St. Anne, Pray for Us

The American Catholic Church

2011-06-09T17:04:00.005-04:00

From today’s Detroit News:
http://www.detnews.com/article/20110609/LIFESTYLE04/106090399/Archdiocese--group-square-off

COPY OF LETTER SENT BY ARCHBISHOP
3 June 2011

My dear brother priests and deacons,

As you may be aware, a group calling itself the American Catholic Council will be meeting at Cobo Hall on the weekend of June 11 and 12. Despite my attempts to engage in a dialogue with them about this planned event, the organizers of this conference have not replied to me directly. I have a number of concerns about this event and caution any Catholic against participating for reasons expressed already in previous communications sent by the Archdiocese.

Of particular concern is the “Eucharistic Liturgy,” noted on the schedule for this conference on Pentecost Sunday, June 12. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council instruct us, “Every legitimate celebration of the Eucharist is regulated by the bishop, to whom is committed the office of offering the worship of the Christian religion to the divine Majesty and of administering it in accordance with the Lord’s commandments and with the Church’s laws, as further defined by his particular judgment for his diocese” (Lumen Gentium, 26). I take my role as moderator of the liturgy for the archdiocese (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 22) very seriously. To confirm the legitimacy of what they had planned, the ACC had been asked to provide details regarding this liturgy. The response received was ambiguous, and there are good reasons for believing forbidden concelebration will take place by the laity and with those not in full communion with the Church.

In order to fulfill my responsibilities, so clearly enunciated by the Second Vatican Council, of fostering of communion with both the local and the universal Church, I am compelled to caution any priests or deacons who may be considering participation in this liturgy. It is not being celebrated with my permission as required by the law and the good order of the People of God. Further, clergy should be aware of the impact of forbidden concelebration with those who are not in full communion (canons 908 and 1365). This is a serious delict, for which recourse to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is required, and which may result in dismissal from the clerical state (cf. Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela, 2001 and 2010).

I ask that you pray with me for the unity of the Church. As we commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin in this upcoming Solemnity, may the Holy Spirit come afresh on all of us, keeping us united in the love of God and keeping our attention and energies focused on the task of sharing Christ in and through His Church.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

The Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron
Archbishop of Detroit

What do you think?

Be not afraid!

2011-06-06T16:06:00.002-04:00

On May 1, 2011 we celebrated the beatification of Pope John Paul II. As we look back on his papacy we can honor the confident, fearless way he led the church for 26 years. As we reflect on his life and teachings may you be inspired to imitate the Holy Father in your own life of faith.

In his apostolic exhortation On Reconciliation and Penance, Pope John Paul II emphasized the need to learn how to forgive each other and welcome back those who have sinned against us. Why should we repent? Because God is always waiting for us. He didn’t just talk about reconciliation; he lived it! He worked tirelessly to mend divisions between the churches. He sought a closer relationship with the Jewish people. He even publicly repented for past sins committed in the name of the church.

Pope John Paul II could relate to people of all walks of life. He was comfortable with people no matter where they came from. He believed in solidarity. He calls us in a special way to look after the needs of the weak and vulnerable among us – the poor, the elderly, the unborn, the infirm, and the marginalized. Because he believed in our solidarity and our common dignity he was compelled to speak out against abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, and human trafficking. It’s also why he devoted himself to promoting the family.

In his encyclical The Mission of the Redeemer, he wrote, “Missionary activity is a matter for all Christians.” Evangelization is “the primary service which the Church can render to every individual and to all humanity.” For John Paul, evangelization also meant getting out of one’s comfort zone. Using the words of Jesus the Holy Father called all of us to “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4). If we will “put out into the deep” in our own prayer lives and draw closer to Jesus, he will draw us out into the world. There is no telling what the Lord will accomplish through us when we get out of the boat and take that next step toward him!

Totus Tuus - “Totally Yours” became his apostolic motto as he honored Mary. He took the Marian cross as his main symbol on his coat of arms. He commissioned the only Marian image in all of St. Peter’s Square – the mosaic icon “Mother of the Church” which looks down on the statues of saints atop the colonnade. In his encyclical Mother of the Redeemer, John Paul spoke of Mary as the ideal disciple of the Lord because of her wholehearted acceptance of God’s will.

Pope John Paul II loved to talk about prayer. Whether it happened through the rosary, Scripture, Eucharistic Adoration, or the Mass. He wanted everyone to gaze on the face of Jesus and absorb his love. Like him we should pray, “Lord, may your presence ignite a spark within me that spreads to everyone I meet.” May his words, his example, and his intercessions bring us all closer to Jesus. May he continue to inspire all of us to become master builders in the kingdom of God!

St. Anne, Patron Saint of Detroit

2011-05-29T20:03:00.003-04:00

The Vatican (Congregation for Divine Worship) has decreed that St. Anne is now the patroness of the Archdiocese of Detroit. On July 26, 1701 Mass was celebrated in the new frontier community and construction began on the church that was to serve the French soldiers, settlers, and Indian converts.
The Church of St. Anne is not only the first and oldest church in Archdiocese of Detroit, but is also the second oldest continuously operating parish in the United States.

Many people in the Archdiocese had already presumed that St. Anne was already Detroit's patroness because St. Anne has been very special from the very beginning over 300 years ago. While the original church was primarily French, today it is 80% Hispanic. An annual novena to St. Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin and grandmother of our Lord, remains a major annual event in the life of the parish. A full schedule of events is available on the parish website, http://www.ste-anne.org/ There are three other churches in the Archdiocese of Detroit named for St. Anne: one in Monroe, Warren and Ortonville (home of this blog).

We want to thank Missy for starting our parish blog. Although she may no longer be writing all the time, I am sure she will give us great food for thought as we continue on in the spirit she envisioned.

God go with you,
GloryB

Personal Postscript

2011-05-28T21:18:00.000-04:00

It's hard to say good-bye.

I launched this blog three years ago when I worked at St. Anne Church as assistant to the Director of Religious Education. After leaving St. Anne's for a job with my current cluster of parishes, I kept blogging here as a way to volunteer for my home parish and, quite frankly, for me. Because I enjoyed writing about my faith and I enjoyed the connections I made through readers of these pages. One by one I found other people through blogging who made me laugh, cry, think, ache... It has brought me to a new understanding of community and faith.

I know these friendships will be with me for a lifetime. Even if I never meet my friends "in real life." This is one of the most compelling aspects of blogging.

Over the last few years I've found less and less time to devote to my writings here. I've written blog posts in my head but more often then not they didn't make it to fruition. My life is changing. Other things are happening and I need to step aside now. It is my hope that another parishioner will step in to keep this blog open. Because people still come here, still read, still find help, hope and reflection.

Pax et bonum.

The Woman at the Well

2011-03-28T10:49:00.002-04:00

Family Bible Study for the Second Sunday of Lent by Gloria Boesch

2011-03-20T12:46:00.000-04:00

The story of Jesus Transfiguration is told in the three Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In each of those Gospels, the Transfiguration follows Jesus first prediction of his death and his teaching about the costs of discipleship. Jesus' Transfiguration is a promise of Jesus' glory, his Resurrection.

On a mountain in today's reading, a voice affirms that Jesus is God's Son in words reminiscent of the voice at his baptism. In addition, the appearance of Moses and Elijah on the mountain connects this story with God's relationship to the people of Israel. Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the Prophets, respectively.

Together with Jesus, they represent God's complete Word.

The Transfiguration occurs in the presence of just three of Jesus disciples: Peter, James, and John. In Matthew's Gospel, those disciples are among the first whom Jesus calls. The three men are identified as an "inner circle" among Jesus disciples when Jesus asks them to accompany him to the Garden of Gethsemane just before his arrest.

Jesus' Transfiguration may have been an event from which Peter, James, and John drew courage when they faced the difficult events of Jesus Passion.

As a family, talk about some of your times of highs and lows. How have you been able to use the good times and experiences to sustain you in the difficult ones?

Pray a prayer of thanksgiving for the good times and experiences that your family has had together. Pray that your family will use these experiences to sustain you during times of difficulty.

German Theologians Ask for Reform

2011-02-15T13:01:00.001-05:00

My attention has been grabbed by the German Theologians who have written an open letter to the Roman Catholic Church. I saw the news break at National Catholic Reporter, but Fr. Ruff at PrayTell has more updates, and Lisa Fullman at dotCommonweal has a blog post up about the letter as well with a great commentary on what it could mean and do for the Chruch.

More Links: Googling God comments on the letter as well: "Crisis is always a moment where things can turn around, or even simply turn anew."

Moses vs. Jesus

2010-12-05T14:33:00.005-05:00

Last month my friend Annette sent "The Take Away? Moses Got It Wrong" article to a friend who didn't agree with the conclusions drawn. Annette asked if I would respond to her friend's questions and I think this topic deserves more discussion, so I will gladly revisit it. If you missed the original post last August, scroll down or click on the link above.

Sorry. Don't think I agree with this. Go to Biblegateway.com and search for Satan. There are multiple references that refer to Satan - as the individual - not a collective group. The name for Satan and the devil are interchangeable (see the different accounts of Jesus' temptation in the dessert - one gospel calls him Satan and Luke refers to the tempter as the devil). Also - I don't think Moses was wrong to kill those worshiping idols. Don't forget - when they finally entered the promised land - God commanded the Israelites to completely wipe out the inhabitants so they would not be tempted/mislead/intermarry with the pagan people there who worshiped idols. Additionally, God did not discipline Moses for his actions either which I think we would've seen had Moses been wrong (just like later on when Moses takes matter into his own hands and the punishment is that he isn't able to enter the promised land). It would be very interesting to know what this Preists' thought process was to come to this conclusion.... what do you think?

I want to start with the last question; but I also want to begin with the caveat that I don't think my commenter, who is well read in the Bible, reads the Bible the same way we do in the Catholic tradition. Catholics don't typically read the Bible in a literal way, but rather search for layers of meaning. As Catholics, there is one principle to guide us every time we open the Bible. The Bible is both the word of God and the words of human beings. Jesus is the Incarnational model for this; just as Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human being (man). In the Bible God uses as authors human beings with all their human limitations. The Bible is God's Word which is at the same time thoroughly human, on the human level for human beings.

So we may begin by first agreeing to disagree, which is itself another form of peace.

I can't claim to actually know what Fr. Rolheiser's thought process was, but he does appear to be within a solid tradition of thought in his reading of Jesus behavior and conclusion. Jesus corrects Moses and Jesus is greater than Moses and Scripture points that out. Look at Hebrews 3:3, "Yet Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honour than the house itself."

Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it--to better and complete our knowledge, our revelation, of God. We are supposed to learn something from Jesus instruction in this story of the woman caught in adultery. What have we learned from this incident? And does it in any way contradict what Moses taught? There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus was contradicting the teaching of Moses--everyone in the mob was ready to apply "the Law." But as Jesus showed, when the law is interpreted through humans it is full of human flaw. For instance, where was the male adulterer? And what about the commandment to not kill?

This story is not in the oldest versions of John's Gospel, and I've even heard it said (although I can't find any online reference, so draw your own conclusions) that some early versions of the story read, "let he who is without this sin cast the first stone." The implied emphasis being that all of the men willing to punish this woman had committed the same sin without punishment.

I consistently think the best way to read the Bible is to focus on what our message is today--what are we to make of this story in light of our lives.

What did Jesus do? He did not judge, he did not condemn, he did not punish.

Jesus, as the Son of God, reveals God's truer intentions of mercy throughout the Gospels. Jesus specifically contradicted the law of Moses on more than one occasion. Here are two other examples, one with regard to dietary laws (Matthew 15:1-14); the other concerning "an eye for an eye"(Matthew 5:38-48).

I recently read a meditation from Franciscan, Fr. Richard Rohr, on the subject of justice. In that he said, "The desire for vengeance, even after having been wronged, is a far cry from the cardinal virtue of justice.

God's justice does not need retaliation or punishment, but merely honest accounting and making of amends. This is the kind of restorative justice we are promised to receive from God. Retributive justice (tit for tat) Jesus opposed (Matthew 5:38-48). In the world of mere retribution, both fall into the pit, as Jesus puts it (Matthew 15:14)."

Sacred Scripture shows an evolution of man's capacity to understand justice. If you put yourself back in the ancient world, there really was no justice; not for the poor, the widowed, the orphaned. If you were small, if you were weak, you were used as a commodity and tossed aside. Justice was what the king said. It's easy to see how the ancients could have confused retribution with justice. God brought to the people of Israel His justice, which far surpassed anything they had seen before.

Look at Deuteronomy 10:17-19 "For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them with food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." Did you hear that? You even have to love the stranger. Jesus corrected that. "I tell you, love your enemies..."

Now look at Deuteronomy 15:7-8 "If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards your needy neighbour. You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be." Even back here we have the beginnings of the theology of love, as the people of Israel tried to understand this great love, this incredible mercy of God and how to live it.

But it is with the prophets that we truly hear the cry of the Lord for us to establish justice, God's justice, here on earth. It is the prophets that Jesus quotes the most. Look at Isaiah 58:6-7 "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?"

Look at Micah 6:8 "He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Look at Hosea 6:6 "For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." Jesus fulfills the prophets! Jesus quotes all of these prophets; he's practically hitting us over the head with it. Go and Learn! (Matthew 9:13).

It's all about mercy and love. Mercy, even if it's undeserved, because if we deserved it, it wouldn't be called mercy.

And this is how we should interpret and respond to these passages today. I strongly believe that. I shudder at the idea of slaying idolaters. How is that okay? How was Moses right to do that? If Moses was right, that thinking would lead you, perhaps, to slay an idolater or two today. There are many on Wall Street (there were many at the World Trade Center).

Now, as for the question about the use of the word Devil vs. Satan, I don't feel personally confident on where the word Devil is used and where the word Satan is used by merely looking at English translations, and I certainly am not an expert on the original Greek and Hebrew texts. I'm really not sure how much gets mixed in translation. However, despite that caveat, I think using the words Devil and Satan in this way is a very useful vocabulary tool for talking about the nature of evil. The point about all of that was really the question--what is the nature of evil? How do we fit into that--today? This story, John 8:1-11, can teach us something about mob violence, about bullies, victims and bystanders, about how easy it is to fall away from the body of Christ; about how easy it is to become part of the body of Satan.

Jesus is The Way.

How to Write a Catholic Confirmation Letter

2010-08-26T15:38:00.001-04:00

I first want to say kudos to you parents and sponsors who are taking this seriously enough to research it and look for help.

Writing a letter like this is a beautiful way to affirm your candidates decision to move forward with their faith, to welcome them into full communion with the Catholic Church, and to let them know how much they mean to you. It is meaningful and important. It is faith sharing.

Faith sharing is not always easy, but it is always worthwhile.

The first point I would make is that the letter doesn't have to be long in order to be special and well done. Try to recall a fond memory you have of your candidate. I think this is an important aspect of the letter. We all, and young people especially, like to hear stories about ourselves. Part of the novelty of this is seeing yourself in a positive way through the eyes of someone else.

As an example, when I wrote to my daughter last year I recalled how she would pray as a child.

"When young Marigrace would pray, she prayed for everyone and everything. No person or creature was too small to escape her attention or gratitude to the Creator.

'God bless Mommy and Daddy and Stevie and Billy and Jack and Kelly the dog and Simba the cat and ladybugs and flowers. And God bless the fishies in the lake and the froggies on the sand. And God bless all the birdies and the trees and the horsies...'

On and on it would go as I sat smiling patiently and wondering at the beauty of a child asking for blessings on all of creation. How appropriate to ask God now to bless you, Marigrace, as you prepare for your Confirmation."

I think it is also important in this letter to tell your candidate what some of your hopes and dreams are for him or her.

And finally, be sure to make a promise to your candidate that you will pray for him or her. This may be the most important revelation of all.

These ideas are not meant to be a hard and fast rule or formula. Perhaps there are other points you might touch on in writing the letter. Here are a few more to consider:

Special qualities you see in him or her
Prayers or religious songs that have meaning for you
Ways that being a Catholic Christian have helped you
What helps you to keep believing in God
People who influenced you in trying to lead a good life
Memories of your own preparation for Confirmation

Writing this letter may be difficult and challenging, but once you have done so I'm sure you will find that this will be a memorable gift for your very special candidate. If you have additional helps or ideas, or would like to share your experience about writing a Confirmation letter, please leave a comment!

The Take Away? Moses Got It Wrong

2010-08-07T10:15:00.002-04:00

On Monday of this week I had the privilige of hearing Ron Rolheiser, OMI speak at St. John Neumann Parish in Canton, Michigan. The theme of his talk was "moral loneliness."

The thread that caught my attention the most was when Rolheiser spoke about the woman caught in adultery. The familiar story can be found in John's Gospel, 8:1-11.

The story was used as an illustration in contrasting the difference between the devil and satan--the two names of evil. Rolheiser contends that in the Bible the devil is the individual temptor, as in the story of Eve's temptation or Jesus' temptation. The devil works on individuals, tempting them and leading them to be selfish or self serving. Satan, on the other hand, is the mindless mob. Satan is the crowd with blood lust, the vigilante mob that doesn't think as it carries out evil deeds. Jesus' temptation was the work of the devil, but His crucifixcion was the work of Satan.

In the story of the woman caught in adultery there is an extraordinary conversion of a Satanic mob that takes place. They arrive as a group, questioning Jesus about the law of Moses--Moses said this woman should be stoned to death, she was caught in the very act of adultery--what do you say?

Jesus writes with his finger in the dirt. He responds to their question, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," then he writes with his finger in the dirt again. Rolheiser commented that there was special significance in Jesus' writing with his finger, but moved on to the crowd. They arrived as a group, as a Satanic mob, but with one question Jesus defuses them. They leave one by one. They arrived as a crowd, but left ...as individuals.

Later, during the question and answer period, someone in the audience took up the question of Jesus' writing with his finger in the dirt, asking Rolheiser what he felt the significance of this was. "The significance is not in what he wrote, because we don't know that, the significance is that he wrote with his finger twice. Who else in the Bible wrote twice with His finger?"

Yes, God wrote twice with His finger. On Mt. Sinai. He wrote the ten commandments and Moses carried them down the mountain and ...caught the Israelites--caught them in the very act of idolatry. Caught in the act of sinning--only a vowel difference between the two stories, really. And what did Moses do? He broke the ten commandments. Literally and symbolically. Moses was the first to break the ten commandments--he stoned the people who had sinned. Stoned them to death. Then he had to go back up the mountain to get another copy, seeing as how he had broken the first so completely. So God wrote with his finger a second time.

In the story of the woman caught in adultery Jesus is telling the crowd--Moses got it wrong. "Thou shall not kill."

Creation Bears Witness

2010-07-11T18:05:00.000-04:00

Visual images for a summer day...

Let Me Live Grace-fully

2010-06-25T11:46:00.001-04:00

Thank you, Lord,
for this season
of sun and slow motion,
of games and porch sitting,
of picnics and light green fireflies
on heavy purple evenings
and praise for slight breezes.
It's good, God,
as the first long days of your creation.

Let this season be for me
a time of gathering together the pieces
into which my busyness has broken me.
O God, enable me now
to grow wise through reflection
peaceful through the song of the cricket,
recreated through the laughter of play.

Most of all, Lord,
let me live easily and grace-fully for a spell,
so that I may see other souls deeply,
share in a silence unhurried,
listen to the sound of sunlight and shadows,
explore barefoot the land of forgotten dreams and shy hopes,
and find the right words to tell another who I am.

From Guerrillas Of Grace: Prayers For The Battle

Prayer for a Rural Family

2010-06-15T13:49:00.003-04:00

An offering you can make today is advocating for the Child Tax Credit, so crucial for rural families...

Today, Tuesday, June 15, Bread for the World members from across the country will visit members of Congress on Capitol Hill to ask them to support millions of low-income working families who struggle to make ends meet. For those of us who cannot attend this advocacy day in person, please call your member of Congress this week. Use this special toll-free number: 1-800-826-3688. Simply ask your Representative to make the current Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit levels permanent.

You can explain your message by adding these points: (1) If Congress fails to preserve
the Child Tax Credit at its current level, a full-time working parent receiving the minimum wage will receive only a $320 credit instead of the current $1,800 credit. The difference ($1,480) is a modest amount of money that has a big impact on the lives of families struggling to make ends meet. (2) If the EITC and Child Tax Credit are not continued at current levels, 1.5 million people will fall below the poverty line, including 800,000 children.

