My Catholic theological training at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio has led me to believe that the stories of scripture intersect with each of our lives at some point. This particular instant materializes as an inflection point confronting us as a moment of decision. Ignoring the moment brings no grace. Deciding for the moment ushers in God’s mercy creating space for new life and blessing to exist[1] unleashing a great amount of potential endeavoring towards some meaningful and worthwhile work that builds up the kingdom of God. This moment of conversion in my life made real the space needed for new life to emerge and blessing to abound. I consider the energy and imagination and determination set free within me at this juncture between the word of God and my life as a gift of mercy from God. Many years ago, the scripture that captured my young and fanciful imagination was the book of Tobit. The first two chapters were especially riveting.
Chapter 1: 3 I, Tobit, have walked all the days of my life on paths of fidelity and righteousness. I performed many charitable deeds for my kindred and my people who had been taken captive with me to Nineveh, in the land of the Assyrians.
16 In the days of Shalmaneser I had performed many charitable deeds for my kindred, members of my people. 17 I would give my bread to the hungry and clothing to the naked. If I saw one of my people who had died and been thrown behind the wall of Nineveh, I used to bury him. 18 Sennacherib returned from Judea, having fled during the days of the judgment enacted against him by the King of Heaven because of the blasphemies he had uttered; whomever he killed I buried. For in his rage he killed many Israelites, but I used to take their bodies away by stealth and bury them. So when Sennacherib looked for them, he could not find them. 19 But a certain Ninevite went and informed the king about me, that I was burying them, and I went into hiding. When I realized that the king knew about me and that I was being hunted to be put to death, I became afraid and took flight. 20 All my property was confiscated; I was left with nothing. All that I had was taken to the king’s palace, except for my wife Anna and my son Tobiah.
Chapter 2: 1 Under King Esarhaddon I returned to my home, and my wife Anna and my son Tobiah were restored to me. Then on our festival of Pentecost, the holy feast of Weeks, a fine dinner was prepared for me, and I reclined to eat. 2 The table was set for me, and the dishes placed before me were many. So I said to my son Tobiah: “Son, go out and bring in whatever poor person you find among our kindred exiled here in Nineveh who may be a sincere worshiper of God to share this meal with me. Indeed, son, I shall wait for you to come back.” 3 Tobiah went out to look for some poor person among our kindred, but he came back and cried, “Father!” I said to him, “Here I am, son.” He answered, “Father, one of our people has been murdered! He has been thrown out into the market place, and there he lies strangled.” 4 I sprang to my feet, leaving the dinner untouched, carried the dead man from the square, and put him in one of the rooms until sundown, so that I might bury him. 5 I returned and washed and in sorrow ate my food. 6 I remembered the oracle pronounced by the prophet Amos against Bethel:
“I will turn your feasts into mourning,
and all your songs into dirges.”
7 Then I wept. At sunset I went out, dug a grave, and buried him. 8 My neighbors mocked me, saying: “Does he have no fear? Once before he was hunted, to be executed for this sort of deed, and he ran away; yet here he is again burying the dead!” (NAB)
Theological studies along with my work and relationship with the Catholic Worker House of San Antonio and its clients who are homeless illuminated the scripture’s call and, thus, God’s call, to care for the poor and the outsider in a way that, for me, did not exist before. The reality of being with real outsiders changed the way I read the book of Tobit when I was younger. Now I understand it is the story of a good man with natural tendencies to help others who were hungry to eat and who were naked to be clothed. Whenever he encountered wrongs, he stood in opposition to the wrong and worked to correct it. When his king perpetrated the unjust killing of Tobit’s people and leaving them unburied outside the city’s wall, Tobit secretly went and buried the bodies. He does not remain silently opposed to the injustices against his people; rather, he takes action to put things right. Eventually, he loses the favor of his king and enters a forced exile for a period of time. Upon his restoration, he knows that his life will once again be threatened if he resumes his habit of burying the dead; however, Tobit remains undeterred and continues to dignify those whom no one will bury.
For several decades, this story hibernated within me awakening with a start at the moment of the funeral of my father.
I journeyed into the Prayer on a Monday evening. The lifeless body of my father had been cold for nearly four days. The sense of loss grew as the chores of finalizing the funeral took on a life of their own and I was left with nothing to do. The swirling events were out of my hands in much the same way as were the final days of my father’s life. I journeyed into the Prayer that evening with everybody else in the name of our Father appealing to our Mother to shepherd his soul into eternity. Belief in heavenly life was firm but I could not see it. There was so much living left to do. Instead, presently, I know only pain and tears and loss. The Prayer continued as his body rested in the Church. Many friends offered to journey in that place to keep the Prayer alive throughout the night.
The next day’s duties called early and I waited in line to say good-bye one last time again. Looking at my father’s inanimate body, I desperately sought to understand how my father could be alive with God but dead here. The stories of the bible and the homily of hope rang hollow. Did I even believe them anymore? Is not what I witness the truth? I resisted going deeper into the journey…into the Prayer…and faith faltered. God would have a lot of explaining to do.
The journey abruptly changed course when the Prayer suddenly and unexpectedly intensified with the advent of the Eucharistic liturgy. We began to do well always and everywhere in thanksgiving. Seamlessly, our voices joined with the heavenly hosts acclaiming Hosanna in the Highest as the Body and the Blood were made present with all of the angels and saints. This was surreal. Hanging my head, the uncertainty grew until we prayed to Our Father to deliver us from temptation to dis-believe.
And then, gazing upward…Behold, the Lamb of God…Blessed are those called to the Supper of the Lamb... Blessed are you who weep now, you will laugh because God-is-with-Us; he will wipe every tear from my eyes.
Radiant and Illuminating Light! Effervescent…Life for those who eat my flesh and drink my blood! Now…embracing the mysteries of the prayer, the light of day broke all around me! A living and eternal spring of joy welled up inside me and I clearly knew, as I never knew before, that my Dad enjoys the fullness of life in a way he did not before. His life is real!
The reality of my father’s life after death heightened my sense of the communion of saints. I saw a church filled with people and angels shepherding, walking with, my father to God. I began to see the relational connectivity between all people and their unity with God regardless of their state of life or being. After the funeral, in a moment of ecstatic euphoria, I exclaimed that all people should be buried in the Church. Almost immediately, I knew that could not happen so I compromised with myself saying at least all people should be buried well. Suddenly, any euphoria left drained away as questions began to prick my conscience. Where do they bury the people who are outside the walls of my city? Where do we bury people who are homeless? Do we treat them as part of the communion of saints like my father was treated?
The reality of a dignified burial illuminated the relationship between the scripture story of Tobit and my encounter with people in San Antonio who are homeless. I stood at an inflection point with this realization. A moment of decision confronted me. Ignoring the moment would bring no grace. Deciding for the moment ushered in God’s mercy creating space for new life and blessing manifested in The Tobit Ministry.
