Sunday Meditation: Do You Believe?

One week after the Resurrection, Jesus proves His physical body is alive after being dead.

 

On the evening of that first day of the week,

when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,

for fear of the Jews,

Jesus came and stood in their midst

and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.

As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,

“Receive the Holy Spirit.

Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,

and whose sins you retain are retained.”

 

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,

was not with them when Jesus came.

So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”

But he said to them,

“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands

and put my finger into the nailmarks

and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

 

Now a week later his disciples were again inside

and Thomas was with them.

Jesus came, although the doors were locked,

and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,

and bring your hand and put it into my side,

and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”

Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?

Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

 

Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples

that are not written in this book.

But these are written that you may come to believe

that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,

and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

        Jn 20:19-31

Fr. Geoffrey Plant walks you through the Gospel passage and then walks you through a proof of God’s existence.  It’s lengthy but worth it.

 

 

But this is also Divine Mercy Sunday.  Jeff Cavins explains what the Divine Mercy of God means.

Pray a Divine Mercy Chaplet today and be sure to ask for God's mercy every day.

Baseball and Religion by Cardinal Timothy Dolan

Earlier this week Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of NY had a splendid article in the NY Post  comparing religion and baseball.  The occasion of course was the coinciding of the start of the baseball season and with the holidays of Easter and Passover.  Let me quote it extensively with my commentary.  Here’s Cardinal Dolan.

 

For Jews and Christians, the arrival of spring allows us to observe the towering feasts of Passover and Easter, and the season of the year closely mirrors the religious seasons as well.

 

With spring comes light, warmth, the renewal of nature, fresh growth, and the end of the chill and darkness of winter. With Passover and Easter come God’s deliverance from sin, death and oppression, the promise of new life and revival. And with spring comes another potent force in our culture: baseball!

 

As Vin Scully, the boy from the Bronx and alumnus of Fordham, the legendary baseball announcer – – whose life I was just honored to celebrate with a Memorial Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral – – used to comment, “Nothing tells us spring is here more than the sound of the crack of the bat, the ball hitting the leather of the glove, or landing with a plop on the green grass sodden with a soft April rain.”

Vin Scully is possibly the greatest announcer in baseball’s history.  Sixty-seven years he served as the voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but also announced many World Series games.  He lived to Ninety-Four and was a devout Catholic throughout his entire life.  It’s not a surprise Dolan would mention him.  His Eminence continues.

 

Many have commented on the parallels between religion and baseball, which is good to recall now that our Mets and Yankees have returned, and we celebrate the “high holy days” for Jews and Christians.

 

Both have a keen sense of ritual and tradition, reminding the player, the fan, and the believer that we’re part of something beyond us, something that fascinated generations before us.

 

We hold up heroes, whose prowess was inspirational, whether Moses and David, Mary and Joseph, and the saints of Catholicism, or the Babe and Lou, the Scooter

and the Yankee Clipper, Mantle and Maris, Seaver and Koosman, Jeter and Judge: Rules are important for both baseball and religion. People of faith call this “morality,” as we too have foul lines, a strike zone, and a judgement “safe” or “out.” (Okay, you can “steal” on the field, but not in religion!) Both also count on trained and fair umpires – – read rabbis and priests – – to call “fair or foul.”

I’ve seen a number of similarities drawn between Catholicism and baseball, but I never saw anyone mention the baseball “saint” parallel.  The “Yankee Clipper” is a nickname for Joe DiMaggio, which I think is particularly apt to be referred to as a saint.  Recall the Simon and Garfunkel song, “Mrs. Robinson,” with the lyric, “Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio/A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.”  St. Joe DiMaggio!  

The article goes on.

 

Then there’s the sense of timelessness, as neither baseball, Judaism, nor Catholicism keep a clock. It’s as if we’re part of the eternal, lifted from the hum-drum schedule of ordinary life, absorbed into an event that has no dependence upon the wristwatch. For that reason, both also require a sense of patience and anticipatory waiting, as we look

forward to an ultimate victory.

