Why Bother?

When people ask about religion, often the conversation focuses on church and denomination. We are quick to talk about what we believe about God, about Christ, about what it means to be Christian, about what we must do. I've been on the receiving end of many such conversations as acquaintances endeavoured to 'save' me, and I say that with no disrespect.

Such conversations are often remarkably ineffective, to the extent that courses and workshops on how to 'win souls for Christ' abound. What I've observed, from the literature and well-meant efforts of others to convert me, is that their efforts focus on the least Godly aspects of religion: exclusivity (ours is the right path, everyone else is wrong, we are the ONLY church of Jesus,etc.), judgment (you are on the wrong path, you need to convert or face eternal damnation), obligation (you must do these things to be a 'true' Christian, you must read 'this' Bible) and fear (failing to join *this* church or do what *I* tell you will result in your eternal damnation).

Where is the joy of walking with God? Where is the consolation of God's embrace? Where is the freedom of knowing God's everlasting and boundless love for you?

This is what God offers us, both within the bounds of the various religions and denominations as well as outside them. If God is loving, then can we not have confidence that welcoming God into our lives brings us all these things? In my experience, we absolutely can.

When we acknowledge God active in our lives - because it is not God's absence but our unawareness of God's presence that drives us to living a godless life, then our lives take on added shine. We become aware of not only goodness within others but within ourselves. We become sensitized to the extraordinary power of ordinary things. We find new good to appreciate and old blessings we'd overlooked. And throughout it all, despite our aches and pains and earthly worries, the sweetness of God's love for us is an ever-present help and support to us.

And life, we discover again and again, is good.

Wherever you are, whatever your belief system or philosophy, it is my prayer and that of my church that you may discover for yourself Goodness at work in yourself and your life.
jean+

These Things

We continue examining the verse from which we take our name:

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Mt. 6:33

This verse is found in those teachings from the Sermon on the Mount. In this section, Jesus is urging his followers to adopt a different priority from that of the world and to recognize that their Heavenly Father cares for them. In context, then, v. 30-33:

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

By 'all these things,' Christ means all the things we need, such as food, drink, and clothing. We can dedicate ourselves to Love, having confidence that God will give us all we need. And there's the rub for many of us: what we need. We need so little, you see, but we want so much. It's the wanting that gets us into trouble, isn't it!

Wanting nice things is certainly not sinful, nor is working hard to acquire them. It's not un-Christian to want a reliable car of recent make or a house that is spacious and comfortable. Why wouldn't we appreciate those things which add convenience and beauty to our lives?

The trick is balancing our desire for material possessions against our desire to serve God. We needn't become hermits, living in a cave and existing on a diet of insects, nor must we forego the ordinary conveniences of modern life - electric lights or air conditioning or a computer or car.

What we must not do, though, is allow those desires to overshadow our commitment to God. If we are blessed financially, commitment to Love demands that we share our resources with those who are less fortunate. Often people feel afraid to be generous in their giving to feed the hungry or clothe the needy, worrying that their generous impulses might wreak havoc on their budget.

Jesus tells us that we needn't worry. God will see to it that that we have what is needed, so we can be generous knowing that we will not be left without enough for ourselves. Earlier in the Sermon, though, Jesus speaks specifically about giving alms to the needy, urging his followers to do so privately. Making the big splash, he teaches us, carries its own reward, but God will reward those who practice their giving in secret. (Mt. 6:1-4)

When we are generous to those in need, we become agents of God's good will. We become a means through which God can bless others. We become God's faithful servant, working to see that God's children are fed and housed and clothed and healed. We become a channel through which God's love can flow not only through us but to us as well.

When we commit to Love, opening our hearts to the compassionate love of Creator, we can follow the generous impulses which come with confidence. God sees into each heart, recognizing the face of Christ mirrored there. As we unite not only our hearts to God's love but our hands to God's work of blessing, we can trust that God will care for our needs even better than we could hope to do.

jean+

Righteousness

I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend.

