Another Catholic Book on the Scandals will be out this August. Author/Editor Paul Thigpen writes:
I also got a call from the Times today to discuss a new book I'm editing, coming out with Servant Publications, entitled Shaken by Scandals: Catholics Speak Out About Priests' Sexual Abuse. It will appear in August. In it, fourteen contributors from various walks of life (priest, parent, journalist, moral theologian, church historian, and so on) address various aspects of the crisis. They are all faithful Catholics, loyal to the Church and the Tradition, but outraged by the abuse and the cover-ups and insistent that it's time to cleanse the Temple.
I think it's critical that Fr. Groeschel's book and ours give a voice to loyal Catholics, because there's a spate of new books coming out in the next few months written by people who are hostile to the Church and who want to undermine the Tradition. So keep up the good work in providing thoughtful, faithful commentary. The worst revelations, I fear, are yet to come, but--as St. Augustine never tired of saying--our God is so great that He can bring great good even out of great evil.
Friday, May 31, 2002
Rare Blasts?
One of our staff just returned from New York, where he stayed next to the Empire State Building. While there he reported that manhole covers were blowing up in the street. Evidently this nerved up quite a few people. "Not to worry," city officials counseled.
Seems that the same thing has happened in Indianapolis now.
One of our staff just returned from New York, where he stayed next to the Empire State Building. While there he reported that manhole covers were blowing up in the street. Evidently this nerved up quite a few people. "Not to worry," city officials counseled.
Seems that the same thing has happened in Indianapolis now.
I did an interview with the New York Times today about From Scandal to Hope by Father Benedict J. Groeschel C.F.R. The story will focus on what publishing house's are doing in response the the current crisis within the Catholic Church. Our Sunday Visitor will be the first publisher to do anything that directly addresses this situation.
Amy has pictures of our Chicago trip posted. Sorry, though, there are not pictures of her!
Troubles in Palm Beach continue.
Now it's money embezzled that has gone unreported. The bishop (Symons--who was the head of the "treasury committee" when I taught at the seminary) worked out a very neat deal where the embezzeler could pay back over $400,000 at $200 a month. Now there is a loan that any of us would'nt mind paying off. Check it out in the Palm Beach Post.
Now it's money embezzled that has gone unreported. The bishop (Symons--who was the head of the "treasury committee" when I taught at the seminary) worked out a very neat deal where the embezzeler could pay back over $400,000 at $200 a month. Now there is a loan that any of us would'nt mind paying off. Check it out in the Palm Beach Post.
The Diocese Report Has Posted the 1961 Vatican Document that spells out who cannot be admitted to the novitate. Now that I read through the document, I recall having read it before in Jerusalem in 1979 in a religious bookstore there. It was never used as a guide in the seminary that I taught at, in fact if it had we would have had to close down for lack of suitable candidates (which probably is a testimony of how bad things are). It forbids allowing:
1. Those who are weak willed or obsessed with sex. Think here the guy who preaches about it all the time or the guy who looks like he can's say "no" to a good meal even when the doctor tells him that its killing him.
A candidate who shows himself certainly unable to observe religious and priestly chastity, either because of frequent sins against chastity or because of a sexual bent of mind or excessive weakness of will, is not to be admitted to the minor seminary and, much less, to the novitiate or to profession. If he has already been accepted but is not yet perpetually professed, then he should be sent away immediately or advised to withdraw, according to individual cases, no matter what point in his formation he has already reached.
2. Those who have problems with solitary acts (masturbation). It is amazing how vague they are when they write these things (maybe they lose something in the translation.
Consequently, any candidate who has a habit of solitary sins and who has not given well-founded hope that he can break this habit within a period of time to be determined prudently, is not to be admitted to the novitiate. Nor can a candidate be admitted to first profession or to renewal of vows unless he has really amended his ways.
3.Those who sin with someone of the same-sex (homosexual acts). Unless they are seduced and penitent.
If a student in a minor seminary has sinned gravely against the sixth commandment with a person of the same or the other sex, or has been the occasion of grave scandal in the matter of chastity, he is to be dismissed immediately as stipulated in canon 1371, except if prudent consideration of the act and of the situation of the student by the superiors or confessors should counsel a different policy in an individual case, sc., in the case of a boy who has been seduced and who is gifted with excellent qualities and is truly penitent, or when the sin was an objectively imperfect act.
and:
Advancement to religious vows and ordination should be barred to those who are afflicted with evil tenencies to homosexuality or pederasty, since for them the common life and the priestly ministry would constitute serious dangers.
4. Those of a "sensitive" nature.
Very special investigation is needed for those students who, although they have hitherto been free of formal sins against chastity, nevertheless suffer from morbid or abnormal sexuality, especially sexual hyperesthesia or an erotic bent of nature, to whom religious celibacy would be a continual act of heroism and a tryring martyrdom. For chastity, in so far as it implies abstinence from sexual pleasure, not only becomes very difficult for many people but the very state of celibaby and the consequent loneliness and separation from one’s family becomes so difficulty for certain individuals gifted with excessive sensitivity and tenderness, that they are not fit subjects for the religious life.
5. Then for the rest:
In addition, special attention must be paid to those who give evidence of neuropsychosis and who are described by psychiatrists as neurotics or psychopaths, especially those who are scrupulous, abulic, hysterical, or who suffer from some form of mental disease (schizophrenia, paranoia, etc.). The same is true of those who have a delicate constitiution or, particularly, those who suffer from weakness fo the nervouse syastem or from protracted psychic melancholia, anxiety or epilepsy (can. 984, 3) or who are afflicted whith obsessions. Similarly, precautions are needed in examinining the children of alcoholics or those tainted with some hereditary weakness, especially in the mental order (cf. Stat. Gen., art 33; 34, :1). Finally, those young men are in need of special attention who manifest exaggerated attachment to the comforts of life and worldly pleasures. Superiors should carefully examine all these types and subject them to thorough examination by a prudent and expert Catholic psychiatrist who, after repeated examination, will be in a position to determine whether or not they will be able to shoulder, with honor to that state, the burden of religious and priestly life, especially celibacy.
Lest this be seen as an attack on "just" homosexual candidates, I think a careful reading would exclude just about every candidate I've ever known which is probably why it never was enforced. Even for some very "celibate" priests, the last one which deals with the "comforts of life" and "worldly pleasures" would have gotten them--think of the priest with the big expensive car and the fine art collection.
1. Those who are weak willed or obsessed with sex. Think here the guy who preaches about it all the time or the guy who looks like he can's say "no" to a good meal even when the doctor tells him that its killing him.
A candidate who shows himself certainly unable to observe religious and priestly chastity, either because of frequent sins against chastity or because of a sexual bent of mind or excessive weakness of will, is not to be admitted to the minor seminary and, much less, to the novitiate or to profession. If he has already been accepted but is not yet perpetually professed, then he should be sent away immediately or advised to withdraw, according to individual cases, no matter what point in his formation he has already reached.
2. Those who have problems with solitary acts (masturbation). It is amazing how vague they are when they write these things (maybe they lose something in the translation.
Consequently, any candidate who has a habit of solitary sins and who has not given well-founded hope that he can break this habit within a period of time to be determined prudently, is not to be admitted to the novitiate. Nor can a candidate be admitted to first profession or to renewal of vows unless he has really amended his ways.
3.Those who sin with someone of the same-sex (homosexual acts). Unless they are seduced and penitent.
If a student in a minor seminary has sinned gravely against the sixth commandment with a person of the same or the other sex, or has been the occasion of grave scandal in the matter of chastity, he is to be dismissed immediately as stipulated in canon 1371, except if prudent consideration of the act and of the situation of the student by the superiors or confessors should counsel a different policy in an individual case, sc., in the case of a boy who has been seduced and who is gifted with excellent qualities and is truly penitent, or when the sin was an objectively imperfect act.
and:
Advancement to religious vows and ordination should be barred to those who are afflicted with evil tenencies to homosexuality or pederasty, since for them the common life and the priestly ministry would constitute serious dangers.
4. Those of a "sensitive" nature.
Very special investigation is needed for those students who, although they have hitherto been free of formal sins against chastity, nevertheless suffer from morbid or abnormal sexuality, especially sexual hyperesthesia or an erotic bent of nature, to whom religious celibacy would be a continual act of heroism and a tryring martyrdom. For chastity, in so far as it implies abstinence from sexual pleasure, not only becomes very difficult for many people but the very state of celibaby and the consequent loneliness and separation from one’s family becomes so difficulty for certain individuals gifted with excessive sensitivity and tenderness, that they are not fit subjects for the religious life.
5. Then for the rest:
In addition, special attention must be paid to those who give evidence of neuropsychosis and who are described by psychiatrists as neurotics or psychopaths, especially those who are scrupulous, abulic, hysterical, or who suffer from some form of mental disease (schizophrenia, paranoia, etc.). The same is true of those who have a delicate constitiution or, particularly, those who suffer from weakness fo the nervouse syastem or from protracted psychic melancholia, anxiety or epilepsy (can. 984, 3) or who are afflicted whith obsessions. Similarly, precautions are needed in examinining the children of alcoholics or those tainted with some hereditary weakness, especially in the mental order (cf. Stat. Gen., art 33; 34, :1). Finally, those young men are in need of special attention who manifest exaggerated attachment to the comforts of life and worldly pleasures. Superiors should carefully examine all these types and subject them to thorough examination by a prudent and expert Catholic psychiatrist who, after repeated examination, will be in a position to determine whether or not they will be able to shoulder, with honor to that state, the burden of religious and priestly life, especially celibacy.
Lest this be seen as an attack on "just" homosexual candidates, I think a careful reading would exclude just about every candidate I've ever known which is probably why it never was enforced. Even for some very "celibate" priests, the last one which deals with the "comforts of life" and "worldly pleasures" would have gotten them--think of the priest with the big expensive car and the fine art collection.
Contemporary Art Still Sucks!
I was hoping that I could link to some examples of what I witnessed in Chicago. But evidently they don't take any of this stuff seriously either. So use your imagination (not much required here though):
1. "Red Blank"--a board painted red leaning against the wall.
2. A large Kleenix box with a pipe through it.
3. A string of lights plugged into a wall socket lying on the floor.
4. A pile of hard candy lying on the floor in the corner of the gallery with a spotlight overhead.
We saw Katie pawing through this "work of art"-to our horror. Amy told her to get away and Katie took her to the description of the piece with lo and behold encouraged the viewer to take a piece (the candy is replaced from time to time.
That's all I can remember right now and in another day I won't even remember these--which is the genius of this type of art--it is totally unrememberable.
I was hoping that I could link to some examples of what I witnessed in Chicago. But evidently they don't take any of this stuff seriously either. So use your imagination (not much required here though):
1. "Red Blank"--a board painted red leaning against the wall.
2. A large Kleenix box with a pipe through it.
3. A string of lights plugged into a wall socket lying on the floor.
4. A pile of hard candy lying on the floor in the corner of the gallery with a spotlight overhead.
We saw Katie pawing through this "work of art"-to our horror. Amy told her to get away and Katie took her to the description of the piece with lo and behold encouraged the viewer to take a piece (the candy is replaced from time to time.
That's all I can remember right now and in another day I won't even remember these--which is the genius of this type of art--it is totally unrememberable.
Some notes of interest from our Chicago wanderings:
Soldier Field is in ruins.
John Allen of NCR thinks the Nicaraguan Cardinal will be the next Pope. (My vote--but I don't have one of course--goes to Cardinal Arinze or my #1 pick, Francis Xavier Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan) Click on Cardinal Van Thuan's name for info on his books detailing his 12 years of imprisonment, click on Cardinal Arinze's name for a book that I worked with him on.
Turns out that:
"the largest, most complete, and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex fossil yet discovered" is smaller than an elephant.
Father Bernard Bro is writing a new book in French and there are plans to translate it in English.
John Foppe is just as neat a guy in person as he seemed when I read about him and talked with him a few years ago on the phone.
There are people who read this blog outside of Indiana. One of them is associated with this site.
One diocese supposedly is doing exorcisms around the clock because of the problems you and I are reading about.
Campus Ministry is dominated by aged 60 plus nuns who don't wear habits and pray to the four winds--which in a round bout way fits because it harkens back to the Tridentine Mass (if they know that perhaps they'll stop).
Residence Inn is the place to stay if you are traveling with the family.
You can get a good meal at Harry Carry's in Chicago.
Contemporary art still sucks-(I'll give a separate entry to this above in a few minutes). But everything that came before it can help you to see life in a completely different light.
The Art Institute of Chicago is a great art museum.
The Daughters of St. Paul have nice Catholic Bookstores. The one in Chicago, typical of their stores has a Chapel inside.
Mary Louise Kurey has a new boyfriend who shares her views on chastity and religion. If you want her to come and speak at your school, visit her site for contact info--or visit it to buy her book detailing a former Miss Wisconsin who is a virgin.
Soldier Field is in ruins.
John Allen of NCR thinks the Nicaraguan Cardinal will be the next Pope. (My vote--but I don't have one of course--goes to Cardinal Arinze or my #1 pick, Francis Xavier Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan) Click on Cardinal Van Thuan's name for info on his books detailing his 12 years of imprisonment, click on Cardinal Arinze's name for a book that I worked with him on.
Turns out that:
"the largest, most complete, and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex fossil yet discovered" is smaller than an elephant.
Father Bernard Bro is writing a new book in French and there are plans to translate it in English.
John Foppe is just as neat a guy in person as he seemed when I read about him and talked with him a few years ago on the phone.
There are people who read this blog outside of Indiana. One of them is associated with this site.
One diocese supposedly is doing exorcisms around the clock because of the problems you and I are reading about.
Campus Ministry is dominated by aged 60 plus nuns who don't wear habits and pray to the four winds--which in a round bout way fits because it harkens back to the Tridentine Mass (if they know that perhaps they'll stop).
Residence Inn is the place to stay if you are traveling with the family.
You can get a good meal at Harry Carry's in Chicago.
Contemporary art still sucks-(I'll give a separate entry to this above in a few minutes). But everything that came before it can help you to see life in a completely different light.
The Art Institute of Chicago is a great art museum.
The Daughters of St. Paul have nice Catholic Bookstores. The one in Chicago, typical of their stores has a Chapel inside.
Mary Louise Kurey has a new boyfriend who shares her views on chastity and religion. If you want her to come and speak at your school, visit her site for contact info--or visit it to buy her book detailing a former Miss Wisconsin who is a virgin.
Where Your Stewardship Monies are Going In LA
Nice to know that they have all the "right" concerns out there in Los Angeles. From the AP:
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles tapped Sitrick & Co., a Century City-based company that has dealt with high-profile cases.
The company's clients have included troubled energy company Dynegy Inc., Global Crossing during its bankruptcy, actress
Halle Berry following a traffic accident and comedian Paula Poundstone after her child-endangerment case.
Nice to know that they have all the "right" concerns out there in Los Angeles. From the AP:
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles tapped Sitrick & Co., a Century City-based company that has dealt with high-profile cases.
The company's clients have included troubled energy company Dynegy Inc., Global Crossing during its bankruptcy, actress
Halle Berry following a traffic accident and comedian Paula Poundstone after her child-endangerment case.
Sexual Harassment at Peyton Place
or
Manning Sexual Harassment Suit Revealed (and I don't mean Cardinal Manning)
A Lakeland, Florida woman who used to work for the University of Tennessee is suing Peyton and Archie Manning for defamation, but the real clincher in this story is that she has already been paid $300,000 for a sexual harassment suit against the University that involved Saint Peyton. From the AP:
Jamie Ann Naughright filed suit in Polk County Circuit Court on Wednesday, seeking more than $15,000 in damages because Peyton Manning said she had a ''vulgar mouth.'' She said the comment in ''Manning'' hurt her career.
Manning, who wrote the book with his father, was speaking about a 1996 incident in which he exposed his bare backside as Naughright bent over to examine his foot.
Peyton Manning, who now plays for the Indianapolis Colts, was Tennessee's quarterback at the time. Naughright was director of health and wellness and associate football trainer at the school.
Although Manning said he intended to play the prank on another athlete, Naughright later received a $300,000 settlement after including the incident among 33 sexual harassment allegations she made against the university.
or
Manning Sexual Harassment Suit Revealed (and I don't mean Cardinal Manning)
A Lakeland, Florida woman who used to work for the University of Tennessee is suing Peyton and Archie Manning for defamation, but the real clincher in this story is that she has already been paid $300,000 for a sexual harassment suit against the University that involved Saint Peyton. From the AP:
Jamie Ann Naughright filed suit in Polk County Circuit Court on Wednesday, seeking more than $15,000 in damages because Peyton Manning said she had a ''vulgar mouth.'' She said the comment in ''Manning'' hurt her career.
Manning, who wrote the book with his father, was speaking about a 1996 incident in which he exposed his bare backside as Naughright bent over to examine his foot.
Peyton Manning, who now plays for the Indianapolis Colts, was Tennessee's quarterback at the time. Naughright was director of health and wellness and associate football trainer at the school.
Although Manning said he intended to play the prank on another athlete, Naughright later received a $300,000 settlement after including the incident among 33 sexual harassment allegations she made against the university.
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 43rd step:
(43) But as to any evil in himself, let him be convinced that it is his own and charge it to himself.
This counsel follows from the previous one. If God has created us as "good" then any evil is from our free choice to do other than what God wills for us. We should understand that what is "evil" is bad for us, to the point that if we persist in evil it leads to our self-destruction.
If God has created us as good, then anything that is not good can not be from God, it must have another source, St. Benedict concludes rightly that it must come from ourselves.
There are many maladies in life that may seem evil but really are not. Someones genetic makeup may make the prone to an early death and on the surface that may seem like an "evil" but in fact it is only our perception again of what our idea of "good" is. A person whose life is limited by their genetic or physical condition still has been put on this earth by God and still has a mission. They can do much good with the talents that God has given them. To bury the talents because of their perceived bad condition is to squander the good.
A woman born in a physical condition that gave her little chance to live beyond her twenties, described an incident that she says happened to her on the day of her birth. "God," she says, "asked me if I wanted to do something special for Him." She says that she responded, "Yes."
Virginia Cyr spent her short twenty-something years praising God in a body racked with pain, in and out of orphanages after her mother abandoned her, sexually abused by a drunken priest who took advantage of her physical condition which prevented her from running away--through it all she thanked God for the mission, He had blessed her with on her day of her birth.
Now this Indiana woman lies waiting the resurrection in a grave in Lafayette. The orphanage where she lived in Fort Wayne, no longer is there. Perhaps an answer to some prayer that God answered because she had so faithfully carried out His mission.
No matter what, evil is our choice and the good is God's blessing.
(43) But as to any evil in himself, let him be convinced that it is his own and charge it to himself.
This counsel follows from the previous one. If God has created us as "good" then any evil is from our free choice to do other than what God wills for us. We should understand that what is "evil" is bad for us, to the point that if we persist in evil it leads to our self-destruction.
If God has created us as good, then anything that is not good can not be from God, it must have another source, St. Benedict concludes rightly that it must come from ourselves.
There are many maladies in life that may seem evil but really are not. Someones genetic makeup may make the prone to an early death and on the surface that may seem like an "evil" but in fact it is only our perception again of what our idea of "good" is. A person whose life is limited by their genetic or physical condition still has been put on this earth by God and still has a mission. They can do much good with the talents that God has given them. To bury the talents because of their perceived bad condition is to squander the good.
A woman born in a physical condition that gave her little chance to live beyond her twenties, described an incident that she says happened to her on the day of her birth. "God," she says, "asked me if I wanted to do something special for Him." She says that she responded, "Yes."
Virginia Cyr spent her short twenty-something years praising God in a body racked with pain, in and out of orphanages after her mother abandoned her, sexually abused by a drunken priest who took advantage of her physical condition which prevented her from running away--through it all she thanked God for the mission, He had blessed her with on her day of her birth.
Now this Indiana woman lies waiting the resurrection in a grave in Lafayette. The orphanage where she lived in Fort Wayne, no longer is there. Perhaps an answer to some prayer that God answered because she had so faithfully carried out His mission.
No matter what, evil is our choice and the good is God's blessing.
Thursday, May 30, 2002
Exorcisms?
Met up with a friend attending a campus ministry seminar at O'Hare who told me tales of exorcisms that are being performed in one diocese that has been hard hit by the recent scandals. No doubt there is a demonic element at work not only in the abuse cases but in the general state of confusion on the part of many in the Church.
Met up with a friend attending a campus ministry seminar at O'Hare who told me tales of exorcisms that are being performed in one diocese that has been hard hit by the recent scandals. No doubt there is a demonic element at work not only in the abuse cases but in the general state of confusion on the part of many in the Church.
Met up with John Foppe yesterday. John has a book out with Thomas Nelson that I originally wanted OSV to publish but he wanted it out sooner than we felt we could do it. I highly recommend the book---check out his site for more info. Below is a synopsis from his site:
What's Your Excuse?
Making the Most of What You Have
John Foppe shares his story of conquering the physical and emotional struggles of being born with no arms and teaches how attitude, self-respect, and faith in God can help anyone overcome obstacles.
John Foppe, born without arms, has faced obstacles - both physical and emotional - his entire life. While some see his condition as a debilitating handicap, John disagrees. "Our only handicaps are those mental and emotional ones that prevent us from participating fully in life." John is a creative problem solver, and his inspiring story will enable you to see that the only things preventing you from accomplishing your goals are self-imposed limitations. His education in clinical social work and his experience as a professional speaker give him unique insight on overcoming adversity. Here he reveals how to break through negative thinking and allow God to empower you to do great things.
What's Your Excuse?
Making the Most of What You Have
John Foppe shares his story of conquering the physical and emotional struggles of being born with no arms and teaches how attitude, self-respect, and faith in God can help anyone overcome obstacles.
John Foppe, born without arms, has faced obstacles - both physical and emotional - his entire life. While some see his condition as a debilitating handicap, John disagrees. "Our only handicaps are those mental and emotional ones that prevent us from participating fully in life." John is a creative problem solver, and his inspiring story will enable you to see that the only things preventing you from accomplishing your goals are self-imposed limitations. His education in clinical social work and his experience as a professional speaker give him unique insight on overcoming adversity. Here he reveals how to break through negative thinking and allow God to empower you to do great things.
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 42nd step:
(42) To refer what good one sees in himself, not to self, but to God.
If we have lived long enough, and are in touch with what motivates us, I think we will come to see the truth that there is a great good that is essential to who we are at our deepest core. God created us and as God says in the Book of Genesis when he looked upon his creation-He saw that it was "good."
God is responsible for the goodness that is at the core of every human being. It is there and we can both see it in others and in ourselves.
When God became Man, He had no problem recognizing the "good" that was in all of creation. Where some saw prostitutes or tax collectors, the Son of God saw precious creatures that had the same basic goodness as all who have been created by God.
When the rich young man called Jesus, "Good teacher," Jesus corrected him, "Why call me good? Only God is good." Here we have an application of this counsel by Jesus Himself.
Yes, only God is good, but He has shared that goodness in His creation. We are part of God's creation. Therefore when we worship Him, we come to know ourselves as we truly are and we come to see the goodness that is at the heart of who He has created us to be.
This original goodness has been marred by Original Sin, sadly people do not realize the great value that they possess. Often they are confused about their purpose in life and unfortunately many waste the talents that they have been blessed with because they take the definition of who they are from other people or from some other ideal of who they should be.
Jesus' death and resurrection make it possible for us to understand that God loves us. By being baptized the original goodness that is in us can come to the fore.
We are "good" because God created us. Our actions are good as much as we act out of the self that God created us to be. All is from God and God deserves all the praise both for who we are and the good that we do.
(42) To refer what good one sees in himself, not to self, but to God.
If we have lived long enough, and are in touch with what motivates us, I think we will come to see the truth that there is a great good that is essential to who we are at our deepest core. God created us and as God says in the Book of Genesis when he looked upon his creation-He saw that it was "good."
God is responsible for the goodness that is at the core of every human being. It is there and we can both see it in others and in ourselves.
When God became Man, He had no problem recognizing the "good" that was in all of creation. Where some saw prostitutes or tax collectors, the Son of God saw precious creatures that had the same basic goodness as all who have been created by God.
When the rich young man called Jesus, "Good teacher," Jesus corrected him, "Why call me good? Only God is good." Here we have an application of this counsel by Jesus Himself.
Yes, only God is good, but He has shared that goodness in His creation. We are part of God's creation. Therefore when we worship Him, we come to know ourselves as we truly are and we come to see the goodness that is at the heart of who He has created us to be.
This original goodness has been marred by Original Sin, sadly people do not realize the great value that they possess. Often they are confused about their purpose in life and unfortunately many waste the talents that they have been blessed with because they take the definition of who they are from other people or from some other ideal of who they should be.
Jesus' death and resurrection make it possible for us to understand that God loves us. By being baptized the original goodness that is in us can come to the fore.
We are "good" because God created us. Our actions are good as much as we act out of the self that God created us to be. All is from God and God deserves all the praise both for who we are and the good that we do.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 41th step:
(41) To put one's trust in God.
As if to remind us what all this is about, in the middle of these counsels, Saint Benedict gives this counsel that refocuses on the real issue here. Going through the counsels we can lose sight again that almost everything that is negative, not to do this or not to be this is all about a positive to "do this," to put our trust in God.
Most of us probably would say that we put our trust in God. But our reaction to all of these counsels of Saint Benedict is like a giant mirror that reveals whether we really do or not.
There is a story that I have heard so many times that it has lost it's punch for me, but perhaps not for you-so here it is. A man is walking along a mountainside when suddenly he hits some lose soil and goes tumbling over a steep precipice. Luckily he grabs on to a tree branch as he falls down.
Looking down, he sees that if he hadn't grabbed the branch he would have fallen to a certain death. But looking up he can see no way to reach the safety of the path again, and he realizes that he can't hold on forever. He yells for help, "Is anyone up there?"
A voice booms, "I'm here, it's God."
The man says, "Thank God! Can you save me?"
"Of course," God says, "but you have to do exactly what I tell you."
"Okay," the man says, "what do I need to do?"
"Let go," says God.
"Is anyone else up there?" The man screams.
Putting our trust in God means more than just giving lip service to Him. It means, "letting go," and whether we do or not ultimately decides whether we live or die-forever.
(41) To put one's trust in God.
As if to remind us what all this is about, in the middle of these counsels, Saint Benedict gives this counsel that refocuses on the real issue here. Going through the counsels we can lose sight again that almost everything that is negative, not to do this or not to be this is all about a positive to "do this," to put our trust in God.
Most of us probably would say that we put our trust in God. But our reaction to all of these counsels of Saint Benedict is like a giant mirror that reveals whether we really do or not.
There is a story that I have heard so many times that it has lost it's punch for me, but perhaps not for you-so here it is. A man is walking along a mountainside when suddenly he hits some lose soil and goes tumbling over a steep precipice. Luckily he grabs on to a tree branch as he falls down.
Looking down, he sees that if he hadn't grabbed the branch he would have fallen to a certain death. But looking up he can see no way to reach the safety of the path again, and he realizes that he can't hold on forever. He yells for help, "Is anyone up there?"
A voice booms, "I'm here, it's God."
The man says, "Thank God! Can you save me?"
"Of course," God says, "but you have to do exactly what I tell you."
"Okay," the man says, "what do I need to do?"
"Let go," says God.
"Is anyone else up there?" The man screams.
Putting our trust in God means more than just giving lip service to Him. It means, "letting go," and whether we do or not ultimately decides whether we live or die-forever.
Tuesday, May 28, 2002
Someone who works for Budweiser was here (reading the blog) a few minutes ago. Hey, this Bud's for you!
One thing you can say about President Bush is that he pretty much says whatever is on his mind. Apparently he was shocked by the Pope's condition:
As Bush was leaving the Vatican after 20 minutes of private talks, the Pope, whose physical frailty has led to speculation he may retire early rather than rule for life, said "God Bless America" and told Bush:
"I hope to be able to meet you again."
Of course it would be ironic if the Pope outlives him.
After the two sat down, the Pope smiled and brought his hands to his head, shielding his head from photographers' flashguns in a joking gesture.
"They'll make you look good, your holy father," Bush responded, combining the two phrases that are normally used to address the Pope -- "your holiness" and "holy father."
Sometimes you wonder what is on his mind.
For more on the visit, go here.
As Bush was leaving the Vatican after 20 minutes of private talks, the Pope, whose physical frailty has led to speculation he may retire early rather than rule for life, said "God Bless America" and told Bush:
"I hope to be able to meet you again."
Of course it would be ironic if the Pope outlives him.
After the two sat down, the Pope smiled and brought his hands to his head, shielding his head from photographers' flashguns in a joking gesture.
"They'll make you look good, your holy father," Bush responded, combining the two phrases that are normally used to address the Pope -- "your holiness" and "holy father."
Sometimes you wonder what is on his mind.
For more on the visit, go here.
Pope says, "I feel GREAT!" He plans on visiting all the places he originally planned to this summer.
Papal Program OK'd for Trip to Canada, Guatemala and Mexico
Papal Program OK'd for Trip to Canada, Guatemala and Mexico
From the Office of Readings today, available online at Universalis.com, from the great Saint Augustine and his Confessions:
Let me know you, O you who know me; then shall I know even as I am known. You are the strength of my soul; make your way in and shape it to yourself, that it may be yours to have and to hold, free from stain or wrinkle. I speak because this is my hope, and whenever my joy springs from that hope it is joy well founded. As for the rest of this life’s experiences, the more tears are shed over them the less they are worth weeping over, and the more truly worth lamenting the less do we bewail them while mired in them. You love the truth because anyone who “does truth” comes to the light. Truth it is that I want to do, in my heart by confession in your presence, and with my pen before many witnesses.
