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Plain Talk
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Written by Rick Potts, C.Ss.R.
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When Jesus was born, Bethlehem was an occupied city subject to Roman authority. Its inhabitants’ movements were restricted. In fact, the census that brought the Holy Family there had been ordered by a foreign power. No wonder the people of Bethlehem couldn’t wait for the coming of the Messiah, for the Prince of Peace who would drive the oppressors from their land and usher in freedom.
Today, Christian and Muslim Palestinians have the same hopes. They long to be free in their own homeland. They hope for justice and peace.
What happens when the oppressed become the oppressors? |
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Plain Talk
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Written by Rick Potts, C.Ss.R.
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Think about it—when was the last time you sat down and read your Bible? Most Catholics own a Bible (it’s sad to think, but some don’t), but many don’t read it, much less study it. So in October 2009, Pope Benedict held a synod on holy Scripture. One outcome of the synod was a reminder that one of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council was that Catholics should read the Bible.
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Plain Talk
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Written by Rick Potts, C.Ss.R.
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This month’s column won’t upset anyone —April Fool!
Many years ago a young woman approached me after Mass. She was very upset that in my homily I had used a feminine pronoun to refer to God. She said the Bible clearly uses he for God; therefore, God must be male. Jesus was both God and man; therefore, God must be male.
I quickly retorted that the Holy Spirit is often portrayed as a dove. Does that make God a bird? That stopped her mid sentence. Then she said, “I’m going to have to think about that one. Thanks, Father.”
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Plain Talk
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Written by Rick Potts, C.Ss.R.
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Seven minutes into a fifteen-minute stress test, the nurse told me to stop. Before I knew what was happening, the room filled with nurses and doctors. Forty-eight hours later I was lying on a surgical table with my chest split open.
For two months I’d been having occasional chest pains when I exercised. I knew I should call my doctor, but I had a mission, meetings, deadlines, vacation. And part of me didn’t want to know the reason for the pain.
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Plain Talk
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Written by Rick Potts, C.Ss.R.
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When I was in the seminary, my Presbyterian calculus teacher threw a big Christmas party at her house each year. She had a huge Hummel nativity set, from which the figure of Mary was always conspicuously absent. Being good Catholic seminarians, we would find Mary and restore her to her proper place next to baby Jesus. One year someone put Mary on a small pedestal and rigged a spotlight on her. It was nice that it annoyed our teacher, but it seemed a little much, even to us.
In Scripture, Mary always points to Jesus and away from herself. She is the lowly “handmaid,” the servant of God. At the wedding feast of Cana, in what was probably Mary’s boldest moment, she tells the servants, “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:1). She could have just told them to get the stone water jars. Instead, she told them, Follow Jesus. Be obedient to him. |
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Plain Talk
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Written by Rick Potts, C.Ss.R.
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To know me is to love me, and to love me is to accept all my stuff. Just ask any guy who has had the “privilege” of living with me—and all my junk.
Yes, I admit it. I’m a pack rat. I save stuff. My intentions are good: I always think I’m going to need it at some future time that never seems to arrive, or that I’m keeping it until I can give it to just the right person I never seem to meet.
During my recuperation last year I watched a lot of the TV show Clean House, hoping I’d learn a few things. And I did: I learned I sure am glad I’m not like those people, because they have real problems. |
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Plain Talk
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Written by Rick Potts, C.Ss.R.
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Back in the day, if your New Orleans cabdriver dropped you at the corner of Constance and Josephine for Mass, you had three Catholic churches to choose from. Yes, the Redemptorists ran three separate parishes on the same street corner: one Irish, one German, and one French.
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