When God made you my father

June 16, 2024           Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time           Father's Day

Love is the strongest force the world possesses, yet it is the humblest imaginable.

- Mahatma Gandhi

A cat is put in a steel chamber along with the following infernal device (which must be secured against direct interference by the cat): in a Geiger counter, there is a tiny amount of radioactive substance, so tiny that in the course of an hour one of the atoms will perhaps decay, but also, with equal probability, that none of them will; if it does happen, the counter tube will discharge and through a relay release a hammer that will shatter a small flask of hydrocyanic acid. If one has left this entire system to itself for an hour, one would tell oneself that the cat is still alive if no atom has decayed in the meantime. Even a single atomic decay would have poisoned it.

- Erwin Schrödinger, The Present Situation in Quantum Mechanics, 1935

He said, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”

- Mark 4:30-32

There’s this song by Riley Roth that Eloise and I felt would be perfect as a Father’s Day offering. It’s called When God Made You My Father, written from the perspective of a child expressing gratitude for the gift of their father. Each refrain ends with the words, “when God made you my father, He was being good to me.”

I imagine people might relate to those words very differently. To some, those words might reflect exactly how they feel; to others – perhaps those whose fathers might not have been as nurturing – the words might not resonate as much. I remember feeling quite saddened when I first heard that part of the song, because I kept thinking “I really don’t know if I could say that about my dad.” Suffice it to say the same song may speak to people in different ways.

A few months ago, I met a person who was so remarkably like myself. I kid you not – this was like a Divinely engineered encounter straight out of a movie! We were kindred spirits in the way our minds worked, the questions we’d ponder, right down to the mannerisms in our writing, our attachment to past terms of endearment, and yes, similar issues with our fathers. We’d often joke that we were crafted out of the same soul. So I wonder, might she also find the song bittersweet, and if so (and I say this with a sense of fallibility so as to avoid any rash claims about God’s intentions…), could it be that God was being good to us in allowing us to undergo the experiences that enabled us to understand each other so well?

The 17th-century German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz proposed that we live in the best of all possible worlds. This would mean that the circumstances of my birth, the school I went to, the food I had for breakfast this morning (it was nice btw!), the bully who took my lunch money, and yes, the father who raised me, were all the best out of the gazillions of possibilities that could have been! While I’m not quite sure how I feel about Leibniz’s view, I can appreciate the virtue in keeping firm the faith that “all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) What if there’s a majestic tree in your future, and you just so happen to be in the mustard seed stage right now, like that tiny little atom that will make the world of difference for that cat in Schrödinger’s famous thought experiment?

With that faith in mind, Eloise and I would like to offer you Riley Roth’s song, When God Made You My Father. Happy Father’s Day!

With my peace,
Carlo Serrano, Music Director

Inclusive Alliance - the "King B analogy"

June 9, 2024 Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

But he said to them in reply, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

- Mark 3:33-35

When I was picking out music for this Sunday, I felt a bit unsure as to what exactly was the overarching theme of this Sunday’s Scripture readings – there seemed to be so many ideas. What exactly do I want my music selections to communicate, and does it match the Scriptural theme? Eventually, my discernment led me to conclude that the unifying theme is inclusion and unity between ALL people of good will. Lest I be indicted for taking a very “liberal” interpretation of Scripture, allow me to present my case (if you’re up for a bit of a read!).

Consider these two well-known quotations:

A. “You are either with us, or against us.”
B. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Now, suppose two kings are at war. Both kings seek out allies to strengthen their army and secure victory over the other. But King A (adhering to quote A above) requires an explicit profession of allegiance and agreement with every single tenet of his rule to be considered an ally, whereas King B (adhering to quote B) treats as allies anyone who is opposed to King A. We can intuitively conclude that King B is more likely to win the war, since King B will have a greater chance of securing allies.

I argue that Jesus, in this Sunday’s Gospel, is more like King B in our hypothetical scenario. Now, one may contend, “But doesn’t Jesus say something exactly like King A in the same account presented in the Gospel of Matthew (‘Whoever is not with me is against me…’)?” Well, yes, but then one must ask, “What counts as being ‘with’ him?” There is good reason to say that a mutual opposition to evil (ala King B) satisfies that criteria. This much can be gathered from Jesus’ response to the scribes who accuse him of driving out demons by the prince of demons. “How can Satan drive out Satan?” In other words, how can one be opposed to evil while being evil at the same time? And in fact, we see Jesus confirming this in a later passage in the Gospel of Mark, incidentally also about driving out demons:

John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us.”