But the abyss of the human conscience lies naked to your eyes, O Lord, so would anything be secret even if I were unwilling to confess to you? I would be hiding you from myself, but not myself from you. But now that my groans bear witness that I find no pleasure in myself, you shed light upon me and give me joy, you offer yourself, lovable and longed for, that I may thrust myself away in disgust and choose you, and be pleasing no more either to you or to myself except in what I have from you.
To you, then, Lord, I lie exposed, exactly as I am. I have spoken of what I hope to gain by confessing to you. My confession to you is made not with words of tongue and voice, but with the words of my soul and the clamour of my thought, to which your ear is attuned; for when I am bad, confession to you is simply disgust with myself, but when I am good, confession to you consists in not attributing my goodness to myself, because though you, Lord, bless the person who is just, it is only because you have first made him just when he was sinful. This is why, O Lord, my confession in your presence is silent, yet not altogether silent: there is no noise to it, but it shouts by love.
For it is you, Lord, who judge me. No-one knows what he himself is made of, except his own spirit within him, yet there is still some part of him which remains hidden even from his own spirit; but you, Lord, know everything about a human being because you have made him. And though in your sight I may despise myself and reckon myself dust and ashes, I know something about you which I do not know about myself.
It is true that we now see only a tantalising reflection in a mirror, and so it is that while I am on pilgrimage far from you I am more present to myself than to you; yet I do know that you cannot be defiled in any way whatever, whereas I do not know which temptations I may have the strength to resist, and to which ones I shall succumb. Our hope is that, because you are trustworthy, you do not allow us to be tempted more fiercely than we can bear, but along with the temptation you ordain the outcome of it, so that we can endure.
Let me, then, confess what I know about myself, and confess too what I do not know, because what I know of myself I know only because you shed light on me, and what I do not know I shall remain ignorant about until my darkness becomes like bright noon before your face.
Let me know you, O you who know me; then shall I know even as I am known. You are the strength of my soul; make your way in and shape it to yourself, that it may be yours to have and to hold, free from stain or wrinkle. I speak because this is my hope, and whenever my joy springs from that hope it is joy well founded. As for the rest of this life’s experiences, the more tears are shed over them the less they are worth weeping over, and the more truly worth lamenting the less do we bewail them while mired in them. You love the truth because anyone who “does truth” comes to the light. Truth it is that I want to do, in my heart by confession in your presence, and with my pen before many witnesses.
But the abyss of the human conscience lies naked to your eyes, O Lord, so would anything be secret even if I were unwilling to confess to you? I would be hiding you from myself, but not myself from you. But now that my groans bear witness that I find no pleasure in myself, you shed light upon me and give me joy, you offer yourself, lovable and longed for, that I may thrust myself away in disgust and choose you, and be pleasing no more either to you or to myself except in what I have from you.
To you, then, Lord, I lie exposed, exactly as I am. I have spoken of what I hope to gain by confessing to you. My confession to you is made not with words of tongue and voice, but with the words of my soul and the clamour of my thought, to which your ear is attuned; for when I am bad, confession to you is simply disgust with myself, but when I am good, confession to you consists in not attributing my goodness to myself, because though you, Lord, bless the person who is just, it is only because you have first made him just when he was sinful. This is why, O Lord, my confession in your presence is silent, yet not altogether silent: there is no noise to it, but it shouts by love.
For it is you, Lord, who judge me. No-one knows what he himself is made of, except his own spirit within him, yet there is still some part of him which remains hidden even from his own spirit; but you, Lord, know everything about a human being because you have made him. And though in your sight I may despise myself and reckon myself dust and ashes, I know something about you which I do not know about myself.
It is true that we now see only a tantalising reflection in a mirror, and so it is that while I am on pilgrimage far from you I am more present to myself than to you; yet I do know that you cannot be defiled in any way whatever, whereas I do not know which temptations I may have the strength to resist, and to which ones I shall succumb. Our hope is that, because you are trustworthy, you do not allow us to be tempted more fiercely than we can bear, but along with the temptation you ordain the outcome of it, so that we can endure.
Let me, then, confess what I know about myself, and confess too what I do not know, because what I know of myself I know only because you shed light on me, and what I do not know I shall remain ignorant about until my darkness becomes like bright noon before your face.
Amy and I will signing copies of our latest books tomorrow at the Religious Book Trade Expo near Chicago.
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 40th step:
(40) Not to be a detractor.
The Christian is to be someone who builds people up, not someone who tears others down. Often detraction is a sign of our own insecurity or feelings of inadequacy.
Someone who puts God first in their lives will recognize their own self in an entirely new light as well as all others.
If we see someone who seems less in our eyes, it is we who have the problem not them.
This of course does not mean that we turn our eyes from those who commit grievous sins against others. They should be confronted, and if personal confrontation does not work as Jesus said, the matter should be brought before the whole Church, and if that doesn't work they should be treated like a tax collector. Of course Jesus--welcomed tax collectors, so there is irony in the last part of his counsel.
Christianity is not a religion of castes. In Christ there is neither Greek or Jew, male or female--all are one. In order for that to be a lived reality we must see the importance of each individual and seek to build them up. In doing so we are aiding the Holy Spirit's work of building the Kingdom of God.
(40) Not to be a detractor.
The Christian is to be someone who builds people up, not someone who tears others down. Often detraction is a sign of our own insecurity or feelings of inadequacy.
Someone who puts God first in their lives will recognize their own self in an entirely new light as well as all others.
If we see someone who seems less in our eyes, it is we who have the problem not them.
This of course does not mean that we turn our eyes from those who commit grievous sins against others. They should be confronted, and if personal confrontation does not work as Jesus said, the matter should be brought before the whole Church, and if that doesn't work they should be treated like a tax collector. Of course Jesus--welcomed tax collectors, so there is irony in the last part of his counsel.
Christianity is not a religion of castes. In Christ there is neither Greek or Jew, male or female--all are one. In order for that to be a lived reality we must see the importance of each individual and seek to build them up. In doing so we are aiding the Holy Spirit's work of building the Kingdom of God.
Monday, May 27, 2002
Visit this page only if you have a sense of humor. Written by a priest who wishes ot remain anonymous, he has written a spoof of the Bishop's Pastoral Letter on Economics that was released a few years ago (though largely went unnoticed).
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 39th step:
(39) Not to be a murmurer.
I like how the dictionary defines a murmur, "a confidential complaint." Of course the complaint being offered confidentially is never directed at the person who is responsible for the complaint.
There are murmurers in the Gospel. When Jesus says to the paralytic "your sins are forgiven" the people present begin to murmur amongst themselves about what they perceive to be the presumption of Jesus to do something that is reserved to God alone, (this brings to mind the modern tendency for everyone to forgive sins or at least dismiss them as not really all that serious). Jesus hears the murmurs and addresses them directly.
If you have ever been caught murmuring by the person you are murmuring about--you probably know how they felt.
We should not murmur because we are not addressing the people that should be addressed. We should however speak out "unconfidentially" against injustices, against wrongdoing that harms others. But sometimes the things we complain about in whispered tones hardly rise to that level.
If God is God for us, there is less to murmur about. Many of the events of life that we might normally complain about will be seen to be part of a plan that is much larger than us. What we might perceive as the "wrong way of doing things" might actually lead to "God's way of doing things" being done in the long run.
Again the story of Joseph in the Book of Genesis provides an excellent meditation for us on this issue.
Feel like complaining, go to the chapel instead and complain to the boss. He can do something to remedy the situation while your co-worker will only add to your misery.
(39) Not to be a murmurer.
I like how the dictionary defines a murmur, "a confidential complaint." Of course the complaint being offered confidentially is never directed at the person who is responsible for the complaint.
There are murmurers in the Gospel. When Jesus says to the paralytic "your sins are forgiven" the people present begin to murmur amongst themselves about what they perceive to be the presumption of Jesus to do something that is reserved to God alone, (this brings to mind the modern tendency for everyone to forgive sins or at least dismiss them as not really all that serious). Jesus hears the murmurs and addresses them directly.
If you have ever been caught murmuring by the person you are murmuring about--you probably know how they felt.
We should not murmur because we are not addressing the people that should be addressed. We should however speak out "unconfidentially" against injustices, against wrongdoing that harms others. But sometimes the things we complain about in whispered tones hardly rise to that level.
If God is God for us, there is less to murmur about. Many of the events of life that we might normally complain about will be seen to be part of a plan that is much larger than us. What we might perceive as the "wrong way of doing things" might actually lead to "God's way of doing things" being done in the long run.
Again the story of Joseph in the Book of Genesis provides an excellent meditation for us on this issue.
Feel like complaining, go to the chapel instead and complain to the boss. He can do something to remedy the situation while your co-worker will only add to your misery.
Sunday, May 26, 2002
Papal Trips May be Cut
I was just reading in Amy's blog that to disuade rumors (which I belief to be fact) that the pope plans to retire (and resign) when he travels to Poland this summer, the Vatican is talking about a trip to Croatia in September (for the specific purpose of disuading rumors--so it seems in the story anyway). Now today, a new take. It turns out the Vatican may cancel the Pope's trip to Mexico, although he evidently will still travel to Toronto:
The Vatican acknowledged for the first time Sunday that it may have to curtail Pope John Paul II's future travel because of his feeble condition, suggesting that planned stops in Mexico and Guatemala in July could be dropped.
Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls told reporters the 82-year-old pope will go to Toronto to mark the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Day, but suggested the other stops on the proposed 11-day trip could be canceled.
I was just reading in Amy's blog that to disuade rumors (which I belief to be fact) that the pope plans to retire (and resign) when he travels to Poland this summer, the Vatican is talking about a trip to Croatia in September (for the specific purpose of disuading rumors--so it seems in the story anyway). Now today, a new take. It turns out the Vatican may cancel the Pope's trip to Mexico, although he evidently will still travel to Toronto:
The Vatican acknowledged for the first time Sunday that it may have to curtail Pope John Paul II's future travel because of his feeble condition, suggesting that planned stops in Mexico and Guatemala in July could be dropped.
Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls told reporters the 82-year-old pope will go to Toronto to mark the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Day, but suggested the other stops on the proposed 11-day trip could be canceled.
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 38th step:
(38) Not to be slothful (cf Rom 12:11).
The scripture passage that St. Benedict quotes from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans. I expected it to be the passage "if a man doesn't work, he shouldn't eat," but its not that. The passage he quotes is "Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord."
Again, like in all previous counsels the motivation to not be slothful is to be animated by God's Holy Spirit. How do we receive this Spirit, by serving the Lord (I like to think of this as "working for the Lord").
Just as one might take a job with a certain company and enjoy certain benefits that the company offers, so too for the person who "works" for the Lord. The chief benefit that God provides to those who serve Him is that He gives them the power to fulfill the job. He also fills His workers with the desire and zeal to do the work.
Being lazy, or slothful is a sign that we have turned in on ourselves again; that we are "serving" ourselves and our own desires. So it is easy to see how this would stop us from being in communion with God.
What then of all the lazy Christians? Remember Benedict wrote these counsels for monks, men who had left everything to follow Christ in the life of the Monastery. But as Jesus prophesied the the "love of many will grow cold," so too in religious life, people can lose sight of the great need that they have for God and start slacking off in prayer.
Which brings us to the greatest danger of being slothful--neglecting prayer. Communicating with God is essential if we are to live--we must never give up prayer.
(38) Not to be slothful (cf Rom 12:11).
The scripture passage that St. Benedict quotes from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans. I expected it to be the passage "if a man doesn't work, he shouldn't eat," but its not that. The passage he quotes is "Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord."
Again, like in all previous counsels the motivation to not be slothful is to be animated by God's Holy Spirit. How do we receive this Spirit, by serving the Lord (I like to think of this as "working for the Lord").
Just as one might take a job with a certain company and enjoy certain benefits that the company offers, so too for the person who "works" for the Lord. The chief benefit that God provides to those who serve Him is that He gives them the power to fulfill the job. He also fills His workers with the desire and zeal to do the work.
Being lazy, or slothful is a sign that we have turned in on ourselves again; that we are "serving" ourselves and our own desires. So it is easy to see how this would stop us from being in communion with God.
What then of all the lazy Christians? Remember Benedict wrote these counsels for monks, men who had left everything to follow Christ in the life of the Monastery. But as Jesus prophesied the the "love of many will grow cold," so too in religious life, people can lose sight of the great need that they have for God and start slacking off in prayer.
Which brings us to the greatest danger of being slothful--neglecting prayer. Communicating with God is essential if we are to live--we must never give up prayer.
Saturday, May 25, 2002
Criticism, Unfairness, Blank Checks, etc.
When Moses tarried alittle too long with God on Mount Horeb the people down below got a little tired of waiting and built their own god. It was a golden calf made from all the donated golden jewelry of the people.
Jesus warned in a parable that when the Master was away and seemed tarry a bit too long that some of the servants reasoned, "'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to abuse the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and an hour he does not know, and will punish him and put him with the unfaithful."
NOTHING will change if we allow the bishops to snowball us into thinking that a few policy changes are going to solve the present crisis in the priesthood of the United States. The truth is such policies have been in place since the late 1980's and one can see that nothing changed because of them.
A real to honest conversion to Jesus Christ is needed!
We need a St. Francis to rise up and to "rebuild the church that is falling into ruin" before our very eyes. We do not need accountants, public relations people, attorneys, psychologists and all of the kings men trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together again, because it is not Humpty Dumpty that we are concerned with here, but the Church--the Body of Christ!
REMORSE at what bishops and clergy may have done is what I expect other clergy to be remarking upon revelation of these allegations. SORROW at the horrible effect of their sins and our own on the BODY OF CHRIST is what I feel. But not remorse and sorrow about how these horrible revelations will effect fund raising.
God will not be mocked. The Holy Spirit is giving evidence that He is working through the Church right now, daily. I do not wish to stifle the Spirit. I embrace this call for reform, it is part of my prayer when I pray the Office, when I pray the Rosary, when I attend Mass daily, when I pray to God throughout the day.
Jesus said not to judge and I take that to heart. But Jesus made no bones about pointing out hypocrisy, especially in the religious figures of his day, when it kept others from knowing the compassion and mercy of God. So the way I see it that means that if a bishop or priest has personally caused me some harm, I wouldn't judge him--in fact I would bless him and pray for him.
But if I see that the actions of the same bishop or priest is causing harm to others--then I need to point that out. Silence about such matters is not Christian it is demonic.
I condemn no one here by my comments. I only point out that if we are not outraged at this continuous arrogance of not being concerned about victims and only concerned about money--then we might as well replace tabernacles in our churches with safes and start worshipping what we really think is God! When that happens, I'll find the remnant and join them.
When Moses tarried alittle too long with God on Mount Horeb the people down below got a little tired of waiting and built their own god. It was a golden calf made from all the donated golden jewelry of the people.
Jesus warned in a parable that when the Master was away and seemed tarry a bit too long that some of the servants reasoned, "'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to abuse the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and an hour he does not know, and will punish him and put him with the unfaithful."
NOTHING will change if we allow the bishops to snowball us into thinking that a few policy changes are going to solve the present crisis in the priesthood of the United States. The truth is such policies have been in place since the late 1980's and one can see that nothing changed because of them.
A real to honest conversion to Jesus Christ is needed!
We need a St. Francis to rise up and to "rebuild the church that is falling into ruin" before our very eyes. We do not need accountants, public relations people, attorneys, psychologists and all of the kings men trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together again, because it is not Humpty Dumpty that we are concerned with here, but the Church--the Body of Christ!
REMORSE at what bishops and clergy may have done is what I expect other clergy to be remarking upon revelation of these allegations. SORROW at the horrible effect of their sins and our own on the BODY OF CHRIST is what I feel. But not remorse and sorrow about how these horrible revelations will effect fund raising.
God will not be mocked. The Holy Spirit is giving evidence that He is working through the Church right now, daily. I do not wish to stifle the Spirit. I embrace this call for reform, it is part of my prayer when I pray the Office, when I pray the Rosary, when I attend Mass daily, when I pray to God throughout the day.
Jesus said not to judge and I take that to heart. But Jesus made no bones about pointing out hypocrisy, especially in the religious figures of his day, when it kept others from knowing the compassion and mercy of God. So the way I see it that means that if a bishop or priest has personally caused me some harm, I wouldn't judge him--in fact I would bless him and pray for him.
But if I see that the actions of the same bishop or priest is causing harm to others--then I need to point that out. Silence about such matters is not Christian it is demonic.
I condemn no one here by my comments. I only point out that if we are not outraged at this continuous arrogance of not being concerned about victims and only concerned about money--then we might as well replace tabernacles in our churches with safes and start worshipping what we really think is God! When that happens, I'll find the remnant and join them.
Among the names of who might be the next archbishop of Milwaukee is:
Auxiliary Bishop Timothy Dolan, 52, of St. Louis, who served five years as secretary to two papal delegates to the United States in Washington, D.C., and later was rector of the Pontifical North American College, an elite seminary in Rome for men selected by their bishops.
I have an appointment with Bishop Dolan in two weeks, so hopefully he won't be named before then. For the complete list check out the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Auxiliary Bishop Timothy Dolan, 52, of St. Louis, who served five years as secretary to two papal delegates to the United States in Washington, D.C., and later was rector of the Pontifical North American College, an elite seminary in Rome for men selected by their bishops.
I have an appointment with Bishop Dolan in two weeks, so hopefully he won't be named before then. For the complete list check out the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 37th step:
(37) Not to be drowsy.
Several years ago, Amy and I attended the Easter Vigil Mass at a monastery. We arrived at the Abbey Church on Holy Saturday night at 9 when it began. The Blessing of the Fire was done, the Easter candle carried in procession, the Exsultet sang, and the readings began. Then they stopped after the fourth one.
There was an announcement. The readings would resume at 4 A.M. We both looked at each other. We were staying at a hotel about a half hour away. It was already 10:30. We rushed out the door and headed back to the hotel and after leaving a wake up call for 3 A.M. at the desk went to sleep.
Like zombies we took are place in the Church again at 3:45 A.M. The monks were all there, psalms were being read. They looked well rested, alert-awake. I was not, I was drowsy.
Monks get up at 4 A.M. every morning. Most of us do not but sleep is essential for all of us. St. Benedict's counsel reflects the rigors of monastic life but applies to us as well. We need sleep in order to give our full attention to life's demands.
There also is the memory of the Apostles and their failure to stay awake at the crucial moments of Our Lord's agony, "And he came and found them sleeping," (Mark 14:37). And of course the warning that he is coming again and how will Our Lord find us, "Watch therefore-for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning-lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Watch," (Mark 13:35).
(37) Not to be drowsy.
Several years ago, Amy and I attended the Easter Vigil Mass at a monastery. We arrived at the Abbey Church on Holy Saturday night at 9 when it began. The Blessing of the Fire was done, the Easter candle carried in procession, the Exsultet sang, and the readings began. Then they stopped after the fourth one.
There was an announcement. The readings would resume at 4 A.M. We both looked at each other. We were staying at a hotel about a half hour away. It was already 10:30. We rushed out the door and headed back to the hotel and after leaving a wake up call for 3 A.M. at the desk went to sleep.
Like zombies we took are place in the Church again at 3:45 A.M. The monks were all there, psalms were being read. They looked well rested, alert-awake. I was not, I was drowsy.
Monks get up at 4 A.M. every morning. Most of us do not but sleep is essential for all of us. St. Benedict's counsel reflects the rigors of monastic life but applies to us as well. We need sleep in order to give our full attention to life's demands.
There also is the memory of the Apostles and their failure to stay awake at the crucial moments of Our Lord's agony, "And he came and found them sleeping," (Mark 14:37). And of course the warning that he is coming again and how will Our Lord find us, "Watch therefore-for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning-lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Watch," (Mark 13:35).
Friday, May 24, 2002
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 36th step:
(36) Not to be a great eater.
Food exists to nourish the body, but I think that no one would be surprised to find that St. Benedict includes this in his counsels. Too often food can become an obsession for those who want to "bury" something that makes life unbearable for them.
Saying a blessing over the food that we are about to eat. Eating slowly and allowing our bodies to be nourished is good. Eating as though nothing can satiate our hunger points to a deeper problem.
I remember that once a friend of mine who is a counselor told me that he had noticed that the most difficult people to counsel that he encountered were those who were overweight. He drew no conclusion as to why this was the case but thought it might have something to do with a displaced focus on food as a remedy to all their ills.
Putting aside genetic dispositions for a second, we should ask ourselves how we approach meals. Are we like an animal who will continue to eat anything put before us with no regard to what we really need?
We should examine the true source of our hungers in life and turn to God. We should be great pray-ers, not great eaters.
(36) Not to be a great eater.
Food exists to nourish the body, but I think that no one would be surprised to find that St. Benedict includes this in his counsels. Too often food can become an obsession for those who want to "bury" something that makes life unbearable for them.
Saying a blessing over the food that we are about to eat. Eating slowly and allowing our bodies to be nourished is good. Eating as though nothing can satiate our hunger points to a deeper problem.
I remember that once a friend of mine who is a counselor told me that he had noticed that the most difficult people to counsel that he encountered were those who were overweight. He drew no conclusion as to why this was the case but thought it might have something to do with a displaced focus on food as a remedy to all their ills.
Putting aside genetic dispositions for a second, we should ask ourselves how we approach meals. Are we like an animal who will continue to eat anything put before us with no regard to what we really need?
We should examine the true source of our hungers in life and turn to God. We should be great pray-ers, not great eaters.
I have never quite "gotten" Modern Art.
So every visit to any major Art Museum usually carries two experiences for me. One where I marvel at the quality and insight of artist (usually this happens when I encounter a piece done before the 1900's). The second experience is usually where I stand back and marvel at "A Slit in a Canvas" or a rough painted brush stroke on a canvas and wonder, how the hell anyone can consider this art.
Some, like Jackson Pollock are responsible for beautiful designs that show some level of transcendance at times, but in other pieces, like those that I witnessed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art about a month ago, one is faced with something that could easily have been painted by a child at a spin art booth, at some parking lot carnival.
Last night Amy and I watched Pollock-the movie. I had long anticipated seeing the film because the local Cinema Art house showed the trailer for the it over a period of six months B.J. (before Joseph) when we were still able to attend movies in a theater. I was not dissapointed.
Pollock the movie brought out something that I have long suspected about modern art--it is not transcendant. It is indeed a mess. But it is the mess, that is our lives without God or at least the mess that occurs when there is not some sense that there is a purpose to life.
Pollock's life with the peaks and valleys probably is mirrored in his art which at times screams with color that hints at hope in the midst of the chaos but at other times is drawn of "drips" of a dark that speaks of a gloomy void.
There is no doubt that Pollock was a "great" artist whose paintings reflect the age in which he lived--unfortunately the age in which we still live. Art imitates life. Whereas art from previous eras reflects "the something" subtly hidden in all of nature--from a piece of fruit, to the shade of a tree, to the glory of a human face; modern art reflects its absence.
Pollock said, at least in the movie, that his art reflected his inner life. I think that is a brilliant insight into modern art. When I look at an empty canvas with a slit in it (Milwaukee Museum of Art) something of the inner life (or rather the lack of inner life) of the artist is revealed (not to mention the curator of the museum). Pollock's alcoholism and inner rage shine forth in his art--but through it all there is a glimmer of "order" that presents itself as an invitation "that it doesn't have to be this way". Therein lies the beauty and the genius.
For more on Pollock visit this site. It is amazing how closely Ed Harris resembles the "real" Pollock. Also visit Amy's blog for an interesting item on the woman who died because of Pollock's alcoholic and suicidal last drive.
So every visit to any major Art Museum usually carries two experiences for me. One where I marvel at the quality and insight of artist (usually this happens when I encounter a piece done before the 1900's). The second experience is usually where I stand back and marvel at "A Slit in a Canvas" or a rough painted brush stroke on a canvas and wonder, how the hell anyone can consider this art.
Some, like Jackson Pollock are responsible for beautiful designs that show some level of transcendance at times, but in other pieces, like those that I witnessed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art about a month ago, one is faced with something that could easily have been painted by a child at a spin art booth, at some parking lot carnival.
Last night Amy and I watched Pollock-the movie. I had long anticipated seeing the film because the local Cinema Art house showed the trailer for the it over a period of six months B.J. (before Joseph) when we were still able to attend movies in a theater. I was not dissapointed.
Pollock the movie brought out something that I have long suspected about modern art--it is not transcendant. It is indeed a mess. But it is the mess, that is our lives without God or at least the mess that occurs when there is not some sense that there is a purpose to life.
Pollock's life with the peaks and valleys probably is mirrored in his art which at times screams with color that hints at hope in the midst of the chaos but at other times is drawn of "drips" of a dark that speaks of a gloomy void.
There is no doubt that Pollock was a "great" artist whose paintings reflect the age in which he lived--unfortunately the age in which we still live. Art imitates life. Whereas art from previous eras reflects "the something" subtly hidden in all of nature--from a piece of fruit, to the shade of a tree, to the glory of a human face; modern art reflects its absence.
Pollock said, at least in the movie, that his art reflected his inner life. I think that is a brilliant insight into modern art. When I look at an empty canvas with a slit in it (Milwaukee Museum of Art) something of the inner life (or rather the lack of inner life) of the artist is revealed (not to mention the curator of the museum). Pollock's alcoholism and inner rage shine forth in his art--but through it all there is a glimmer of "order" that presents itself as an invitation "that it doesn't have to be this way". Therein lies the beauty and the genius.
For more on Pollock visit this site. It is amazing how closely Ed Harris resembles the "real" Pollock. Also visit Amy's blog for an interesting item on the woman who died because of Pollock's alcoholic and suicidal last drive.
From a Reader of this Blog:
Well THIS is an issue that certainly isn't restricted to homosexuals. The unfortunate archbishop Marino of Atlanta who was having an affair with a choir director got into all kinds of financial trouble. The woman was getting money from him; there were LOTS of rumors of people in the chancery doing exactly what you're saying gay priests do to gay bishops, too. The last time I heard anything he's still living in "retirement" somewhere in the southwest.
I sort of remember the "blackmail" angle on that case. Archbishop Marino died several years ago. He was working in a convent somewhere in the New York area. Fr. Benedict Groeschel references the case in his new Our Sunday Visitor book "From Scandal to Hope" that will be available in June.
Well THIS is an issue that certainly isn't restricted to homosexuals. The unfortunate archbishop Marino of Atlanta who was having an affair with a choir director got into all kinds of financial trouble. The woman was getting money from him; there were LOTS of rumors of people in the chancery doing exactly what you're saying gay priests do to gay bishops, too. The last time I heard anything he's still living in "retirement" somewhere in the southwest.
I sort of remember the "blackmail" angle on that case. Archbishop Marino died several years ago. He was working in a convent somewhere in the New York area. Fr. Benedict Groeschel references the case in his new Our Sunday Visitor book "From Scandal to Hope" that will be available in June.
A Priest in Michigan Offers the Following Suggestion:
I am currently organizing what I am tentatively calling a "Prayer Vigil for Holiness" to coincide with the Bishops' meeting in
Dallas June 13-15. I'm trying to spread the word to priests and concerned Catholics across the country, to do something similar. The idea is this: two nights of prayer for our bishops and the Church in this country while the bishops are meeting to discuss the clergy abuse scandal and adopt measures to repair the damage. I am adopting several prayer intentions in general for the Vigil:
1. For the bishops themselves, that in their meeting they will be open to the Holy Spirit’s call to zeal and holiness, and that they will address the scandal and issues it has raised with courage, prudence, and fidelity to Catholic teaching.
2. That our bishops would be emboldened to act courageously as shepherds and speak out prophetically in defense of chastity and purity, in the face of a culture that belittles them.
3. For priests, for their encouragement in this time of difficulty, that theylive as counter-cultural signs of God’s salvation given to us in
Christ. That they might live in ever greater fidelity to the teaching of the Church and their own vows.
4. For the victims of abuse, that they know that Christ suffers with them, and that the Church reaches out to them with compassion and love, and that they might be healed of the injury and pain that they have experienced.
5. That God would call many young men to follow Christ in the priesthood, and that those men will be open to hearing the call and respond generously.
6. For Catholics everywhere, that they will support their priests and bishops when they speak in defense of Catholic teaching, and boldly live out that teaching themselves. That all Catholics would rededicate themselves to strive for the virtues of purity and chastity.
I am currently organizing what I am tentatively calling a "Prayer Vigil for Holiness" to coincide with the Bishops' meeting in
Dallas June 13-15. I'm trying to spread the word to priests and concerned Catholics across the country, to do something similar. The idea is this: two nights of prayer for our bishops and the Church in this country while the bishops are meeting to discuss the clergy abuse scandal and adopt measures to repair the damage. I am adopting several prayer intentions in general for the Vigil:
1. For the bishops themselves, that in their meeting they will be open to the Holy Spirit’s call to zeal and holiness, and that they will address the scandal and issues it has raised with courage, prudence, and fidelity to Catholic teaching.
2. That our bishops would be emboldened to act courageously as shepherds and speak out prophetically in defense of chastity and purity, in the face of a culture that belittles them.
3. For priests, for their encouragement in this time of difficulty, that theylive as counter-cultural signs of God’s salvation given to us in
Christ. That they might live in ever greater fidelity to the teaching of the Church and their own vows.