 

Team play is essential to both. In the sport, a dazzling pitcher will still confess his dependence upon stellar fielding and productive batters. So, Jews and Catholics form communities, teams, as we depend upon one another for prayer, support and encouragement when we may be in a slump, good example.

Both of those, the timelessness and the interconnected fabric, are great parallels.

 

Religion and baseball both have errors. People of belief call them sins. They hurt us and the team, and can end up in defeat.

I never thought about errors as sins!  That’s funny.

 

Judaism and Catholicism both have a start and a finish, which happen to be the same place. We Catholics, and our fellow Christian brothers and sisters, rejoice that Jesus, our Savior, has conquered death itself, as He rose from the dead on the first Easter Sunday. As George Carlin famously noted in his skit comparing baseball and football, the batter starts at home plate and yearns to score by returning there; the believer comes from God and is invited to return to Him for all eternity.

 

The two – – religion and baseball – – rely on hope. For people of faith, we hold fast to God coming through, for our repentance, His mercy, and a second chance. And for baseball, well, there is always the next inning, tomorrow, the rally, or even, as Brooklyn Dodger fans famously repeated, “Wait ‘til next year!” the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus would agree with Yogi, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”

 

On and on I could go – – as both baseball and religion at times do! – – but you understand: baseball, religion, springtime . . . all similar.

 

See you at Yankee Stadium or Citi field; or, even better, at the synagogue or the parish church!

Superb!  Cardinal Dolan missed one last similarity, which I think refers more specifically to Catholicism than to current Judaism or most Protestantism.  Baseball and Catholicism both have a strong sense of liturgy, a ritual which governs the life of worship and the ceremony of baseball.  The liturgy for Catholics is of course the Mass:

“At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the centuries until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us” (Sacrosanctum Concilium 47).

We perform the ritual every day in devotion to our Lord, but within the Mass there are interior rituals as well: the Introductory Rite, the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and the dismissal.  In baseball we perform the ritual of pitching and hitting.  Each inning is a new set of rituals, each batter starts a new ritual, and each pitch is a ritual in itself.  Baseball is the most Catholic of games!

Sunday Meditation: The Empty Tomb

We are finally here, Resurrection Sunday. Three followers of Jesus come to the tomb and find it empty.

 

On the first day of the week,

Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,

while it was still dark,

and saw the stone removed from the tomb.

So she ran and went to Simon Peter

and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,

“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,

and we don’t know where they put him.”

So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.

They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter

and arrived at the tomb first;

he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.

When Simon Peter arrived after him,

he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,

and the cloth that had covered his head,

not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.

Then the other disciple also went in,

the one who had arrived at the tomb first,

and he saw and believed.

For they did not yet understand the Scripture

that he had to rise from the dead.

        -Jn 20:1-9

 

Bishop Barron provides a wonderful homily.

 

Tom Holland’s book sounds like a must read.  A dramatization of the Gospel passage.

 

Have a blessed Easter.

Poetry Analysis: “The Donkey” by G. K. Chesterton

My last Sunday Meditation concerned Palm Sunday, and I brought up the issue of the two donkeys in Matthew’s version of the rendering of Christ’s triumphal entrance into Jerusalem.  Whether one or two, the donkey is a central element of the Passion story.  G. K. Chesterton has an adorable little poem told from the perspective of the donkey. 

 

The Donkey

BY G. K. CHESTERTON

 

When fishes flew and forests walked

   And figs grew upon thorn,

Some moment when the moon was blood

   Then surely I was born.

 

With monstrous head and sickening cry

   And ears like errant wings,

The devil’s walking parody

   On all four-footed things.

 

The tattered outlaw of the earth,

   Of ancient crooked will;

Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,

   I keep my secret still.

 

Fools! For I also had my hour;

   One far fierce hour and sweet:

There was a shout about my ears,

   And palms before my feet.

