I am copying a statement I wrote way back in 2007 about Ash Wednesday. It looks better now than it did then.
The beginning of Lent gives preachers the opportunity to update and upgrade the tradition of abstinence and self-denial as a way of sharing the gifts of God with those who, for whatever reasons, are deprived of the basic necessities of life.
The fasting/feasting sequences of life as reflected in the Christian Year are a good reminder of the wisdom of flowing with nature rather than adopting a naïve “oppose and conquer” model. Ash Wednesday is immediately preceded by Carnaval/Mardi Gras, the last major fling of the flesh, the conclusion of the long feasting time that began at Christmas. The Joel passage urges the reader to imitate the “bridegroom” and abandon the bed of indulgence and move into a mood of introspection and meditation.
The other three texts for the Ash Wednesday observance argue against superficial rituals and direct the faithful to turn fasting, praying and alms giving into a true sharing of the gifts of God with the poor and marginalized. It is almost as if Isaiah, Paul and Matthew preach against the Joel text and the “priestly” tradition that emphasizes “sacrifices and offerings” to the detriment of service and sharing.
There is one more text that is used during the imposition of the ashes that is not in the Lectionary, it comes from two sources, Genesis and Ecclesiastes, remember that you are dust and to the dust you shall return. Superficially this text reads like a curse, but Kohelet, the central figure in Ecclesiastes, argues that this reminder of mortality is precisely the basis for an ethic of sharing. All will die, therefore it is good that all eat and drink and enjoy the fruit of their labor.
Finally the Psalm is a great way to “wrap” the observance of Ash Wednesday in an attractive way. The psalmist acknowledges that the human condition is one where failures, sins, can surely dominate during certain points of our lives. But the closing of the text is elegiac: restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit…I am intentionally using the paraphrase that Jim Stratdhee has in the musical rendition of this Psalm. That, in the final event, is what Ash Wednesday is all about, an acknowledgment of our mortality and our sinfulness but also the recognition that with God’s company we can be among those who can teach transgressors the ways of God, the spirit of sharing.
Marie Augusta Neal, a Roman Catholic nun, wrote in the 1970’s A Socio-Theology of Letting Go: First World Church Facing Third World Peoples and that book is even more relevant as churches in the United States try to live out their faith in the center of the Empire. In Boston, during a round table discussion of the World Council of Churches she was asked what was the equivalent of Latin American Liberation Theology for the United States and she shot back: ours must be a theology of relinquishment. Relinquishment, not mere abstinence and self-denial is what Ash Wednesday is all about.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Peace Makers
We find ourselves in the middle of a very wet week in Southern California. Not being used to rain in these areas our drivers are creating all kinds of business for auto repair shops. Several of our schools and even colleges have closed for the rest of the week, including my alma mater, Cal-State Long Beach. But this is nothing compared to the potential for mud slides in the areas recently denuded by fires. All that being said, California in general and Southern California in particular continue to have the kind of weather that many envy, especially in the middle of the winter season.
The good weather notwithstanding, California has ceased to attract younger people and many young families are fleeing the state in search of less expensive real estate and governments more responsive to their needs. The traditional commitment of the California Legislature to good, reliable and inexpensive education is now a thing of the past. When I arrived in California in 1960 I was able to attend college for very little and received an education that made competitive with Ivy Leaguers when I went to Graduate School.
I feel for parents with young children who ask themselves how will they be able to afford a home, food and an education for their children. In the meantime our national policies continue to dedicate billions of dollars to a war economy. The prophets' dream of turning instruments of death into implements of life and growth seems farther away now than when those dreams were first shared.
In a few more days we will be observing the anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. He was committed to a non-violent way of transforming society, one that inspired Martin Luther King Jr. Dorothy Day, Cesar Chavez and millions of nameless workers for peace and justice. If we are to move forward as a human race it is imperative that we turn ourselves into real pursuers of peace, for our sake and for the sake of at least two more generations after us.
The good weather notwithstanding, California has ceased to attract younger people and many young families are fleeing the state in search of less expensive real estate and governments more responsive to their needs. The traditional commitment of the California Legislature to good, reliable and inexpensive education is now a thing of the past. When I arrived in California in 1960 I was able to attend college for very little and received an education that made competitive with Ivy Leaguers when I went to Graduate School.
