November 17, 2008 | Volume 84, Number 2

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Feast of Christ the King, Nov. 23, 2008, Cycle A

by Ann Ruggaber

Years ago, my family adopted a Peanuts cartoon into our family lexicon. Charlie Brown is on third base; his team trails by a run, and there are two outs.

“If I steal home, I’ll be the hero. If I make an out, I’ll be the goat,” he muses.

So, whoever chooses a restaurant or a movie, for example, is the hero if it’s good and the goat if it’s not.

The Gospel for the feast of Christ the King is the ultimate hero and goat story.

Jesus’ description of the final judgment is so familiar to us that we might lose the surprising message. The “heroes” are not the richest, or the strongest, or the smartest. They are heroes for one simple fact: they extended the gift of hospitality to others.

They fed the hungry, housed the homeless, clothed the naked, gave drinks to the thirsty, visited the sick and imprisoned. They were decent people who extended a hand to those in need.

Likewise the “goats” are goats because they refused or neglected or simply never took notice of those in need. Catholic Social Teaching is based on one simple concept. Because we share a common humanity, we are responsible for each other.

We are responsible not only for our friends, relatives and neighborhoods, but for the welfare of all. It is an astounding fact that 25,000 people die each day from hunger-related causes. When we read statistics like that, it is overwhelming .

Ambassador Tony Hall, who serves as President Bush’s Ambassador to the United Nations’ humanitarian agencies, is a frequent speaker on college campuses where he describes his own faith journey of moving from successful member of Congress to an outspoken advocate for the poor.

I recently heard him speak at Christopher Newport University in Newport News. He described a visit to Ethiopia during the terrible famine some years ago.

He spoke of the throngs of desperate parents who came to an aid station begging for help. He saw 25 children die there before his eyes in a few hours.

Shocked students asked him, “What can we do? Where should we start?”

His advice? “Look around you. Start where you are. Become aware of the needs of those around you, and do something to respond.”

He then quoted Mother Teresa who referred to her work as “a drop in the ocean.” But, she went on, “If I don’t do it, there would be one less drop.”

In that context, the challenge of the readings for the feast of Christ the King is simple. Look around you. Notice what needs to be done. Then respond graciously and generously.

Put your drop in the ocean. The tremendous problem of suffering from poverty won’t be solved by any one act. But if each person developed the eyes of Jesus and really SAW those around him or her and responded, things could change dramatically.

In these times, we are worried about the economy and our investments and our property values. Few of us have to worry about what or if we will eat, where we will sleep tonight or whether our children will die from drinking polluted water.

We are tremendously prosperous compared to much of the world. Thanksgiving Day is upon us once again, and many of us will contribute to a food basket or help serve a turkey dinner in a shelter.

These are good, hospitable things to do. But this gospel makes it clear. Once we know that there are people in need, we must respond to their immediate need and challenge those in public office to change the unjust structures that keep so many in need.

As we reflect on the readings for the feast of Christ the King, the choice is clear. Will we be heroes, or will we be goats?

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Death is not the end for Christians

by Mary Hood Hart

Many years ago, I taught English, literature and composition, as an adjunct college instructor. My favorite course to teach was a beginning literature course, English 102.

As a text, we used an anthology, a collection of poetry, short stories, and drama from a variety of well-known authors.

The majority of my students had no interest in pursuing English beyond the minimal requirements for a degree, and I considered it a special challenge to engage them with the material.

Nothing was more gratifying for me than to inspire my students to a greater appreciation of literature. The best way for me to do this was to lead them in a discussion of theme, characterization, symbolism, etc.

Typically, during these discussions, students would comment on how frequently we talked about death. It didn’t matter if we were discussing poetry, stories, or plays, death often figured in the themes.

Talking about death was a new experience for most of the students. That’s understandable, since most were young. Unless they encountered death through the loss of a loved one, dying seemed far removed from their lives.

The young are famous for their sense of immortality.

Strange as it may sound, I enjoyed these discussions of death. It seemed important to me then (and still does) that we acknowledge our mortality as a way to contemplate living fully.

Denying or avoiding death often leads us to deny and avoid life. If we fail to recognize the brevity of our life on earth, then we may also fail to live fully the days we are given.

It’s actually quite easy for most of us Americans to avoid death. I have friends who tell me, “I don’t do funerals.”

Even my husband finds it strange that I have attended so many funerals, often for people I haven’t met. On staff at my parish, I attend every funeral I can for our parishioners. We have funerals scheduled at the same time as our daily Mass because we encourage the community to come together to mourn the loss of one of our own, even if we didn’t personally know the deceased.

One line from our Catholic funeral liturgy always strikes me as profound and comforting. “Life has changed, not ended.”

Death is not an end; it is a beginning of everlasting life.