4. For the victims of abuse, that they know that Christ suffers with them, and that the Church reaches out to them with compassion and love, and that they might be healed of the injury and pain that they have experienced.
5. That God would call many young men to follow Christ in the priesthood, and that those men will be open to hearing the call and respond generously.
6. For Catholics everywhere, that they will support their priests and bishops when they speak in defense of Catholic teaching, and boldly live out that teaching themselves. That all Catholics would rededicate themselves to strive for the virtues of purity and chastity.
More Follow-ups to the Legal Questions (see posts below)
First from an attorney in Ohio who has a great quote in his signature that reads, "Your tour guide to Ohio's finest correctional accomodations! I can design a stay to meet your deeds!":
I'm not a Catholic employment lawyer, but I am a Catholic prosecutor, so I think I can offer a response that is either realistic,
or cynical, depending on how you view it, since similar situations can come up in a criminal context.
Sure, the writer offers an accurate statement. However, that's assuming the relationship ends well. If it does not, how difficult
might it be to imagine the situation turning nasty and alleging precisely the opposite (i.e. sexual harassment)? That is exactly
why that sort of sexual relationship is a risky affair.
Another offering from the Catholic Employment Lawyer:
After I sent my "legal" e-mail to you, I read the full text of Weakland's letter to Marcoux. I was wrong in agreeing with the "stunned" writer -- I felt very sorry for Weakland and came away believing Marcoux is a golddigger or worse.
Since I'd said in my now-posted e-mail that I agreed with everything else the letter writer said, I figured I'd better let you know for the record that I now agree with you. (Also with Catholic Blog for Lovers)
And From the Original Attorney who Disagreed with Me:
I have a law degree and three peer-reviewed publications on federal antitrust law, and spent 15 years doing little else but
civil litigation of all kinds.
The employment law on "hostile work environment" is not as cut and dried as the poster who criticized me suggests it is.
A corporate employee who is a lawyer and who has the power to write employee reviews of paralegals who report to him, and who carries on a clandestine adulterous affair with an employee he reviews, has created a hostile work environment. When his superiors let it go on despite their knowledge, they have ratified a hostile work environment.
Obviously, the case is more clear and easier to win when the lawyer makes advances on an employee who rejects him, and then she has a less than enthusiastic review next time around.
And you know what happens when a claim like that is asserted and investigated (at least in the context of well-run Fortune 500
corporations with lots to lose)? The perp gets fired or reprimanded, and the complainant gets a settlement, at the price of... a non-disclosure agreement. Where have we also seen that?
In regard to this last comment, I suspect the attorney means the church, except the perp in this case neither is "fired or reprimanded" but given a glowing recommendation--there in lies the problem!
First from an attorney in Ohio who has a great quote in his signature that reads, "Your tour guide to Ohio's finest correctional accomodations! I can design a stay to meet your deeds!":
I'm not a Catholic employment lawyer, but I am a Catholic prosecutor, so I think I can offer a response that is either realistic,
or cynical, depending on how you view it, since similar situations can come up in a criminal context.
Sure, the writer offers an accurate statement. However, that's assuming the relationship ends well. If it does not, how difficult
might it be to imagine the situation turning nasty and alleging precisely the opposite (i.e. sexual harassment)? That is exactly
why that sort of sexual relationship is a risky affair.
Another offering from the Catholic Employment Lawyer:
After I sent my "legal" e-mail to you, I read the full text of Weakland's letter to Marcoux. I was wrong in agreeing with the "stunned" writer -- I felt very sorry for Weakland and came away believing Marcoux is a golddigger or worse.
Since I'd said in my now-posted e-mail that I agreed with everything else the letter writer said, I figured I'd better let you know for the record that I now agree with you. (Also with Catholic Blog for Lovers)
And From the Original Attorney who Disagreed with Me:
I have a law degree and three peer-reviewed publications on federal antitrust law, and spent 15 years doing little else but
civil litigation of all kinds.
The employment law on "hostile work environment" is not as cut and dried as the poster who criticized me suggests it is.
A corporate employee who is a lawyer and who has the power to write employee reviews of paralegals who report to him, and who carries on a clandestine adulterous affair with an employee he reviews, has created a hostile work environment. When his superiors let it go on despite their knowledge, they have ratified a hostile work environment.
Obviously, the case is more clear and easier to win when the lawyer makes advances on an employee who rejects him, and then she has a less than enthusiastic review next time around.
And you know what happens when a claim like that is asserted and investigated (at least in the context of well-run Fortune 500
corporations with lots to lose)? The perp gets fired or reprimanded, and the complainant gets a settlement, at the price of... a non-disclosure agreement. Where have we also seen that?
In regard to this last comment, I suspect the attorney means the church, except the perp in this case neither is "fired or reprimanded" but given a glowing recommendation--there in lies the problem!
Thursday, May 23, 2002
From a female Catholic employment lawyer:
Misinterpretation of secular law is probably the least of your worries right now, but your "stunned" reader is wrong about "Wrong #1"(see post below). (Although on everything else, I pretty much agree with him/her.)
The law doesn't prohibit consensual sexual relationships in the workplace, even if between bosses and their employees, as the many lawyers who've "pronged" each other, their paralegals, and their secretaries very well know. Sometimes they even end up getting married.
The law does prohibit sexual harassment (non-consensual sexual behavior in the workplace) and does give rights to the co-workers who missed out on legitimate work-related opportunities because they either were not "offered the chance" to be harassed or because they rejected the unwanted sexual behavior.
However, if the co-workers lost out on these opportunities because they were not parties to a consensual workplace sexual relationship, they have no legal claim whatsoever. The courts call that "favoritism." Poor management, yes, but not illegal.
And you thought Canon Law was technical!
I enjoy your blog.
Misinterpretation of secular law is probably the least of your worries right now, but your "stunned" reader is wrong about "Wrong #1"(see post below). (Although on everything else, I pretty much agree with him/her.)
The law doesn't prohibit consensual sexual relationships in the workplace, even if between bosses and their employees, as the many lawyers who've "pronged" each other, their paralegals, and their secretaries very well know. Sometimes they even end up getting married.
The law does prohibit sexual harassment (non-consensual sexual behavior in the workplace) and does give rights to the co-workers who missed out on legitimate work-related opportunities because they either were not "offered the chance" to be harassed or because they rejected the unwanted sexual behavior.
However, if the co-workers lost out on these opportunities because they were not parties to a consensual workplace sexual relationship, they have no legal claim whatsoever. The courts call that "favoritism." Poor management, yes, but not illegal.
And you thought Canon Law was technical!
I enjoy your blog.
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 35th step:
(35) Not to be given to wine (cf Ti 1:7; 1 Tm 3:3).
Have you ever said and meant, "boy I need a drink"? This is exactly what St. Benedict is counseling us not to be given to…needing a drink. Benedict and of course Jesus both drank wine. It was a part of the daily meals of both. But what Benedict is counseling us against is feeling that we "need" an alcoholic drink to get by. Of course if we follow this counsel than what do we do, when we are having one of "those days"?
Turn to God. The very elements of a day that leaves us stressed out, are the items that we need to let go of in our prayer. Of course we need to turn to God before our day ever gets to the point of "needing a drink" to anesthetize ourselves.
Everything is given for our use in life and has a purpose. Wine has been shown to be a very healthy part of the diet of people who drink in moderation on a regular basis. But like every good, too much is not good.
If God is the Supreme Being, then we will approach the goods of this life with the right attitude. This would apply to all beverages from coffee, colas, and beer.
In regard to wine, which in the Eucharist becomes the Blood of Christ--we should ever desire to quench our thirst from the True Vine.
(35) Not to be given to wine (cf Ti 1:7; 1 Tm 3:3).
Have you ever said and meant, "boy I need a drink"? This is exactly what St. Benedict is counseling us not to be given to…needing a drink. Benedict and of course Jesus both drank wine. It was a part of the daily meals of both. But what Benedict is counseling us against is feeling that we "need" an alcoholic drink to get by. Of course if we follow this counsel than what do we do, when we are having one of "those days"?
Turn to God. The very elements of a day that leaves us stressed out, are the items that we need to let go of in our prayer. Of course we need to turn to God before our day ever gets to the point of "needing a drink" to anesthetize ourselves.
Everything is given for our use in life and has a purpose. Wine has been shown to be a very healthy part of the diet of people who drink in moderation on a regular basis. But like every good, too much is not good.
If God is the Supreme Being, then we will approach the goods of this life with the right attitude. This would apply to all beverages from coffee, colas, and beer.
In regard to wine, which in the Eucharist becomes the Blood of Christ--we should ever desire to quench our thirst from the True Vine.
The stigmatic priest who has been on tour of the US left with a message that has upset some. I notice in the story that he was under the spiritual care of Father Andrew Apostoli while in the States. I'll have to see if Father Andrew can give me any other details that I can pass on to you. From the New York Post:
"I know there are many evil people who want to take a piece of this land away from you. Be very strong," he repeated several times at the outdoor Mass. "Be careful this summer."
"I am offering this Holy Mass for the protection of this land, your buildings, your airports, bridges, tunnels, your air and your sea," Sudac said at the beginning of the three-hour service.
He also added, "God does permit things during certain seasons." He did not elaborate.
Also read Rod Dreher's comments about Sudac in the Corner. A very moving story.
"I know there are many evil people who want to take a piece of this land away from you. Be very strong," he repeated several times at the outdoor Mass. "Be careful this summer."
"I am offering this Holy Mass for the protection of this land, your buildings, your airports, bridges, tunnels, your air and your sea," Sudac said at the beginning of the three-hour service.
He also added, "God does permit things during certain seasons." He did not elaborate.
Also read Rod Dreher's comments about Sudac in the Corner. A very moving story.
Finally, a day where the temperature will be over 70 degrees--dare we hope that Summer is here.
From the Lighter Side:
A couple goes on vacation to a fishing resort in northern Minnesota.
The husband likes to fish at the crack of dawn. The wife likes to read. One morning the husband returns after several hours of fishing and decides to take a short nap. Although she isn't familiar with the lake, the wife decides to take the boat.
She motors out a short distance, anchors, and continues to read her book. Along comes the game warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside her and says, "Good morning Ma'am. What are you doing?"
"Reading my book," she replies, thinking "isn't that obvious?"
"You're in a restricted fishing area," he informs her.
But officer, I'm not fishing. Can't you see that?"
"Yes, but you have all the equipment. I'll have to take you in and write you up."
"If you do that, I'll have to charge you with rape," says the woman.
"But I haven't even touched you," says the game warden. "That's true, but you do have all the equipment."
MORAL: Never argue with a woman who reads. It's likely she can also think.
From the Lighter Side:
A couple goes on vacation to a fishing resort in northern Minnesota.
The husband likes to fish at the crack of dawn. The wife likes to read. One morning the husband returns after several hours of fishing and decides to take a short nap. Although she isn't familiar with the lake, the wife decides to take the boat.
She motors out a short distance, anchors, and continues to read her book. Along comes the game warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside her and says, "Good morning Ma'am. What are you doing?"
"Reading my book," she replies, thinking "isn't that obvious?"
"You're in a restricted fishing area," he informs her.
But officer, I'm not fishing. Can't you see that?"
"Yes, but you have all the equipment. I'll have to take you in and write you up."
"If you do that, I'll have to charge you with rape," says the woman.
"But I haven't even touched you," says the game warden. "That's true, but you do have all the equipment."
MORAL: Never argue with a woman who reads. It's likely she can also think.
Wednesday, May 22, 2002
New Search Engine--Kartoo
Different and rather entertaining. It uses as many search engines as you wish. The results are displayed in a unique way. Give it a try.
Different and rather entertaining. It uses as many search engines as you wish. The results are displayed in a unique way. Give it a try.
From Musings of a Catholic Seminarian:
I am now reading Goodbye Good Men. It is really making waves in the seminary because at last we feel the story is getting out. I can't comment as to whether each individual story is true but I can tell you that the general practices do happen in ways very similar to how they are described. I have either had similar situations happen to me personally or have seen it happen to others.
I don't attend any of the seminaries mentioned in the parts I have read, but I know their reputations amongst seminarians well. My only regret is that I know this will scandalize a lot of lay faithful. Two key points I have found helpful in dealing with scandalous situations in the Church are:
1)Christ promised not to let the gates of hell prevail against the Church. - In short we either believe him or we don't. I do. We will get through scandals and come out stronger and hopefully purified. Matt 16:18 and Sirach 2:1-11
2) Ex Opere Operato
I am now reading Goodbye Good Men. It is really making waves in the seminary because at last we feel the story is getting out. I can't comment as to whether each individual story is true but I can tell you that the general practices do happen in ways very similar to how they are described. I have either had similar situations happen to me personally or have seen it happen to others.
I don't attend any of the seminaries mentioned in the parts I have read, but I know their reputations amongst seminarians well. My only regret is that I know this will scandalize a lot of lay faithful. Two key points I have found helpful in dealing with scandalous situations in the Church are:
1)Christ promised not to let the gates of hell prevail against the Church. - In short we either believe him or we don't. I do. We will get through scandals and come out stronger and hopefully purified. Matt 16:18 and Sirach 2:1-11
2) Ex Opere Operato
From the lighter side:
While visiting England, Al Gore is invited to tea with the Queen. He asks her what her leadership philosophy is. She says that it is to surround herself with intelligent people.
He asks how she knows if they're intelligent.
"I do so by asking them the right questions," says the Queen. "Allow me to demonstrate." She phones Tony Blair and says, "Mr. Prime Minister. Please answer this question: "Your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or sister. Who is it?"
Tony Blair responds, "It's me, ma'am."
"Correct. Thank you and goodbye, sir," says the Queen. She hangs up and says, "Did you get that, Mr. Gore?"
"Yes ma'am. Thanks a lot. I'll definitely be using that!"
Upon returning home, he decides he'd better put some of his old friends to the test. He calls Bill Clinton and says, "Hi, Bill, I wonder if you can answer a question for me."
"Why, of course, Al. What's on your mind?"
"Well, your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or your sister. Who is it?" Clinton hems and haws and finally asks, "Can I think about it and get back to you?"
Gore agrees, and Clinton hangs up. Clinton immediately calls members of his old staff, and they puzzle over the question for several hours, but nobody can come up with an answer. Finally, in desperation, Clinton calls Colin Powell at the State Department and explains his problem. "Now look here, your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or your sister. Who is it?"
Powell answers immediately, "It's me, of course, you idiot." Much relieved, Clinton rushes back to call Gore and exclaims, "I know the answer! I know who it is! It's Colin Powell!"
And Gore replies in disgust, "Wrong, it's Tony Blair."
While visiting England, Al Gore is invited to tea with the Queen. He asks her what her leadership philosophy is. She says that it is to surround herself with intelligent people.
He asks how she knows if they're intelligent.
"I do so by asking them the right questions," says the Queen. "Allow me to demonstrate." She phones Tony Blair and says, "Mr. Prime Minister. Please answer this question: "Your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or sister. Who is it?"
Tony Blair responds, "It's me, ma'am."
"Correct. Thank you and goodbye, sir," says the Queen. She hangs up and says, "Did you get that, Mr. Gore?"
"Yes ma'am. Thanks a lot. I'll definitely be using that!"
Upon returning home, he decides he'd better put some of his old friends to the test. He calls Bill Clinton and says, "Hi, Bill, I wonder if you can answer a question for me."
"Why, of course, Al. What's on your mind?"
"Well, your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or your sister. Who is it?" Clinton hems and haws and finally asks, "Can I think about it and get back to you?"
Gore agrees, and Clinton hangs up. Clinton immediately calls members of his old staff, and they puzzle over the question for several hours, but nobody can come up with an answer. Finally, in desperation, Clinton calls Colin Powell at the State Department and explains his problem. "Now look here, your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or your sister. Who is it?"
Powell answers immediately, "It's me, of course, you idiot." Much relieved, Clinton rushes back to call Gore and exclaims, "I know the answer! I know who it is! It's Colin Powell!"
And Gore replies in disgust, "Wrong, it's Tony Blair."
A brush with death.
I'm driving to work this morning when all of a sudden a car crosses the yellow line heading straight for me. Then the driver, a woman, lowers her gigantic coffee cup (must have held at least 40 ounces) and swerves back into her lane. Why do people need GIGANTIC drinking cups--are we the biggest gluttons ever in the history of the world?
I'm driving to work this morning when all of a sudden a car crosses the yellow line heading straight for me. Then the driver, a woman, lowers her gigantic coffee cup (must have held at least 40 ounces) and swerves back into her lane. Why do people need GIGANTIC drinking cups--are we the biggest gluttons ever in the history of the world?
Father Casey of St. Dominic's -- combines Wings and prayer, from the Detroit Free Press:
Father Pat Casey began seeing signs in the middle of Mass on Saturday. Nobody else saw them. They bore messages he felt a need to share with his parishioners. Urgent messages.
And so, in the middle of Mass, he intoned: "Red Wings 3, Avalanche 2."
And then, "Red Wings 4, Avalanche 2."
And then the Red Wings won Game 1.
And the crowd was pleased.
And Father Casey, wearing a winged wheel on his vestment, was pleased as well.
I'm a big sports fan of a number of teams, but this is inexcusable in my mind. It makes a joke of the liturgy which is for all people, not just fans of the Red Wings.
Father Pat Casey began seeing signs in the middle of Mass on Saturday. Nobody else saw them. They bore messages he felt a need to share with his parishioners. Urgent messages.
And so, in the middle of Mass, he intoned: "Red Wings 3, Avalanche 2."
And then, "Red Wings 4, Avalanche 2."
And then the Red Wings won Game 1.
And the crowd was pleased.
And Father Casey, wearing a winged wheel on his vestment, was pleased as well.
I'm a big sports fan of a number of teams, but this is inexcusable in my mind. It makes a joke of the liturgy which is for all people, not just fans of the Red Wings.
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 34th step:
(34) Not to be proud...
I do not think that it is a mistake that pride is mentioned right after persecution. There are tales that at the times in the early Church, when persecution was waged against the church, that some Christians actively sought to be persecuted and martyred. This was against Our Lord's command: "When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next," (Matthew 10:23), and here St. Benedict cautions us not to be proud.
This is a fundamental principle to the Spiritual Life. You can not be proud. Once you start to gloat over the spiritual gifts that you are blessed with, or how well you are doing in prayer, or how much better you are, or how high you are up on the spiritual ladder---you are right back at the bottom of the pit. Your ego has won again and God is very distant from you.
There is a prayer to pray when you feel "proud " of your spiritual accomplishments. Not surprisingly it comes from God Himself in the person of Jesus. Jesus tells his disciples, "when you have done all that is commanded you, say, `We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty,'" (Matthew 17:10).
We must avoid pride, because it is a great obstacle to be open to our great and unrelenting need for God. Pride at its root seeks to cut God out of the picture. It goes without saying then that pride is the greatest enemy to our communion with God, but it also needs to be said that it is a great temptation when we find our lives becoming so much better because of our communion with Him.
(34) Not to be proud...
I do not think that it is a mistake that pride is mentioned right after persecution. There are tales that at the times in the early Church, when persecution was waged against the church, that some Christians actively sought to be persecuted and martyred. This was against Our Lord's command: "When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next," (Matthew 10:23), and here St. Benedict cautions us not to be proud.
This is a fundamental principle to the Spiritual Life. You can not be proud. Once you start to gloat over the spiritual gifts that you are blessed with, or how well you are doing in prayer, or how much better you are, or how high you are up on the spiritual ladder---you are right back at the bottom of the pit. Your ego has won again and God is very distant from you.
There is a prayer to pray when you feel "proud " of your spiritual accomplishments. Not surprisingly it comes from God Himself in the person of Jesus. Jesus tells his disciples, "when you have done all that is commanded you, say, `We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty,'" (Matthew 17:10).
We must avoid pride, because it is a great obstacle to be open to our great and unrelenting need for God. Pride at its root seeks to cut God out of the picture. It goes without saying then that pride is the greatest enemy to our communion with God, but it also needs to be said that it is a great temptation when we find our lives becoming so much better because of our communion with Him.
Tuesday, May 21, 2002
A Great Idea Inspired by a Reader of this Blog:
In a prior blog titled something like "How Not to Lose Your Faith", you mentioned the Sheen - Spellman rivalry. I was totally unaware of this, although I had listened (not read) alot of Archbishop Sheen. So I go to the website for keep the faith and see the prayer for the Beatification of Abp. Sheen. I say that prayer, and throw in one asking Abp. Sheen to ask God to help "accelerate" the renewal / clean-up of the Church. Within a week, it looks like a modern-day Spellman is going to get a big opportunity to repent. To be honest with you, As a doubting-Thomas, this freaks me out a little.
Here is the prayer for the Beatification for Archbishop Sheen, I hope that you will recite it and ask the Archbishop to intercede for the Roman Catholic Church in the United States:
Prayer to Obtain a Favor Through the Intercession of Archbishop Sheen
(For Private Use Only)
Eternal Father, You alone grant us every blessing in Heaven and on earth, through the redemptive mission of Your Divine Son, Jesus Christ, by the working of the Holy Spirit. In every age, You raise up men and women outstanding in holiness, whose faithful service has contributed significantly to the mission of the Church. In this very way, You used the life and work of Your servant, Archbishop Fulton John Sheen. He inspired great numbers of Catholics and other people of good will to grow in virtue and lead lives pleasing to You and of service to their brothers and sisters in need. He encouraged them to embrace the 'Gospel of Life' by recognizing that in all its circumstances, 'Life is worth living.'
If it be according to Your Will, Eternal Father, glorify Your servant, Archbishop Fulton John Sheen, by granting the favor I now request through his prayerful intercession (mention your request here). I make this prayer confidently in Jesus' Name, through the merits of His Passion, Death and Resurrection.
Amen.
In a prior blog titled something like "How Not to Lose Your Faith", you mentioned the Sheen - Spellman rivalry. I was totally unaware of this, although I had listened (not read) alot of Archbishop Sheen. So I go to the website for keep the faith and see the prayer for the Beatification of Abp. Sheen. I say that prayer, and throw in one asking Abp. Sheen to ask God to help "accelerate" the renewal / clean-up of the Church. Within a week, it looks like a modern-day Spellman is going to get a big opportunity to repent. To be honest with you, As a doubting-Thomas, this freaks me out a little.
Here is the prayer for the Beatification for Archbishop Sheen, I hope that you will recite it and ask the Archbishop to intercede for the Roman Catholic Church in the United States:
Prayer to Obtain a Favor Through the Intercession of Archbishop Sheen
(For Private Use Only)
Eternal Father, You alone grant us every blessing in Heaven and on earth, through the redemptive mission of Your Divine Son, Jesus Christ, by the working of the Holy Spirit. In every age, You raise up men and women outstanding in holiness, whose faithful service has contributed significantly to the mission of the Church. In this very way, You used the life and work of Your servant, Archbishop Fulton John Sheen. He inspired great numbers of Catholics and other people of good will to grow in virtue and lead lives pleasing to You and of service to their brothers and sisters in need. He encouraged them to embrace the 'Gospel of Life' by recognizing that in all its circumstances, 'Life is worth living.'
If it be according to Your Will, Eternal Father, glorify Your servant, Archbishop Fulton John Sheen, by granting the favor I now request through his prayerful intercession (mention your request here). I make this prayer confidently in Jesus' Name, through the merits of His Passion, Death and Resurrection.
Amen.
Interesting interview with Cardinal McCarrick in USA TODAY today. Here are a few samples:
Q: Some of your brother bishops and cardinals say they don't think homosexuals can be trusted in the priesthood. Others say you can't treat an entire class of people as if they're incapable of following the church's teachings. What is your view?
A: You want someone who can live a chaste life; that is key for me. If somebody who would like to go into the seminary says, "All my life, I've tried to be chaste, I'm a heterosexual, and I have tried to be celibate, and I have proven that I can be," I think you say "Fine." If someone says to you, "All my life I've tried to be chaste, I have a homosexual orientation, but I've always tried to be chaste," I think you do that one case by case. Probably beginning in this next school year, the question of admission to seminaries will be discussed. It might be that the overwhelming weight of opinion will say that homosexuals should not be ever admitted to seminary. I'm not there yet. But if that's what they tell me to do, then that's what we'll do. Certainly, I'm there if we say anyone who has been active in a gay life should not be admitted.
And:
Q: Has the way you prepare yourself spiritually to do your job changed?
A: I'm praying more. We haven't been focused on the Lord; I'm trying to do that. As I see the bishops losing credibility in many areas, I want to try to be as good a bishop as I can be. I've got a long way to go.
Q: Some of your brother bishops and cardinals say they don't think homosexuals can be trusted in the priesthood. Others say you can't treat an entire class of people as if they're incapable of following the church's teachings. What is your view?
A: You want someone who can live a chaste life; that is key for me. If somebody who would like to go into the seminary says, "All my life, I've tried to be chaste, I'm a heterosexual, and I have tried to be celibate, and I have proven that I can be," I think you say "Fine." If someone says to you, "All my life I've tried to be chaste, I have a homosexual orientation, but I've always tried to be chaste," I think you do that one case by case. Probably beginning in this next school year, the question of admission to seminaries will be discussed. It might be that the overwhelming weight of opinion will say that homosexuals should not be ever admitted to seminary. I'm not there yet. But if that's what they tell me to do, then that's what we'll do. Certainly, I'm there if we say anyone who has been active in a gay life should not be admitted.
And:
Q: Has the way you prepare yourself spiritually to do your job changed?
A: I'm praying more. We haven't been focused on the Lord; I'm trying to do that. As I see the bishops losing credibility in many areas, I want to try to be as good a bishop as I can be. I've got a long way to go.
From the Office of Readings today:
It seems to me that the birth referred to here is our salvation, as is suggested by the prophet Isaiah. This reaches its full term and is not stillborn when, having been conceived by the fear of God, the soul’s own birth pangs bring it to the light of day. We are in a sense our own parents, and we give birth to ourselves by our own free choice of what is good. Such a choice becomes possible for us when we have received God into ourselves and have become children of God, children of the Most High. On the other hand, if what the Apostle calls the form of Christ has not been produced in us, we abort ourselves. The man of God must reach maturity.
-St Gregory of Nyssa-
It seems to me that the birth referred to here is our salvation, as is suggested by the prophet Isaiah. This reaches its full term and is not stillborn when, having been conceived by the fear of God, the soul’s own birth pangs bring it to the light of day. We are in a sense our own parents, and we give birth to ourselves by our own free choice of what is good. Such a choice becomes possible for us when we have received God into ourselves and have become children of God, children of the Most High. On the other hand, if what the Apostle calls the form of Christ has not been produced in us, we abort ourselves. The man of God must reach maturity.
-St Gregory of Nyssa-
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 33th step:
(33) To bear persecution for justice sake (cf Mt 5:10).
St. Benedict references one of the Beatitudes for this counsel, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," (Matthew 5:10). If we are just and right in what people choose to persecute us for, then we should bear it patiently.
Many people suffer persecution for doing what is right and unfortunately often at the hands of religious people. Our Lord told his disciples that, "indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God," (John 16:2). One have only to open the papers and to read of crimes against human beings committed by people of every religious belief out of conviction that they are doing the will of God.
Jesus promised his followers, " Remember the word that I said to you, `A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you," (John 15:20). Therefore, again in imitation of Our Lord we should bear persecution when we are not at fault with patience.
One of the greatest examples of this patient endurance of persecution in our own day is the nonviolent civil rights movement of the late 1950's and 1960's. There are memorials and historical markers where horrible persecutions took place in various cities through the south. The test of time has proved the righteousness of the cause, but those who stood up suffered horribly at the time. They took their example from the Scriptures.
In more recent times those who have bravely protested nonviolently in front of abortion clinics, silently praying the rosary, are great examples of the just who are persecuted for righteousness sake!
We should do the same. When we stand up for what is right and just we should not expect accolades; in fact we should be weary of the applause. What is right is seldom popular; people seem to slip into a collective hypnosis from time to time that blinds them from recognizing the truth. But God is the truth and living a lie can only distance us from Him.
(33) To bear persecution for justice sake (cf Mt 5:10).
St. Benedict references one of the Beatitudes for this counsel, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," (Matthew 5:10). If we are just and right in what people choose to persecute us for, then we should bear it patiently.
Many people suffer persecution for doing what is right and unfortunately often at the hands of religious people. Our Lord told his disciples that, "indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God," (John 16:2). One have only to open the papers and to read of crimes against human beings committed by people of every religious belief out of conviction that they are doing the will of God.
Jesus promised his followers, " Remember the word that I said to you, `A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you," (John 15:20). Therefore, again in imitation of Our Lord we should bear persecution when we are not at fault with patience.
One of the greatest examples of this patient endurance of persecution in our own day is the nonviolent civil rights movement of the late 1950's and 1960's. There are memorials and historical markers where horrible persecutions took place in various cities through the south. The test of time has proved the righteousness of the cause, but those who stood up suffered horribly at the time. They took their example from the Scriptures.
In more recent times those who have bravely protested nonviolently in front of abortion clinics, silently praying the rosary, are great examples of the just who are persecuted for righteousness sake!
We should do the same. When we stand up for what is right and just we should not expect accolades; in fact we should be weary of the applause. What is right is seldom popular; people seem to slip into a collective hypnosis from time to time that blinds them from recognizing the truth. But God is the truth and living a lie can only distance us from Him.
