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!!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Beethoven's Birthday
Today is the anniversary of Beethoven's birth, it is also the beginning of the Christmas novena which in the Mexican culture is marked by a series of posadas that are supposed to mark the pilgrimage of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.
Several years ago I sang in the choir of the Methodist church in Puebla, Mexico. Protestants don't observe Posadas but it is hard to compete against them so they had Noches Invernales, winter nights, which were bland except for the fact that the choir usually rehearsed before the party. I remember learning Beethoven's Alleluia which made the trek to Bethlehem more solemn than any posada.
Ludwig van Beethoven wrote some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard, one of my favorites is a string quartet he wrote after he almost died. Another is the Kreutzer violin sonata which was originally written for a mulatto violinist who was quite the performer. Sonata Mullattica is a book of poetry by Ria Dove that tells about that sonata which the mullatto George August Polgreen Bridgetower did play, but Kreutzer pronounced unplayable. But for most people Beethoven and the Ode to Joy are synonimous. That piece is, of course, part of the 9th Symphony which Beethoven composed but never heard.
The Christmas story is beautiful and inspiring, but so are the life stories of people like Beethoven and Bridgetower who overcame incredible odds and left a legacy of beauty and musical complexity that continue to inspire, and I dare say, will go on enlivening spirits for many years to come.
Ignacio Castuera
Several years ago I sang in the choir of the Methodist church in Puebla, Mexico. Protestants don't observe Posadas but it is hard to compete against them so they had Noches Invernales, winter nights, which were bland except for the fact that the choir usually rehearsed before the party. I remember learning Beethoven's Alleluia which made the trek to Bethlehem more solemn than any posada.
Ludwig van Beethoven wrote some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard, one of my favorites is a string quartet he wrote after he almost died. Another is the Kreutzer violin sonata which was originally written for a mulatto violinist who was quite the performer. Sonata Mullattica is a book of poetry by Ria Dove that tells about that sonata which the mullatto George August Polgreen Bridgetower did play, but Kreutzer pronounced unplayable. But for most people Beethoven and the Ode to Joy are synonimous. That piece is, of course, part of the 9th Symphony which Beethoven composed but never heard.
The Christmas story is beautiful and inspiring, but so are the life stories of people like Beethoven and Bridgetower who overcame incredible odds and left a legacy of beauty and musical complexity that continue to inspire, and I dare say, will go on enlivening spirits for many years to come.
Ignacio Castuera
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Religious Wars?
I was interviewed on Spanish TV tonight and the wonderful thing is that I never left the comfort of my room. I just turned on my Skype, the station called and voila! The topic was a Tshirt that someone who calls himself Nobama is selling asking people to "pray for Obama" followed by the text Psalm 109:8 It seems like a supportive gesture but it is not. When one looks up the text it is a Psalm of lamentation where the writer complains about the king of those who have mistreated the people of Ancient Israel. The person prays that this king may die and his children also and that nothing be left of his name. Understandable feelings for those who have suffered the ignominious mistreatment of occupying soldiers:
Psalm 109:8-13
8: Let his years be few; let someone else take his position.
9: May his children become fatherless, and his wife a widow.
10: May his children wander as beggars and be driven from their ruined homes.
11: May creditors seize his entire estate, and strangers take all he has earned.
12: Let no one be kind to him; let no one pity his fatherless children.
13: May all his offspring die. May his family name be blotted out in a single generation.
A similar feeling is in Psalm 137 which concludes with the curse disguised as a blessing: Babylon, Babylon, you who kills the prophets! Blessed be the ones who take your children and dash them against the rocks. Not very uplifting or edifying sentiments. Sheer frustration, pain and desire for revenge.
The interviewer wanted to know if I thought this was a death threat and I said no, it is a misuse of Scripture but it is not a direct threat. People may pray for a terrible fate for someone but we who follow Jesus know that God would not listen to such a terrible prayer. Jesus taught us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us hence Jesus' Papa, God, would understand but ignore prayers that express a desire to cause harm.
The interviewer then asked if in the middle of religious wars such prayers are not unwise. I replied that the prayers are unwise but that we are not in the middle of religious wars. We are involved in an illegal, immoral and unjust war motivated by desires to extend hegemony, control resources and humiliate people. It is the war machinery that wants us to believe that we are in a religious war and the excuse of 9/11 needs to be unmasked for what it is, an excuse.
