Father Denny Dempsey

A Personal Creed

From the Latin Credo meaning "I believe", creeds express the central beliefs of the Christian community. Most of us, as kids, memorized the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed from saying it each Sunday at Mass.

I have other beliefs, related to but not stated in those formal creeds, that underlie and give shape to my personal faith life and my ministry as your pastor. I realized the other day that I had never formally written them down, but the celebration of Christ the King, signaling the end of the liturgical year, seemed a fitting time. And so, my amendments to the formal creeds…a personal creed.

I believe God has a plan for all of history from start to finish, and that every one of us who ever lived or will live has a part in that plan. I believe God knew every good deed and every sin of my life before I was born, yet that knowledge doesn’t mean God determined them to happen like some divine computer program. That would make God schizophrenic, wanting me to be good while being responsible for my sins. No, I believe God gave us the free will to choose to follow or reject God’s will…but God’s total plan is expansive enough to take into account the set-backs caused by our sins, even huge sins like genocide and millions of abortions…and that God can transform those sins into catalysts for repentance, forgiveness, and more profound dedication to good.

First Sunday of Advent B November 30, 2008

Gospel, Mark 13:33-37  When will the Second Coming of Jesus take place? As the apostles continued staring up to the skies following Jesus’ ascension, angels appeared and told them, “This Jesus who has been taken up from you will return in the same way you have seen him going up to heaven” (Acts 1:11). Early Christians believed Jesus’ return would take place within a few years if not months. That’s why those who joined the first Christian community at Jerusalem sold what they had and put their money in the common pot. They felt sure that Jesus would return before the money ran out. The passing time was a challenge both to their financial situation and their faith. If Jesus wasn’t returning, something which the early preaching had led them to believe, how true were the other things they had been taught about him? That is why Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus who sold a piece of property and put the whole amount in the pot, was given the nickname “Barnabas” meaning “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36-37). Paul took up a collection for that community during his missionary journeys. He wanted to support the faith of the Jerusalem community in the return of Jesus. John Mark wrote his gospel, the first of the four to be written, as a member of Peter’s missionary team. The teaching of the return of Jesus undoubtedly was part of Peter’s preaching the message of Jesus Christ. Twenty-some years after the ascension, however, Christian leaders were wrestling with Jesus’ “delay”. They thought back to any indications Jesus may have given them. What they recalled was included in passages such as today’s gospel selection. We don’t know when Jesus will return, so keep alert on watch and ready at all times.

Christ the King November 23, 2008

Gospel, Matthew 25:31-46  In this assembly of all nations, not just believers in Jesus but all people, the determination of one’s eternal destination is based on love of others. What about faith? There is no mention of it here as a prerequisite or condition for eternal life although in John 3:18 we read: “Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned.” Doesn’t that seem to give a different guideline for final judgment? Yet, the same John wrote in his first letter (1 John 3:15) “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer and no murderer has eternal life”, this in a letter emphasizing the importance of loving one another.

The Matthew text follows the passage in which the man who did not put his talent to use for God is cast out into the darkness. Previously, Matthew had presented a number of scenarios in which Jesus was confronted by Pharisees and other Jewish groups. Jesus’ main issue with his opponents was their focus on observing details of the law while neglecting the love and care of others. In this judgment scene, Jesus turns the focus away from orthodoxy (right teachings) to orthopraxis (right living). Does he do so to the exclusion of beliefs?

There was a lot of confusion in the early church what is essential to receive the gift of eternal life. Paul often spoke of salvation coming through faith (Romans 3) yet also emphasized that, when it came down to the great triad of faith, hope and love, the “greatest of these is love” (a Cor. 13:13). Not everyone understood Paul on this point. Peter wrote (2 Peter 3:14-16) about Paul’s letters, “in them there are some things hard to understand that the ignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction”. The connection between faith and loving service of others was a major theme of the letter of James, written quite clearly as a response to people who thought faith in the head was sufficient. As with many other questions for which we seek answers in the scriptures, we do best to look beyond isolated texts to see statements in context and in combination with other passages. The Catholic Church considered the topic of who can receive eternal life during the Second Vatican Council in the 1960’s. Our Church’s official teaching is stated in paragraphs 14 through 16 of “Lumen Gentium”, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. People have a responsibility of seeking the truth about God and God’s will and then responding by living God’s will to the best of one’s ability.

