|
homily by Thomas A. Stanley, S.M. ".....a plan to be carried out....." Ephesians 1:10 I like to work the crossword puzzles that appear in the Dayton DailyNews. About two weeks ago the puzzle for the day incorporated a quotation from J. Paul Getty, who at the time of his death, was the richest man in the world. Mr. Getty was quoted as saying: "My formula for success is: rise early, work late, strike oil." I believe that was Father Chaminade's formula as well. He was an early riser, worked long hours, and, while at prayer and meditation in the chapel of Our Lady of the Pillar in Saragossa, he struck oil. There, during his years of exile, he was given a special understanding of God's design for the salvation of the human race and the formulation of a unique pastoral strategy for his priestly ministry once he got back to France. Today's Gospel reading states that after the Baptist was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee proclaiming the "good news" and calling disciples to come with him as "fishers of men." The significance of this statement becomes evident if you recall what Jesus was doing previously. What was he doing? John's Gospel tells us that he was doing what the Baptist was doing. He was in Judea calling people to repentance and baptizing them in the Jordan. Disciples of the Baptist saw this as competition and complained to the Baptist who told them: "He must increase and I must decrease." When John was arrested Jesus had the job to himself, but instead of taking over, he did an abrupt about face. He would no longer work in Judea (the land of pure blood Jews); he would go to Galilee (the land of the mixed blood Jews). He would no longer wait for people to come to him for ministration; he would go to them. After Saragossa, Chaminade made a similar abrupt and significant change in his priestly ministry. Years ago, while doing research on the writings of Father Chaminade, I wondered why, when he did get back to France and was searching for a center from which to launch his apostolic efforts, he tried to obtain the church of St. Projet on the rue Sainte Catherine in the heart of old Bordeaux. During the Revolution the government had confiscated all church properties and sold off many of them at auctions. Now that the Revolution was over, many churches and chapels became available for repurchase and a return to religious purposes. So Chaminade had many possibles from which to choose. He ended up at the Madeleine, but why was his first preference St. Projet? One possible answer is the fact that St. Projet was the parish church he frequented during the period he lived in Bordeaux while studying philosophy in preparation for his ordination to the priesthood. But I think a better answer is to be found in the very name of that church, the name St. Projet. " Projet" is not the name of some person who at one time or another was declared a Saint. "Projet" is a French word that means: "project, or plan, or design." In English, then, the name of this church might be: "The Church of God's Holy Plan." It was a name that fitted well with the task God called him to at Saragossa, namely, to counter the plan of the Revolution's leaders with the Plan of God. Ordinarily a political revolution is understood to mean the overthrow of an existing government and the substitution of another in its place. The French Revolution was that, of course, but it was much more than that. The leaders of this revolution planned to transform Society in every way. Just how comprehensive and thoroughgoing their intentions were is exemplified in what they did to the annual calendar and to the time clock. Their new calendar began with year ONE and its first day was the day the First Republic was established in 1793. That day, September 22, happened to be the autumnal equinox, which thereafter was their New Year's Day. The Revolution's year was divided into 12 month periods of thirty days each and the five or six additional days needed for the earth to complete its orbit of the sun were designated a special holiday period for celebrating the ideals of the Revolution. Each month was given an entirely new name and each month was divided into three periods of ten days called decades. Finally each of the ten days was given the name of a plant or animal. A day of rest now came only once every ten days in place of the Biblical seven days. Everything of religious significance was obliterated; no more Sundays or religious feast days of any kind. They came up with a new time clock to match the calendar. It divided each day into ten hour periods each consisting of 100 minutes. And each of these minutes were made up of 100 seconds. That made a day of 100,000 seconds. Our contemporary clocks have days of 86,400 seconds. Even the duration of their seconds was different. The basis for the sweeping changes they were planning and making and the driving force behind them was the power of pure reason and the exemplar, promoter and developer of reason was the state government. Father Chaminade intended to counter the plan of the Revolutionaries with the plan of God, a plan that called for even greater changes. The foundation and driving force behind this plan was the virtue of faith and the exemplar and promoter of faith was Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Father Chaminade called this role of Mary her apostolic mission. He saw his own role as that of a recruiter providing Mary with a legion of consociates to assist her in her mission. The inspired writings of St. Paul and St. John had a major influence on the spirituality and theological perceptions of Chaminade. The concluding verses of the first chapter of John's Gospel announce the central theme of that book, namely, the promise of a new creation. In these verses John pointedly imitates the seven day structure of the Genesis creation story. The first day begins with John baptizing and the disciples believing; the seventh day culminates in the marriage feast at Cana. His presentation indicates that entrance into the new creation begins with faith and baptism. Early Christians represented this idea architecturally by using octagonal shaped baptismal fonts to symbolize the “eighth day,” that is, the first day of the new creation. Chaminade's emphasis on faith and baptism echoes this understanding as well. He emphasized faith. Devotion to Mary plays a major role in Marianist spirituality, of course, but Chaminade insisted that faith is to be the distinguishing mark of his followers. He emphasized baptism. When speaking of it, he was less concerned with its power to remit original sin and preferred to stress the fact that it brought the baptized into a special union with Christ in the Mystical Body, a union that made the baptized a new creation. He even indicated that "job one" of the novitiate was to bring the novices to understand their baptism and to activate its significance in their everyday lives. He emphasized Cana, pointing out that it was by the initiative of Mary that water was changed into wine and that it will also be by the initiative of Mary that God's original creation will be transformed into God's new creation. The consociates he recruited for her were to heed her admonition to "Do whatever he tells you" as did the servants at the marriage feast. Chaminade knew, of course, that our power of reason, the idol of the leaders of the Revolution, is basically a good thing, a gift from God. But it has a shadow side, and it was its shadow side that was operative in the events of the Revolution. He planned to counter this abuse by embracing reason and promoting its role as faith's companion and helpmate. Hence the decision to enter the field of education and to become involved with schools and educational endeavors of all kinds. Schools and educational endeavors remain an important element of his strategy for bringing about God's holy plan. But in recent times we find that a new idol is nudging reason out of the top spot. This new idol is: " Technology." Like reason, technology is basically a good thing, a gift from God capable of promoting the new creation in many ways. But, like reason, it also has a shadow side, all too operative in the contemporary scene. For example: It fosters a seemingly insatiable appetite for consumption of its products which, more often than not, are provided by the exploitation of the poor, the weak, and the powerless. It has a penchant for developing extremely powerful and sophisticated weapons of destruction whose usage escalates day by day. And, as Brother Holzmer would say, "To a cow and to technology, a violet is just another blade of grass." It has no sense of beauty and no respect for nature. And so .... Because they are steeped in the spirit of Chaminade, it is not surprising to me to see his contemporary sons and daughters very much concerned for the poor and the powerless and to be engaged in a variety of efforts to bring about a more equitable distribution of power and technology's bounty. It is not surprising to me to see them involved in peace and justice issues and efforts. It is not surprising to me to find them promoting a sense of beauty through artistic endeavors and working creatively to protect the environment. Brothers and sisters. We may not get up in the morning as early as we once did and we may have a shorter workday than in the past. But you can be sure of this-- we are striking oil! |