The christocentric nature of the resurrection undergirds The Tobit Ministry’s hope expressed in its mission. The Catholic faith inherent to The Tobit Ministry celebrates this movement from life to death to Life. The Church teaches that all are made for God’s indwelling and the dignity showed toward the body after death offers testimony that even as many die in anonymity their story is known to God and they will live. This is the hope derived from the resurrection of Jesus written in the scriptures.
Encountering scripture stories in the context of merciful works invites those within the experience to place their faith in Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promises toward healed and restored relationships, the very nature of the doctrine of the communion of saints. The work of mercy becomes, both really and effectively, faith in action. In turn, one is drawn into a deeper faith experience of God and all people as children of God. This faith experience is relational and dynamic. The mercy-worker certainly experiences God as the work of mercy progresses. However, in truth God, too, experiences a new relationship with the mercy-worker. The dynamic experienced is circular, in that, as the mercy-worker offers mercy, they experience mercy returned as healed and restored relationships with the initial subject of the work of mercy. More importantly, on another level, a healed and restored relationship between the mercy-worker and God emerges as well. What was once dead and broken experiences new life or resurrection. This mirrors the resurrection of Jesus as humanity is brought into a right or righteous or justified relationship with God.
Probing deeper, the worker of mercy undergoes conversion to God and enters into the Family of God as a person of faith who has experienced story, mercy, and resurrection. In this way, even though the Tobit Ministry immediately concerns itself with the corporal work of mercy of burying the dead, a more far-reaching and life-giving conversion underlies its ministerial purpose. The Tobit Ministry fosters the emergence of authentic conversion through the dynamic fusion of mercy, story, and resurrection.
METHODOLOGY
The method for this paper begins with an examination of mercy and the works of mercy, both, as a path to a deeper relationship with God and the practical work of The Tobit Ministry. Afterwards, the concept of story as a means of transferring knowledge to shape people and communities is discussed; but, more importantly, the power of story to transform identities is deliberated, thus, lending The Tobit Ministry a unique method to foster conversion in the world. Following this, a theological reflection on the resurrection is undertaken to explore the illuminating effect upon mercy and story in the sincere hope of the possibility of conversion to God. Finally, the conclusion of the paper addresses the process of conversion explicated so as to grasp how the ministerial approach of The Tobit Ministry facilitates authentic conversion into the family of God through the concrete application of works of mercy.
MERCY
The Tobit Ministry is devoted to the corporal work of mercy of burying the dead, in particular, the burial of people who are homeless and have no family to bury them when they die. This action constitutes the practical mission of The Tobit Ministry. However, underlying this concrete work, lies a deeper mission engaged with the fostering of conversion for the living who happen upon the ministry. The two-fold end The Tobit Ministry orients itself towards grounds itself in mercy, corporally and spiritually. The Tobit Ministry utilizes the works of mercy to establish a distinct Christian relationship to God while fostering conversion in those who encounter The Tobit Garden.
MERCY: EXEMPLIFIES THE CHRISTIAN’S RELATIONSHIP TO GOD
The works of mercy seek to build “upon our human nature as empathetic loving creatures.”[2] The goodness of relationships orients the Christian social order. Beyond that, though, exists the possibility of being drawn into a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God. Christians act mercifully because
God is merciful to us, and we are called to be merciful to others. Christ exemplified love and mercy to all, and, if we wish to participate in the Divine life, we must open ourselves to the Spirit of mercy and love. Love and mercy are at the core of the Christian good news…the idea that each human being is our neighbor, a fellow child of God, filled with the Spirit, motivates our loving service to one another as though to Christ.[3]
The concern with the relationship between the works of mercy and a life with God traces back to medieval times. According to Thomas Aquinas “the works of mercy are among the theological virtues, that is they belong to those virtues by which humans are ordered to God. Mercy does not belong to the cardinal moral virtues which affect social life and include temperance, justice, prudence, and fortitude.”[4] Thomas’ approach cannot be understated because, today, many believe that works of mercy are specifically linked to the cardinal virtue of justice, that is, that each person receives his due. While Aquinas’ approach declares that mercy is not a cardinal virtue, in truth, mercy is oriented toward justice, but only insofar as the cardinal virtues relate back to the theological virtues. “Since theological virtues are ordered toward God, an interpretation should explain the way the love of neighbor relates to the love of God.”[5] Often times the works of mercy concern themselves with the correct use of goods; however, Thomas’ argument
is a theological argument that the goods of the earth are God’s. They properly belong to God as the creator. Consequently, although some persons have more goods than others, they do not have an absolute ownership of those goods, for that ownership belongs to God. In taking care of one’s neighbor in need, one is distributing God’s creation and goods to those in need.[6]
Through the distribution of goods to those in need, the Christian acts toward the poor as God acts toward all. Creation, made from nothing, is brought forth so all people can share in the goodness of God’s blessings. Works of mercy allow the Christian to act in the name and image of God toward those in need just as their heavenly Father acts towards all God’s children. Furthermore,
this linkage between God’s ownership of the goods of the earth and the works of mercy brings to the fore the Christian conviction expressed in Christian liturgy. The presentation of gifts at the Eucharistic service embodies in liturgical practice the Christian belief that mercy toward the needy expresses the love of God. The goods of God’s creation owed to God were distributed to those in poverty.[7]
In this light, the works of mercy are demonstrated to derive from the theological virtues because the works being offered orient one toward God in service to the needy. Simultaneously, the works of mercy offer a deeper theological understanding of the cardinal virtue of justice, in that, “such a vision entails an understanding of justice based, not on a theory of entitlements, but on a difference principle that seeks to enable the disadvantaged and indigent to share in God’s creation.”[8]
Undertaking the corporal work of mercy of burying the dead, The Tobit Ministry seeks to provide a dignified burial to people who are homeless. Predicated on the analysis above, it becomes clear that those who minister a dignified burial to the homeless open themselves up to a different kind of relationship with God. Simultaneously, the visitors who pay their respects to those buried in The Tobit Garden, and, perhaps offer prayers for the dead, open themselves up to a new relationship with God as well. The link between works of mercy and a divine relationship with God ground The Tobit Ministry’s desire to facilitate conversion among those who encounter it.
CHANGING WORLDVIEWS THROUGH WORKS OF MERCY
Works of mercy establish a new kind of relationship between the worker of mercy and God while at the same time bringing the worker of mercy into a new realization of the presence of God in the needy. In that process, a sense of a new type of relationship develops as works of mercy are performed. There are three requirements necessitating clarification to properly understand what a work of mercy is. First, “a work of mercy, if it is to be a work, must be a conscious, intentional action directed to an end.”[9] It is not haphazard and and open-ended because a work of mercy has a goal that is achieved intentionally and consciously. The Tobit Ministry seeks to offer a dignified burial to people who are homeless. The people buried in The Tobit Garden, however, are not buried in the same manner as one may find in the county’s pauper’s cemetery. Many times, those buried in paupers’ graves are unknown. The people buried in The Tobit Garden are referred to The Tobit Ministry by people who know them and know their story. The importance of this point is discussed at length below. For the time being, it should be clear that the deliberation process at The Tobit Ministry is conducted consciously and intentionally toward the dual purpose end of burying the dead and fostering an authentic conversion to God among the living.
