Fr. Jeff Loseke

Charity: Divine Love Poured Out

Divine Revelation has shown us that God is a free and total outpouring and exchange of charity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What is more is that He has destined us to share in this great and mysterious exchange of divine love!

by Fr. Jeff Loseke

When most people hear the word charity, they probably associate it with donations for the poor, such as food, clothing, toys, money, and so forth. Others probably think of worthy causes, nonprofit organizations, and tax-deductible donations that help those in need. The problem with these ideas is that they reduce charity to seasonal or occasional acts of goodwill that are drawn from one’s excess resources. Charity, then, becomes a thing—and an optional one at that.

A Christian, however, must approach charity not as a something but as a Someone. Saint John’s first letter attests to the fact that “God is love” (4:8) and that “love is of God” (4:7). In the original language of this letter, the Apostle uses the Greek word agape to describe this kind of love that is divine in origin. The Greek language possesses several different words for love, making the author’s choice to describe God in terms of agape most significant for us. Agape suggests a love that is unconditional and freely given. Traditionally, this has been rendered in Latin as caritas and then into English as charity. This revelation gives our understanding of charity an entirely different dimension: God is charity, and charity is of God (cf. 1 John 4:7-8). We realize that God is selfless, unconditional charity that seeks to pour out Himself for the good of another. Theologically, this divine outpouring is referred to as kenosis, and it remains a central—if not the most central—characteristic of who God is. Indeed, Divine Revelation has shown us that God is a free and total outpouring and exchange of charity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What is more is that He has destined us to share in this great and mysterious exchange of divine love!

God has invited us to share in the eternal banquet of His charity (cf. Revelation 19:7-9). The question remains: How do we respond? At the Last Supper, Jesus connected His own Sacrifice on the Cross to the ritual of the Passover and told His disciples to “do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19). By commanding His disciples to perpetuate His Sacrifice through the Holy Eucharist, Jesus invited them into the participation of His total outpouring of charity. To further demonstrate His desire for them, He gave His disciples an example of charity as He washed their feet and said to them, “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do” (John 13:15). Our response to God’s charity to us is a charitable return of ourselves to Him and to each other. Our gift of self must not be occasional or seasonal. It must not be limited or conditional. It must be continual and relational. We have been called to love as God loves, and that means that we must lay down our lives for others (cf. John 9:15-17). Charity is not an option for the Christian. Charity is a way of life.

The Reverend Jeffery S. Loseke is a Priest of the Archdiocese of Omaha and is currently the pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Gretna, Nebraska. Ordained in 2000, Fr. Loseke holds a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) from the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm in Rome and is working to complete his doctoral degree (Ed.D.) in interdisciplinary leadership through Creighton University in Omaha. In addition to parish ministry, Fr. Loseke has served as a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force, taught high school theology and college-level philosophy, and has been a presenter for various missions, retreats, and diocesan formation days across the country.

Art: The Attainment: The Vision of the Holy Grail to Sir Galahad, Sir Bors, and Sir Perceval by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, 1895-96 (Wikimedia Commons)

A Faith Rooted in History

Through her living Tradition, the Church has preserved and handed down the Sacred Scriptures, the teachings of the Apostles, and the mode for celebrating the Sacraments.

by Fr. Jeff Loseke

As a seminarian in Rome, I used to lead English-speaking pilgrims on a faith-filled tour of St. Peter’s Basilica on a weekly basis. One of the highlights of the Vatican Basilica is the magnificent dome, which rises 448 ft above the floor. It is set directly over the main altar, which itself is set directly over altars from the 7^th to the 12^th centuries on the crypt level of the basilica. These altars themselves are situated directly above another monument from the first century that marks the gravesite of the Apostle Peter. The ancient Roman cemetery that lies beneath St. Peter’s Basilica was unwittingly preserved by Emperor Constantine, when he buried the cemetery in order to create the foundation for the first church built over the site of Peter’s tomb. Excavations carried out between 1939 and 1949 unearthed the ancient cemetery once again and confirmed the Church’s memory that the basilica was indeed built directly over the Apostle’s grave.

