The Church understands the day of a person’s death to be the birthdate of a person’s entry into life eternal. Thus the anniversary of death is an occasion for reflecting with gratitude for a person’s life, with review of the person’s accomplishments in the service of God and neighbor. Of course, no one here below is privy to the details of a person’s eternal destiny, but we assess the person’s life by the fruit that it produced. Thus the occasion of a conference to commemorate the work of Augustin Cardinal Bea (1881-1968) drew attention to his immense contributions to the progress of the Second Vatican Council in the areas of Christian ecumenism and interreligious relations.

On February 28, 2019 Pope Francis addressed the participants in the meeting that commemorated the major anniversary of Cardinal Bea’s death. For the text of the Pope’s address, visit the Vatican’s website here and for the events being held in Cardinal Bea’s honor, visit the Cardinal Bea Centre for Judaic Studies of the Gregorian University here.

With a focus on Catholic-Jewish dialogue, the Pope encouraged the widening of this dialogue for local parishes and synagogues to collaborate “in service of those in need and by promoting paths of peace and dialogue with all.”

Proteus, “Der Höllische Proteus, oder Tausendkünstige Versteller,” Erasmus Francisci (1627-1694)

The International Conference of Christians and Jews (ICCJ) recently issued “The Demands of Our Time: A Statement on Antisemitism.” This text reviews the history of anti-Jewish bigotry and the places where it rises today. We are surprised and discouraged at times by its manifestations. Like the sea-god Proteus in Greek mythology, antisemitism continues to take many shapes and forms. All who read this statement note its focus on Western culture. This is the context for our efforts to educate the younger generation, but other cultures can be infected by this “virus” as well.

After a two-year hiatus, President Trump has named Mr. Elan S. Carr to be “the State Department’s special envoy to monitor antisemitism.” See Ron Kampeas’ article, “Elan Carr comes to new post as anti-Semitism monitor with diverse skills,“ published by the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey.

Mr. Ira Forman, Mr. Carr’s predecessor appointed by President Obama, made a presentation at a meeting of the United States Catholic Bishops and the National Council of Synagogues four years ago. This was an impressive review of his efforts to collaborate with leaders in many European nations. Contact with the Catholic Bishops Conferences was often very helpful, so Mr. Forman was interested to develop such avenues for working together. We hope that Mr. Carr can build on these relationships!

The Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Israel of December 30, 1993 places this concern at the forefront of its goals. Article 2 reads:

The Holy See and the State of Israel are committed to appropriate cooperation in combatting all forms of antisemitism and all kinds of racism and of religious intolerance, and in promoting mutual understanding among nations, tolerance among communities and respect for human life and dignity.

The Holy See takes this occasion to reiterate its condemnation of hatred, persecution and all other manifestations of antisemitism directed against the Jewish people and individual Jews anywhere, at any time and by anyone. In particular, the Holy See deplores attacks on Jews and desecration of Jewish synagogues and cemeteries, acts which offend the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, especially when they occur in the same places which witnessed it.

Twenty-five years later this call to cooperate in education and service of justice and peace deserves our renewed attention!

Over the centuries many people have developed a deeper appreciation regarding the connections of the creatures, large and small, which contribute to our lives. In recent decades the collapse of beehives in many regions of North America has caused great concern. Scientists note that one-third of our daily diet comes from plants pollinated by bees and other insects. The New York Times published a study in the Science Section about the focus on other pollinators whose services may assist to avoid a crisis: see “Plan Bee: The Rise of Alternative Pollinators” by Catherine M. Allchin. May the sources of the attack on bees be discovered so that perhaps the balance of agricultural and horticultural areas will recover soon!

The presence of bees in the Bible is noted in a number of places. In England a can of honey has the quotation, “Out of the strong shall come the sweet,” referring to the riddle of Samson (Judges 14:4-8).

The Hebrew word translated as “honey” can also mean “date syrup,” as in Psalm 81:17: “Israel I will feed with the finest wheat and satisfy them with honey from the rock.” This refers to the rocky ground unsuitable for vines on which date palms were planted. We recall the promise that the Israelites will come into a “land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8; Leviticus 20:24; Numbers 13:27), undoubtedly with reference to date syrup.