I feel for parents with young children who ask themselves how will they be able to afford a home, food and an education for their children. In the meantime our national policies continue to dedicate billions of dollars to a war economy. The prophets' dream of turning instruments of death into implements of life and growth seems farther away now than when those dreams were first shared.
In a few more days we will be observing the anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. He was committed to a non-violent way of transforming society, one that inspired Martin Luther King Jr. Dorothy Day, Cesar Chavez and millions of nameless workers for peace and justice. If we are to move forward as a human race it is imperative that we turn ourselves into real pursuers of peace, for our sake and for the sake of at least two more generations after us.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
ACT OF GOD?
Back in 1999 hurricane Mitch devastated several communities in Central America. At that time I reacted with pain and anger against those who were talking about natural dissasters as "acts of God."
This week a tremendous earthquake killed tens of thousands in Haiti and once again "God" is being invoked as the one who acts through nature, in this case to punish the Haitians for making a "pact with the Devil" according to Pat Robertson. It is incredible that in the 21st. Century anybody would talk about a vengeful God punishing people. On top of that stating that Haitians made a pact with the Devil in order to gain their independence from France borders on insanity and it is definitely a most cruel statement to make in the face of a natural disaster.
When Mitch hit in 1999 I preached a sermon on the radio which I just re-read and found applicable to what is happening now. I urge you to connect to that sermon via the link I will provide. In case you don't go there, let me quote a part of that sermon here:
"A long history of development built on economic inequalities and disregard for local ecosystems had created a landscape on the brink of disaster...In Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, successive generations of squatters have climbed the hills that surround the city, clearing the land to make room for shacks and to gather wood for fuel, and rendering the hillsides extremely unstable. Meanwhile, thousands of peasants have settled on previously uninhabited riverbanks and flood plains at the margins of the city. When Hurricane Mitch hit, this settlement pattern proved deadly." These sociologists do not use the language of religion otherwise they might have said that the acts of unredeemed humankind make nature appear unforgiving. Oscar Jara, a Nicaraguan environmentalist put it succinctly, Mas que la naturaleza, nos matan la pobreza y los malos gobiernos. Poverty and bad government are deadlier than nature. Much earlier a Roman writer had observed the same preying behavior in men as that exhibited by wolves and wrote Homo homini lupus, man is man's wolf.
Closer to home, to my home in California, Mike Davis, has written a book entitled "Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster". Davis argues a line similar to the one mentioned earlier about Hurricane Mitch. But he buttresses his argument by looking at the history and ecology of the region. Long periods of drought and major earthquakes have been ignored by modern urban planners. When the Big Ones Hit, long draught and major earthquake, people will again use the term "act of God" to describe it but it will be more the consequence of human greed, and selfishness. Yes, The "whole creation awaits eagerly for the revelation of the true sons and daughters of God". In the mean time Hurricanes, draught, earthquake and fire will keep on coming destroying in their path those who have taken whatever "left over" means to survive. This places an urgent task in front of those of us who know and understand the connection between personal salvation and ecological redemption. All the sociologists mentioned earlier understand that these disasters are not "inevitable". Sound social and environmental policy can radically reduce the human misery hurricanes cause" write Faber and Goldstein. Mike Davis includes his otherwise apocalyptic vision of Los Angeles future statements about learning to live with nature, learning nature's rhythms and tempos and adjusting to them rather that always attempting to conquer. These suggestions are more congruent with the Biblical vision of Shalom, the image which lies behind the poetic language of the letter to the Roman's. Isaiah's vision of the Messianic age is one where nature is in harmony, where predators and preys live in accordance with a redeemed order, one established not by humanity's techno-fix solutions but by the tenderness of a young child who guides and oversees all.
John B. Cobb, Jr., professor Emeritus at the Claremont School of Theology has recently been using the term "Earthism" to refer to a vision and a way of life that sees the defense of the earth as "ultimate" or almost ultimate concern. This is by no means new, Cobb acknowledges as much, what is new is the theological language Cobb is now using. The Redemption of Creation through the "first born" redeemed ones cannot be achieved if the earth is destroyed, therefore the task now before those of us who claim ultimate allegiance to the God of Jesus Christ is the defense of this fragile space ship. This is the way to demonstrate that we are indeed "redeemed".
