Franciscan at Home

In his important apostolic letter Dies Domini (“Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy”), St. John Paul II argues that to rest is to re-member (put together again) the sacred work of creation on the day set aside for worship, thus orienting times of rest toward a deeper contemplation of God’s vision of humanity. “Rest therefore acquires a sacred value: the faithful are called to rest not only as God rested, but to rest in the Lord, bringing the entire creation to him, in praise and thanksgiving, intimate as a child and friendly as a spouse.”[i]

The human need for rest is not a call for inaction or laziness. Times of rest need some form of activity to remove our minds and attachments from the workaday tasks that can too easily become heavy and uncomfortable burdens. St. John Paul II’s use of “in praise and thanksgiving” is shorthand for the celebration of the liturgy.

Embracing the Paschal Mystery

Liturgy, as the celebration of the Paschal Mystery, is the heart of Catholicism. It integrates the divine and the human, the active and the contemplative. “The Paschal mystery of Christ’s cross and Resurrection stands at the center of the Good News that the apostles, and the Church following them, are to proclaim to the world. God’s saving plan was accomplished ‘once for all’ by the redemptive death of his Son Jesus Christ” (CCC 571).

Note

This article is part of a 3-year series dedicated to promoting the efforts of the National Eucharistic Revival in the United States.

“The Body of Christ.” “Amen.” Each time we participate in Mass, we have the opportunity to encounter the Lord Jesus in the most intimate way through the reception of Holy Communion. This moment is the most practical and profound way we can live Jesus’ invitation to “abide in my love” (Jn 15:10) this side of heaven. Yet, this moment of communion is not solely about a personal bond with Jesus. The relationship with him—strengthened and nourished by the Eucharist—impels us to charity for our brothers and sisters, especially the most vulnerable.

In this article, I want to reflect with you on two of the Beatitudes, allowing the witness and words of St. Francis of Assisi to help us understand how our inner life is transformed by the reception of Holy Communion. Flowing from that transformation, as “other Christs,” we are fortified to live lives of charity in action.

Sarah: aged and barren. Joseph: rejected, betrayed, and enslaved. Moses: desperately cast afloat in a basket. Daniel: sent to death by lions. Mary: unknown, unmarried, unbelieved.

Salvation history is the story of the poor ones, the bowed down, the lowly—the anawim, as they are named in Hebrew. In both the Old Testament and the New, God tends to the impoverished, the helpless, and the abandoned with special care and favor. The widows, the orphans, the outcasts—they have nothing, and God chooses them to receive everything.

Poverty is also a central thread of the Incarnation. Jesus came in the poverty of a stable. Poor shepherds received the Good News first, before any wealthy king or powerful governor. When Jesus began his public ministry, he reached out to the disregarded children, the lame, the blind, the social pariahs, and especially the poor souls exiled in sin. Jesus lived humbly and ultimately gave himself to the darkest poverty of death.

But Easter changed everything! The Resurrection exploded the darkness and opened the eternal treasure of heaven. After the Ascension and Pentecost, the spirit-enflamed disciples pursued this treasure even as they, too, were rejected, persecuted, and ultimately martyred.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that receiving the Eucharist “commits us to the poor” (1397). Why is this so?

Receiving the Eucharist means that we enter into union with the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. And being in Holy Communion with Jesus himself means something profound. Let’s consider one facet of this great mystery.

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Americans love to buy things. Many even consider “going shopping” an actual recreational activity. But for most people, before they surrender their hard-earned cash on a new pair of shoes, a phone, or a car nothing sways consideration between choices more than a personal recommendation of someone they know who has used the product. The personal experience of friends goes a long way toward giving them confidence that they are making the correct decision. In the world of marketing, this kind of product endorsement is called a “testimonial.”

The first celebrity endorsement came in 1882 when Pears’ Soap used a picture of Lillie Langtry, a famous actress, on its advertising poster.[i] Manufacturers soon learned that if they have a familiar face admit to using their product, their product will have more credibility. If this was not the case, advertising today would simply consist of listing out the benefits of a product and expecting people to make a rational choice.

All catechesis, especially in RCIA, requires that we do more than simply list true facts about the faith. If we want to lead people to a deeper conversion and a genuine “yes” to Jesus, we must employ the power of personal testimony from those leading them to Christ.

Pope St. John Paul II capped the second cycle of his Theology of the Body (TOB) catechesis[1] with a  set of reflections on how a healthy sense of shame should govern our experience of the sexuality of the body through various forms of media (TOB 60–63). In particular, he highlighted the importance of shame in maintaining a proper respect for the naked body and in helping us recognize the grave disorders embedded in pornography. In 2015, the USCCB promulgated Create in Me a Clean Heart, which explicitly builds upon St. John Paul II’s catechesis and provides an excellent analysis of how these TOB teachings apply to the many problems of pornography.[2]

This installment of the series summarizes how the TOB vision of purity of heart and sexual modesty emphasizes the importance of shame for the inner life of the human heart. It then applies the TOB understanding of purity, modesty, and shame to the issue of pornography and its connection to the problem of shamelessness.