Click here to find how many people in your state would be affected.

Pray.

Bless us, O God, we who live close to the land.

Bless us as you blessed Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Like the farm families of today, they knew the struggles, the fears, the joys, and rewards of rural life.

Help us to be aware of the quiet beauty of the face of the earth and the fresh green growth on trees and all plants.

We give thanks for all of these. May we always show respect for all of creation.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.+

A Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

2010-06-09T12:45:00.000-04:00

MOST Sacred Heart of Jesus, each morning we offer to You again, all the thoughts, words, and actions of our whole day. Every single thing we do: our labor in the fields and barns, our work in the kitchen and all the house, our laughter and our play and our tears--all is consecrated to Your Sacred Heart. Thus everything we do is an act of love, and a prayer to You. Every thing except our sins. And yet, by the measureless mercy of Your Sacred Heart, even these sins of ours, once they are repented of, confessed, and forgiven in the sacrament of penance--even our sins become monuments to Your loving and generous mercy.

Dear Sacred Heart, still beating now in our tabernacles with infinite love for us, we adore You. We thank You for Your unending generosity to us, so clear in all the bountiful, beautiful gifts of nature, in field and wood, by night and day. We beg of You to forgive us all our sins, and those of the whole world. We ask You to help us, in our little way, to make up to You for the love and service that is not given to You by so many men. Countless people who should serve You are Your enemies. Help us to realize that by doing our humdrum daily duties well, and offering them to God with Your merits, we can do very much to make up for our sins and those of all men. Help us, by Your grace, to bear patiently and lovingly, the little trials and sufferings of each day, happy to repay You in these little things for all the great things You have done for us.

All these our efforts then, dear Heart of Christ, we offer You through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our Mother, and in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which is at this very moment being offered to our most loving and generous God. Amen.

From the National Catholic Rural Life Conference

Bread for the World

2010-06-02T08:34:00.002-04:00

This coming Sunday, June 5-6, St. Anne Church Peace and Justice Committee are planning their annual Bread for the World Offering of Letters. Take time before or after Mass to write letters to our legislators to direct funds to help feed the poor. Sample letters as well as writing paper, pens, and envelopes will be available for your use in Hardy Hall. Or submit your letter at the Bread for the World website. Volunteers will be available after all Masses this weekend to answer any questions you may have.

The following is the Bread for the World Credo:

We are moved by God's grace in Jesus Christ

To work for justice for hungry people.

They may be in the next house or in the next country.

No matter where they live, they are our neighbors.

And we have the power to help.

Charity alone is not enough.

We must urge our government to make fair decisions so struggling families can provide for their children.

We must write personal letters and emails to Congress and engage our churches, campuses and other organizations.

We must change laws and structures that allow poverty to persist.

When we turn our faith into action, God uses our voices.

Again and again, we win help and opportunity.

Two fish may become many.

Five loaves become enough to feed a multitude.

God is moving in our time to end hunger, and we are part of this great liberation.

It is our mission to help our neighbors.

Wherever they live.

They are hungry.

And we are Bread for the World.

One Body

2010-05-30T17:09:00.003-04:00

That creaking sound you hear is my mind opening up just a little bit to the Tridentine Mass. I would not have said that a year ago, and I’m not about to become a “doily head,” but I have come to see over this past year that the Tridentine is its own version of inculturation.

When I accepted my position as DRE last fall I knew the parish I would be working at had a Tridentine Mass every week. I was philosophical about it. I decided all Catholics need to live and work and teach and serve—side by side—this is a central tenet of our Christianity—we are the body of Christ. And even if I am a hippie-dippie-hand-holding-Kumbaya-Catholic, there was no reason why I couldn’t get along with the Tridentine Mass goers—after all, don’t we follow the same Catechism?

Basically? It turned out I was right. We can live and work side by side. We do follow the same Catechism. We agree a lot more than we disagree. I like the families here and I feel like I’ve made a lot of friends.

I do have objections to the Tridentine Mass. And I suspect I know many of the objections Tridentine Mass goers have to the Novus Ordo. I have chosen over the past year not to raise my objections, but rather to look and listen.

In 2007, when Pope Benedict XVI approved the use of the Tridentine Mass upon the request of the laity and indicated that it was intended as a means of reconciliation with conservative groups, I was not impressed with this reason. What about reconciliation with women, who are purposely and noticably left out of the Eucharistic celebration? What about reconciliation with Jews, who are referred to with questionable adjectives and considered the objects of conversion in the Tridentine Good Friday rite?

The area of Michigan where I work has a number of conservative church goers who are attracted to groups like the Pius X congregations. When our parish began offering the weekly Tridentine Mass it became a magnet and a lot of people began leaving those schismatic groups and coming to our parish instead. This past spring a young man with Down’s syndrome received his First Communion at our parish, in large part because he had been refused at the other church. Now he has come to the table and his entire family has come home to the Catholic Church. Or have they?

I think for me the argument that has had the greatest impact has been the emotional side, the pathos argument, seeing how much this Mass means to the people who attend and love it; and seeing how much this ministry means to the priest who shepherds them.

I’ve come to see it as a deeply held, beloved, cultural tradition of worship.

A concept of Vatican II is the inculturation of our Catholic liturgy—that is, incorporating the local practices, music, and cultural traditions of a congregation into the liturgy. So, for instance, a congregation in Brazil would have very different music than a congregation in Korea. In a sense, the Tridentine Mass is being used to inculturate a group of people who are very attached to it back into the body of Christ. The irony of this is so thick and multi-layered it's difficult to categorize. I know I can't fully articulate it here. Perhaps another blog post.

Here’s the dealio, those congregations in Brazil and Korea would still be celebrating the same Mass, the Novus Ordo, whether it’s being said in Korean or Portuguese—and for many this is the rub. The Tridentine is not the same Mass. It represents more than just a different language or a different style of music or a different set of liturgical norms. It represents a different theology of church.

It represents a different church.

Yes, my objections are still there.

And yet I can see the reconciliation value Pope Benedict spoke of.

I guess I’m just wondering…

Are they joining us, or are we joining them?

(In the interest of clarity I would like to point out that St. Anne Church in Ortonville does not offer a weekly Tridentine Mass, and while I do volunteer as blog editor for St. Anne's, it is not the parish where I am currently employed. I work at Sacred Heart in Yale, which does offer a weekly Tridentine, and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Emmett, which does not.)

Divine Mercy

2010-04-10T15:08:00.001-04:00

Musings on Divine Mercy Sunday from 2009
Tomorrow, the second Sunday of Easter, the Church celebrates the Feast of Divine Mercy. The Feast of Divine Mercy is not an ancient Catholic tradition. It dates back only to the year 2000 when John Paul II first instituted and celebrated the day called for by St. Maria Faustina, the first saint of the new millennium. St. Maria Faustina's mystical vision, first repressed by the Church and then embraced, is one of those stories that feels older than it is.

The message of Christ's Divine Mercy as revealed to St. Maria Faustina rings true to our hearts: Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of Christ's Mercy.

"I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable and inscrutable mercy. Write: before I come as a just Judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice.

"From all My wounds, like from streams, mercy flows for souls, but the wound in My Heart is the fountain of unfathomable mercy. From this fountain spring all graces for souls. The flames of compassion burn Me. I desire greatly to pour them out upon souls. Speak to the whole world about My mercy." Excerpted from Diary of Sr. M. Faustina Kowalska.

Tomorrow as we celebrate this feast day, doubting Thomas will again make his annual appearance in the Gospel reading. But don't think of doubt as a sin. Remember instead the Divine Mercy.

Easter

2010-04-04T12:26:00.000-04:00

Wait--you don't understand? Begin again.

Holy Thursday

2010-04-01T15:37:00.001-04:00

The Scapegoat by William Holman Hunt, 1854. Hunt had this framed in a picture with the quotations "Surely he hath borne our Griefs and carried our Sorrows; Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of GOD and afflicted." (Isaiah 53:4) and "And the Goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a Land not inhabited." (Leviticus 16:22)

It seems every year during Holy Week I am led to dwell on the paradox and mystery of the Paschal sacrifice. We are united with Christ in His suffering and He is united with all of the suffering of humanity. Like Christians all over the world I am troubled and moved by the fact that it was a tragedy that shouldn't have happened, and yet the fact that it did saves mankind. In Fr. Richard Rohr's meditation today, he touches on the significance of this sacrificial instinct:

Note that today’s reading from Exodus (12:1-8, 11-14) says on the 10th day of the month of Nissan (“April”), they are to procure a small year-old lamb for each household.; They are to keep it in the household for four days—just enough time for the children to bond with it and for all to see its loveliness—and then “slaughter it during the evening twilight”! That night they are to eat it in highly ritualized fashion, recalling their departure from Egypt and their protection by God along the way. It was called the Passover, and the victim was the Passover Lamb, which we would identify with Jesus.

A cultural anthropologist would see what is happening here. The sacrificial instinct is the deep recognition in most religions that something always has to die for something Bigger to be born. We started with human sacrifice (e.g. Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22). We moved then to animal sacrifice as we see here, and we gradually got closer to what really has to be sacrificed: our own beloved ego—as protected and beloved as a little household lamb!

We still resist this recognition, and love to look for any vicarious sacrifice other than our own selves. That is the temptation that Jesus totally resisted, and we pray with him “for one hour” (see Mark 14:37) tonight hoping we can share in his courage and love.
Richard Rohr, OFM

I do think Rohr is on to something. That we look for any vicarious sacrifice cannot be denied; scapegoating and bullying are ubiquitous to human culture. This is one of the deepest structures of human sin. It is most virulent where it is most invisible.

Remember the myth of the Indian princess from the book, The Shack? Not to get into a review of the book right now, but I thought of that as an example of mythology that hides violence. The princess sacrifices herself for her people and a beautiful waterfall springs from the place of her death. Isn't that lovely?

So long as we are in the grip of sin, we do not see our victims as scapegoats. Texts that hide scapegoating foster it. Texts that show it for what it is undermine it.

Jesus’ willingness to face death, specifically death on a cross, suddenly looks anything but arbitrary, and much more like the "wisdom of God" that the New Testament so surprisingly discovers in the crucifixion.

God is willing to die for us, to bear our sin in this particular way, because we desperately need deliverance from the sin of scapegoating. God breaks the grip of scapegoating by stepping into the place of a victim, and by being a victim who cannot be hidden or mythologized. God acts not to affirm the suffering of the innocent victim as the price of peace, but to reverse it.

God is not just feeding a bigger and better victim into this machinery to get a bigger pay off, as the theory of substitutionary atonement might seem to suggest. Jesus’ open proclamation of forgiveness (without sacrifice) before his death and the fact of his resurrection after it are the ways that God reveals and rejects the "victim mechanism."

Note that in the Gospels it is Jesus’ accusers who affirm the reconciling value of his death.

"It is expedient that one man should die for the sake of the people," said the high priest.

And Luke 23:12 contains this curious note after Pilate and Herod had shuttled Jesus between them: "That same day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies."

Jesus’ persecutors intended his death to bring peace; it offered a way to avoid an outbreak of violence between Romans and Israelites, between Jews and other Jews. Jesus’ death is intended to be sacrificial business as usual. But God means it to be the opposite.

I refer to myth because I think it has something to tell us. Enthusiasts for myth deride Judeo-Christian religion for its low symbolic quality and its crude moral literalism. They deplore the Bible’s brutal representations of violence, its fixation on persecution and murder. The biblical tradition, they say, lacks the beauty and imaginative sophistication of great myth. The story of Jesus’ death is a cut-rate version of the sacrifice of the corn king, flattened into something that belongs on a police blotter and not in high spiritual culture.

This sort of critique gets things just backwards. Major myths are rooted in sacrificial violence, prescribe it, and shield us from awareness of our complicity in it. That is why they do not show it directly. The Bible, by contrast, makes the violence visible, and therefore makes the victims uncomfortably visible too.

Modern sensitivity to victims, which now makes people uneasy with the Bible, is rooted in the Bible. We would not be able to criticize the Gospels of encouraging victimization if we had not already been converted by them. We would not look for scapegoated victims in every corner of the world if the magnifying glass of the cross had not already helped us see them.

The workings of mythical sacrifice require that in human society people "know not what they do."

But in the Gospels, the process of sacrifice is laid out in stark clarity.

Jesus says these very words from the cross.

The scapegoat is revealed as a scapegoat.

The point is made dramatically in Luke’s account, when the centurion confesses at the moment of Jesus’ death, "Surely this man was innocent."

Sociologist Rene Girard recounts the shock of recognition he experienced in coming to the New Testament after studying violence and the sacred in anthropology and the history of religion.

He found in the Gospels all the elements he had come to expect in myths: the crowd coalescing against an individual, the charges of the greatest crimes and impurities. But he was startled to recognize that the reality of what was happening was explicit, not hidden. Here is the same mythic story, but this time told from the point of view of the victim, who is clearly accused unjustly and murdered wrongly.

In the Gospels, the scapegoating process is stripped of its sacred mystery, and the collective persecution and abandonment are painfully illustrated so that no one, including the disciples, can honestly say afterward that they resisted the sacrificial tide.

The resurrection makes Jesus’ death a failed sacrifice, but of a new kind. When mythical sacrifice succeeds, peace descends, true memory is erased and the way is smoothed for the next scapegoat. If it fails (because the community is not unanimous or the victim is not sufficiently demonized), it becomes just another killing, stoking the proliferation of violence, and the search intensifies for more and better victims.

But in the case of Jesus’ death, something else happens.

People do not unanimously close ranks over Jesus’ grave (as Jesus’ executioners hoped), nor is there a spree of violent revenge on behalf of the crucified leader.

Instead, an odd new countercommunity arises, dedicated both to the innocent victim whom God has vindicated by resurrection and to a new life through him that requires no further such sacrifice. The revelatory quality of the New Testament on this point is thoroughly continuous with Hebrew scripture, in which an awareness and rejection of the sacrificial mechanism is already set forth.

The averted sacrifice of Isaac; the prophets’ condemnation of scapegoating the widow, the weak or the foreigner; the story of Job; the Psalms’ obsession with the innocent victim of collective violence; the passion narratives’ transparent account of Jesus’ death; the confessions of a new community that grew up in solidarity around the risen crucified victim: all these follow a constant thread. They reveal the "victim mechanisms" as the joint root of religion and society -- and they reject those mechanisms.

Jesus is the victim who will not stay sacrificed, whose memory is not erased and who forces us to confront the reality of scapegoating. It is hardly accidental that "Peace" is usually the first word of the risen Christ in his appearances. It is an apt greeting in two ways.

If a sacrificial victim were to return with power to those who had persecuted or abandoned him, peace is the opposite of what they would expect. And peace not based on new victims, "not as the world gives," is what is now offered.

So in the gospel a new kind of tension is stressed, in which it is the entire complex of sacrificial violence -- both the "good" peace it brings and the bad violence it uses -- that becomes the bad thing.

And it is God’s willingness to suffer the worst this process has to offer to deliver us from it, to deliver us to a new path of peace, that is the good thing.

Christ is wounded for our transgressions. We can hardly deny that Jesus bears our sin of scapegoating, precisely because of its collective and ubiquitous character. Christ died for us. He did so first in the mythic, sacrificial sense that all scapegoated victims do. That we know this is already a sign that he died for us in a second sense -- to save us from that very sin. Jesus died in our place, because it is literally true that any one of us, in the right circumstances, can be the scapegoat.

As the Letter to the Hebrews says, Christ is a sacrifice to end sacrifice, and he has died once for all. Christ’s purpose was not "to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself" (9:25-26).

Only one whose innocence truly can be vindicated and whose power could have offered escape can, by suffering this sacrifice, reverse it. The work of the cross is the work of a transcendent God breaking into a cycle we could not change alone.

If we limit Jesus’ work to that of a human exemplar, the crucifixion becomes more of a prescription for suffering than if we grasp it as the work of the incarnate one, done once for all. It is a saving act of God, a victory over the powers of this world, a defeat of death.

Early Christian writers spoke of the crucifixion as basically a trick on Satan. The powers have been tricked. By drawing Christ into the usual sacrificial machinery, the powers have been revealed and broken, because all the traditional means of justifying and erasing the sacrificial violence won’t stick this time, and their hold will increasingly be broken.

When Christians gather at communion we see this clearly in the unequivocal reminder of Christ’s bloody death.

When we hear "Do this in remembrance of me" we should hear the implied contrast that comes with emphasis on this.

Unlike the mythic victims who became sacred models for future sacrifices, Christ is not to be remembered with more scapegoating.

This is a humble meal and prayer, not a new cross.

Christ has offered his very real body and blood so that at the last supper he can set a new pattern and say of bread "this is my body" and of wine "this is my blood."

Following that example, Christians believe this meal of the new community is able to accomplish all the peace that sacrificial violence could, and more. In it, we recall a real sacrifice and celebrate a substitutionary atonement.

Here on this table, bread and wine are to be continually substituted for victims -- substituted for any, and all, of us.

Watch and pray.

Spy Wednesday

2010-03-31T12:40:00.000-04:00

Deeply distressed at this,
they began to say to him one after another,
“Surely it is not I, Lord?” Matthew 26:22

None of us is so sure of ourselves that we can avoid the question. Each of us, in our own way, is responsible for Christ's crucifixion. That we know this is evidenced by our need to ask, "Surely it is not I, Lord?"

Monday of Holy Week

2010-03-29T18:06:00.006-04:00

Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
Upon whom I have put my Spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
Not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street.
A bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
Until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

Thus says God, the LORD,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spreads out the earth with its crops,
Who gives breath to its people
and spirit to those who walk on it:
I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
To open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness. ~Is 42.1-7

The Anointing by Stephen St. Claire

Opposite Gates

2010-03-27T19:00:00.000-04:00

We all know how important beginnings are. This is the beginning of Holy Week. The Palm Sunday liturgy begins with the story of Jesus entry into Jerusalem.

Throughout all of the New Testament there are powerful echos of the Old Testament. The return from exile in the second half of Isaiah is fundamental to understanding the prophetic entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. I do not intend to get into the discussion of the writer known as "deutero-Isaiah" here, but when I say the second half of Isaiah I am specifically talking about everything from chapter 40 onward. I wanted to point out a few textual things about the Greek version of the Old Testament that writers of the New Testament were echoing. The Greek verb euangelizo means to bring good news. It is the same word Paul uses frequently in his letters, the word we have come to know as evangelize, or in it's noun form "Gospel"--the Good News. Isaiah 61.1 in particular is central to Luke's Gospel: "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners." Isaiah uses euangelizo specifically in reference to bringing good news to console after the exile (Is 40.9, 42.27, 52.7, 60.6). Paraclete is the word Isaiah uses for "comforter," which John makes very familiar in his Gospel.

But why does Israel need consoling and comfort?

Because they are in exile; they are in a tomb; they think they are dead. They are in the tomb that is called Babylon. And in the tomb cut off from land, cut off from Temple, cut off from communion as a people--they are in fact dead. "Go up onto a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; Cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news! Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God!" (Is 40.9) The prophet is calling the city to come out to the mountain East of the city, to look out over the wilderness and make a proclamation. And what mountain is east of the city? The Mount of Olives. Is this going too fast? Let me slow it down a moment.

What does Jerusalem see in the East?

What is Jerusalem being called on to proclaim?

The Risen Son of God.

Jerusalem is seeing Israel, the Son of God, emerging from the tomb of captivity, rising from the dead, leaving Babylon, returning to the land, "Here is your God!"

Where does Jesus enter the city of Jerusalem? From the Mount of Olives, coming from the East, entering the city through the Eastern gate.

There were, in fact, two processions into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Coming in the Western gate that same day would have been Pontius Pilate on a horse with his entourage. Pilate did not have his headquarters in Jerusalem. He was stationed in Caesarea, a lovely seaside town in the north. But when it came time for huge numbers of people to descend on Jerusalem for a festival, Pilate came to be where the action was. And so, for Passover, Pilate traveled down the Via Maris and entered Jerusalem from the west.