A reader of this blog sent along this link to a BINGO related story:
Priest, helper cleared in bingo theft
And the following comments:
THE WEBPAGE FOR THE READING, PA EAGLE THIS MORNING STATES THAT "MOST CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST PRIEST IN BINGO-RIGGING CASE"
I WORKED BINGO FOR 10 YEARS AND LET ME TELL YOU, ASIDE FROM THE SITAUATION AND THE MANORED EPISCOPACY, GAMBLING IN OUR PARISHES CRIES TO HEAVEN FOR
JUSTICE. WHY, IF OUR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS ARE SO SUPERIOR TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS, DOES THE CHURCH NEED TO PROSTITUTE ITSELF TO MAKE MONEY FROM NONCATHOLICS?
IF YOU'VE NEVER BEEN TO YOUR CHURCH "SOCIAL", YOU OUGHT TO SEE IT AND ASK YOURSELF "WHY?"
I REMEMBER A NIGHT 18 YEARS AGO WHEN A YOUNG PRIEST CAME TO GET THE MONEY BOX AND WAS MOBBED BY ANGRY PLAYERS BECAUSE THE AIR CONDITIONER DIDN'T WORK. ONE
OF THEM SCREAMED AT HIM "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" I DON'T SEE HIM IN THE ARCHDIOCESAN DIRECTORY, SO I ASSUME HE QUIT........
Priest, helper cleared in bingo theft
And the following comments:
THE WEBPAGE FOR THE READING, PA EAGLE THIS MORNING STATES THAT "MOST CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST PRIEST IN BINGO-RIGGING CASE"
I WORKED BINGO FOR 10 YEARS AND LET ME TELL YOU, ASIDE FROM THE SITAUATION AND THE MANORED EPISCOPACY, GAMBLING IN OUR PARISHES CRIES TO HEAVEN FOR
JUSTICE. WHY, IF OUR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS ARE SO SUPERIOR TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS, DOES THE CHURCH NEED TO PROSTITUTE ITSELF TO MAKE MONEY FROM NONCATHOLICS?
IF YOU'VE NEVER BEEN TO YOUR CHURCH "SOCIAL", YOU OUGHT TO SEE IT AND ASK YOURSELF "WHY?"
I REMEMBER A NIGHT 18 YEARS AGO WHEN A YOUNG PRIEST CAME TO GET THE MONEY BOX AND WAS MOBBED BY ANGRY PLAYERS BECAUSE THE AIR CONDITIONER DIDN'T WORK. ONE
OF THEM SCREAMED AT HIM "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" I DON'T SEE HIM IN THE ARCHDIOCESAN DIRECTORY, SO I ASSUME HE QUIT........
Monday, May 20, 2002
From a reader of this blog:
I appreciate your blog and all the other authentic catholic blogs for informing the laity. An informed laity will insist on change, and prayer for the laity to have the courage to speak up would be good too.
My friends and I are making copies of the Open Letter to the Bishops from the Catholic World News site to send to all the Bishops in this country along with a letter saying who we are and why we are concerned.
A list of the Bishops can be found on their site, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops,, then clic on either bishops or dioceses, We hope that if they are flooded with mail before their June meeting it will help.
Here are some points made in the Open Letter;
First, this is crisis is not the creation of the secular media:
The severity of this crisis should not be underestimated. This scandal has not been created by the mass media; secular reporters have merely exposed the unhappy truth, uncovering a frightening pattern of abuse and corruption within the Church.
Secondly, it is a problem of widespread acceptance of active homsexual activity among clergy:
In the vast majority of cases, the priests' victims have been adolescent boys or young men. Emerging evidence makes it impossible to ignore the widespread toleration of homosexual activity among American priests.
This widespread acceptance of homosexual activity is a grave problem in itself because it causes disdain for Catholic doctrine and fosters a climate of hypocrisy among those who are the official representatives of Church teaching.
We believe that the current scandal is a direct consequence of a failure to uphold and promote the teachings of the Catholic Church regarding sexual morality. When bishops do not accept, understand, and boldly proclaim the necessary link between sexual intimacy and procreation, they cannot expect the faithful of their dioceses to uphold that magisterial teaching.
Third, a new "policy" is not the solution:
The problem that you must now confront cannot be solved simply by adopting new procedures and guidelines for the handling of troubled priests. Still less can it be solved by setting "boundaries" for the clerical behavior, as some commentators have suggested. Guidelines and procedures are useless if they are not enforced; "boundaries" will soon be crossed by clerics who lack the habits of chastity and self-discipline.
The resolution of this crisis will begin, we respectfully suggest, when you, our bishops, firmly insist that the teachings of the Church must be upheld, and the discipline of the Church must be enforced, in the seminaries, parishes, and schools under your authority.
Finally, a plan of action is laid out:
1. NO ONE SHOULD ASSUME ANY POSITION OF AUTHORITY IN THE CHURCH (INCLUDING ADMISSION TO HOLY ORDERS OR RELIGIOUS VOWS, APPOINTMENT AS RELIGIOUS SUPERIOR OR DIRECTOR OF FORMATION, OR EMPLOYMENT IN ANY DECISION-MAKING POSITION WITHIN A DIOCESAN CHANCERY) WHO DOES NOT WILLINGLY ACCEPT AND PUBLICLY DEFEND ALL THE TEACHINGS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
2. EVERYONE WHO UNDERTAKES A POSITION OF AUTHORITY IN THE CHURCH MUST RESOLVE TO ENFORCE THE TEACHING AND DISCIPLINE OF THE CHURCH, AND DEMAND THE SAME RESOLVE FROM THOSE WHO ARE UNDER HIS AUTHORITY.
3. CHURCH LEADERS MUST MAKE A FIRM COMMITMENT TO BE DILIGENT IN INVESTIGATING ANY CREDIBLE EVIDENCE OF DISSENT FROM DEFINED DOCTRINE, OR VIOLATION OF MORAL NORMS, WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THEIR AUTHORITY.
I think the letter is strong and makes very good points, until you get to the conclusion where it seems to state the obvious. Perhaps some stronger sense of "enforcing" such a plan should be part of it, as well as cleaning house.
I appreciate your blog and all the other authentic catholic blogs for informing the laity. An informed laity will insist on change, and prayer for the laity to have the courage to speak up would be good too.
My friends and I are making copies of the Open Letter to the Bishops from the Catholic World News site to send to all the Bishops in this country along with a letter saying who we are and why we are concerned.
A list of the Bishops can be found on their site, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops,, then clic on either bishops or dioceses, We hope that if they are flooded with mail before their June meeting it will help.
Here are some points made in the Open Letter;
First, this is crisis is not the creation of the secular media:
The severity of this crisis should not be underestimated. This scandal has not been created by the mass media; secular reporters have merely exposed the unhappy truth, uncovering a frightening pattern of abuse and corruption within the Church.
Secondly, it is a problem of widespread acceptance of active homsexual activity among clergy:
In the vast majority of cases, the priests' victims have been adolescent boys or young men. Emerging evidence makes it impossible to ignore the widespread toleration of homosexual activity among American priests.
This widespread acceptance of homosexual activity is a grave problem in itself because it causes disdain for Catholic doctrine and fosters a climate of hypocrisy among those who are the official representatives of Church teaching.
We believe that the current scandal is a direct consequence of a failure to uphold and promote the teachings of the Catholic Church regarding sexual morality. When bishops do not accept, understand, and boldly proclaim the necessary link between sexual intimacy and procreation, they cannot expect the faithful of their dioceses to uphold that magisterial teaching.
Third, a new "policy" is not the solution:
The problem that you must now confront cannot be solved simply by adopting new procedures and guidelines for the handling of troubled priests. Still less can it be solved by setting "boundaries" for the clerical behavior, as some commentators have suggested. Guidelines and procedures are useless if they are not enforced; "boundaries" will soon be crossed by clerics who lack the habits of chastity and self-discipline.
The resolution of this crisis will begin, we respectfully suggest, when you, our bishops, firmly insist that the teachings of the Church must be upheld, and the discipline of the Church must be enforced, in the seminaries, parishes, and schools under your authority.
Finally, a plan of action is laid out:
1. NO ONE SHOULD ASSUME ANY POSITION OF AUTHORITY IN THE CHURCH (INCLUDING ADMISSION TO HOLY ORDERS OR RELIGIOUS VOWS, APPOINTMENT AS RELIGIOUS SUPERIOR OR DIRECTOR OF FORMATION, OR EMPLOYMENT IN ANY DECISION-MAKING POSITION WITHIN A DIOCESAN CHANCERY) WHO DOES NOT WILLINGLY ACCEPT AND PUBLICLY DEFEND ALL THE TEACHINGS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
2. EVERYONE WHO UNDERTAKES A POSITION OF AUTHORITY IN THE CHURCH MUST RESOLVE TO ENFORCE THE TEACHING AND DISCIPLINE OF THE CHURCH, AND DEMAND THE SAME RESOLVE FROM THOSE WHO ARE UNDER HIS AUTHORITY.
3. CHURCH LEADERS MUST MAKE A FIRM COMMITMENT TO BE DILIGENT IN INVESTIGATING ANY CREDIBLE EVIDENCE OF DISSENT FROM DEFINED DOCTRINE, OR VIOLATION OF MORAL NORMS, WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THEIR AUTHORITY.
I think the letter is strong and makes very good points, until you get to the conclusion where it seems to state the obvious. Perhaps some stronger sense of "enforcing" such a plan should be part of it, as well as cleaning house.
From Snopes.com, someone has way too much time on their hands:
A properly folded U.S. $20 bill reveals images of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
A properly folded U.S. $20 bill reveals images of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
E-Mail the Pope
Remember to write formally. He should be addressed as "Your Holiness." Humbly present yourself to him.
Here is is: Pope John Paul II's Email
Remember to write formally. He should be addressed as "Your Holiness." Humbly present yourself to him.
Here is is: Pope John Paul II's Email
Mallon's Media Watch has an interesting run down of who will be speaking at various "Catholic" colleges and universities for commencements. One wonders what the Bishops are doing on any front these days (I say this mindful that there are good bishops who are doing plenty--and deserve our support).
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 32th step:
(32) Not to curse them that curse us, but rather to bless them.
There is an image that comes to mind when I read this counsel. It is the image of a bishop (no one in particular) walking up the aisle in procession at the beginning of Mass or at the conclusion of Mass, turning from side to side and blessing all those in attendance. What he is doing at that moment (no doubt every bishop has more than their share of people who are cursing them), is what we are all to do--at every moment of everyday.
I'm not real good at this, as anyone who knows me well will tell you, I'm more apt to criticize those who curse me, not bless them. So I certainly need God's help in this regard.
One might wonder what benefit blessing those who curse us could possibly have. Here is a hint from Scripture. In the Second Book of Samuel, when David had been overthrown by his son Absalom and is fleeing the city of Jerusalem, a man comes out and curses him. Shimei, throwing stones and "saying as he cursed: 'Away, away, you murderous and wicked man! (2 Sam. 16:7). In response to this outrage one of David's guards says to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, please, and lop of his head," (2 Sam. 16:9)
David's response to this is interesting and not at all what one would expect (if you are an avid reader of the Old Testament that is). Here is David's response, "Suppose the LORD has told him to curse David; who then dare to say 'Why are you doing this?' (2 Sam. 16:10). So they went on and Shimei "kept abreast of them on the hillside, all the while cursing and throwing stones and dirt as he went," (2 Sam.16:13).
"Perhaps the LORD is telling him to curse me." An interesting thought, and again one that can only lead to a deeper relationship with God. To at least admit to seeing God's hand in all things.
Most of the curses that I receive are from those who don't like the way I drive (and they are usually right to offer a gesture of displeasure) or those who don't like what I write (again they are often right--things are seldom one way or another but grayer). May I bless them all.
A blessing is only possible when we see ourselves as blessed by God, then we share the abundance of what God has given us with those who wish us evil. We acknowledge God as the final judge and we are selves are not to quick to judge (as David wasn't in the above). Interestingly, when David is restored to the throne in Israel, Shimei (the cursing stone thrower) is brought before the king and does have his head lopped off.
(32) Not to curse them that curse us, but rather to bless them.
There is an image that comes to mind when I read this counsel. It is the image of a bishop (no one in particular) walking up the aisle in procession at the beginning of Mass or at the conclusion of Mass, turning from side to side and blessing all those in attendance. What he is doing at that moment (no doubt every bishop has more than their share of people who are cursing them), is what we are all to do--at every moment of everyday.
I'm not real good at this, as anyone who knows me well will tell you, I'm more apt to criticize those who curse me, not bless them. So I certainly need God's help in this regard.
One might wonder what benefit blessing those who curse us could possibly have. Here is a hint from Scripture. In the Second Book of Samuel, when David had been overthrown by his son Absalom and is fleeing the city of Jerusalem, a man comes out and curses him. Shimei, throwing stones and "saying as he cursed: 'Away, away, you murderous and wicked man! (2 Sam. 16:7). In response to this outrage one of David's guards says to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, please, and lop of his head," (2 Sam. 16:9)
David's response to this is interesting and not at all what one would expect (if you are an avid reader of the Old Testament that is). Here is David's response, "Suppose the LORD has told him to curse David; who then dare to say 'Why are you doing this?' (2 Sam. 16:10). So they went on and Shimei "kept abreast of them on the hillside, all the while cursing and throwing stones and dirt as he went," (2 Sam.16:13).
"Perhaps the LORD is telling him to curse me." An interesting thought, and again one that can only lead to a deeper relationship with God. To at least admit to seeing God's hand in all things.
Most of the curses that I receive are from those who don't like the way I drive (and they are usually right to offer a gesture of displeasure) or those who don't like what I write (again they are often right--things are seldom one way or another but grayer). May I bless them all.
A blessing is only possible when we see ourselves as blessed by God, then we share the abundance of what God has given us with those who wish us evil. We acknowledge God as the final judge and we are selves are not to quick to judge (as David wasn't in the above). Interestingly, when David is restored to the throne in Israel, Shimei (the cursing stone thrower) is brought before the king and does have his head lopped off.
Sunday, May 19, 2002
Check out Steve Mattson's blog at In Formation. Steve is a currently a seminarian and can tell you what it's like being there right now (well not right now, since they are out for the summer).
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 31th step:
(31) To love one's enemies (cf Mt 5:44; Lk 6:27).
Of course, St. Benedict is merely giving us the teaching of the Gospel here, but it helps to have it isolated for our reflection and to internalize the meaning of loving the very ones who seek to harm us or those who we feel are out to get us.
I have heard this same injunction given by people advocating the practice of Eastern religions or self-help gurus to adoring listeners who would scowl if they were hearing it from a Christian pulpit. They say our "enemies" are our best teachers.
Either way whether we should just love our enemies because they are our brothers and sisters or if we should love them because they can aid us on our endless egotistic search to really "know" ourselves--there seems to be universal wisdom (as everything that Christ taught proves in the end to be) to the maxim.
When we view people as enemies we drink in their hatred, their warped vision and sometimes we merely inflate our own warped vision on people that would be shocked to find out that they were even considered enemies by us.
St. Therese of the Child Jesus has something to teach us here. There was a particular sister in her community who got on her nerves. She went out of her way to be even nicer to this sister, so that the sister after Therese death was convinced that she was one of Therese's most loved companions. In the end she really was--after all what is love if it isn't putting to death our false self that is threatened and insecure?
(31) To love one's enemies (cf Mt 5:44; Lk 6:27).
Of course, St. Benedict is merely giving us the teaching of the Gospel here, but it helps to have it isolated for our reflection and to internalize the meaning of loving the very ones who seek to harm us or those who we feel are out to get us.
I have heard this same injunction given by people advocating the practice of Eastern religions or self-help gurus to adoring listeners who would scowl if they were hearing it from a Christian pulpit. They say our "enemies" are our best teachers.
Either way whether we should just love our enemies because they are our brothers and sisters or if we should love them because they can aid us on our endless egotistic search to really "know" ourselves--there seems to be universal wisdom (as everything that Christ taught proves in the end to be) to the maxim.
When we view people as enemies we drink in their hatred, their warped vision and sometimes we merely inflate our own warped vision on people that would be shocked to find out that they were even considered enemies by us.
St. Therese of the Child Jesus has something to teach us here. There was a particular sister in her community who got on her nerves. She went out of her way to be even nicer to this sister, so that the sister after Therese death was convinced that she was one of Therese's most loved companions. In the end she really was--after all what is love if it isn't putting to death our false self that is threatened and insecure?
Saturday, May 18, 2002
Happy Birthday to Pope John Paul II --82 today!
I sent the pope a birthday card almost 20 years ago, and included in it a passage from Scripture in Polish that I copied out of a Polish New Testament that was my Great-Grandfathers. The pope's secretary responded to my letter by including a crucifix blessed by the pope. Here in English was the Scripture that I sent the pope in the Card:
Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go. (John 21:18)
Of late, I am in almost daily contact with a Jewish woman, a close friend of the pope's. In a private audience with him this past January she had him write in a book that I had written the Preface to--there is a picture of what he wrote here.
I sent the pope a birthday card almost 20 years ago, and included in it a passage from Scripture in Polish that I copied out of a Polish New Testament that was my Great-Grandfathers. The pope's secretary responded to my letter by including a crucifix blessed by the pope. Here in English was the Scripture that I sent the pope in the Card:
Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go. (John 21:18)
Of late, I am in almost daily contact with a Jewish woman, a close friend of the pope's. In a private audience with him this past January she had him write in a book that I had written the Preface to--there is a picture of what he wrote here.
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 30th step:
(30) To do no injury, yea, even patiently to bear the injury done us.
Injury literally means "injustice." Giving that as a backdrop to this counsel, I think we see that it has a wider application than simply commanding us not to physically hurt someone. To do no 'injustice" and to even to bear the injustice done to us is nothing more than perfectly imitating Our Lord.
The Christian has the life of Christ within them by the grace of their baptism, but for many of us that life is dormant, asleep. We do not call on Christ at every moment of the day to aid us and to help us in our dealings with others and the way that we view our own treatment from the hands of others.
Like every counsel before it and to come--this one calls us to conversion. We are to treat everyone with the utmost respect, not injuring them physically or emotionally, nor showing treating them with any injustice. At the same time when someone treats us harshly, whether physically or emotionally, even unjustly--we are to "grin and bear it."
Our guide is Christ. Who stood before Pilate and did not say a word to defend himself even though he was being accused of crimes he had not committed. He pointed out the Pilate that Pilate himself had no power at all except that God was allowing this to happen.
Ultimately this counsel is about faith. The first part of it deals with our faith that God has created everyone on the face of the earth and they each have the image of God within them. To harm them is to harm God Himself.
The second part is faith in God's providence that whatever mortal princes can do to us--God ultimately will reign victoriously. Jesus told his disciples not to fear those who could harm our bodies, but rather to fear He who could throw us into Gehenna. By bearing injustices committed against us patiently we show our faith in God's power to overcome all evil.
The First part of the counsel also commands us to speak out and to stop the injury that may be suffered by someone else. If we are to bear wrongs done to us patiently, we are not to bear the wrongs done to others patiently--in such a case our lack of action would make us part of the problem.
(30) To do no injury, yea, even patiently to bear the injury done us.
Injury literally means "injustice." Giving that as a backdrop to this counsel, I think we see that it has a wider application than simply commanding us not to physically hurt someone. To do no 'injustice" and to even to bear the injustice done to us is nothing more than perfectly imitating Our Lord.
The Christian has the life of Christ within them by the grace of their baptism, but for many of us that life is dormant, asleep. We do not call on Christ at every moment of the day to aid us and to help us in our dealings with others and the way that we view our own treatment from the hands of others.
Like every counsel before it and to come--this one calls us to conversion. We are to treat everyone with the utmost respect, not injuring them physically or emotionally, nor showing treating them with any injustice. At the same time when someone treats us harshly, whether physically or emotionally, even unjustly--we are to "grin and bear it."
Our guide is Christ. Who stood before Pilate and did not say a word to defend himself even though he was being accused of crimes he had not committed. He pointed out the Pilate that Pilate himself had no power at all except that God was allowing this to happen.
Ultimately this counsel is about faith. The first part of it deals with our faith that God has created everyone on the face of the earth and they each have the image of God within them. To harm them is to harm God Himself.
The second part is faith in God's providence that whatever mortal princes can do to us--God ultimately will reign victoriously. Jesus told his disciples not to fear those who could harm our bodies, but rather to fear He who could throw us into Gehenna. By bearing injustices committed against us patiently we show our faith in God's power to overcome all evil.
The First part of the counsel also commands us to speak out and to stop the injury that may be suffered by someone else. If we are to bear wrongs done to us patiently, we are not to bear the wrongs done to others patiently--in such a case our lack of action would make us part of the problem.
Day # 9 of 9 to pray Cardinal Law's Novena during this period between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost, I will post the prayer for the next nine days, to make it easier for you to join in:
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
Friday, May 17, 2002
Now Cardinal Ratizinger is Also Saying the Pope Would Resign if his Health Becomes to Much for Him:
Makes one wonder if something is in the works? From CNS:
Just before the pope's May 18 birthday, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and subdean of the College of the Cardinals, became the highest-ranking Vatican official to break the taboo and answer a German reporter's question about papal retirement.
The reporter from the Munich archdiocesan newspaper asked if the cardinal knew what the pope thought about resigning.
"I have not yet asked him about that, but if he were to see that he absolutely could not (continue), then he certainly would resign," Cardinal Ratzinger responded.
"As long as the cost is only suffering (for himself), he will continue," the cardinal said. "We are always impressed by his iron will."
Makes one wonder if something is in the works? From CNS:
Just before the pope's May 18 birthday, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and subdean of the College of the Cardinals, became the highest-ranking Vatican official to break the taboo and answer a German reporter's question about papal retirement.
The reporter from the Munich archdiocesan newspaper asked if the cardinal knew what the pope thought about resigning.
"I have not yet asked him about that, but if he were to see that he absolutely could not (continue), then he certainly would resign," Cardinal Ratzinger responded.
"As long as the cost is only suffering (for himself), he will continue," the cardinal said. "We are always impressed by his iron will."
A Passage that Won't be Much Quoted by Fundamentalists:
From this morning's Office of Readings comes this verse from the Second Letter of John,
Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink, but I hope to come to see you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
My original thought, which I still think as valid, is that you wouldn't hear anyone knocking on your door quoting this passage.
Strangely though later this morning, I remembered the passage and it spoke to me, not as something written by John but something that God is saying to us--that God longs to talk to us--"that our joy may be complete."
From this morning's Office of Readings comes this verse from the Second Letter of John,
Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink, but I hope to come to see you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
My original thought, which I still think as valid, is that you wouldn't hear anyone knocking on your door quoting this passage.
Strangely though later this morning, I remembered the passage and it spoke to me, not as something written by John but something that God is saying to us--that God longs to talk to us--"that our joy may be complete."
From a truly great book on spirituality, Sensing Your Hidden Presence:
As long as the battle of life continues, it is impossible to look upon the Lord face to face. It is only possible to get a glimpse of Him fro the fleeting traces, moving from the effects to the Cause, walking along the path of deductions and analogies, in shadows, indirectly; in short, "from behind."
"Then I wll take my hand away and you will see my back; by my face will not be seen," (Ex. 22:23).
As long as the battle of life continues, it is impossible to look upon the Lord face to face. It is only possible to get a glimpse of Him fro the fleeting traces, moving from the effects to the Cause, walking along the path of deductions and analogies, in shadows, indirectly; in short, "from behind."
"Then I wll take my hand away and you will see my back; by my face will not be seen," (Ex. 22:23).
Now for the rest of the story...
Emily Stimpson, the author of Fool's Folly, one of my favorite blogs has devoted a fair amount of attention to the subject of celibacy over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, some of what she has bought into this discussion is a new and completely ahistorical view of celibacy, that no one has ever held or taught until very, very recently.
Celibacy has become a "issue" sort of like female altar servers were a few years ago--when the Vatican finally said female servers were okay, a lot of well meaning people felt betrayed. But for those who know Church History there was no shock and subsequently no crisis of faith. Celibacy, like it or not is akin to "no meat on Fridays" and other such church disciplines.
It is not at all on the level of real doctrines like Jesus' Divinity, the virgin birth and the resurrection.
Now, what makes Ms. Stimpson's fixation with defending celibacy truly strange, is her flaunting what a great priest, she is blessed to have over there in Steubenville. To quote her from her blog today under the heading "Dispatches From A Healthy Part of the Body":
Father Ryland rocked again last night. He delivered a fifteen-minute homily on the power of papal infallibility and the beauty of true Christian unity in the Roman Catholic Church. How many priests do you know who stand in the pulpit, holding the Documents of Vatican II in their hand, and, almost jumping up and down with excitement, exclaim, “Oh I just wish we had hours together so we could keep reading this”?
Lord I’m a lucky girl.
This isn't the first time she's mention Father Ryland. He is a great priest. He wrote the original version of a pamphlet that we publish called "Top Ten Reasons to Come Back to the Catholic Church."
But guess what....
He's married, that's right. He is not celibate.
Now I'm not saying that is what makes him such a "great" priest. I just wonder how Emily can hold him up as the model and wish we all had someone like him and at the same time argue that celibacy is the greatest thing since "sliced bread."
Fr. Ryland is an Anglican convert who was allowed, like many others, to be join the Catholic Church be ordained again (since the Vatican doesn't recognize Anglican orders) and remain married.
Fr. Ryland probably thinks celibacy is great too, in fact that is probably where Emily receives her drive to defend it, but he's married and if he really believes in it, he'd dismiss his wife or live as brother and sister.
Emily Stimpson, the author of Fool's Folly, one of my favorite blogs has devoted a fair amount of attention to the subject of celibacy over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, some of what she has bought into this discussion is a new and completely ahistorical view of celibacy, that no one has ever held or taught until very, very recently.
Celibacy has become a "issue" sort of like female altar servers were a few years ago--when the Vatican finally said female servers were okay, a lot of well meaning people felt betrayed. But for those who know Church History there was no shock and subsequently no crisis of faith. Celibacy, like it or not is akin to "no meat on Fridays" and other such church disciplines.
It is not at all on the level of real doctrines like Jesus' Divinity, the virgin birth and the resurrection.
Now, what makes Ms. Stimpson's fixation with defending celibacy truly strange, is her flaunting what a great priest, she is blessed to have over there in Steubenville. To quote her from her blog today under the heading "Dispatches From A Healthy Part of the Body":
Father Ryland rocked again last night. He delivered a fifteen-minute homily on the power of papal infallibility and the beauty of true Christian unity in the Roman Catholic Church. How many priests do you know who stand in the pulpit, holding the Documents of Vatican II in their hand, and, almost jumping up and down with excitement, exclaim, “Oh I just wish we had hours together so we could keep reading this”?
Lord I’m a lucky girl.
This isn't the first time she's mention Father Ryland. He is a great priest. He wrote the original version of a pamphlet that we publish called "Top Ten Reasons to Come Back to the Catholic Church."
But guess what....
He's married, that's right. He is not celibate.
Now I'm not saying that is what makes him such a "great" priest. I just wonder how Emily can hold him up as the model and wish we all had someone like him and at the same time argue that celibacy is the greatest thing since "sliced bread."
Fr. Ryland is an Anglican convert who was allowed, like many others, to be join the Catholic Church be ordained again (since the Vatican doesn't recognize Anglican orders) and remain married.
Fr. Ryland probably thinks celibacy is great too, in fact that is probably where Emily receives her drive to defend it, but he's married and if he really believes in it, he'd dismiss his wife or live as brother and sister.
Meanwhile, the aged don't want to age. In Florida they are now having "Botox Parties." The thought of a bunch of old people gathering on a Friday afternoon to have poison injected into their face so that they have a few less wrinkles is sickening to me--not to mention that people who have face lifts etc. generally look like freaks. Read about it in the Tampa Tribune today:
``Botox Party! May 20'' reads the marquee of Guggino Family Eye Center on south Tampa's Swann Avenue.
The group Botox experience - in which friends gather for company, refreshment and little Botox shots around the eyes to erase brow furrows - has swept from California to Florida.
``Botox Party! May 20'' reads the marquee of Guggino Family Eye Center on south Tampa's Swann Avenue.
The group Botox experience - in which friends gather for company, refreshment and little Botox shots around the eyes to erase brow furrows - has swept from California to Florida.
A New Blog on the Block,Oremus: Adventures in Orthodoxy, check out the May 15th entry--a poem by Joyce Kilmer.
The Non-Story of the Year
Within over 15,000 pages of security briefings, CBS's David Martin located one reference to a "possible hijacking," that as one FBI agent said was more of a CYA statement than any real intelligence lead. Now we have to listen to the Tom Daschle express outrage as though he thinks this is significant and not a good time to attack the Republican President who is enjoying tons of popularity in a Congressional election year.
"Yawn"
How stupid are Americans? Plenty or maybe its just that most of us find it unbelievable that 9/11 could have happened to us. If that's the case than we are in for some rough days ahead--not just in dealing with tragedies that are sure to occur but also in dealing with our wounded pride--that we don't know it all and we're not all powerful.
Within over 15,000 pages of security briefings, CBS's David Martin located one reference to a "possible hijacking," that as one FBI agent said was more of a CYA statement than any real intelligence lead. Now we have to listen to the Tom Daschle express outrage as though he thinks this is significant and not a good time to attack the Republican President who is enjoying tons of popularity in a Congressional election year.
"Yawn"
How stupid are Americans? Plenty or maybe its just that most of us find it unbelievable that 9/11 could have happened to us. If that's the case than we are in for some rough days ahead--not just in dealing with tragedies that are sure to occur but also in dealing with our wounded pride--that we don't know it all and we're not all powerful.
