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Today has been a bummer. I was up and down all night long with a sore throat; I awoke this morning to no voice at all. Of course, this is good news to Johnny, Carl, Tony, and Tasha. But I have been reduced to a slightly feverish, uncomfortable, achy glob of protoplasm. Sickness is no fun. I wonder how those who don't have a home survive even such minor discomfort as I'm experiencing.

I spent much of the day reading Gaudium et Spes, the Vatican II document, The Church in the Modern World. I recorded ever instance of the occurence of the word "hope" in it. I've wanted to write a small essay on reactions to Benedict XVIth Encyclical Spe Salvi. It is fascinating how the "spin" for the interpretation of Vatican II continues in various media. The reflections below address that continuous battle.

Benedict XVI's encyclical Spe Salvi has not met with the publicity of his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est." It is not hard to discern that Benedict is focusing his papacy on the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love, in inverse order. In this project Benedict continues the work of the Second Vatican Council.

This claim may sound surprising, especially if one reviews some of the initial responses to the encyclical. An Italian commentator, Antonio Socci, called the encyclical "a bomb . . . Benedict XVI does not quote, from the Council, even "Gaudium et spes", which nonetheless had in its title the word "hope", but wipes out the very mistake disastrously introduced in the Catholic world by that which was the main Conciliar constitution, "On the Church in the Modern World". This "conservative" interpretation of the encyclical finds an interesting partner in the "liberal" group, Wir Sind Kirche, who, according to John Allen in the National Catholic Review, asks, "Why doesn’t it cite Gaudium et Spes, or “Joy and Hope,” the Pastoral Constitution on the Church and the Modern World from the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), long seen as a sort of charter document for the reform wing of Catholicism?" Does the lack of a citation of Vatican II show Benedict's repudiation of the renewal efforts of Vatican II? A reading of Gaudium et Spes shows that this is not the case at all. Though "hope" occurs in the conciliar document's title, the use of "hope" is incidental to its purpose. When it is used as a theological virtue, Benedict remains in the center of the "spirit" of Vatican II.

"Hope" occurs in eight of the ninety-three sections of Gaudium et Spes. The term is most often used descriptively of an unpleasant dialectic in which the "modern human" finds herself. The Conciliar Fathers placed "hope" as the opposition to "anxiety". It represents a psychological term rather than the theological virtue. The document begins with the church identifying with "The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age" (par. 1). Caught in ambiguity of the contemporary world, "many of our contemporaries are kept from accurately identifying permanent values and adjusting them properly to fresh discoveries. As a result, buffeted between hope and anxiety and pressing one another with questions about the present course of events, they are burdened down with uneasiness" (par. 4). The progress that Gaudium et Spes supposedly so heartily endorses brings simultaneously the possibility of disaster. Disorientation results, the disorientation of living in the middle of a movement between hope and anxiety: "In these conditions it is no cause of wonder that man, who senses his responsibility for the progress of culture, nourishes a high hope but also looks with anxiety upon many contradictory things which he must resolve" (par. 56). In the issues of war and militarization, this dialectic opens past a false hope toward the theological virtue: "But we should not let false hope deceive us. For unless enmities and hatred are put away and firm, honest agreements, concerning world peace are reached in the future, humanity, which already is in the middle of a grave crisis, even though it is endowed with remarkable knowledge, will perhaps be brought to that dismal hour in which it will experience no peace other than the dreadful peace of death. But while we say this, the Church of Christ, present in the midst of the anxiety of this age, does not cease to hope most firmly" (par. 82). Benedict does not annul the concept of human hope in Gaudium et spes, but develops the tension already recognized in the concilar document: "the ambiguity of progress becomes evident. Without doubt, it offers new possibilities for good, but it also opens up appalling possibilities for evil—possibilities that formerly did not exist" (par. 22).