God’s Law and the gift of wisdom are “more desirable than gold, sweeter than honey from the comb” (Psalm 19:11; see Psalm 119:103), referring to the work of bees. The prophet Ezekiel was given the Word of God as a scroll, sweet as honey to the taste of Ezekiel but a bitter message to the disobedient (Ezekiel 3:1-3; See Apocalypse 10:9).

“In Christian art, the beehive suggested community, sweetness, eloquence, and sometimes the Virgin Mary and Christ. The bee also exemplified industry, diligence, and vigilance” (Judith Couchman, The Art of Faith: A Guide to Understanding Christian Images (Brewick, M.A.: Paraclete Press, 2012) p. 158). The mellifluous tongue of Saints Ambrose, John Chrysostom and Bernard of Clairvaux carried the wisdom of God to their generation.

A prayer extends this image to ourselves.

Dear Lord, may I think often of the bees and the honey they produce. And when I do, help me to remember that I too can produce sweetness by what I say. Teach me to use kindness in all my thoughts and actions. And please, Lord, help me to do it sincerely. Good honey must be pure, and so it is with kind words – they must be honest and true.

(Norma J. Perssen, God and Nature: A Book of Devotion for Christians who Love Wildlife (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1984) p. 57.)

From ages past people marveled at the complexity of the beehive and the wonderful cooperation of many to maintain their home and provide sustenance for all. Until the 17^th century people thought that the leader of each hive was its king. In Shakespeare’s King Henry V, during the discussion of the king’s choices in governance, the Archbishop of Canterbury presents an analogy with a long reflection on the marvelous cooperation of bees.

Therefore doth heaven divide
The state of man in divers functions,
Setting endeavour in continual motion;
To which is fixed, as an aim or butt,
Obedience: for so work the honey-bees,
Creatures that by a rule in nature teach
The act of order to a peopled kingdom.
They have a king and officers of sorts;
Where some, like magistrates, correct at home,
Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad,
Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings,
Make boot upon the summer’s velvet buds,
Which pillage they with merry march bring home
To the tent-royal of their emperor;
Who, busied in his majesty, surveys
The singing masons building roofs of gold,
The civil citizens kneading up the honey,
The poor mechanic porters crowding in
Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate,
The sad-eyed justice, with his surly hum,
Delivering o’er to executors pale
The lazy yawning drone.

(Henry V. Act I scene 2, line 183-204)

The Easter Vigil Liturgy in the Roman rite begins with the lighting of the Paschal candle from the new fire. The beautiful Paschal Proclamation or Exultet can be traced to the early Middle Ages. It includes a celebration of the work of bees.

On this, your night of grace, O holy Father,
accept this candle, a solemn offering,
the work of bees and of your servants’ hands,
an evening sacrifice of praise,
this gift from your most holy Church.

But now we know the praises of this pillar,
which glowing fire ignites for God’s honor,
a fire into many flames divided,
yet never dimmed by sharing of its light,
for it is fed by melting wax,
drawn out by mother bees
to build a torch so precious.

O truly blessed night,
when things of heaven are wed to those of earth,
and divine to the human.

May the scientists of our time learn what has interfered with the life of so many bees and provide a remedy to the dilemma! Of course, every aspect of such research must be evaluated carefully from the perspectives of many experts from several nations. See Emily Baumgaertner’s pertinent article in The New York Times, “Viruses Spread by Insects to Crops Sound Scary. The Military Calls It Food Security.” We also might express gratitude for the little creatures who render great service as pollinators and then are robbed of their harvest so that we can indulge in a craving for sweetness.

Synagoge of Siegen, Germany, burning during Kristallnacht, November 9, 1938.

The year 2018 has provided occasions to recall the tragedy of World War I, “the war to end all wars.” The folly of this conflict casts a dismal shadow over the rest of the twentieth century. On November 11^th we will commemorate “Armistice Day” and think of “Flanders Fields” and other cemeteries where the deceased among the Allies lie in lands far from their homes.

Among the attempts to recover from this war, the people of Germany elected a minority government and in January 1933 Adolf Hitler was designated as chancellor. Only 85 years ago, this decision introduced another tragic era in European and world history.