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 29th step:
(29) Not to return evil for evil (cf 1 Thes 5:15; 1 Pt 3:9).
St. Benedict references two Scripture passages with this counsel. The first is from Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians, "See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all," (1 Thess. 5:15). The next is from the First Letter of Peter, "Do not return evil for evil or reviling for reviling; but on the contrary bless, for to this you have been called, that you may obtain a blessing," (1 Pet. 3:9).
The motivation for this is clearly stated in Peter's letter when he says that the Lord is against those who do evil. Get it?
If we return evil for evil, then we are evildoers.
If we are in God, then we will only have love and peace to give. Like Christ we will forgive our enemies, we will return their hatred with God's love.
Doesn't it sound humanly impossible to do this? It is, but for God all things are possible.
These steps continually make us aware, like a mega examination of conscience that we need to pray continuously. Prayer is essential because in order to live out the Gospel message, God must be in our every breath.
Our prayer should always be for the other's good.
Is there anyone that could make heaven hell for you? Then you'd better pray for that person. Pray that good will happen to them, that their heart will be touched, and that in the process your heart may also be changed to accept them.
Often love and hate are flip sides of the same coin.
Our Lord's cross is for a sign of victory, for the world it is a sign of defeat. Jesus told his disciples that he has overcome the world, how we respond to evil in our lives shows who we belong to---Jesus or the world.
(29) Not to return evil for evil (cf 1 Thes 5:15; 1 Pt 3:9).
St. Benedict references two Scripture passages with this counsel. The first is from Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians, "See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all," (1 Thess. 5:15). The next is from the First Letter of Peter, "Do not return evil for evil or reviling for reviling; but on the contrary bless, for to this you have been called, that you may obtain a blessing," (1 Pet. 3:9).
The motivation for this is clearly stated in Peter's letter when he says that the Lord is against those who do evil. Get it?
If we return evil for evil, then we are evildoers.
If we are in God, then we will only have love and peace to give. Like Christ we will forgive our enemies, we will return their hatred with God's love.
Doesn't it sound humanly impossible to do this? It is, but for God all things are possible.
These steps continually make us aware, like a mega examination of conscience that we need to pray continuously. Prayer is essential because in order to live out the Gospel message, God must be in our every breath.
Our prayer should always be for the other's good.
Is there anyone that could make heaven hell for you? Then you'd better pray for that person. Pray that good will happen to them, that their heart will be touched, and that in the process your heart may also be changed to accept them.
Often love and hate are flip sides of the same coin.
Our Lord's cross is for a sign of victory, for the world it is a sign of defeat. Jesus told his disciples that he has overcome the world, how we respond to evil in our lives shows who we belong to---Jesus or the world.
Day # 8 of 9 to pray Cardinal Law's Novena during this period between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost, I will post the prayer for the next nine days, to make it easier for you to join in:
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
Thursday, May 16, 2002
How's this for a translation of Scripture?
Jedus say, `Ain't nobody gwine light a lamp and den hide um someweh weh day cain't shum. Needa e ain't gwine pit de lamp ondaneet a bushel baskut. E gwine pit de lamp on top ob a table so dem wa come een de house kin see de light.'"
No, this is not "The Gospel According to Br'er Rabbit", nor a quote from an old Amos and Andy radio show. It is the official rendering of Luke 11:33 according to the recent "Gullah" translation of Luke's Gospel, titled, De Good Nyews Bout Jedus Christ Wa Luke Write, published in 1995 by the American Bible Society, the Protestant organization which has for decades produced translations of the Bible in hundreds of the world's languages. De Good Nyews Bout Jedus Christ Wa Luke Write is the first book of the Bible to appear in this tongue.
From De Good Nyews Bout Translayshun? by Helen Hull Hitchcock at Adoremus.org
Jedus say, `Ain't nobody gwine light a lamp and den hide um someweh weh day cain't shum. Needa e ain't gwine pit de lamp ondaneet a bushel baskut. E gwine pit de lamp on top ob a table so dem wa come een de house kin see de light.'"
No, this is not "The Gospel According to Br'er Rabbit", nor a quote from an old Amos and Andy radio show. It is the official rendering of Luke 11:33 according to the recent "Gullah" translation of Luke's Gospel, titled, De Good Nyews Bout Jedus Christ Wa Luke Write, published in 1995 by the American Bible Society, the Protestant organization which has for decades produced translations of the Bible in hundreds of the world's languages. De Good Nyews Bout Jedus Christ Wa Luke Write is the first book of the Bible to appear in this tongue.
From De Good Nyews Bout Translayshun? by Helen Hull Hitchcock at Adoremus.org
Here is the cover of the new book
by Father Benedict Groeschel that will be available from Our Sunday Visitor in June.
Breaking News
Trappist Abbot M. Basil Pennington, the monk known worldwide for his books and ministry on centering prayer, has resigned as head of Our Lady of Holy Spirit Abbey in Conyers.
Twelve Ways to Know God by Peter Kreeft
Jesus defines eternal life as knowing God (Jn 17:3). What are the ways? In how many different ways can we know God, and thus know eternal life? When I take an inventory, I find twelve.
1. The final, complete, definitive way, of course, is Christ, God himself in human flesh.
2. His church is his body, so we know God also through the church.
3. The Scriptures are the church's book. This book, like Christ himself, is called "The Word of God."
4. Scripture also says we can know God in nature see Romans 1. This is an innate, spontaneous, natural knowledge. I think no one who lives by the sea, or by a little river, can be an atheist.
5. Art also reveals God. I know three ex-atheists who say, "There is the music of Bach, therefore there must be a God." This too is immediate.
6.Conscience is the voice of God. It speaks absolutely, with no ifs, ands, or buts. This too is immediate. [The last three ways of knowing God (4-6) are natural, while the first three are supernatural. The last three reveal three attributes of God, the three things the human spirit wants most: truth, beauty, and goodness. God has filled his creation with these three things. Here are six more ways in which we can and do know God.]
7. Reason, reflecting on nature, art, or conscience, can know God by good philosophical arguments.
8. Experience, life, your story, can also reveal God. You can see the hand of Providence there.
9. The collective experience of the race, embodied in history and tradition, expressed in literature, also reveals God.You can know God through others' stories, through great literature.
10. The saints reveal God. They are advertisements, mirrors, little Christs. They are perhaps the most effective of all means of convincing and converting people.
11. Our ordinary daily experience of doing God's will will reveal God. God becomes clearer to see when the eye of the heart is purified: "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God."
12. Prayer meets God—ordinary prayer. You learn more of God from a few minutes of prayerful repentance than through a lifetime in a library.
Unfortunately, Christians sometimes have family fights about these ways, and treat them as either/or instead of both/and. They all support each other, and nothing could be more foolish than treating them as rivals—for example, finding God in the church versus finding God in nature, or reason versus experience, or Christ versus art.
If you have neglected any of these ways, it would be an excellent idea to explore them. For instance, pray using great music. Or take an hour to review your life some time to see God's role in your past. Read a great book to better meet and know and glorify God. Pray about it first.
Add to this list, if you can. There are more ways of finding and knowing God than any one essay can contain. Or any one world.
Read more of Peter Kreeft's takes at his web site.
Jesus defines eternal life as knowing God (Jn 17:3). What are the ways? In how many different ways can we know God, and thus know eternal life? When I take an inventory, I find twelve.
1. The final, complete, definitive way, of course, is Christ, God himself in human flesh.
2. His church is his body, so we know God also through the church.
3. The Scriptures are the church's book. This book, like Christ himself, is called "The Word of God."
4. Scripture also says we can know God in nature see Romans 1. This is an innate, spontaneous, natural knowledge. I think no one who lives by the sea, or by a little river, can be an atheist.
5. Art also reveals God. I know three ex-atheists who say, "There is the music of Bach, therefore there must be a God." This too is immediate.
6.Conscience is the voice of God. It speaks absolutely, with no ifs, ands, or buts. This too is immediate. [The last three ways of knowing God (4-6) are natural, while the first three are supernatural. The last three reveal three attributes of God, the three things the human spirit wants most: truth, beauty, and goodness. God has filled his creation with these three things. Here are six more ways in which we can and do know God.]
7. Reason, reflecting on nature, art, or conscience, can know God by good philosophical arguments.
8. Experience, life, your story, can also reveal God. You can see the hand of Providence there.
9. The collective experience of the race, embodied in history and tradition, expressed in literature, also reveals God.You can know God through others' stories, through great literature.
10. The saints reveal God. They are advertisements, mirrors, little Christs. They are perhaps the most effective of all means of convincing and converting people.
11. Our ordinary daily experience of doing God's will will reveal God. God becomes clearer to see when the eye of the heart is purified: "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God."
12. Prayer meets God—ordinary prayer. You learn more of God from a few minutes of prayerful repentance than through a lifetime in a library.
Unfortunately, Christians sometimes have family fights about these ways, and treat them as either/or instead of both/and. They all support each other, and nothing could be more foolish than treating them as rivals—for example, finding God in the church versus finding God in nature, or reason versus experience, or Christ versus art.
If you have neglected any of these ways, it would be an excellent idea to explore them. For instance, pray using great music. Or take an hour to review your life some time to see God's role in your past. Read a great book to better meet and know and glorify God. Pray about it first.
Add to this list, if you can. There are more ways of finding and knowing God than any one essay can contain. Or any one world.
Read more of Peter Kreeft's takes at his web site.
More Disturbing News about the Tennessee Volunteer football team from the Atlanta Journal Constitution:
Bob Gilbert, a syndicated columnist whose writings are published in six newspapers in Tennessee, is scheduled to meet today with Southeastern Conference investigator Bill Sievers. Gilbert says he has evidence of academic misconduct involving several players on Tennessee's 1998 football team, which won the SEC and national championships.
Tennessee, the SEC, and the NCAA have investigated the claims over the past three years, but the SEC is apparently taking another look at the allegations, which were first made public by Linda Bensel-Meyers, an English professor at the university.
''A blind man couldn't miss a lot of the manipulation that was going on with those (academic) transcripts,'' Gilbert said. ''The SEC didn't want to see it. The NCAA didn't want to see it. The president of the University of Tennessee didn't want to see it. They're all in denial.''
Gilbert said SEC commissioner Roy Kramer called him Tuesday to voice concerns over his column published Monday. In the column, Gilbert wrote that the SEC ignored ''compelling and incriminating'' evidence when it first looked at the allegations two years ago.
Gilbert, 65, is a 1960 graduate of Tennessee and worked 29 years as the university's director of news operations until retiring in 1996.
Gilbert's allegations include:
A Tennessee football player was expelled at the end of the fall semester in 1998. Under university regulations, the student-athlete should have sat out a full year before re-applying for admission, but he was reinstated the following semester and participated in spring football practice.
A football player who was on academic probation for four semesters had eight grade changes to remain eligible under SEC and NCAA requirements. In the fall semester of his last year of eligibility, the student-athlete flunked four courses.
On several transcripts of football players, failing grades were changed to incomplete marks and then changed back to failing after football season.
Bensel-Meyers complained in 1999 about plagiarism and grade changing involving student-athletes. Tennessee conducted its own investigation in the fall of 1999, but the school said it found no improprieties. The NCAA performed a follow-up audit and informed Tennessee in March 2000 that it was discontinuing its inquiry.
The NCAA looked into the matter again in August 2000, but again found no wrongdoing. However, following the investigations, Tennessee took its tutoring program out of the hands of the athletics department and turned it over to the provost's office.
''According to (Bensel-Meyers), the NCAA has never looked at this evidence,'' Gilbert said. ''She offered it to the investigator, but he
wouldn't take it.''
Gilbert's accusations come less than two weeks after Wayne Rowe, a sportswriter with the Mobile (Ala.) Register, said he sent $4,500 to former Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin while he was still playing for theVolunteers. A Mobile businessman said the money was embezzled from his insurance company by an employee who wrote Rowe two checks. Rowe resigned from the newspaper on May 10 and has yet to provide the newspaper with wire transfer receipts that prove the money was sent to Martin.
Bob Gilbert, a syndicated columnist whose writings are published in six newspapers in Tennessee, is scheduled to meet today with Southeastern Conference investigator Bill Sievers. Gilbert says he has evidence of academic misconduct involving several players on Tennessee's 1998 football team, which won the SEC and national championships.
Tennessee, the SEC, and the NCAA have investigated the claims over the past three years, but the SEC is apparently taking another look at the allegations, which were first made public by Linda Bensel-Meyers, an English professor at the university.
''A blind man couldn't miss a lot of the manipulation that was going on with those (academic) transcripts,'' Gilbert said. ''The SEC didn't want to see it. The NCAA didn't want to see it. The president of the University of Tennessee didn't want to see it. They're all in denial.''
Gilbert said SEC commissioner Roy Kramer called him Tuesday to voice concerns over his column published Monday. In the column, Gilbert wrote that the SEC ignored ''compelling and incriminating'' evidence when it first looked at the allegations two years ago.
Gilbert, 65, is a 1960 graduate of Tennessee and worked 29 years as the university's director of news operations until retiring in 1996.
Gilbert's allegations include:
A Tennessee football player was expelled at the end of the fall semester in 1998. Under university regulations, the student-athlete should have sat out a full year before re-applying for admission, but he was reinstated the following semester and participated in spring football practice.
A football player who was on academic probation for four semesters had eight grade changes to remain eligible under SEC and NCAA requirements. In the fall semester of his last year of eligibility, the student-athlete flunked four courses.
On several transcripts of football players, failing grades were changed to incomplete marks and then changed back to failing after football season.
Bensel-Meyers complained in 1999 about plagiarism and grade changing involving student-athletes. Tennessee conducted its own investigation in the fall of 1999, but the school said it found no improprieties. The NCAA performed a follow-up audit and informed Tennessee in March 2000 that it was discontinuing its inquiry.
The NCAA looked into the matter again in August 2000, but again found no wrongdoing. However, following the investigations, Tennessee took its tutoring program out of the hands of the athletics department and turned it over to the provost's office.
''According to (Bensel-Meyers), the NCAA has never looked at this evidence,'' Gilbert said. ''She offered it to the investigator, but he
wouldn't take it.''
Gilbert's accusations come less than two weeks after Wayne Rowe, a sportswriter with the Mobile (Ala.) Register, said he sent $4,500 to former Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin while he was still playing for theVolunteers. A Mobile businessman said the money was embezzled from his insurance company by an employee who wrote Rowe two checks. Rowe resigned from the newspaper on May 10 and has yet to provide the newspaper with wire transfer receipts that prove the money was sent to Martin.
Words from the Shepherds of the Church
First Cardinal Mahoney (May 14th):
My Brother Priests: We have all been overwhelmed for many weeks now with the constant publicity highlighting the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests all across the country. These news reports have been very distressing for us all, but these reports have helped us turn our prayers and our focus to reaching out to the victims with all available spiritual and pastoral assistance.
It is quite likely that very soon the public media will highlight the case of Michael Baker, a former priest of this archdiocese. You need to be aware that such a story could come anytime now, and you need to be aware of the seriousness of his case.
Sometime in late 1986, Baker disclosed to me that he had problems in the past of acting out sexually with two minors.
Baker was sent to a treatment center for evaluation and recommendation for his future. Following treatment, it was decided that he could do specialized priestly ministry not related to children and youth. He was subsequently given various ministries, such as special outreach to our retired priests. All during this time, we had no reports of abuse.
Early in the year 2000 we learned that two men in Arizona were preparing to sue Baker for past sexual abuse. Once we became aware of that situation, he was removed immediately from all priestly ministry in accordance with the policy in effect at that time. Baker agreed to petition the Holy See for laicization, which was granted shortly thereafter. We have now learned that further allegations are being made against Baker.
As your archbishop, I assume full responsibility for allowing Baker to remain in any type of ministry during the 1990s. If I had known in those years what I discovered in early 2000, I would have dismissed him from all ministry and requested his dismissal from the priesthood in the late 1980s.
I offer my sincere, personal apologies for my failure to take firm and decisive action much earlier. If I have caused you or your parishioners additional grief by my handling of the Baker case, I ask your forgiveness.
Such situations illustrate vividly and clearly the reason why our archdiocese now has firmly in place a "zero tolerance" policy--past, present and future. No one who has been determined to have sexually abused a minor can be allowed to serve in any ministry in the church.
I ask your continued prayers as we move through this time of purification.
From Bishop Joseph Imesch (Joliet):
Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch seemed unfazed as a lawyer questioned him in 1995 about bringing in a priest who had been convicted of molesting an altar boy in Michigan.
"If you had a child," the lawyer recalled asking the bishop during the deposition for a civil suit, "wouldn't you be concerned that the priest they were saying mass with had been convicted of sexually molesting children?"
Replied Imesch, "I don't have any children."
Bishop Joseph Hart (retired):
Hart referred questions to his attorney, who issued a news release Tuesday stating that Hart welcomed the investigation because he wants to "put an end to these false allegations.
"I state clearly, without any equivocation, that I have never engaged in any improper sexual behavior involving minors in my more than 46 years as a priest," Hart said in the statement.
First Cardinal Mahoney (May 14th):
My Brother Priests: We have all been overwhelmed for many weeks now with the constant publicity highlighting the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests all across the country. These news reports have been very distressing for us all, but these reports have helped us turn our prayers and our focus to reaching out to the victims with all available spiritual and pastoral assistance.
It is quite likely that very soon the public media will highlight the case of Michael Baker, a former priest of this archdiocese. You need to be aware that such a story could come anytime now, and you need to be aware of the seriousness of his case.
Sometime in late 1986, Baker disclosed to me that he had problems in the past of acting out sexually with two minors.
Baker was sent to a treatment center for evaluation and recommendation for his future. Following treatment, it was decided that he could do specialized priestly ministry not related to children and youth. He was subsequently given various ministries, such as special outreach to our retired priests. All during this time, we had no reports of abuse.
Early in the year 2000 we learned that two men in Arizona were preparing to sue Baker for past sexual abuse. Once we became aware of that situation, he was removed immediately from all priestly ministry in accordance with the policy in effect at that time. Baker agreed to petition the Holy See for laicization, which was granted shortly thereafter. We have now learned that further allegations are being made against Baker.
As your archbishop, I assume full responsibility for allowing Baker to remain in any type of ministry during the 1990s. If I had known in those years what I discovered in early 2000, I would have dismissed him from all ministry and requested his dismissal from the priesthood in the late 1980s.
I offer my sincere, personal apologies for my failure to take firm and decisive action much earlier. If I have caused you or your parishioners additional grief by my handling of the Baker case, I ask your forgiveness.
Such situations illustrate vividly and clearly the reason why our archdiocese now has firmly in place a "zero tolerance" policy--past, present and future. No one who has been determined to have sexually abused a minor can be allowed to serve in any ministry in the church.
I ask your continued prayers as we move through this time of purification.
From Bishop Joseph Imesch (Joliet):
Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch seemed unfazed as a lawyer questioned him in 1995 about bringing in a priest who had been convicted of molesting an altar boy in Michigan.
"If you had a child," the lawyer recalled asking the bishop during the deposition for a civil suit, "wouldn't you be concerned that the priest they were saying mass with had been convicted of sexually molesting children?"
Replied Imesch, "I don't have any children."
Bishop Joseph Hart (retired):
Hart referred questions to his attorney, who issued a news release Tuesday stating that Hart welcomed the investigation because he wants to "put an end to these false allegations.
"I state clearly, without any equivocation, that I have never engaged in any improper sexual behavior involving minors in my more than 46 years as a priest," Hart said in the statement.
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 28th step:
(28) To speak the truth with heart and tongue.
St. Benedict's counsel here is geared toward a conversion of feelings, so that the truth I speak with my mouth, I also feel in my heart. Of course, such truth will be spoken with conviction.
Many of us know instinctively what is true, we just don't feel like paying any attention to it. Conversion of "feelings" is an important part of opening oneself to God.
If you don't feel like converting to the truth, it is because some untruth has grabbed your heart. Opening your heat to God's love will have a surprising result--you will literally feel the truth.
Too often we look toward those who should model religious faith but instead wear their faith for all to see. Jesus condemns the Pharisees and hypocrites of his day because they keep the tax collectors and prostitutes from coming to the Kingdom of God by their example. In other words they make religious belief in God seem unattractive.
Our eyes should always be focused on Christ. We shouldn't look to anyone else.
The people who encountered Him were drawn to Him. So will we be.
Then speaking the truth will be a matter of allowing the tongue to proclaim what the heart feels.
(28) To speak the truth with heart and tongue.
St. Benedict's counsel here is geared toward a conversion of feelings, so that the truth I speak with my mouth, I also feel in my heart. Of course, such truth will be spoken with conviction.
Many of us know instinctively what is true, we just don't feel like paying any attention to it. Conversion of "feelings" is an important part of opening oneself to God.
If you don't feel like converting to the truth, it is because some untruth has grabbed your heart. Opening your heat to God's love will have a surprising result--you will literally feel the truth.
Too often we look toward those who should model religious faith but instead wear their faith for all to see. Jesus condemns the Pharisees and hypocrites of his day because they keep the tax collectors and prostitutes from coming to the Kingdom of God by their example. In other words they make religious belief in God seem unattractive.
Our eyes should always be focused on Christ. We shouldn't look to anyone else.
The people who encountered Him were drawn to Him. So will we be.
Then speaking the truth will be a matter of allowing the tongue to proclaim what the heart feels.
Day # 7 of 9 to pray Cardinal Law's Novena during this period between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost, I will post the prayer for the next nine days, to make it easier for you to join in:
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
Wednesday, May 15, 2002
Alan Keyes is Making Sense
Here is the quote about what the bishops should be about:
First, truth. First, you do what corresponds to truth and right and justice and integrity. And then I think it‘s quite obvious that you leave the rest in God‘s hands. We‘re supposed to walk by faith, not by some calculation of our assets, whether as individuals or as a church.
And I think we need to start showing the courage of that faith, to simply look for truth, acknowledge it, act according to it. I think God will take care of the church‘s assets if the most important spiritual and moral assets are preserved. The rest of them won‘t mean a thing if we destroy that which is the heart of our faith. And I feel it very strongly. And I think there are some prelates who aren‘t showing that priority right now. And that‘s part of what‘s damaging the church.
The transcripts for the show are posted here.
Here is the quote about what the bishops should be about:
First, truth. First, you do what corresponds to truth and right and justice and integrity. And then I think it‘s quite obvious that you leave the rest in God‘s hands. We‘re supposed to walk by faith, not by some calculation of our assets, whether as individuals or as a church.
And I think we need to start showing the courage of that faith, to simply look for truth, acknowledge it, act according to it. I think God will take care of the church‘s assets if the most important spiritual and moral assets are preserved. The rest of them won‘t mean a thing if we destroy that which is the heart of our faith. And I feel it very strongly. And I think there are some prelates who aren‘t showing that priority right now. And that‘s part of what‘s damaging the church.
The transcripts for the show are posted here.
The conclusion of a very good piece by Michael Sean Winters in The New Republic:
In studying the long history of Catholicism, one realizes that as bad as things are, they have been worse before. And yet the Church survives because the life of faith, in a man or in a people, is an unpredictable thing. As Monsignor Albacete recently told me, "If, in addition to all the terrible things we have learned, if tomorrow it was revealed that the pope had a harem, that all the cardinals had made money on Enron stock and were involved in Internet porno, then the situation of the Church today would be similar to the situation of the Church in the late twelfth century ... when Francis of Assisi first kissed a leper." Saints, not bishops, will remake the face of the Church, and the making of saints is God's work. It would be wonderful indeed if every bishop were a saint. But the current crisis could have been avoided if the bishops had merely remembered they were human beings.
In studying the long history of Catholicism, one realizes that as bad as things are, they have been worse before. And yet the Church survives because the life of faith, in a man or in a people, is an unpredictable thing. As Monsignor Albacete recently told me, "If, in addition to all the terrible things we have learned, if tomorrow it was revealed that the pope had a harem, that all the cardinals had made money on Enron stock and were involved in Internet porno, then the situation of the Church today would be similar to the situation of the Church in the late twelfth century ... when Francis of Assisi first kissed a leper." Saints, not bishops, will remake the face of the Church, and the making of saints is God's work. It would be wonderful indeed if every bishop were a saint. But the current crisis could have been avoided if the bishops had merely remembered they were human beings.
Also check out Tim Drake's blog at:
Tim Drake
If you haven't read his book There We Stood, get yourself a copy, it is a great read!
Tim Drake
If you haven't read his book There We Stood, get yourself a copy, it is a great read!
My wife has linked to a Mona Charen column about the terrible accident that has her 11 year old son in a coma.
Please offer a prayer up for the boy's recovery.
I too remember the funeral of which Amy speaks, but what I remember about it was a young woman playing a violin and swirling around as she did so which struck me as terribly inappropriate. But alas, people do strange things when confronted with terrible events.
I also remember another funeral of a young boy, 10 years old, who was struck by a school bus. He died and even to this day I can't even begin to imagine the grief that the parents felt then or still feel these many years later.
Again, offer up a prayer. It may seem like a simple thing, but that is a temptation--reject it and offer the prayer to God.
Please offer a prayer up for the boy's recovery.
I too remember the funeral of which Amy speaks, but what I remember about it was a young woman playing a violin and swirling around as she did so which struck me as terribly inappropriate. But alas, people do strange things when confronted with terrible events.
I also remember another funeral of a young boy, 10 years old, who was struck by a school bus. He died and even to this day I can't even begin to imagine the grief that the parents felt then or still feel these many years later.
Again, offer up a prayer. It may seem like a simple thing, but that is a temptation--reject it and offer the prayer to God.
Some things to look forward to from Our Sunday Visitor Publishing:
From Scandal to Hope by Father Benedict Groeschel (available in June)
Miracles of St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Audio Book) (available in June)
The Catholic Answer Bible (available in July)
We Believe in the Holy Spirit by Father Andrew Apostoli (available in September)
Why Matter Matters by David Lang (available in September)
And for fans of C.S. Lewis and Mere Christianity, we have:
More Christianity by Dwight Longenecker (available in September)
From Scandal to Hope by Father Benedict Groeschel (available in June)
Miracles of St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Audio Book) (available in June)
The Catholic Answer Bible (available in July)
We Believe in the Holy Spirit by Father Andrew Apostoli (available in September)
Why Matter Matters by David Lang (available in September)
And for fans of C.S. Lewis and Mere Christianity, we have:
More Christianity by Dwight Longenecker (available in September)
As we enjoy a nice 70 ish day in between days where the highs are in the 50's and 40's, let me give thanks that we are not in India where the highs are reaching 120!
Nancy Nall writes about the title of Alan Keyes MSNBC show:
Dan Kennedy on Alan Keyes: "The folks at MSNBC call it 'Alan Keyes is Making Sense,' but it's pretty obvious they'd have come up with another title if he really was. It's not likely, for instance, that there will ever be a show called 'Christiane Amanpour is Making Sense.' This is packaging as desperate denial of reality, sort of like 'Mike Barnicle is Telling the Truth' or 'Jim Lehrer is Driving Viewers Into a Frenzy With His Wild and Crazy Antics at the Anchor Desk.'"
Which inspired the following:
"Ozzy Osbourne is Speaking Clearly"
"William Donahue is Speaking Softly"
Dan Kennedy on Alan Keyes: "The folks at MSNBC call it 'Alan Keyes is Making Sense,' but it's pretty obvious they'd have come up with another title if he really was. It's not likely, for instance, that there will ever be a show called 'Christiane Amanpour is Making Sense.' This is packaging as desperate denial of reality, sort of like 'Mike Barnicle is Telling the Truth' or 'Jim Lehrer is Driving Viewers Into a Frenzy With His Wild and Crazy Antics at the Anchor Desk.'"
Which inspired the following:
"Ozzy Osbourne is Speaking Clearly"
"William Donahue is Speaking Softly"
Catholic Writing Festival
The Franciscan University of Steubenville, in Steubenville, OH, will be hosting a Catholic Writing Festival on the weekend of September 13 -15, 2002. Over 35 of some of the most published Catholic authors will be presenting including Ron Hansen, Scott Hahn, Barbara Nicolosi, Bert Ghezzi, Ralph McInerny, Joseph Pearce, Michael Dubruiel and Bud Macfarlane.
Lectures and workshops will be presented on topics including playwriting/screenwriting, poetry,fiction, non-fiction, journalism, mystery writing, publishing, spiritual/apologetics, and children's literature.
Special events include a dramatic presentation of "Tamara L", a new play by Polish playwright Kazimierz Braun, multiple presentations on Catholic Art; poetry readings; book signings; a Publishers Roundtable, where publishers will discuss what
they want in a manuscript; an Authors Roundtable, where authors will offer insights on how to get published; and a Publishers Mart, where publishers will be marketing their wares (we are still looking for more CatholicPublishers that might want to join us).
New York Times bestseller, Ron Hansen, will give the keynote address: "Religion and Art" on Friday evening.
Visit the website for information on events and speakers, a detailed schedule of the weekend, and registration information. For more information contact Shawn Dougherty .
The Franciscan University of Steubenville, in Steubenville, OH, will be hosting a Catholic Writing Festival on the weekend of September 13 -15, 2002. Over 35 of some of the most published Catholic authors will be presenting including Ron Hansen, Scott Hahn, Barbara Nicolosi, Bert Ghezzi, Ralph McInerny, Joseph Pearce, Michael Dubruiel and Bud Macfarlane.
Lectures and workshops will be presented on topics including playwriting/screenwriting, poetry,fiction, non-fiction, journalism, mystery writing, publishing, spiritual/apologetics, and children's literature.