The interviewer concluded with a promise to bring me back to explain more on what I mean by the statement that 9/11 is just and excuse. I hope he fulfills his promise to me and to his public.
Ignacio Castuera
Psalm 109:8-13
8: Let his years be few; let someone else take his position.
9: May his children become fatherless, and his wife a widow.
10: May his children wander as beggars and be driven from their ruined homes.
11: May creditors seize his entire estate, and strangers take all he has earned.
12: Let no one be kind to him; let no one pity his fatherless children.
13: May all his offspring die. May his family name be blotted out in a single generation.
A similar feeling is in Psalm 137 which concludes with the curse disguised as a blessing: Babylon, Babylon, you who kills the prophets! Blessed be the ones who take your children and dash them against the rocks. Not very uplifting or edifying sentiments. Sheer frustration, pain and desire for revenge.
The interviewer wanted to know if I thought this was a death threat and I said no, it is a misuse of Scripture but it is not a direct threat. People may pray for a terrible fate for someone but we who follow Jesus know that God would not listen to such a terrible prayer. Jesus taught us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us hence Jesus' Papa, God, would understand but ignore prayers that express a desire to cause harm.
The interviewer then asked if in the middle of religious wars such prayers are not unwise. I replied that the prayers are unwise but that we are not in the middle of religious wars. We are involved in an illegal, immoral and unjust war motivated by desires to extend hegemony, control resources and humiliate people. It is the war machinery that wants us to believe that we are in a religious war and the excuse of 9/11 needs to be unmasked for what it is, an excuse.
The interviewer concluded with a promise to bring me back to explain more on what I mean by the statement that 9/11 is just and excuse. I hope he fulfills his promise to me and to his public.
Ignacio Castuera
Monday, December 14, 2009
Words under siege
I went to see Invictus last night and highly recommend it. The film is based on a true story involving Nelson Mandela and the way he understood the power of symbols, words and images. It is also about his incredible power to convey forgiveness and reconciliation to those around him.
Central to the story is the reference to the poem that kept Mandela's spirit strong during his times of deepest doubt and suffering. The poem is by William Ernest Henley and in the movie it is referred to as a "Victorian" poem. Henley wrote the poem while confined to a hospital bed, Mandela remembered the poem while incarcerated in South Africa. The power of words across time and space could not be more dramatically demonstrated than through this story. A white, sickly confined poet wrote words that strengthened a revolutionary black man more than a hundred years later, in another continent but under similar circumstances.
The power of words to move and inspire is further demonstrated as this poem becomes the source of strength for the captain of the South African Rugby team who then inspires his companions to perform high and above their capabilities leading them to the World Championship in 1995. This event helped unify South Africa and convey to whites there that their black president understood them, supported them and wanted to lead them to become a better nation in the same way that the rugby plaers became a better team.
Words are powerful but words, especially written words, are under siege. All manners of distractions prevent people from reading. I wonder how many children and youth commit poems to memory as Mandela did. The hope we memorize, the words we learn "by heart" can help us through difficult times. One of the hosts in Iran in the 70's was a Christian pastor who survived by remembering Bible verses he had memorized. What are we memorizing these days when words are under siege? Will remembering a movie or a TV show or a Nintendo game have the same power as remembering a poem like Invictus?
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Central to the story is the reference to the poem that kept Mandela's spirit strong during his times of deepest doubt and suffering. The poem is by William Ernest Henley and in the movie it is referred to as a "Victorian" poem. Henley wrote the poem while confined to a hospital bed, Mandela remembered the poem while incarcerated in South Africa. The power of words across time and space could not be more dramatically demonstrated than through this story. A white, sickly confined poet wrote words that strengthened a revolutionary black man more than a hundred years later, in another continent but under similar circumstances.
The power of words to move and inspire is further demonstrated as this poem becomes the source of strength for the captain of the South African Rugby team who then inspires his companions to perform high and above their capabilities leading them to the World Championship in 1995. This event helped unify South Africa and convey to whites there that their black president understood them, supported them and wanted to lead them to become a better nation in the same way that the rugby plaers became a better team.
