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Book Review: Creation and the Cross

Creation and the Cross: the Mercy of God for a Planet in Peril by Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ | Orbis Press, 2018 | pp 256

Many people consider Sister Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, the foremost theologian, let alone Catholic theologian, in the world today. Her newest book is entitled Creation and the Cross: the Mercy of God for a Planet in Peril (Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY 2018). This book is delightfully written as a dialogue between Elizabeth and Clara (i.e., clarity) where Clara serves as a type of ‘Greek Chorus’ bringing in popular thought, or history, or rephrasing what Elizabeth just said. This is modeled on the same type of dialogue in his book, Cur Deus Homo (Why God Became Man), by Anselm of Canterbury (born 1033, died 1109). Not only is this book modeled on Anselm’s book, Creation and the Cross refutes it and tries to replace it with an understanding of Redemption that makes sense today.

Johnson begins her book with Anselm’s ‘Satisfaction Theory’ as an explanation for the Incarnation of Jesus Christ; namely, that God’s honor needed to be satisfied after the dishonor of the sin of Adam and Eve and all humanity. God has infinite honor and therefore requires infinite satisfaction to make it right. Jesus, being human, can offer the satisfaction and Jesus, being divine, makes that satisfaction infinite. Although this ‘Satisfaction Theory’ made sense in Anselm’s era, Elizabeth finds this just too medieval and too feudal, as well as not scriptural. The scriptures tell us that God has never requires satisfaction; rather, God restores, renews, comforts, and forgives throughout the scriptures. Johnson then looks at what other possible meanings are there for Jesus’ death (the Cross) besides satisfaction.

Beginning with scripture she sees a myriad of theologies of the Cross:

salvation means to ‘salve’ or to heal – a medical metaphor,
conquering sin and death – a military metaphor,
reconciliation – ala where only the Prodigal Son, not the Father, needs it,
redemption – a restorative metaphor (cloak returned, property returned),
justification – a judicial metaphor when a judge declares you ‘not guilty,’
sacrifice – a ceremony that restores ‘right relationship’ with God,
adoption – a family metaphor for how we move from slave to son/daughter,
rebirth – a family metaphor to how we move into the Divine family,
nurturing – a family metaphor, how a mother (or father) nutures a child,
new creation – a metaphor contrasting Old Adam and New Adam,
servant – how the Servant Songs of 2nd Isaiah are metaphors for Jesus.

In all these, Johnson warns us to never literalize any metaphor, and that no one metaphor of these scriptural theologies of the Cross has been ‘declared’ as the official theology of the Cross by the Church. She notes that none of these scriptural meanings are ‘satisfactional;’ rather, they are all God-initiated and God-completed.

Johnson then asks if these are necessarily to humans only. She quotes John Muir, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” Johnson agrees and she uses the term ‘Deep Incarnation’ to indicate that since everything is connected, Incarnation must be for everything. She then notes that the Cross and Resurrection are intrinsically tied; in fact, unified, to tell us that the Resurrection is for all creation and not just humanity. She notes that this idea is common in the Orthodox Churches’ understanding of Resurrection.

I would say that Chapter Six, “Conversion of Mind and Heart: Us,” is the lynchpin of Johnson’s book. She has effectively argued for a horizonal (not pyramidal) understanding of all creation including humanity’s place in creation. So through a series of five ‘thought experiments’ she tries to bring the reader to a “conversion of mind and heart” in our interaction with creation, especially regarding life on this planet. She notes that “dominion” does not mean domination. In the passage, “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth” (Genesis 1:26). God is giving them stewardship. She adds that a Lord (dominus, domina) was a steward in the king’s service. Johnson concludes, “An important step will be taken if Christians see that the grace of the crucified and risen Christ washes over all creation, to practical and critical effect.”

Although I have not read everything that Elizabeth Johnson has written (yes, there is a lot), but in this book and in her recent articles we see her thought move squarely into the center of a creation-centered and stewardship-centered theology. The contribution that an ecological ‘Theology of the Cross,’ seen so clearly in Creation and the Cross: the Mercy of God for a Planet in Peril, is a valuable and much-needed contribution to theology, to the Church, and to the world.

Tasting the Things of God

Carmelite homily for Tuesday (Easter VI), May 19, 2020 – Lectionary 292 (John 16:5-11)

What I like about the Carmelite saints is that they see things a little bit differently, a little more deeply. For example, this is what Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity writes, “If you do not practice sweet silence, it will be impossible for you to taste the things of God.” I think it’s in silence that the brain, the mind can say is this indeed so? Is this indeed correct? Is this indeed God? Is this indeed holy? That’s what, I think, Jesus is inviting us to in today’s Gospel where he’s talking about sin, righteousness, and condemnation, and saying, ‘it’s different than you think.’ I think practice sweet silence; think these things out. I think the Gospels are always saying, ‘think differently, think deeply.’ That’s the invitation of today’s Gospel.

