Franciscan at Home

For a number of years now I have been reflecting upon a common experience shared by many catechists in relation to teaching the parables. It is a remarkable fact that, when we hear a great many of the parables being proclaimed or read them for ourselves, we experience some form of negative reaction to them. Similarly, when preaching or teaching on the parables, we find that our listeners are also having the same reaction.

Think for a moment of the typical reactions to the parable of the man without the wedding garment, or that of the labourers who were paid the same for one hour’s work as those who had borne the heat of the day. Then there is the Prodigal Son—our sympathy is with the elder brother.

When it comes to negative reactions, perhaps the classic parable is that of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. I frequently ask the question—how many of us really love the wise virgins? I find that there are few, if any, who admit even to sympathising with them, let alone sharing in their wisdom and seeking to emulate them. The truth is that we consider them to be notably un-Christian! After all, they wouldn’t share the oil in their lamps. And isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? I suspect that we are, in fact, quite angry towards those five Wise ones. Our sympathy is entirely with the foolish. They certainly had a raw deal—being sent off to find oil for themselves. And to make matters worse, on their return after, presumably, successfully purchasing the oil, they find themselves excluded, because the bridegroom had arrived and the doors firmly closed. Then, to add insult to injury, the bridegroom declares, ‘I tell you solemnly, I do not know you’.

A number of the parables do not evoke this kind of negative reaction. However, there is a different kind of problem: because we see only the moral message of the parable and not the Gospel message, there is not much reaction at all—not, at least, the burning in our hearts as the parable is explained!

Part of the goal of this series on the parables has been to reveal the—sometimes rather hidden, Gospel message.

St Paul can help us to understand how suffering can be a grace.

Two questions have plagued the minds of Christians and non-Christians alike: Why is there suffering? Why does God allow suffering? In St. Paul’s writings we find profound insights into the meaning of suffering. Pope John Paul II explains why St. Paul writes so much on suffering: ‘The Apostle shares his own discovery and rejoices in it because of all those whom it can help—just as it helped him—to understand the salvific meaning of suffering’ (Salvifici Doloris, 1).

Fr. Richard Conrad, O.P., unfolds the meaning of “grace” as the loving God’s transforming presence in Sacred Scripture and Catholic theology.

To speak about God’s grace is to speak about God’s kindness and God’s gifts. In Catholic theology, and thus in formal religious education, it has become the cus­tom to reserve the term “grace” for the more special form of God’s kindness and the more special gifts He gives. God has a kindness towards all His creatures; but He has a special kindness - a love which can be called friend­ship - towards those angels and human beings He invites and draws to share His own happiness eternally. The purpose of this article is not to develop a systematic explication of the Catholic theology of grace, nor is it intended to unfold the history of this doctrine. Rather, this article will instead focus on the theological foundations of the Catholic doctrine of grace, and its basis in Sacred Scripture, for it is only by understanding the fundamental principles of the Catholic faith that we can reflect the gratuitous nature of God’s grace in our catechesis.

Catechesis on the parables is a central element in our catechesis on the Kingdom of God. Here we consider the meaning of the parable of the faithful steward.

Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find him so doing. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed’, and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Matt. 24:45-51. See also Luke 12:42-46

The placing of this parable within the cycle of Gospel readings for the Church’s Year gives us our first clue for how we are to interpret this parable. There are two renderings of the parable, in the Gospels of Matthew and of Luke, and in each case the Church places it so that we can understand that it concerns the end times and the second coming of Christ. These are themes that appear, interestingly, both at the beginning and at the end of the Church’s Year.

The placing of this parable of the wise and faithful, or conscientious, servant within each of the Gospels, of Matthew and Luke, provides us with our second clue. Both Matthew and Luke set the parable in the context of teachings by Jesus on the need to be ready for the Master’s return. Matthew and Luke share one element of this Gospel context in common: immediately preceding the parable is a reference to a burglar who comes and steals from the house. Then, preceding this mini-parable, the two Gospels offer us different perspectives: Matthew’s Gospel records Jesus’ saying about the days of Noah before the Flood, while Luke presents us with a parable of men waiting for the Master to come for the wedding feast.

You are the salt of the earth, if the salt looses its flavour what is there to make it salty again? It is good for nothing and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men. (Matthew 5:13)

¿Cómo podemos ayudar a las personas a comprender la Biblia?