Secondly, within an authentic work of mercy, “there must be an accurate perception of a need or a deficit of some kind which can be possible only if there is a recognition of what fulfillment or plenitude would be like.”[10] Considering the work of burying people who are homeless, in most cities, pauper’s cemeteries tend to this task. While the poor are indeed buried in a pauper’s grave, burying the homeless at The Tobit Garden takes on the characteristics of mercy when the “fulfillment or plenitude” of a dignified burial is contemplated. By this, dignity refers to a religious burial, a burial in a private grave marked specifically for the person there, and the knowledge of and the remembrance of the person’s story.
Finally, “a work of mercy requires a kind of knowing – a consciousness of intention and purposefulness – and a sense of self able to interact with another or others.”[11] Herein, lays the relational aspect of the works of mercy. Within The Tobit Ministry, there exists relationships between The Tobit Ministry, social agencies that tend to the homeless, the religious order in whose cemetery The Tobit Garden resides, the Church, and the friends, families, and visitors to The Tobit Garden. The nature of these relationships, however, pale in comparison to the relationships developed between visitors to The Tobit Garden and those buried there in and through the action of the Holy Spirit. Relationship develops when the visitor encounters the written stories of the buried. Entering into these stories moves the reader emotively through the literary process of allegory and analogy. The stories tell the true identity of the buried. Alongside the story of the buried person is a gospel story positioned to be read in light of what the reader has just experienced through the story of the buried. The reader encounters a story wherein the buried person mediates the person of Jesus to the reader through the intersection of the story and the gospel. A new level of consciousness arises, such that, the reader will no longer simply identify poor people; rather, for the reader, poor people transform into children of God who can make God present through their very existence. The intent of the effect is the changing of worldviews through story, such that, visitors to The Tobit Garden begin to see Jesus concretely in the poor, especially those identified as homeless.
STORY
The ability to change the world remains wrapped up in the mystery of story. The power of a story or “narrative occurs in all periods, all places, all societies; narrative [or story] begins with the very history of humanity; there is not; there has never been, any people anywhere without narrative…narrative is international, trans-historical, transcultural; it is there, like life.”[12] From a Judeo-Christian perspective, scripture from the very beginning uses story to set the tone of salvation history. The stories told in the first three chapters of Genesis record humanity’s initial encounter with God, humanity’s blessings from God, and humanity’s falling away from God. From the beginning, story transmits faith history.
Story seems to be the way in which God chooses to communicate with humanity through time and space. Indeed, if we accept God as the Lord of History, then the word “history” becomes His-Story. The books recorded in the Hebrew bible by Priests, Prophets, and Scribes all convey stories. They are the stories about God’s people being called to faithfulness and holiness. In the Christian texts of the bible, the evangelists’ primary mode of teaching was through story. They re-present the story of Jesus’ life and ministry. Woven into the Jesus story are numerous stories that Jesus tells to teach his followers. These parables are unique and lend themselves perfectly to the literary genre known as Gospel.
Imitating her Lord, the Church tells and retells and creates her own story. The primary mode for this telling and retelling is the Church’s liturgical moments. In fact, all Liturgy centers on story, that is, the stories of salvation history grounded in the scriptures. This gives others permission to be able to tell their story. The stories declare that we are more than a mass of flesh and bone. Human persons are more than part of a story. They are story. In the story of salvation history, scripture demonstrates people being called, named, honored, graced, and dignified by God. In their story, then, they are, in fact, named as children of God.
HUMAN BEINGS AND STORY
As we have seen previously, throughout history “stories are one of the most basic modes of human life.”[13]Sharing experience with other people constitutes learning and passing knowledge on to others. In that light, “human life, then, can be seen as grounded in and constituted by the implicit or explicit stories which humans tell themselves and one another.”[14] While experience increases ones knowledge, no one has the identical experience. Experience must be shared; therefore, “to tell of human experience, then, is to tell a story.”[15] Within the context of storytelling, “narrative is the most characteristic way of articulating any human experience.”[16] The human experience articulated in a story conveys certain truths about the world because “a story, with its pattern of problem and conflict, of aborted attempts at resolution, and final result, whether sad or glad, is, if we may infer from the common practice of the world, universally perceived as the best way of talking about the way the world actually is.”[17] A narrative about the world of human experience that “arrives at its (potentially) true account of reality are, irreducibly, stories about the interrelation of humans and the rest of reality.”[18]
IMPORTANCE OF STORIES
A story becomes important because it is never told in isolation. There is always a time before the story and a time after the story that always gives context to the story at hand. This storytelling is told to others not involved in the experience, thus, lending a relational aspect to the event. This, in turn, effects other stories from the engaged listener. Upon investigation to “how stories work in relation to other stories, we find that human beings tell stories because this is how we perceive, and indeed relate to the world”[19] because they “provide a vital framework for experiencing the world.”[20] Stories are important not just to transmit information about a previous experience. They also “embody and hence reinforce, or perhaps modify, a shared worldview within a family, an office, a club or a college.”[21] Additionally stories describe how we reacted within a particular experience. Through these reactions, then, “I tell a story to declare who I am.”[22]
MYTH: BELIEF VS. FICTION
At this point, it becomes necessary to delve deeper into the importance of story. The importance of story does not simply end after an experience is shared with others. Communities, too, develop stories upon which their very existence depends. Above, it was noted that stories give identity to the storyteller. In the same way, a community gains its identity from the story it tells. These stories, in effect, become mythic. Paul Ricoeur describes this effect when “myth conveys the intensity of living amid a ‘surplus of meaning’ as the world bursts imaginatively into life.”[23] Therefore the true power of story arrives when it achieves mythic status because it is, then, “a story possessed of such energy and significance that ones stakes his or her entire life upon it.”[24] This status creates “a story about the holy, what is considered most profoundly important.”[25] The story becomes “far more than primitive fable”[26] because “myth flourishes in the mystery and awe of incomprehension.”[27] Communities exist through “the perennial human act of ‘making the world,’ reminding one another of what matters most…with absorbing, [the] ‘lived experience’ of truth.”[28] In the end, “we are a people whose lives are inescapably molded by stories.”[29]
FOUR FUNCTIONS OF MYTH
There are four primary functions to myth. While these considerations can be universally applied to mythic functions in the world, they are viewed through a theological lens here. The first consideration “is a mystical function, by which myth helps open the world to the presence of mystery.”[30] The mystery spoken of here is not the mystery of a puzzle to be solved. Mystery entails encountering the ever-deepening presence of a God who cannot be known in entirety. Mystery is the unfolding of the never-ending search for meaning. The second consideration “is cosmological.”[31] This helps the community understand the order of the universe. Indeed, “creation stories provide a sense of comfort in their description of how order has emerged from chaos.”[32] The third consideration “functions in a sociological manner to support and validate a certain social order.”[33] Passing on stories to other community members create a method to establish expected behavior within the community. As a result, “myth serves to develop conformity, to mold the young.”[34] The fourth and final consideration “is psychological, seeking to instruct the individual in how to live a truly human life amid the ever-changing circumstances of growth.”[35] This function of myth provides a center on which all other human activity is anchored and serves as a standard by which that activity is judged to be in conformity with the community’s expectations.