If you want to read the whole sermon please click here:
http://day1.org/725-an_act_of_god
The best "act of God" is and continues to be the loving, caring responses by people from all walks of life to the human need before us.
Ignacio Castuera
This week a tremendous earthquake killed tens of thousands in Haiti and once again "God" is being invoked as the one who acts through nature, in this case to punish the Haitians for making a "pact with the Devil" according to Pat Robertson. It is incredible that in the 21st. Century anybody would talk about a vengeful God punishing people. On top of that stating that Haitians made a pact with the Devil in order to gain their independence from France borders on insanity and it is definitely a most cruel statement to make in the face of a natural disaster.
When Mitch hit in 1999 I preached a sermon on the radio which I just re-read and found applicable to what is happening now. I urge you to connect to that sermon via the link I will provide. In case you don't go there, let me quote a part of that sermon here:
"A long history of development built on economic inequalities and disregard for local ecosystems had created a landscape on the brink of disaster...In Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, successive generations of squatters have climbed the hills that surround the city, clearing the land to make room for shacks and to gather wood for fuel, and rendering the hillsides extremely unstable. Meanwhile, thousands of peasants have settled on previously uninhabited riverbanks and flood plains at the margins of the city. When Hurricane Mitch hit, this settlement pattern proved deadly." These sociologists do not use the language of religion otherwise they might have said that the acts of unredeemed humankind make nature appear unforgiving. Oscar Jara, a Nicaraguan environmentalist put it succinctly, Mas que la naturaleza, nos matan la pobreza y los malos gobiernos. Poverty and bad government are deadlier than nature. Much earlier a Roman writer had observed the same preying behavior in men as that exhibited by wolves and wrote Homo homini lupus, man is man's wolf.
Closer to home, to my home in California, Mike Davis, has written a book entitled "Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster". Davis argues a line similar to the one mentioned earlier about Hurricane Mitch. But he buttresses his argument by looking at the history and ecology of the region. Long periods of drought and major earthquakes have been ignored by modern urban planners. When the Big Ones Hit, long draught and major earthquake, people will again use the term "act of God" to describe it but it will be more the consequence of human greed, and selfishness. Yes, The "whole creation awaits eagerly for the revelation of the true sons and daughters of God". In the mean time Hurricanes, draught, earthquake and fire will keep on coming destroying in their path those who have taken whatever "left over" means to survive. This places an urgent task in front of those of us who know and understand the connection between personal salvation and ecological redemption. All the sociologists mentioned earlier understand that these disasters are not "inevitable". Sound social and environmental policy can radically reduce the human misery hurricanes cause" write Faber and Goldstein. Mike Davis includes his otherwise apocalyptic vision of Los Angeles future statements about learning to live with nature, learning nature's rhythms and tempos and adjusting to them rather that always attempting to conquer. These suggestions are more congruent with the Biblical vision of Shalom, the image which lies behind the poetic language of the letter to the Roman's. Isaiah's vision of the Messianic age is one where nature is in harmony, where predators and preys live in accordance with a redeemed order, one established not by humanity's techno-fix solutions but by the tenderness of a young child who guides and oversees all.
John B. Cobb, Jr., professor Emeritus at the Claremont School of Theology has recently been using the term "Earthism" to refer to a vision and a way of life that sees the defense of the earth as "ultimate" or almost ultimate concern. This is by no means new, Cobb acknowledges as much, what is new is the theological language Cobb is now using. The Redemption of Creation through the "first born" redeemed ones cannot be achieved if the earth is destroyed, therefore the task now before those of us who claim ultimate allegiance to the God of Jesus Christ is the defense of this fragile space ship. This is the way to demonstrate that we are indeed "redeemed".
If you want to read the whole sermon please click here:
http://day1.org/725-an_act_of_god
The best "act of God" is and continues to be the loving, caring responses by people from all walks of life to the human need before us.