As we trace the history of the Church back through the centuries, we are reminded of the truth of St. Paul’s words in his first letter to the Corinthians that the Christian faith has been—and continues to be—passed on from one generation to the next through the lived Tradition: “For I handed on to you… what I also received” (15:3). Through her living Tradition, the Church has preserved and handed down the Sacred Scriptures, the teachings of the Apostles, and the mode for celebrating the Sacraments. In a word, the Church of today continues to do what the Church of the first century did: “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the Apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers” (Acts of the Apostles 2:42).

Because 2,000 years separate us from the days when Jesus Christ walked among us in the flesh, the Christian of today can be tempted to doubt the authenticity of what has been passed down through the centuries by the Church. In fact, this temptation formed, in part, the impetus for the Protestant Reformation 500 years ago—that the Church had fallen off the rails and was in need of a complete overhaul. This is why knowledge of history is so important if we hope to stand strong in the true faith! The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us as part of our human history (cf. John 1:14; Matthew 1:1-25). Even more, Jesus promised that He would remain with His Church until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20), that the Holy Spirit would keep her always in the truth and free from error (John 16:13), and that the power of hell shall never prevail over the Church (Matthew 16:18). Now it is our turn. We must be open to receiving the deposit of faith as it has been passed down to us by the Church for centuries. In this way, we ourselves become a part of the living history of the Church. Then, and only then, do we participate in its authentic transmission to the next generation of believers. Truly, “we hold this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Corinthians 4:7) and so we must take great care with it.

Photo: St. Peter’s Basilica, Dome, 2014 (Wikimedia Commons)

The Terrible Beauty of God’s Love

Despite our complete inadequacy before God, we know that He desires that we open up ourselves in order to give ourselves to Him to the best of our abilities—even if it falls short. Love requires an openness that makes one vulnerable.

by Fr. Jeff Loseke

There is nothing more beautiful—and more terrifying—than to reflect upon the love of God. God’s love is so beautiful and so terrifying because God’s love is utterly real. It is not merely an emotion, a thought, or an ideal. Rather, the love of God is His very self. To stand before the love of God is to stand before Him who made us and who knows us better than we could ever know ourselves. Despite our complete inadequacy before God, we know that He desires that we open up ourselves in order to give ourselves to Him to the best of our abilities—even if it falls short. Love requires an openness that makes one vulnerable.

As human beings, we do such a good job covering up our weaknesses and donning various armors and defense mechanisms all for the sake of protecting our weak and vulnerable selves. On the one hand, we desire love and intimacy. On the other hand, we want to remain in control. We struggle with weakness—both in ourselves and in others. We are often perturbed by our own lack of strength and fortitude, and we are not always gentle and understanding with the weaknesses and shortcomings of others. And so, as an antidote, we must look to the Cross.

The Cross of Jesus Christ is God’s most perfect communication of His love for us. On the Cross, Jesus chose to become weak, broken, despised, and even forgotten. What an act of faith to look at Jesus’ Cross and see God there! To the nonbeliever, one would see only a criminal, beaten beyond recognition, guilty of treason, and left to die on an instrument of profound humiliation and torture. He is a loser, defeated… and yet, in that total emptying of self, He gives all, and He gains all. This is the truth about love, which makes little sense to our secular society that is driven primarily by feelings, emotions, and personal desires.

To understand and relish the truth about love requires one to spend time studying, digesting, and even entering into a relationship with the truth. I use the word relationship to highlight this reality because if God is truth, then to know and relish the truth is to know and relish one’s relationship with God. That relationship, however, ought not to collapse in on itself, however. Therefore, to translate the truth into the way one lives his or her life is necessary for love to be complete. Love must bear fruit, give life, and bring people together. It must be relational, fruitful, and affect the way we live our lives—for God and for others. This is the mystery of love, the mystery of God, and the mystery of the human person. To be open and vulnerable before another in total self-gift is to be real. This is what makes God’s love both beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

Art: Christ, helped by angels, decorates the believer’s heart wit, 2014 (Wikimedia Commons)