In summary,
far from being ‘an invented story,’ therefore, myth is the root narrative by which a people live out their spirituality. Incorporating conceptions of sacred space and sacred time, images of the hero, and patterns of communal identity, it becomes a way of acting out, as well as summarizing, all that is important.[36]
STORIES CREATE CHANGE
Stories are powerful agents of change because “they also provide a means by which views of the world may be challenged.”[37] N.T. Wright believes “stories are, actually, peculiarly good at modifying or subverting other stories and their worldviews. Where head-on attack would certainly fail, the parable hides the wisdom of the serpent behind the innocence of the dove, gaining entrance and favor which can then be used to change assumptions which the hearer would otherwise keep hidden away for safety.”[38]
Exploring, understanding, and utilizing the process of change through story, becomes the theologian’s hermeneutical task. Paul Ricoeur’s philosophical understanding of hermeneutics lends itself to this examination. Initially “everyone begins at the level of a ‘first naiveté,’ captured by the power of myth, alive with wonder, viewing the world unreflectively.”[39]This is not unlike the young child reading the creation of the world stories found in the book of Genesis. Fantastic images of the mighty creator God establishing order and life dominate the imagination. “But one must move on from there, through a ‘hermeneutics of suspicion,’ to think critically, subjecting that initially naïve experience to the hardest possible questions.”[40] As the formal education of the child begins, these childish images begin to collide into the hard facts of science and logic. Consternation begins as futile attempts try reconciling billions of years into seven days. As years of formal education continue, “the great impulse of the Enlightenment…with its insistent recourse to logic and analytical reasoning”[41] brings about incredulity and perhaps dismissive doubt as to the veracity in the creation stories. “But the quest for meaning has to move beyond this stage as well, toward a ‘second naiveté,’ in which the original power of myth is rediscovered on the far side of reason.”[42] As a theologian, this moment occurs within a context of religious conversion. As a religiously converted person, the contradictions of the creation story fades as the true meaning materializes. The religiously converted person is no longer worried about reconciling myth and science because the true meaning of the creation story is not about years versus days, but, instead, is about the awesome fact that there is a creator God who creates out of nothing. “Renewed wonder emerges out of the anguish of criticism, though now less subject to self-delusion, less inclined to a primitive escapism.”[43] It is in this manner that “myth can be incorporated into the process of theological investigation and related directly to the study of spirituality.”[44] In this way, for narrative theology, a multiplicity of meaning derives from the story as it “seeks to appreciate the multi-valence and ambiguity of language as expressed in metaphor and other poetic uses of speech.”[45] For the theologian, then, the story “remains open to a fluidity of interpretation”[46] because a key “characteristic of narrative relates to its capacity for carrying a ‘surplus of meaning,’ not readily available in discursive language.”[47] Therefore, within this fluidity, the God encountered reveals meaning at the precise point where our story and scripture story intersect. At this point, one’s spiritual life lives “out one’s deeply held stories (mythos) under the critical awareness provided by theological reflection (logos).”[48]
THE CHRISTIAN STORY AND CHRISTIAN FAITH
As we have seen, the power of story shapes and reshapes the lives of the hearer and the reader individually and communally. Story can indeed subvert and change the way people see and understand the world. This is especially true in the Christian tradition. In that tradition, story transmits the very name of God, a model of discipleship, and a deep understanding of the meaning of Christian life. In Christian history, “‘story’ has assumed a central role in the varied tasks of catechesis, preaching, and spiritual direction”[49] because “narrative is a distinctive, imaginative way of shaping truth, one that takes part in God’s own creative action.”[50] In the infancy narratives surrounding Jesus’ conception and birth, the angel reveals the name for the child. It is Emmanuel. The power of name in scripture allows for a level of intimacy not possible with the unknown. The naming experience of God, that is, “Emmanuel – God with us – is known, not by reasoning speculatively, but by reciting the stories of God’s presence in human affairs.”[51] The power of story in the gospels also creates the model of Christian discipleship. When the time of revelation arrived, God did not send a book or instruction manual. He sent an example of whom stories were told and retold until they were received as the normative understanding of God’s revelation to humanity. In order to be faithful to Christ’s call “we seek to find paths we can walk to achieve the spiritual goal of fullness of life, we use models that are explicit or implicit narratives.”[52] The varied and timeless interpretation of “the multiple accounts of the spiritual life can be understood as many ways of translating these [Bible] stories from their original context in 1st-century Palestine into the many contexts in which Jesus’ disciples seek to incarnate Jesus’ story;…[thus,] the stories of Jesus provide primary models for the Christian life. To be a disciple is to walk in Jesus’ path, to conform one’s own life story to his.”[53] The most meaningful understanding of the Christian faith gains fullness through story. Authentic understanding, even as it encounters the uniqueness of the seeker, depends upon a genuine seeking found though openness, humility, faith, and prayer. The hermeneutical task approaches the story seriously such that “understanding the stories of Christians presupposes a solid background in the disciplines of biblical, historical, and philosophical theology, for one way of doing theology is learning how to understand the ways in which the primary stories of Christianity have shaped and can still configure the stories that inscribe the shapes of authentic spirituality.”[54] Subsequent to the hermeneutical investigation, a prayerful discernment is required. In that prayer “Christian spiritual discernment comes to the understanding and judgment of whether the true story of a shared or individual life is faithful to a primary Christian model.”[55] In that discovery, then, God speaks to the listener or reader and the receptivity of that message opens the heart to conversion to the very God who is with us.