Recently, I learned something new about palms. Of course they are native to the area and thus would be a natural thing to wave. But that wasn’t all. In the days of the Hasmoneans (140-37 BC), when Israel experienced a brief and exhilarating time of self rule as a result of the revolt led by Judas Maccabeaus, the palm branch was a nationalistic symbol. It was printed on the Hasmonean coins. Those who were waving palm branches were making a political statement and expressing their hope that Jesus would free them from Roman oppression the way that Judas Maccabeaus had freed the people from the Seleucids and given them their first opportunity at self rule in over 400 years. Those palm branches were the protest signs and political buttons of their day.

The struggle has always been reconciling what Jesus is with who Jesus is. What he is, we know. He is the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one. But how does that mesh with who he is?

The people of Jerusalem wanted a war hero, a military and political savior ready to take on the military and political leader coming in the opposite gate. No wonder Jesus' entry into Jerusalem began with tears and ended it in a rage overturning tables at the Temple. No one understood who he was. And we are not so different today. Mostly we don't want what Jesus offers. Oh sure, we pray, we make our petitions--and when God's answer comes riding on a colt through the Eastern Gate we're so thrilled with what we think we're going to get that we fail to notice He is crying.

The Church: Called to Repentance--Called to Prophecy

2010-03-24T20:19:00.001-04:00

Honoring the prophetic witness of Archbishop Oscar Romero to the churches of the Americas, we remember his martyrdom in El Salvador, March 24, 1980.

Archbishop Romero said, "A church that suffers no persecution but enjoys the privileges and support of the things of the earth - beware! - is not the true church of Jesus Christ. A preaching that does not point out sin is not the preaching of the gospel. A preaching that makes sinners feel good, so that they are secured in their sinful state, betrays the gospel's call." (1/22/78)

God of justice, we repent the sin of our church when it fails to denounce injustice in our world and to call its people to repentance and conversion.

Archbishop Romero said, "When the church hears the cry of the oppressed it cannot but denounce the social structures that give rise to and perpetuate the misery from which the cry arises." (8/6/78)

God of the prophets, we pray for ourselves and our church that we might become prophets of justice and life to our world.

Archbishop Romero said, "The church would betray its own love for God and its fidelity to the gospel if it stopped being . . . a defender of the rights of the poor . . . a humanizer of every legitimate struggle to achieve a more just society . . . that prepares the way for the true reign of God in history." (8/6/79)

God of love, may we and our church become tools in your hands to help prepare the way for your reign in history. Amen.

A Woman Caught

2010-03-21T10:10:00.008-04:00

In the narrative of the woman caught in adultery, Jesus shows once again how the law must always be applied within the rubric of the two greatest laws: love God and love your neighbor. In Fr. Gerry's homily this morning he mentioned that this story did not appear in any of the Greek versions of the canon until around 600 CE. It was an "orphan text" that appeared at various times in the history of the New Testament in different Gospels and in different places in the Gospels. Now housed in John's Gospel, some hypothesize that its checkered textual past testifies to the fact that it was too shocking to Church officials to be easily admitted as Scripture and too cherished by the people to be successfully suppressed. One of the most interesting commentaries I have read on today's Gospel comes from Sandra Schneider, IHM.

"The religious officials drag before Jesus a woman taken in the very act of adultery. She is, without doubt, guilty of breaking one of the most serious commandments of the Law. Adultery was a capital offense (see Dt 22.23-24) and the scribes and Pharisees (the clerical caste and spiritual elite) test Jesus by asking him what he says about the stoning prescribed by the Law of Moses. 'Are you for it or against it?' If you say to stone her you agree that God is as we represent Him, a just but harsh judge who is unrelenting toward sinners (not the wishy-washy parent of the prodigal that Jesus had been preaching!). If you oppose her execution you oppose the Law of Moses (and thereby prove that you do not come from God or speak for God). Or, at least, you oppose our administering the Law, thereby showing that you accept Rome's denial to the Jews of the power to execute (which proves your allegiance is to the Empire rather than to God). The three-way trap is set with this woman as bait.

Jesus does not enter into an argument about the nature of God or sexual morality, about the validity of the Law or about the authority of the hierarchy, or even about the reach of Roman jurisdiction. He simply turns the focus from the woman to the religious officials themselves. He does not say adultery is all right. He does not say the woman is innocent. He does not dispute the legitimacy of capital punishment. He does not ask where her accomplice is or who was eye-witness to the offense. He does not even ask if she is repentant. He says in effect, 'The case may be exactly as you say. The problem is, where can we find someone who is qualified to apply the penalty? Is there one among you who is sinless and is therefore qualified to punish a sinner?'

When they all quietly disappear the woman is left facing the one person who is indeed qualified to execute her, the one person who is without sin. But he refuses to enter into the dynamics of the case. He just asks, 'Has no one condemned you?' Obviously, the answer is 'no.' Then, he says, 'Neither do I.'

If the one who is qualified to condemn simply declines to do so, what becomes of dominant power, of condemnation and punishment, as a way of handling evil and maintaining moral order? The enormity of this question is quite probably the reason this text had trouble getting into the canon. What would happen to good order in society or the Church if this suspension of condemnation became common practice? Jesus tells the woman to 'sin no more,' indicating that he knows and names as sin what she has done. He is not declaring a moral free-for-all among humans. But he also, shockingly, does not indicate that this woman is a one-time exception, a useful pedagogical tool but the only person God will ever treat this way.

Jesus' symbolic act seems to say something about God that is inconceivable, and totally unacceptable, in a framework of law, sin, judgment, retribution, punishment--in the human program of how to run a tight moral ship in a religious institution. He seems to be suggesting by this prophetic act, as he did with the parable of the Prodigal Son, that God is operating in a framework that is radically different from ours, that makes no appeal to coercive power. Indeed, he seems to be saying that God is radically different from us and that our image of God says more about us than about God.

Nicking a turn of phrase from Fr. Gerry, I think it fitting to add, "This is the kind of story that makes us glad about the final judgment. Happy that it will be God judging us and not our fellow man."

Presence

2010-02-27T14:53:00.008-05:00

The Transfiguration by Raphael Sanzio, 1518-20 Oil on wood,
405 x 278 cm, Pinacoteca, Vatican

Back in August, I wrote about Mark's version of the story of the Transfiguration. This Sunday we hear in our lectionary Luke's account.

The first difference between the two is in the part left out of the lectionary, 9:28a. If you recall, in Mark's gospel the story begins, "After six days..." But Luke begins his version, "After eight days..."

Here is an illustration of the fact that the gospels are not eye witness documents but rather faith witness accounts. Back in August I pointed out that Mark was using the theme of six days to tie the Transfiguration in with the Creation story--on the sixth day, God created Adam. On the 7th day, God rested--Mark brings us to that eschatological moment by tying these events together.

So Luke didn't make a mistake. It's not a math error or a misreading of sources. When Luke uses eight days he's pointing to something different. Luke was a very close reader of Leviticus. For Luke the tent of meeting, or tent of witness, was very important

In Leviticus chapter 9 we see the dramatic beginning of the priestly cult--there is an effusion of blessing and finally, the Lord's presence is revealed to the Israelites. Look at Leviticus 9:1, "On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons, together with the elders of Israel." Luke is pointing to this.

Here in Luke's gospel Jesus has become the place of Presence, the locus of Presence, just as the working out of the priestly cult in Leviticus chapter 9 was a restoration of God's Presence.

How nice it would be if we could set up tents here on this mountain. But we cannot. We must go to Jerusalem.

Thy Kingdom Come

2010-02-24T11:42:00.001-05:00

I could just skip yesterday's lectionary readings and move with the calendar, but they are so beautiful I don't want to...

Isaiah 55:10-11 "My word shall not return to me empty, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it."
Psalm 34: 4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19 "From all their distress God rescues the just."
Matthew 6:7-15 "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

The first reading from Isaiah is an evocative metaphor, comparing the Word of God to the rains and snows that bring life to the land and ultimately feed us. Following that, the Psalmist once again cries out on behalf of the oppressed and in gratitude for a God who is close to the brokenhearted. First, the Word of God to us, God feeds us; then the word of humans to God, praise and thanksgiving; and finally, the Lord's prayer, Jesus teaching us how to pray. I do love the symmetry of this arrangement.

As for Jesus, he is doing more than just teaching us how to pray. He is showing an answer to the Psalmist; "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." We are not saying "give us Your Kingdom"; we are pledging to bring about the Kingdom. How is God's will done? How, if not by the free will of individuals? How do we bring God's Kingdom to earth? How do we bring heaven to earth?

Doing God's will. Thy will be done.

What is God's will? Mercy.

“If you forgive men their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”

Boy, it sounds so simple, huh? NOT. Forgiving, letting go of our hurts, is not an easy thing. Even when you want desperately to let them go. Even when you think you have let them go. In every age we face the difficulty of forgiving others when we feel wronged. I see it in the surprised faces of children who are asked to deliver an "I forgive you," after receiving an "I'm sorry." Often, it is the more difficult.

I'm as guilty as anyone of carrying a grudge. They get mighty heavy sometimes.

It's one of the things I will try to leave behind on my journey this Lent. And I'll try not to hold it against you if you ask how I'm doing with that.

Shepherd Me

2010-02-22T06:01:00.003-05:00

Since today is the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, the readings naturally present an image of the good shepherd. I have always loved Marty Haugen's musical setting for Psalm 23, so I share a version of that here:

Luke 4:1-13

2010-02-21T00:00:00.003-05:00

When I began looking ahead to this week's Gospel reading I knew I would have to post this video.

I first saw this last year on Ash Wednesday when my friend Fran posted it on the Parish Blog of St. Edward the Confessor. It shows a Jesus who has gone into the desert--in ways I had never imagined before. Relax, reflect~

Surrender to Grace

2010-02-20T05:02:00.004-05:00

“Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”

This is the take away from this morning's Gospel reading. True, it is almost time for the vigil, but I think it is worth pondering this as a central statement of Jesus' ministry.

You who are sinners, be healed. You who are righteous, remember you need God's Grace as well.

Surrender to Grace.

Justice, Mercy, and Compassion is the Fast of the Lord

2010-02-19T07:47:00.007-05:00

"This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:

releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,

breaking every yoke;

Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own.

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!"
Isaiah 58:6-9

Take Up Your Cross

2010-02-18T09:53:00.005-05:00

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23

This antiphon has the proper mood for Lent. Subscribers will have to click through to see and hear it.

Jesus tells us to take up our cross daily and follow him. Most of the people he tried to help or heal did the opposite--they gave up their cross then ran off to tell others instead of staying near and following Jesus.

We all yearn for high points and celebration, but no one could stand a Thanksgiving feast every day of the year. Deep down in the human spirit is a yearning of a different sort; the desire to walk through our valleys and test ourselves. This duality is keenly expressed in the liturgical seasons. We are a people of Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday; of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Still, it is not good to walk in the valley of Lent forever. Nor are we meant to. I had a friend who admitted to me that at one time she avoided church for seven years. But each year, she went on Ash Wednesday to receive ashes and be reminded of her mortality. For seven years Easter did not come for her.

Today we take up our cross and follow Jesus. But we know where it will lead. That topsy-turvey world where the last are first and the first are last and "whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it."

Get Your Ash In Church Today

2010-02-17T05:12:00.002-05:00

It's all about change...
Changing the way things are is sometimes difficult. Even making a desired change is not always easy.

Matthew's Gospel portrays Jesus as inviting people to make changes--changes in the way they relate to God and to one another.

Matthew 6:1-18 gives us 3 acts of justice; 6:2-4 Acts of Mercy and almsgiving, 6:5-15 Prayer, and 6:16-18 Fasting.

It's no surprise we hear this reading every year on Ash Wednesday

These are the central themes of Lent: prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

This is not impossible stuff. Anyone can do it.

Pray, fast, and give.

...and when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing.

On-Growing Faith Formation

2010-01-16T09:15:00.007-05:00

A dream team of ministry professionals have come together in the Detroit area to offer themselves as resources for our parish communities. Their main website, On-Growing Faith Formation, offers resource contacts in nearly every category of professional ministry. These are all very dedicated and highly experienced people, most of whom I have had as a teacher at one time or another. They can help you.

Also, their web pages are beautiful!

The members of the On-Growing Faith Formation Network are Janet Schaeffler, OP, Jim Kiefer, Carol Jadach, Faith Offman, Carol Hofer, Deacon Paul Lippard, Allan Ranusch, Kathleen Tomaszewski, Fred Elias, and Joe Gauci.

If you need a facilitator, retreat leader, or professional consultant for your parish, if your parish needs help--contact the people in this network. Their knowledge and creativity will dazzle you. They can help you.

Questen's for Church |?|

2010-01-06T10:01:00.005-05:00

"Questen's for Church |?|
1. Why is comeyn So in portint?
2. Why Do silly pepel eat or Drink in the place?
3. Why Do they need help?
4. how can gold things be worshitp?
5. Do things rilly have to be gold?
6. how do thay aford all the gold?
7. how does God live?
8. how does the Holly chirch happy?
9. how does Jeases move or God?
10. Why pepel hate Church?"

My Dear Child,
You have asked some very thoughtful and interesting questions. I admire you for asking; we should all be asking questions about our faith. This is how we grow. But I have to raise a warning: I don't have all of the answers. No one does. Having all of the answers is not the point of faith sharing; the point is to ask the questions, and listen to many different shared answers, and in this way to grow in our own understanding. The word faith, as you may know, is accepting and believing when you have no proof. It is trust. Specifically, when we talk about religion, the word faith is belief and trust in God.

So how do we know God? Well, we know God through our conscience, that voice inside of us; and we know God through creation and that is very important. We also know God through the Church. The Church relies on Scripture and Tradition to teach about God. This is where I look for understanding.

1. Being in community, living in community, is very important for Christians. The first Christians came together as a group and shared everything they had--their money, their food, their clothes--so that no one would have to go without. They understood that when we come together as a group we are the body of Christ, and when someone is missing we are all poorer for it; when someone is missing we become like a person without a hand. We all need to come together to be whole as a Church--whole as a body. In Matthew's Gospel 18:20, Jesus said, "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." So when we come together as a community once a week Jesus is there with us in our group. He is present at Mass This is why it is so important to come to Mass every week. Because we need each other to be whole; because we need God to find inner peace; because God needs us to be a force for good in the world.

2. The only eating and drinking I typically see at Mass is the Eucharist. So that must be what you are asking about? Sometimes I see moms who have brought little cups or bags of cheerios or snacks for their little children so they won't be so fussy for the hour.
What do you need the most to live? Air to breathe, yes, but also food and drink, right? And what do we people do when we want to really celebrate something--when we throw a party? We eat and drink. Eating and drinking keep us alive and give us pleasure. It is also something that you don't usually do alone. We share meals. Think about your last birthday for a moment--did you have some company? Did you share a special meal? Did you have a special food--birthday cake? We celebrate Jesus' Resurrection--his Re-birth-day--every Sunday. So we have company, all of the members of the parish community; and we share a special meal, our communion; and we have a special food--the bread and wine which become the body and blood of Christ. And we share the special meal because Jesus asked us to. In Luke's Gospel 22:19 he wrote, "Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.'"

3. I think you're asking why the Church needs help; the Church is here to help the world, and we can all help with that. Here in America, even when times are hard, we forget how really rich we are compared to the rest of the world. A lack of clean water kills more people than anything else in the world. But we take showers every day and think nothing of it. Half of the world's population live on less than $2 a day. 80% of the world's population lives on less than $10. The Church is everywhere in the world, and one of the things the Church tries to do is help provide clean water, food, clothing, shelter, and medical care for the poorest people in the world. When we put money in the collection, part of it goes to the Archdiocese of Detroit. In our diocese some parishes have more money than others, so the Archdiocese uses this money to help even that out, to help the poorer parishes. And then some of that money goes to the Church in Rome because there are some diocese that have more money than others so the Church in Rome uses this money to help even that out, to help the poorer places in the world. There are a lot of good people in the Church, quietly doing good for others. By supporting our parish, we keep it open as a giving community to help ourselves and others. Because everyone needs a little help sometimes.

4. We do not worship gold things. We worship God. Worship is praise. The primary purpose of prayer is to praise, to sing, to chant. To express our awe and wonder and gratitude for life and creation.

5. Tradition is that the chalice (cup) and ciborium (plate) used for the Eucharist be made of gold; or, if not gold, silver or pewter that has gold plate on the inside of the bowl. The reasoning is that we use the most precious metal for the most precious body and blood; it is intended to create reverence for the Eucharist.

6. Most priests receive their chalice as a gift at their ordination; like a graduation gift. A priest will then use this chalice for the rest of his life and take it with him from one parish to the next. Churches and Parishes will also have extra chalice's and ciborium for use at large Masses where more than one Eucharistic Minister is necessary to distribute communion. These items are purchased from the parish collection. They don't break easily, are usually very well cared for, and last a very long time. Probably longer than your dishes at home.

7. I don't know exactly how God lives, but I know He lives in me; I know He lives in you; I know He lives in all of creation; and so He must feel life just like we do--don't you think? I know it is our job to help God bring about His Kingdom here on earth. And how do we do that? Well, we look at what Jesus said: blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the peacemakers... we have many clues in the Bible.

8. I think you're asking how the Church can make us happy--and I think that maybe the answer is different for each person. We are all on a spiritual journey and we are all in different places along the way.

9. I don't know how God or Jesus moves. Is that an okay answer? I believe I will find out when my life here is over.

10. Why do people hate the Church? Many people in the body of Christ have forgotten that we have been placed into a particular church to serve others, not simply to have our needs met (Hebrews 10:24, Philippians 2:3-5). Jesus went out and touched people even if they smelled bad, had Leprosy, or were offensive. God does want to bless us, but our job is to do what He tells us to do, and that usually involves serving and trying our best to help others spiritually, emotionally, and physically. We all want to be in heaven together, so we need to learn to get along here--that way we can get along in heaven, too!

Getting to Heaven. Together.

2009-09-17T21:39:00.003-04:00

Once again, Sister Mary Martha tells it like it is:

You are absolutely right that these matters of the hymn announcers and the furniture arrangement are very trivial. Leave the parish?

So....why are we in a parish? You know how when you go on an airplane the stewardess (are they still called that?) tells you that if that little oxygen mask drops you should make sure you have yours on before you assist anyone else?

We are in a parish to get to Heaven. My job is to get myself to heaven and to assist you in getting to Heaven, in that order. If I'm not working to get myself to Heaven, I won't be able to help you. I'll just pass out and die.

So we sit in these pews together. We pray together. We eat pancake breakfasts and attend funerals. And someday, we hope to be in Heaven together.

If you can't even be in the same church building with Joe Schlemmer because Joe got to read the hymn list instead of Mary Bernbrock, how are you going to stand being in Heaven with Joe?

I'm not sure if this helps you. What can you say to them?

"Get a grip, people! If we can't go to church together, we can't go to Heaven together."

Your patron saint: St. Catherine of Sienna, who kept the Church together while we had two Popes and then three Popes and finally, one Pope again.

Life is tough. But Nuns are tougher.

Listen! A Miracle

2009-09-05T16:32:00.011-04:00

Deaf and Dumb Man Cured by Ian Pollock Watercolour, ink, gouache, collage

Again he left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man's ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, "Ephphatha!" (that is, "Be opened!") And (immediately) the man's ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, "He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and (the) mute speak." Mark 7:31-37

We are continuing this weekend with our journey through Mark. In this Sunday's Gospel reading a pagan hears the Word of God; healing is a Revelation of who Jesus is, made evident through the connection to Isaiah 35.

"Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing." Is 35:5-6

It is very interesting that in this particular healing there's a lot of physicality. Look at the passage. Jesus put his finger into the man's ears and spitting, touched his tongue. I wonder, or suggest, that the use of these elements of matter, of creation, are used by Mark to underline the pagan nature of the man. Jews would respond to the Word, but what do pagans have that can lead them to God?

Creation.

In Romans chapter one there is a very powerful description of the possibility of coming to a knowledge of God through creation. Creation leads us to the creator. Look at that passage:

"For what can be known about God is evident to them,
because God made it evident to them.
Ever since the creation of the world,
his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made." Romans 1:19-20

Did creation lead the pagans to God? No, they worshiped the creation of their own hands. That's parallel for the Jews. The Jews do not need to go to creation because they have the living Word of God; does it lead them to God? No. As Paul said, all are closed in sin.