Words are powerful but words, especially written words, are under siege. All manners of distractions prevent people from reading. I wonder how many children and youth commit poems to memory as Mandela did. The hope we memorize, the words we learn "by heart" can help us through difficult times. One of the hosts in Iran in the 70's was a Christian pastor who survived by remembering Bible verses he had memorized. What are we memorizing these days when words are under siege? Will remembering a movie or a TV show or a Nintendo game have the same power as remembering a poem like Invictus?
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Advent Trilogy Part 2
Most Sundays I preach and being in the midst of Advent I started a three part series entitled HOPE against hope. St. Augustine said that Hope has two beautiful daughters: anger and courage. Anger at things as they are and courage to change those things. Advent is a season of HOPE and a time to unmask false hope. The theme for the third Sunday in Advent is Joy and the reading from Philippians has the apostle Paul urging the followers of Jesus from Philippi to "rejoice in the Lord always" later on he adds, "again, I say rejoice!" This message seems to be is sharp contrast to the Gospel lesson where John the Baptist as a good prophet warns people about impending doom. His speech starts with a very direct insult "You brood of vipers, who warned you flee from the wrath to come? In spite of this greeting the crowds remain and manage to ask "What then shall we do?"
SHARE
In time of danger, of occupation, people need to come together and share. Jesus was born in an occupied country, John the Baptist preached to people in an occupied sector. Scarcity accompanies occupation so it was natural that the Baptist would suggest to people that survival would depend more on sharing than on hoarding. This applies today to both those who live under the occupation of foreign troops and those who finance soldiers to occupy far away lands. We must share with one another at this time of scarcity, of foreclosures, of hunger and want. Hoarding will not insure the countries prosperity, it will only offer the false security of money and position.
REFORM TAXATION
Tax collectors were also in the crowd of people who stayed to hear the rest to John's incredible message and who came forward to be baptized. To them the Baptist said change the way you operate as tax collectors. In other words reform the tax system. Tax collectors were collaborators with the occupying forces from Rome. They were required to collect X and their salary came from whatever they added to X. Jesus reached out to tax collectors partly because they were so despised and partly in an effort to continue the task his cousin John the Baptist had started. Nicodemus changed his ways and paid back the extra taxes he had collected. This translates to our day into converting our taxation into a fairer system where the wealthy and the corporations pay proportionately to their exorbitant incomes. If corporations and rich people paid what is "prescribed" the middle class would not have to pay as much and we would have enough to go around, especially if we end our wars of occupation.
MILITARY REFORM
Strangely enough soldiers are also convinced by the harsh words of the Baptist and ask And we, what shall we do? It is most interesting that soldiers are included in this passage. The only soldiers there would have been the soldiers who were part of the occupation forces! Romans, kids far away from Rome and family forced to work in the dusty hinterlands of the Empire. They knew they had much to repent from. They had to "obey orders" and probably had tortured and crucified people abusing the power they had. The Baptist advices these occupying soldiers not to abuse their power, not to bring people into "justice" though lies, not to exact money by force, not to accuse people who were innocent and to be satisfied with their wages. Soldiers, then as now, looted and raped and hurt others but they were doing that because of policies established in the heart of the Empire. Our young soldiers too are in Iraq and Afghanistan and many act in ways contrary to their best judgement because our policies have put them in a position where they find it hard to distinguish between friend and foe. Many mistakes are made in such situations and the reason we have such high rates of suicide is that we have forced these young, poor people to be in unnatural situations. PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is rampant and I read in the NYTimes that the rules for military psychologists exclude true confidentiality. Naturally many of these young soldiers cannot talk freely about their feelings and cannot express their doubts. Wars of occupation hurt the locals and the invaders even if the effects for the occupiers takes longer to appear, they also linger for a much longer time. We have not had an honest, just war since WWII. All other military engagements since 1945 have been most questionable.
It was particularly sad to read what President Obama said in West Point and in Oslo. Never before had the Nobel Peace podium been turned into a bully pulpit to justify wars of occupation. I urge you to read those speeches, take time to read them, do not let the Empire of Illusion distract you with Spectacle. Read, turn off your TV, read. Images can be manipulated more easily than words, you can re-read paragraphs, you can't always rewind and re-play deceitful image laden messages.
Father John Friend, a Jesuit wrote a great statement about our New War President. You can read the whole article at http://ncronline.org/blogs/road-peace/our-new-war-president. I love Jesuits if for no other reason than they are members of an order established by a great Basque, Ignacio de Loyola. Please read his post, I am most impressed that the National Catholic Reporter published his writings, I applaud them and commend you to his wisdom. His message is in keeping with John the Baptist's word for this Third Sunday in Advent.