On the night of November 9-10, 1938 the ferocious attack on synagogues and Jewish businesses throughout Germany and Austria manifested the intention of the Nazi government to destroy the Jewish hope that previous legislation, boycotts and other signs of bigotry were temporary aberrations which could be borne with patience. Loss of civil and human rights by laws against the Jewish minority were completed by a viciousness that was met with silence on the part of the majority of the German people. On the 80^th anniversary of these atrocities, we are exhorted to stand with the Jewish and other minorities to offset the dangers they face.

Pope Francis, in an audience with a delegation of the World Congress of Mountain Jews, drew attention to two other attacks on Jews during the Second World War: The 75^th anniversary of the destruction of the Vilna ghetto in Lithuania and the deportation of Jews from Rome to their death in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Regarding Kristallnacht, he noted:

November 9^th will mark the eightieth anniversary of the Kristallnacht, when many Jewish places of worship were destroyed, not least with the intent of uprooting from the hearts of individuals and a people that which is absolutely inviolable: the presence of the Creator. The attempt to replace the God of goodness with the idolatry of power and the ideology of hatred ended in the folly of exterminating creatures. Consequently, religious freedom is a supreme good to be safeguarded, a fundamental human right and a bulwark against the claims of totalitarianism. (November 5, 2018. For the entire text, click here.)

The next paragraph of the Pope’s message resonates deeply with us in the context of the recent attack on the Tree of Life Jewish congregation in Pittsburgh:

Sadly, anti-Semitic attitudes are also present in our own times. As I have often repeated, a Christian cannot be an anti-Semite; we share the same roots. It would be a contradiction of faith and life. Rather, we are called to commit ourselves to ensure anti-Semitism is banned from the human community.

At Seton Hall University, the 65^th anniversary of the Institute of Judaeo-Christian Studies leads us to recall that in 1953, fifteen years after Father John M. Oesterreicher fled from Austria, he was able to begin again and to mature in his vision of Christians and Jews collaborating in the service of the God of Israel and of our neighbors. Now with the entire Church, we can take up Pope Francis’s words of blessing:

I ask the Almighty to bless our journey of friendship and trust, so that we can dwell always in peace and be, wherever we find ourselves, artisans and builders of peace. Shalom aleichem!

The Monastery of Varlaam in Meteora, Greece.

A peninsula in Northern Greece, east of Thessalonica, has been the quasi-independent site for 20 monasteries for almost 1500 years. A story by Neil MacFarquhar in The New York Times offers a report on this unique religious site in Europe (you can read the story at www.nytimes.com/2018/10/20/world/europe/mount-athos-greece-russia-eastern-orthodox-church.html). This prompted a reflection on my experience.

After living in Athens for five months in 1965, I returned to Greece the following summer and traveled to the North by way of Meteora, a monastic marvel in central Greece.  From Thessalonica a bus came to Ouranopolis (City of Heaven) from which a boat provided access to the peninsula. Besides a tourist visa, I had obtained permission from the Ecumenical Patriarch in Istanbul for a Catholic priest to visit the monasteries. Many of the other visitors were men from northern Europe who seemed to be interested in the gorgeous scenery than in realities of the spiritual order. We were all guests of a monastery each night, a hundred cots in the large sleeping quarters. Because of thefts of icons in the past, the chapels and libraries were closed to visitors, except for religious services. Friends had given me the name of a monk of the Great Lavra, who shared with me the story of his previous life as a sailor and now his preparation for “crossing the bar.”

The rhythms of prayer in the chapel began in the wee hours of the new day with Matins and Lauds, a service using the ancient translation of the Old Testament in Greek (Septuagint) and the New Testament in the vigil that celebrated the spiritual illumination that comes when a community recognizes the inadequacy of natural light. The Greek language had two levels: The “pure Greek” of the monks and people with a high school education and the language of the people (demotiki) with the introduction of the auxiliary verbs like many other European languages. The military coup in 1967 not only abolished the monarchy but also eliminated “pure Greek” from the high school curriculum. We hope that many young people today make the effort to become familiar with the Greek of their ancestors, when it was the international language of the Mediterranean world!

The monastic communities continue to draw men from the world of Christian Orthodox lands and beyond. Undoubtedly some have experienced ambivalence of cultures that arose from the ashes of Communist oppression of religion or from the secularized western lands. May they continue to bear quiet witness to the Kingdom of God!