God Addressed in Risky Ways:1 an Experience of Psalm 35

239 Pages·2017·1.71 MB·English

by  Amanda Wagner

God Addressed in Risky Ways:1 an Experience of Psalm 35

by

Keith A. Joseph Kennific

A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Regis College
and the Toronto School of Theology
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Ministry
Awarded by Regis College and the University of Toronto

© Copyright by Keith A. Joseph Kennific 2017

1 Walter Brueggemann, The Psalms and the Life of Faith (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1995), 108.
God Addressed in Risky Ways: An Experience of Psalm 35

Keith A. Joseph Kennific
Doctor of Ministry
Regis College and the University of Toronto
2017

Abstract

This qualitative research study is situated within the Roman Catholic faith community,
and explores its association with the imprecatory psalms in its prayer, reflection, and ministry.
After tracing the history of the Church’s relationship with these scriptural texts, this question was
posed for investigation in this phenomenological thesis:

How do a group of informed, practicing adult Roman Catholics experience the imprecatory
psalms?

The study presented the imprecatory psalms in the context of the integral Psalter.
Participants were provided the opportunity to enter into a dynamic experience of the psalmic
curses—with particular attention to Psalm 35—over a period of seven weeks. Included were
weekly group seminars, individual reading and writing assignments, as well as group and
individual lectio divina encounters with Psalm 35.
Verbal and written data were analyzed according to the parameters appropriate the
phenomenological research.
ii
Findings disclosed some level of initial hesitancy and/or discomfort with these psalms—
texts with which participants had minimal to no previous interaction. This preliminary
uncertainty, however, did not appear to thwart their constructive engagement with the
imprecatory psalms, nor their willingness to articulate their experience. Their responses and
insights appear to support a place for these psalms in the life of the Roman Catholic Church.

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Acknowledgments
I acknowledge with gratitude my director, Joseph Schner S.J., for his ready availability
and insightful guidance; the bishop and Diocese of Charlottetown for generous material support;
the members of my Ministry Base Group for their encouragement in the early stages of the
project; the study participants for the diligent commitment that made this project possible;
parishioners and others, with whom I have shared the pastoral ministry relationship, for teaching
and inspiring me; and the late Bernice Cullen CSM, who first introduced a searching teenager to
the Psalms.

iv
Dedication
I lovingly dedicate this work to my Mom, June Marie Connolly, for her unflagging
devotion to her children.

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Table of Contents
Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ i
Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ........................................................................................................................................v
Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... vi

Chapter I Introduction .....................................................................................................................1
1.1 Personal and Ministry Context .............................................................................................1
1.2 Theology of Ministry ............................................................................................................4
1.3 Statement of the Problem ......................................................................................................6
1.4 Outline ...................................................................................................................................7
Chapter II Review Of The Relevant Literature: Early Church To Enlightenment ..........................8
2.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................8
2.2 Patristic Views .....................................................................................................................9
2.2.1 Athanasius ................................................................................................................9
2.2.2 Evagrius ..................................................................................................................17
2.3 Ambivalence ......................................................................................................................19
2.3.1 Emotion ..................................................................................................................19
2.3.2 Anger ......................................................................................................................21
2.4 Integral Psalter ...................................................................................................................23
2.5 Other Patristic Voices. .......................................................................................................25
2.6 A Word from the Scholastics .............................................................................................28
2.7 Reformation and Response ................................................................................................30
2.8 Interpretive Diversity .........................................................................................................34
Chapter III Review Of The Relevant Literature: The Reforms Of Vatican II To The Present .....39
3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................39
3.2 Mixed Reviews ..................................................................................................................40
3.3 Contemporary Discussion: “Thick” Reading .....................................................................42
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3.3.1 The “Other” ............................................................................................................42
3.3.2 The Loss of Lament ...............................................................................................44
3.3.3 Freedom of Speech and Self-Awareness ...............................................................48
3.3.4 God and Justice ......................................................................................................52
3.3.5 Story .......................................................................................................................56
3.3.6 Jesus and the Enemy ..............................................................................................59
3.3.7 Context: the Hermeneutical Key ............................................................................64
3.4 Verbum Domini .................................................................................................................66
3.5 Pastoral Care and the Bible ................................................................................................68
3.5.1 Applied Imprecation ..............................................................................................71
Chapter IV Research Methodology ...............................................................................................80
4.1 Introduction. .......................................................................................................................80
4.2 Phenomenology ..................................................................................................................80
4.3 Data Collection ..................................................................................................................82
4.4 Data Analysis .....................................................................................................................89
Chapter V Results ..........................................................................................................................91
5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................91
5.2 Themes ...............................................................................................................................91
5.2.1 Theme 1 .................................................................................................................91
5.2.2 Theme 2 .................................................................................................................97
5.2.3 Theme 3 ...............................................................................................................101
5.2.4 Theme 4 ...............................................................................................................106
5.2.5 Theme 5 ...............................................................................................................110
5.2.6 Theme 6 ...............................................................................................................114
5.2.7 Theme 7 ...............................................................................................................120
5.2.8 Theme 8 ...............................................................................................................124
Chapter VI Discussion And Implications ....................................................................................128
6.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................128
6.2 The Literature and the Data: a Conversation ...................................................................128
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6.2.1 God .......................................................................................................................128
6.2.2 Others ...................................................................................................................135
6.2.3 Self .......................................................................................................................139
6.3 Images and Insights ..........................................................................................................144
6.4 Summary ..........................................................................................................................150
6.5 Implications ......................................................................................................................154
6.5.1 Ministry Offered ..................................................................................................155
6.5.2 Ministry Received ................................................................................................159
6.6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................165
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................168
Appendix A Thesis Proposal .......................................................................................................177
Appendix B Seminar Preparation Material ..................................................................................206
Appendix C Psalm35 ...................................................................................................................217
Appendix D Lectio Divina ...........................................................................................................219
Appendix E Letter Of Introduction ..............................................................................................224
Appendix F Consent Form ...........................................................................................................226
Appendix G Psalms Of Fear?: A Further Reflection ...................................................................227