Ignacio Castuera
SHARE
In time of danger, of occupation, people need to come together and share. Jesus was born in an occupied country, John the Baptist preached to people in an occupied sector. Scarcity accompanies occupation so it was natural that the Baptist would suggest to people that survival would depend more on sharing than on hoarding. This applies today to both those who live under the occupation of foreign troops and those who finance soldiers to occupy far away lands. We must share with one another at this time of scarcity, of foreclosures, of hunger and want. Hoarding will not insure the countries prosperity, it will only offer the false security of money and position.
REFORM TAXATION
Tax collectors were also in the crowd of people who stayed to hear the rest to John's incredible message and who came forward to be baptized. To them the Baptist said change the way you operate as tax collectors. In other words reform the tax system. Tax collectors were collaborators with the occupying forces from Rome. They were required to collect X and their salary came from whatever they added to X. Jesus reached out to tax collectors partly because they were so despised and partly in an effort to continue the task his cousin John the Baptist had started. Nicodemus changed his ways and paid back the extra taxes he had collected. This translates to our day into converting our taxation into a fairer system where the wealthy and the corporations pay proportionately to their exorbitant incomes. If corporations and rich people paid what is "prescribed" the middle class would not have to pay as much and we would have enough to go around, especially if we end our wars of occupation.
MILITARY REFORM
Strangely enough soldiers are also convinced by the harsh words of the Baptist and ask And we, what shall we do? It is most interesting that soldiers are included in this passage. The only soldiers there would have been the soldiers who were part of the occupation forces! Romans, kids far away from Rome and family forced to work in the dusty hinterlands of the Empire. They knew they had much to repent from. They had to "obey orders" and probably had tortured and crucified people abusing the power they had. The Baptist advices these occupying soldiers not to abuse their power, not to bring people into "justice" though lies, not to exact money by force, not to accuse people who were innocent and to be satisfied with their wages. Soldiers, then as now, looted and raped and hurt others but they were doing that because of policies established in the heart of the Empire. Our young soldiers too are in Iraq and Afghanistan and many act in ways contrary to their best judgement because our policies have put them in a position where they find it hard to distinguish between friend and foe. Many mistakes are made in such situations and the reason we have such high rates of suicide is that we have forced these young, poor people to be in unnatural situations. PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is rampant and I read in the NYTimes that the rules for military psychologists exclude true confidentiality. Naturally many of these young soldiers cannot talk freely about their feelings and cannot express their doubts. Wars of occupation hurt the locals and the invaders even if the effects for the occupiers takes longer to appear, they also linger for a much longer time. We have not had an honest, just war since WWII. All other military engagements since 1945 have been most questionable.
It was particularly sad to read what President Obama said in West Point and in Oslo. Never before had the Nobel Peace podium been turned into a bully pulpit to justify wars of occupation. I urge you to read those speeches, take time to read them, do not let the Empire of Illusion distract you with Spectacle. Read, turn off your TV, read. Images can be manipulated more easily than words, you can re-read paragraphs, you can't always rewind and re-play deceitful image laden messages.
Father John Friend, a Jesuit wrote a great statement about our New War President. You can read the whole article at http://ncronline.org/blogs/road-peace/our-new-war-president. I love Jesuits if for no other reason than they are members of an order established by a great Basque, Ignacio de Loyola. Please read his post, I am most impressed that the National Catholic Reporter published his writings, I applaud them and commend you to his wisdom. His message is in keeping with John the Baptist's word for this Third Sunday in Advent.
Ignacio Castuera
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Hanukkah a PS.
This morning I posted a statement that mentioned both, the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Hanukkah. I concentrated on Guadalupe and said very little about Hanukkah managing to misspell the word. I was much gratified to read a column in the New York Times by David Brooks where he digs behind the "fun" parts of the celebration and presents the all too human realities of the story. I urge you to log on to the New York Times and read the full column. I want to tempt you to read the whole article by sharing a couple of paragraphs:
Tonight Jewish kids will light the menorah, spin their dreidels and get their presents, but Hanukkah is the most adult of holidays. It commemorates an event in which the good guys did horrible things, the bad guys did good things and in which everybody is flummoxed by insoluble conflicts that remain with us today. It’s a holiday that accurately reflects how politics is, how history is, how life is...