The Importance of Shame

For St. John Paul II, the experience of shame relates directly to the experience of one’s own personhood or subjectivity and “the need for the affirmation and acceptance of this ‘I’ according to its proper value” (TOB 12:1). Instead of being some kind of guilt or embarrassment, in TOB, shame indicates an awareness of human dignity and a defensive reflex against attitudes and actions that degrade the body and the person. In the sexual domain, it includes a clear perception of how lust, impurity, and immodesty threaten our dignity. More precisely, sexual shame means an acute experience of the spousal meaning of the body (the truth inscribed in human sexuality that each person is someone with inherent value) and the rejection of all actions and attitudes that objectify the sexuality of the body as something with instrumental value to be used for egotistical satisfaction. Beyond simply cultivating purity or exercising modesty, shame denotes a strong inner conviction with which we instinctually and fiercely uphold the dignity of human sexuality.

When understood correctly, shame should characterize every human heart. We should all display this acute sensitivity to the enormous dignity of the sexuality of the body coupled with a consistent opposition to the threats posed by concupiscence and lust. On the other hand, shamelessness signals a disturbing blindness to our sexual dignity or a dangerous numbness to the degradation embedded in lust, impurity, and immodesty.

Along these lines, St. John Paul II is careful to clarify that prior to original sin Adam and Eve were “without shame” in a precise biblical sense: their experiences were completely devoid of any tendency to lust the naked body and thus devoid of any threats to their dignity. Before original sin, Adam and Eve had an “immunity to shame” precisely because the grace of their original innocence “made it impossible somehow for one to be reduced by the other to the level of a mere object” (TOB 19:1). Unable to lust, they could not manifest the defensive response of shame that impure attitudes should evoke. However, Adam and Eve did already have an intense experience of the core element of shame through their acute awareness of the dignity of the body expressed in its spousal meaning. They were “without shame” only in the sense that their hearts were so full of this experience of the spousal meaning of the body that no threatening attitudes toward each other could enter their hearts (TOB 12:2–13:1).

Monsignor Thomas McGread, the pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Wichita, Kansas from 1968 to 1999, had great confidence in his plan for parish revival when he asked parishioners to trust in the Lord and tithe their fair amount. He promised that when they looked back at the end of the year, if they hadn’t received more out of the parish than they put in, he would return the full amount of their tithe. Perhaps unsurprisingly, not a single family who participated in this model demanded their money back. More than simply a new program or financial campaign, Monsignor McGread sought to invite souls into a radical way of life. Jesus, too, invited his followers to the complete surrender of time, talent, and treasure.[1] It turns out that the best strategy for parish life is the one for which Jesus planted the seeds: the stewardship way of life.

Over fifty years later, the fruits of the stewardship way of life speak for themselves. After the success at St. Francis, the entire Wichita diocese would adopt the model. Mass attendance in the diocese is double the national average. One third of the 90 parishes have perpetual adoration. Seminarians are plentiful, with 39 men being ordained in the last seven years. Committed giving per household is almost four times the national average. Catholic schools are funded by the parishes, allowing families access to Catholic education regardless of financial circumstances. Finally, other diocesan ministries can be supported, including a clinic that offers free healthcare for the uninsured and impoverished.[2] As a result, the diocese sees high rates of adult and youth participation and volunteerism.

From an early age, every student at St. Francis of Assisi parish learns the definition of stewardship: The grateful response of a Christian disciple who recognizes and receives God’s gifts and shares these gifts in love of God and neighbor. Stewardship flows out of a personal encounter with the living Christ who invites us into a life that does not seek to grasp but opens itself to trustful surrender. It is the recognition that everything we have is a gift from God and should be used to love him and our neighbor in return—“What do you possess that you have not received?” (1 Cor 4:7).

Every person has time, talent, and treasure to give. “As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Pet 4:10). The stewardship way of life is not just about money. Parishioners can use their time and diverse talents to support their church in myriad ways. Parishes can then allocate financial resources to things that really make an impact on families, such as Catholic education.

How tempting it is to want the Lord to provide grace far in advance! Yet, in the Our Father we have the petition and the promise that our loving Father will give us our daily bread. While there are many layers of meaning, one implication in these words is that he will provide the grace we need in the specific circumstances of our day. In a world where self-sufficiency and independence are praised, we can easily forget this basic truth. It is a truth of which the Lord reminds me almost daily—sometimes even multiple times a day—to shift from my natural self-reliance to childlike trust in him.