Take the Long Way Home

Who is the Pope?  He is a really big deal to Catholics and non Catholics alike.  When I told a protestant friend that I was converting she said, “so you’re gonna do whatever the Pope tells you now, huh?”  Huh? is right!  Popular consensus seems to be that Catholics believe the Pope to be “infallible”, in other words, that everything he says or does is not to be questioned.  It’s written in the history books as doctrine to be set in stone.  One of my friends major concerns was how I was going to reconcile the history of persecution of Protestants, Muslims, and Jews with this doctine of “infalliblity”.  Huh?  Well, if the Pope set these things in motion, told his people to go out and kill people, or didn’t condemn their actions in some tangible way then don’t you have to believe that God wanted these things done?  Huh?  If the Pope is infallible and he said to kill people how do you square that with Scripture?  Huh?  She and I must have a different understanding of Papal infallibility.

What Papal infallibility is NOT:  basically the man who occupies the office of Pope is himself NOT infallible.  He is a sinner, just like me.  He makes mistakes, just like me.  He can even believe in heresy (some of the Popes did you know!), which is unfortunate, but still more than possible.  It doesn’t mean that he can change the rules, submit his own understanding and enforce it upon others.  It doesn’t mean that Popes won’t disagree with other Popes, or even contradict each other.  Popes are human beings with human opinions.   

According to Vatican II the Pope is “infallible” when, and only when, “he proclaims by a definitive act some doctrine of faith or morals…”.  What in the heck does that mean?  Basically, my understanding is that EVERYBODY knows when the Pope is making an “infalible” statement- nobody has to infer or study to figure out, was this statement infallible?  It’s a big deal, a huge announcement; it’s making a commonly held belief or doctrine “irreversible”.  In Acts 15 the Apostles did this when they decided that Gentiles did not have to be circumcised.  The Pope and all the bishops did this at Nicea when they declared that God exists in three persons, the Trinity.  The Pope, by himself, has done this twice.  Yes, I said twice.  A whopping two times in the last two thousand years.  Granted both times he proclaimed disctinctively Catholic doctrines to be “infallible/irreversible”, but why do Protestants go so crazy over a doctrine that is rarely used?  Misunderstanding, for one, different understanding of “the church” and her role today and in history for another.

So to answer my friend… How do I reconcile persecution initiated by the Catholic Church with the doctrine of Papal infallibility?  Easy - dirty rotten sinners make dirty rotten decisions.  No Pope ever declared persecution of any peoples to be a part of the Deposit of Faith given by Jesus to the Apostles. 

I’ve been watching a show on EWTN called The Gospel of Matthew, which is a Bible study of the Book of Matthew (duh), and it has been very interesting, very different than what I’d “seen” there before (in Matthew, not EWTN).  I started watching the series towards the end and they have recently started it over.  I’ll try to blog this in order (assuming that they repeat the entire series - please God!).  Because I’m new to Catholic theology I don’t know if the ideas presented here are “the norm” or if this guy, Dr. Tim Gray (?), is presenting new or unusual ideas - either way they are “new” to me and quite fascinating.

The Gospel of Matthew - The King and His Kingdom

  Matthew’s gospel was the first written (and the most copied).  It was used as the first Christian “catechism”.  The four gospels that we have in our New Testaments were universally accepted as inspired, they were never (that I have seen) questioned, as many of the other books were.  At the heart of Matthew’s story is the message of who Jesus is and what his kingdom is all about.

Matthew begins his gospel with a geneology of Jesus.  Why?  His purpose is to show Jesus’s kingly descent - that he comes from the line of David.  Why is this significant?  Obviously, to considered the Messiah he must come from the line of David, to claim any kind of Kingship this must be proven.  Not just that he comes from the tribe of Judah, but that he has a direct line to David.  Easy enough, right?  Not necessarily.  According to Dr. Gray no one, at this time in history, could (knowingly) trace their line to David because the line had been cut with Isreal’s defeat at the hands of the Babylonians. The King (Zedekiah) was blinded and all his sons were lined up and killed (so the royal line could not continue).  But Matthew connects Jesus with this line, through Jechoniah (Zedekiah’s nephew, who was King before him, and who was taken prisoner by Nebuchandnezzer - this gets so confusing to me!) and his son’s (who are not mentioned in the Old Testament at all).  Basically the line of David, is a “secret” line, not known to the Jews at large, and so not known to their various captors.  This is why (one reason at least) that Herod doesn’t know whom to kill when the Magi show up announcing they want to see the King of Isreal. 