Only the Sinless Enjoy True Freedom

As we approach our nation’s Independence Day, we have much for which to be grateful. Fundamentally, our gratitude stems from the recognition that the blessings we enjoy in this country do not come from ourselves.

by Fr. Jeff Loseke

Whenever we read or watch the world news, we are reminded just how uncommon the freedom is that we possess and celebrate here in the United States. There are countless many people across our globe who yearn to be able to live in peace and to pursue happiness in their own homelands, and there are countless others who would risk even their own lives to come to America to experience it. As we approach our nation’s Independence Day, we have much for which to be grateful. Fundamentally, our gratitude stems from the recognition that the blessings we enjoy in this country do not come from ourselves. It was someone else’s sacrifice, someone else’s struggle that won the independence we so cherish. As Christians, we can give thanks further for the ultimate gift of freedom that was purchased for us by Jesus’ one Sacrifice on the Cross. His Sacrifice fulfills all others, and, moreover, it infuses all other sacrifices with the power to defeat evil. Not only are we given the gift of freedom, but we are invested with its responsibility as well. All those who have been baptized are now sharers in the work of Christ in bringing this freedom of salvation to the whole world (cf. Col 1:24).

The idea of “freedom”, however, often gets muddled in our increasingly individualistic society, and many understand it to mean: the ability to do whatever one chooses. On the contrary, “freedom” is more precisely defined as: the ability to choose the good. As a people redeemed by Christ’s Sacrifice on the Cross, we have been set free from the tyranny of sin and death… if only we cooperate with Him through the choices we make and the lives we live (cf. Gal 5:1). When we choose the good, we enjoy true freedom. When we give in to temptation and choose evil, we become slaves to sin and lose the freedom won for us by Jesus’ Precious Blood. The greater the freedom, the greater the responsibility. We must recognize in our Independence Day celebrations that not only do we enjoy many freedoms, but also we have many responsibilities. Liberty always comes at the price of someone’s blood: for our nation it was the blood of many brave soldiers, for humanity it was the Blood of the Son of God.

The picnics and parades and family gatherings around the barbecue this coming week help us to appreciate what we possess in freedom and also serve to draw us out of our individualism into the communion we have with one another. They also remind us of our responsibilities to each another. While no one of us may be able to bring about peace in the Middle East or resolve the problems of the whole world, we can make our little corners of the world better places to live. To that end, we must reflect upon our own areas of responsibility—home, community, workplace, etc.—and recommit to making those places free of sin and temptation. By extending the victory of the Cross, we extend boundaries of freedom itself.

Art: Flags by Childe Hassam, 1918 (Wikimedia Commons)

The “Jesus Fish”: It’s All Greek to Me

Since Greek was the unofficial language of the time, it, therefore, became the first language of Christianity—so much so that the entire New Testament was originally written in Greek.

by Fr. Jeff Loseke

Today, the most recognizable symbol of Christianity is a cross. This once-popular method of execution by the Romans was forever changed after Jesus conquered His own crucifixion by rising from the dead. Interestingly, the cross was not one of the principal symbols the first Christians used to identify themselves as followers of Jesus, however. Why not? Probably because it was far too obvious. To publicly declare oneself a Christian, especially during the 2^nd and 3^rd centuries, was a crime punishable by death. While many believers publicly professed their faith when pressed to do so, they were not necessarily in the habit of volunteering such information. This was by no means an act of cowardice, but rather an act of prudence.

Rather than openly advertise their Christian beliefs with a cross, they utilized less obvious, though deeply meaningful symbols to identify themselves to one another. For example, they would impose the Greek letters Chi (X) and Rho (P) atop one another in the now familiar traditional symbol for Christ. They did so because these are the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ. Incidentally, this is why the letter Chi (X) is used even today as an abbreviation for Christ (e.g., Xmas for Christmas, Xianity for Christianity, etc.). Another common ancient Christian symbol—often seen today on the backs of vehicles—is the fish. This clever innovation, used by our Christian ancestors, makes an acronym out of the first letters of the phrase, “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior,” which spell “ichthus,” the Greek word for “fish”. Thus, the symbol came to represent Christians in the first centuries.

