News from Sophia Christi

When I was a child in Catholic school we were taught to adore Jesus not imitate him. Our school library had shelves of books about the saints—mostly martyrs. If you were going to imitate Jesus being killed for your faith seemed the only way to do it unless, of course, you were a priest or a nun. There were lots of books about them, too. Since martyrdom was pretty unlikely in the U.S. in the 50’s, and we were just children (as were our parents, according to the church), we were all reduced to following rules. We didn’t see Jesus as a human being who had questions of his own and had to figure out his life just as we did from one minute to the next. From the fourth century on the Church emphasized Jesus’ divinity almost to the exclusion of his humanity. Some even questioned whether he suffered on the cross since he was God and, the thought went, God can’t suffer. And John’s Gospel had lain the groundwork for believing Jesus knew who he was from the very beginning, knew why he was born and what he came here to do since he was one with the Father. When the Vatican Council began reclaiming the real and legitimate humanity of Jesus we in the church started talking more about his life, what he valued, how he treated those who were suffering, how he challenged the religious authorities and tried to shift their focus from laws and rules to compassion and mercy. He became our teacher and brother, someone ahead of us on the journey who had mastered the ability to love even his persecutors in the most demeaning and painful of circumstances. The emphasis shifted from an over-charged focus on his death and resurrection to the way he lived his life—his compassion, inclusiveness, and non-judgmental love of those inside and outside the social system and religious framework of his time. That ability to remain anchored in the tradition of his people while also stepping outside the rigid mindset of its structures gave him flexibility and perspective. He was able to reinterpret the only Scripture he had through the eyes of his heart, the eyes of a lover and healer focused on bringing health to his world. (more…)