 

There isn’t too much to analyze.  There is some lovely alliteration in the first stanza with the “f” consonants, which is picked up later with “four-footed” in the second stanza, and “fools” and “far fierce” in the last stanza.  The other alliterative sound is the “s” consonant which is sprinkled in each of the stanzas, but most important to the third stanza.  Each stanza’s second and fourth lines end in full rhyme, but the first and third have a have a slant or distant rhyme. 

The donkey speaks of being born—or is he referring to the origination of the donkey species?—in a strange, malevolent time.  This is linked to the oddity of his being, and, while not being evil himself, he is a “parody” of the devil in appearance.  With this he has had to live an oppressed and afflicted life.  He too is a suffering servant, regularly going through his own passion stations.  But he is redeemed on his “hour,” on Palm Sunday by carrying the triumphal Son of David.

One last element to notice.  Chesterton mostly keeps the meter in every line except for the most key line in the whole poem, the third line of the third stanza: “Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb.”  This is a clear allusion to Christ with the donkey considering himself the analogue to Christ, a Christ-figure!  The donkey is saying, that, while I may be your whipping beast, I had the dignity of carrying the Christ.

Here is a lovely reading of the poem.

 

And here is one of my favorite hymns appropriate for the triumphal entry.

 

How beautifully sung.  Have a blessed Easter Triduum.

Sunday Meditation: Riding Into Jerusalem

On Palm Sunday, strangely, the Gospel is read first, and it’s always on Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding on a colt.

 

When Jesus and the disciples drew near Jerusalem

and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives,

Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them,

"Go into the village opposite you,

and immediately you will find an ass tethered,

and a colt with her.

Untie them and bring them here to me.

And if anyone should say anything to you, reply,

'The master has need of them.'

Then he will send them at once."

This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet

might be fulfilled:

Say to daughter Zion,

"Behold, your king comes to you,

meek and riding on an ass,

and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden."

The disciples went and did as Jesus had ordered them.

They brought the ass and the colt and laid their cloaks over them,

and he sat upon them.

The very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road,

while others cut branches from the trees

and strewed them on the road.

The crowds preceding him and those following

kept crying out and saying:

"Hosanna to the Son of David;

blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord;

hosanna in the highest."

And when he entered Jerusalem

the whole city was shaken and asked, "Who is this?"

And the crowds replied,

"This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee."

        -Mt 21:1-11 

Dr. Brant Pitre explains the passage with his typical Old Testament insights.

 

But if you notice, there are two donkeys in this triumphal entry, a jenny and her colt.  All three of the other Gospels (Mark 11, Luke 19, John 12) only mention one colt.  As you can imagine, a lot of discussion has been spent on this, with some claiming a contradiction.  Is this a contradiction?  (1) The three other Gospels don’t say there wasn’t a second donkey, and (2) if there is a colt (a baby donkey) a mother (called a jenny) is usually near by.  Here is an explanation by Michael Jones of Inspiring Philosophy of the whole controversy and why I believe Matthew is giving us a more accurate detail.

 

Ride on King Jesus!

Personal Essay: 2023 Baltimore Orioles Season

Today—this afternoon, actually—begins the 2023 baseball season, and the Orioles will play their first game at Boston against the Red Sox.  There is much excitement in Orioles fans this year, and I’m no different!  Last year I mentioned how they had a miraculous season, their first winning season in six years, and three of those years with some of the worst winning percentage in the history of the game.  All those losing seasons gave us some great draft picks, and new General Manager, Mike Elias, really knows how to draft.  So last year we went 83-79 and just missed the playoffs.  This year we expect to make the playoffs, even though the predictions from the “experts” has us with a losing record again. 

But hope springs eternal in the human breast, especially in the breast of baseball fans!

Here’s what I’m predicting for the 2023 season.

I am predicting 90 wins, and that is going with the optimistic end of my range. The key in my thinking is the starting pitching. There is enough offense there (though that Franchy Cordero bat from spring training performance could really help) to contend, and the defense is superb. I think the position players are solid. The bullpen is good to excellent. I don’t know if they will repeat from last year’s performance, but definitely I think above average.