In Gaudium et Spes the church transcends the dialectic of hope and anxiety through the theological virtue of hope, a raising, purification, and perfection of the contemporary psychological experience by its placing its proper eschatological end in God, a way beyond the anxiety of the age: "to every thoughtful man a solidly established faith provides the answer to his anxiety about what the future holds for him. At the same time, faith gives him the power to be united in Christ with his loved ones whohave already been snatched away by death; faith arouses the hope that they have found true life with God" (par. 19). This eschatological hope does not signify a withdrawal from the material world, but provides the basis for human action within it: "a hope related to the end of time does not diminish the importance of intervening duties but rather undergirds the acquittal of them with fresh incentives. In contrast, when a divine instruction and the hope of life eternal are wanting, man’s dignity is most grievously lacerated, as current events often attest; riddles of life and death, of guilt and of grief go unsolved with the frequent result that men succumb to despair. . . . Above all, the Church knows that her message is in harmony with the most secret desires of the human heart when she champions the dignity of the human vocation, restoring hope to those who have already despaired of anything higher than their present lot (par. 21). As the document began with a psychological "natural" experience of hope caught in a dialectic with anxiety, it concludes with the theological virtue sublimating the dialectic by anchoring hope as the Spirit's presence of the Father's love: "By thus giving witness to the truth, we will share with others the mystery of the heavenly Father’s love. As a consequence, men throughout the world will be aroused to a lively hope – the gift of Holy Spirit – that some day at last they will be caught up in peace and utter happiness in that fatherland radiant with the glory of the Lord" (par. 93).

Gaudium et spes should have included the Son to complete the complete witness to the Triune God involved in true hope, the theological virtue. But its concept of hope remains profoundly eschatological and in God. Benedict XVI completes this Trinitarian formula for the theological virtue of hope as he concludes his discussion of "the true shape of Christian hope" that also recognizes how a natural sense of hope is raised and perfected by the eschatological hope in God: "we need the greater and lesser hopes that keep us going day by day. But these are not enough without the great hope, which must surpass everything else. This great hope can only be God, who encompasses the whole of reality and who can bestow upon us what we, by ourselves, cannot attain. The fact that it comes to us as a gift is actually part of hope. God is the foundation of hope: not any god, but the God who has a human face and who has loved us to the end, each one of us and humanity in its entirety. His Kingdom is not an imaginary hereafter, situated in a future that will never arrive; his Kingdom is present wherever he is loved and wherever his love reaches us. His love alone gives us the possibility of soberly persevering day by day, without ceasing to be spurred on by hope, in a world which by its very nature is imperfect. His love is at the same time our guarantee of the existence of what we only vaguely sense and which nevertheless, in our deepest self, we await: a life that is “truly” life" (par. 31).

the Christian, Catholic, and apostolic spirit of the whole world expects a step forward toward a doctrinal penetration and a formation of consciousness in faithful and perfect conformity to the authentic doctrine, which, however, should be studied and expounded through the methods of research and through the literary forms of modern thought. The substance of the ancient doctrine of the deposit of faith is one thing, and the way in which it is presented is another.

Benedict XVI's encyclical "Spe salvi" does not repudiate Vatican II or Gaudium et spes, possibly to the dismay of the conservatives and liberals who wish to push the church in ways from the very catholicity that the council was meant to renew and even in ways past some of the facile statements made in the document itself. The encyclical provides a careful, nuanced reading of the council. Benedict XVI continues to strive to fulfill the hope of John XXIII for calling the Second Vatican Council: "The greatest concern of the Ecumenical Council is this: that the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine should be guarded and taught more
efficaciously. . . . In order, however, that this doctrine may influence the numerous fields of human activity, with reference to individuals, to families, and to social life, it is necessary first of all that the Church should never depart from the sacred patrimony of truth received from the Fathers. But at the same time she must ever look to the present, to the new conditions and new forms of life introduced into the modern world, which have opened new avenues to the Catholic apostolate" (Opening Sermon for the Council of Vatican II).

The contemporary "present" is not the "present" of the early 1960s. Even Francis Fukayama's neo-liberal declaration of Hegel's "end of history" rings empty today as Pakistan faces civil disruption with its nuclear arsenal "up in the air" so to speak, an unintended consequence of George Bush's Wilsonian foreign policy to transform the world for democracy. Meanwhile urban centers throughout the world find themselves encircled by poverty ridden slums and the earth's temperature continues its steady rise. Moltmann's Theology of Hope seems to belong to an entirely different epoche than ours. It is hard not to agree with Benedict: "A self-critique of modernity is needed in dialogue with Christianity and its concept of hope. In this dialogue Christians too, in the context of their knowledge and experience, must learn anew in what their hope truly consists, what they have to offer to the world and what they cannot offer. Flowing into this self-critique of the modern age there also has to be a self-critique of modern Christianity, which must constantly renew its self-understanding setting out from its roots" (par. 22). This self-critique is not merely for the academic halls; it is for each and every parish and congregation and every Christian believer in the church catholic to live out performatively: "a message which shapes our life in a new way" (par. 10).