- Mark 9:38-40 (emphasis mine)

So, we see Jesus cautioning his disciples against a kind of moral/theological gatekeeping. Now, when one forges implicit alliances like these with parties who may not conform to every tenet of one’s faith (as in the “non-disciple” exorcist in Mark 9:38), one must inevitably tolerate such differences in the interest of the greater goal of securing victory. This tolerance is in fact shown in the passages that follow: “Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them.” But what about the “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit,” the ever so misinterpreted “unforgivable” sin? The Catechism teaches that “blasphemy against the Spirit” is nothing else but the deliberate rejection of God’s mercy by refusing to repent (CCC 1864). But don’t atheists reject God? One may argue that people cannot truly reject something that they do not know exists. If we say that an atheist “rejects” God, we must concede that it is certainly not the same kind of deliberate rejection as that of the fallen angels, who, knowing God to be real and the Highest Good, still willfully rejected Him. This is consistent with the Church’s teaching on unintentional ignorance (CCC 1860), and with the interpretations of these early Church Fathers:

Theophylact: We must however understand, that they will not obtain pardon unless they repent. But since it was at the flesh of Christ that they were offended, even though they did not repent, some excuse was allowed them, and they obtained some remission…

Bede: Neither however are those, who do not believe the Holy Spirit to be God, guilty of an unpardonable blasphemy, because they were persuaded to do this by human ignorance, not by devilish malice.

- Thomas Aquinas, Catena Aurea, Commentary on Mark 3

The Church Fathers interpret the “strong man” in the Gospel to represent Satan, and his “property” to represent his hold on those souls under his influence. Thus, to “plunder the strong man’s house” is to liberate people from the influence of evil, thereby securing them as allies according to our “King B analogy.” This inclusivist interpretation is further consistent with a principle termed Anonymous Christianity, proposed by Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner, and with the Church’s declaration in Gaudium et Spes of the universal participation of all people in the paschal mystery:

Anonymous Christianity means that a person lives in the grace of God and attains salvation outside of explicitly constituted Christianity… Let us say, a Buddhist monk… who, because he follows his conscience, attains salvation and lives in the grace of God; of him I must say that he is an anonymous Christian; if not, I would have to presuppose that there is a genuine path to salvation that really attains that goal, but that simply has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. But I cannot do that. And so, if I hold if everyone depends upon Jesus Christ for salvation, and if at the same time I hold that many live in the world who have not expressly recognized Jesus Christ, then there remains in my opinion nothing else but to take up this postulate of an anonymous Christianity.

- Karl Rahner in Dialogue

Pressing upon the Christian to be sure, are the need and the duty to battle against evil through manifold tribulations and even to suffer death. But, linked with the paschal mystery and patterned on the dying Christ, he will hasten forward to resurrection in the strength which comes from hope. All this holds true not only for Christians, but for all men of good will in whose hearts grace works in an unseen way. For, since Christ died for all men and since the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to every man the possibility of being associated with this paschal mystery.

- Gaudium et Spes, Art. 22

Thus, we see that our inclusive “King B analogy” is Scripturally coherent, consistent with the interpretations of the Church Fathers, and consistent with official Church teaching. The practical implication for the Church is that, rather than polarizing Herself against the secular world, She ought to ask how She may work together with the secular world as an ally in the fight against evil. Finally, Jesus’ words at the end of this Sunday’s Gospel solidify the case for an inclusivist interpretation: “For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Going back to the question of what I’d like to communicate through my music selections, keep an ear out for the following lyrics in our hymns for this Sunday:

“Here the love of Christ shall end divisions: All are welcome.”
- #422 All Are Welcome, Opening hymn for the 9:30 AM Mass

“With God as our Father, brothers all are we; let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony.”
- #531 Let There Be Peace On Earth, Offertory hymn for the 9:30 AM & 11:00 AM Masses

“No race nor creed can love exclude, if honored be God’s name; our family embraces all whose Father is the same.”
- #493 Where Charity and Love Prevail, Communion hymn for the 11:00 AM Mass

