Renard shares his review of @ThePostFilm #ThePost #Spielberg #MerylStreep #TomHanks https://t.co/sCyxEAELr0— JPCatholic (@JPCatholic) January 12, 2018
The ninth chapter of the First Book of Samuel describes the journey of Saul that leads to his anointing as commander king of Israel.
* [9:22–24] At this ritual meal, Samuel treats the youthful Saul as if he were already king. Saul receives the part of the sacrificed animal reserved for the priest and his family, perhaps the sheep’s fat tail. Legal texts (Ex 29:22; Lv 3:9; 7:3–4) require the priest to burn this portion of the sheep on the altar.Jesus is the physician to those outcast in the account of the call of Levi from the Gospel of Mark.
* [2:14] As he passed by: see note on Mk 1:16–20. Levi, son of Alphaeus: see note on Mt 9:9. Customs post: such tax collectors paid a fixed sum for the right to collect customs duties within their districts. Since whatever they could collect above this amount constituted their profit, the abuse of extortion was widespread among them. Hence, Jewish customs officials were regarded as sinners (Mk 2:16), outcasts of society, and disgraced along with their families. He got up and followed him: i.e., became a disciple of Jesus.
Eileen Burke-Sullivan examines the unexpected actions of calling Saul and Levi and asks: Is it possible that God is inviting, calling, cajoling us to come join HIS enterprise of saving the world?
It is not only possible . . . it is the promise and fulfillment of all that is important about being human. Saul and Levi can help us see that as ordinary as we might be, God has great things in mind for us. Things far more important than any petty pursuit of our own. Let’s go – it is a new year and a new opportunity to become what we were born to be. “This will be a sign for you, that the Lord has anointed you . . .The Catholic Culture website describes the life of St. Hilary of Poitiers (310-367), one of the great champions of the Catholic belief in the divinity of Christ, who may be memorialized in the Liturgy today.
Here is an example of Hilary's vigorous style: "Now it is time to speak, the time for silence is past. We must expect Christ's return, for the reign of Antichrist has begun. The shepherds must give the warning signals because the hirelings have fled. Let us lay down our lives for the sheep, for brigands have entered the fold and the roaring lion is rampaging about. Be ready for martyrdom! Satan himself is clothed as an angel of light." A favorite motto of St. Hilary was Ministros veritatis decet vera proferre, "Servants of the truth ought speak the truth."Mick LaSalle is The San Francisco Chronicle’s movie critic who identifies a current Steven Spielberg film, The Post, that resonates with the motto of St. Hilary to speak the truth through the actions of an unlikely hero.
Finally, it hardly needs to be said, and yet it needs to be acknowledged, that everyone connected with the film was thinking about the story in terms of today’s events. “The Post” was filmed in a hurry — principal photography began at the end of May — with the intention of celebrating an institution and a profession under constant attack by the present administration. As such, “The Post” is not just a pretty good Spielberg picture, but mainstream Hollywood’s first response to life in the Trump era — the trickle before the flood.Don Schwager quotes Gregory of Nazianzus (330 - 390 AD) on the disposition that no physician can avoid the arena of sickness. This resonates with the declaration of Pope Francis that the shepherd must smell like the sheep.
"When Jesus is attacked for mixing with sinners, and taking as his disciple a despised tax collector, one might ask: What could he possibly gain by doing so? (Luke 15:2) Only the salvation of sinners. To blame Jesus for mingling with sinners would be like blaming a physician for stooping down over suffering and putting up with vile smells in order to heal the sick." (excerpt from ORATION 45, ON HOLY EASTER 26)
Carol Glatz of the Catholic News Service reports on a homily of Pope Francis given to priests.
“This is what I am asking you,” he said with emphasis, looking up from his prepared text, “be shepherds with the smell of sheep,” so that people can sense the priest is not just concerned with his own congregation, but is also a fisher of men.Friar Jude Winkler discusses the background to the encounter of Samuel with Saul and the role of Kings of Israel as messiahs anointed with the sacred oil to be God’s representative. The last thing needed is more alienation of the outcast. Friar Jude notes this happens when we keep a distance from sinners fearing a contagion of sin.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares a centering prayer practice of Thomas Keating and recalls comments from William Blake and Thomas Merton as he offers a summary of Contemplative Consciousness, a discipline in which he notes “Yes, the truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.”
Thomas Keating teaches a beautifully simple exercise. Imagine yourself sitting on the bank of a river. The river is your stream of consciousness. Observe each of your thoughts coming along as if they’re saying, “Think me, think me.” Watch your feelings come by saying, “Feel me, feel me.” Acknowledge that you’re having the feeling or thought. Don’t hate it, judge it, critique it, or move against it. Simply name it: “resentment toward so and so,” “a thought about such and such.” Then place it on a boat and let it go down the river. When another thought arises—as no doubt it will—welcome it and let it go, returning to your inner watch place on the bank of the river.
Our journey in search of meaning and values like truth is the place of our transformation to disciples who are anointed by the Spirit to speak truthfully as we witness to our solidarity with the outcast and the other.