Ignacio Castuera
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Baptism of Fire
I don’t agree with Baptist that insist that only adults should be baptized, I am too much of a follower of John Wesley to drop that great acknowledgement of the fact that God loves us before we are capable of loving God. Wesley called that fact “prevenient Grace.” That is the correct answer to why some of us go ahead and baptize children. Having said that I hasten to add that parents and congregations assume an incredible task as they bring a child to the baptismal waters. Pastors need to be more earnest in educating parents to what they are doing. This is no simple ceremony, it is a sharing in the sacrificial life of Christ, it is a commitment to join God in a constant opposition to forces that separate us from one another. It is, in short, a baptism of fire.
Annie Dillard said: “On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.” (Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stonene to Talk. Harper and Row, 1982)
I am not suggesting that we ask ushers to start passing life preservers and crash helmets, but I am calling on all of us to understand and own our baptismal vows, to prepare ourselves to live out our baptism of fire.
You notice that Dillard mentioned the Catacombs suggesting that those Christians did understand the nature of our Empire challenging faith. Catacomb Christians did understand that very well because they knew they were outside looking in, or better yet, they were in but not of, the Empire. Membership in the new movement implied opposition to the ruling powers and Baptism came at the end of a long training which included learning secret prayers like the Lord’s Prayer and finally participating in the ritual of initiation, Baptism, a secret rite that connected them with martyrs and prepared them for opposition and potential martyrdom.
Contemporar Christians need to become virtual Catacomb Christians, remember the true history of baptism, own it and act upon it.
Ignacio Castuera
Annie Dillard said: “On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.” (Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stonene to Talk. Harper and Row, 1982)
I am not suggesting that we ask ushers to start passing life preservers and crash helmets, but I am calling on all of us to understand and own our baptismal vows, to prepare ourselves to live out our baptism of fire.
You notice that Dillard mentioned the Catacombs suggesting that those Christians did understand the nature of our Empire challenging faith. Catacomb Christians did understand that very well because they knew they were outside looking in, or better yet, they were in but not of, the Empire. Membership in the new movement implied opposition to the ruling powers and Baptism came at the end of a long training which included learning secret prayers like the Lord’s Prayer and finally participating in the ritual of initiation, Baptism, a secret rite that connected them with martyrs and prepared them for opposition and potential martyrdom.
Contemporar Christians need to become virtual Catacomb Christians, remember the true history of baptism, own it and act upon it.
Ignacio Castuera
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Elvis
Yesterday I wrote about my daughter's birthday, today is the anniversary of Elvis Presley's birth. I confess to a preference for classical music but I am not uninformed or unappreciative of popular music and culture, after all, many popular melodies found their way into major classical works.
It is interesting to note that Elvis sold more religious music than any of his contemporaries. At a time when there was no "Christian Music genre" Elvis was one of the few whites who appreciated "Negro Spirituals" and helped to spread their message.
He did the same with popular black music styles, the girations of his body were not uncommon among blacks but appeared shocking when a young white male displayed them in public. His music was condemned by self-righteous people who never understood that what he was doing would eventually help to bring more understanding of the cultural diversity of America.
Some of the same self-righteous people who criticized his style will condemn him to hell for his drug abuse, gluttony and all other excesses that he acquired after fame and fortune came to him. But his life anticipated the tragedies of Michael Jackson and others that are exploited by the Empire of Illusion. Let us remember the best and try to understand the negative side without any moralistic analyises.
Ignacio Castuera
It is interesting to note that Elvis sold more religious music than any of his contemporaries. At a time when there was no "Christian Music genre" Elvis was one of the few whites who appreciated "Negro Spirituals" and helped to spread their message.
He did the same with popular black music styles, the girations of his body were not uncommon among blacks but appeared shocking when a young white male displayed them in public. His music was condemned by self-righteous people who never understood that what he was doing would eventually help to bring more understanding of the cultural diversity of America.
Some of the same self-righteous people who criticized his style will condemn him to hell for his drug abuse, gluttony and all other excesses that he acquired after fame and fortune came to him. But his life anticipated the tragedies of Michael Jackson and others that are exploited by the Empire of Illusion. Let us remember the best and try to understand the negative side without any moralistic analyises.