THE TOBIT MINSTRY AND STORY
Bear in mind that The Tobit Ministry concerns itself with more than corporal works of mercy because it tells the story of the buried person in The Tobit Garden juxtaposed alongside powerful gospel stories in order to foster an authentic conversion experience among those who may visit The Tobit Garden. A critical condition for The Tobit Ministry requires attaining a deep and meaningful knowledge of the person being buried. It was noted above that in order for a work of mercy to qualify as a work of mercy there are three criteria to be met. First, it must be a work that is “a conscious, intentional action directed to an end.” Second, “there must be an accurate perception of a need or a deficit of some kind which can be possible only if there is a recognition of what fulfillment or plenitude would be like.” Third, “a work of mercy requires a kind of knowing – a consciousness of intention and purposefulness – and a sense of self able to interact with another or others.” In order for these three criteria to be met, “there must be a practical knowledge of the other and the concrete situation.”[56] The Tobit Ministry does not seek to bury all the homeless persons it encounters. The Tobit Ministry engages particular persons for burial when there are sufficient stories provided by friends or family members surrounding the recently diseased which can be crafted into a narrative conducive to the fostering of conversion. Acquiring this type of knowledge prepares The Tobit Ministry to present the real story of the buried person to the world instead of a person labeled by society as incidental, disposable, or worse, worthless. The testimony of their real story gives proof to the lie of any label other than child of God. The power of this reality cannot be denied when the story is placed in the presence of the gospel. Cardinal Walter Kasper beautifully phrases the reality The Tobit Ministry seeks to create, Jesus “not only established solidarity with the poor, he identified himself with them. Therefore, we can encounter him in the poor.”[57] This encounter takes place through the work of mercy toward the one whose story is being told engendering solidarity with the homeless because “the practice and discourse of the works of mercy bring a tradition of solidarity into public discourse.”[58] Cardinal Kasper continues by quoting St. Augustine saying, “You want to meet Christ enthroned in heaven. Expect to meet him when he lies under the bridges; expect to meet him when he is hungry and shudders from the cold; expect him as a stranger.”[59] The importance of the work The Tobit Ministry accomplishes cannot be minimized because “what ultimately is at stake in Christian mercy is the encounter with Jesus Christ himself in and through those who suffer,”[60] especially those who suffer from homelessness in their poverty. Through the powerful effect of the stories present in The Tobit Garden, change begins in the lives of those who visit it.
RESURRECTION
Cardinal Walter Kasper shows that “in his mercy God repeatedly creates space for life and for blessing.”[61] This idea of mercy elucidated by Kasper encompasses, in its entirety, how the Paschal Mystery, particularly as it is revealed in the resurrection, relates to The Tobit Ministry biblically, theologically, and practically.
THE TOBIT MINISTRY AND THE PASCHAL MYSTERY: BIBLICALLY
The stories told through The Tobit Ministry encounter the resurrection story. The gospel stories told in The Tobit Garden lend themselves to the actualization of the Risen Christ in those to whom The Tobit Ministry serves. The story of salvation as it is written in the scriptures demonstrates “in the much larger sense that the whole Bible tells a story which has now exploded into new life with the Messiah, particularly with his death and resurrection.”[62] In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, the resurrection of Jesus serves as the proof that life wins out over against death. It is the proof that sin will not prevail. If the wages of sin are death, the resurrection brings us into an entirely new life-giving relationship with God. For Paul, “death is the enemy…and the point of the resurrection is the defeat of death.”[63] The creation story in Genesis establishes the world as God made it. With the sinful downfall of Adam and Eve, God’s creation changes into something not originally brought into being. Whereas life is called into being through God’s graciousness, death enters though humanity’s sinfulness. The restoration of God’s creation necessitates resurrection. “Since death is the unmaking of God’s creation, resurrection will be its remaking. That and nothing less is the Christian hope.”[64]
The grounding of Christian hope can be found explicitly in the fifteenth chapter of the First Letter to the Corinthians
13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then not only is our preaching in vain but also your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be false witnesses to God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if, as they say, the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless since you are still in your sins. 18 Then even those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life we have only hoped in Christ we are the most pitiable of human beings.[65]
It is clear to Paul that if Christ did not rise from the dead, then, neither will the Corinthians or anybody else of faith. If the resurrection holds no truth and “if Christ has not been raised the Corinthians themselves are also to be pitied. Their faith is useless; it has no purpose.”[66] All of the work in the Christian communities would be for naught. This is because all of those communities’ efforts at evangelization were predicated on the truth of the resurrection, such that, “if Christ had not been raised from the dead, Paul’s preaching and the faith of the Corinthians would have been futile.”[67]
Paul’s preaching and evangelizing activity, however, reached far more positive heights because of his conviction that “the proclamation of Christ’s resurrection from the dead has been guaranteed by God.”[68] This single act of Christ’s resurrection provides the entire point of the good news: salvation from death’s grasp. The effect of the resurrection, though, was not limited to Christ’s resurrection explicated by the fact that “Paul held that the resurrection of the dead is God’s ultimate salvific act…the resurrection of Christ stands or falls with the possibility of the resurrection of all believers.”[69] Furthermore, this act of saving grace was not limited in scope of time or space; “the continuing effect of Jesus’ resurrection…is that the resurrection of Jesus serves as the ground of Christian hope.”[70]
The Tobit Ministry engages in the ministry of burying the dead as a work of mercy oriented toward the hope of the resurrection in light of the letters of St. Paul, as well as a profession of faith in God as expressed in the bible. Those who consciously reflect upon this work of mercy in light of the Paschal Mystery inevitably allow God to create space and time for new life and blessing within themselves and in their lives. The mercy they seek to bestow upon the poor is returned in blessing as a merciful gift from God.
THE TOBIT MINISTRY AND THE PASCHAL MYSTERY: THEOLOGICALLY
The theological relationship between The Tobit Ministry and the Paschal Mystery grounds itself in the funeral rites of Christian burial as proscribed by the Roman Catholic Church. While not all persons buried in The Tobit Garden will be Catholic, the theological aspects underlying the dignified treatment of the person flows directly from Catholic theology.
The theological aspect of The Tobit Ministry’s story begins as a personal resurrection story and, so, continues on as a resurrection story. While there are certainly shades of earlier beginnings, the resurrection story definitively began on January 29, 2011. This morning my father passed from life to death and began on to Life again. Eighteen months prior to his death, through prayerful direction and a desire to enter fully into the event of my father’s passage to God, my family busily prepared for his death and burial. In my own case, I sought to better understand the mystery surrounding Catholic funerals from a wise priest. What he revealed to me opened up the beauty of Catholic funeral rites in such a profound way that even to this day I continue to be in awe of what I experience. He explained to me that funerals consist not of parts but are a single, whole prayer. In his own way, the good father explained that the funeral event begins with the sign of the cross at the vigil event. Upon reflection, a vigil conveys a waiting or a watching. It is not something meant to end. In fact, after all the Hail Mary’s and the memories are shared at the vigil service, the presider simply exits. There is no fanfare or dismissal per se written into the vigil rite. This is because we are meant to wait. We wait in prayer. We wait in hope. We wait. Just as the disciples of Jesus waited in the silent, motionless, and holy Sabbath of Holy Saturday, we wait in the silence of a motionless night set apart for the one who has passed on to eternity. When the new day begins, the faithful gather for the Mass of Resurrection. Because the vigil holds us in prayer through the night, the Mass begins as the vigil ends. There is no familiar beginning to the Mass as usual because the prayer begun at the vigil did not end. Likewise, there is no traditional dismissal following the Mass because, still, the prayer continues. In fact, there is no ending to the prayer until the remains of the deceased are committed to the ground. Only then will the presider dismiss the faithful to go in peace.