“When hatred is used to divide us, hold on to love.”
- #496 Hold On to Love, Offertory Hymn for the 5:00 PM Mass

“Here is refuge for all people from every tribe and tongue. In the house that Love is building, there is room for everyone.”
- #311 The House that Love is Building, Recessional Hymn for the 5:00 PM Mass

With my peace,
Carlo Serrano, Music Director

 

Choir Break

Around the summertime, our music groups get a much-deserved summer break. This year, that break starts after June 9th – the tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. So, if you come to the Sunday morning Masses after the 9th and find yourself wondering, “Hey, where’d the Adult Choir/Youth Choir go,” the answer is: they’re on summer vacation!

Now, there is one St. Joe’s music group that, for some reason, never goes on summer break. That’s the 5:00 PM Worship Band. Yup, contemporary Christian worship music will continue throughout the 5pm Masses over the summer! “But Carlo, why doesn’t the Worship Band go on break?” you might ask. I actually don’t know hahaha! (Maaaan I wish this website builder had emojis!) I think it’s just one of those grand mysteries of life, like “Who built Stonehenge?” or “How do we reconcile Einstein’s theory of General Relativity with Quantum Mechanics?” or “Is there extraterrestrial intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, and if so, would such a species also be stained by Original Sin, and would Jesus’ salvation include them, or is it limited to the salvation of homo sapiens?” When the day comes that you find yourself face to face with God, enjoying the Happiness (yes, Happiness with a capital H) of the Beatific Vision, please ask God if He’d be willing to share the answers to all my questions…

One of the goals that Worship Band strives toward is what I like to call “constant freshness.” That means always having something new each year, which the congregation “hasn’t heard before.” This could take the form of a new hymn (like The House that Love is Building by Sarah Hart), a new anthem (like Lord, I Need You by Matt Maher), a new way of doing an already familiar hymn (like our upbeat version of In Christ Alone), or a new project (like the Christmas Eve singalong). That way, although the liturgical seasons repeat every year and liturgical cycles repeat every three years, there will always be something new as far as music is concerned. In other words, Worship Band actively avoids the convenient common practice of doing things exactly the same way each year. This is in line with our commitment to make it such that the experience of coming to Mass is always fresh. And lemme tell you, having to constantly learn new stuff is hard work, especially when you’re a volunteer who isn’t retired and who takes care of 2 or 3 kids! “Carlo… you’re telling me they do all that AND don’t go on break?” Yep! How do they do it??? That’s another one of those grand mysteries of life – please add that to my list of questions to ask God! 

With my peace,
Carlo Serrano, Music Director

The Commission

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

- Matthew 28: 19-20

“Go tell the world about me: I was dead but now I live. I’ve gotta go now for a little while, but goodbye is not the end.”

- CAIN, The Commission

First off, a huge thank you to everyone who attended, participated, and lent their support to Now is the Time, the second joint concert featuring the combined music ministries of St. Joe’s and St. Bart’s parishes, held last Sunday, May 19th. We hope our music continues to help you experience the movement of the Holy Spirit here at the parish, as well as in your daily lives.

Now, if you were at the concert, you may recall one of the songs rendered by our Worship Band entitled The Commission. It was written by Blake Neesmith, Carter Frodge, Logan Cain, Madison Cain, and Taylor Cain, for the Christian country band CAIN, with lyrics inspired by the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) – our Gospel reading for this Sunday. The song was also featured on a special Christmas episode of the well-loved Christian TV drama, The Chosen.

When Kathy recommended this song to me for Worship Band, I immediately fell in love with it, and we have since used it as an anthem for Pentecost, Ascension, and Sundays when the Gospel is about the promise of the Holy Spirit and the Great Commission. If you’re a regular at the 5pm Mass, then you’ve definitely heard it a couple times these past Sundays. If you haven’t heard it yet, you could hear it a final time this Sunday, either at the 9:30 AM Family Mass (to be sung by Eloise Mascitti from our Youth Choir, who will also be cantoring for the Mass), or at the 5:00 PM Mass (with our Worship Band). Or, you could just watch this video of Eloise singing the song!

With my peace,
Carlo Serrano, Music Director