Ignacio Castuera
Happy Birthday
It is now exactly the time when my first daughter, Marisa, came into this world. I had committed to a prepared child-birth, learned the breathing patterns that the father/coaches had to master and did very well, thanks to the fact that in spite of being the first labor for Patty the process took very little time. The one and only surprise was that instead of the boy our doctor had predicted we found ourselves welcoming a daughter with no name in our heads or hearts for her. It helped that the grandaughter of a parishioner in the Long Beach Latin American church was named Marissa. I was working at UCLA at the time and the woman who connected me to that institution was Jane Ann Pullen. So a quick decision was made that our "boy" was going to have the initials MAC and that our daughter's name would be Marisa Ann Castuera. I left mother and baby in the able hands of doctors and nurses, made the calls to relatives and friends who were waiting with the proverbial baited breath, and proceeded to leave for a meeting in New York trusting a long time friend, Aureo Oviedo and Marisa's grandma, Yeiko, to bring the proud mom and needy baby home.
Marisa changed everything in our lives for the best. We concentrated on her care, moved to Long Beach because the house where we lived had been broken into several times and brought her into a network of helpful friends and parishioners, some of whom only spoke Spanish. It was not surprising that the first word Marisa would say was in Spanish, "agua," when she saw the first raindrops in her life. Only a few months later, shortly after she turned three she read her first word, "exit," at an Orange Julius burger place that her aunt and godmother, Hilda, had taken her.
The years went by very fast, the little girl that said "agua" at the sight of her first rain, would dance under the first snow flakes she ever saw on the last Sunday in October, 1992. We had just left Ako, her sister, at the White Plains Airport after seeing a retrospective on Mattisse, the Fauvist painter, at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art where we also saw Van Gogh's Starry Night.
This is the first birthday Marisa observes without her paternal grandparents. My mother died on April 4 last year and that closed a page for her and for me. Sad as that is, it is the future where she belongs, a future made more interesting thanks to the birth of a son two years one month and three weeks ago. Kaleo is to Marisa what she was to me, a piece of future interjecting itself with incredible demands, wonderful promises and energizing mysteries. Khalil Gibran said that our children dwell in the house of the future, one we will never enter even in our wildest imaginings. Let it be so, in the meantime, Happy birthday!!
Marisa changed everything in our lives for the best. We concentrated on her care, moved to Long Beach because the house where we lived had been broken into several times and brought her into a network of helpful friends and parishioners, some of whom only spoke Spanish. It was not surprising that the first word Marisa would say was in Spanish, "agua," when she saw the first raindrops in her life. Only a few months later, shortly after she turned three she read her first word, "exit," at an Orange Julius burger place that her aunt and godmother, Hilda, had taken her.
The years went by very fast, the little girl that said "agua" at the sight of her first rain, would dance under the first snow flakes she ever saw on the last Sunday in October, 1992. We had just left Ako, her sister, at the White Plains Airport after seeing a retrospective on Mattisse, the Fauvist painter, at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art where we also saw Van Gogh's Starry Night.
This is the first birthday Marisa observes without her paternal grandparents. My mother died on April 4 last year and that closed a page for her and for me. Sad as that is, it is the future where she belongs, a future made more interesting thanks to the birth of a son two years one month and three weeks ago. Kaleo is to Marisa what she was to me, a piece of future interjecting itself with incredible demands, wonderful promises and energizing mysteries. Khalil Gibran said that our children dwell in the house of the future, one we will never enter even in our wildest imaginings. Let it be so, in the meantime, Happy birthday!!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
EPIPHANY
I have not blogged during the holidays but it is time to get back to the joyful task of sharing ideas with others. I only have one follower but trust that more will be added later.
Today is January 6, the feast of the Epiphany. The observance in the West is connected with the arrival of the Wise Men from the East and in the Orthodox calendar it is the observance of the birth of Christ. The Greek believers did not go along with the Latin Christians who had been coopted by the Roman Empire and had adapted and adopted Roman observances disguising them thinly with Christian veneer. The Epiphany is also referred to as Twelfth Night and the popular song "On the Twelfth Day of Christmas" is an allusion to January 6 even if the song is not heard from December 26 to January 6.