Special events include a dramatic presentation of "Tamara L", a new play by Polish playwright Kazimierz Braun, multiple presentations on Catholic Art; poetry readings; book signings; a Publishers Roundtable, where publishers will discuss what
they want in a manuscript; an Authors Roundtable, where authors will offer insights on how to get published; and a Publishers Mart, where publishers will be marketing their wares (we are still looking for more CatholicPublishers that might want to join us).
New York Times bestseller, Ron Hansen, will give the keynote address: "Religion and Art" on Friday evening.
Visit the website for information on events and speakers, a detailed schedule of the weekend, and registration information. For more information contact Shawn Dougherty .
Alan Keyes is Making Sense
They haven't posted the transcipt for last nights program yet, but as soon as they do--I will post Alan Keyes comments on the current crisis. In a nut shell he said it all.
They haven't posted the transcipt for last nights program yet, but as soon as they do--I will post Alan Keyes comments on the current crisis. In a nut shell he said it all.
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 27th step:
(27) Not to swear, lest perchance one swear falsely.
To "swear" in this case means to take a vow. St. Benedict warns in this counsel that we should not take oaths out of fear that we might do so falsely. Why would this be the case?
Jesus commanded his disciples not to swear. In the Gospel of Matthew, he says, " But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil," (Matthew 5:34-37).
Our Lord knows well that we do not know ourselves very well. When He told his disciples that one of them would betray him, they all denied it. Peter spoke the loudest and Our Lord warned him that he would betray him before the cock crowed twice. Notice what Peter does at the crucial moment:
"Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, 'I do not know the man.' And immediately the cock crowed," (Matthew 26: 74). He swears falsely.
Unfortunately people continue to swear oaths that they may humanly incapable of fulfilling. It is interesting that within Christianity this command of Jesus has slowly been abrogated. But the truth of what Jesus said and here St. Benedict counsels remains.
None of us knows what the future holds. None of us knows if we will be able to fulfill any vow five or ten years from now. We can promise, ask God's blessing upon our promise and go where God leads us. But as Jesus says anything else is from the evil one.
(27) Not to swear, lest perchance one swear falsely.
To "swear" in this case means to take a vow. St. Benedict warns in this counsel that we should not take oaths out of fear that we might do so falsely. Why would this be the case?
Jesus commanded his disciples not to swear. In the Gospel of Matthew, he says, " But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil," (Matthew 5:34-37).
Our Lord knows well that we do not know ourselves very well. When He told his disciples that one of them would betray him, they all denied it. Peter spoke the loudest and Our Lord warned him that he would betray him before the cock crowed twice. Notice what Peter does at the crucial moment:
"Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, 'I do not know the man.' And immediately the cock crowed," (Matthew 26: 74). He swears falsely.
Unfortunately people continue to swear oaths that they may humanly incapable of fulfilling. It is interesting that within Christianity this command of Jesus has slowly been abrogated. But the truth of what Jesus said and here St. Benedict counsels remains.
None of us knows what the future holds. None of us knows if we will be able to fulfill any vow five or ten years from now. We can promise, ask God's blessing upon our promise and go where God leads us. But as Jesus says anything else is from the evil one.
Day #6 of 9 to pray Cardinal Law's Novena during this period between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost, I will post the prayer for the next nine days, to make it easier for you to join in:
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
Tuesday, May 14, 2002
Thanks to Mark Shea for this link to the Grassroots renwal project. The book I'm working on with Father Benedict Groeschel grew out of a meeting with this group connected to his community. Check out the animation on the first page.
Note from a good therapist:
Perhaps I'm being a bit sensitive on this issue--and it doesn't bother me that much--but all this carping about psychologists is hitting a little close to home. Both you and Mark Shea talk about Cardinal Law consulting with lawyers and psychologists.
The problem, it seems to me, is that Law did not listen to the advice of the therapists that was received. In one case, Bishop Daley called the Institute for Living to complain that the discharge summary for Shanley was not as positive as he thought it would be, and in Geoghan's case, they did not go by the reports of a therapist, but by his family physician.
I am the first one to point out the stupid, unprofessional, politicized rubbish many of my colleagues spout as fact, but it doesn't seem entirely fair to me to pin this one on the psychologists. Law's deposition seems to make it pretty clear that he and his episcopal cronies chose to either ignore good professional advice or seek it where they knew it would already confirm their bias. They want to hide out behind plausible deniability, but it seems to me that the records from the Institute for Living speak for themselves, "We cannot guarantee that this will not occur in the future." I don't think you need to be a rocket scientist (or an Archbishop) to know that probably means bad news for the future of the priest in question.
Correct me if I'm wrong about this.
My answer:
Of course, you are correct. Bishops often see what they want to see and reject the rest.
One case that highlights this in my experience, is of a friend who was sent for a psychological review and the report back to the seminary and the bishop was that my friend's libido was through the roof. The therapist said he doubted seriously that my friend would ever be able to live a chaste celibate life.
The rector wrote a letter to the bishop attached to the report dismissing it, saying that the psychologist did not share our faith (the therapist was Jewish). They ordained my friend, who shortly thereafter was having sex in the Church parking lot among other places (with various adult women, I should add) for the next three years. He finally left marrying a woman, who sang in the choir.
Had the Church listened to the good therapist, they could have saved everyone a lot of headaches, not to mention money.
I apologize, consider this a retraction of sorts.
Of course there are bad therapists, just like there are bad priests and bishops.
Perhaps I'm being a bit sensitive on this issue--and it doesn't bother me that much--but all this carping about psychologists is hitting a little close to home. Both you and Mark Shea talk about Cardinal Law consulting with lawyers and psychologists.
The problem, it seems to me, is that Law did not listen to the advice of the therapists that was received. In one case, Bishop Daley called the Institute for Living to complain that the discharge summary for Shanley was not as positive as he thought it would be, and in Geoghan's case, they did not go by the reports of a therapist, but by his family physician.
I am the first one to point out the stupid, unprofessional, politicized rubbish many of my colleagues spout as fact, but it doesn't seem entirely fair to me to pin this one on the psychologists. Law's deposition seems to make it pretty clear that he and his episcopal cronies chose to either ignore good professional advice or seek it where they knew it would already confirm their bias. They want to hide out behind plausible deniability, but it seems to me that the records from the Institute for Living speak for themselves, "We cannot guarantee that this will not occur in the future." I don't think you need to be a rocket scientist (or an Archbishop) to know that probably means bad news for the future of the priest in question.
Correct me if I'm wrong about this.
My answer:
Of course, you are correct. Bishops often see what they want to see and reject the rest.
One case that highlights this in my experience, is of a friend who was sent for a psychological review and the report back to the seminary and the bishop was that my friend's libido was through the roof. The therapist said he doubted seriously that my friend would ever be able to live a chaste celibate life.
The rector wrote a letter to the bishop attached to the report dismissing it, saying that the psychologist did not share our faith (the therapist was Jewish). They ordained my friend, who shortly thereafter was having sex in the Church parking lot among other places (with various adult women, I should add) for the next three years. He finally left marrying a woman, who sang in the choir.
Had the Church listened to the good therapist, they could have saved everyone a lot of headaches, not to mention money.
I apologize, consider this a retraction of sorts.
Of course there are bad therapists, just like there are bad priests and bishops.
Today is the Feast of the St. Mathias the Apostle.
Mathias was the apostle chosen to replace Judas Iscariot. I found what St. John Chrysostom said about the way the Apostles exercised their episcopal power interesting. It is from the Office of Readings for the day:
And they all prayed together, saying: You, Lord, know the hearts of men; make your choice known to us. “You”, not “we”. Appropriately they said that he knew the hearts of men, because the choice was to be made by him, not by others.
They did not trust themselves to make the decision but rather relied on the Lord. Would that our bishops would operate in this manner, again!
Mathias was the apostle chosen to replace Judas Iscariot. I found what St. John Chrysostom said about the way the Apostles exercised their episcopal power interesting. It is from the Office of Readings for the day:
And they all prayed together, saying: You, Lord, know the hearts of men; make your choice known to us. “You”, not “we”. Appropriately they said that he knew the hearts of men, because the choice was to be made by him, not by others.
They did not trust themselves to make the decision but rather relied on the Lord. Would that our bishops would operate in this manner, again!
The Need for Reform
Catholic Education: Both Amy and I have taught in Catholic schools over the past twenty years. In a very elite Catholic school that I taught at, the department head of the Theology had no accademic background in religion of any sort. He had a master's degree in science (but was hated by everyone in the science department) so was shifted to theology. He was the only teacher in the department to have no background in theology. He was confused (to be charitable)--pro abortion but almost tridentine when it came to the words of the Eucharistic prayer and what constituted a "valid" mass.
Anyway the point here, is that Catholic education is a colossal mess!
Catholic Hospitals: Most Catholic hospitals were founded by good religious who sought to relieve the poor. In a major city where I lived for a number of years and had friends who were EMT's, one told me once that they had a list in the ambulance of where they could take indigents that they might pick up. Out of seven hospitals on the list--the Catholic hospital was the last resort. This is the first scandal--that the hospital that should welcome the marginalized as Christ, doesn't want him.
The second scandal is all of the other stuff that goes on in the name of being eligible for government funds.
Liturgy: This past Easter, Amy and I sat through a mass where the priest performed the remarkable feat of never once saying anything that was in the ritual--changing every word from the start until communion (after which we left). I sat in a committee meeting for a renovation project recently where the "liturgical consultant" hired for a hefty fee lied repeatedly to the members of the committee with such fables as "Vatican II declared voting, unChristian." When I inquired which document of Vatican II declared that, I was brushed off. One wonders why people with agendas that are not Catholic continue to dominate the American scene.
Religious Life: I have written elsewhere on here about the ruins of monasteries and convents that dot the countryside here in the midwest, perhaps even sadder are those that are still populated with what can only be termed as "lost" souls. I recently visited one community of religious women who seem to have lost any sense of what they exist for and equally confused about their faith. One sister remarked in a prayer "and for whoever the father of Jesus really was." No joke, if she doesn't know that, God knows what is keeping her in that community.
Catholic Spirituality: I have a masters degree in Christian Spirituality. While attending school and working toward that degree I was surrounded by some very confused people. Prayer services were often to the four winds or in imitation of some other world religion. A Congregational minister who attended one semester in hopes of getting a taste of Catholic spirituality asked me once what the hell was going on? I shrugged my shoulders. Demonic activity, would be my guess.
Truth telling: Unfortunately the last straw, perhaps the fruit of all the above is the loss of the ability to tell the truth that has plagued the church. The laity (pyschologists and attorneys) have greatly contributed to this mess. When one looks at Cardinal Law's frequent "I can't recall" one thinks of a well coached by attorney client. The so called "church" is worried about losing money and its place.
I once witnessed a cover-up of major proportions where an Archbishop read a two page hand written statement, to those who were angry about the cover-up, which stated without reserve that those gathered were not to discuss among themselves, or even think about the charges that were being levied against a certain priest. He concluded his statement with, "now, I think I'll have a drink."
The priest in questions was quietly removed a few months later after those in attendance at that meeting refused to "obey" the Archbishop. The Archbishop continues to rule and speak out about all that he is doing to be open and honest.
Seminaries: I have written elsewhere on these pages about my experiences as a student. I will add one incident. Recently while visiting a seminary in the south, I asked the Rector of that seminary why a certain priest who lives openly with another man (off campus--something that no other faculty are allowed to do, unless they are in a parish) in an obviously gay relationship is allowed to be a faculty member there. HIs answer was to shrug his shoulders and abruptly end the meeting. It will be interesting to see if in the next few months this man is let go--as of now he is still teaching. What are seminarians supposed to think when they see a priest openly living with another gayman in a house where the rooms are wallpapered with mirrors? Is this good formation for celibacy?
Father Groeschel's book will offer hope, God knows we need it!
Catholic Education: Both Amy and I have taught in Catholic schools over the past twenty years. In a very elite Catholic school that I taught at, the department head of the Theology had no accademic background in religion of any sort. He had a master's degree in science (but was hated by everyone in the science department) so was shifted to theology. He was the only teacher in the department to have no background in theology. He was confused (to be charitable)--pro abortion but almost tridentine when it came to the words of the Eucharistic prayer and what constituted a "valid" mass.
Anyway the point here, is that Catholic education is a colossal mess!
Catholic Hospitals: Most Catholic hospitals were founded by good religious who sought to relieve the poor. In a major city where I lived for a number of years and had friends who were EMT's, one told me once that they had a list in the ambulance of where they could take indigents that they might pick up. Out of seven hospitals on the list--the Catholic hospital was the last resort. This is the first scandal--that the hospital that should welcome the marginalized as Christ, doesn't want him.
The second scandal is all of the other stuff that goes on in the name of being eligible for government funds.
Liturgy: This past Easter, Amy and I sat through a mass where the priest performed the remarkable feat of never once saying anything that was in the ritual--changing every word from the start until communion (after which we left). I sat in a committee meeting for a renovation project recently where the "liturgical consultant" hired for a hefty fee lied repeatedly to the members of the committee with such fables as "Vatican II declared voting, unChristian." When I inquired which document of Vatican II declared that, I was brushed off. One wonders why people with agendas that are not Catholic continue to dominate the American scene.
Religious Life: I have written elsewhere on here about the ruins of monasteries and convents that dot the countryside here in the midwest, perhaps even sadder are those that are still populated with what can only be termed as "lost" souls. I recently visited one community of religious women who seem to have lost any sense of what they exist for and equally confused about their faith. One sister remarked in a prayer "and for whoever the father of Jesus really was." No joke, if she doesn't know that, God knows what is keeping her in that community.
Catholic Spirituality: I have a masters degree in Christian Spirituality. While attending school and working toward that degree I was surrounded by some very confused people. Prayer services were often to the four winds or in imitation of some other world religion. A Congregational minister who attended one semester in hopes of getting a taste of Catholic spirituality asked me once what the hell was going on? I shrugged my shoulders. Demonic activity, would be my guess.
Truth telling: Unfortunately the last straw, perhaps the fruit of all the above is the loss of the ability to tell the truth that has plagued the church. The laity (pyschologists and attorneys) have greatly contributed to this mess. When one looks at Cardinal Law's frequent "I can't recall" one thinks of a well coached by attorney client. The so called "church" is worried about losing money and its place.
I once witnessed a cover-up of major proportions where an Archbishop read a two page hand written statement, to those who were angry about the cover-up, which stated without reserve that those gathered were not to discuss among themselves, or even think about the charges that were being levied against a certain priest. He concluded his statement with, "now, I think I'll have a drink."
The priest in questions was quietly removed a few months later after those in attendance at that meeting refused to "obey" the Archbishop. The Archbishop continues to rule and speak out about all that he is doing to be open and honest.
Seminaries: I have written elsewhere on these pages about my experiences as a student. I will add one incident. Recently while visiting a seminary in the south, I asked the Rector of that seminary why a certain priest who lives openly with another man (off campus--something that no other faculty are allowed to do, unless they are in a parish) in an obviously gay relationship is allowed to be a faculty member there. HIs answer was to shrug his shoulders and abruptly end the meeting. It will be interesting to see if in the next few months this man is let go--as of now he is still teaching. What are seminarians supposed to think when they see a priest openly living with another gayman in a house where the rooms are wallpapered with mirrors? Is this good formation for celibacy?
Father Groeschel's book will offer hope, God knows we need it!
Day #5 of 9 to pray Cardinal Law's Novena during this period between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost, I will post the prayer for the next nine days, to make it easier for you to join in:
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 26th step:
(26) Not to forsake charity.
There are times when our hearts can grow cold and we can close ourselves off from either accepting love or giving it. Often this is because of some evil that we have either had done to us or have experienced in some way.
No matter how bad it gets, St. Benedict here wisely counsels us to never forsake charity--love.
When our hearts grow cold, we need to open the door to the Lord's love and ask him to burn away anything that keeps us from being vessels of his charity both to ourselves and to others. It is His Love that conquers all and it ultimately is His Love that heals all wounds.
If we feel at anytime that we really do not feel like being loved or loving--we need to examine ourselves and to see what has crept into our lives and is taking the place of God. A coldness of heart is always an indication that we have put something else in God's place in our lives.
"Not to forsake charity" applies in all circumstances in life. Charity as a translation for caritas, which can also be translated "love", is a good way to remind us that love is always requires "giving." When we do not wish to give, it is often because we feel we have nothing to give. But if we allow ourselves to be filled with God's love, we will always have more than enough.
One need only think of a Mother Teresa, frail and old, walking and greeting all that cross her path. Or a Pope John Paul II bent over with age, ignoring no one. It is not physical strength that allows a person to act in this manner but Divine Love.
It is available to you, in the same way as it is available to them.
Do not forsake this great gift that God wishes to give you, nor to share it with all who cross your path this day.
(26) Not to forsake charity.
There are times when our hearts can grow cold and we can close ourselves off from either accepting love or giving it. Often this is because of some evil that we have either had done to us or have experienced in some way.
No matter how bad it gets, St. Benedict here wisely counsels us to never forsake charity--love.
When our hearts grow cold, we need to open the door to the Lord's love and ask him to burn away anything that keeps us from being vessels of his charity both to ourselves and to others. It is His Love that conquers all and it ultimately is His Love that heals all wounds.
If we feel at anytime that we really do not feel like being loved or loving--we need to examine ourselves and to see what has crept into our lives and is taking the place of God. A coldness of heart is always an indication that we have put something else in God's place in our lives.
"Not to forsake charity" applies in all circumstances in life. Charity as a translation for caritas, which can also be translated "love", is a good way to remind us that love is always requires "giving." When we do not wish to give, it is often because we feel we have nothing to give. But if we allow ourselves to be filled with God's love, we will always have more than enough.
One need only think of a Mother Teresa, frail and old, walking and greeting all that cross her path. Or a Pope John Paul II bent over with age, ignoring no one. It is not physical strength that allows a person to act in this manner but Divine Love.
It is available to you, in the same way as it is available to them.
Do not forsake this great gift that God wishes to give you, nor to share it with all who cross your path this day.
Monday, May 13, 2002
A great journal, with an online presence--Mars Hill Review. Dr. Peter Kreeft says about it--"I find the fiction and literary criticism in Mars Hill Review to be especially valuable... I know of no published Christian equivalent."
America Magazine has devoted an issue to Liturgy (May 6th edition). Among other articles is one on Renewal and Renovation: The Politics and Principles of Liturgical Design. An interesting paragraph in this is the following:
Any attempt to design implies an interpretation of these principles. But the texts can be misused and manipulated to justify almost any design based on personal preference and piety. Pastors must guard against people of various interest groups using the texts in this way. Those texts are meant for instruction and guidance, not for weapons for bludgeoning opponents in liturgical warfare.
Since, I perceived that this was the set-up for the renovation that was being guided by a litugical consultant at my parish, I resigned from the committee on Friday after meeting with the Pastor of the parish and sharing my concerns. The consultant no less than four times lied to those on the committee who weren't knowledgeable enough to question her. I questioned her and each time she backed off of her original claim. But I could see that as far as I was concerned this was going to be nothing but a colossal waste of my time.
Any attempt to design implies an interpretation of these principles. But the texts can be misused and manipulated to justify almost any design based on personal preference and piety. Pastors must guard against people of various interest groups using the texts in this way. Those texts are meant for instruction and guidance, not for weapons for bludgeoning opponents in liturgical warfare.
Since, I perceived that this was the set-up for the renovation that was being guided by a litugical consultant at my parish, I resigned from the committee on Friday after meeting with the Pastor of the parish and sharing my concerns. The consultant no less than four times lied to those on the committee who weren't knowledgeable enough to question her. I questioned her and each time she backed off of her original claim. But I could see that as far as I was concerned this was going to be nothing but a colossal waste of my time.
Words of Pope John Paul II yesterday, encouraging the use of the internet to spread the Gospel:
The most recent advancements in communications and information have put the Church in front of previously unheard-of possibilities for evangelization. That is why this year I thought to present a very-current theme: "Internet: A New Forum for Proclaiming the Gospel."
We must enter into this modern and every more replete communications network with realism and confidence, convinced that, if it is used with competence and conscientious responsibility, it can offer useful opportunities for spreading the Gospel message.
There is no need, therefore, to worry about "putting out to sea" in the vast informational ocean. One can also reach the heart of men and women of the new millennium through the Good News itself.
The most recent advancements in communications and information have put the Church in front of previously unheard-of possibilities for evangelization. That is why this year I thought to present a very-current theme: "Internet: A New Forum for Proclaiming the Gospel."
We must enter into this modern and every more replete communications network with realism and confidence, convinced that, if it is used with competence and conscientious responsibility, it can offer useful opportunities for spreading the Gospel message.
There is no need, therefore, to worry about "putting out to sea" in the vast informational ocean. One can also reach the heart of men and women of the new millennium through the Good News itself.
My wife Amy has linked the parochial vicar (associate pastor) of the Cathedral in Boston who now has his own blog at From the Middle of the Storm. Here is your chance to get all the inside scoop of what is taking place behind the scenes--if he cares to share it with us.
Two new search engines trying to rival Google (which itself was new not so long ago):
Teoma didn't do anything great when I did several sample searchs. In fact, I was disappointed.
Wisenut has a feature which struck me as an improvement, you can preview the site without actually leaving your search results. This is a definite innovation.
Teoma didn't do anything great when I did several sample searchs. In fact, I was disappointed.
Wisenut has a feature which struck me as an improvement, you can preview the site without actually leaving your search results. This is a definite innovation.
From Fool's Folly a nice reflection:
And whenever I’m feeling helpless in the wake of Bishops who won’t lead and priests who prey upon little ones, I need to remember that the good that I do, my prayers, my suffering, my daily offerings, does help the Body. Every step I take towards holiness is a gift to the Church. Living my own quiet little life, loving the people around me, I can help in a way more powerful and more real than anything I can imagine.
And further down she writes:
These priests who substitute their own enlightened faith for the Catholic faith are not all evil. A few probably knowingly do the devil’s work, Paul Shanly for instance. Most, however, are decent, kind men who truly believe they are doing God’s work. But no matter how nice these men are, if they refuse to accept and teach what the Church teaches, they have no business remaining in the clergy. Through their arrogance and ignorance they are allowing rot to fester in the Body of Christ. I can understand why these men refuse to leave the priesthood, refuse to give up their personal crusades. But what I cannot even begin to fathom is why Rome does not shut them up. Why do they still wear collars? Why?
I wonder if Emily knows how many "good" priests have left because they could no longer put up with the hypocrisy, of the very priests (and bishops) that she writes about, that exists and just got tired of fighting it?
And whenever I’m feeling helpless in the wake of Bishops who won’t lead and priests who prey upon little ones, I need to remember that the good that I do, my prayers, my suffering, my daily offerings, does help the Body. Every step I take towards holiness is a gift to the Church. Living my own quiet little life, loving the people around me, I can help in a way more powerful and more real than anything I can imagine.
And further down she writes:
These priests who substitute their own enlightened faith for the Catholic faith are not all evil. A few probably knowingly do the devil’s work, Paul Shanly for instance. Most, however, are decent, kind men who truly believe they are doing God’s work. But no matter how nice these men are, if they refuse to accept and teach what the Church teaches, they have no business remaining in the clergy. Through their arrogance and ignorance they are allowing rot to fester in the Body of Christ. I can understand why these men refuse to leave the priesthood, refuse to give up their personal crusades. But what I cannot even begin to fathom is why Rome does not shut them up. Why do they still wear collars? Why?
I wonder if Emily knows how many "good" priests have left because they could no longer put up with the hypocrisy, of the very priests (and bishops) that she writes about, that exists and just got tired of fighting it?
From a reader of this blog, concerning Cardinal Law's novena:
While, certainly, there are nine psalms that could do vastly more powerful service together as a novena in the face of such devastation of spirit, critiquing the elements of this particular novena seems pharisaical (i.e., "God, I thank thee that I am not like other men,extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector").
That many bishops are now undergoing the lash is living evidence the Holy Spirit loves his church beyond our capacity to grasp. The power of it we can't know because ultimately it is a call to holiness the likes of which collectively we've never known. Would that we come to know.
But we will all undergo such as this for our sins, whether in this life or the next. We suffer it even now.
Thank you for publishing the Cardinal's novena.
While, certainly, there are nine psalms that could do vastly more powerful service together as a novena in the face of such devastation of spirit, critiquing the elements of this particular novena seems pharisaical (i.e., "God, I thank thee that I am not like other men,extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector").
That many bishops are now undergoing the lash is living evidence the Holy Spirit loves his church beyond our capacity to grasp. The power of it we can't know because ultimately it is a call to holiness the likes of which collectively we've never known. Would that we come to know.
But we will all undergo such as this for our sins, whether in this life or the next. We suffer it even now.
Thank you for publishing the Cardinal's novena.
Day #4 of 9to pray a Cardinal Law's Novena during this period between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost, I will post the prayer for the next nine days, to make it easier for you to join in:
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 25th step:
(25) Not to make a false peace.
This may catch us by surprise. We might reason, wouldn't some semblance of peace be better than war. But, again if we think about the ramifications of someone who we think is at peace with us but really isn't, we can see how damaging this "show" of peace can be in the long run.
St. Benedict isn't saying that we shouldn't be at peace with everyone, he is telling us not to make a "false" peace with anyone.
We are to be honest, as the previous counsel has instructed us. We are to make peace with our brother or sister that is genuine this step counsels us.
But what if we find ourselves incapable of being at peace with someone?
We must bring our warring heart to God.
People, from a distance, often are amazed at how certain groups of the same people can foster hatred toward one another over so many years. Sometimes it is religious belief (in the case of most religions, it is against the very belief that they fight over) that keeps people enemies. Military might is often used, sometimes by a third party to keep the peace. But as history proves time and again such peace is no peace at all. Soon the parties are warring with one another again often with a conflict that has inflamed while it was dormant.
What then?
If we hold peace with each other as a goal, then we must use every means to achieve that goal. Most of the time peace is achieved by simply acknowledging the others right to exist with dignity and to acknowledge their right to believe differently. What this requires for both parties to reach this goal mutually, is for both of their egos to die.
For the follower of Christ this is not an option.
"Love your enemies." "If they press you to go one mile, go two." "If they strike you on one cheek, offer the other." "Forgive seventy times seven."
Amazing how anyone who follows Christ could ever set out to make anything other than true peace.
Our Lord's parting words to His disciples was, "My peace I give you, not as the world gives do I give." He was probably referring to the fact that at the time (and even today in Israel) that people didn't say "Goodbye" but rather they said "Peace." The Romans said Pax Vobiscum, the Israelites said Shalom.
But did they mean it? It was a convention and very well often was said with no conviction.
Our Lord's peace is not a convention, it is true. We should follow His example and make true peace with all we encounter.
(25) Not to make a false peace.
This may catch us by surprise. We might reason, wouldn't some semblance of peace be better than war. But, again if we think about the ramifications of someone who we think is at peace with us but really isn't, we can see how damaging this "show" of peace can be in the long run.
St. Benedict isn't saying that we shouldn't be at peace with everyone, he is telling us not to make a "false" peace with anyone.
We are to be honest, as the previous counsel has instructed us. We are to make peace with our brother or sister that is genuine this step counsels us.
But what if we find ourselves incapable of being at peace with someone?
We must bring our warring heart to God.
People, from a distance, often are amazed at how certain groups of the same people can foster hatred toward one another over so many years. Sometimes it is religious belief (in the case of most religions, it is against the very belief that they fight over) that keeps people enemies. Military might is often used, sometimes by a third party to keep the peace. But as history proves time and again such peace is no peace at all. Soon the parties are warring with one another again often with a conflict that has inflamed while it was dormant.
What then?
If we hold peace with each other as a goal, then we must use every means to achieve that goal. Most of the time peace is achieved by simply acknowledging the others right to exist with dignity and to acknowledge their right to believe differently. What this requires for both parties to reach this goal mutually, is for both of their egos to die.
For the follower of Christ this is not an option.
"Love your enemies." "If they press you to go one mile, go two." "If they strike you on one cheek, offer the other." "Forgive seventy times seven."
Amazing how anyone who follows Christ could ever set out to make anything other than true peace.
Our Lord's parting words to His disciples was, "My peace I give you, not as the world gives do I give." He was probably referring to the fact that at the time (and even today in Israel) that people didn't say "Goodbye" but rather they said "Peace." The Romans said Pax Vobiscum, the Israelites said Shalom.
But did they mean it? It was a convention and very well often was said with no conviction.
Our Lord's peace is not a convention, it is true. We should follow His example and make true peace with all we encounter.
Sunday, May 12, 2002
Happy Mother's Day to my mother who has the great fortune of enjoying this day as every in the beautiful State of Florida. Amy's mother is deceased, please remember her in your prayers today.
Day #3 of 9to pray a Cardinal Law's Novena during this period between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost, I will post the prayer for the next nine days, to make it easier for you to join in:
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 24th step:
(24) Not to entertain deceit in the heart.
Our Lord is the way, the truth and the life. Anything that tempts us toward falseness is not of Him. Again, St. Benedict warns us not even to "entertain" the idea of deceit in our emotions, symbolized by the heart.
Everyone deserves the truth. As Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and it shall set you free."
Unfortunately many people do not believe that the truth is helpful to others. To quote a phrase from the movie A Few Good Men, that was a favorite of students that I once taught Ethics to, "You can't handle the truth," seems to be most people's guiding principle.
