HOMILY for March 4, 2018: 3rd Sunday in Lent, Cycle B

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3^rd Sunday of Lent, Cycle B

Terranova Hermitage

March 4, 2018         

Minimalism: Art or Religion?

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato 

Artistic Minimalism

In the world of art, there is a type of painting called minimalism.

My understanding is that minimalism began as an artistic movement in the 1960s.  Minimalist artists depict an object – like an apple – in the starkest possible way.

They might paint a few red dots and some rounded lines more or less in the shape of an apple. But they would not represent the apple itself.

Minimalists depict only the bare essentials of the object. They paint a minimum and that is why this style of art is called minimalism.

Religious Minimalism

Today’s Scripture passages address the issue of religious minimalism.

The Old Testament passage gives us something very familiar – the Ten Commandments.  These commandments have formed the foundation of Judeo-Christian morality for the past 3,000 years.

They are important and we need to obey them.  But, these commandments are also minimalist and here is why I say that.

Notice in today’s Gospel that Jesus is dealing with some of the people who are in the temple. They are obeying the basic commandment of keeping the Sabbath holy.

After all, they are there, in the temple. But, they are really not putting themselves into the prayer or worship.

Instead, they are really absorbed in the money and merchandising that is associated with temple sacrifice. So, they are keeping the religious law as it is literally written, but they are not observing its spirit.

Jesus gets angry and drives them out of the temple.  Why? Because they are religious minimalists.

Something like minimalist painters, they are only observing the law in a bare-bones way and have not put their heart into it.  Jesus deplores this religious minimalism and calls us to much more.

Religious Maximalism

We might say that he calls us to a religious or spiritual maximalism.

He wants us, for example, to look at the Ten Commandments and really put our heart into them. He wants us to go beyond the letter of the law and embrace its spirit.

Jesus wants us to do as much good as possible. That’s what I mean by a spiritual maximalism.

Let’s look at just two of the commandments as examples of this.

Two Commandments

The commandment says: “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.” 

The minimalist approach says: I come to Mass every Sunday. The maximalist approach says: I come to Mass and really try to put myself into it.

I join in the prayers and hymns and I try to take in what the readings are saying. I receive Communion and try to be aware of the Lord’s presence.    

And beyond that, I also try to pray in some way every day and make not just Sunday, but every day a holy day. So, this is an illustration of the maximalist approach.

Let’s take one more commandment: “Thou shalt not kill,”

The minimalist approach says: I would never think of killing or even physically harming another person. For the maximalist approach today, in the year 2018, I – at least I personally – am thinking this.

I feel some responsibility about the killing going on in our country. The number of killings of adults and school children compels me to see that the commandment – “You shall not kill” – may be speaking to me here.

So, I am feeling God calling me to look reasonably and calmly at where we are with our laws on firearms. Specifically, I feel the need to look at existing background checks and see if we need stronger background checks.

And I feel the need to evaluate whether owning assault weapons should be part of our human rights. This, in our time and place, for me, is an illustration of the maximalist approach to this commandment.

Conclusion

I want to conclude by looking at the conclusion of today’s gospel.

It says that some people, there in Jerusalem, “began to believe in Jesus because they saw the signs he was doing. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them because he understood human nature.”

Jesus sensed that they liked his healings of people—that is what is meant here by “signs.” But he also understood that they would probably revert to their pattern of observing just the letter and not the spirit of the law.

They would go back to the minimalist approach and not accept the challenge of the maximalist approach.

The question is: what will we do today?

HOMILY for February 4, 2018: 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

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5^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

February 4, 2018

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

How Do You Spell Respect?

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato

 

Respect

Today I want to talk about respect.

One word – respect. It may sound simple, but it may not be.

The Word Respect

Our English word respect – like many of our words – is derived from Latin.

It is made up of two Latin words: 1) re (spelled R-E) which means back, as in going back, and 2) specere (spelled S-P-E-C-E-R-E), a verb that means to look at. And so, our word respect literally means to look back at, to take a second look.

And from this, the word has come to mean to treat someone with regard and esteem. Negatively, it means to refrain from injuring someone.

The connection between the original and the developed meaning of the word seems very clear to me. If we don’t just take a quick look, if we look back and take a second look, we are valuing others.

And then, we are much more likely to act out of that – to treat them with regard and esteem. And, of course, we are much more likely to refrain from any behavior or word that would injure.

Okay, so why am I so focused on this word respect today? Why? Because I see respect lying beneath what happens in today’s Gospel.     

Jesus Respects Women

The context is that Jesus goes into Peter’s house.

Peter’s mothger-in-law is sick in bed with a fever. I have to wonder if it was something like the flu that has been going around this year.

At any rate, and here’s the key point, Jesus goes right up to this woman and takes her by the hand. Now to us, that may not sound like a big deal, but it was in Jesus’ day.

In those days, men were forbidden to touch any woman other than their wife. They couldn’t even shake hands with a woman.

Now it’s important to know that this prohibition did not exist out of respect for women. On the contrary, it existed out of disrespect for them.

It was a highly patriarchal and male-dominated culture. Women had no rights and were seen as at best inferior.

So, a point that’s easy to miss here is that Jesus, right at the start of his ministry, is breaking a barrier. I mean, this is chapter one of Mark’s Gospel – Mark talking about the first things Jesus does in his ministry.

And here, Jesus breaks the gender barrier. He respects this woman as a person with dignity, as a person in need, and he wants to help her.

Apparently, Saint Mark is really out to make a point about this. I say that because at the end of the Gospel, as Jesus ends his miniustry dying on the cross, Mark carefully notes, once again, the presence of women.

He points out that these women were disciples of Jesus. So Mark’s entire Gospel is framed or bookended with Jesus showing respect for women.

Respect Women Today

All of this got me thinking that Jesus would probably be supportive of the main thrust of today’s #MeToo movement.

Today his respect for women might be shown by speaking out against verbal cracks, jokes, sexual harassment of any kind, less pay for the same work and competence – Jesus would call out all of this.

He would call us to respond to this moment in time. He would want us to take a second look at what’s been going on.

He wants us to be respectful in our attitudes, our words, our workplace policies, and in our Church practices. So, yes, there is a spiritual and moral dimension, a Gospel-dimension to the women’s isue that is before us today.

Respect Everyone

I want to add one more point.

Jesus pushes this respect beyond the gender barrier which he breaks in today’s Gospel. In various other incidents, Jesus breaks through other barriers – religion, race, culture, and nationality.

And he always does this out of respect, respect for the dignity of all persons.

He wants to bring a wholeness and fullness to our lives. And he wants to do this for us as individuals and for our society and for all of humanity.

So, he treats with value and dignity, he respects each person, all persons, with no barriers allowed to stand in the way. His example raises the question: are we doing the same?