The season of Epiphany in the Christian year contracts and expands according to the date set for Easter that particular year. In 2010 Easter will be on April 4 and the "40 days of Lent" start on Ash Wednesday, February 17, that gives us six Sundays after Epiphany. Since Epiphany in the west refers to the visit of Magi (astronomer/astrologers from what is now Iran and Iraq) this is a good time to explore the Middle-Eastern and Asian influences in Christianity. This is also a good time to concentrate on Ecumenical and Interfaith relations. As for the actual day of the Epiphany I think it is wise to learn from the story our ancestors gave us as a legacy.
The story of the visitation of the Magi is only found in Matthew and it appears that the author of that Gospel (whatever his real name was, the names of the supposed authors of the Gospels were given decades after the documents were penned (or quilled or whatever they used to inscribe at the time) wanted to achieve a couple of things with the story: a) To connect the birth of Jesus with prophecies about kings coming to Israel's light, b) to make the birth of Jesus a cosmic event accompanied by signs in the heavens, and c) to establish the foundations for the internationalization of the nascent movement.
Most New Testament scholars agree that the author of this story was connected with a group of Jewish "converts" (the word does not fit well but it works for our purposes)and was intent on solidifying their belief in the Messiahnic character of Jesus and in convincing other Jewish people to become members of their group in Antioch. So it is easy to see why this author uses the text from Isaiah and turns it into a story. He is basically writing a Midrash, something that is part of the Judaic tradition and expands on how for their day this text is fulfilled in the visit of the Magi from the East.
But "Matthew" also wants to strengthen the story by adding events in the heavens. A star appearing in the skies which the astrologers/astronomers recognize as the portent of the birth of a very important person, so important as to summon them to witness the event themselves and to bring gifts for the "new born King of the Jews."
These wise men bring three gifts which are indicative of the true character of the new "King<" gold a symbol of the royalty of Jesus, frankinscence, a clear allusion to his divinity and myrrh, a portent of his impending martyrdom. There is nothing in the text to indicate how many Magi came, only the number of gifts, since there are three gifts those who help build and establish the tradition jumped to the conclusion that there were 3 Magi, Kings of Wise men and later names were given to each: Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar. These later were made to stand for the 3 races of humanity recognized in ancient times: White, Black and Yellow or Asian.
That successive generations ascribe differing racial characteristics to the Magi is indicative that "Matthew" succeeded in making his third point, Jesus was to be no longer just a "Jewish" messiah, he was recognized -and hence available- to all the peoples of the known world.
One should not waste too much time debating the historicity of the event, or the astronomical "proofs" of the kind of star that the astrologers saw (There used to be a show at the Griffith Observatory which dealt with the possible explanations for the kind of star the Magi saw!!) This is not a historical event, rather it is a history making story if we let it be that. The exclusivism of Ancient Israel (and some might add the modern Jewish State) is shattered by this story written by someone who once subscribed to and supported such exclusivity! That is what one needs to build upon and proclaim.
The consequence for our day is that we need to dedicate this and every Epiphany time to proclaim the universality, the inclusiveness and encouragement of differences that believing in Christ implies. The six Sundays after Epiphany this year give us the opportunity to explore ways to proclaim the universality of the message by encouraging honest dialogue with other Christians and with people from other faith paths. Since the anniversaries of the birth of Martin Luther King Jr. and the martyrdom of Gandhi fall always during this season of the Christian Year astute leaders should organize events that promote interfaith understanding and not mere tolerance. Gandhi was a careful and devoted student of religions. He eventually embraced his country's Hinduism but never to the detriment or devaluing of any of the other religions he studied and learned to appreciate. He also became a reformer of his Hinduism and summons us to become better within our faith paths. He influenced Martin Luther King Jr. whose movement was supported by Jews, Roman Catholics, agnostics, etc., who strengthened the movement through a passion learned in their original contexts and worked out, lived in the Civil Rights non-violent struggles.
Happy Epiphany!!
Today is January 6, the feast of the Epiphany. The observance in the West is connected with the arrival of the Wise Men from the East and in the Orthodox calendar it is the observance of the birth of Christ. The Greek believers did not go along with the Latin Christians who had been coopted by the Roman Empire and had adapted and adopted Roman observances disguising them thinly with Christian veneer. The Epiphany is also referred to as Twelfth Night and the popular song "On the Twelfth Day of Christmas" is an allusion to January 6 even if the song is not heard from December 26 to January 6.