How appropriate that we should remember our beloved deceased especially during the month of November, when brilliant autumn leaves reflect transformation. The cycle of Christian life — suffering, death, resurrection — is mirrored in the cycles of nature.

Scripture tells us “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

For the Christian, death is not morbid. The Christian does not shrink from death. The Christian views death as the passage to new life.

Of course, we mourn because our hearts ache for the physical presence of our loved ones. We long to hear their voices, feel their touch, interact with them as we have been accustomed.

When my father died, I received a sympathy card with a beautiful quote, which brought me great comfort. It read: “The one you love is no longer where he was. He is wherever you are.” (I have since forgotten the source.)

Though we mourn, Christian funerals celebrate the life of the deceased and our hope in life everlasting. This hope is not grounded in fantasy. This hope is grounded in our confidence in the power of love. Love triumphs over death.

Through His suffering, death, and resurrection, Jesus showed us the way to new life.

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The spirit of volunteerism

by Barbara Hughes

“Volunteers have always done more with less. We will be able to do what needs to be done” was an e-mail I received from a member of our interreligious dialogue team.

She was responding to the article in The Catholic Virginian about budget reductions and a follow-up-e-mail from me informing the group there were no diocesan funds available for our ministry.

Her e-mail carried additional weight because I knew the sender had been a volunteer with the City of Virginia Beach for more than 35 years.

Working in the interest of early childhood education for the underprivileged, Mary Russo has logged in more volunteer hours than most part-time employees and that doesn’t include the hours she’s devoted to her church and numerous other activities.

Her involvement, like so many volunteers, has been a labor of love fueled by passion for a particular cause.

The spirit of volunteerism has been a labor of love fueled by passion for a particular cause. The spirit of volunteerism has been a driving force in our country and over the centuries has made our country strong.

In 1835 Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that volunteerism and the spirit of individualism made America unique but that unless such habits of the heart balanced each other, the fragmentation of American society and social isolationism could bring about the demise of both.

In 1985, sociologist Robert Bellah wrote a striking follow-up in “Habits of the Heart” confirming that de Tocqueville’s prediction had come true.

This was during the period when Generation X (sometimes referred to as the “me generation”) came into its own.

But it would be unfair to pin all the blame on them. They were, after all, a product of the generations that preceded them — generations that were increasingly motivated by the bigger-is-better mindset of materialism that has led to the current crises on Wall Street and Main Street.

It’s been pointed out that wealth can lead to isolationism. Gated communities and privacy fences in upscale neighborhoods testify to this reality as do memberships in exclusive clubs and an elitist mentality that flies in the face of Christian virtue.

Recent trends indicate that as the rich grow richer, the poor grow poorer and the middle class shrinks. Individualism puts number one first, often at the expense of the greater community.

But a spirit of volunteerism understands that when we work for the greater good of the community, individuals will be happier and more productive.

As hundreds of thousand of boots on the ground pounded the pavement and manned the phones during the recent political campaigns, it would seem that the spirit of volunteerism in America is back.

And so is the passion of those who had grown complacent about their country. More importantly, hope is back and it’s time to act.

Social action built on an objective to help the poor, the marginalized and the defenseless is what Christian charity is all about. It makes hope real because unless hope is followed by action, it is little more than wishful thinking.

Call me an optimist, but I believe that where there is hope and charity, faith is not far away. Hope and charity are habits of the heart that will eventually lead to conversion of heart, our own and others. And where there is conversion, there is God.

In his letter to the people of the Diocese, Bishop DiLorenzo asked us to contribute our time, treasure and talent. In the Christian lexicon, it’s called being a good steward.

We possess all three in limited quantities, but when pooled together they can accomplish great things.

It’s the Mystical Body at work, translating theological principles into genuine action that will eventually win hearts and minds to Christ.

In 1630 John Winthrop, the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, wrote, “We must delight in each other, make others’ conditions our own, rejoice together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes community as members of the same body.”

He exhorted his listeners to carry on God’s mission and to set a shining example for the rest of the world. It was John Winthrop who first called America the “City on the Hill” for the world to see. Well, the world is watching and we all have a role to play.

More than ever, as we prepare to celebrate another Thanksgiving, we do well to stop and ask ourselves if we are contributing to the spirit of volunteerism that made our country great or if we’ve grown complacent.

Do we pride ourselves on being self-sufficient, justifying a spirit of isolationism or do we see ourselves as members of a much larger community?

Next week, as we join hands around the Thanksgiving dinner table, let us pray for an attitude of gratitude, a habit of the heart that is willing to give and receive, to break down barriers and to end division.

It won’t come without cost but perhaps the time has come to ask once again: what can we do for our country, our church, our neighborhood and our family and then be willing to pay the price?

It’s the spirit of volunteerism that has made our country great because it is based on God’s law of love.

The Catholic Virginian is a biweekly publication serving the people of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. This website includes some, but not all, of the articles from the print version of The Catholic Virginian.

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