We continue examining the verse from which we take our name:

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Mt. 6:33

What does it mean to seek righteousness? The dictionary tells us that being righteous means acting in accord with divine or moral law (Merriam Webster).

Laws we have in abundance. Leviticus is filled with them, many of which we find abhorrent today, such as stoning people for various offenses. From Moses we get the Ten Commandments, which have guided Christians and Jews for centuries.

You may recall the Scribe asking Jesus which was the greatest commandment (Mk. 12:28-34). Jesus responded by giving them two, the Great Commandments which Christ said were the foundation of all the laws and prophecies. The Scribe, who was a scholar of church law similar to today's canon law lawyers and experts, praised Christ's answer, seeing its truth. Jesus answered him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

We can surmise, then, that the kingdom we seek is comprised not solely of loving God and others. It brings us to the kingdom, but doesn't get us in. The Scribe, who recognized the Law of Love, had only come near to that kingdom. What more, then?

We believe the answer is found in the teaching of Jesus recorded in Matthew, chapter 25:31-46. There, Jesus speaks of the eternal Kingdom of God, the reward promised to the faithful. He instructs the people, explaining how God will divide the faithful who inherit the kingdom from the unfaithful who will not enter it (v. 34-:36): Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ He continues, teaching that we do indeed minister to Him when we reach out to each other.

We take Christ at his word, then, and serve Love by serving others. Whether you call it social justice, righteousness, or simply compassion - we are at our most Christian when we offer help to those who need it.

Cradle Roman Catholics of a certain age may have learned the following Acts of Mercy in school. If you did, this will be a familiar list:

The Corporal Acts of Mercy, those which address the needs of the body, are to

feed the hungry
give drink to the thirsty
clothe the naked
shelter the homeless
visit the sick
ransom the captives
bury the dead.

When our loving obedience to God and compassion to those in need prompts us to reach out through personal service or financial support of those who serve, we believe we, too, are drawing near to the kingdom and righteousness we seek.

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We invite you to join us in praying for the relief of those who have lost so much to natural disasters, particularly those who have been impacted by Hurricane Isaac. Pray with us, too, that this year's hurricane season will see few hurricanes and that they may cause the least harm possible to those in their paths.

jean+

Seeking First

It will come as no surprise to readers to learn that the name of our blog is an allusion to the words of Christ in Matthew, chapter 6: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (v.33)

Scholars debate how best to understand the meaning of 'kingdom' in the teachings of Christ, but for us, one thing is absolutely certain: Whether that kingdom is of the earth or of the heart, now or at the end of times, the sign of that kingdom is Love.

For the Community Catholic Church, then, it is Love we seek first. We find Love in Creator, who is Love itself. We find Love in the center of Christ's teachings. Love is our destination, as union with God/Love, but it is also our path - the means by which we express and experience that union most deeply. So seeking to unite to divine Love and to express that Love is, for us, seeking the Kingdom of which Jesus speaks.

We humans like to exercise our cognitive function. We like to make things more complicated than they are, to focus on a single aspect of a matter and lose the sense of its place in the whole. Creator, however, is different. Creator makes things simple.

Jesus was clear. When asked which was the greatest commandment, he gave us two: Love God with all your heart, your soul, your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Three thousand years later, we're still trying to figure out what he meant by that. Maybe, just maybe, he meant what he said: Love God completely and love others as you love yourself.

Our understanding is that, whatever the scholars may or may not believe Jesus said or didn't say, the core of Christ's teaching is love. Following those two commandments is the work of a lifetime, particularly in a world where life and love are both cheapened by power and greed.

So, when you read 'Seeking First' each day, we ask you to strive with us to do just that, to seek first how to love through the challenges of our daily life. It seems like such a simple goal, and so easy to offer lipserice to it and stop there. But Christ invites us to commit more fully to creating a kingdom of love in our hearts, our lives, and our communities.

And so, to that end...Seeking First.

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Join us in praying for Louisiana and Mississippi as recovery recovery from the ravages of Isaac begins, particularly for the workers trying to stabilize the Percy Quin dam, and the Philippines dealing with the earthquake aftermath.

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