Elevation of the Soul

Carmelite homily for Monday (Easter VI), May 18, 2020 – Lectionary 291 (John 15:26-16:4)

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity is a Carmelite we don’t hear enough of. She was a contemporary of Saint Therese of Lisieux in the Carmel of Dijon, France. And she writes, “Always love prayer; but when I say prayer I do not mean reciting a vast quantity of vocal prayers every day; rather, I mean the elevation of the soul to God through all things.” I think that’s the key to today’s Gospel where Jesus says, ‘Do not fall away in persecution.’ If we have elevated the soul; if we live in the heavenly realms; if we live in sanctity; if we live with Jesus, how can we fall away? I think that’s the call of today’s Gospel: to elevate the soul in all things – persecution, joy – every moment, every day.

Imperfect Beauty – a Triduum Reflection

When I was still a seminarian, an older Carmelite, Father Bonaventure, visited us for a few days. During his visit I listened to his stories of life in the missions, in our schools, in our parishes and stories about his family and about his hobbies – and his battle with cancer. Just before leaving he handed me a large box filled with clergy shirts and some regular shirts, too. He said, “you look like my size and so consider this a ‘thank you’ for the kindness of listening to an old man tell his stories.” And then he took the ring off his finger and said, “this ring has been with me throughout my Carmelite life and I would rather it not be buried with me so I’m giving it to you.” I tried to refuse it but he insisted, and then left for home.

Later that day I examined the ring. It was ugly! Badly tarnished. Scratches galore. A big dent on the back. Dirt encrusted around the Carmelite shield design. And when I tried to put it on, it was too small and the dent dug into my skin. I decided that I should keep it since it was a gift, so I put it away and then soon forgot about it.

When I ran into it again, I was serving as an associate pastor in a Carmelite parish in New Jersey. The president of the parish council ran a jewelry store in town so I brought it into his store and asked if he could do anything to make it fit. He sized the ring and sized my finger and said that a small insert could be added. But then he added that it was a cheap ring and an identical new one would be easier to make than to resize this old one. But I said that this ring had some sentimental value and I’d prefer if he did something with it instead of making a new one.

Two weeks later he called to say the ring was ready. So I walked over to pick it up. He went to the back room and came out with a small box and handed it to me. I opened it and was completely surprised at what I saw. The ring was beautiful! The basic band was bright silver and the Carmelite shield logo was in gold. And everything caught the light and glistened. No grime. No tarnish. No dent. Clean. Bright. Beautiful. It was so super-nice now and such a complete surprise. Yes, the same scratch is there, but now barely noticeable. In fact, it is that scratch and all the dents, the tarnish — the history — that even makes this ring all the more beautiful. Beauty with history has to mean a lot more than beauty alone.

If God wanted us to be angels, God would’ve made us angels. Instead God made us humans. Being human must be important in God’s plan for me and in God’s plan for you. And I think this ring illustrates that. The jeweler could have made a brand new identical ring and it would be perfect — no scratches, no dents, no resizing. Yes, perfect. I sometimes think the angels are like that. They have no faults, no sins — they’re perfect. But the jeweler instead took the old ring and scrubbed out the grime, polished out the scratches, and hammered out the dents and made it beautiful. But it’s even more beautiful because of that grime, those scratches, and the dents. It’s even more beautiful because of has that history.

When the Father did all that for His Son — closing the whip marks, reknitting the marks from the thorns, drying up the flow from the nails — that is Resurrection! Jesus is beautiful in the Resurrection, and all the more beautiful because of the whipping, the thorns and the nails. The marks are still there, but no longer marks of pain and horror but marks of depth and meaning. Resurrection is all the more beautiful because of the Crucifixion. Easter is all the more beautiful because of Good Friday.

And it’s the same with us. Who hasn’t been scourged or beaten or even crucified in this life? We all have. Each one of us. But if this is born in love or chosen in love or suffered because of love, then God will do the same thing. God will close my whip marks, your whip marks. God will reknit my thorn scratches, your thorn scratches. God will dry up my flow of blood, your flow of blood. This is resurrection! My resurrection, and your resurrection, will be all the more beautiful because through the whips and thorns and nails, we still chose love. We chose the cross.

This is why, when we celebrate Easter we don’t only celebrate Jesus’ rising from the tomb. That’s not enough! We are also celebrating his Passion, and his Crucifixion. Now that’s enough! We celebrate Easter across three days — Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Great Vigil of Easter. That is Easter. Easter is not Sunday; rather, Easter is Thursday-through-Sunday. And then we take that and celebrate for fifty more days.