Now look, the healed deaf man is not told to go and tell. Mark is very insistent that there is rejection among Jews and pagans, there is astonishment among Jews and pagans, there are mass crowds coming to see Jesus the miracle worker among Jews and pagans, inability to hear among Jews and pagans.

See the repetition of "Shhhhh, shhhhh." Do not tell anyone.

And the reason of course is, we realize, not secrecy. We know where the amazement leads.

No where good.

It doesn't lead to a place of greater interior listening. It leads only to crowds pressing in on Jesus, but really staying far away from any engagement with who He is.

"Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters.
Did not God choose those who are poor in the world
to be rich in faith
and heirs of the kingdom that he promised
to those who love him?" Jas 2:5

The Coming Storm...

2009-09-02T19:25:00.003-04:00

Wicked Sky
Originally uploaded by Missy McKerroll Francis

Rocco Palmo at Whispers in the Loggia breaks the news that we all knew was coming...

"On a related note, as the economic downturn takes a continued toll on church resources at every level, tomorrow will see the rollout of significant administrative cuts by the especially hard-hit archdiocese of Detroit.

Termed a "bloodbath," up to a third of the Motor City's 200-some central staff could lose their jobs, according to early projections.

The crisis in the region's all-powerful auto industry has led to a jobless rate of 15% across Michigan, with the ranks of the unemployed approaching 30% -- over three times the national average -- in Detroit itself."

Update: The Freep has more on this story as it unfolds today.

Is My Pain Transmitted or Transformed?

2009-08-27T10:13:00.006-04:00

"Is your religion helping you to transform your pain? If it does not, it is junk religion. We all have pain—it’s the human situation, we all carry it in a big black bag behind us and it gets heavier as we get older: by betrayals, rejections, disappointments, and wounds that are inflicted along the way.

If we do not find some way to transform our pain, I can tell you with 100% certitude we will transmit it to those around us. We will create tension, negativity, suspicion, and fear wherever we go. Both Jesus and Buddha made it very clear to their followers that “life is suffering.” You cannot avoid it. It is no surprise that the central Christian logo became a naked, bleeding, suffering man. At the end of life, and probably early in life, too, the question is, “What do I do with this disappointment, with this absurdity, with this sadness?” Whoever teaches you how to transform your own suffering into compassion is a true spiritual authority. Whoever teaches you to project your doubt and fear onto Jews, Muslims, your family, heretics, gays, sinners, and foreigners, or even to turn it against yourself (guilt and shame) has no spiritual authority. Yet these very people have often preached from authoritative pulpits." ~Richard Rohr, OFM

Postscript: As I read this today I couldn't help but recall this week's story of intolerance in Florida. It saddens me that children are being lead in this way.

2009-08-26T17:20:00.000-04:00

What am I Seeking Through My Religion?

2009-08-26T08:32:00.003-04:00

"If religion is not primarily a belonging system, but is truly a transformational system, one would need, it seems to me, a very different kind of authority. One would need the guidance and conviction of one who has actually walked a journey of transformation himself or herself. One would need the authority of a person who can say, “I know what God does with pain. I should be blaming or bitter, but because of God and grace, I am not.” Not just the authority which says, “You must believe in this and you must believe in that” when often there is no evidence that the authority has ever drunk “of the cup that I must drink” as Jesus put it.

This utterly changes the nature of all true spiritual authority. I will offer you a simple litmus test to determine whether a person has healthy or unhealthy religion. What do they do with their pain—even their daily little disappointments? Do they transform their pain or do they transmit it? People who are practiced in transforming actual life pain, like Jesus on the cross, are the only spiritual authorities worth following. They know. They can lead and teach. The rest of us
just talk." ~Richard Rohr, OFM

Bread and The Kingdom of God

2009-08-25T13:41:00.007-04:00

I baked bread today. One big batch; it makes four loaves. I like baking bread. This morning as I pounded and kneaded the dough I reflected on all of the women throughout time who have gone through this ritual before me. The dough feels good; elastic and alive. There is something ancient and primal about it. Much like the feelings men describe about making fire...

The smell of yeast is irresistible as I work the dough. "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened." Matthew 13:33

The Kingdom of God is Now

There has been a great theme in our Gospel readings these past few weeks about bread, about the body of Christ, and about the kingdom of heaven. Baking bread and thinking about all of this has reminded me of the text from Matthew, above. In the parable of the yeast from Matthew's Gospel we see the present dimension of the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom is present now, even if in a small way, like the small measure of yeast.

But something important pertaining to the kingdom is going on now: the yeast is growing, making CO2 bubbles, expanding the flour, doing it's work; it is a present reality. Jesus is telling us to be alert to the small beginnings already among us.

We gain another interesting aspect of this kingdom from John’s Gospel—in John Jesus is the focus. Jesus is the revealer and revelation of God. Jesus is the embodiment of the kingdom of heaven. He is the bread of life.

The Kingdom of God is Future

The future dimension of God’s kingdom, the fullness of life—life ever more abundant—is achieved by following Jesus. God’s kingdom is a future promise for those who follow the teachings and example of Jesus. He was not only the perfect embodiment of his own teaching, but he also provided for his followers a sound framework for living in the present so that they, too, might enter that kingdom.

We look for God’s kingdom here on earth as we pray the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come! Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We also anticipate entering God’s kingdom in heaven through our own death and resurrection.

Jesus concept of the kingdom of heaven centers on the great theme of repentance and hope, reconciliation and restoration. God is always faithful. Return to the Lord, God will not fail you or forsake you. The first words Jesus speaks in Mark and Matthew are very similar:

"This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:15)
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matt 4:17).

The Jews of the first century thought of the kingdom of heaven as a future establishment of the chosen people vindicated and given all God had promised them. The idea of a future fulfillment came out of the Babylonian exile and the hope that their oppression would be lifted. It is a seeking of justice—the ancient Israelites craved justice—in the ancient world justice could be very arbitrary and ruthless. Justice came from the God of Israel and His laws.

In the Gospel there is both a future and a present dimension to the Kingdom of God. The yeast is here now. It is a small presence, but a “here and now” presence among us, nonetheless.

I reviewed the Catechism #2816-2821 while I was thinking about this; the two key ideas that attracted my attention as I read were the ideas of discernment and discipleship.

Discernment

"By a discernment according to the Spirit, Christians have to distinguish between the growth of the Reign of God and the progress of the culture and society in which they are involved." CCC 2820.

The idea of discerning the difference between the kingdom of God and worldly empire is something I have been thinking about for some time. We have to look and listen to the Holy Spirit in our hearts to discern actions which build up the kingdom and those that are building worldly empire instead. And worldly empire will try to "trick" us. You cannot do something truly evil on a large scale unless you couch it in terms of the greater good.

True discernment requires that we ask ourselves critical questions about the Reign of God. Who is helped, who is hurt by our actions?

Discipleship

"This distinction is not a separation. Man's vocation to eternal life does not suppress, but actually reinforces, his duty to put into action in this world the energies and means received from the Creator to serve justice and peace." CCC 2820

Both of these quotes have something in common; both point out that we have an imperative to action. We are not off the hook just because we believe ourselves to be saved.

"Be doers of the word and not hearers only," James 1:22.

Faith for Adults: Online

2009-08-24T11:30:00.004-04:00

Just to be clear, I am not writing homilies here. That is not who I am or what I do.

I am, as it says in our welcome piece on the sidebar, sharing my faith; and enjoying it a great deal. Think more along the lines of a Bible Study or Breaking Open the Word session and you are getting warmer; this is an online version of that.

Because you are a part of the discussion through your comments and links, it can and often does become a dialogue and a prayer. It is faith formation.

There is a big difference between Adult Faith Formation and Childhood Religious Education. First of all, kids are alike and adults are different. Sure, kids are all individuals, but I can be in a room of middle school students and they probably all watched the same show on TV last night. They're all listening to the same music, playing the same video games--they even dress alike. I know where they're coming from. Adults are not like that. You never know where they're coming from. Adults encompass all different ages and generations and economic status and educational background. Each adult is different.

So when it comes to Adult Faith Formation we have to abandon the teacher/student modality and move into a realm where we are sharing our experiences of God with each other. This is where real growth happens; not in simply asking and answering questions about dogma or observance, but in feeling that continual call to conversion and sharing it with others. This is how we grow within ourselves and grow the Kingdom of God.

I can play the part of the sage on the stage; and sometimes that's what I'm doing, too. I'm sharing information. Call it birddogging. But it is intended to invite a response--sharing our faith is what forms it. 1+1 faith sharing = 2 Adult Faith Formation.

That's the equation.

Faith and Doubt and Other Juxtapostions

2009-08-21T09:34:00.006-04:00

“Again I saw all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive; but better than both is he who has not yet been, and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 4:1-3

I loved it. I hated it. There were times I wish I had written it. I am talking about Annie Dillard. Her personal narrative, For the Time Being, surveys the world through a myriad of subjects: clouds; numbers; sand; newborns in an obstetrical ward; paleontologist and Jesuit Teilhard de Chardin, the discoverer of the skull of Peking Man; encounters with strangers; and Bael Shem Tov and the story of Hasidic thought, much of whose ideas she adopts as her own.

Her writing style is beautiful, and the book often reads like an extended prose poem. Her empathy is astounding, and the themes of defect and beauty, miracle and tragedy, time and eternity wind through the questions she asks about God, natural evil, and individual existence. Her knowledge on a wide variety of subjects is astounding and matched by her powers of observation. She is an excellent naturalist writer, I’ve heard her compared to Thoreau, and the soft porn version of snails mating bears this out in rich fascination.

Here is an excerpt that resonated with me, which considers our communal existence relative to our individual experience:

“Are we ready to think of all humanity as a living tree, carrying on splendidly without us? We easily regard a beehive or an ant colony as a single organism, and even a school of fish, a flock of dunlin, a herd of elk. And we easily and correctly regard an aggregate of individuals, a sponge or coral or lichen or slime mold, as one creature—but us? When we people differ, and know our consciousness, and love? Even lovers, even twins, are strangers who will love and die alone. And we like it this way, at least in the West; we prefer to endure any agony of isolation rather than to merge and extinguish our selves in an abstract 'humanity' whose fate we should hold dearer than our own. Who could say, I’m in agony because my child died, but that’s all right: Mankind as a whole has abundant children? The religious idea sooner or later challenges the notion of the individual. The Buddha taught each disciple to vanquish his fancy that he possessed an individual self. Huston Smith suggests that our individuality resembles a snowflake’s: The seas evaporate water, clouds build and loose water in snowflakes, which dissolve and go to sea. The simile galls. What have I to do with the ocean, I with my unique and novel hexagons and spikes? Is my very mind a wave in the ocean, a wave the wind flattens, a flaw the wind draws like a finger?

We know we must yield, if only intellectually. Okay, we’re a lousy snowflake. Okay, we’re a tree. These dead loved ones we mourn were only those brown lower branches a tree shades and kills as it grows; the tree itself is thriving. But what kind of tree are we growing here, that could be worth such waste and pain? For each of us loses all we love, everyone we love. We grieve and leave. What marvels shall these future whizzes, damn their eyes, accomplish?”

This brings me back to the quote from Ecclesiastes I began with. Dillard’s stream of thought reminded me of it. Like the writer in Ecclesiastes, she seems to be shaking her fist at the sky and saying, "You are wholly good, You are all powerful; whence evil?" It occurred to me over and over as I read this book: here is a woman in pain, here is a woman mentally suffering from the weight of tragedy; her own, or the cumulative weight of the tragedies that affect all of humanity. Because, while joy abounds in the world just as tragedy does, there are few natural examples of it in this narrative. Still she makes so many good points in her questioning, like why doesn’t science attempt to address our human culture and consciousness? Here is another quote where the question is posed in a brilliant manner:

“We are just like squirrels, really, or, well, more like gibbons, but we happen to use tools, speak, and write; we blundered into art and science. We are one of those animals, the ones whose neocortexes swelled, who just happen to write encyclopedias and fly to the moon. Can anyone believe this?

Yes, because cultural evolution happens fast; it accelerates exponentially and, to put it less precisely, explodes. Biological evolution takes time, because it requires biological generations; the unit of reproduction is the mortal and replicating creature. Once the naked ape starts talking, however, ‘the unit of reproduction becomes’—in the words of anthropologist Gary Clevidence—‘the mouth.’ Information and complexity burgeon and replicate so fast that the printing press arrives as almost an afterthought of our 10 billion brain neurons and their 60 trillion connections. Positivist science can, theoretically, account for the whole human show, even our 5.9 billion unique shades of consciousness, and our love for one another and for books.

Science could, I say, if it possessed all the data, describe the purely physical workings that have enabled our species to build and fly jets, write poems, encode data on silicon, and photograph Jupiter. But science has other fish to fry. Science (like philosophy) has bypassed this vast and abyssal fish of consciousness and culture. The data are tighter in other areas. Still, let us grant that our human world is a quirk of materials. Let us ignore the staggering truth that you hold in your hands an object of culture, one of many your gaze meets all around you. If, then, the human layer in which we spend our lives is an epiphenomenon in nature’s mechanical doings, if science devotes scant attention to human culture, and if science has scrutinized human consciousness only recently and leaves other disciplines, if any, to study human thought—then science, which is, God knows, correct, nevertheless cannot address what interests us most: What are we doing here?”

Philosophizing on these central themes of God, natural evil, the human condition, and the effects of tragedy is exactly what Annie Dillard is doing, with a great deal of compassion.

What I want to say to her is: the existence of natural evil does not disprove the existence of God. At most, it presents a problem for people who feel God should be fixing things.

Annie Dillard doesn’t require you to agree with her. Just to think with her. It’s wonderful.

How to Write a Catholic Confirmation Letter

2009-08-19T10:29:00.006-04:00

"When young Marigrace would pray, she prayed for everyone and everything. No person or creature was too small to escape her attention or gratitude to the Creator.

'God bless Mommy and Daddy and Stevie and Billy and Jack and Kelly the dog and Simba the cat and ladybugs and flowers. And God bless the fishies in the lake and the froggies on the sand. And God bless all the birdies and the trees and the horsies...'

On and on it would go as I sat smiling patiently and wondering at the beauty of a child asking for blessings on all of creation. How appropriate to ask God now to bless you, Marigrace, as you prepare for your Confirmation."

Special qualities you see in him or her
Prayers or religious songs that have meaning for you
Ways that being a Catholic Christian have helped you
What helps you to keep believing in God
People who influenced you in trying to lead a good life
Memories of your own preparation for Confirmation

Bread of Life

2009-08-16T16:24:00.005-04:00

We have been immersed in images of bread from John these past few weeks of summer. Sacramentally, we encounter Jesus every week in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Jesus becomes present to us through the assembly, the person of the presider, the Word and the Meal.

I really like the "Catholic Updates;" the writers and editors do an extraordinary job of presenting good material. And even though this link on Finding Jesus in the Eucharist was originally published in July 2005, it remains valid and pertinent to our faith. Worth visiting, to be sure. So I want to start there with Father Mick's article.

"The link between the sacramental body of Christ and his mystical body, the Church, lies at the core of the meaning of Communion. This is not simply a private moment between Jesus and me, but rather an intensely personal and communal moment, a moment when we are deeply united to all those who share this sacred meal. Reverence requires that we recognize Christ in the bread and wine. Reverence also requires that we recognize Christ in all those who eat and drink with us. It is the same Christ in both forms."
--Lawrence Mick, Finding Jesus in the Eucharist: Four Ways He Is Present

Father Mick goes on to state that our sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ helps us to more truly become Christ’s Body here on earth.

In another Catholic Update, Presence of the Risen Lord, Father Richstatter echos this focus on the mystical body of Christ:

“Today, each time we gather to celebrate the Eucharist, our petition (epiclesis) at the Eucharistic Prayer asks the Spirit to change the bread and wine into the Body of Christ and to change us into the Body of Christ. The words change depending on the prayer, but the point of the request is always the same: that we who feast on the Body of Christ become the Body of Christ!
We must not limit our reverence and our concern so that they are directed only to the first part of the epiclesis: the change in the gifts and the resulting presence of Christ in the Eucharist. We must follow through to the second part of the epiclesis: the change in us and the resulting concern for Christ in our neighbor.”
--Thomas Richstatter, Presence of the Risen Lord

It could also be argued that Jesus was replacing the blood sacrifice of the official Temple cult with his sacrifice of the Eucharist. Jesus was the last sacrifice; and by instituting our sacrament of the Eucharist we are there with Him at the Last Supper. Think of the words of the Eucharistic prayer for a moment. The priest does not say “this WAS my body” he says “this IS my body which will be given up for you.” We speak in the present tense because the Eucharist itself is an eschatological moment; a mind-boggling collapsing of time.

As a people we have moved from the end of human sacrifice with Abraham and Isaac, to the end of the blood sacrifice of the Temple cult, to the final and enduring sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus fulfilled not only Hosea 6:2, but also Hosea 6:6 “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” When I think of that phrase from Luke’s Gospel, “Do this in memory of me,” I hear the implied contrast that comes with emphasis on this. As the Letter to the Hebrews says, Christ is a sacrifice to end sacrifice, and he has died once for all. Christ’s purpose was not to “offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters each year into the sanctuary with blood that is not his own; if that were so, he would have had to suffer repeatedly from the foundation of the world. But now once for all he has appeared at the end of the ages to take away sin by his sacrifice.” (Hebrews 9:25-26)

Once. For all. For ever. And every Sunday. Our bread becomes His body. He becomes our bread and we become His body.

Don't you love a good Mystery?

[For more bloggity goodness on this topic--read Concord Pastor's homily, or Deacon Greg's homily, or Paul's reflection, or FOB (friend of blog) Fran's post.]

On The People of God...

2009-08-11T11:01:00.003-04:00

On The People of God
from Lumen Gentium Chapter 2

9God has always welcomed anyone
whose heart is ready to experience
the divine presence.
These are the ones whose lives reflect goodness
and who cultivate a sense of awe.
But God has also always chosen
to welcome women and men,
not merely as individuals
but bound together,
united as a people who recognize the divine.
So, coming together as a people
is an essential element of salvation.
Hence, the house of Israel came as one people,
united in a covenant with God,
slowly growing more and more ready
to receive God fully,
ready to live within a full and new covenant.
In Christ, this new covenant was instituted,
and all were called together as a people:
both Jew and Gentile,
united in one common Spirit.
This would be “a chosen race,”
as the First Letter of Peter calls it,
“a royal priesthood,
a holy nation,
the people of God.”
This people, which we call the Church,
has Christ as it’s head,
as we have said already.
This people has the dignity and freedom
of the sons and daughters of God.
It’s law is the commandment to love
as Christ, the great Lover, loves us.
It’s end is the Reign of God
begun now here on earth
and set to last for eternity.
Not all people belong to this Church,
yet all people are included in the reach
of its embrace.
The challenges and tasks that face the Church
appear overwhelming at times.
Nonetheless, we are like a seed
that will surely someday
bear the fruit of unity,
hope,
and healing for all.
The Church is constantly moving and searching,
wandering. . .
not unlike the Hebrew experience in the desert.
And even though the Church’s movement
is sometimes filled with trial and tribulation,
nonetheless, it remains faithful overall.
It continues to be a visible sign of unity,
a sacrament of salvation for all people.
Aware of the absolute importance of its mission,
the Church seeks constant renewal.
It never ceases to beg the Holy Spirit
for the grace it needs
to be the Light of the World.
Lumen Gentium!

10The baptized members of the Church,
because they are consecrated by the Holy Spirit,
share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ.
In the widest sense, a priest is anyone
who makes the world and its people holy
by sacrificing and praying on its behalf.
In this sense,
every single baptized person is a priest.
As priests, therefore, all the faithful are called
to offer themselves to God
and to offer the hope of God
to one another.
They should, therefore, be faithful in prayer
and live as part of the household of God.

We make a distinction, however,
between the priesthood of the baptized
and the priesthood of those ordained for ministry.

