BIBLE.
This Saturday I had fun playing Moot Court Supreme Court Judge at Howard law school for the American Constitution Society. Its fun seeing the world from the other side of the bench.
We had to judge the Petitioners and Respondents on a variety of factors related to their arguments. Some argued "on brief" and others argued "off brief." The former means that they argued what they wrote in their briefs, and thus were likely more familiar with the cases, and the later means that they take the other side and argue for the opposite essentially of what they wrote. Being a good lawyer means knowing all sides of the argument so this is a good skill to develop; being able to argue on and off brief- while in the real world you would only present the argument that served your client.
Do you see where this is going yet? Ever sit in on a homily or sermon and the speaker spent the entire time talking about something other than the reading or anything tied to scripture? I will now call such an argument "off brief." These can be interesting or amusing stories, anecdotes made to prove a point or presumed moral lesson, or they may be really "off" the mark.
The consequences for homilies or sermons "off brief" however are much deeper and serious than the Supreme Court moot court arguments- because God wrote the Brief. Arguing Off Brief, can be really just Off God.
Take for example a nameless student who delivered a "homily" in which he actually mocked the commandment "Love Your Neighbor As Yourself" as being the valid basis for a sermon for reasons that still are not clear. The bible, the living word of God, sharper than a two edged sword, good for instruction and reproof, tells us that this is the sum of ALL the law and ALL the prophets- "Love Your Neighbor as Yourself" which is the second greatest commandment, second only to the first and flowing directly out of the mandate to "love the Lord your God with all your Heart, Mind, Soul and Strength." It is the greatest Five Word Sermon ever uttered by Jesus himself "Love Your Neighbor as Yourself." That would be the brief. There is no finer author. Arguing its trivialization or inapplicability is arguing "off brief." Way Off Brief.
There is an emphasis in Catholic tradition on the pre-eminence of the ability of priests to consecrate the Eucharist as the "source and summit" of all the faith-because Jesus comes to earth in actual physical form. This however is also not found in the Brief but has been historically extrapolated from it. What is found in the Brief is that the Lord commands that we Love him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and our neighbor as ourselves. If loving the Eucharist is a manifestation of this love of him, because he is actually present in the eucharist, this satisfied in part the first commandment, but NEVER excuses the second.
I say that this only partially meets the first command because God is bigger than a breadbox and demands that we love him in the people who are the vessels and temples of his Holy Spirit with the same vigor and strength that we love him in his transubstantiated flesh and blood. It goes into a person for the purpose of transubstantiating the person into Christ so that he dwells within them as they conform more to his likeness, image and holiness. Thus elevating the eucharist and demeaning the person receiving it at the same time are inconsistent logically and theologically. Way Way Off Brief.
A Priest who dresses in the finest embroidery, even says the most eloquent consecration, who is a total schmuck when off the altar is not only a bad priest but a bad christian and a stumbling block to people looking to see Christ in the people posing as him. Nowhere does Jesus say that the Eucharist consecration is a free schmuck pass to be an imperious jerk to anyone. I don't care if he has ten initials after his last name, or teaches at a Seminary or wrote a hundred theological treatises.
Slanderers will not enter the kingdom of heaven. There is no free slander pass for Priests.
Just like there is no free fornication pass for the Priests, no free drunkards pass for Priests and no free idolaters pass for Priests.
Arguing Off Brief is dangerous. To the speaker.
No comments:
Post a Comment