The season of Epiphany in the Christian year contracts and expands according to the date set for Easter that particular year. In 2010 Easter will be on April 4 and the "40 days of Lent" start on Ash Wednesday, February 17, that gives us six Sundays after Epiphany. Since Epiphany in the west refers to the visit of Magi (astronomer/astrologers from what is now Iran and Iraq) this is a good time to explore the Middle-Eastern and Asian influences in Christianity. This is also a good time to concentrate on Ecumenical and Interfaith relations. As for the actual day of the Epiphany I think it is wise to learn from the story our ancestors gave us as a legacy.
The story of the visitation of the Magi is only found in Matthew and it appears that the author of that Gospel (whatever his real name was, the names of the supposed authors of the Gospels were given decades after the documents were penned (or quilled or whatever they used to inscribe at the time) wanted to achieve a couple of things with the story: a) To connect the birth of Jesus with prophecies about kings coming to Israel's light, b) to make the birth of Jesus a cosmic event accompanied by signs in the heavens, and c) to establish the foundations for the internationalization of the nascent movement.
Most New Testament scholars agree that the author of this story was connected with a group of Jewish "converts" (the word does not fit well but it works for our purposes)and was intent on solidifying their belief in the Messiahnic character of Jesus and in convincing other Jewish people to become members of their group in Antioch. So it is easy to see why this author uses the text from Isaiah and turns it into a story. He is basically writing a Midrash, something that is part of the Judaic tradition and expands on how for their day this text is fulfilled in the visit of the Magi from the East.
But "Matthew" also wants to strengthen the story by adding events in the heavens. A star appearing in the skies which the astrologers/astronomers recognize as the portent of the birth of a very important person, so important as to summon them to witness the event themselves and to bring gifts for the "new born King of the Jews."
These wise men bring three gifts which are indicative of the true character of the new "King<" gold a symbol of the royalty of Jesus, frankinscence, a clear allusion to his divinity and myrrh, a portent of his impending martyrdom. There is nothing in the text to indicate how many Magi came, only the number of gifts, since there are three gifts those who help build and establish the tradition jumped to the conclusion that there were 3 Magi, Kings of Wise men and later names were given to each: Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar. These later were made to stand for the 3 races of humanity recognized in ancient times: White, Black and Yellow or Asian.
That successive generations ascribe differing racial characteristics to the Magi is indicative that "Matthew" succeeded in making his third point, Jesus was to be no longer just a "Jewish" messiah, he was recognized -and hence available- to all the peoples of the known world.
One should not waste too much time debating the historicity of the event, or the astronomical "proofs" of the kind of star that the astrologers saw (There used to be a show at the Griffith Observatory which dealt with the possible explanations for the kind of star the Magi saw!!) This is not a historical event, rather it is a history making story if we let it be that. The exclusivism of Ancient Israel (and some might add the modern Jewish State) is shattered by this story written by someone who once subscribed to and supported such exclusivity! That is what one needs to build upon and proclaim.
The consequence for our day is that we need to dedicate this and every Epiphany time to proclaim the universality, the inclusiveness and encouragement of differences that believing in Christ implies. The six Sundays after Epiphany this year give us the opportunity to explore ways to proclaim the universality of the message by encouraging honest dialogue with other Christians and with people from other faith paths. Since the anniversaries of the birth of Martin Luther King Jr. and the martyrdom of Gandhi fall always during this season of the Christian Year astute leaders should organize events that promote interfaith understanding and not mere tolerance. Gandhi was a careful and devoted student of religions. He eventually embraced his country's Hinduism but never to the detriment or devaluing of any of the other religions he studied and learned to appreciate. He also became a reformer of his Hinduism and summons us to become better within our faith paths. He influenced Martin Luther King Jr. whose movement was supported by Jews, Roman Catholics, agnostics, etc., who strengthened the movement through a passion learned in their original contexts and worked out, lived in the Civil Rights non-violent struggles.
Happy Epiphany!!
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