The ordained priest is charged to
shape and bring holy order
to the whole priestly people of God.
The ministry of the ordained is to teach and serve all people.
Precisely because ordained priests are the ones
whose job is to give the Church order,
they act in the person and the power of Christ
when they preside at Eucharist.
Those in the baptized priesthood also join
in offering the Eucharist.
They, too, serve in a priestly way
by participating in the sacraments,
by praying and offering thanks to God,
and by graciously serving their sisters and brothers.

Paraphrased translation from The Constitutions by Bill Huebsch with Paul Thurmes.

A Visitation

2009-08-08T14:32:00.007-04:00

"The visitation of Mary and Elizabeth was full of love. Luke tells us that Mary hastened to a Judean town in the hill country to visit Elizabeth. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, greeted Mary with the words, “Blessed are you among women.” Mary in turn acknowledged God’s goodness as she dared to say, “The Lord has done great things for me. Holy is God’s name.”
Apostolic Visitations, unlike the visitation between Mary and Elizabeth, are not celebratory occasions. 'Visitation' in this context has taken on the meaning of 'investigation.'”

Sister Anne Marie Mongoven has written an excellent article looking into the meaning of the current Apostolic Visitation of sisters in the United States, including some historical analysis of their post Vatican II renewal. I urge you to follow the link above and read the whole article at NCR.

"As I consider the purpose of the Apostolic Visitation many more questions enter my mind than I have addressed here. I know that many sisters are perplexed and saddened by the action taken by the Vatican Congregation. Is it possible that Vatican authorities and some of our bishops may not know the guidelines we were asked to follow? Many of the men who are bishops today were forty-five years younger when we were given these directions.

We did what the Church asked us to do and we have been renewed in faith and hope and love. I am convinced that the quality of our lives today is more deeply rooted in Gospel values than it was in an earlier time."

I am equally convinced. You have my prayers and support.

The Transfiguration

2009-08-06T21:36:00.004-04:00

Today was the feast of the Transfiguration. We are in the year of Mark and his text of this story has a lot to say, so let's look at it again... closer.

After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John,
and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them,
and his clothes became dazzling white,
such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses,
and they were conversing with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
“Rabbi, it is good that we are here!
Let us make three tents:
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them;
from the cloud came a voice,
“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone
but Jesus alone with them.
As they were coming down from the mountain,
he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone,
except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept the matter to themselves,
questioning what rising from the dead meant.

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

I will first give the caveat that I have been greatly influenced in my reading of this text by Fr. David Neuhaus, SJ. I have mentioned Jesuit Father David Neuhaus before; he was a facilitator at this year's Castelot Summer Scripture Series. Let me give you just a little bit of background on him first. He currently serves the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem as Vicar for the Hebrew-speaking Catholic Vicariate in Israel. He holds a doctorate in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a licentiate in sacred scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute; he also teaches in two Palestinian educational institutions - Bethlehem University and the Latin Patriarchal Seminary. Having been involved in the struggle against apartheid as a teenager in South Africa, Neuhaus has kept up his commitment to human rights as an active supporter of organizations like B'Tselem and Women in Black. He was also very busy this past spring, as he was one of fifteen members of the planning committee for the papal visit to the Holy Land. While at Castelot, he spent an evening talking to us informally about that visit. I will share some of that at another time. The son of German Jews who fled from Hitler in 1936, Neuhaus is also an adult convert to Catholicism and the only Israeli citizen in the Society of Jesus. And he looks and sounds uncannily like Robin Williams. Just sayin'.

I just noticed the lectionary leaves off the first words of verse 2, so I have taken the liberty of adding them because I think there is significant symbolism there. "After six days..." This is not an innocent counting of days. The symbolism I'm referring to, of course, is the creation story. The creation of Adam is on the sixth day and what comes after the sixth day is the Sabbath. We are at an eschatological moment; this is not simply Adam, this is Adam restored to the glory that was his before he was plunged into darkness. But the six days is also a reference to Moses in the cloud of glory (Ex 24:16); after six days God speaks to Moses in the cloud. Moses communes with God, he speaks with him face to face. The result of Moses speaking to God face to face was a shining radiance that lead to the veil being placed over his face.

The privileged three, Peter, James and John are there to witness what happens on that high mountain. The mountain itself is intended to call to mind Mt. Sinai, or Horeb (remember, they are the same place--just two different names); a place of intimate meeting. It is where Moses meets God and where Elijah meets God. So we have the three witnesses and even though they see, they do not understand. (An important theme in Mark.) And Jesus is transfigured before them. Mark is now echoing Paul; remember, the Pauline writings came before Mark. Take a look at Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transfigured (in Greek metamorphoses) by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect." Also, look at 2 Corinthians 3:18, "And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transfigured into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit."

In neither of these Pauline passages is he referring to the transfiguration of Jesus. In both he is referring to the transfiguration of the believer in the light of his faith in Jesus. Our English translations don't always make this clear or help us to make these connections, so it is good, whenever we are able, to refer to the Greek (in my case through scholar David Neuhaus, since ancient Greek is beyond my ken).

The Markan text was written by someone formed in the theology of Paul, and in Paul is that experience of transfiguration for the disciple who is in relationship with Jesus.

So what we are seeing here is Jesus revealing to us who we are called to be--this is the vocation of Adam--this is the Shabbat day when Adam is doing what Adam must do. And what is that? To be exactly like God. God rests on the seventh day. Adam rests on the seventh day. We are called to be like Adam before sin; to be like Moses after the encounter with God. In this story we are seeing the glory of God reflected in the human person.

Whew. A close reading indeed. I made it about two verses into the passage. And there is so much more to say about this... but it will have to wait for another day.

Catholic Bibles

2009-08-06T17:38:00.002-04:00

Timothy, from the blog Catholic Bibles is sponsoring a contest with goodies up for grabs. He is my new bloggity discovery. So stop by and check him out!

On Contemplative Prayer

2009-08-03T08:48:00.002-04:00

Question of the day:
What is pure consciousness?

Francisco de Osuna was one of the last teachers of the contemplative tradition that had been systematically taught in the monasteries for centuries, and started with the Desert Fathers and Mothers. It was lived and practiced spontaneously by Jesus, it seems, but has largely been lost for the last four to five hundred years.

The good news is that the older tradition is being broadly rediscovered. Today we want to teach this to all Christians, and especially to those in ordinary professions. It is not only for those in the cloistered or religious life, which is what largely happened by the 14th century. The contemplative mind became a specialized knowledge for a few. I sometimes wonder if this is not a major reason for a much needed Reformation. The wisdom way of knowing was lacking in the church.

Yet I am convinced this kind of contemplation is the original and deepest meaning of the word “prayer”! True prayer is moving to the level of pure consciousness where you are not thinking about anything in particular—not focused on any one feeling or one idea or one object, but merely wide open to God and Mystery. Contemplation is letting go of all the thoughts that want our attention so that God can get through to our overly cluttered mind and our hearts that are usually split in all directions.

~Richard Rohr, OFM

Beautiful Worship

2009-07-27T10:51:00.006-04:00

Worship
Originally uploaded by JesusFreak_129

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

1 Chronicles 16.29

"Somewhere today a pregnant teenager will feel seething stares of disapproval as she walks into a sanctuary. A middle-aged woman once shunned by her church will bravely return, only to find it won't forget what God's forgiven. A gay believer seeking guidance and fellowship will watch his hopes shriveled by scathing condemnation. Somewhere today thousands of ostracized and alienated people longing to worship a loving, merciful God will encounter attitudes and invective aimed at keeping them from His table.

The majority will allow hostility and inhospitality to drive them away. Some will never enter a church again. Others will look for a more accepting, wholesome place of worship—a true sanctuary for their souls. A slim minority will ignore contradictory behaviors and mixed messages to train total attention on their Creator and Redeemer. They possess a rare, invaluable gift each of us should ask to receive. They’re endowed with vision to perceive the splendor of God’s holiness despite every shameful frailty and failure exhibited in His house. Their singular devotion to Him makes for exquisitely beautiful worship."

So begins one of the most beautiful essays I have read in a long time. Tim Wolfe, of the blog "Straight-Friendly" has captured the essence of why we go to church, why we enter a sanctuary, why we are drawn into communities of worship--in spite of those communities and in spite of ourselves. Please follow the link and go read his post. It brought tears to my eyes.

Oil of Catechumens and Holy Chrism

2009-07-24T12:26:00.008-04:00

Oil of Catechumens and Holy Chrism, originally uploaded by Missy Francis.

I was thinking about Sr. Georgette's statement at a recent RCIA team formation class that baptism is the womb of the Church. Of course this imagery makes sense; we are reborn in Christ.

As new Christians emerge from the waters of baptism, they are anointed with Sacred Chrism to show their unity with Christ who was anointed as priest, prophet and king. Like Christ, all Christians are called to be disciples in mission, to proclaim the Good News of God’s love, and to be faithful stewards of all that God has given them.

How often do I reflect on what those words really mean: mission and stewardship? How often do I actively try to discern my mission? How do I engage in active discipleship?

Quote of the Day

2009-07-11T20:24:00.005-04:00

Word "cloud" of Caritas in Veritate.

"If we don't all struggle with the tenets of our faith, we are not engaged with it, we are merely playing."

~Fran Rossi Szpylczyn

Radical Hospitality

2009-06-27T17:18:00.007-04:00

Raising The Daughter of Jarius by Wilson Ong

"When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea." Mark 5:21

In today's Gospel Jesus is once again on the edge of the sea. When I think of the metaphor of the sea in Mark's Gospel I think of water as the primordial chaos. Wilderness.

I was fortunate to attend the Castelot Summer Scripture Series this past week and hear David Neuhaus speak on the Gospel of Mark. I have more to say about David in a future post, but for today's short reflection I just want to share one of the things I carried away from that encounter: the radicality of Jesus in this Gospel narrative. Here he is touching a bleeding woman... and a corpse! What are the three things that a Levitical priest would never touch because they are unclean and would defile him? Lepers, bleeding women, and corpses. Jesus touches them all and heals them all. Rather than making Jesus unclean--the opposite happens. Jesus makes them clean.

Jesus was everything we know in our hearts God must be: compassionate, just, merciful, loving, and on the other side of every boundary. Jesus with the hemorrhaging woman, Jesus raising a girl child from the dead...

Jesus reflecting what I must become if our loving Creator is ever to see divinity come to fullness in me.

"Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile." Mark 7:14-15

Insurance Profits Make Us Sick!

2009-06-27T10:06:00.007-04:00

Hat tip to Border Explorer, Billy Greenwood, for this wonderful video. Subscribers, you will have to click through to the blog to be able to view it.
Also worth viewing is the video, available as a podcast or in transcript form, from Democracy Now. The video is nearly an hour long, but well worth the time. Of course, as I said the transcript is available to copy and read at your leisure.

Once again, I quote Billie Greenwood's succinct points: "The national healthcare crisis in the United States springs from the stranglehold that profit-driven private insurance corporations have on the system. Not sure we're in a crisis? Activists cite these bullet points:

■ 50 million Americans have no insurance or access to medical care and, with the economic crisis, this number is skyrocketing.

■ 20,000 (probably more) die each year due to lack of health care.

■ Millions suffer disability and chronic conditions that would have been prevented by access to adequate health care.

■ Millions who have health insurance are denied necessary care by their insurers.

■ Health care bills (of people who HAVE health insurance) are the single highest reason for filing bankruptcy in the U.S.

■ Untreated disease and injuries hurt those who do have access to healthcare and make us more vulnerable to pandemics.

Does the healthcare industry care about us? Or about profit? These folks say coverage by health insurers is based on profitability not on providing health care for those who need it. The industry makes money by only insuring those who will likely remain healthy and by denying coverage to those who do or might get sick.

■ 20-40% of every health care dollar goes to profits and overhead and things other than anyone's healthcare.

■ Precious health care dollars are wasted on symbols of wealth: anything from private jets, to skyscrapers, to capital investments.

To add insult to injury, they say healthcare insurers lie, hiring lobbyists (with outrageous salaries) to protect their interests. Here's what lobbyists won't tell you:

■ Other nation's national healthcare programs work efficiently.

■ National healthcare will ultimately create more jobs. (They just won't be in the health insurance industry.)

■ No one will have less ability to choose a doctor or wait significantly longer for medical procedures with a single-payer healthcare plan.

■ Mainstream media and members of congress are financially controlled by insurance lobbyists, campaign contributions, and advertising revenue."

It has been more than five years since I have had health insurance. My husband is self-employed, I work part time for a church and we have five children. The cost is prohibitively expensive. We would literally have to choose between having a place to live and food on the table or health insurance to help us in the event of a catastrophic illness. We are left with no choice but to pay as we go and pray for good health.

And work for single payer universal health care coverage. There's that. H.R. 676

Healthcare is a human right.

Scientia est Potentia! Knowledge is power.

Unity in Diversity

2009-06-27T09:11:00.003-04:00

Once again, to demonstrate that these days I am much more of a reader than a writer, I share with you an excerpt which resonates with me today. This is taken from the concluding chapter of Frederick J. Cwiekowski’s masterpiece of ecclesiastical scholarship, The Beginnings of The Church:

“The diversity of the early church is reflected still in the writings of the New Testament. By accepting the twenty-seven books of the New Testament as her canon (rule) of scripture, the church has chosen to live with diversity and with the tensions which sometimes come in the wake of diversity. No single understanding of Christ and no one expression of church fully exhaust the mystery of Christ or the richness and variety of life that come when the Spirit dwells among Christ’s followers.

But diversity is only one element; throughout the early church the strong concern for unity prevented diversity from degenerating into chaos or disintegration. The early Christians struggled to preserve a unity of faith and a community in the Spirit. Some segments of the church—the Ebionites, the Gnostics, the Docetists—did not preserve the basic faith, and eventually they went or were made to go their separate ways. But Peter, Paul, and James strove to preserve communion, even in the midst of their differences. Among these three leading figures, there is ample evidence that Peter became a stabilizing force for unity amidst diversity. In the decades after his death the memory of Peter served as a moderating influence among those who, in the name of either Paul or James, would have pushed to extremes. The presence of diversity in the early church and the conviction of the need for a basic unity were not easily maintained. But both had and have still an essential and—let us say it clearly—a God-given place in the life and mission of the church.

There are several areas where the examples of the early church in its unity and diversity can be a guide for us. It is no secret that there are strong differences within the Roman Catholic Church, for example, in these decades after Vatican II. It is very salutary for all Christians to see and keep before them the early church’s conviction that there is and must be both unity and diversity in the church. When the tension to preserve both these elements gives way to a single-minded interest or advocacy of either one or the other, something very basic to the reality of the church is neglected and the church as a whole suffers from such neglect.

The issues of unity and diversity also bear upon the relationships that Christians have with each other. Here too the New Testament and the early church have something to say to us. There was a time when various Christian churches tended to grasp one of the different New Testament perspectives on church and use that perspective to justify a particular outlook or church structure against other Christian bodies. Happily there seems to be much less of that approach today. Perhaps the recognition of a likeness between one’s own Christian church and one or another emphasis of the New Testament churches may help Christians today to appreciate the value of their particular tradition and its fidelity to some part of the legacy of the early church.

But there is more to be considered. Put very starkly, we cannot use the New Testament or the early church to support or justify Christian division. Diversity within a basic unity, yes; division, no. Our awareness of the complementary features of unity and diversity in the early church challenges us to do all we can, under God and in the Spirit, to overcome Christian disunity. It is a blessing, surely, that many Christians today are more appreciative of the partial unity among us that is founded on shared faith and a common baptism. But that unity is not complete. The communion of the early churches prompts us to seek a full visible unity among Christians. The diversity in the early church and the New Testament writings may be telling us that in that unity there may well be room for greater diversity than was once thought possible.”

Unity in diversity and diversity in unity. Words to meditate on.

The Theological Center of The Old Testament

2009-06-25T16:40:00.002-04:00

Repost: This post was written last summer after I attended the Castelot Summer Scripture Series. I recently attended this year's conference and will soon be serving up blog posts on Fr. David Neuhaus and Fr. Michael Joncas. In the meantime, I share with you once again...

Crime and punishment, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; that’s the sort of theology I expect from Deuteronomy. Some would say I lack an appreciation for the subtleties and layers of meaning buried in the context of that book. And so I did. Until I heard Lawrence Boadt speak about the book of Deuteronomy at the Castelot Summer Scripture Series.

I have come to discover that in Deuteronomy there is a theology of repentance and hope; of reconciliation and restoration; that there are the beginnings of the theology of Jesus in this book.

Deuteronomy is the beginning of the theology of love.

And that is a message I can embrace anthropologically, historically, and theologically.

“Lawrence Boadt,” I said looking over the brochure. “I don’t think I’ve read anything of his. Why does his name sound familiar?”

“Look in the front of your study Bible,” said Gloria.

“Ohhhhh. Lawrence Boadt.”

Yes, the man is brilliant. I would first say that Fr. Boadt has a very classical sense of order and style, evidenced by the organization of his notes and outlines. I really like that kind of nerdy intelligence and wry sense of humor he brings to his lectures.

Some of what I learned wasn’t exactly a surprise. Yes, Moses is the narrator, and yes, it was written after Moses died, so no, Moses didn’t write it. If you are shocked by this, take a deep breath. Biblical scholarship is not about undermining faith or truth, but about being open to the deeper message the text is trying to convey to you. So what if scholars believe Joshua was an invented character?

Deuteronomy was written by a variety of authors who edited it and added to it to respond to what was going on around them at their time.

There’s nothing wrong with using a variety of literary forms, including myth, to illustrate a theological truth. To quote the Jewish Rabbi Rami Shapiro, "The transformative power of faith is not rooted in outward signs and historical facts, but in inner awakenings and literary narratives. Only in our day has the human imagination become so degraded as to reduce truth to fact, and myth to falsehood. Only in our day does story pale before history."

Okay, look at Numbers 36:13. “These are the commandments and the ordinances that the Lord commanded through Moses to the Israelites in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.” That’s the last line before the book of Deuteronomy. Now look at Deuteronomy 34:1. “Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan.” Chapter 34 is the last chapter of Deuteronomy. Look at the two sentences again. Num 36:13, then Deut 34:1. It’s the next sentence. They go together. That means everything in between, that is basically all of Deuteronomy, was inserted later as part of the Pentateuch. There are other particularities, such as the use of singular and plural forms, or phrase and theme comparisons with other contemporary writings, which to the trained scholar indicate changes and additions and help to make connections to various times and sources.

But what are the important themes and connections? Well, look at it this way: justice in the ancient world could be very arbitrary and ruthless. Downright nonexistent. When men looked to other men for justice more often than not they did not find it. Only the God of Israel brought justice to the world, and the men who feared Him and followed His laws. The people of Israel were obsessed with justice—and the way to find it was through God, and his prophet Moses. In Deut 4:5-8 Moses said, “See, just as the Lord my God has charged me, I now teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to enter and occupy. You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!’ For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?”

So justice and righteousness, yes. The punishment attitude was a natural outcome of this evolution of theology to the one God of Israel. Unlike the Greeks or Egyptians who had multiple gods to praise or blame when things went right or wrong, having only one God and struggling with the problem of evil brought people to the idea that when bad things happen it must be because we deserve it; it must be that we did something wrong and we are dominated by sin. But the theology of love is introduced as well—the people of Israel knew God loved them—it appears over and over. God has chosen the people of Israel because he loves them and he offers them justice as they did not have in Egypt: Deut 10:17-19 “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them with food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” The God of Israel even loves strangers, and commands us to do so as well. The greatest commandment of the people is to love God. The Shema comes out of Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Deuteronomy 11:13-21, and Numbers 15:37-41.

And indeed, when Jesus is asked, he singles it out as the greatest commandment. “'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31

Another of the great themes is that of repentance and hope, reconciliation and restoration. God is always faithful. God recompenses for what you lost; just wait, you will be restored. Return to the Lord, return to the covenant. The message is that God will not fail you or forsake you—you may forsake God when you do not follow his commandments, but you can always repent and come back to the Lord. He will never forget you.

“I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life.” Deut 30:19

Now, if you view the Commandments through the prism of the Beatitudes, you’re really starting to get it.

Books by Fr. Lawrence Boadt, CSP:
Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction
Why I am a Priest
“Scriptural Exegesis” in Paulist Liturgy Planning Guide, Years A, B and C
And the forthcoming The Life and Missions of St. Paul (2008)
Along with many others.