Doctors are not honest with patients who come to them expecting honesty. Parents, sometimes keep the truth from their children, leading them to search for it elsewhere. Even bishops now are not known for standing for the truth but rather hiding and trying to conceal it.
The result of such deceit lives with us for years. It destroys our capacity to trust. One can see how it could destroy a tight knit community like a monastery, but we should not let that excuse us.
A meditation on the effects of deceit that we have been on the receiving end might help us to appreciate why as St. Benedict counsels us, we should not even entertain the idea of being that way to anyone.
Everyone deserves the truth. The truth is a good and valuable commodity. Whatever perceived good we might think that hiding the truth from someone might bring, usually back fires.
St. Thomas Aquinas argued that the natural purpose of speech is to communicate the truth. Can you imagine a bird warning of an intruder to another bird , if in fact there is no intruder? A dog barking out lies to another dog?
Yet we humans can abuse this gift of speech that we have at our disposal.
Ultimately, it is a choice to reject God and to make something else a god in our lives. Whatever we feel is more important than telling the truth is what we really believe in. Our reputation, our pride or our sins all can keep us from fulfilling this counsel.
The confessional, then is a good place to begin. Opening our hearts to God and not even entertaining the thought of deceiving Him. As St. Paul says, "God will not be mocked."
God not only can handle the truth about us, He can teach us the truth about ourselves. Something usually hidden from the deceitful person.
(24) Not to entertain deceit in the heart.
Our Lord is the way, the truth and the life. Anything that tempts us toward falseness is not of Him. Again, St. Benedict warns us not even to "entertain" the idea of deceit in our emotions, symbolized by the heart.
Everyone deserves the truth. As Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and it shall set you free."
Unfortunately many people do not believe that the truth is helpful to others. To quote a phrase from the movie A Few Good Men, that was a favorite of students that I once taught Ethics to, "You can't handle the truth," seems to be most people's guiding principle.
Doctors are not honest with patients who come to them expecting honesty. Parents, sometimes keep the truth from their children, leading them to search for it elsewhere. Even bishops now are not known for standing for the truth but rather hiding and trying to conceal it.
The result of such deceit lives with us for years. It destroys our capacity to trust. One can see how it could destroy a tight knit community like a monastery, but we should not let that excuse us.
A meditation on the effects of deceit that we have been on the receiving end might help us to appreciate why as St. Benedict counsels us, we should not even entertain the idea of being that way to anyone.
Everyone deserves the truth. The truth is a good and valuable commodity. Whatever perceived good we might think that hiding the truth from someone might bring, usually back fires.
St. Thomas Aquinas argued that the natural purpose of speech is to communicate the truth. Can you imagine a bird warning of an intruder to another bird , if in fact there is no intruder? A dog barking out lies to another dog?
Yet we humans can abuse this gift of speech that we have at our disposal.
Ultimately, it is a choice to reject God and to make something else a god in our lives. Whatever we feel is more important than telling the truth is what we really believe in. Our reputation, our pride or our sins all can keep us from fulfilling this counsel.
The confessional, then is a good place to begin. Opening our hearts to God and not even entertaining the thought of deceiving Him. As St. Paul says, "God will not be mocked."
God not only can handle the truth about us, He can teach us the truth about ourselves. Something usually hidden from the deceitful person.
Saturday, May 11, 2002
Regarding current info that is making the rounds about Communists infiltration into the seminaries sixty or seventy years ago:
First, I do not doubt that such an enterprise was undertaken--most likely in Catholic countries like those in Latin America and in Europe (places like Poland and Italy). In fact those familar with theological trends would not be surprised that the trends in theology in Latin America attempted to mix Marxism and Christianity (Liberation Theology).
Secondly, the current crisis (involving sexuality and Clinton-Nixon like cover-up) seems incredibly American. It is more likely that we have exported and infiltrated seminaries with our "democratic" views of morality throughout the English speaking world. The relativism that has become popular in American seminaries is often traced back to Josef Fuchs (a German Jesuit priest, who I myself was taught by). Fuchs historically was a parish priest in Germany during World War II. He had the sad tasks of trying to make sense of the hiddeous complicity of the German people in Hitler's war and holocaust. In doing so, he greatly questioned the culpability of people in almost any circumstance. But it was Americans like Charles Curran and Richard McCormack who popularized his views and even took them to new depths in this country. None of these people could hardly qualify as communists-rather than bringing people to work for the good of all--they are largely responsible for just the opposite--the rise and glorification of the individualism (which is hardly compatitlbe with the goals of communism).
A mirror is probably a better instrument to analyze the current crisis in the Catholic Church.
First, I do not doubt that such an enterprise was undertaken--most likely in Catholic countries like those in Latin America and in Europe (places like Poland and Italy). In fact those familar with theological trends would not be surprised that the trends in theology in Latin America attempted to mix Marxism and Christianity (Liberation Theology).
Secondly, the current crisis (involving sexuality and Clinton-Nixon like cover-up) seems incredibly American. It is more likely that we have exported and infiltrated seminaries with our "democratic" views of morality throughout the English speaking world. The relativism that has become popular in American seminaries is often traced back to Josef Fuchs (a German Jesuit priest, who I myself was taught by). Fuchs historically was a parish priest in Germany during World War II. He had the sad tasks of trying to make sense of the hiddeous complicity of the German people in Hitler's war and holocaust. In doing so, he greatly questioned the culpability of people in almost any circumstance. But it was Americans like Charles Curran and Richard McCormack who popularized his views and even took them to new depths in this country. None of these people could hardly qualify as communists-rather than bringing people to work for the good of all--they are largely responsible for just the opposite--the rise and glorification of the individualism (which is hardly compatitlbe with the goals of communism).
A mirror is probably a better instrument to analyze the current crisis in the Catholic Church.
Day #2 of 9to pray a Cardinal Law's Novena during this period between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost, I will post the prayer for the next nine days, to make it easier for you to join in:
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 23rd step:
(23) Not to foster a desire for revenge.
One of the genius' of St. Benedict's steps is that he teaches the monk to pay attention to what it in his heart. In the previous step it was anger that he counseled we should not give "way to, now it is revenge that we should not "foster a desire" for. If you have been hurt by someone you have a choice how you will respond to that hurt. Our Lord counseled us to forgive, forgive, forgive.
Forgiveness is more than just saying, "I pardon you," to those who hurt us. It also requires an act of the heart that we actually wish the best for our enemy--who may very knowingly and willfully have hurt us.
This usually shocks people.
"Why should I?" "Isn't doing so, making what they did to me right?"
No, in doing so you are not making them or what they did "God" in your life.
Too often we are motivated by anger and desires that have nothing to do with God but everything to do with what other people have done to us. We are not free as a result, but merely puppets of those who have hurt or harmed us in the past.
Not fostering a desire for revenge may seem impossible in some cases--but everytime that we are faced with a task that seems impossible to us--there is a new opening to our great need for God.
That's why these are "steps" toward communion with God, because they make us face our great need for Him at every twist and turn of our lives.
In the same way that "lust" can lead one to commit acts of infidelity--so too in this case fostering a desire for revenge can only lead to the victim becoming the perpetrator of an evil act themselves. Better to cut the growth of something evil at the very roots and "fostering the desire" of something evil is the root of an evil act.
(23) Not to foster a desire for revenge.
One of the genius' of St. Benedict's steps is that he teaches the monk to pay attention to what it in his heart. In the previous step it was anger that he counseled we should not give "way to, now it is revenge that we should not "foster a desire" for. If you have been hurt by someone you have a choice how you will respond to that hurt. Our Lord counseled us to forgive, forgive, forgive.
Forgiveness is more than just saying, "I pardon you," to those who hurt us. It also requires an act of the heart that we actually wish the best for our enemy--who may very knowingly and willfully have hurt us.
This usually shocks people.
"Why should I?" "Isn't doing so, making what they did to me right?"
No, in doing so you are not making them or what they did "God" in your life.
Too often we are motivated by anger and desires that have nothing to do with God but everything to do with what other people have done to us. We are not free as a result, but merely puppets of those who have hurt or harmed us in the past.
Not fostering a desire for revenge may seem impossible in some cases--but everytime that we are faced with a task that seems impossible to us--there is a new opening to our great need for God.
That's why these are "steps" toward communion with God, because they make us face our great need for Him at every twist and turn of our lives.
In the same way that "lust" can lead one to commit acts of infidelity--so too in this case fostering a desire for revenge can only lead to the victim becoming the perpetrator of an evil act themselves. Better to cut the growth of something evil at the very roots and "fostering the desire" of something evil is the root of an evil act.
Friday, May 10, 2002
Cardinal Law is calling on all Catholics to pray a Novena during this period between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost, I will post the prayer for the next nine days, to make it easier for you to join in:
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
''Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.
''Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.
''By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit's gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.
''We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.
''We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.
''We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.
''We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.
''Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
''We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.''
I read this some years ago (in 1979). The book claims to be from 1938 and if that could be proved, I think you would definitely have something to look at very seriously. Anyway I offer for your review:
The Confessions of a Communist Agent On The Attempt to Destroy the Roman Catholic Church from Within
I would say that at the time, I felt it was a creation of someone who didn't like the changes in the church.
The Confessions of a Communist Agent On The Attempt to Destroy the Roman Catholic Church from Within
I would say that at the time, I felt it was a creation of someone who didn't like the changes in the church.
From another reader:
The "Spirit of St. Francis" award that was to be awarded to Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman
by St. Francis hospital this Saturday has been rescinded. She is the State (NJ) Democratic Chair...endorsed and funded by Planned
Parenthood.She voted 2 times against Parental notification (a parent would have to be notified before their minor daughter went for an abortion...any adult can take a this girl for an abortion)
This campaign to rescind the award reached a national audience...People were outraged and every relevant office in the Diocese of Trenton received emails, letters and phone calls.
Please continue to pray and ask Our Lady of Victory to intercede in this "battle for the dignity, reverence and respect for Life"
Please pray for Bishop John Smith for courage in every situation...."We love him but we love our Church more"
A special thank-you to the "Annunciations" Web Page. He printed our request and received a national audience Check it out...Great!
Larry Cigniano "Catholics we vote" all the emails and especially... to Fr. Peter West "Priests for Life".. ..as St. Francis was
told by Our Lord "rebuild my Church" they have been told "rebuild the culture of Life" no thank-you's could ever be enough...we'll send prayers.
Remember evil happens when a few good people do nothing! Archbishop Fulton Sheen used to say..."in the end God is not going to
ask us if we were successful...He's going to ask us if we tried!"
Good to know that items posted here are having a positive effect elsewhere.
The "Spirit of St. Francis" award that was to be awarded to Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman
by St. Francis hospital this Saturday has been rescinded. She is the State (NJ) Democratic Chair...endorsed and funded by Planned
Parenthood.She voted 2 times against Parental notification (a parent would have to be notified before their minor daughter went for an abortion...any adult can take a this girl for an abortion)
This campaign to rescind the award reached a national audience...People were outraged and every relevant office in the Diocese of Trenton received emails, letters and phone calls.
Please continue to pray and ask Our Lady of Victory to intercede in this "battle for the dignity, reverence and respect for Life"
Please pray for Bishop John Smith for courage in every situation...."We love him but we love our Church more"
A special thank-you to the "Annunciations" Web Page. He printed our request and received a national audience Check it out...Great!
Larry Cigniano "Catholics we vote" all the emails and especially... to Fr. Peter West "Priests for Life".. ..as St. Francis was
told by Our Lord "rebuild my Church" they have been told "rebuild the culture of Life" no thank-you's could ever be enough...we'll send prayers.
Remember evil happens when a few good people do nothing! Archbishop Fulton Sheen used to say..."in the end God is not going to
ask us if we were successful...He's going to ask us if we tried!"
Good to know that items posted here are having a positive effect elsewhere.
From a reader of this blog..and my new book:
As a Catholic for six years now (former atheist, so I'm relatively new to the religion scene) - what's a poor box? I've never seen one in our Church. We do have a large box for St. Vincent de Paul item donations. And we have approximately quarterly donation envelopes for the same charity. And we have various other diocesan appeals for charities. But the idea of a poor box intrigues me! I like the idea of emptying my pockets for the poor before leaving Church. I would feel very good about that, if that's where the money would actually go.
By the way, thank you so much for your book on Archbishop Sheen! I am enjoying it immensely! Although it does cause me some distress - pondering your meditation questions is not an easy exercise. But the exercise is helping me learn and grow in my faith! Another distress is that the secluded life I lead prevents me from getting to Church as often as I would like. I live in the country, so getting to town more often than Sunday is a bit of a problem (and expense with gas prices these days). But the last time I came in, I made a point to go to our Adoration Chapel and pray the rosary and dwell in His Presence for awhile. I couldn't stay a full hour, because my husband was babysitting our pre-schooler, and really needed to be working. And he is still a bitter non-practicing Catholic, and HATES it that I have converted my heart and soul to Jesus! So I have to be careful (and secretive sometimes) about what I do, and how I do it. I am having to temper my zeal - which is hard, because as one priest put it last Pentecost, "I have the flames of Pentecost in my heart and on my head!" The torment in my heart is suffering I lift up to our Lord for the whole world. So I apologize to you and all that I am not able at this time to make a daily hour, or even a weekly hour to the Adoration Chapel. YET!!!!
You and Amy are so blessed to be able to share your faith with each other. I can't say that I am jealous (St. Benedict's rule: don't covet!), but I do pray that before I die, my husband will join me at the foot of the cross, God willing! (Appeals to Sts. Monica, Augustine and Jude!)
Poor boxes, see post below, are small boxes usually at the entrances of churches marked for the purpose of collecting money for St. Vincent de Paul Societies or the parish to help the poor. You have a clothing box, mention the idea of having a poor box to the pastor.
Thanks for your comments!
As a Catholic for six years now (former atheist, so I'm relatively new to the religion scene) - what's a poor box? I've never seen one in our Church. We do have a large box for St. Vincent de Paul item donations. And we have approximately quarterly donation envelopes for the same charity. And we have various other diocesan appeals for charities. But the idea of a poor box intrigues me! I like the idea of emptying my pockets for the poor before leaving Church. I would feel very good about that, if that's where the money would actually go.
By the way, thank you so much for your book on Archbishop Sheen! I am enjoying it immensely! Although it does cause me some distress - pondering your meditation questions is not an easy exercise. But the exercise is helping me learn and grow in my faith! Another distress is that the secluded life I lead prevents me from getting to Church as often as I would like. I live in the country, so getting to town more often than Sunday is a bit of a problem (and expense with gas prices these days). But the last time I came in, I made a point to go to our Adoration Chapel and pray the rosary and dwell in His Presence for awhile. I couldn't stay a full hour, because my husband was babysitting our pre-schooler, and really needed to be working. And he is still a bitter non-practicing Catholic, and HATES it that I have converted my heart and soul to Jesus! So I have to be careful (and secretive sometimes) about what I do, and how I do it. I am having to temper my zeal - which is hard, because as one priest put it last Pentecost, "I have the flames of Pentecost in my heart and on my head!" The torment in my heart is suffering I lift up to our Lord for the whole world. So I apologize to you and all that I am not able at this time to make a daily hour, or even a weekly hour to the Adoration Chapel. YET!!!!
You and Amy are so blessed to be able to share your faith with each other. I can't say that I am jealous (St. Benedict's rule: don't covet!), but I do pray that before I die, my husband will join me at the foot of the cross, God willing! (Appeals to Sts. Monica, Augustine and Jude!)
Poor boxes, see post below, are small boxes usually at the entrances of churches marked for the purpose of collecting money for St. Vincent de Paul Societies or the parish to help the poor. You have a clothing box, mention the idea of having a poor box to the pastor.
Thanks for your comments!
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous are posted below among the other posts and last week's archives. Here is the 22nd step:
(22) Not to give way to anger.
Whenever Christians think of anger, they usually think of Jesus cleaning house in the Temple. If Jesus got angry, then why is anger a bad thing, most reason? I could add a few more scenes from the Gospel. When Jesus' disciples awaken him during a storm, he stills the storm and then reacts in anger--rebuking his disciples for their lack of faith (this should not be lost on anyone who has ever been awaken from a sound sleep--which obviously Jesus was enjoying and is a sign of his deep trust in God). When Jesus confronts the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the religious leaders of the time, he does not refrain from reacting angrily to what they say and do.
So it is obvious that anger has a place in the perfect human life of which Our Lord's is an example. There are times when anger is the right reaction. When we see someone being abused or misled it is appropriate and even holy to be angry--as long as we do something about the anger. It should motivate us to act out in a righteous way.
But "to give way" to anger is another way of saying "to let it fester," or "to let it take over". We do nothing about it, but rather let it eat away at us. We allow it to grow into resentment and skepticism. This is neither healthy nor spiritual.
There is a certain school of spirituality that often counsels us to remain silent. Not to speak out but rather suffer silently. Of course, there is some truth to this and Our Lord's example before Pontius Pilate is an example of when such a practice is right. But there are other times when such silence would be sinful, not spiritual.
The early Christians called their movement not Christianity but "the Way." Jesus had given his followers a new path to walk. This path is a way of truthfulness and life. Reflecting on the previous step, "to prefer nothing to the love of Christ," in this step we reject making "anger" the way.
Anger has a place in creation, it was created by God for a purpose, but it's purpose is not to control us but to motivate us to act.
The imitation of Christ is the sure "way" to making sure that we do not give "way" to anger.
(22) Not to give way to anger.
Whenever Christians think of anger, they usually think of Jesus cleaning house in the Temple. If Jesus got angry, then why is anger a bad thing, most reason? I could add a few more scenes from the Gospel. When Jesus' disciples awaken him during a storm, he stills the storm and then reacts in anger--rebuking his disciples for their lack of faith (this should not be lost on anyone who has ever been awaken from a sound sleep--which obviously Jesus was enjoying and is a sign of his deep trust in God). When Jesus confronts the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the religious leaders of the time, he does not refrain from reacting angrily to what they say and do.
So it is obvious that anger has a place in the perfect human life of which Our Lord's is an example. There are times when anger is the right reaction. When we see someone being abused or misled it is appropriate and even holy to be angry--as long as we do something about the anger. It should motivate us to act out in a righteous way.
But "to give way" to anger is another way of saying "to let it fester," or "to let it take over". We do nothing about it, but rather let it eat away at us. We allow it to grow into resentment and skepticism. This is neither healthy nor spiritual.
There is a certain school of spirituality that often counsels us to remain silent. Not to speak out but rather suffer silently. Of course, there is some truth to this and Our Lord's example before Pontius Pilate is an example of when such a practice is right. But there are other times when such silence would be sinful, not spiritual.
The early Christians called their movement not Christianity but "the Way." Jesus had given his followers a new path to walk. This path is a way of truthfulness and life. Reflecting on the previous step, "to prefer nothing to the love of Christ," in this step we reject making "anger" the way.
Anger has a place in creation, it was created by God for a purpose, but it's purpose is not to control us but to motivate us to act.
The imitation of Christ is the sure "way" to making sure that we do not give "way" to anger.
From the Tampa Tribune, another priest who once taught at the school where I once taught. Don't know him, though:
Abuse Charges Against Jesuit Teacher `Credible': From The Tampa Tribune
Abuse Charges Against Jesuit Teacher `Credible': From The Tampa Tribune
Thursday, May 09, 2002
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous are posted below among the other posts and last week's archives. Here is the 21st step:
(21) To prefer nothing to the love of Christ.
This is without a doubt the most quoted counsel of St. Benedict.
It an excellent guide for the spiritual life-- to prefer nothing to the love of Christ.
One might ask, are we to focus on being loved by Christ or the act of loving Him? I think it is both.
In Mark 10:21 we have the account of the rich young man. The Gospel says that Jesus, " looking upon him loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."
Notice that when Christ loves the rich young man, He points out what the young man lacks. It is out of love, that Jesus tells him to get rid of all his possessions.
Being loved by Christ will reveal similar deficiencies in us.
Our Lord looks upon us and recognizes what we really need. We often come to him with our own ideas about what we need.
If we prefer our ideas to the love of Christ, we too will join the rich young man who walks away sad "for his possessions were many." We may possess the world, but without Christ it is nothing!
In John 8:42, Jesus is engaged in a heated argument with those who oppose him. He says to them "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came forth from God; I came not of my own accord, but he sent me."
This takes us back to the first counsel of St. Benedict, to love God. Jesus is God and so we should prefer nothing to God and His love that Jesus has revealed to us perfectly.
How do we know if we truly love Our Lord? He addresses this in John 14:23-24 " "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me."
A concrete way to always prefer the love of Christ throughout the day when faced with countless other choices might be to adopt the phrase that Jesus spoke to Peter and to hear it addressed to ourselves--continuously: "Do you love me more than these? (John 21:15)"
(21) To prefer nothing to the love of Christ.
This is without a doubt the most quoted counsel of St. Benedict.
It an excellent guide for the spiritual life-- to prefer nothing to the love of Christ.
One might ask, are we to focus on being loved by Christ or the act of loving Him? I think it is both.
In Mark 10:21 we have the account of the rich young man. The Gospel says that Jesus, " looking upon him loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."
Notice that when Christ loves the rich young man, He points out what the young man lacks. It is out of love, that Jesus tells him to get rid of all his possessions.
Being loved by Christ will reveal similar deficiencies in us.
Our Lord looks upon us and recognizes what we really need. We often come to him with our own ideas about what we need.
If we prefer our ideas to the love of Christ, we too will join the rich young man who walks away sad "for his possessions were many." We may possess the world, but without Christ it is nothing!
In John 8:42, Jesus is engaged in a heated argument with those who oppose him. He says to them "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came forth from God; I came not of my own accord, but he sent me."
This takes us back to the first counsel of St. Benedict, to love God. Jesus is God and so we should prefer nothing to God and His love that Jesus has revealed to us perfectly.
How do we know if we truly love Our Lord? He addresses this in John 14:23-24 " "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me."
A concrete way to always prefer the love of Christ throughout the day when faced with countless other choices might be to adopt the phrase that Jesus spoke to Peter and to hear it addressed to ourselves--continuously: "Do you love me more than these? (John 21:15)"
Catholic Light (not Catholic Lite) is a very entertaining blog. I especially like his meditation on the size of poor boxes in churches:
My wife had an observation as we left choir rehearsal last night - "Why are the poor boxes here so dinky? You can hardly fit a folded dollar bill in the slot. At St. Mary's in old town, the poor boxes were huge! People were emptying their pockets as they walked out of the church. Our poor boxes look like the brick walls so you can't even see them." and she ended with the Lay Person's Call To Action: "I'm going to write the pastor a letter!"
She's right. The poor boxes at our church look like little bricks. It's certainly not a reminder of our responsibility. And it's particularly fitting the we have options for directed giving that might not necessarily end up applied toward legal fees or court settlements.
My wife had an observation as we left choir rehearsal last night - "Why are the poor boxes here so dinky? You can hardly fit a folded dollar bill in the slot. At St. Mary's in old town, the poor boxes were huge! People were emptying their pockets as they walked out of the church. Our poor boxes look like the brick walls so you can't even see them." and she ended with the Lay Person's Call To Action: "I'm going to write the pastor a letter!"
She's right. The poor boxes at our church look like little bricks. It's certainly not a reminder of our responsibility. And it's particularly fitting the we have options for directed giving that might not necessarily end up applied toward legal fees or court settlements.
From this site:
"Was not Nagasaki the chosen victim," Nagai writes in Bells of Nagasaki, "the lamb without blemish, slain as a whole-burnt offering on an altar of sacrifice, atoning for the sins of all the nations during World War II?"
"Was not Nagasaki the chosen victim," Nagai writes in Bells of Nagasaki, "the lamb without blemish, slain as a whole-burnt offering on an altar of sacrifice, atoning for the sins of all the nations during World War II?"
The Florida Marlins are in first place in the National League East!
Florida 18 15 .545 ---
NY Mets 18 15 .545 ---
Montreal 17 16 .515 1
Atlanta 16 18 .471 2 1/2
Philadelphia 14 19 .424 4
Florida 18 15 .545 ---
NY Mets 18 15 .545 ---
Montreal 17 16 .515 1
Atlanta 16 18 .471 2 1/2
Philadelphia 14 19 .424 4
I watched A Hill of Redemption last night on EWTN--a description from the Catholic Treasures site:
This professionally produced video presents not only Our Lady's warning to the world of a coming chastisement, but a complete overview of Japan's Catholic heritage from the missionary activity of St. Francis Xavier through the 200 year persecution and banishment of Catholicism, the work of St. Maximilian Kolbe in the 1930's, and the atomic destruction during World War II of the largest Catholic community in the country. All the main participants in the church approved Marian messages at Akita are on this video, including the Bishop for Akita. English narration with some segments in Japanese with English subtitles.
I fell asleep before the warning of the world wide chastisement so I can't comment on that, but what struck me was talk that Catholic survivors of the the nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki saw it as a sacrificial offering that they offered to end the war. I'd like to find a more coherent presentation of this (more coherent then what I remember).
This professionally produced video presents not only Our Lady's warning to the world of a coming chastisement, but a complete overview of Japan's Catholic heritage from the missionary activity of St. Francis Xavier through the 200 year persecution and banishment of Catholicism, the work of St. Maximilian Kolbe in the 1930's, and the atomic destruction during World War II of the largest Catholic community in the country. All the main participants in the church approved Marian messages at Akita are on this video, including the Bishop for Akita. English narration with some segments in Japanese with English subtitles.
I fell asleep before the warning of the world wide chastisement so I can't comment on that, but what struck me was talk that Catholic survivors of the the nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki saw it as a sacrificial offering that they offered to end the war. I'd like to find a more coherent presentation of this (more coherent then what I remember).
Wednesday, May 08, 2002
More thanks for linking:
The Goliard Blog:Your destination for deep thoughts and alleged insights Kevin James gives us a glimpse of Catholicism in Atlanta. GA
The Goliard Blog:Your destination for deep thoughts and alleged insights Kevin James gives us a glimpse of Catholicism in Atlanta. GA
Thanks for the link...
It's a Mystery: Faith Fantasy and Fact James Wood, describes his blog as the latest news from a loud-mouthed schnook, still Catholic after all these years.
Lethargic IITian, the musings of a 20-something lethargic IITian on India, secularism, chess, Catholicism and (occassionally) technology and life.
It's a Mystery: Faith Fantasy and Fact James Wood, describes his blog as the latest news from a loud-mouthed schnook, still Catholic after all these years.
Lethargic IITian, the musings of a 20-something lethargic IITian on India, secularism, chess, Catholicism and (occassionally) technology and life.
Welcome, to my international blog!
I often think of this blog as something that people in the United States and a few in Canada read, but alas this is an international blog. This morning I had a letter from Dr. (Father) Emmanuel Gonzalez, who teaches at Strathmore College in Nairobi, Kenya. He has heard one audio tape of Bishop Sheen and would like to know where he can find more. The answer is here--->Keep the Faith Inc.
In the past week, people from Australia, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Spain, Japan, Portugal, Italy, New Zealand, Mexico, Vatican, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Iceland and Kenya have all visited this site.
I often think of this blog as something that people in the United States and a few in Canada read, but alas this is an international blog. This morning I had a letter from Dr. (Father) Emmanuel Gonzalez, who teaches at Strathmore College in Nairobi, Kenya. He has heard one audio tape of Bishop Sheen and would like to know where he can find more. The answer is here--->Keep the Faith Inc.
In the past week, people from Australia, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Spain, Japan, Portugal, Italy, New Zealand, Mexico, Vatican, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Iceland and Kenya have all visited this site.
My cousin Robin, from Vermont wrote me a nice letter today, telling me that she reads this blog. Among other things, she wonders how I have so much time to write all this stuff. The secret, Robin is this--I have a book that was due to the publisher five and half months ago--everytime I think about it, I write more here.
It is sad to see that only 8% of you visited Nancy Nall's site yesterday. She has her take on my post here, plus the whole blogging business in general. I think next to my wife's site, hers is one of the most entertaining. Pay her a visit.
My wife, Amy has uncovered the Anti-Christ in her blog today. God knows how she came across this, but evidently one of the brand names that Coca Cola (I'm a lifetime fan) has branded in Jesus. Now we know that Coke invented the comercialized version of St. Nicholas that we all are presented with each Christmas. What do they have in mind for the Son of God? Will we see posters of Jesus riding an ass into Jerusalem slurping a Coke as his adoring fans let go of their palm branches?
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous are posted below among the other posts and last week's archives. Here is the twentieth step:
(20) To hold one's self aloof from worldly ways.
If you are like me, you can readily come up with a list of what "worldly ways" means, but too often this list have very little to do with what most spiritual masters mean when they use the term.
St. Benedict, again is writing these counsels for monks. Monks take a vow of obedience to an abbot. The abbot, a term that could be translated "father", watches over the monks and assigns them various tasks for the good of the monastery.
About a year ago, I visited a monastery where the abbot invited me to join the monks for dinner. During the meal taken in silence, while a monk read from one of the Fathers of the Church, several monks had to kneel in front of the abbot's table. They were being punished for some infraction of the rule that they had committed during the day (one monk told me that he had forgotten to put his napkin back in its holder).
As I sat there, in my forties, and witnessed the grown men who were around sixty years old, I momentarily thought of the ways of the world and how foolish this all seemed. But then, I remembered the counsel of Our Lord, "Unless you become like a child, you can not enter the Kingdom of God."
All of us must be like children in God's kingdom. Worldly ways might best be defined as acting in a way of a "self made man."
There is a story of a man's employer coming to the man's home for dinner one night. The employer was brash, rude and made inappropriate comments throughout the meal. All the while the young son of the employee stared at the man. Finally, the boy spoke, "my dad says that you are a self-made man."