But there is no erasing the complex ironies of the events, the way progress, heroism and brutality weave through all sides. The Maccabees heroically preserved the Jewish faith. But there is no honest way to tell their story as a self-congratulatory morality tale. The lesson of Hanukkah is that even the struggles that saved a people are dappled with tragic irony, complexity and unattractive choices.
Please read the whole article and then ask yourself what myths and legends in your own religious or national history should be looked at with the same honesty with which Brooks looks at his own celebrations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/opinion/11brooks.html
Peace!
Ignacio Castuera
Tonight Jewish kids will light the menorah, spin their dreidels and get their presents, but Hanukkah is the most adult of holidays. It commemorates an event in which the good guys did horrible things, the bad guys did good things and in which everybody is flummoxed by insoluble conflicts that remain with us today. It’s a holiday that accurately reflects how politics is, how history is, how life is...
But there is no erasing the complex ironies of the events, the way progress, heroism and brutality weave through all sides. The Maccabees heroically preserved the Jewish faith. But there is no honest way to tell their story as a self-congratulatory morality tale. The lesson of Hanukkah is that even the struggles that saved a people are dappled with tragic irony, complexity and unattractive choices.
Please read the whole article and then ask yourself what myths and legends in your own religious or national history should be looked at with the same honesty with which Brooks looks at his own celebrations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/opinion/11brooks.html
Peace!
Ignacio Castuera
Guadalupe and Hannukah
I grew up in Mexico and was raised Roman Catholic. When I was around 9 years old my parents took my brother Pepe and me to Mexico City and the two places I remember the most are the Chapultepec Park and the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The feast of Guadalupe is observed on 12/12 with masses, pilgrimages, feasts, drunkeness and violence. For years the expression "peregrino Guadalupano" has been used as a synonym of stupid by the middle class, partly because it disguises the crass term "pendejo" and partly because it is a classist -even racist- way of describing the majority of those who go from their little towns in the country to the great basilica, most of them indian and poor.
The basilica I visited with my parents has been replaced by a larger, more opulent, building which stands in stark contrast with the masses of poor people who crowd into the place for a chance to offer prayers both pleas and thanksgiving for some special attention paid to the pilgrims or their family.
The virgin of Guadalupe is at the top of the popular religious pantheon. She is the mother of God and the one who can take the prayers of the pilgrims to Him. She is the mother of Mexico and the Empress of the Americas. Of course no one is told that she was already worshiped in Spain and is one of a collection of dark Madonnas that have graced the Roman Catholic population of Southern Europe. Guadalupe was from Extremadura, as was Hernan Cortez, the conqueror of the Aztecs. No one is told that the name Guadalupe is not Mexican and not even Spanish, it is Arabic and it is not clear whether it means River of love or -if combined with Latin- River of wolves. Details, mere details, that must be kept from the faithful lest they stop and think and wonder, "what am I doing following the mother of the conquistadores?"
I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the worship of a mother goddess in Mexico and traced the practice back to ancient Nahuatl roots and the Al Andaluz lands from where the bulk of the conquistadores went to the New World. I defended the thesis that the elevation of women in the abstract is highly correlated with the devaluation of women in the concreteness of life. I did not have to go to a University to pose the issue, I just had to remember the weekly beatings of poor women in the pulqueria across the street from where I lived.
So today men will go and ask forgiveness for all their sins, will get drunk and will beat their wives in front of their children. Some things have changed and the number of men doing that might have decreased, but I can guarantee that many people will die today as a consequence of a celebration that needs to be analysed and restructured if women in Mexico and in the Americas are to have longer, less violent lives.
Across the ocean a festival of lights will be started in Israel without a concomitant festival of human rights for Palestinians. Mexico or Israel, just the same incredible gaps between pronouncements and performance.
Ignacio Castuera
The basilica I visited with my parents has been replaced by a larger, more opulent, building which stands in stark contrast with the masses of poor people who crowd into the place for a chance to offer prayers both pleas and thanksgiving for some special attention paid to the pilgrims or their family.