Hope in Gaudium et Spes

1. The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts.

4. Influenced by such a variety of complexities, many of our contemporaries are kept from accurately identifying permanent values and adjusting them properly to fresh discoveries. As a result, buffeted between hope and anxiety and pressing one another with questions about the present course of events, they are burdened down with uneasiness.

19. Hence, to every thoughtful man a solidly established faith provides the answer to his anxiety about what the future holds for him. At the same time, faith gives him the power to be united in Christ with his loved ones whohave already been snatched away by death; faith arouses the hope that they have found true life with God.

21. She further teaches that a hope related to the end of time does not diminish the importance of intervening duties but rather undergirds the acquittal of them with fresh incentives. In contrast, when a divine instruction and the hope of life eternal are wanting, man’s dignity is most grievously lacerated, as current events often attest; riddles of life and death, of guilt and of grief go unsolved with the frequent result that men succumb to despair.

Above all, the Church knows that her message is in harmony with the most secret desires of the human heart when she champions the dignity of the human vocation, restoring hope to those who have already despaired of anything higher than their present lot.

56. In these conditions it is no cause of wonder that man, who senses his responsibility for the progress of culture, nourishes a high hope but also looks with anxiety upon many contradictory things which he must resolve:

82. But we should not let false hope deceive us. For unless enmities and hatred are put away and firm, honest agreements, concerning world peace are reached in the future, humanity, which already is in the middle of a grave crisis, even though it is endowed with remarkable knowledge, will perhaps be brought to that dismal hour in which it will experience no peace other than the dreadful peace of death. But while we say this, the Church of Christ, present in the midst of the anxiety of this age, does not cease to hope most firmly.

91. We have relied on the Word of God and the spirit of the Gospel. Hence, we entertain the hope that many of our proposals will prove to be of substantial benefit to everyone, especially after they have been adapted to individual nations and mentalities by the faithful, under the guidance of their pastors.

93. By thus giving witness to the truth, we will share with others the mystery of the heavenly Father’s love. As a consequence, men throughout the world will be aroused to a lively hope – the gift of Holy Spirit – that some day at last they will be caught up in peace and utter happiness in that fatherland radiant with the glory of the Lord.

Posted by johnwright at 5:35 PM

Last night less than twenty of us gathered in the "orange sanctuary" to begin the Feast of the Nativity. The French congregation met in the chapel; the Samoan congregation met for a full scale, "old time" Christmas paegant in the Fellowship hall. Earlier in the day Carl and Jeremiah Wood picked up a massive supply of bread after two weeks of scarcity. Tomorrow Scott Borger and I will have the honor of picking up more of these goods.

In our time last night we reflected on the erosion of the human person in contemporary culture. Earlier in the day I read from an essay by Reinhold Hutter, "The Directedness of Reasoning and the Metaphysics of Creation" in Reason and the Reasons of Faith. Hutter argues that "the simultaneous triumph of and despair about reason mirrors late modern society as such: We encounter breathtaking developments in artificial intelligence and biotechnology together with atmospheric epistemological skepticism and ontological nihilism. The very triumph of instrumental rationality seems to invite simultaneously the most radical questioning of reason itself: What drives reason relentlessly and breathlessly from success to success? Is it propelled by something situationed 'behind' its very gaze? If so, is reason's gaze directed in ways it can neither account for nor alter? Moreover, if reason were directed and driven in such a way, what actually would allow us to assume a sovereign -- and, for that matter, first of all, coherent -- self?" (p. 163). The triumph of technological reason has eaten the human person from the inside out. It is here that we find the good news of the Word become incarnate.

In the birth of Jesus Christ, we find God hallowing each human being by become a human being. The One who though rich, became poor -- so poor that there was no room in the inn, but only in an animal feeding trough -- so that we, who are poor, might become rich. In the birth of the poor Jesus we find that the dignity of the human person is not found in status, purchasing power, honor, nor productivity; the dignity of the human being is found in each and every one of else's origin and destiny in God. Christmas reminds us that the significance of the human person is not found in technological reason; nor is reason merely a mask for power -- for true reason has become flesh and dwelt among us.