This teaching on the underlying theology of Catholic funerals opened my mind to the reality of what was happening before my eyes on a supernatural level at my father’s funeral. Reflection on it cleared a sorrow filled soul. The reality surrounding the events of my father’s passing took on a glimmering, almost glowing aura as I applied the theology I learned to the liturgical actions unfolding before me. I realized that those participating in the events before me were literally walking my father through his journey to God. It is the public act of worship, on behalf of another, present in this liturgy that sends one to God. I realized even in death, then, we are not alone.
The faith community that we walked with on earth continues to walk with us as we return to God. Only after the community finally and definitively hands us to God can we take leave of the departed. In my mind, this is not unlike what the father of a bride does at a wedding. He walks with his daughter through the final steps of her single life and, then, hands her to the groom to take her lovingly and faithfully to the wedding banquet. In a funeral, the Family of God walk the deceased through the final steps of earthly life and then hand this member of the Bride of Christ to the Bridegroom who lovingly and faithfully takes her to the Wedding Banquet of the Resurrection.
Returning to Kasper’s quote that “in his mercy God repeatedly creates space for life and for blessing,”[71] the Paschal Mystery illuminates theologically that the death event of the person who is homeless opens the mercy-worker to a moment in time where space is created for new life and blessing. The funeral rite itself arrives in time creating space that ushers in this new life and blessing. As the community of friends and loved ones along with entire communion of saints gather for the mourning and funeral of the person who is homeless, they accompany the person to be buried into new life with God. Celebrating faith and resurrection in this rite brings authentic blessings of dignity to the one who was ignominious in life.
THE TOBIT MINISTRY AND THE PASCHAL MYSTERY: PRACTICALLY
The Tobit Ministry relates to the Paschal Mystery practically. This practical relationship develops naturally from the very nature of the work of mercy engaged in by the ministry. First, the celebration of the Paschal Mystery in the Mass remains central to the ministry. Even though the recipients of the work may not be Catholic, the ministry itself will offer a memorial Mass for the deceased. For Catholics, the Mass is the height and summit of prayer on earth. It stands to reason, then, offering the Mass on behalf of those ministered to is appropriate for this Catholic ministry. Practically speaking, this action opens up space in time for new life and blessing upon the participants in the Mass and upon the person who is buried.
Second, quite literally, The Tobit Ministry opens up a new space in The Tobit Garden for the person who is to be buried. Through the lens of the Paschal Mystery, in the material act of burying the dead, The Tobit Ministry actualizes real hope in the resurrection of Jesus by professing the faith of Jesus in the blessing of the Father’s promise of life with God forever. In this concrete profession of faith, the test from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians becomes clear: if Jesus did not rise, then, neither will we. More importantly, if we do not rise in the resurrection, what The Tobit Ministry hopes for is foolish and the work it does for the conversion of others to God is in vain. The practical work of mercy conducted by The Tobit Ministry declares otherwise.
REVIEW OF METHODOLOGY
The thesis of this paper is that The Tobit Ministry fosters the emergence of authentic conversion through the dynamic fusion of mercy, story, and resurrection. Before examining how the elements of mercy, story, and resurrection foster the emergence of conversion, a brief review of some key points are in order. The Tobit Ministry engages in the work of mercy of burying the dead, particularly people who are homeless. This work of mercy is derivative of the theological virtues, and, thus, orients the end of The Tobit Ministry toward God. Furthermore, this end toward which the ministry positions itself begins the possibility of the conversion of visitors or others who engage the ministry in some manner to God. This is accomplished through the power of story. Stories identify people and change people. Through the use of Gospel stories alongside the stories of those who are buried, the change brought about in those who encounter these stories opens up the possibility of mercy in their own lives through hope and faith in the resurrection of the dead as revealed by Jesus. Understanding how conversion works in this context is the next task.
CONVERSION
Experience demonstrates the encounter with the word of God in scripture changes a person. There is no getting around this point. The power of the scripture to shape lives and communities and even worlds remains undeniable. The words of scripture enter into the consciousness of a person and initiates a process which, thereby, subverts their belief system to the point of a radical change in their character exhibited by responsibility. This radical change in a person, then, becomes actualized responsibly by works that tend toward being characterized as merciful. The nature of the work exists either corporally or spiritually. When known, these merciful works invite others into that same belief system lending substance to an emerging identity.
In the Christian experience what has just been described is conversion to Christ in faith to establish and further the kingdom of God. This remains the fundamental message preached by Jesus in the gospels. In the gospel of Mark, the first words spoken by Jesus are, “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15, NABRE). Exegeting this passage, the student understands that the presence of Jesus brings about the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to his people and ultimately to all people. Furthermore, it is within the person of Jesus that the kingdom of God is realized. Discovering the meaning of the kingdom of God opens believers up to the reality that God’s kingdom is not confined by a space or limited to a particular time. The kingdom of God is within each person to the extent that they are living in right relationship with God, others, themselves, and creation. When sin entered the world, the nature of relationship became disjointed. The emergence of sin in the world results in a fractured state of being-in-relationship and all unjust systems derived therefrom. It is only in Jesus that these disjointed relationships find restoration and healing. The kingdom of God is at hand and fulfilled only in the person of Jesus.
In verse 15, Jesus, also, elucidates how one goes about entering this kingdom of God that is fulfilled in him. First, one must repent. This word is translated from the Greek word “metanoia.” In this context, the definition of conversion is derived. Conversion implies not only a turning away-from, but more importantly, it means a turning-towards something. Biblically speaking, this turning is always toward God. Jesus clearly means, then, to enter the kingdom of God, to have right relationships present in one’s life, one must convert to God or turn to God. Second, the listener to Jesus must not only repent but the listener must believe. Belief indicates faith. This faith is placed in God that his promises for right relationships to exist between people and God, themselves personally and corporately, and creation are fulfilled in his own Son, Jesus. Thus, conversion must be done in faith of Jesus for one to enter the kingdom of God.
The people of God pass on their experiences and beliefs about God through story. In the scriptures, story appears to be the most common mode by which God communicates the history of salvation. Jesus taught his disciples utilizing stories as well. The gospels not only present the stories Jesus used to teach, but they set these parables of Jesus within a context of a story about Jesus and the good news. These stories are used to evangelize the listener or reader to become believers in Jesus. In these gospel stories, the reader is exposed to the narratives surrounding an individual’s or a community’s encounter with Jesus. Their story, then, has intersected with the story of Jesus. In fact, their story is about the fundamental reordering of their life after they encounter the Lord. These stories effect faith in Jesus.