The virgin of Guadalupe is at the top of the popular religious pantheon. She is the mother of God and the one who can take the prayers of the pilgrims to Him. She is the mother of Mexico and the Empress of the Americas. Of course no one is told that she was already worshiped in Spain and is one of a collection of dark Madonnas that have graced the Roman Catholic population of Southern Europe. Guadalupe was from Extremadura, as was Hernan Cortez, the conqueror of the Aztecs. No one is told that the name Guadalupe is not Mexican and not even Spanish, it is Arabic and it is not clear whether it means River of love or -if combined with Latin- River of wolves. Details, mere details, that must be kept from the faithful lest they stop and think and wonder, "what am I doing following the mother of the conquistadores?"
I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the worship of a mother goddess in Mexico and traced the practice back to ancient Nahuatl roots and the Al Andaluz lands from where the bulk of the conquistadores went to the New World. I defended the thesis that the elevation of women in the abstract is highly correlated with the devaluation of women in the concreteness of life. I did not have to go to a University to pose the issue, I just had to remember the weekly beatings of poor women in the pulqueria across the street from where I lived.
So today men will go and ask forgiveness for all their sins, will get drunk and will beat their wives in front of their children. Some things have changed and the number of men doing that might have decreased, but I can guarantee that many people will die today as a consequence of a celebration that needs to be analysed and restructured if women in Mexico and in the Americas are to have longer, less violent lives.
Across the ocean a festival of lights will be started in Israel without a concomitant festival of human rights for Palestinians. Mexico or Israel, just the same incredible gaps between pronouncements and performance.
Ignacio Castuera
Friday, December 11, 2009
Justice and Peace
I belong to a group that was created the evening of 9/11/2001. A group of religious activist met and decided that our Muslim colleagues might be in danger of becoming victims of retaliations against the followers of Muhammed since the news about the World Trade Center's destruction blamed Muslims for the crime. This small group of leaders summoned "the usual suspects" to meet at 7:00 am the following Friday, September 14. The group chose as its name Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace and chose as its motto: Religious Communities Must Stop Blessing War. (Later on "violence" was added to the original statement.)
Ever since then between 30 and 60 people gather every Friday to hear a witness and to work on possible programs that will promote peace and justice. Today around 50 people showed up for a Holiday party attended by Christians, Jews, Muslims, Unitarians and assorted individuals who have found our meetings edifying, instructive and energizing.
In the last few months we have opened the meeting with a statement from one of us sharing his or her journey of faith and grace. Today it was Tom Honore's time and his story was as inspiring as each and everyone of the other stories we have heard and, I am sure, all the stories we will hear.
Tom was a Roman Catholic priest who left the priesthood but retained his faith. He and his wife are very active in their local congregation and also in national events through a progressive Roman Catholic group that constantly challenges the "official" line of the church.
I usually car pool from Claremont to Immanuel Presbyterian Church on Wilshire (about 70 miles round trip.) My traveling companions are an Episcopalian Priest and a Presbyterian pastor active in the United Methodist Church. All three of us are part of a growing body of trans-denominational believers who stand on one tradition but participate in congregations or organizations that are "walking the walk." ICUJP is that kind of organization and our weekly trips are always exciting as each of us shares what we have been reading, hearing or watching. We share videos and books and so keep our costs down. All three of us participate also in another organization called Progressive Christians Uniting which seeks to spread the message that the Christian Right does not represent all those who try to follow Jesus.
Tom Honore's sharing inspired me to continue a project organizing my memoirs. He had a very exciting life, so far, and it promises to get better since he is in touch with the likes of me and others at ICUJP.
If you wish to learn more about either of these organizations check us out in the internet. ICUJP has a web site at www.icujp.org and Progressive Christians United's web address is www.progressivechristiansuniting.org. Either one of these organizations deserves a look and a following. If you live in the larger metropolitan area of Los Angeles drop by, if you are in another part of the country start a group like ours and then let us network and create a real national movement along with others who are dissatisfied with the blandness of most churches or religious institutions and wish to make an impact in society through communities of faith.
Ignacio Castuera
Ever since then between 30 and 60 people gather every Friday to hear a witness and to work on possible programs that will promote peace and justice. Today around 50 people showed up for a Holiday party attended by Christians, Jews, Muslims, Unitarians and assorted individuals who have found our meetings edifying, instructive and energizing.
In the last few months we have opened the meeting with a statement from one of us sharing his or her journey of faith and grace. Today it was Tom Honore's time and his story was as inspiring as each and everyone of the other stories we have heard and, I am sure, all the stories we will hear.