Perhaps the most important words penned by humans in the late twentieth century is found in paragraph 22 in Gaudium et Spes, "The Church in the Modern World," the last official document from Vatican II: "Only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of the human person take on light. For Adam, the first man, was a figure of him who was to come, namely Christ the Lord. Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and his love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear. . . . For by his Incarnation the Son of God has united himself in some fashion with every man."

These are good words to remind us how God has saved from from cynicism and despair of this present age. May you have a blessed Christmas, all twelve days full!

Posted by johnwright at 6:09 PM

As the Second and Third Sundays of Advent focus our attention of the figure of John the Baptist, the Fourth Sunday turns our attention to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. The first Christmas reading is always the birth narrative from the Gospel of Luke, so here we turn to the understated story in the Gospel of Matthew. As we look at the story through the figure of Mary, we recognize in her a model of discipleship. Mary teaches us what Paul calls "the obedience of faith" in the Epistle reading. Let's begin with the Gospel passage, then recap the story with the Isaiah passage, and then move to Romans.

.Matthew 1:18-25

The passage is written very much from the perspective of the male, Joseph. Yet there is another side to the story presupposed -- Mary. Imagine that you have a split screen television, kind of like a 24 Episode. On the one side, place the story as you see it from this male perspective; on the other side, imagine simultaneously the story from Mary's perspective. What do you find out about Joseph and Mary? How are they the same? How are they different?

Maybe here is the different scenes:
(1) engagement
(2) Mary pregnant
(3) Joseph's decision what to do/Mary's decision what to do
(4) The angel's appearance to Joseph/God's silence to Mary
(5) The Marriage

Isaiah 7:10-17

How does this passage help describe the situation described in Matthew? What is the purpose of this child? Why would Matthew refer to it in his gospel?

Benedict XVIth concludes his Encyclical on Hope with a reference to Mary. He writes,

"How do we find the way? Life is like a voyage on the sea of history, often dark and stormy, a voyage in which we watch for the stars that indicate the route. The true stars of our life are the people who have lived good lives. They are lights of hope. Certainly, Jesus Christ is the true light, the sun that has risen above all the shadows of history. But to reach him we also need lights close by—people who shine with his light and so guide us along our way. Who more than Mary could be a star of hope for us? With her “yes” she opened the door of our world to God himself; she became the living Ark of the Covenant, in whom God took flesh, became one of us, and pitched his tent among us (cf. Jn 1:14)."

How does Mary before the birth of Jesus teach us hope that we need as we live before Christ's coming in the fallen world? What type of persons do we need to be possessed by "the obedience of faith"?

Have wonderful evenings as you meditate on the Word of God.

Posted by johnwright at 3:47 PM

Within the tradition of the American holiness movement, our readings this week bear special significance. The Isaiah passage, particularly the "highway of holiness", was a special passage for our foremothers and fathers. It might do them honor to focus on the Isaiah passage. Perhaps we can start with the Gospel and then move to the Epistle before concluding with the Isaian passage.

Before reading the Scriptures for this week, read Isaiah 6: 8-13 which speaks of the mission of Isaiah before the establishment of a remnant of Israel through judgment. In the passages, particularly the gospel and Isaiah 35 passage, notice the imagery of "sight" and "hearing".

Matthew 11:2-11

Notice the setting of this saying on John the Baptist -- John's imprisonment before his execution. Jesus first responds to John's disciples -- what does he mean by his answer? Why is it that the one is blessed who takes no offense at Jesus?

In the second part of the passage, Jesus speaks to a different audience, one that he presumes had gone to the wilderness to see John. Look at Jesus' social and economic analysis. What is the point of his social analysis? What is the point of the last sentence in the passage?

James 5:7-10

What is the point of the exhortation to patience in the James passage? How does this passage help us read the Gospel passage?

Isaiah 35:1-10

This passage seems to move through various stages:

(1) vv. 1-2: What God will do outside those "within" and how the outsiders will see.

(2) vv. 3-4: Exhortation to those "within" as they await what God will do

(3) vv. 5-7: What God will do "within" the insiders

(4) vv. 8-10: The highway of holiness

What is the relationship between these parts? What does the whole passage presuppose about a current situation? How does the movement of the whole passage lead to the highway? What is the purpose of the highway of holiness? How do we find ourselves in Jesus Christ here? What is "Zion" for us? What is the "hope" for the "insiders"? What does "seeing" and "hearing" have to do with reaching the "end" or "goal" of the passage?