Also important in this geneology is the number of descendents mentioned: the geneology is divided into 3 parts with fourteen members in each part.  14 generations from Abraham to David, 14 generations from David to exile, 14 generations from exile to Jesus.  Why is this significant?  Numbers play a symbolic role in Judaism (not sure if that’s still the case, but apparentely it was back then); each letter in the alphabet has a certain numerical value - the value of the name David = 14.  David symbolizes kingship.  The number 3 is symbolic of absoluteness, excellence, completeness?  (The angels in heaven sing, Holy, Holy, Holy)  3 sets of 14 says Jesus is the King, par excellence.  There is also the significance of the number 7 (it symbolizes perfection, I think - I have heard differing ideas for Jewish numerology so I’m never sure which source is accurate or if I’m mixing things up!), there are 6 sets of 7.  6 = number of man (man created on 6th day), this can mean so many different things; people can make these numbers do all kinds of gymnastics, so I’ll just leave it here and let your imaginations go wild. 

In Isaiah 7, Ahaz in King.  He is afraid of being conquered by the armies beseiging Jerusalem so he sends for Isaiah who tells him not to worry and tells him to ask for a sign from God.  The sign God gives is that “the virgin shall be with child and bear a son and shall call him Immanuel (which means God with us).”  This sign is concerned with the preservation of Judah in the midst of distress, but also with the promise God gave to David (2 Sam 7:15-17) that his throne would stand forever.  The coming of Immanuel, as the ideal king (Is 9 - counselor, mighty God,  prince of peace, etc) fulfills this promise.  As Christians we see the ultimate fulfillment of this in the birth of Jesus.  We see in Is 11 a further description of the rule of Immanuel, and we are told that he will come from a shoot from the trunk of Jesse.  The family tree is cut down, but from the stump comes this descendent.  When the angel comes to Joseph to tell him not to divorce Mary the announcement harkens back to, and brings to mind, these prophecies.  

Okay, back to Herod for a minute… Because it’s just part of the story that I’ve heard repeated so many times for so many years, I never stopped to think about why he would “freak out” and kill so many babies.  Why was he afraid of the Magi’s word?  Above I touched on why he wouldn’t know who to kill - everyone thinks the line of David has disappeared, but why not just dismiss the Magi?  Why assume that their tidings of a King would have anything to do with him?  Are not the Romans in power?  Did they not put him on the throne?  What is he afraid of?  Bear with me while I set this up - it’s a round about way of answering the question, but it’s interesting, I promise…

In the book of Numbers (chap 22-24) we are told a story of the emerging Isrealite nation and how they are perceived by their neighbors.  The Moabite King, who is afraid of being conquered by Isreal, sends to the East for an “oracle” named Balaam, and asks him to curse Isreal.  Instead of cursing Isreal, Balaam blesses Isreal and curses her neighbors.  One of these “oracles”, found in Num 24:15-19 is a prophecy about Isreal - I see him, though not now; I behold him, though not near:  A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Isreal, that shall smite the brows of Moab, and the skulls of all the Shuthites, till Edom is dispossessed, and no fugitive is left in Seir.  Isreal shall do valiantly, and Jacob shall overcome his foes.  Herod is made King of Isreal by the Romans, but he is not a Jew, he is an Edomite!  So you can see how he might get a little nervous when wise men come from the East announcing that they are there to see the King of Isreal because they have seen his star! 

Jesus is bringing a climax to the story of Isreal.  Their history looks chaotic - slow start, exhile in Egypt, kingdom for a while, then exhile again…  But Matthew’s geneology shows that there is order and purpose - 6 sets of 7, with Jesus beginning a new set of 7.  Jesus is the beginning of a new chapter, not the end of the story! 

Today is the last day of this novena  (I should have been finished at least a week ago, but…).  Tonight at RCIA, our transitional deacon taught the class.  It was on Confirmation so his talk centered around the HOly Spirit.  He asked us, “Who has heard of the gifts of the Holy Spirit?”  I had to smile!  I have heard of them!  He then went on to discuss briefly each one of the gifts:  Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Piety, and Fear of the Lord.  I really don’t remember much of what he said, but this stuck out - “Don’t ask to *know* God’s will, ask to *do* God’s will.”  I see this as the culmination of all the gifts - if we receive all these gifts from the Holy Spirit then we will pray that prayer, “Lord I want to do your will”.  This is the prayer of Jesus, “Lord, not my will but your’s be done”; and also of his mother, “May it be done to me according to your word.”  Let it be my prayer as well.

Wisdom is knowing how to use the other gifts.  I would even say knowing when what I hear is truly from the Holy Spirit.  Sort of like discernment.  This is something that I need badlly.  I need help in being quiet, help in listening, help in obeying, help in discerning.  I know how badly I need the HOly Spirit in my life.  Please come and give me these gifts and help me to use them properly, for your glory and honor.  Holy Spirit, give me the Fortitude to continue to ask and to continue to receive.   Make me Wise, so I can love and obey.