Tom was a Roman Catholic priest who left the priesthood but retained his faith. He and his wife are very active in their local congregation and also in national events through a progressive Roman Catholic group that constantly challenges the "official" line of the church.
I usually car pool from Claremont to Immanuel Presbyterian Church on Wilshire (about 70 miles round trip.) My traveling companions are an Episcopalian Priest and a Presbyterian pastor active in the United Methodist Church. All three of us are part of a growing body of trans-denominational believers who stand on one tradition but participate in congregations or organizations that are "walking the walk." ICUJP is that kind of organization and our weekly trips are always exciting as each of us shares what we have been reading, hearing or watching. We share videos and books and so keep our costs down. All three of us participate also in another organization called Progressive Christians Uniting which seeks to spread the message that the Christian Right does not represent all those who try to follow Jesus.
Tom Honore's sharing inspired me to continue a project organizing my memoirs. He had a very exciting life, so far, and it promises to get better since he is in touch with the likes of me and others at ICUJP.
If you wish to learn more about either of these organizations check us out in the internet. ICUJP has a web site at www.icujp.org and Progressive Christians United's web address is www.progressivechristiansuniting.org. Either one of these organizations deserves a look and a following. If you live in the larger metropolitan area of Los Angeles drop by, if you are in another part of the country start a group like ours and then let us network and create a real national movement along with others who are dissatisfied with the blandness of most churches or religious institutions and wish to make an impact in society through communities of faith.
Ignacio Castuera
Thursday, December 10, 2009
In the beginning
In the beginning was the blog, and the blog must not become a god but an attempt to lead people back to literacy and involvement.
I started this blog at the urging of church members at Trinity United Methodist Church where I am a pastor. The idea is to spread the word via blog so that younger "wired" folks may know what we really want to accomplish as parishioners at Trinity United Methodist Church (TUMC from now on!)
It was also felt that I needed to expand the pulpit beyond the walls of the church into the virtual world in the hopes of attracting people to some of our activities but, at a minimum, make them aware of a kind of Christianity and Spirituality that is not as visible as more conservative forms but that offers a passion for peace and justice based on Scriptural integrity.
I am part of a movement that is committed to theological clarity, meaning that we aim to account for our faith using the best tools available to us. These tools go back into our past, our tradition but we also want to couple them with electronic media in order to spread our word in effective and attractive ways.
As we find ourselves in the middle of the Advent season it is good to remind -or instruct- readers that the Christian Year was created to indicate that believers measure time in a different way and march to a different drummer. Our year starts on the first Sunday in Advent, usually late November or occasionally the first Sunday in December. With this simple move we wish to signal that our faith leads us to be in juxtaposition to the dominant culture. Christianity was co opted by the Roman Empire but it is basically opposed to all governments. It is obedient to the secular rulers but it also speaks boldly and lovingly when those in power act in ways that are opposed to the vision that Jesus brought into the world as he presented a God that could be addressed in the babbling sounds of babies relating to their parents.
This Advent season I am engaged in preaching a trilogy on Hope against hope. The traditional theme of Advent is Hope. All texts, songs and liturgies promote Hope in various ways. The lighting of the Advent candles stand for the ways people ought to anticipate the birth of Jesus as the bearer Hope, Peace, Joy and Light. The Gospel readings come from the Gospel of Luke this year and the Old Testament lessons come from the prophets who announce that a better world is possible and it is coming. For Christians that better world was ushered by Jesus and his birth, celebrated in December, is a way of connecting with ancient customs of anticipating the return of the days with more light at the darkest moments of the year. Symbolically Advent acknowledges the dark times in which we are living but announces that dark nights will be followed by ever increasing days of light, love, joy and peace.
President Obama made a strong case for war in Oslo today, ironically while accepting the Nobel Peace Price. Yet, even in that apologia for war Obama acknowledged that the examples of Gandhi and King cannot be ignored. He did not mention Jesus but without Jesus' example King would not have had the theological strength that sustained him. Gandhi acknowledged Jesus influence in his work as well. So in the spirit of Advent we affirm the path that Jesus, Gandhi and King trod and denounce the war path that President Obama so cleverly defended.