In Benedict XVI's Encyclical on Hope helps us see the importance of this hope in the midst of the sufferings on the "highway to holiness" spoken of here in our readings. He writes, "Certainly, on our many sufferings and trials we always need the lesser and greater hopes; a kind of visit, the healing of internal and external wounds, a favourable resolution of a crisis, and so on. . . . In truly great trials, where I must make a definitive decision to place the truth before my own welfare, career and possissions, I need the certitude of that true, great hope of which we have spoken here. For this too we need witnesses who have given themselves totally, so as to show us the way day after day. We need them if we are to prefer goodness to comfort, even in the little choices we face each day, knowing that this is how we live life to the full. . . . . the capacity to suffer for the sake of the truth is the measure of humanity. Yet this capacity to suffer depends on the type and extent of the hope that we bear within us and build upon. The saints were able to make the great journey of human existence [on the highway of holiness] in the way that Christ had done before them, because theywere brimming with hope" (para. 39). How do the passages of our readings structure hope and what does the "highway of holiness" have to do with this hope? How do we allow our faith to be transformed into such "hope"?

Enjoy Diego!!

Posted by johnwright at 1:35 PM

The Second and Third Sundays of Advent turn to the figure of John the Baptist as the one "making the way straight" for the coming of the Messiah. The Fourth Sunday looks to Mary, the Mother of God, as confessed by Christians in the Chalcedonian decree. Of course, both John and Mary do not bear significance in and of themselves, but as they point to the One who is to Come, Jesus Christ. The Isaian text keeps us focused on the past/future that is Jesus Christ. The Epistle gives us exhortation so that our lives might simultaneously reflect and prepare for Christ's coming. We will start with the Gospel, move to Isaiah, and end with Romans.

Matthew 3:1-12

The passage has two sections. First, read vv. 1-6. How does the Isaiah passage quoted, John's message, and John's appear and activities all correspond to each other? All of John's life seems open to the future -- that which is to come, and he seems to see this future in a particular type of way.

It has become stereotypical to criticize the "Pharisees and Sadducees" as the "religious leaders" of Judaism in the time of Jesus. Such does not really fit the description. These were the rulers who ran the Temple economy and made sure that it branched out to the villages. Of course, they learned to run the Temple economy for their own benefit. John is quite harsh in his criticisms -- what is the basis of his criticisms? What does John want out of them? Why does John speak as he does about coming judgment? Who is the one who will judge?

Isaiah 11:1-10

Isaiah 11 comes at the end of a unit in the Book of Isaiah that begins with Isaiah 1 -- look over Isaiah 1 and notice the difference between it and ch. 11. The time frame of ch. 11 is ambiguous -- note it looks to the future. Has this future arrived yet? What are the characteristics of this One who is to Come? What shall he do? What is the imagery that results from his presence/his future coming? What is the relationship between what this "shoot" who the shoot is and what it does in vv. 1-5 and the description of creation that follows as a result in vv. 6-10. How does the two sections of Isaiah correspond to the two sections of the Matthew passage?

Romans 15:4-13

What is the function of the OT from Paul's perspective in Romans? How does this allow us to life in harmony with one another -- an instruction for the congregation, not society in general. What is the purpose of this harmony?

Read the benediction of v. 13. How does it follow from everything else that our passages say?

The passages combine to push us in this Advent season to hope. Hope always presupposes a particularity in that which is the basis and that for which one hopes -- there is no instance of just a general hope. How do these passages define the basis and the content of that for which we hope as believers in Jesus Christ?

Benedict XVI last week released a second Encyclical. In it he writes: "we see as a distinguishing mark of Christians the fact that they have a future: it is not that they know the details of what awaits them, but they know in general terms that their life will not end in emptiness. Only when the future is certain as a positive reality does it become possible to life the present as well. So now we can say: Christianity was not only good news, the communication of a hitherto unknown content. In our language we would say: the Christian message was not only informative; but performative. That means: the Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be known; it is one that makes thnigs happen and is life-changing. The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope liveds differently; the onewho hopes has been granted the gift of a new life."

What is the new life that these passages call us to perform?

Have a blessed Advent!

Posted by johnwright at 12:40 PM