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time A November 16, 2008

Gospel, Matthew 25:14-30  Don’t think that the man who received only one talent was given a paltry sum. Conversion ratios varied but, at the time of Jesus, the most likely ratios were as follows:

Denarius A Roman coin of 3.8 grams of silver, it was the laborer’s daily wage (Matthew 20:1-16) and the coin used to pay the head tax (Matthew 22:15-21).

Shekel Worth four denarii, the shekel was a Jewish coin that was mentioned often in the Old Testament but not once in the New Testament.

Mina An amount equal to 60 shekels.

Talent An amount equal to 60 mina.

According to Josephus, a Jewish historian in the years after the ministry of Jesus, these were the common weights used in Judea and Syria at that time. Using these conversion ratios, a talent was worth 14,400 denarii or 54,720 grams of silver (at 40 cents per gram, an average of recent silver prices, $21,888). One talent was enough to finance a rather sizeable project in wages and commodity costs of the day. Since our English word “talent” actually comes from this very bible text, we can easily transfer the meaning of the text from money to be invested to gifts given us by God. The point is that all we are and have is directly or indirectly given us by God. Although we may think and speak of our talents, our gifts and abilities, our money and possessions, they ultimately are not ours in a sense of ownership but investments God has made in us for stewardship. The gifts we have received, in particular that of our faith, are given not to be buried but to be put to use. The expression “use it or lose it” certainly applied to the one who buried his talent. In our faith and application of our talents as God’s stewards, the saying applies to us as well.

Dedication of St. John Lateran November 9, 2008

Gospel, John 2:13-22  Today’s celebration commemorates the dedication of a building for worship of God through Jesus Christ. When Constantine legalized Christianity, he entrusted the property of his in-laws, the Lateran family, to the bishop of Rome in the early 4th century. The property contained a palace and an adjoining basilica, a large public building, which became the center for worship and church gatherings. The official dedication took place on this date in 324 A.D. The building has been restructured over the centuries and rededicated twice, once to St. John the Baptist and later to St. John the Evangelist…thus the name St. John Lateran. It is the cathedral of the diocese of Rome of which the pope is bishop.

The three readings selected for this celebration refer to temples dedicated to God, that of Jerusalem and that built of the living stones of Christian believers. The temple Jesus entered was the third and last in Jerusalem. The original constructed by Solomon was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. The second was built under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah during the reconstruction of Jerusalem following the return of the exiles from Babylonia. This temple and the surrounding temple mount area was rebuilt and expanded by Herod the Great beginning around 19 B.C. to accommodate the huge crowds visiting Jerusalem during Passover and other major feasts. It was the crowning touch of his many architectural ventures. This temple was destroyed by the Romans during a Jewish rebellion around 68 A.D. and was never rebuilt. Today part of the outside wall is within Jewish territory, a section of which is known as the “Wailing Wall”. Two Moslem mosques have been built up above on the temple mount. The worship and sacrifices in the temple were never halted during the construction period which encompassed many years. Final touches and adornment of the temple were still being carried out during the time of Jesus’ public ministry.

On ascending the stairs to the temple area, the visitor came into the huge Court of the Gentiles, so named because even non-Jews were permitted in this area. Nearly 100,000 people could fit into this area where visitors could witness the splendor of hundreds of instruments and voices which accompanied daily hours of worship. At other times it was used for teaching God’s word. Rabbis situated themselves around the perimeter of the court area to teach and debate the meaning of God’s word with those who gathered around them. During the Passover, when people brought thousands of animals to the temple for ritual sacrifice, the priests permitted some livestock merchants (probably for a healthy percentage of profits) to sell animals in the Court of the Gentiles adjacent to the area where animals were turned over to the priests for sacrifice. Money changers were also permitted in the area so people coming with coins bearing images of gods could exchange them for coins acceptable for contributions at the temple (a high percentage of the temple’s annual income was received during Passover, similar to Christian churches’ experience at Christmas and Easter). While there was a logic to allowing the livestock sellers and money changers to be where they could be of service to the people, it became practically impossible for rabbis to teach in the Court of the Gentiles during the Passover celebration. Jesus was determined to do so, and so he drove them out of the area which became his center for preaching to crowds of hundreds or thousands during the final days leading up to his arrest.