On this Human Rights Day I invite all to look in the direction of the religious impulses that provided the impetus for the belief in human rights. From Judaism we learned that all human beings are made in the image of God. All three Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, accept this teaching and secular forces adapted this concept to argue in favor of human rights. But we need to build on human rights to include the rights of animals and the rights of plants and, ultimately the rights of the environment. We cannot simply advocate for Human Rights nor defend animals and the environment because of their effect on humans. We must reach back to the idea that the One who created humans had previously created other entities which in Genesis are pronounced "good." We must also learn from other sages from Christianity and from other faiths to love and respect all life forms. Ahimsha, the respect for all living creatures, may come from Hinduism but it has resonance for westerners who understand what the writers of Genesis proclaimed, that all creatures ultimately belong to God and that humans must interact with them with the greatest of respect. I once heard the great African American Mystic, Howard Thurman offer grace for a meal with these words: God, we thank You that so many life forms have been sacrificed so that our life form may continue. In this spirit we conclude today.
I started this blog at the urging of church members at Trinity United Methodist Church where I am a pastor. The idea is to spread the word via blog so that younger "wired" folks may know what we really want to accomplish as parishioners at Trinity United Methodist Church (TUMC from now on!)
It was also felt that I needed to expand the pulpit beyond the walls of the church into the virtual world in the hopes of attracting people to some of our activities but, at a minimum, make them aware of a kind of Christianity and Spirituality that is not as visible as more conservative forms but that offers a passion for peace and justice based on Scriptural integrity.
I am part of a movement that is committed to theological clarity, meaning that we aim to account for our faith using the best tools available to us. These tools go back into our past, our tradition but we also want to couple them with electronic media in order to spread our word in effective and attractive ways.
As we find ourselves in the middle of the Advent season it is good to remind -or instruct- readers that the Christian Year was created to indicate that believers measure time in a different way and march to a different drummer. Our year starts on the first Sunday in Advent, usually late November or occasionally the first Sunday in December. With this simple move we wish to signal that our faith leads us to be in juxtaposition to the dominant culture. Christianity was co opted by the Roman Empire but it is basically opposed to all governments. It is obedient to the secular rulers but it also speaks boldly and lovingly when those in power act in ways that are opposed to the vision that Jesus brought into the world as he presented a God that could be addressed in the babbling sounds of babies relating to their parents.
This Advent season I am engaged in preaching a trilogy on Hope against hope. The traditional theme of Advent is Hope. All texts, songs and liturgies promote Hope in various ways. The lighting of the Advent candles stand for the ways people ought to anticipate the birth of Jesus as the bearer Hope, Peace, Joy and Light. The Gospel readings come from the Gospel of Luke this year and the Old Testament lessons come from the prophets who announce that a better world is possible and it is coming. For Christians that better world was ushered by Jesus and his birth, celebrated in December, is a way of connecting with ancient customs of anticipating the return of the days with more light at the darkest moments of the year. Symbolically Advent acknowledges the dark times in which we are living but announces that dark nights will be followed by ever increasing days of light, love, joy and peace.
President Obama made a strong case for war in Oslo today, ironically while accepting the Nobel Peace Price. Yet, even in that apologia for war Obama acknowledged that the examples of Gandhi and King cannot be ignored. He did not mention Jesus but without Jesus' example King would not have had the theological strength that sustained him. Gandhi acknowledged Jesus influence in his work as well. So in the spirit of Advent we affirm the path that Jesus, Gandhi and King trod and denounce the war path that President Obama so cleverly defended.
On this Human Rights Day I invite all to look in the direction of the religious impulses that provided the impetus for the belief in human rights. From Judaism we learned that all human beings are made in the image of God. All three Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, accept this teaching and secular forces adapted this concept to argue in favor of human rights. But we need to build on human rights to include the rights of animals and the rights of plants and, ultimately the rights of the environment. We cannot simply advocate for Human Rights nor defend animals and the environment because of their effect on humans. We must reach back to the idea that the One who created humans had previously created other entities which in Genesis are pronounced "good." We must also learn from other sages from Christianity and from other faiths to love and respect all life forms. Ahimsha, the respect for all living creatures, may come from Hinduism but it has resonance for westerners who understand what the writers of Genesis proclaimed, that all creatures ultimately belong to God and that humans must interact with them with the greatest of respect. I once heard the great African American Mystic, Howard Thurman offer grace for a meal with these words: God, we thank You that so many life forms have been sacrificed so that our life form may continue. In this spirit we conclude today.
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