More Castelot Pictures

2009-06-25T16:28:00.002-04:00

O Sun behind all suns
I give you greeting this new day.

Let all creation praise you
Let the daylight and the shadows praise you
Let the fertile earth
And the swelling sea praise you
Let the winds and the rain,
The lightening and the thunder praise you.
Let all that breathes, both male and female, praise you
And I shall praise you.

O God of all life I give you greeting this day.

News and Links

2009-06-23T23:04:00.003-04:00

In big bloggity news, Archbishop Vigneron has opened up a blog called A Shepherd's Mission. Welcome to the blogosphere, your Excellency! The Archbishop will be chronicling his experience as he travels to Rome to receive his pallium. I must admit my pallia acumen was mighty low before visiting. Prayers for a safe and faithful trip.

And yes, it’s happened. Pope Benedict will meet with President Obama on July 10. Hat tip to Rocco Palmo. Now don’t start fighting here, take it outside.

Castelot Images

2009-06-23T10:35:00.002-04:00

Thanks be to you O God
That I have risen this day
To the rising of this life itself.

May it be a day of blessing,
O God of every gift,
A day of new beginnings given.

Help me to avoid every sin
And the source of every sin to forsake

And as the mist scatters
From the crest of the hills
May each ill haze clear
From my soul O God

Psalm 72:6

2009-06-18T23:42:00.005-04:00

May he be like rain coming down upon the fields, like showers watering the earth

That was quite a rain we had the other day...

Let Them Praise The Name of The Lord

2009-06-17T15:53:00.006-04:00

Hallelujah! Praise the LORD from the heavens; give praise in the heights.
Praise him, all you angels; give praise, all you hosts.

Praise him, sun and moon; give praise, all shining stars.
Praise him, highest heavens, you waters above the heavens.

Let them all praise the LORD'S name; for the LORD commanded and they were created,
Assigned them duties forever, gave them tasks that will never change.

Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and all deep waters;
You lightning and hail, snow and clouds, storm winds that fulfill his command;

You mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars;
You animals wild and tame, you creatures that crawl and fly;

You kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all who govern on earth;
Young men and women too, old and young alike.

Let them all praise the LORD'S name, for his name alone is exalted, majestic above earth and heaven.
The LORD has lifted high the horn of his people; to the glory of all the faithful, of Israel, the people near to their God. Hallelujah!
~Psalms 148

An Online Reading List

2009-06-16T19:33:00.007-04:00

I've been more of a reader than a writer these days. In that spirit I'm sharing some of the articles I've read recently. I'm taking an Ecclesiology course through the University of Dayton and these are some of the resources.

The Need for Biblical Criticism by Alan C. Mitchell, Ph.D.
How the Spirit Guides the Church: Two Views in Matthew and John by William H. Shannon
Can the Church Change? by Michael D. Guinan, O.F.M.
The Holy Spirit as Paraclete: The Gift of John’s Gospel by Raymond E. Brown, S.S.
Whither Vatican II? by John Feister Does the Council continue to shape the Church? Six experts assess its implementation.

How Did My Pentecost Happen?

2009-06-05T14:31:00.002-04:00

In whatever way we receive the Spirit, it is just as real and just as good as any other. For some reason egocentric people tend to idealize their way as the only way. God meets us where we are and makes his presence known to us in the way we are most ready to experience it. The Spirit blows where she wills and she fills our hearts in whatever measure we are open to the Spirit. The glory is all to God and not to our technique, method, formula, or church protocol.

When it does happen, we always know that we did nothing to deserve it! It is all God’s graciousness. It is being grabbed by God and lifted to a new place in spite of our best attempts to deny or avoid it.

Richard Rohr, OFM~ from Great Themes of Scripture p. 90-91

Current mantra:
Lord, send out your spirit
and renew the face of the earth

Obama/Notre Dame

2009-05-27T18:12:00.002-04:00

For an excellent analysis of President Obama's speech at Notre Dame that goes beyond the headlines I highly recommend Fr. Robert Imbelli's evenhanded commentary at chiesa esspreso.

Sandro Magister, in the same article, shares links to Judge John T. Noonans Laetare Remarks, President Obama's Commencement Address, three commentaries critical of the Vatican and "L'Osservatore Romano," the note on May 22 from Cardinal Francis E. George, president of the United States bishops' conference, and the one from the secretary of the conference, David Malloy.

A very comprehensive view of the whole bruhaha.

hat tip: Concord Pastor

The Beatitudes for Modern Times

2009-05-23T09:05:00.002-04:00

Blessed are those who seek more authentic ways

of being Church in the world today,

they are my witnesses.

Blessed are those who strive to live 'in communion'

in their endeavours to build community,

they are my people.

Blessed are those who struggle for justice

within oppressive structures,

they are my prophets in today's world.

Blessed are those who strive to live according to my Gospel

rather than societal values,

they are my heralds in this land.

Blessed are those whose hearts are bent on serving,

rather than being served,

they are my true servants.

Blessed are those in whose hearts my law is written,

they are my friends.

Blessed are those who seek humility and act with integrity

as the Church's mission is redefined

and the call to partnership is heeded,

they are my stewards.

Blessed are those whose ministry is of healing

and reconciliation in a broken and fragile world,

they are my peacemakers.

With gratitude to the Australian Pallottines...

The Lemonade Stand Award

2009-05-21T11:00:00.000-04:00

With apologies to Dale Carnegie, it seems I make Lemonade. Don't we all? It's one of the mantra's of this recession, alongside "Do more with less."

While life has handed us all a few lemons, the Lemonade Stand Award is for those who manage to make blogging lemonade. My dear friend Fran Rossi Szpylczyn, of the Parish Blog of St. Edward the Confessor, has recognized St. Anne, Pray for Us with a Lemonade Stand Award, and it seems the only requirement to fulfill as an honoree is to nominate other blogs deserving of recognition.

But most of my favorite Catholic/Spiritual blogs have already received this award. So what's wrong with heaping it on a few times? Absolutely nothing! The point is, after all, to introduce St. Anne readers to other blogs they may like. So make time to check out these wonderful blogs for headlines, homilies, prayers, and fun.

Parish Blog of St. Edward the Confessor--Fran Rossi Szpylczyn

Caught a Glimpse of Jesus Down by the Railroad Tracks--Tim Jones

A Concord Pastor Comments--Fr. Austin Fleming

Whispers in the Loggia--Rocco Palmo

Clerical Whispers--Sotto Voce

G'wan. Click on the blue link. You know you want to.

If I Had a Hail Mary Every Time I Thought of You I'd Have a Glorious Mystery!

2009-05-20T12:49:00.004-04:00

Another YouTube video, this one shamelessly stolen along with amusing title from The Headless Clown.

The Lighter Side of Theology

2009-05-20T11:05:00.004-04:00

Don't blame me. Blame Marianne.
How many Christians does it take to change a light bulb?

Charismatic : Only 1
His hands are already in the air.

Pentecostal : 10
One to change the bulb, and nine to pray against the spirit of darkness.

Presbyterians : None
Lights will go on and off at predestined times.

Roman Catholic: None
Light a candle.

Baptists : At least 15
One to change the light bulb, and three committees to approve the change and decide who brings the potato salad and fried chicken.

Episcopalians: 3
One to call the electrician, one to mix the drinks and one to talk about how much better the old one was.

Mormons : 5
One man to change the bulb, and four wives to tell him how to do it.

Unitarians :
We choose not to make a statement either in favor of or against the need for a light bulb. However, if in your own journey you have found that light bulbs work for you, you are invited to write a poem or compose a modern dance about your light bulb for the next Sunday service, in which we will explore a number of light bulb traditions, including incandescent, fluorescent, 3-way, long-life and tinted, all of which are equally valid paths to luminescence.

Methodists : Undetermined
Whether your light is bright, dull, or completely out, you are loved. You can be a light bulb, turnip bulb, or tulip bulb. Bring a bulb of your choice to the Sunday lighting service and a covered dish to pass.

Nazarene : 6
One woman to replace the bulb while five men review church lighting policy.

Lutherans : None
Lutherans don't believe in change.

Amish :
What's a light bulb?

Praise God in Song

2009-05-18T17:37:00.005-04:00

I can't stop singing "Shower down on me!" After you listen to this group, you will never think of Kumbaya in the same way again. This is Kurt Carr and the Kurt Carr Singers. Subscribers, you'll have to click over to the blog to see this YouTube video:

It has me thinking about how we praise God in music and song, how certain songs can elicite real emotional responses--real spiritual responses, and how music can effect our prayer life. I'm thinking about how music is, in fact, an integral part of our spiritual response to God. Many times a song has brought a tear to my eye or lifted me up or caused me to thank God.

How do you incorporate music into your prayer life? Do you sing in a church choir? Do you listen to music at home or in your car? How about when you are working on your computer? Is music an important part of your spirituality? Speak up and let us know.

Do we find ourselves trying to control each moment?

2009-05-16T14:11:00.005-04:00

"The contemplative secret is to learn to live in the now. The now is not as empty as it might appear to be or that we fear it may be.

Try to realize that everything is right here, right now. When we’re doing life right, it means nothing more than it is right now, because God is in this moment in a non-blaming way.

When we are able to experience that, taste it and enjoy it, we don’t need to hold on to it. The next moment will have its own taste and enjoyment."

~ Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM

St. John Vianney, Patron of Priests

2009-05-07T08:27:00.001-04:00

During this jubilee Year of the Priest, Pope Benedict XVI will also proclaim St. John Vianney to be patron saint of all the world's priests.

I found this information about St. John Vianney on a parish website named for him. He must have been an extraordinary confessor to acheive such widespread acclaim in his lifetime. What a wonderful model for all priests.

St. John Vianney, known in French as Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, was born on May 8, 1786 in the village of Dardilly in France. After serving a time in the army during the Napoleonic period he entered seminary formation to become a priest. He had a very difficult time. He struggled mightily with all of his studies and he had a particularly difficult time with Latin. Many, including his formation directors and instructors in the seminary and his own bishop, had very serious doubts that this man who did not have strong intellectual gifts, would be suitable for the priesthood. However, John Vianney persevered and finally was ordained a priest in 1815. His bishop, acting on his estimation of this new priest as a man of few gifts, sent him to the remotest backwater village of his diocese, the village of Ars.

He was a man of great dedication to his call to be a priest and to serve his people. He preached in a very simple manner, had a great love of the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Mother and he had a special devotion to St. Philomena. Through his work as a confessor he brought about a spiritual renewal that touched not only the people of his parish but all of France. He regularly spent 14 to 18 hours a day in the confessional surviving on only a few hours sleep and a diet of boiled potatoes. As the word spread his extraordinary abilities as a confessor, thousands, including bishops and aristocracy made the journey to Ars in order to receive his spiritual counsel.

Thus a man who started his life as one who very few thought would ever amount to anything became, by the time of his death in 1859, the vehicle for thousands of conversions. He is, for us today, an example of how God works wonderfully through those who dedicate their lives to him and who seek to do his will. John Vianney, a humble parish priest is regarded by the Church as one of its great figures simply because he was faithful.

John Vianney was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1925. He is the only diocesan priest ever to be canonized. His feast day is August 4.

Just Ask

2009-05-07T08:04:00.001-04:00

Or... if you're still confused about vocations, just ask Sister Mary Martha.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

The Year of the Priest

2009-05-06T15:41:00.009-04:00

Recently I came across the art of David Myers on his blog Art is Servant. Dave's blog is visually stunning, and I invite you to take a look. This particular drawing for The Year of the Priest is beautifully focused on the Eucharist.

Pope Benedict XVI declared a year of the priest in an effort to encourage "spiritual perfection" in priests.

This special year will open on June 19, which is the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the day for sanctification for priests.

Mike Hayes, another new addition to the blogroll here (see Googling God in the "Good Blogs" sidebar), did a few different posts on vocations. He made some very salient points based on survey data from CARA (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate) the major sociology group with regards to Catholic issues in the United States. I encourage you to read his posts, but I would like to just summarize a few things.

1st-We have to ask. Priests and religious, most notably, but the rest of us should be encouraging vocations, too. In Mike's words, "Say it with me now....Direct, personal, invitation. That's what gets vocations. Jesus said (and I tend to agree!), I want YOU and YOU and YOU...come follow me. We need to do the same."

2nd-The media provides a strong influence, but not in the way you might think. Very few ordinands said that TV, billboard, or radio ads had an influence on their discernment. But once a young adult is inspired, they will search for vocational information on their own, anonymously, on the Internet. In today's world, if you are not online, you might as well not exist.

And finally-could losing a job be an opening to assess your true calling? Can discernment come out of the ashes? I don't know, but it makes sense to me.

It's hard to avoid controversy when discussing vocations. In the CNS story about the Year of the Priest the closing paragraphs honed in on that controversy. No, I'm not even talking about women priests or married priests. I'm talking about the role of the laity. Pope Benedict was quoted:

Therefore, he said, it is crucial to make sure that new bodies or pastoral organizations are not set up "for a time in which one might have to 'dispense with' ordained ministry based on an erroneous interpretation of the rightful promotion of the laity."

"This would lay the foundations for further diluting the priestly ministry, and any supposed 'solutions' would dramatically coincide with the real causes of the problems currently connected with the ministry," he said.

I don't quite understand what is intended by "supposed 'solutions'" with scare quotes around it. The very real priest shortage has led to lay ministers who do a very real service for their parish communities. While I agree that focusing on priests and priestly vocations is a positive step, we will likely never return to the days when the faithful merely showed up. In my humble opinion we should not stop training lay ministers to help shoulder the burden. And I sincerely hope nothing of that kind is actually implied by Pope Benedict's words. I personally feel that I have a very real vocation working as a minister to children and young adolescents, as well as adults. I refuse to take ownership of the idea that by fulfilling this ministry I am in any way one of the "real causes of the problems currently connected with the ministry."

The three offices of a Priest are to: perform Sacraments; catechize or teach; and provide both corporeal and spiritual ministering to the poor, the sick, and those in need. More and more, priests are being relegated to just performing Sacraments while non ordained religious and lay ministers take over the other two offices. This is a change. Is it "diluting the priestly ministry?" Is it laying the foundation to "dispense with" ordained ministry? Could a Eucharistic Minister do that? A Stephen Minister?

Honestly? I've never heard anyone say we should dispense with ordained ministry. Not ever. Not once.

Still. So. Let's talk about vocations. If you know a young man who leans towards the service industry--psychology or social work, scholarly pursuits or education, communication or counseling... these can translate into very special charisms. Try to encourage at least one young man to look into the priesthood. Try to tell at least one young man, "You would make a good priest. Have you ever considered it?"

Your Accu-Wrath Weather Forecast

2009-05-06T13:02:00.006-04:00

Mike Hayes, managing editor of the Paulist website Busted Halo, also has a personal blog called Googling God. Recently Mike posted a link to a story about a priest who said the Swine Flu and Mexico's recent earthquake were in fact Divine retribution for Mexico's abortion laws. Unfortunately, I think there is more like that to come. Check out the Accu-Wrath forcast...
Yes, better repent before you go outside. It's getting ugly out there.

Moveable Feast

2009-05-03T19:26:00.002-04:00

The Jesuit publication, America, has just uploaded an excellent editorial about Sectarian Catholics, and I urge you to go read it. A big hat tip to Fran at the Parish Blog of St. Edward the Confessor for bird dogging it.

Fran's commentary is also well worth reading. As Fran said,

"If there is one gift (and there are many gifts) to our Catholic Christian faith, it is the gift of the imperative of engagement.

We are meant to be fully, richly and boldly Catholic in the world. That is not to forcefully impose our faith upon others but rather to be fully integrated in the world around us. I have read that faith is "caught, not taught." I think that sentiment is very true and at the heart of who we are as Catholics.

Every time that someone says liberal, conservative, orthodox or any other label, automatically someone is left out. This leads to the tendency of one group or another to feel superior, arrogant and potentially as the heirs to the Kingdom.

Guess what - we are all heirs to the Kingdom... and we would know this deeply if we were paying attention four short weeks ago at Easter. We would know this deeply if any of us were paying attention, period."

The whole attitude that asks for a smaller Church is an attitude that asks for exclusion. This is not the gift of the Church--inclusiveness is Christ's gift to us. Jesus said, "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you." (John 14:2)

Good Stewards

2009-04-22T19:51:00.005-04:00

"For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property..." Matthew 25:14

God has appointed us stewards--or caretakers--of the world in which we live. We act on behalf of a loving but demanding God who expects us to render an account of our use of resources that have been entrusted to our care.

And how will we render an account of our use of the planet? In the spirit of Earth Day I want to share some resources of information here.

Global Climate Change: The Situation

Climate change: Everyone talks about it; what can be done about it?

Senators Press President on Climate Change

Iowa Interfaith Power and Light

The Science of Global Climate Change

Global Climate Change: Catholic Thought

A Call for Climate Justice: A statement by more than 90 Catholic bishops from 38 countries to encourage world leaders to meet the moral obligation of tacklng climate change in support of those most affected by it. Learn more about Caritas Internationalis and their climate change campaign.

Joint Resolution on Climate Change by the Conference of Major Superiors of Men & Leadership Conference of Women Religious

Religious and Moral Dimensions of Global Climate Change, Written Testimony to the Committee on environment and Public Works, U.S. Senate by John L. Carr, Secretary, Department of Social Devleopment and World Peace, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, June 7, 2007

Catholic Coalition on Climate Change

Apostolic Nuncio to the United Nations Archbishop Celestino Migliore's address to the Ohio Catholic Conference, Catholic Faith Tradition of Stewardship, April 14, 2007

A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence and the Common Good

A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence and the Common Good -- Spanish language

U.S. bishops urge Congress to respond to global climate change (February 7, 2007)

Archbishop tells the U.N. Economic and Social Council's Commission on Sustainable Development to no longer pretend that human activity has little on global climate change and that the international community must transform its global energy systems to renewable forms.

A Pastoral Letter on the Great Barrier Reef by the Catholic Bishops of Queensland, Australia (PDF file)

USCCB President Urges President Bush to Act On Climate and Other Issues At G8 Summit

USCCB International Policy Committee Chair Tells Congress that Energy and Climate Policy Should Consider Impact on the Poor

Beyond Kyoto: Equity in Global Climate Change Policy

A Call for U.S. Leadership

"Stewards of Creation"

Letter from U.S. Catholic Bishops to the U.S. Senate (July 2004)

Interfaith Statements on Climate Change:

Statement of the Evangelical Climate Initiative. American evangelical Christian leaders offer a biblically based moral witness on climate change to help shape public policy and contribute to the well-being of the world.(January 2006)

Presbyterians to Live Carbon Neutral Lives The 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, USA, adopted a recommendation for Presbyterians to live carbon neutral lives

Episcopal Church Response to Global Warming The 75th General Convention of The Episcopal Church adopted a resolution on global warming.

God's Mandate: Protecting Creation (February 11, 2005)

Presbyterian, American Baptist, Church of the Brethren, Episcopal, Reformed Church in America, and United Church of Christ

Religious Leaders Call for Energy Conservation (January 2002)

"Let There by Light" (December 2001)

Global Climate Change: Taking Action

What You Can Do!

Let us tell your elected representatives that you want federal legislation on climate change.

Iowa Interfaith Climate & Energy Campaign

National Interfaith Climate Change Campaign

Practicing Creation Care

Humbly Changing Our Lives

Action Alert: Climate Change Legislation

Global Climate Change: Resources & Web Links

NCRLC Education Resources on Global Climate Change

Global Climate Change: What is our moral response?

Web of Creation

Union of Concerned Scientists

The Climate Institute

Climate Action Network

Irreplaceable: Wildlife in a Warming World Global warming threatens not only humans, but also God's sacred creation as hundreds of wildlife and plant species face irreversible impacts on their food sources, habitats, and more. The biodiversity of Earth's web of life may be severely diminished as entire species are endanger of extinction in our lifetimes. Visit http://www.irreplaceablewild.org/

Circle of Grace

2009-04-21T10:22:00.001-04:00

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. In recognition of that I would like to share with readers what we are doing right here at St. Anne Church to create a safe environment for all of our parishioners, but in particular, our children. St. Anne Church is, with the support and mandate of the Archdiocese of Detroit and the USCCB, teaching a new safe environment curriculum called "Circle of Grace."

