory and
courageously leads forward on the Jesus path.
With Augustine he need be a member
of the community as well as leader
and he can be a she. My great
present fear with a woman priesthood is that they might perpetuate a dying
ignorant clericalism; more on this later.
By 900 ce most bishops had disappeared from the rural scene, living apart
from community, at times in a fortified castle and having an army for
protection and plunder; the scenario of 2008 is much the same, the bishop-overseer
coming to a parish for the meaningless sacrament of confirmation. For
financial purposes and lack of male clergy the closing of churches is
done by absentee landlords, the corporation sole who claims to own the
land and his priests if I might add; any person who controls another and
forbids him to have the God given right to marry is a slave master, imposed
celibacy being the last yoke laid upon good men who give their lives to
service of people and God. When Father Tom Lacey,
faithful member of AA and fine parish priest, died he had a woman read
a letter at his funeral. In it Tom
thanked the people for their love and spoke of his joy in working with
them; Tom lamented the loneliness
and alcoholism that plagued him, particularly when he became old and ill
and without a wife to care for him. After the funeral Tom's
brother George (we called him Feisty),
a clerical workaholic and a very lonely man, put his arm around me as
he introduced this "wayward rebel" (my words) to his friends
saying "I want you to meet my good friend and colleague Tom".
Nicholas in Catholica
Australia (Priests
Today, main forum 1/15/08) speaks finely of servant priests
as victims of a significant systemic problem. Where once the Council
of Trent (1542 ce) rescued Christianity
from an ignorant corrupted clergy their separation of priest from the
wicked world backfired as the world became more wholesome and the 21st
century priest became isolated; in keeping with Trent and seminary in
1542 ce I went to minor seminary at 13, supposedly to keep me sheltered
from the evil world and in reality I was kept immature and unknowing of
the fine values of the people. It would take years to realize Jesus
was alive in people and that I was not the only other Christ..
And what about the seminary system and those men ordained during the
400 year period between the Council of Trent and Vatican
Two? We are/were bridge men, taken from the world (spiritual chaos
in 1542 ce), carrying on our frail shoulders the ills of society and
relieved by John the 23rd of the impossible
task of saving the world all by ourselves. I salute men who gave their
lives to save souls; in the human confusion of transition I have fought
theologically with many old timers and I recognize their sincerity and
life dedication. It is good that Australian Bishop
Robinson has called for the closing of seminaries world wide
(Bishop Geoffrey Robinson's book Confronting
Power and Sex in the Catholic Church - Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus).
Personally I would like to see my Alma Mater stay open as a non-profit
teaching facility, welcoming students from communities around the world;
St. Patrick's Seminary and University, Menlo Park, Ca. built in 1898 ce,
(to provide priests for my illiterate Potato Famine Irish people) has
a magnificent richly endowed library; recently "this castaway priest"
dialogued there with a young pre-med student doing research, he being
Islamic
strange how this Jesus fellow
gets around and uses people as his priest-agents. Paul
tells us that in Christianity (the anointed ones) there is no male or
female, free or slave
no class distinction. Let's look
at this next week.
Forgive me if the above mixes eras, past and present; this Whirlwind
Holy Spirit confuses me at times with the volume of holy information
So much to work with
so "wonder"-full!
Tom McMahon, San Jose,
Ca, 13/02/08.
NEXT WEEK:
I meet John the 23rd and my iron mask slips even more. We discover a priesthood
of people who are re-forming the church.
ARTICLE
NAVIGATION: You are presently looking at Part IV
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NEXT
PART I | PART II | PART III | PART IV | PART V | PART VI | PART VII PART VIII | PART IX | PART X | PART XI | PART XII | PART XIII | PART XIV | PART XV Post Script: A call to the Church to deal with human sexuality honestly
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Tom
McMahon, a former priest now married, lives a very fulfilled
life in San Jose and continues to contribute voraciously to several
Catholic discussion lists in the States. He has been an enthusiastic
supporter and encourager of the Catholica
Australia initiative from the very beginning.
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What are your thoughts on this commentary by Tom McMahon? You can contribute
to the discussion in our forum.
©2008
Tom McMahon
[Index of Commentaries by Tom McMahon]
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