El estudio bíblico se emprende por muchas razones: como parte de un curso teológico, para fines apologéticos, para el consuelo y la dirección personales, como evidencia histórica, por la belleza de la literatura; aún, tristemente, como herramienta para usar en contra de los demás cristianos. La Iglesia no se espera a que todos sean eruditos de las Escrituras. El estudio que se lleva a cabo en aislamiento sin referencia a la enseñanza de la Iglesia sobre el cómo leer la Escritura puede a veces conducir a una lectura individualista y subjetiva de los textos – una que puede entrar en conflicto con las interpretaciones de los demás y con los de la Iglesia.

En esta serie de artículos sobre las parábolas, hemos buscado implementar los principios de la interpretación de las Escrituras que se delinean en el Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica (CIC 109-119).

Se ha elegido para esta edición de The Sower la parábola del fariseo y el publicano. La Biblia de Jerusalén ofrece dos referencias cruzadas en el Antiguo Testamento: Proverbios 21,2: “Al hombre le parecen rectos todos sus caminos, pero es Yahveh quien pesa los corazones”, y Proverbios 28,13: “Al que encubre sus faltas, no le saldrá bien; el que las confiesa y abandona, obtendrá piedad.” El Catecismo también recoge los mismos dos temas en referencia a esta parábola – el párrafo 2559 habla de la virtud de la humildad en la oración, mientras que el párrafo 2613 enfoca la actitud básica [que se debe de tener en] oración para pedir la misericordia de Dios.

Los evangelistas nos dicen que tras su Resurrección, Jesús abrió las mentes de los discípulos para que pudieran comprender la Sagrada Escritura – en otras palabras, el Antiguo Testamento – poniendo en evidencia cómo todo el Antiguo Testamento hablaba de Él mismo. También se hizo más y más patente a la Iglesia primitiva que Cristo había establecido una identidad entre sus seguidores y sí mismo.

Como consecuencia, la Iglesia comprendió que este abrir de sus mentes también abarca la capacidad de ver al Antiguo Testamento como la revelación de la Iglesia, ya que ahora Cristo no es simplemente un personaje histórico, sino que es el totus Christus – el Cristo cabal; Cristo y su Cuerpo, la Iglesia. Además, la Iglesia primitiva también reconocía que la realidad de Cristo, la Cabeza y sus miembros, es en sí una imagen de la realidad celestial última que será completa solo después de la segunda venida. La identidad de Cristo y la Iglesia en la Tierra es prefigura del totus Christus en el Cielo.

Es conveniente, entonces, analizar una parábola que expresa la realidad del totus Christus y que nos invita a reflexionar sobre nuestra vida en la Iglesia como una preparación y prefigure de la vida en el Cielo en la cual nuestra transformación en la semejanza de Cristo tendrá su plenitud.

Jesus called God his ‘Father’, and has enabled his disciples to do the same. The whole Church can now pray to ‘our Father’ (Matt.7:9). This also puts many catechists or teachers, however, on the spot: how do we provide Catholic teaching on human fatherhood and on God the Father without appearing judgmental of the various individual instances of inadequate fatherhood which many children experience?

I began this series of articles on the Parables of Jesus by drawing attention to the fact that Jesus indicates that the parable of the Sower was a key to interpreting all the parables. The Sower parable seems to provide a process in which the Word of God, engaging with a human mind and heart, gradually overcomes various obstacles and eventually becomes fruitful. The fruitfulness is precisely the transformation of the human person (mind and heart) that takes places when the Word of God is permitted to play a leading role in our lives and to challenge ways of thinking and behaving that arise from our fallen self or from the patterns of society that have been absorbed.

It is significant that Jesus relates other parables about seeds growing as well as related parables about planting a vine in a vineyard. Perhaps all of these parables are linked to the parable of the Sower but highlight particular dimensions that are contained in the Sower in order to draw out the greater depths of the Sower parable. Thus, for example, the parable of the darnel or weeds is linked to the ‘thorny soil’ of the Sower parable. The parable of the Mustard Seed perhaps reveals more about the fruit of the ‘productive soil’. The parables of the Vine, the Vineyard and the Tenants, take us a step further and highlight the social dimensions of the Kingdom – Israel, the Church and our joint responsibilities for the Gospel message.