Circle of Grace Logo design by Mark Zimmer, LCSW, LMHP

Ponder the Circle of Grace prayer:

"Raising your hands above your head and then bring your arms slowly down keeping them outstretched. Extending your arms in front of you and then behind you embracing all of the space around you knowing that GOD is in this space with you. Then slowly reach down to your feet. This is your Circle of Grace You are in it."

"What would our world look like if we all lived believing and truly knowing that God is that close?"
~Mary Beth Hanus LCSW, LMHP, Victim Assistance Coordinator, Archdiocese of Omaha

The Circle of Grace prayer is profound in its simplicity. It is at the core of the program our Archdiocese has adopted to help children and youth learn about safe environments and how to recognize and talk about boundaries. It also represents what you might call the third leg of our safe environment program.

I think it's important for our parents and parishioners to know what we are doing in our parish to protect the least among us; our children, the disabled, and the elderly. Everyone who comes in contact with these special populations must undergo an Archdiocese criminal background check and attend training called Protecting God's Children^TM. In addition to this first leg, our young volunteers, teens, must complete a Background Certification and attend a Called to Serve^TM workshop.

This year we added training for our youngest children in grades K-8 utilizing the Circle of Grace educational program developed by the Archdiocese of Omaha. Through this program we are able to teach the concept of boundaries and the holistic idea that the love and goodness of God surrounds us and is with us at all times. Through this concept, children and youth can learn to identify uncomfortable situations long before any inappropriate behavior may occur.

We are so fortunate that one of our brilliant catechists (yes, Michael, I'm talking about you!) created a PowerPoint, primarily for grades three and under, which made it very easy to present the information in a fun way. The traffic light activity, complete with sound effects, allowed the children to think about the signals we get from God like the colors of a traffic light--Green for go, Red for stop, and Yellow for slow down and ask a trusted adult--and posed situational questions. Because this was our first year teaching the curriculum we ended up using this PowerPoint with all of our grades--even the older children whose lessons diverged to subjects like internet safety and cultural media.

Child abuse is a terrible, terrible thing. It changes an individual in a fundamental way for the rest of their life. People who prey on children will always be attracted to positions that allow them to get close to children. Just because one person gets caught or one incident is avoided doesn't mean we can pat ourselves on the back. The challenge is to remain constantly aware. We must always be vigilant and guard against the wolves that walk among us. If you would like to learn how, go to the Virtus website and register to take a class near you.

Doubting Thomas

2009-04-19T12:00:00.001-04:00

(I love Ben Steele's cheeky poke at Thomas Kinkade. Having fun with the kitsch this weekend. H/T Fr. Austin Fleming)

Today, the second Sunday of Easter, is the feast of Divine Mercy, which ties in nicely to the story of Doubting Thomas in today's Gospel. I think Thomas is a sort of "every man" in his doubt. We are all right there with him, we've all lost our child like naivete, we would all have a hard time believing someone raised from the dead. Ages past have put a high premium on faith, but doubt is part and parcel of faith and often helps us to grow by seeking. Like the grain of sand in an oyster it is an irritant that yields a pearl.

And come on! The other disciples didn't believe it at first either! Remember?

"Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from who he had cast out seven demons. She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it."~Mark 16:9-11

"Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them."~Luke 24:10-11

So why do we make such an example of Thomas? When Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed," he was not talking about the other apostles. How could he be?

He was talking about us.

All believing Christians are Doubting Thomas'. We vacillate throughout our life between doubt and belief, and Jesus has mercy for us, just as he was merciful to Thomas. Moments of doubt can become moments of spiritual growth. In the Concord Pastor's homily today he said, "The journey from doubt and disbelief to faith follows the path of self-giving. The Church needs to expose its vulnerability and invite those who doubt and those who have left to touch the Church again as Christ invited Thomas to probe his wounds." Wow! Invite those who doubt to probe the Church--I love the image that invokes.

Not all Catholics are comfortable with St. Maria Faustina, who had the vision of Jesus' Divine Mercy and kept a diary of her mystical encounter. Dare I use the word... "doubt?" Like many saints, she can come off as a nut case. And maybe she was. She was human, after all, and God's word comes to us always as an incarnational model--divine, yet transmitted by humans who have agendas and shortcomings. But whether you embrace her story or not it is clearly a good thing to celebrate Christ's Divine Mercy. St. Maria Faustina wrote this prayer:

"Jesus, grant that I may have love, compassion and mercy for every soul without exception. Jesus, each of your saints reflects one of your virtues. I desire to reflect your compassionate heart, full of mercy. I want to glorify it. Let your mercy, Jesus, be impressed upon my heart and soul like a seal. Jesus make my heart like yours, or rather transform it into your own heart that I may sense the needs of other hearts, especially those who are sad and suffering. May the rays of mercy rest in my heart."

There is a line in this prayer--"each of your saints reflects one of your virtues." This is an echo of what I say all the time: each of us reflects a facet of God. Think of the litanies we prayed as children; God was key, rock, door, dove, wind. To the psalmist, God is a midwife; to Isaiah a comforting mother; in Exodus, the ultimate Being; in Luke, a shepherd and a woman searching for a lost coin; in Hebrews a consuming fire. By naming God everything that makes God God, we come to see God more wholly. By seeing different facets of God in other people, we come to know God more personally. By opening our eyes to God in all of creation we see everything around us charged with His presence.

So yes, there is doubt. That is human. But there is also Divine Mercy. That is God.

Divine Mercy

2009-04-18T15:00:00.006-04:00

Okay, I admit it. I've always thought that image of Jesus' Divine Mercy was cheesy and kitschy in the way only religious art of the late 19th and early 20th century can be. I yearn for a modern artist to attempt to recapture the vision of Sister Maria Faustina Kowalska.

Tomorrow, the second Sunday of Easter, the Church celebrates the Feast of Divine Mercy. The Feast of Divine Mercy is not an ancient Catholic tradition. It dates back only to the year 2000 when John Paul II first instituted and celebrated the day called for by St. Maria Faustina, the first saint of the new millennium. St. Maria Faustina's mystical vision, first repressed by the Church and then embraced, is one of those stories that feels older than it is.

The message of Christ's Divine Mercy as revealed to St. Maria Faustina rings true to our hearts: Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of Christ's Mercy.

"I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable and inscrutable mercy. Write: before I come as a just Judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice.

"From all My wounds, like from streams, mercy flows for souls, but the wound in My Heart is the fountain of unfathomable mercy. From this fountain spring all graces for souls. The flames of compassion burn Me. I desire greatly to pour them out upon souls. Speak to the whole world about My mercy." Excerpted from Diary of Sr. M. Faustina Kowalska.

Tomorrow as we celebrate this feast day, doubting Thomas will again make his annual appearance in the Gospel reading. But don't think of doubt as a sin. Remember instead the Divine Mercy.

Postscript: Commenter Fran, from the Parish of St. Edward the Confessor has linked me to this beautiful icon, which I now share with you. My artsy fartsy side bows in appreciation.

What is Catechesis?

2009-04-17T10:43:00.003-04:00

How would you define Catechesis?

I was working out this question recently and decided to share my answer here.

Catechesis is an echoing. It is Religious Education by way of shared story telling. It is a nurturing of spiritual growth. It is first and foremost teaching children, young people, and adults who Jesus Christ is--the person, the work, the mission, the teachings--and through this to reveal God's eternal design for humanity. Catechesis is a means of teaching others how to live in communion with Jesus Christ as a community. Jesus is the incarnation of God's mercy and compassion.

Jesus shows us our need for conversion. Jesus shows us the love of the Forgiving Father. And this, ultimately, is what Religious Education is all about. It's about showing others who Jesus is, and allowing Jesus Christ to lead us all to the love of the Father in the Spirit and to share in the life of the Holy Trinity.

Catechesis should be age appropriate. Preschoolers can understand love and compassion and mercy; children can hear Jesus stories and understand this is who we should emulate; teens most certainly empathize with rejection and coming to head with authority, and Jesus did that too. It is, perhaps, adults who have the most difficulty with conversion and worshiping in community. Now more than ever Religious Education is for adults, too.

Adult Faith Formation is becoming a tremendous focal point for Religious Education in our faith communities. It is the basis of all faith formation. By offering AFF classes, lectures, and series we allow and enable the faithful in our parish to deepen their spirituality and understanding of their faith. But there is another group of Catholics we have difficulty reaching: the cultural Catholic.

This is the challenge of our time--reaching those who cease to formally worship or receive the sacraments on a regular basis. My experience with people who have largely fallen outside the faith is that often they continue to send their children to us for religious education. Evangelizing our fellow Catholics presents so many challenges in our American culture. Many people become attracted to the Protestant Megachurches because of their theatricality, their Christianity Lite feel good message, and their conspicuous facilities. Adults are receiving mixed theology and allowing their children to do so as well. Many of my students come to religion class, but also go to AWANA (a fundamentalist faith based youth group) and they are confused. The adults are obviously searching for spirituality for themselves and their children.

It is these people we need to reach out to as a community; these cultural Catholics who cling to their faith identity despite their lack of Catholic faith practice. We are presented with opportunities at limited times and this is when real Catechesis needs to happen; during fellowship activities, when their children are preparing for a sacrament, or when they show up for the cradle to grave landmark occasions traditionally celebrated as Sacrament in conjunction with their faith, such as Baptisms, weddings and funerals.

This is the group that needs to be reawakened to the joy and blessings of a spiritual life and worship within a local community; to the more mature spirituality we are called on as Catholic Christians to develop in ourselves and our congregation, to the attitude that asks, "what can I do for others?" not "what do I get out of it?" If we handle our small windows of opportunity well, they are more likely to come back when we offer an AFF class, lecture, or series; more likely to come back on Sunday to worship and support our parish.

The real question then becomes: how do we handle those small windows of opportunity well? How do you catechize without lecturing? How do you pull away from the teacher/student model and move into faith sharing and faith exploration?

Ideas?

What's for Supper?

2009-04-16T12:04:00.002-04:00

I haven't been blogging much lately--it almost feels as though some sort of apology is in order. I suppose that's just Catholic guilt.

One of the things I enjoy about blogging is sharing good essays I have found. I am always moved by Tim's musings on his ministry to the homeless and the lessons revealed by life lived close to the edge. On Good Friday he wrote about "feeding religion" to the poor along with food:

"I have come to believe our actions portray far more about the authenticity of the Good News than we can ever say with our words. I once read that you can tell the size of your Christianity by the size of your table and who is welcome at it. I have come to understand that more and more as I hand out plates of food to people in the meal line at the Rescue Mission and as I give the chalice full of wine to people in the Eucharist line at my parish. I have come to love all of the faces in both lines. I have also come to suspect that both lines portray something about the Great Banquet of God that Jesus talked so much about. Both lines say that the feast is already here and that no one is unworthy or excluded from the grace of God enacted in Jesus Christ. The greatest conversion that can ever take place is not of those people on the receiving end, but of those of us who are on the giving end as we come to realize that in serving the stranger we are welcoming Christ to his own banquet and that we are the guests, not them. I don’t feed people religion. I feed hungry people food because of my religion and I am in turn fed because we are all welcome at God’s table."

We are the guests. What a profound thing to remember when we serve others. Please go visit Tim and read the rest of his essay.

Suffering

2009-03-12T11:32:00.004-04:00

Question of the week:
What is your connection between pain and life?

(Recorded at Lourdes) "Something is happening at Lourdes. And God wants to give us the eyes to see it and the ground to receive it. What are all these crippled and handicapped people telling us? What is the witness of all these nurses and life-bearers? It seems God wants us to live a vulnerable life, a life dependent on other people, a life that is unafraid to cry.

'Happy are those who hunger and thirst for justice,' Jesus says.

The little ones are able to see what is happening. These are the ones who, when there is something more, will be ready. Because the numb do not notice. The sophisticated will not suffer. The comfortable need not complain. But Jesus teaches us, in effect, how to suffer graciously. He actually increases our capacity for pain. This is the central message of the eight Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12, NJB).

What kind of God is this? It is a God who increases our capacity to feel the pain of being human, a God who allows deformities and tragedies so we can all be bound together in a sisterhood of need, a brotherhood of desire."

Current mantra:
Prayer and suffering are the two primary paths of transformation

~Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM
from Radical Grace: Daily Meditations, p. 304, day 317

Metanoia

2009-02-25T11:52:00.004-05:00

Today is, of course, Ash Wednesday.

I was thinking of Lent and change and conversion when I googled the word "Metanoia" searching for new links.

Instead I found an information website on suicide.

How ironic that the group who published this information is called "Metanoia."

Nothing happens by chance, does it?

“Suicide is not chosen; it happens
when pain exceeds
resources for coping with pain.”

How sadly true that statement is. Like piling weights upon your shoulders, I can eventually make you collapse, not from choice, but by exceeding your ability to carry the weight. The two ways out of this are to either reduce the pain or get help coping with the pain.

But in the midst of suicidal thoughts, it's difficult to see how to do either of those things.

If you are trying to cope with too much pain, please get help. Here are some things you can do:

Send an anonymous e-mail to The Samaritans
Call 1-800-SUICIDE in the U.S.
Teenagers, call Covenant House NineLine, 1-800-999-9999
Look in the front of your phone book for a crisis line
Call a psychotherapist
Carefully choose a friend or a minister or rabbi, someone who is likely to listen

But don’t give yourself the additional burden of trying to deal with this alone. Just talking about how you got to where you are, releases an awful lot of the pressure, and it might be just the additional coping resource you need to regain your balance.

If you know someone who is having suicidal thoughts, read this guide that will give you helpful information.

There are hundreds of modest steps we can take to improve our response to the suicidal and to make it easier for them to seek help. Taking these modest steps can save many lives and reduce a great deal of human suffering.

Please, if you or anyone you know is contemplating suicide, seek help from the resources outlined on the Metanoia website.

The People of St. Anne's

2009-02-20T12:00:00.000-05:00

Our Parish Appreciation dinner is tonight. To prepare a little something special for that I compiled some photos from the last year and a half and added a bit of music. This video is the final result. It is a little rough--my first attempt at movie making--kinda fun, actually. It is over fifteen minutes long, which I know is very long for an online video, but I hope our parishioners will enjoy it.

Peace~

Advent

2008-11-30T00:31:00.004-05:00

Collect: All-powerful God, increase our strength of will for doing good that Christ may find an eager welcome at his coming and call us to his side in the kingdom of heaven where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today is the first Sunday of Advent and the beginning of the Church's liturgical year. We hear the great yearning cry of the ancient prophets. We prepare ourselves for the new coming of Christ.

If you will be using an Advent wreath at home, it is appropriate to bless it first. This blessing can be performed at home in the family.

Leader:	Our help is in the Name of the Lord.
All answer:	Who made heaven and earth.
Leader:	Let us pray. O God, by whose word all things are sanctified, pour forth Thy blessing upon this wreath, and grant that we who use it may prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ and may receive from Thee abundant graces. Through Christ our Lord.
All:	Amen.

Sprinkle the wreath with holy water
Prayer Source, adapted from: Family Advent Customs by Helen McLoughlin, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1979

Coming Soon... (psst, join the conspiracy!)

2008-11-21T19:13:00.005-05:00

Worship More,
Spend Less,
Give More,
Love All.
Perhaps one day in years to come this way of living will seem normal and it won't be such a difficult choice of whether to give to ourselves or to the least of our brothers.

Join the Advent Conspiracy. Visit adventconspiracy.org

Icons of the Homeless God

2008-10-28T22:50:00.002-04:00

Please,

Go read "Icons of the Homeless God" written by blogger UnderThere.

And consider for a moment just how radical the notion of incarnation is.

The Option for Justice

2008-10-26T16:19:00.005-04:00

I'm still dwelling on the subject of poverty. It is a human creation, just as wealth is.

It is, at it's essence, inequality and injustice.

Consider the scholarship of José M. Vigil and his paper, The Option for the Poor is an Option for Justice and not Preferential. He takes back the language of Liberation Theology in strong terms.

I found this article from a blog I follow, BayaThread, who found it from another blogger, Amy Hereford, CSJ. This combination also inspired a post on another blog I follow, the Parish Blog of St. Edward the Confessor; this in turn inspired Mikef of The Mercy Blog to combine some of his own quotes and thoughts on the subject. It's all very moving when so many come to the table and share their faith and thoughts.

Let me just share with you, then, some quotes that I have been considering lately.

"Theologically speaking, «poor» refers precisely to those who are «the victims of injustice». God does not opt for the poor because they are poor, (economically or materially), but opts for the poor because they are «the victims of injustice». Economic poverty is not in itself a theological category, but injustice, often a cause of economic poverty, is a theological category. Theologically considered «the option for the poor» is in reality an «option for the victims of injustice». If it is called «option for the poor», this is due to the fact that the poor (economically) are the primary victims of injustice and its par excellence expression."~José M. Vigil

"It takes the notion of 'preferential option for the poor,' a staple of Catholic social teaching and activity, to the deeper, and I think, more evocative level of 'option for the victims of injustice.'" ~Baya Clare, CSJ

"How can we talk about biodiesel (admittedly better than alternatives) when there is a food crisis? It's like taking food from the mouths of starving children and putting it in our automobiles. How can we do that? Well okay, so it isn't a matter of preference either; it's a matter of justice. How can we feel good about ourselves by sending our $20 to some cause, then continuing to use more than our share of resources, utilities, goods, etc.? It's a problem, as the article says, it's not a preference, it is a requirement of justice to change our lifestyle to be more just. Some of us in the group agreed that it wasn't possible to create a just society today, but we can and MUST take some steps in that direction. And in a sense, until we have 'utopian justice' our efforts are never enough. So while the victims of injustice need to be saved from our unjust systems, we who profit from those systems also need to be saved from our inability or perhaps only our unwillingness to change." ~Amy Hereford, CSJ

"My initial thoughts are that poverty is about much, much more than money. Beyond that, what we might think of as poverty is outrageous fortune to others. If God asks us to consider all God's children, we must be aware of what we can see or not see.
The questions I leave you with today is the ones that I ponder...

How can we open our eyes to poverty in a way that goes beyond finance?
How can we reframe injustice as a condition of poverty of other sorts?
How can we reflect upon what seems to be our own 'poverty' (aka one's 401K) versus someone having to decide whether to pay the fuel bill or buy food?
How can we begin to see poverty as not what happens to 'them' but what happens to all of us?
Ultimately how can we examine the poverty in our own lives and use that to both transform and be transformed?"~Fran Rossi Szpylczyn

"We who choose simplicity, whether the circumstances of our natural lives have provided us with much, as St. Francis' had, or little, as with many of the early Tertiaries, must put ourselves either personally at the service of of those whose poverty is un-chosen, or at the service of finding for them justice, and a place, by right of simply being human, at the table. As The Principles state (7), 'Our Order sets out, in the name of Christ, to break down barriers between people and to seek equality for all. We accept as our second aim the spreading of a spirit of love and harmony among all people. We are pledged to fight against the ignorance, pride, and prejudice that breed injustice or partiality of any kind.'"~Mikef

Certainly not all people are poor because of injustice. But it's hard to tell the difference until you get rid of injustice. And certainly those poor who are not direct victims will always be among us and will still be in need of our mercy and assistance. But I think this idea of the poor being victims of injustice becomes more pronounced in a global way when you consider this statement of U.S. State Department Policy made by George Kennan on February 24, 1948 (Foreign Relations of the United States 1948, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1976):

"we have about 50% of the world’s wealth, but only 6.3% of its population.…In this situation, we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity.…To do so, we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day-dreaming; and our attention will have to be concentrated everywhere on our immediate national objectives.…We should cease to talk about vague and… unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization. The day is not far off when we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better.

… We should recognize that our influence in the Far Eastern area in the coming period is going to be primarily military and economic. We should make a careful study to see what parts of the Pacific and Far Eastern world are absolutely vital to our security, and we should concentrate our policy on seeing to it that those areas remain in hands which we can control or rely on."

As a juxtaposition, consider this quote from another 1948 document, one which will soon be celebrating it's 60th anniversary, The U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

"Everyone has the right to work, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection for himself and his family [and] an existence worthy of human dignity … Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care...

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized."