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Chapter I
Introduction

1.1 Personal and Ministry Context

Much time in my early years was spent in the company of my maternal grandparents on
a small Prince Edward Island mixed farm.2 My grandfather was a farmer who loved his land and
his livestock. Some of my earliest memories are of him extolling the virtues of crop rotation, in
an era before the practice was the subject of public debate and provincial legislation. He was a
man of intelligence and wisdom who had a relationship with his animals, the earth he cultivated,
the trees that bordered the fields and filled the yard, and the crops he sowed and reaped. In all
of that he was mindful of the God to whom he referred as “The Man Above.” The clericalism of
the day not for him, he was not shy to question something the priest said or to make up his own
mind about issues not discussed in many households of the time. I imbibed from him the value
of one’s opinion, respect for what God has made, the interconnectedness of creation, a sense of
the relationship of faith to the everydayness of life, and the importance of finding a balanced
perception of God’s immanence and transcendence.
Aside from family experience, another formative factor is my study and work in
psychology. After an undergraduate degree in this subject area, I worked for three years as an
in-patient psychiatric nursing attendant. Immediately subsequent to this, I completed a two-year
MA in School Psychology. This was followed by several years of varied work: as a school
psychologist, a counsellor-psychometrician in a mental health clinic, and a counsellor-family

2 Mixed farming, largely phased out during the early 1970’s, was the agricultural practice of growing a variety of
crops and livestock. In many places, it has been replaced by a kind of specialist agriculture, akin to the “factory
farm.” For a brief contemporary discussion of the shift and some of its implications, see Michael Swan, “Getting
Back in Touch with the Land: Ontario Bishops Weigh in on ‘The Fruit of the Earth,’” The Catholic Register, April
20, 2014.
1
2

life educator at a family service agency. The client-centred practice in which I engaged revealed
that we desire change, healing, and growth in our lives, even if sometimes—maybe, many
times—we thwart the fulfillment of our own deepest longings.
My formal study of theology—a third formative factor—was pursued out of this
background. A highlight of this five-year experience was its academic work, with the
opportunities, in preparing for ministry as a parish priest, to apply theology to life.
Eight years after ordination, I was granted sabbatical leave to pursue graduate work in
Liturgical Studies at an American university, operated by Benedictine monks, many of whom
were faculty. In studies prerequisite to the MA, I discovered anew that at the heart of Roman
Catholic understanding of the Church’s liturgical prayer is the process of transformation, of
change, of growth, of becoming more and more configured to the person of Christ, and of being
sent out to live that in the world. Since liturgy reflects and shapes life, this coming to the
fullness of Christ, in Christ, touches all aspects of who we are and what we do.
Our understanding, our world-view takes shape contextually. Our understanding of
ministry has its genesis in the practice of ministry, the experience of living in community
seeking the recognition of our own need for faith, hope, and love, and committing in faith, hope,
and love to help our brothers and sisters address those same needs. At the outset, I want to relate
my current ministerial context.
I have been a Roman Catholic priest for twenty-five years, and currently am the pastor of
a three-church pastoral unit in rural Prince Edward Island. Our church-going congregation
consists mostly of seniors, with a number of middle-aged couples and singles, as well as a small
number of parents and young children. Older teens are largely absent from Sunday worship and