Parsing

So, I went to Mass this past Sunday for the first time in quite a few months. I don't remember when the last time I went to Mass in the US was - and even overseas, I generally went to Protestant services.

It felt stale. For quite some time over the past couple years, I got a lot of comfort out of going. It seemed like some huge remnant of my past that was predictable and soothing in the midst of a lot of change and challenges. I think it felt the way it did this past Sunday for a few reasons:

- I'm starting to feel more comfortable with my life now, and so am less inclined to seek out items from my childhood merely for solace.

- Most of the people there were families. I can't imagine having a family right now. I love my boyfriend very much, and I enjoy being with him and everything we do together - but the thought of settling down that much - getting into that much of a routine, having that much less free time - doesn't appeal to me now. It's likely that it will in several years, but definitely not now.

- The Gospel was parsed out in such a way - leaving out several contextual details that really emphasized the meaning of the whole passage - and then explained in such a way - in a homily ignoring several contextual details that were by some miracle left in - that I felt as though my time at Mass had honestly been wasted. It's so easy to make excuses when there are extenuating reasons for wanting to be at Mass, but with those diminished I felt myself once again very discomforted by the things that drove me away from the Church back when I was a teenager. I've started listening to a podcast entitled "Pray As You Go" each morning on my drive in to work. It's published by the Jesuits, and it is amazing. AND - even more impressive to me - when *they* presented the Gospel with the passage in question, they included the needed context and actually acknowledged what it was saying.

At the bottom, I've included quotations of the Gospel reading from Mass, and of the Podcast reading.

In the Homily at Mass, the priest ignored the entire first paragraph of the Gospel, which is a clear directive from Jesus that says for the Apostles not to get caught up in factions, and NOT TO PERSECUTE OTHER CHRISTIANS WHO DID NOT WORSHIP EXACTLY AS THEY DO. The words are RIGHT THERE. Jesus is like, hey the point is just to be good people, alright? Don't even go there. And, by the way, if you are tempted to go there, you should do everything in your power to prevent yourself from even thinking about going there. What's much more important is how you treat others, and what sorts of ideas you put into other people's heads about what is right and wrong. And, so, if you end up corrupting people in my name or doing the wrong things because your ego gets you too fired up, then that's a much worse problem then someone having a slightly divergent theological belief.

Like I was saying, pre-rant, the priest ignored that bit - the part that *was* included, anyway - and focused his whole time on sin: how easy it is to sin, get caught up in sin, slip into sin, etc. All of which are valid points - but it seemed so superficial. He wasn't asking people to look deep inside and figure out what's reasonable, just, and compassionate - he was talking about how easy it is to stop following the rules of the church - he was basically absolutely contradicting what the gospel actually said. Almost worse, the Gospel itself leaves out something key to the whole thing: Jesus talking about how important it is to let go of ego. The passage taken as a whole shows the Apostles trying to figure out how to be the "best" and trying to compare themselves to others. I think that's all necessary to understand the mindset of the Apostles - and how like them we can be, easily, when we too have the best intentions - and then to get at the heart of what Jesus was actually trying to teach.

My conclusion is that the Biblical Christ is probably the first, or a very early, western Buddhist. I think that sometime I will go through the Bible and write a book explaining very carefully and clearly how it's really a collection of teachings that convey most of the same ideas found in Buddhism, but from a Western worldview. It will be most excellent.

Observe:

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Gospel
Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

At that time, John said to Jesus,
"Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name,
and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."
Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him.
There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name
who can at the same time speak ill of me.
For whoever is not against us is for us.
Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink
because you belong to Christ,
amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,
it would be better for him if a great millstone
were put around his neck
and he were thrown into the sea.
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna,
into the unquenchable fire.
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.
It is better for you to enter into life crippled
than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye
than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,
where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'"
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Podcast Passage:

Mk 9:34-48

But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest.
35
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all."
36
Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them,
37
"Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the one who sent me."
38
John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."
39
Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me.
40
For whoever is not against us is for us.
41
Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.
42
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe (in me) to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
43
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire.

45
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
47
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,
48
where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'

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