So why all this Greek in early Christianity? Under the Roman Empire, while Latin was spoken as the official language, Greek was more commonly spoken among its subjects. Indeed, many of the Jews of the Diaspora spoke Greek better than they did Hebrew. These Greek-speaking Jews, along with Greek-speaking pagans, became the more likely candidates for conversion to Christianity than many of the Hebrew-speaking Jews of Israel. Since Greek was the unofficial language of the time, it, therefore, became the first language of Christianity—so much so that the entire New Testament was originally written in Greek. This is why we hear Jesus describe Himself in Revelation as “the Alpha and the Omega,” the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Furthermore, even the liturgy pays homage to our Greek-speaking roots by retaining one of the oldest titles for Jesus in its original Greek: Kurios, which means “Lord”. Remember, in order to avoid uttering the Holy Name of God unnecessarily, faithful Jews would substitute the title “Lord” for God’s Name. By using this same title, the first Christians were professing that Jesus Christ is the same Lord, the same God of Israel. It is Greek we speak, not Latin, when we say, “Kyrie, eleison. Christe, eleison. Kyrie, eleison.”

Art: Hörnse kyrka auf Gotland. Chorportal: Fische by Wolfgang Sauber, 2007 (Wikimedia Commons)

Making an Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart

by Fr. Jeff Loseke

This Friday, June 23^rd, is the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. On the one hand, it is a feast day that reminds us of God’s great love for His people; at the same time, it is a feast that acknowledges humanity’s failure to love God fully in return. Without the Savior loving both us and the Father to the end, we would not be redeemed. Not only did Jesus willingly lay down His life for our salvation, but also He allowed His very heart to be pierced by a lance. With that final act of man’s rejection of the Father’s love, God could have poured out judgment upon the centurion and upon the whole world for the death of His Son. Instead, God willed that blood and water—symbols of the Eucharist and Baptism—should flow from Christ’s wounded Heart to bring healing and conversion to sinful humanity. No matter how many times humanity has offended and rejected God, He has always been ready to meet us with mercy and forgiveness.

The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart, then, is a fitting day for the whole Church to offer an Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart for the many sins committed against the love of God. Certainly, upon the Cross, Christ the Head has offered the one Sacrifice that redeems humanity. Nevertheless, as members of His Body, we recognize that each of us is called to make atonement for sin so that the whole Christ—Head and members—are united in the work of salvation. With St. Paul, we ought to be able to say: “In my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of His Body, which is the Church” (Col 1:24). The Blessed Virgin Mary already shows us how to do this. She is the type and model of the Church’s participation in the work of salvation, for she stands beneath the Cross of her Son and unites her Immaculate Heart to His Sacred Heart.

In this week between the Solemnities of Corpus Christi and the Most Sacred Heart, every Catholic ought to be especially aware of his or her participation in the work of salvation and, in communion with Jesus Christ and the whole Church, strive to offer oneself to the Father in reparation for sin. I encourage each member of the Body of Christ to offer the Act of Reparation (see below) in these days leading up to the feast of the Sacred Heart. Hopefully, on the day itself, pastors will lead their people in a public recitation of this Act of Reparation. Indeed, the Church grants a plenary indulgence to the Christian faithful who publicly recite the “Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart” on the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. (In all other cases and at all other times, the indulgence is partial.) In order to merit a plenary indulgence—either for oneself or for one who has died—the following conditions must be met: (1) Be free of all attachment to sin, even venial sin; (2) Perform the indulgenced work; and (3) Receive sacramental Confession, Holy Communion, and pray for the Pope’s intentions (e.g., by reciting an Our Father and a Hail Mary) within several days (about 20) before or after carrying out the indulgenced work. (Only one plenary indulgence may be merited per day. One sacramental Confession will suffice for several plenary indulgences; however, a separate Communion and separate prayers for the Holy Father’s intentions are required for each plenary indulgence.)

Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart (from The Handbook of Indulgences)

Most loving Jesus, how great is the love which You have poured out upon the world. How casual and careless is our response! Kneeling before You, we wish to atone for the indifference and the slights which pierce You to the heart.