The end result of conversion in faith is the realization of the Family of God. The historical events that converge to create the Family of God are, namely, conversion and the sharing of material gifts and spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit. Sharing material and spiritual gifts establishes real family ties between people that are really and emotionally connected. To be socialized into a family, then, is to adopt habits and customs that actualize the family experience, therefore, sharing both material and spiritual gifts with others in the faith of Jesus actualizes the experience of God’s family.[72]
Conversion begins the process of being socialized into God’s family. Conversion is defined as “the decision to pass from irresponsible to responsible behavior in some distinguishable realm of human experience.”[73] Responsible conduct makes a mature and conscientious accounting of one’s own actions and taking ownership of the consequences of that action while “irresponsible conduct…brings inconvenience and suffering into the lives of others.”[74] Conversion as it relates to corporal works of mercy requires particular decisions, such that, “a decision must be made to act – a decision which is not purely reflexive or physically coerced. The decision can be a long deliberated, self-reflective act or an almost instantaneous move. But the motivation for meeting the need must be of a particular kind.”[75] The motivation mentioned is one oriented to entering a deeper relationship with God through the initiation of the work of mercy. Conversion exhibits two stages in the human person. Initial conversion begins the process while ongoing conversion is the deepening of the initial experience. Conversion as a “transformative process of growing up into Christ our head is not easy, and it usually takes a lifetime’s prolonged struggle.”[76] This process results in a
transformation [that] should produce a certain family resemblance to Christ. There should be some likeness to Christ in those whom the Spirit has been transforming. When we talk about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as understanding and fortitude, and the fruits of the Holy Spirit, such as, joy and peace, we are describing the qualities of transformed persons and their characteristic interactions with others.”[77]
There are five forms of conversion corresponding to the five realms of experience within the human experience. These realms include the affective realm of human experience, the intellectual realm of human experience, the personal moral realm of human experience, the socio-political realm of human experience, and the religious realm of human experience. While the denotation in the previous sentence seems repetitive, it needs to be pointed out that this presentation on conversion originated by Donald Gelpi is technical in nature and repetition is ususally helpful.
A brief overview of the five forms of conversion in the human experience is in order. Affective conversion in the realm of human experience is “the decision to turn from an irresponsible resistance to facing one’s disordered affectivity to the responsible cultivation of a healthy, balanced, aesthetically sensitive emotional life.”[78] Intellectual conversion in the realm of human experience is “the decision to turn from an irresponsible and supine acquiescence in accepted beliefs to a commitment to validate one’s personal beliefs within adequate frames of reference and be in ongoing dialogue with other truth seekers.”[79] Moral conversion in the human experience is “ the decision to turn from an irresponsible selfishness to a commitment to measure the motives and consequences of personal choices against ethical norms and ideals that both lure the conscience to selfless choices and judge its relapses into irresponsible selfishness.”[80] Socio-political conversion in the realm of human experience is “the decision to turn from unreflective acceptance of the institutional violations of human rights to a commitment to collaborate with others in the reform of unjust social, economic, and political structures.”[81] These four forms of conversion are considered to be human forms of conversion in nature, only in that orientation toward God could be nonexistent. However, in the final form of conversion, God’s role is primary, and in fact, could not happen without God acting in some capacity. Furthermore, as will be made clear, once religious conversion in the realm of human existence occurs, there is a transvaluing of all the other forms of conversion.
Religious conversion in the realm of human existence is “the decision to turn from either ignorance of or opposition to God to acceptance in faith of some historical, revelatory self-communication of God and its consequences…in Christian conversion, converts turn from ignorance of and opposition to God toward adult faith in the God revealed in Jesus Christ.”[82] As previously mentioned, religious conversion transvalues affective, intellectual, moral, and sociopolitical conversion.[83] Gelpi’s research indicates that “transvaluation occurs when sensations, feelings, images, concepts, inferences, having been employed in one frame of reference are now seen in the light of another frame of reference.”[84] The best example of this is the conversion of Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. Every sensation, feeling, image, concept, and inference familiar to Saul the Pharisee becomes transvalued in the Light of Christ so that each of those become meaningful in an entirely new way for Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles. Furthermore, like Paul, “a supernatural frame of reference results when we enter into a conscious relationship with a self-revealing, self-communicating, world-transcending God.”[85] This explains the power of religious conversion in the realm of human experience.
Going deeper into this analysis of conversion in the realm of human experience, Gelpi discovers there are two specific dynamics of Christian Conversion present in the religious conversion experience. The first dynamic of Christian conversion is faith. Christian conversion dynamically “opens the individual up to a self-revealing God in faith”[86] in a manner “that creates a way of perceiving reality different from any other human mode of perception.”[87] Hence, it is possible to now understand how the corporal work of mercy of burying the dead is a concrete act of faith. Only in faith does the very act of burying the dead take on an entirely new faith-filled meaning. The light of Christian faith through the Paschal Mystery, especially the resurrection, permits the perception of burial in a manner not accessible to people who have not experienced Christian conversion.
The second dynamic of Christian conversion concerns the relationship of faith and the transvaluation of the other four forms of conversion. This means that “Christian faith transvalues every natural or merely secular human response to reality in the light of Jesus and of the paschal mystery.”[88] Any idea, reality, or value becomes transvalued “when, having understood it in one frame of reference, we begin to reevaluate it in the light of another frame of reference.”[89]How Christian conversion affects each of the other four realms of conversion follows:
- Christian conversion transvalues affective conversion by transforming intuitive perceptions of the future into Christian hope[90]
- Christian conversion transvalues intellectual conversion by transforming intuitive judgments about reality which can then be verified or falsified in the historical self-revelation of God[91]
- Christian conversion transvalues personal moral conversion by transforming personal moral conversion into Christian charity[92]
- Christian conversion transvalues socio-political conversion by transforming socio-political conversion into a search for a just social order.[93]
(A more detailed visual relating the dynamics between the various forms of conversion can be found in the appendix.)
Sidney Callahan captures the sense of Donald Gelpi’s studies.
“What used to be interpreted as a conflict between heart and head, or emotion or thought, turns out to be more complex. The conflict between a person is usually between a primitive, childish, in appropriate cognitive-emotive scenario and interpretation of the world versus a more civilized, self-regulating, loving set of emotions and cognitive interpretations. It is not usually a case of conflict between pure emotion and pure reason, but of two different combinations of appraisals and emotions.”[94]
Without doubt, faith is a gift from God. However, conversion to faith in God is certainly mediated by others who have experienced a faith-event in their life. Conversion, then, can be fostered to various effect. The Tobit Ministry seeks to mediate the faithful experience of conversion to all who encounter the ministry. The fruit of this hope will be exhibited by those who accept the responsibilities integral to the five-fold form of conversion described here.