The starting pitching is the unknown. Gibson and Irvin, if they have expected years, are around .500 percentage pitchers who can give you innings. You don’t know what you’re going to get from Kremer, Bradish, and Wells. To make the playoffs I think two have to average to a .500 percentage while one has to leap to a TOR performance. We need one of these guys to break out. I think one will. We have backup in the event of injuries or complete failure to the staff: Grayson, Hall, and John Means will all at some point give the team a shot in the arm. If this happens, we can get 90 wins and make the playoffs.

Now if Gibson and Irvin don’t pitch to expectations, if the young starters don’t leap forward or regress - these are all within their probabilities - or if a lot of injuries to the staff occur, then it could get ugly. My pessimistic range was 70 wins.

The reality will be in between, and I want to be optimistic. But I think it all depends on the starting pitching.

Side note: I used to think it was Bradish who would be the breakout starting pitcher, but I’ve switched over to Tyler Wells. He knows how to pitch. Hope they all breakout.

Here’s the opening day roster.

Starting Position Players

C – Adley Rutschman

1B – Ryan Mountcastle

2B – Adam Frazier

SS – Jorge Mateo

3B – Gunnar Henderson

LF – Austin Hays

CF – Cedric Mullins

RF – Kyle Stowers

DH – Anthony Santander

 

On the Bench

C – James McCann

IF – Ramon Urías

OF – Ryan McKenna

UF – Terrin Vavra

 

Starting Pitchers

Kyle Gibbson

Dean Kremer

Cole Irvin

Kyle Bradish

Tyler Wells

Bullpen

Keegan Akin

Bryan Baker

Mike Baumann

Félix Bautista

Danny Coulombe

Joey Krehbiel

Cionel Pérez

Austin Voth

 

Mychal Givens and Dillon Tate, both relief pitchers, will start the season on the Injured Reserve list.  It will be interesting to see who actually gets cut from the bullpen when they come back.

Which players will have great years?  Anthony Santander, Ryan Mountcastle, Adley Rutschman, and Gunnar Henderson.  Gunnar is a rookie, but he’s been labeled as the best prospect in baseball, and it is anticipated he will be Rookie of the Year.  Santander, Mountcastle, and Rutschman could all be potential league Most Valuable Players.

Am I a hopeful fanatic?  You betcha!

Matthew Monday: Class Stations of the Cross Dramatization

It is the tradition at Matthew’s Catholic school for the eighth grade graduating class to put on the Stations of the Cross dramatization.  This happened last Friday.

To explain, they don’t act out the stations.  They sort of depict the station in a frozen pose.  A narrator will explain the station and induce some sort of exhortation of the heart in the audience, or perhaps ask the audience to imagine themselves in the scene.

All fourteen stations are dramatized and all the characters are presented: Christ, the Roman soldiers, the Blessed Mother, Simon the Cyrene, the women of Jerusalem, Pontius Pilate, and Veronica.  In between each scene, as the actors and stage hands set the stage for the next station, a chorus sings, “Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.”

Matthew was given the role of a Roman soldier.  With that in mind, let me share a few pictures.

The Second Station, Jesus is given His cross.  Matthew’s friend JJ played Jesus.  Matthew is the Roman soldier on the right.

 

The Third Station, Jesus falls for the first time.  Matthew is now on the left.

 

And here’s a close up of Matthew. 

My son is developing muscles for a thirteen year old.

Possibly my favorite of the stations, the Sixth Station, Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.

A close up of the Eighth Station.  Matthew is standing like a real soldier.

A close-up of the Ninth Station, Matthew standing over the fallen Christ.

The Tenth Station, Jesus is Stripped of His Clothing.

Finally I’ll jump to the Fourteenth Station, the Burial, since it’s visually dramatic.

Two pictures that capture all the participates.

It was beautiful and moving.  The kids did a great job.