It is apparent that the U.N. document is much more in line with Catholic Social Teaching than the U.S. document. Now consider, over the past 60 years, which one had the greatest effect on our global community? Which one had the greatest effect on poverty statistics? Are these questions too easy? Then go back and look at Fran's fourth question.

Consider this quote:

"Inequality is not just bad for social justice, it is also bad for economic efficiency." ~Oxfam, June 2000

We are all tied to one another.

Be Human. Kind.

Angel Food

2008-10-23T21:12:00.005-04:00

It's time for some pragmatic solutions. Times are hard.

Everyone is saying that these days.

More and more people are struggling to make ends meet, and in the near future that number is going to grow.

Maybe, like the people in our parish of St. Anne, you are fortunate enough to live near a food pantry that can help with your needs. Maybe not. Or maybe you make just enough to not qualify for that kind of help. How do you stretch your food dollars?

Now let me ask you this: consider the following grocery list and tell me what you would expect to pay for these items at your local grocery store.

1.5 lb. New York Strip Steak (4 x 6 oz.)

3 lb. IQF Split Chicken Breast

2 lb. Baby Back Pork Ribs

2 lb. Chicken Chunks

28 oz. Jumbo Charbroiled Beef Patties with Gravy

1 lb. Smoked Sausage

1 lb. Ground Turkey

1 lb. Green Beans

1 lb. Diced Sweet Potatoes

10 oz. Peanut Butter

15 oz. Cranberry Sauce

7 oz. Beef-Flavored Rice & Vermicelli

20 oz. Shoestring Fries

32 oz. 2% Reduced Fat Shelf-Stable Milk

6 oz. Pancake Mix

One Dozen Eggs

One Dessert Item

Have you thought about it? Done the mental math? How about thirty dollars? Yes. $30. Believe it. Who does this, and how? Angel Food Ministries. Check out the video--it's only 2 minutes and 27 seconds long.

Each month Angel Food offers a basic box as well as ancillary packages with fresh produce or meat. For seniors or people on the go they offer heat and eat meals that are nutritious and easy to prepare. In fact, 60% of their customers are seniors. And yes, they even take food stamps.

If you are interested, follow these three simple steps and links: 1. view this months menu, 2. Find your closest local host site, 3. Contact the host site to order.

Now go get some.

Blogging for God

2008-10-22T10:10:00.003-04:00

At the Synod of Bishops meeting in Rome during these three weeks on: "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church," one of the auditors made a suggestion a couple days ago.

Agnes Lam, president of the Catholic Biblical Association of Hong Kong, suggested, among several other things (bringing smiles from many of the bishops) that Pope Benedict XVI open a blog to explain the word of God in an attractive way.

She invited "the Holy Father to open a multi-language blog to shepherd today's world: a daily scriptural verse with a simple reflection, brief text and plentiful images."

(hat tip to Sr. Janet Schaeffler)

Blog Action Day 08: Poverty

2008-10-15T13:01:00.005-04:00

"If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead." ~(James 2:15-17)

I have written about Poverty before. About the global disparity between the haves and have-nots. Today is a special day, when we here at St. Anne's can join with the voices of tens of thousands and discuss this issue.

But sometimes a simple chart can speak louder than words. So take a moment and consider the numbers illustrated here.

Almost half the world, over three billion people, live on less than $2.50 a day. At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day.*

In 2005, the wealthiest 20% of the world accounted for 76.6% of total private consumption. The poorest fifth just 1.5%:*

The poorest 10% accounted for just 0.5% and the wealthiest 10% accounted for 59% of all the consumption:*

Much of the poverty reduction in the last couple of decades almost exclusively comes from China:

China’s poverty rate fell from 85% to 15.9%, or by over 600 million people
China accounts for nearly all the world’s reduction in poverty
Excluding China, poverty fell only by around 10%*

Now consider the Global Priority of our spending. In the United States we spend 8 billion a year on cosmetics. It would cost only 6 billion to provide basic education for everyone in the world.

Global Priority of Spending in $U.S. Billions*
Cosmetics in the United States 8
Ice cream in Europe 11
Perfumes in Europe and the United States 12
Pet foods in Europe and the United States 17
Business entertainment in Japan 35
Cigarettes in Europe 50
Alcoholic drinks in Europe 105
Narcotics drugs in the world 400
Military spending in the world 780

Global Priority of Spending in $U.S. Billions*
Basic education for all 6
Water and sanitation for all 9
Reproductive health for all women 12
Basic health and nutrition 13

Here's what I suggest. Support the Global Poverty Act. Write to your congressman and senator. Support your local food pantry and homeless shelter. In our parish, contribute your time or money to O.C.E.F. Volunteer your time to PBJ Outreach. Sponsor a Bread for the World offering of Letters. Sponsor a Crop Walk.

*Source: Anup Shah, Poverty Facts and Stats, GlobalIssues.org, Last updated: Wednesday, September 03, 2008

"First and last, the purpose of Blog Action Day is to create a discussion. We ask bloggers to take a single day out of their schedule and focus it on an important issue.

By doing so on the same day, the blogging community effectively changes the conversation on the web and focuses audiences around the globe on that issue.

Out of this discussion naturally flow actions, advice, ideas, plans, and empowerment. In 2007 on the theme of the Environment, we saw bloggers running environmental experiments, detailing innovative ideas on creating sustainable practices and focusing audience’s attentions on organizations and companies promoting green agendas. In 2008 we aim to again focus the blogging community’s energies and passions, this time on the mammoth issue of global poverty."

The Quotidian Mysteries

2008-10-07T20:35:00.005-04:00

Quotidian: occurring every day; belonging to every day; commonplace, ordinary. ~Merriam-Webster Third New International Dictionary

Kathleen Norris writes beautifully. A poet and spiritual writer, she is broadly ecumenical. An interesting aspect of this author is what she brings to the table in terms of her spiritual view of the world. While she is most definitely Protestant, she is also a Benedictine oblate and brings a diverse and tolerant background to her spirituality. At first I wondered, how does a Methodist cum Presbyterian preacher find herself attracted to Catholic monasticism? But upon reflection I can see how someone with a poet’s sensibilities could be attracted to Benedict's Rule and the teachings of the desert fathers.

This little book is a gem. The Quotidian Mysteries is subtitled Laundry, Liturgy and "Women's Work." It's one of those books that fell into my hands at precisely the right time and put eloquent words to what I was thinking and feeling.

Sometimes as a wife and mother it's hard to go on every day. There have been times when I've struggled with this. At home, no one comments on the clean toilet; you don't get praise for making their clothes clean; there are no promotions for making the beds; no raises for getting everyone to school on time. You clean something and two minutes later have to clean it again. That's the nature of daily life. You have to repeat things. ...Every day. And so there have been times when I've felt that spiritual ennui, acedia. Times when I've woken up to the alarm and thought, "good Lord, not again."

It's true that menial labor, the kinds of things we describe this way, like laundry and dishes, is devalued in our society. Probably precisely because it's the sort of thing you have to do everyday. Let me share with you a quote from the book:

"Our culture's ideal self, especially the accomplished, professional self, rises above necessity, the humble, everyday, ordinary tasks that are best left to unskilled labor. The comfortable lies we tell ourselves regarding these 'little things'--that they don't matter, and that daily personal and household chores are of no significance to us spiritually--are exposed as falsehoods when we consider that reluctance to care for the body is one of the first symptoms of extreme melancholia. Shampooing the hair, washing the body, brushing the teeth, drinking enough water, taking a daily vitamin, going for a walk, as simple as they seem, are acts of self-respect. They enhance one's ability to take pleasure in oneself and in the world. At it's Greek root the word acedia means 'lack of care,' and indifference to one's welfare can escalate to overt acts of self-destruction and even suicide. Care is not passive--the word derives from the Indo-European word meaning 'to cry out,' as in a lament. Care asserts that as difficult and painful as life can be, it is worth something to be in the present, alive, doing one's daily bit. It addresses and acts on the daily needs that acedia would have us suppress and deny.

Caring is one response to the grief of the human condition, a condition described so poignantly in Psalm 90: 'Our span is seventy years,/ or eighty of those who are strong./ And most of these are emptiness and pain./ They pass swiftly and we are gone' (Ps 90:10). But lack of care is another response, and it takes many forms, from suicidal depression, to a madcap superficiality, to the practiced pretending-to-indifference at which adolescents excel... I recall my brash and bratty fourteen-year-old self responding to my mother's suggestion that I make my bed in the morning before leaving for school. 'Why?' I asked, in a mocking tone. 'Why? I'll just have to undo it again at night.' My mother had no answer that would have satisfied me then, and I complied with her request in as perfunctory a manner as possible. It was nothing, just a small expression of ordinary sloth. I was slow to recognize that combating sloth, being willing to care for oneself and others on a daily basis, is no small part of what constitutes basic human sanity, a faith in the everyday."

Norris goes on to point out that prayer is quotidian, or daily, as well. Consider the life of a monastic who prays the liturgy of the hours. It is repetitive and cyclical. And this is the great tie in between laundry and liturgy; they both represent a type of life-giving care beneath their daily ordinariness. There is a great deal of spiritual importance and significance for Christian theology in the life giving chores of caring for yourself and others. This book is a meditation on that. It is short, insightful, and inspiring.

All Dogs Go To Heaven

2008-10-04T19:14:00.006-04:00

Today is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. Tomorrow after the 10:30 Mass our parish will offer a blessing of animals, which is a wonderful way to remember this Saint while celebrating our relationships with our pets.

Now, there are some very important human lessons that we can learn from St. Francis, and I would like to talk about those lessons.

But not today.

Today, I'm just going to share the funny.

Found via revjph.

Living in the Realm of Sacraments

2008-09-18T14:19:00.003-04:00

Here is an excellent article from National Catholic Reporter about Sacramentals. There are many different reflections here, all thoughtful and interesting.

What Keeps Us Catholic: The AOD Fall Gathering

2008-09-18T12:33:00.003-04:00

I feel in many ways as though I've been quoting Thomas Groome for years, but I didn't realize it.

This year's Fall Gathering for Parish Catechetical Leaders drew a tremendous 280 people from around the diocese. Our keynote speaker was Thomas H. Groome, professor of theology and education at Boston College and author of What Makes Us Catholic: Eight Gifts for Life. Groome is a gifted speaker and storyteller who was able to energize everyone in the audience and even made time to autograph copies of his book which were offered at the workshop. I highly recommend his book for anyone interested in Catholic spirituality.

"You are the front line troops of the life of the church in the world," he told us. Quoting Matthew 28:19 he said, "The church exists to evangelize, to bring this good news into every strata of society, into every life, and to transform humanity from within. This will always be our last great mandate."

In his book Groome said, "Every Christian must promote the unity among disciples for which Jesus prayed. But such work (formally called ecumenism) should never mean blending all beyond distinction, like a bunch of mix-ins swirled to an ice-cream smoothie. Unity among Christians should not mean uniformity but reconciled diversity. The Christian symbol of the Trinity reflects both unity and diversity within God; the Church should reflect likewise. Each branch and tradition has its particular gifts to contribute to the universal Christian community. Thus, not in spite of but because of an ecumenical spirit we may ask, What makes us Catholic?"

What Makes us Catholic? is the title of Groome's book. But What Keeps us Catholic was the title of the talk he gave to our catechetical leaders. And the answer must lie in the "greater good."

The old attitude toward catechesis was one of bringing people in to the Church, but Groome proposes a new attitude of bringing people out of the church and into the world. Despite any brokenness in this Church of sinners and saints, at the heart of our Church is the greater good and a spirituality that transcends brokenness and sin.

For those who might say, I'm not religious, but I am spiritual, we can show them that Catholicism holds a unique and rich tradition of spirituality. And what a spirituality it is! As Groome said, if you're looking for spirituality--have we got a spirituality for you. We've got a spirituality that will knock your socks off. Jesus promised "ever fresh waters" (Jn 4) and to reach these waters we must return to the well. We must look to our metaphoric attic and basement, delving into the deep structures of Catholicism and plumbing the memories of our faith to enliven our imaginations.

The tradition of lectio divina is a good example of Catholics looking to an ancient, though fallen away, form of prayer and resurrecting it for our times.

So take some time for a moment and reflect a bit: what keeps you a Catholic Christian? How does your faith color your outlook on life and the everyday?

For me, the answer to those questions lies with faith in God, faith in Jesus Christ, faith in the Holy Spirit, the Real Presence, the liturgy, the beauty of our Rites and Rituals, our Sacraments. My faith colors my outlook on life through our belief in liberation and social justice and by reflection on Sacred Scripture. At the workshop I commented that if I were the type of Christian who only had Scripture to sustain me, I would have a very weak faith, indeed. I say this despite my love of Scripture, and if you know me well you know this about me. But I need the experiential knowledge that comes with our Sacraments. We are a Sacramental people, and ultimately all of our teaching points out that life is good.

But there is also a dichotomy at work within Catholicism. As Groom said, it is the "both/and." What makes us Catholic is not "Scripture" or "Tradition," but "Scripture and Tradition." Not "Nature" or "Grace," but "Nature and Grace." Not "Good Friday" or "Easter Sunday," but "Good Friday and Easter Sunday." It is both.

If you would like to learn more about Thomas Groome or join in a discussion about our Catholic Spirituality, our parish is hosting a video/discussion series this fall where we will explore some of what makes us Catholic. This series is facilitated by Dean Thompson and will be offered before Monday night Mass @ 6 p.m. in Hardy Hall on the following dates:

Oct. 13 What are our politics?
Nov. 10 Who is our neighbor?
Jan. 12 What stories to tell?
Feb. 9 What time do we have?
March 9 Are we made for each other?

Each video presentation offers Catholic wisdom for our outlook on life, pathways for reflection and conversation, and suggestions for spiritual practices. The discussion is always open and lively.

Up Next: The Road to Emmaus (Lk 24:13-35) as a model of the Shared Christian Praxis Approach to Religious Education.

How to Write a Catholic Confirmation Letter

2008-09-17T07:58:00.007-04:00

If you arrived here by googling "example of catholic confirmation letter," or "how to write a confirmation letter," or "catholic confirmation letter," I first want to say kudos to you parents and sponsors who are taking this seriously enough to research it and look for help.

Writing a letter like this is a beautiful way to affirm your candidates decision to move forward with their faith, to welcome them into full communion with the Catholic Church, and to let them know how much they mean to you. It is meaningful and important. It is faith sharing.

Faith sharing is not always easy, but it is always worthwhile.

The first point I would make is that the letter doesn't have to be long in order to be special and well done. Try to recall a fond memory you have of your candidate. I think this is an important aspect of the letter. We all, and young people especially, like to hear stories about ourselves. Part of the novelty of this is seeing yourself in a positive way through the eyes of someone else.

As an example, when I wrote to my daughter this year I recalled how she would pray as a child.

"When young Marigrace would pray, she prayed for everyone and everything. No person or creature was too small to escape her attention or gratitude to the Creator.

'God bless Mommy and Daddy and Stevie and Billy and Jack and Kelly the dog and Simba the cat and ladybugs and flowers. And God bless the fishies in the lake and the froggies on the sand. And God bless all the birdies and the trees and the horsies...'

On and on it would go as I sat smiling patiently and wondering at the beauty of a child asking for blessings on all of creation. How appropriate to ask God now to bless you, Marigrace, as you prepare for your Confirmation."

Special qualities you see in him or her
Prayers or religious songs that have meaning for you
Ways that being a Catholic Christian have helped you
What helps you to keep believing in God
People who influenced you in trying to lead a good life
Memories of your own preparation for Confirmation

Real Youth Ministers

2008-09-15T16:45:00.000-04:00

This was passed on to me today, and it's so true. Give your Youth Minister a hug today.

Real Youth Ministers...

know that working with teens helps keep you young
know that working with teens helps prepare you for your own teenagers
have rock, hip-hop and alternative music on their own ipods
recognize that teens just want and need us to be their friends
know that working with teens gives you "extra credit" in heaven
carry a first aid kit at all times
can never fit another thing in their trunks
eat pizza 4-5 times a week
can predict exactly which parents will show up to chaperon and help drive to events
know it is better to seek forgiveness than ask permission
know that some of the best plans for a Youth meeting comes from Blockbuster
are solely responsible for the destruction of the rain forest
have their best talks in the parking lot
buy Excedrin and Advil at Costco
know secretaries and custodians run the parish
hear the heartbeats of crisis; always have time to listen; know they teach and mentor teens--not subjects; and they are absolutely non-expendable
know this is no ordinary 9 to 5 job, but 365 days a year, rip-roaring, on-your-feet, in your face, mind-alterin', life changin', soul movin' job
know GOD is their boss!

St. John Retreat Center

2008-09-10T15:04:00.005-04:00

This past June I attended the Castelot Summer Scripture Series at the St. John Retreat Center in Plymouth, Michigan. While I was there I took a few photos in the Labyrinth Garden and of some of the statuary.

This first photo is a relief of the Holy Family...

A close up of Mary...
A close up of the boy Jesus...
And his stepfather, Joseph...
The bell tower of the chapel...
A rose in bloom...
A bust of Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta...
A labyrinth engraved stone...
Another rose...
The pathway with a bit of moss in between stones...
Looking at these photos again brought me back to that peaceful time.

On Prayer Labyrinth:

The labyrinth is a universal symbol for the world, with its complications and difficulties, which we experience on our journey through life. The entry to the labyrinth is birth; the center is death and eternal life. In Christian terms, the thread that leads us through life is divine grace. Like any pilgrimage, the labyrinth represents the inner pilgrimage we are called to make to take us to the center of our being. In some Christian circles today the labyrinth continues to be used as an instrument to facilitate meditation, prayer, and personal reflection.

The Great Commission

2008-09-06T12:18:00.005-04:00

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, "

Matthew 28:19

I love my job. Essentially, as a catechist and catechetical leader, that phrase above defines my job. Of course, not just me, but all of us as Baptized Christians are called to carry out this mission. I've been thinking about this lately and it seems a personal anecdote would not be out of place.

School started up this week and while at my youngest son's "Back to School Night" I saw someone I knew. She was talking to the teacher and I found myself staring at her in recognition. It was someone I had not seen in twenty years, almost to the day. We had been room mates in 1988 and after moving out of our apartment back in October of that year we went our separate ways. We lost touch.

Before my son and I left the classroom I approached her.

"Patty?" I said. She smiled at me.

"You used to be my room mate," I continued. "Do you remember me?"

"Missy? How are you?" she said. We exchanged pleasantries. Mother of five, I told her; mother of three she told me.

"What are you doing these days?" I asked. Successful, living in a very nice area, VP of a software company, nanny takes care of the kids, how about you?

I stumbled. "Oh, I retired from the bank back in '94 when my third child was born. Now I just work at the church..." I opened my mouth and shut it. I opened it again, unsure of what to say. My mind was doing mental gymnastics; as I said the word "church" I realized that Patty wasn't much of a "church person" back in the day. Of course people can change, but what did I know of her spiritual journey? Nothing. I suddenly felt uncomfortable and unsure of what to say next.

Later, I kept going over the encounter in my mind, thinking what a complete idiot I felt like. Why didn't I tell her I was a minister? Why did I find myself feeling like a failure? I love my job. I wish I could work more! I enjoy sharing my faith. What in the world happened there?

(((sigh)))

I think it's something that happens to all of us who work in ministry at one time or another. We don't define success in the same way the rest of the world does. I suddenly felt very self-conscious about that.

Quite frankly, I have very little experience shepherding adults. And I realize that outside of a "church" setting I feel very uncomfortable sharing my faith with adults.

Kids are so homogeneous. I can have a classroom full of 15 kids and they will all be wearing the same clothes, into the same music, watching the same TV shows. I understand kids.

But adults? You never know where they're coming from. Each one has built up from adolescence differences in experience, differences in taste, differences in world view, differences in their spiritual journey. I never know how they will react to what I say; this makes me feel uncomfortable.

It's something I need to work up the courage to get over!

I know I will never be the sort of person who is able to walk up to another adult and ask them if they know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour.

But I can be the sort of person who says, "I'm a minister of religious education. I teach religion. I won't bend your ear in a high pressure sale of Jesus, but I will approach you where you are with your faith, and I will share mine with you if you like."

And that's what I'm working on now.

So how about you? How comfortable are you sharing your faith?