CONCLUSION
The Tobit Ministry fuses together the experience of mercy, story and resurrection in such a way that fosters an emergent conversion in those who visit The Tobit Garden. The dynamic interplay of the five forms of conversion is complex. However, when transvaluation through Christian faith occurs within the context of The Tobit Ministry, the visitor to The Tobit Garden begins a reevaluation of what is known in the light of another frame of reference. Mark’s gospel establishes the overarching priority of conversion to and faith in Jesus if one is to experience the kingdom of God. Theologically, conversion and faith also enable one to be demonstrably socialized into the Family of God by sharing material gifts and spiritual gifts. The faith experience is predicated upon the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ, especially the resurrection.
The first letter to the Corinthians emphasizes without the reality of the resurrection any and all faith in Jesus is useless. Through the conversion process encountered in the stories told and the work of mercy actualized in The Tobit Garden,
Christian hope transforms natural human hopes by rooting them in the person of Jesus and in the paschal mystery…commitment to Jesus Christ in global faith also dedicates one to the work of realizing God’s kingdom on earth as in heaven. Commitment to the kingdom makes Christian hope practical and gives it its proximate goals. The paschal mystery orients Christian hope toward transcendence and toward ultimate realities: life with Christ in God after death. As Christians, we hope to share in Jesus’ risen glory.[95]
Story is a critical element to the mission of The Tobit Ministry. Each person buried in The Tobit Garden has their story permanently presented for the visitor to read. It is juxtaposed with a gospel story to be read alongside the buried person’s personal story. Encountering the stories offers the true identity of the child of God. To bury someone without making their story alive keeps them in anonymity. Reading their story helps the reader to relationally wake up to the reality that each person is deeply storied in the mind of God. The burial of someone unknown is a travesty and is contrary to the dignity that God endows upon each person. Their story testifies to this truth.
The key to conversion in The Tobit Garden is the work of mercy itself. The reality of our action in the work of mercy orients us toward God. Our merciful action is the overarching framework within which faith becomes possible as the two stories come together.
Metaphor consists in bringing two sets of ideas close together, close enough for a spark to jump, but not too close, so that the spark, in jumping, illuminates for a moment the whole area around, changing perceptions as it does so. Even so, the subversive story comes close enough to the story already believed by the hearer for a spark to jump between them; and nothing will ever be quite the same again.[96]
Metaphorically speaking, the spark is the gift of faith from God. The concrete experience of the work of mercy of burying the dead enlivens the subversive nature of story as faith transvalues our worldviews through the inviting call of the light of the resurrection. In his mercy, then, God begins the creation of new space for new life and blessings within the very being of the visitor. For the young boy reading Tobit, the dynamic interplay between the character of Tobit, the relationship with people without homes, and the resurrection faith-event at his father’s funeral converged into a moment of decision. Deciding to step out in faith, the merciful gift of space for new life and blessing manifested itself in The Tobit Ministry as it tells the story of those outside the wall who move from life to death to Life.
[1] Walter Kaspar, Mercy: The Essence of the Gospel and the Key to Christian Life, Trans. William Madges. (New York: Paulist Press, 2014) 45.
[2] Sidney Callhan, “The Works of Mercy: General Perspectives,” in The Works of Mercy: New Perspectives on Ministry, ed. Francis A Eigo, O.S.A. (Philadelphia: Villanova University, 1992), 14.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Francis Schussler Fiorenza, “The Works of Mercy: Theological Perspectives,” in The Works of Mercy: New Perspectives on Ministry, ed. Francis A Eigo, O.S.A. (Philadelphia: Villanova University, 1992), 44.
[5] Ibid., 45.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid., 46.
[8] Ibid., 61.
[9] Callahan, 2.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Roland Barthes, “Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative,” in The Semiotic Challenge, trans. Richard Howard (New York: Hill and Wang, 1988), 95.
[13] N. T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God. vol. 1 of Christian Origins and the Question of God, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992), 38.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Terrence W. Tilley, “Story,” in The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality, ed. Michael Downey (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1993), 947.
[16] Beldon C. Lane, “Narrative,” in The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality, ed. Michael Downey (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1993), 696.
[17] Wright., 40.
[18] Ibid., 45.
[19] Ibid., 40.
[20] Ibid., 39.
[21] Ibid., 39.
[22] Tilley, 947.
[23] Beldon C. Lane, “Myth,” in The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality, ed. Michael Downey (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1993), 692-3.
[24] Ibid., 692.
[25] Ibid., 692-3.
[26] Ibid.
[27] Ibid., 693.
[28] Ibid., 693.
[29] Ibid., 693.
[30] Ibid., 693.
[31] Ibid., 694.
[32] Ibid.
[33] Ibid.
[34] Ibid.
[35] Ibid.
[36] Ibid., 695
[37] Wright., 39.
[38] Ibid., 40.
[39] Lane, Myth, 695.
[40] Ibid.
[41] Ibid.
[42] Ibid.
[43] Ibid.
[44] Ibid.
[45] Lane, “Narrative,” 696.
[46] Ibid., 697
[47] Ibid.
[48] Ibid.
[49] Lane, 696.
[50] Ibid., 697.
[51] Ibid.
[52] Tilley, “Story,” 947.
[53] Ibid.
[54] Ibid.
[55] Ibid.
[56] Callahan, 2.
[57] Kasper, 148.
[58] Fiorenza, 61.
[59] Kasper, 148.
[60] Ibid., 150.
[61] Ibid., 45.
[62] N. T. Wright, 1 Corinthians in Paul for Everyone (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), 203.
[63] Ibid, 214-5.
[64] Ibid., 215.
[65] Raymond F. Collins, First Corinthians, vol. 7 of Sacra Pagina Series, ed. Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1999), 540.
[66] Ibid., 542.
[67] Ibid, 547.
[68] Ibid.
[69] Ibid., 527.
[70] Ibid., 530.
[71] Kasper, 45.
[72] Donald Gelpi, Committed Worship: A Sacramental Theology for Converting Christians, Volume I of II: “Adult Conversion and Initiation.” (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1993), 158.
[73] Ibid.
[74] Ibid., 19.
[75] Callahan, 2.
[76] Ibid., 16.
[77] Ibid.
[78] Gelpi, Committed Worship: A Sacramental Theology for Converting Christians 17.
[79] Ibid.
[80] Ibid.
[81] Ibid.
[82] Ibid., 17.
[83] Ibid., 34.
[84] Ibid., 52.
[85] Ibid.
[86] Donald Gelpi, The Conversion Experience: A Reflective Process of RCIA Participants and Others (New York: Paulist Press, 1998), 107.
[87] Ibid., 108.
[88] Ibid.
[89] Ibid., 108.
[90] Ibid.
[91] Ibid., 111.
[92] Ibid., 112.
[93] Ibid.
[94] Callahan, 17.
[95] Gelpi, The Conversion Experience, 109.
[96] Wright, 40.