Book Review: The Universal Christ

The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, and Believe by Richard Rohr, OFM | Convergent Press, 2019 | pp 260

“I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food.” – 1 Corinthians 3:2

To sit down to read Richard Rohr’s The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, and Believe is like sitting down to a twenty-course meal (i.e., there are 17 chapters, two appendices, and an afterword). And like a huge banquet, there are some courses that are scrumptious, some that are less tasty, some that will have to grow on you, and some that maybe should be off the menu. But there is no milk here, only solid food. To belabor the metaphor: after finishing this banquet, it will take you some time to digest it all.

What is Rohr trying to accomplish in this book? I think there are quite a few things:

to argue that the Christian message is fundamentally a spiritual one and not necessarily a religious one (especially to the “spiritual but not religious” generation),
Jesus came to love us into goodness more than to redeem us from sin (an old Franciscan debate for sure),
the term ‘Christ’ refers to the divine core of all people and of all creation (as the title of the book says: ‘Universal’),
a sin-based approach to spirituality leads to exclusion, scapegoating, and Pharisee’ism; whereas, a grace-based approach is more congruent with the Gospels and with Saint Paul.

I would go so far as to say that he is trying to reorient the Church and the faith away from philosophy-based theology to mysticism-based theology, and from a sin-based need for redemption to a fulfillment-based need. That’s quite an undertaking, and The Universal Christ reads like a systematic theology for this undertaking, interpreting all aspects of the faith through the Christian mystics (and occasionally through non-Christian mystics).

Does Rohr succeed? I sure hope so. Firstly, in this secular age and rationalistic age, a sin-based starting point (the Fall of Adam and Eve) no longer works. As Rohr points out, a Father sending his Son and then demanding the death of the Son to redeem the sin of Adam and Eve (either to the devil or to Himself) is no longer workable and no longer believable. I knew I was in for a wild ride when Rohr opens the book saying that the first Incarnation is in Genesis, “Then God spoke” (Genesis 1:3). The coming of Jesus is the second Incarnation. Yes, food for thought. Secondly, in this global age and information age, the world needs a global religion and an informative religion. Rohr is telling us that Mystical Christianity can offer that vision.

Do I recommend this book? Like the huge banquet that it is, I heartily recommend some of the courses (i.e., chapters), I need to chew further on other chapters, and there are a couple of chapters that I might recommend be off the menu. Overall, if you feel that you’re ready for solid food, go for it.

Book Review: Evangelization and Contemplation: the Gifts of Pope Francis and Saint Teresa

Evangelization and Contemplation: the Gifts of Pope Francis and Saint Teresa by Rev. Tracy O’Sullivan, O.Carm. | Dorrance Publishing Co., 2019

Seeing a world in desperate need for evangelization, especially in his work as a long-time inner city pastor, Father Tracy begins with the call for a new evangelization seen in Pope Francis’ 2013 encyclical, Evangelii gaudium (the Joy of the Gospel) and similar-themed documents from Pope Paul VI (Evangelii nuntiandi) and Pope John Paul II (Redemptoris missio). All these documents call the Church to not only proclaim the Good News (old evangelization) but through the Gospel to transform the world (new evangelization). But how do we get there? Father Tracy says that the answer is prayer.

Using Saint Teresa of Avila’s book on prayer, The Interior Castle, Tracy sees that the journey of personal interior transformation proceeds from simple prayer (Interior Mansions 1 thru 3) to contemplation (Interior Mansions 4 thru 7) which leads us to more God-centered and less ego-centered ministry. Our ego-driven needs can easily thwart the lofty call for world transformation (new evangelization) and so these documents are, in fact, a call to contemplation. Teresa herself says, “This is the reason for prayer, my daughters, the purpose of this spiritual marriage: the birth always of good works, good works” (Interior Castle, 7.4.6). This contemplative-based ministry is the transformative evangelization that Pope Francis (and his predecessors) calls us to in the new evangelization. Let me try to schematize this:

Then using the writings of Thomas Merton (Trappist spiritual writer) and Rowan Williams (Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, emeritus) Tracy illustrates how contemplative evangelization (new evangelization) is lived and proclaimed. Archbishop Williams, in a Vatican address, says,
Evangelization, old and new, must be rooted in a profound confidence that we have a distinctive human destiny to show and share with the world…The humanity of Christ’s redeeming work is a contemplative humanity.”

This call of Rowan Williams is the call of Father Tracy in Evangelization and Contemplation, and by artfully using Saint Teresa of Avila Tracy adds a Carmelite roadmap. I think the subtitle of Father Tracy’s book should be amended to read the Gifts of Pope Francis and Saint Teresa and Father Tracy.

Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Evangelization-Contemplation-Gifts-Francis-Teresa/dp/1645302636/

Make Us Bearers of the Word

Carmelite homily for Wednesday, March 25, 2020 – Lectionary 454 (Luke 1:26-38)

Saint Mary Magdalene D’Pazzi is a Carmelite saint about the same time as Teresa of Avila, but in Italy, in Florence. She has a famous prayer called ‘Come, Holy Spirit.’ “

Come, Holy Spirit, let the precious pearl of the Father and the Word’s delight come. Come, Spirit of Truth, you are the reward of the saints, the comforter of souls, light in the darkness, riches to the poor, treasure to lovers, food to the hungry, comfort to those who are wandering; to sum up, you are the one in whom all treasures are contained. Come, as you descended upon Mary that the Word might become Flesh, work in us through grace as you worked in her through nature and grace.”

It’s quite the cheeky prayer – that the Annunciation to Mary is the annunciation to us. We are to be bearers of the Word ourself. So it’s quite the meditation point as we celebrate this feast of the Annunciation.

Elijah and Elisha and Anyone Who Follows Jesus

Carmelite homily for Monday, March 16, 2020 – Lectionary 237 (Luke 4:24-30)

In today’s Gospel Jesus references both Elijah and Elisha, prophets of the First Book of Kings which Carmelites say are our spiritual founders. Elijah comes from the east bank of the Jordan, from a town called Tishbe, and Elisha comes from the west bank – very different backgrounds and situations. I think that’s why Jesus mentions them, because he says, ‘Elijah was sent to a widow of Zarephath’ – that’s up in Phoenicia, a foreign land. And to Elisha, Naaman the Syrian came to be healed of leprosy, again a foreign land. I think that’s what Jesus is getting at. His message and our message shouldn’t be limited to just this group or these people or just this. But should be, could be, and with grace, IS for everyone, envelopes everyone, embraces everyone. That’s the call of today’s Gospel – to open our hearts like Elisha, like Elijah, like anyone who wears the Carmelite habit, or like anyone who follows Jesus.

Ignatian Guided Meditation

This is a meditation on the passage of ‘The Woman at the Well’ (John 4:5-42) using a method of praying with scripture taught by Saint Ignatius.

Today I’m going to try something different. Instead of giving a Carmelite-themed homily for this Third Sunday of Lent – the passage is ‘The Woman at the Well’ from John’s Gospel – I’m going to give an Ignatian Guided Meditation. It’s a way Ignatius, Saint Ignatius, teaches us to pray with scripture. He says, ‘immerse yourself in the passage; engage all the senses.’ What does it smell like? What do you see? What do you hear? Engage your senses and immerse yourself in. Then lean in and listen to what Jesus might have to tell you. So let us begin…

We’re in Samaria; you’re in Samaria. It’s noon. You’ve been walking all morning and you’re tired. It’s hot. You sit down on a rock near the well. Jesus is sitting at the well. You’re thirsty; very thirsty, and he’s doing nothing about getting water. But then this woman comes up. And you can hear her jewels and her bracelets clanking as she’s walking. And you’re thinking, ‘what is she doing here? No one is at the well this time of day.’ And she sits down near Jesus and you can hear them, but not hear them distinctly, talking to each other. That’s because the wind which is so hot (it’s midday) is blowing against your ears. That’s what you hear more than their talking – the wind. Where did those disciples go? Oh yeah, Jesus sent them into town. So it’s just you, her, and Jesus. You smell the heat on the rocks. You smell some perfume. Is that her perfume? She’s wearing perfume in the middle of the day! All of a sudden she runs off and then Jesus turns to you and says to you, ‘and what are you here for? what are you looking for?’ And you say to Jesus:

Message to the Order regarding the Coronavirus

From Míceál O’Neill, O.Carm., Prior General

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On this rare occasion I want to address a word of support to all our members who in one way or another are affected by the continuing spread of Covid-19. Here in the Curia we have heard the instructions of the Italian government and we have done our best to follow all the instructions. This has meant saying to our staff that they should not come to work until further instructions. We have organized our life in such a way that none of us will have people coming to the house and no one will leave the house until the ban is lifted, except for emergencies and essential services. We recognize the sacrifice that this entails, but we feel that we have to allow ourselves to be guided by the advice of the experts.

We will keep in our thoughts and prayers, those who have died and their families who are in mourning. We will pray for the medical profession, that the researchers may succeed in identifying this virus and finding the best ways to protect the population from infection, and the doctors and nurses may be able to help all who have fallen victim to it.

We must not allow ourselves to lose confidence or to be gripped by fear. This experience may lead us to reflect on how powerless we are, despite all our progress. At moments like this we realize more clearly that without God, we can do nothing. It is a good moment for us to renew our faith in God and our commitment to the wellbeing of one another, and in a special way our care for the poor, for the ones who are least able to cope when life gets difficult. In the time that we spend confined to our homes, we may find ourselves thinking and praying more, at one with Mary the Mother of God who kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Míceál O’Neill, O.Carm.
Prior General