The employer beaming, said, "Well, yes son I am."
"Why did you make yourself so bad?" The young boy asked.
Keeping aloof of worldly ways, means leaving behind any notion that we are ultimately in charge of our lives. It requires total surrender to God.
Jesus lays out the best commentary for this counsel in Matthew's Gospel, "do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and body more than clothing?…So I do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?' All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil, (Matthew 6:25, 31-34)."
I like to carry the image of those monks, all dressed in black, sitting and silently eating and drinking while they listen to someone proclaim the Kingdom of God to them, as I go about my dealings everyday--never allowing myself to be drawn away from our true purpose here.
(20) To hold one's self aloof from worldly ways.
If you are like me, you can readily come up with a list of what "worldly ways" means, but too often this list have very little to do with what most spiritual masters mean when they use the term.
St. Benedict, again is writing these counsels for monks. Monks take a vow of obedience to an abbot. The abbot, a term that could be translated "father", watches over the monks and assigns them various tasks for the good of the monastery.
About a year ago, I visited a monastery where the abbot invited me to join the monks for dinner. During the meal taken in silence, while a monk read from one of the Fathers of the Church, several monks had to kneel in front of the abbot's table. They were being punished for some infraction of the rule that they had committed during the day (one monk told me that he had forgotten to put his napkin back in its holder).
As I sat there, in my forties, and witnessed the grown men who were around sixty years old, I momentarily thought of the ways of the world and how foolish this all seemed. But then, I remembered the counsel of Our Lord, "Unless you become like a child, you can not enter the Kingdom of God."
All of us must be like children in God's kingdom. Worldly ways might best be defined as acting in a way of a "self made man."
There is a story of a man's employer coming to the man's home for dinner one night. The employer was brash, rude and made inappropriate comments throughout the meal. All the while the young son of the employee stared at the man. Finally, the boy spoke, "my dad says that you are a self-made man."
The employer beaming, said, "Well, yes son I am."
"Why did you make yourself so bad?" The young boy asked.
Keeping aloof of worldly ways, means leaving behind any notion that we are ultimately in charge of our lives. It requires total surrender to God.
Jesus lays out the best commentary for this counsel in Matthew's Gospel, "do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and body more than clothing?…So I do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?' All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil, (Matthew 6:25, 31-34)."
I like to carry the image of those monks, all dressed in black, sitting and silently eating and drinking while they listen to someone proclaim the Kingdom of God to them, as I go about my dealings everyday--never allowing myself to be drawn away from our true purpose here.
Tuesday, May 07, 2002
For those of you who have stumbled on this site unwittingly and wonder what the heck a blog is, check out Jennifer Balderama column on CNET which gives a pretty good explanation of the whole phenomena. She has her own blog called Nonsense Verse here.
I also notice that I do not have a link to Eve Tushnet, who is very gracious toward my posts. Here is a link to her excellent site.
I noticed that I do not have a link on the side to an excellent Catholic blog--Zounds. Well here it is and it will soon appear on the side column too.
A tragedy in our neighborhood occured yesterday, a mother evidently strangled her three month old child. Nancy Nall has a few details, she lives a little closer to the situation, than we do, and has a few of the details from the media coverage angle. You'll have to scroll down from the hilarious quote of Ozzy Osbourne, down from the story of a colleague of Nancy who has gained weight but only in her breasts and forgets to wear bloomers to parties, and above the piece about the coifing of pubic hair, which is above the piece about gay men and their fascination with retro vacuum cleaners and toasters. But trust me the story is there.
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous are posted below among the other posts and last week's archives. Here is the ninteenth step:
(19) To console the sorrowing.
Those who sorrow at the loss of a loved one can often seem inconsolable. In fact the Scripture passage related to the slaughter of the innocents comes to mind, "A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more (Matthew 2:18)."
It is important to remember that death is not part of God's original plan. When God creates Adam and Eve, he warns them not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil or they will die. Death, is the result of original sin and indeed there is nothing that could console Rachel at her loss when the knowledge that death was eternal separation.
But for the Christian--there is Christ!
Death no longer is the final word. Jesus has overcome death and has opened up the possibility that all of us, if we believe in him, can share in his resurrection. The key, it would seem then to consoling the sorrowing, would be to remind them of the fruit of salvation and to point them to the mercy of God.
Yet having been there, many times, during the sad losses that people suffer--this is seldom the case. Instead, what usually occurs is the arrival of many well meaning people who announce loudly that it was God's will that the child or adult die.
It is never God's will that anyone die! Death entered the world because of sin-separation from God. God desires the salvation of all people. The angel of death that passes over the Egyptians is not a "good" angel but one who reaps the evil crop that had been sown by the Egyptians in the Book of Exodus.
Francis MacNutt and his wife Judith once presented a more accurate picture of God's place in someone's death. Speaking of how to console a sorrowful mother who has lost her child, they counseled the consoler speaking the following truth, "Death has taken your child, but God will take your child from death!"
To console, we need faith. Faith that in Christ, death is not the end.
Old churches still show forth the truth of the communion of saints, those who have died but are still very much alive and present. Most people intuitively grasp that their loved one is still alive, though not physically present. To console is to bring God's truth to the situation, God's message of salvation to the horror of a world steeped in sin.
(19) To console the sorrowing.
Those who sorrow at the loss of a loved one can often seem inconsolable. In fact the Scripture passage related to the slaughter of the innocents comes to mind, "A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more (Matthew 2:18)."
It is important to remember that death is not part of God's original plan. When God creates Adam and Eve, he warns them not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil or they will die. Death, is the result of original sin and indeed there is nothing that could console Rachel at her loss when the knowledge that death was eternal separation.
But for the Christian--there is Christ!
Death no longer is the final word. Jesus has overcome death and has opened up the possibility that all of us, if we believe in him, can share in his resurrection. The key, it would seem then to consoling the sorrowing, would be to remind them of the fruit of salvation and to point them to the mercy of God.
Yet having been there, many times, during the sad losses that people suffer--this is seldom the case. Instead, what usually occurs is the arrival of many well meaning people who announce loudly that it was God's will that the child or adult die.
It is never God's will that anyone die! Death entered the world because of sin-separation from God. God desires the salvation of all people. The angel of death that passes over the Egyptians is not a "good" angel but one who reaps the evil crop that had been sown by the Egyptians in the Book of Exodus.
Francis MacNutt and his wife Judith once presented a more accurate picture of God's place in someone's death. Speaking of how to console a sorrowful mother who has lost her child, they counseled the consoler speaking the following truth, "Death has taken your child, but God will take your child from death!"
To console, we need faith. Faith that in Christ, death is not the end.
Old churches still show forth the truth of the communion of saints, those who have died but are still very much alive and present. Most people intuitively grasp that their loved one is still alive, though not physically present. To console is to bring God's truth to the situation, God's message of salvation to the horror of a world steeped in sin.
Monday, May 06, 2002
How Not to Lose Your Faith During the Present Crisis
The items that are filling the newspapers daily now, are the same items that I had to deal with daily almost twenty years ago when I was involved in the daily life of the church. I came very close to losing my faith. I contemplated joining the Orthodox Church among other things, but ultimately through a very trying period, that tested the very core of everything that I had been taught and believed--I have remained a Roman Catholic.
Now, it is like reliving a nightmare, only everyone is in on it this time. I would like to share some points to contemplate on if you, like me, find yourself at a loss in the present situation in the Church. None of them by themself will convince you to stay, but I think if you try most of them you'll find that God has a mission for you; to rebuild and to enliven the Church, that as St. Francis was told years ago by Christ, is falling into ruin.
(1) Do not deny that there is a problem
This is the usually the first sign that someone is losing their faith, when they can't face reality. They want to make believe problems either don't exist or are being made up. Sort of like the famous scene in the Gospels where Peter says after the crucifixion, "I'm going fishing".
Whenever I post anything unpopular on here (like the sins of a founder of a conservative order or the reported homosexuality of a famous bishop), I receive a lot of email from angry readers. Why are they angry? Because they cannot believe that so and so might have sinned and sinned seriously.
Reflect on this:
If we say, "We are free of the guilt of sin," we deceive ourselves; the truth is not to be found in us. But if we acknowledge our sins, he who is just can be trusted to forgive our sins and cleanse us of every wrong. If we say, "We have never sinned," we make him a liar and his word finds no place in us. 1 John 9-10
We can apply this passage to ourselves, everyone else in the church and indeed the Body of Christ (the Church-minus the head of the Church--Jesus and of course his mother Mary).
We deceive ourselves if we think of anyone besides Christ as sinless and often reveal something of idol worship in the process.
The true apostles whose sins are for all to see in the Gospels, did not for a minute allow the early church to worship them when they carried the healing power of Jesus with them. They reminded the people that they were mortal men just like the rest.
We must remind ourselves that there is only one God and that the founder of a religious order or bishop is not him. Many of the leaders of the Church need to be reminded of that too and not allow people to worship or pay them undue respect which is the command of Christ himself in the Gospel.
Have you worshipped an individual within the church in the past? Has your faith been shaken in that individual? Good--there is one God, him alone shall you worship!
(2) Read the Gospel of Mark
We have a tendency to think of the early Church as a pristine time when everyone believed and their were no problems. Although we may accept the fact that among Jesus' followers there was a traitor--Judas, we often forget how frustrated Jesus was with his Apostles. If it was that way when he was with them physically, why should we expect perfection from the successors to the Apostles today?
The Gospel of Mark brings out the deficiencies of the Apostles in a remarkable way.
Traditionally it has been held that the author of Mark's Gospel was John Mark, who first accompanied Paul and Barnabas, but left them during one of their missionary journeys. Later when John Mark wished to return to the ministry, Paul forbade him. Paul and Barnabas had a falling out over this and tradition has it that John Mark ended up with the Apostle Peter, and served as the Galilean fisherman's interpreter on his journeys. The Gospel of Mark, is then thought to be Peter's remembrance of Jesus' interaction with the Apostles, and has the marks of someone who had failed his Lord at the crucial moment and remembered well that this was not a solitary occurence.
The Gospel of Mark is short and in it we see the Lord who is frustrated time and again with the lack of faith and understanding that he encounters from those closest to him:
(3) Pray Psalm 73
The psalms are prayers that are experiential. They bless and curse, express faith and doubt. They were prayed by Jesus (and are often quoted by Him in the Gospels). Psalm 73 puts everything in perspective, it paints the picture of the world we see but then brings us into the Sanctuary of God's presence and reminds us of the real situation. It is easy to be distracted by the apparent success of the sinful--praying Psalm 73 reminds us to keep the end in mind, when the present seems bleak.
Truly God is good to the upright,
to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had well nigh slipped.
For I was envious of the arrogant,
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For they have no pangs;
their bodies are sound and sleek.
They are not in trouble as other men are;
they are not stricken like other men.
Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
Their eyes swell out with fatness,
their hearts overflow with follies.
They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
Therefore the people turn and praise them;
and find no fault in them.
And they say, "How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?"
Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
For all the day long I have been stricken,
and chastened every morning.
If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
I would have been untrue to the generation of thy children.
But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I perceived their end.
Truly thou dost set them in slippery places;
thou dost make them fall to ruin.
How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
They are like a dream when one awakes,
on awaking you despise their phantoms.
When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
I was stupid and ignorant,
I was like a beast toward thee.
Nevertheless I am continually with thee;
thou dost hold my right hand.
Thou dost guide me with thy counsel,
and afterward thou wilt receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but thee?
And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides thee.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
For lo, those who are far from thee shall perish;
thou dost put an end to those who are false to thee.
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all thy works.
(4) Visit a Catholic Church
Step into the Church at a time when nothing is going on, when you can sit in silence; just you and Our Lord in the Eucharist. Pour out your heart to him, and then sit and listen.
Bishop Sheen once commented, that most of the conversion he was credited with, came about from the practice of pointing people (non-Christians and former Christians) to this practice.
I have a close friend who was born in Jerusalem, and later studied to be a rabbi in Brazil. While engaged in rabbinical studies, he became interested with what he heard from some Christian fundamentalists, that he encountered in the streets of San Paulo, one day. Considering himself a searcher for the truth, he walked into the first Christian Church that he came across on his way home. It happened to be a Catholic Church.
Walking in, he told me, he encountered a huge crucifix. He went up to the front of the church and standing in front of the crucifix he looked up at the image of the crucified Jesus and said, "If it is true, that you are the messiah, tell me."
"What did he tell you?" I would ask my Jewish friend and always receive the same response, from my friend who now is a Catholic priest--"Well, I'm here now."
This same friend who experienced total alienation from his family and friends to follow Jesus, joined the Catholic Church because of what he heard that day alone with Jesus in the Church.
Once when I asked him about the Catholic Church in Brazil, where it was highly rumored that priests openly lived with women and some were even openly married, he replied, "Yes, what you say is true, but in Brazil they say of the United States that the priest live with men."
Neither of these experiences dissuaded my friend, who endured many hardships from within and without the Church before being ordained a priest. His faith was based on the answer God had given him to a simple question and nothing else mattered.
Take your doubts with you into the presence of God and let him answer them.
(5) Practice the Prayer "God Alone"
On the right hand column of this blog is a picture of the entrance to the cloister of Gethsemane, most known by people in this country for having been the monastery where Thomas Merton was a monk. Over the gate are simple words that the monk would encounter as he makes his way into the cloister. They are also words, that the visitor to the chapel also encounters.
They have left a mark in my consciousness. In my better moments they haunt me. It is a good thing.
Too often we create idols that interfere with our worship of God. Often these idols come crashing down around us. Jesus told the rich young man that the greatest commandment was to, "Love God with your whole heart, mind and soul." The rich young man went away sad, because his "possessions" were many.
Our possessions, the things that we either possess or possess us can keep us from God. All it takes is a blow to our health, the suffer of some financial loss, or some other malady to befall us for us to be faced with the truth of which they all are for us--items we own or are owned by.
The practice of keeping "God Alone" always before us, can keep us focused on what really matters. It can help us to treat our fellow human beings with the dignity that they deserve, it can help us to see meaning in what other wise seem meaningless events.
If we focus on the strength of the winds, the enormity of our problems we will sink. If we focus on "God Alone" nothing can defeat us.
(6) Let Go of Your Plan for the Church
In the midst of the current crisis, everyone has a plan. In fact most of us always have a plan for how to make the Church, heaven on earth. Let go of it...
The disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24) had just witnessed the crucifixion and now on the third day they had also heard of an empty tomb and the presence of angels. All of this disturbed them a great deal, to such a degree that when the Risen Lord, who they mourned, joined them on the road they did not recognize him.
When they told him what they were discussing, he opened the Scriptures up to them, and told them that all of these things that they had witnessed "had to happen".
Most of us suffer a crisis of faith because we believe just the opposite that "things didn't have to be that way." Jesus comes to us as a stranger in the midst of our lives and tells us just the opposite.
It had to be.
If for a second, you and I stop and think about that, applying it to our lives as they have been lived up to now, how does it make us feel?
Do we not want to protest, no it should have been otherwise?
But it was not and is no other way, than what it has been. Can God save us?
Remember the story of Joseph in Genesis. Joseph has a dream. The dream leads to his persecution. He is sold into slavery. He is falsely accused. He is sent to prison. He is there when two of Pharaoh's servants are arrested. He interprets their dreams. The one who lives some years later remembers the Hebrew slave in prison who interpreted his dream. Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dream correctly. Pharaoh makes Joseph master over his house. Joseph's brothers are sent to Egypt by their father during the famine. Soon his family is reunited. At the end of the story the brothers tell Joseph that their father told them to tell Joseph to forgive them for what they had done to him. He says, "Who am I God? What you did to me you meant for evil, but God meant it for good--for the salvation of the many."
Many people do evil things, but God is all powerful. He can give life to those whose lives are taken from them by evil people. He can bring healing to those who are sinned against.
The lesson for the disciples on the road to Emmaus and the lesson of Joseph in Genesis is to trust in God's plan.
(7) Listen to Talks Given by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
This may seem like a strange suggestion. But actually it was what prompted me to write this piece in the first place. I believe that Bishop Sheen suffered exactly what we all are suffering from now and in fact saw his whole career in the church destroyed by it.
Late in his life, Archbishop Sheen often spoke of ten years of intense suffering, that he endured that greatly tested his faith. During that time he wrote the Life of Christ, reflecting on the life of Jesus, the betrayal of the apostles--helped him to endure this suffering.
Thomas Reeves alludes to this period of suffering in his excellent biography of Fulton Sheen entitled America's Bishop. He relates that suffering that Sheen so often referred to had to do with the bishop's relationship with Cardinal Spellman. Reeves claims that the correspondence between the two was originally proposed by Fulton J. Sheen to be placed in his archives in Rochester, NY. Some on the staff who saw the correspondence did not think this wise because they feared lawsuits arising from the correspondence.
The correspondence, Reeves says, disappeared after that. His attempts to locate the letters were not fruitful. The best that he could determine was that they are in the Vatican and inaccessible to all. Reeves concludes that the correspondence includes fiery letters between two very proud men.
I would reason that "pride" would hardly merit a trip to the Vatican archives. In fact even the questionable financial practices of Cardinal Spellman would not rise to that level of secrecy.
I believe, as has already been reported in the New York Press, that Cardinal Spellman's flagrant homosexuality was the source of all the tension between the two powerful men. I also believe, that this will become even more apparent when Father Paul Shanley goes to trial and reveals that he was abused by Spellman while a seminarian in Boston. (You may recall that it has earlier been reported that Shanley claimed that he had been molested by one of the predecessors of Law or O'Connor--Spellman, a Boston native, would seem the likely candidate).
Sheen, no doubt horrified by what he witnessed of Spellman wanted him to either resign or be removed.
During their lifetime, Spellman won and Sheen ultimately was banished to Rochester, NY.
Several months before his death when Pope John Paul II embraced Sheen in St. Patrick's Cathedral, he praised Sheen for being a "loyal son" of the church.
How come he never spoke out? Why did he stay at a time when everyone was leaving?
The answer is everywhere in the talks that he gave during the last ten years of his life.
Listen to them. Most of them are available in Catholic Bookstores or from Keep the Faith, Inc online.
Bad priests are talked about frequently. They are a reality. Sheen lays out a recipe for not being like them:
Grow closer to Christ.
Make a holy hour everyday. Read the Scriptures. Pray.
This is advice for all of us. The church is changed as we become the good wheat growing amidst the tares.
We need a Fulton Sheen today, to speak out for the truth, but isn't it interesting that if I'm right (and I'm pretty sure that I am) that once the Pope didn't act on Sheen's advice that Sheen suffered quietly and refocused on what his mission in the Church was.
This is what we should do too. But listen to him. Pray that his cause may be furthered, we could use a Saint Fulton J. Sheen! And on that day it will be Sheen who truly won! May we join him!
(8) Meditate on the Work of the Enemy in the Church
Since the devil is hardly ever discussed in the Church, it should not surprise us that we find it so hard to explain blatant evil that exists, when faced with it, as we are in the present situation.
Read the Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat in Matthew's Gospel, Chapter13:24-30.
Notice that in Jesus' parable that the Kingdom of Heaven is not exempt from the work of the evil one. As the farmer sows good seed, the enemy sows bad. Both are allowed to grow side by side until the harvest. Contrary to our expectations the master (God) does not have his slaves go out and rip the bad from the good--out of concern for the good. In the end though the bad will suffer eternal fire.
There are two reasons it is good to meditate on this parable. One, it shows that Jesus from the very start knew that the good that he would do, would be matched by the evil that would be worked from within. Secondly, it counsels us to be patient and turn again to God who will take care of them in good time.
We must believe in God and avoid the temptation to search for him elsewhere.
More to come...
The items that are filling the newspapers daily now, are the same items that I had to deal with daily almost twenty years ago when I was involved in the daily life of the church. I came very close to losing my faith. I contemplated joining the Orthodox Church among other things, but ultimately through a very trying period, that tested the very core of everything that I had been taught and believed--I have remained a Roman Catholic.
Now, it is like reliving a nightmare, only everyone is in on it this time. I would like to share some points to contemplate on if you, like me, find yourself at a loss in the present situation in the Church. None of them by themself will convince you to stay, but I think if you try most of them you'll find that God has a mission for you; to rebuild and to enliven the Church, that as St. Francis was told years ago by Christ, is falling into ruin.
(1) Do not deny that there is a problem
This is the usually the first sign that someone is losing their faith, when they can't face reality. They want to make believe problems either don't exist or are being made up. Sort of like the famous scene in the Gospels where Peter says after the crucifixion, "I'm going fishing".
Whenever I post anything unpopular on here (like the sins of a founder of a conservative order or the reported homosexuality of a famous bishop), I receive a lot of email from angry readers. Why are they angry? Because they cannot believe that so and so might have sinned and sinned seriously.
Reflect on this:
If we say, "We are free of the guilt of sin," we deceive ourselves; the truth is not to be found in us. But if we acknowledge our sins, he who is just can be trusted to forgive our sins and cleanse us of every wrong. If we say, "We have never sinned," we make him a liar and his word finds no place in us. 1 John 9-10
We can apply this passage to ourselves, everyone else in the church and indeed the Body of Christ (the Church-minus the head of the Church--Jesus and of course his mother Mary).
We deceive ourselves if we think of anyone besides Christ as sinless and often reveal something of idol worship in the process.
The true apostles whose sins are for all to see in the Gospels, did not for a minute allow the early church to worship them when they carried the healing power of Jesus with them. They reminded the people that they were mortal men just like the rest.
We must remind ourselves that there is only one God and that the founder of a religious order or bishop is not him. Many of the leaders of the Church need to be reminded of that too and not allow people to worship or pay them undue respect which is the command of Christ himself in the Gospel.
Have you worshipped an individual within the church in the past? Has your faith been shaken in that individual? Good--there is one God, him alone shall you worship!
(2) Read the Gospel of Mark
We have a tendency to think of the early Church as a pristine time when everyone believed and their were no problems. Although we may accept the fact that among Jesus' followers there was a traitor--Judas, we often forget how frustrated Jesus was with his Apostles. If it was that way when he was with them physically, why should we expect perfection from the successors to the Apostles today?
The Gospel of Mark brings out the deficiencies of the Apostles in a remarkable way.
Traditionally it has been held that the author of Mark's Gospel was John Mark, who first accompanied Paul and Barnabas, but left them during one of their missionary journeys. Later when John Mark wished to return to the ministry, Paul forbade him. Paul and Barnabas had a falling out over this and tradition has it that John Mark ended up with the Apostle Peter, and served as the Galilean fisherman's interpreter on his journeys. The Gospel of Mark, is then thought to be Peter's remembrance of Jesus' interaction with the Apostles, and has the marks of someone who had failed his Lord at the crucial moment and remembered well that this was not a solitary occurence.
The Gospel of Mark is short and in it we see the Lord who is frustrated time and again with the lack of faith and understanding that he encounters from those closest to him:
(3) Pray Psalm 73
The psalms are prayers that are experiential. They bless and curse, express faith and doubt. They were prayed by Jesus (and are often quoted by Him in the Gospels). Psalm 73 puts everything in perspective, it paints the picture of the world we see but then brings us into the Sanctuary of God's presence and reminds us of the real situation. It is easy to be distracted by the apparent success of the sinful--praying Psalm 73 reminds us to keep the end in mind, when the present seems bleak.
Truly God is good to the upright,
to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had well nigh slipped.
For I was envious of the arrogant,
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For they have no pangs;
their bodies are sound and sleek.
They are not in trouble as other men are;
they are not stricken like other men.
Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
Their eyes swell out with fatness,
their hearts overflow with follies.
They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
Therefore the people turn and praise them;
and find no fault in them.
And they say, "How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?"
Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
For all the day long I have been stricken,
and chastened every morning.
If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
I would have been untrue to the generation of thy children.
But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I perceived their end.
Truly thou dost set them in slippery places;
thou dost make them fall to ruin.
How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
They are like a dream when one awakes,
on awaking you despise their phantoms.
When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
I was stupid and ignorant,
I was like a beast toward thee.
Nevertheless I am continually with thee;
thou dost hold my right hand.
Thou dost guide me with thy counsel,
and afterward thou wilt receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but thee?
And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides thee.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
For lo, those who are far from thee shall perish;
thou dost put an end to those who are false to thee.
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all thy works.
(4) Visit a Catholic Church
Step into the Church at a time when nothing is going on, when you can sit in silence; just you and Our Lord in the Eucharist. Pour out your heart to him, and then sit and listen.
Bishop Sheen once commented, that most of the conversion he was credited with, came about from the practice of pointing people (non-Christians and former Christians) to this practice.
I have a close friend who was born in Jerusalem, and later studied to be a rabbi in Brazil. While engaged in rabbinical studies, he became interested with what he heard from some Christian fundamentalists, that he encountered in the streets of San Paulo, one day. Considering himself a searcher for the truth, he walked into the first Christian Church that he came across on his way home. It happened to be a Catholic Church.
Walking in, he told me, he encountered a huge crucifix. He went up to the front of the church and standing in front of the crucifix he looked up at the image of the crucified Jesus and said, "If it is true, that you are the messiah, tell me."
"What did he tell you?" I would ask my Jewish friend and always receive the same response, from my friend who now is a Catholic priest--"Well, I'm here now."
This same friend who experienced total alienation from his family and friends to follow Jesus, joined the Catholic Church because of what he heard that day alone with Jesus in the Church.
Once when I asked him about the Catholic Church in Brazil, where it was highly rumored that priests openly lived with women and some were even openly married, he replied, "Yes, what you say is true, but in Brazil they say of the United States that the priest live with men."
Neither of these experiences dissuaded my friend, who endured many hardships from within and without the Church before being ordained a priest. His faith was based on the answer God had given him to a simple question and nothing else mattered.
Take your doubts with you into the presence of God and let him answer them.
(5) Practice the Prayer "God Alone"
On the right hand column of this blog is a picture of the entrance to the cloister of Gethsemane, most known by people in this country for having been the monastery where Thomas Merton was a monk. Over the gate are simple words that the monk would encounter as he makes his way into the cloister. They are also words, that the visitor to the chapel also encounters.
They have left a mark in my consciousness. In my better moments they haunt me. It is a good thing.
Too often we create idols that interfere with our worship of God. Often these idols come crashing down around us. Jesus told the rich young man that the greatest commandment was to, "Love God with your whole heart, mind and soul." The rich young man went away sad, because his "possessions" were many.
Our possessions, the things that we either possess or possess us can keep us from God. All it takes is a blow to our health, the suffer of some financial loss, or some other malady to befall us for us to be faced with the truth of which they all are for us--items we own or are owned by.
The practice of keeping "God Alone" always before us, can keep us focused on what really matters. It can help us to treat our fellow human beings with the dignity that they deserve, it can help us to see meaning in what other wise seem meaningless events.
If we focus on the strength of the winds, the enormity of our problems we will sink. If we focus on "God Alone" nothing can defeat us.
(6) Let Go of Your Plan for the Church
In the midst of the current crisis, everyone has a plan. In fact most of us always have a plan for how to make the Church, heaven on earth. Let go of it...
The disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24) had just witnessed the crucifixion and now on the third day they had also heard of an empty tomb and the presence of angels. All of this disturbed them a great deal, to such a degree that when the Risen Lord, who they mourned, joined them on the road they did not recognize him.
When they told him what they were discussing, he opened the Scriptures up to them, and told them that all of these things that they had witnessed "had to happen".
Most of us suffer a crisis of faith because we believe just the opposite that "things didn't have to be that way." Jesus comes to us as a stranger in the midst of our lives and tells us just the opposite.
It had to be.
If for a second, you and I stop and think about that, applying it to our lives as they have been lived up to now, how does it make us feel?
Do we not want to protest, no it should have been otherwise?
But it was not and is no other way, than what it has been. Can God save us?
Remember the story of Joseph in Genesis. Joseph has a dream. The dream leads to his persecution. He is sold into slavery. He is falsely accused. He is sent to prison. He is there when two of Pharaoh's servants are arrested. He interprets their dreams. The one who lives some years later remembers the Hebrew slave in prison who interpreted his dream. Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dream correctly. Pharaoh makes Joseph master over his house. Joseph's brothers are sent to Egypt by their father during the famine. Soon his family is reunited. At the end of the story the brothers tell Joseph that their father told them to tell Joseph to forgive them for what they had done to him. He says, "Who am I God? What you did to me you meant for evil, but God meant it for good--for the salvation of the many."
Many people do evil things, but God is all powerful. He can give life to those whose lives are taken from them by evil people. He can bring healing to those who are sinned against.
The lesson for the disciples on the road to Emmaus and the lesson of Joseph in Genesis is to trust in God's plan.
(7) Listen to Talks Given by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
This may seem like a strange suggestion. But actually it was what prompted me to write this piece in the first place. I believe that Bishop Sheen suffered exactly what we all are suffering from now and in fact saw his whole career in the church destroyed by it.
Late in his life, Archbishop Sheen often spoke of ten years of intense suffering, that he endured that greatly tested his faith. During that time he wrote the Life of Christ, reflecting on the life of Jesus, the betrayal of the apostles--helped him to endure this suffering.
Thomas Reeves alludes to this period of suffering in his excellent biography of Fulton Sheen entitled America's Bishop. He relates that suffering that Sheen so often referred to had to do with the bishop's relationship with Cardinal Spellman. Reeves claims that the correspondence between the two was originally proposed by Fulton J. Sheen to be placed in his archives in Rochester, NY. Some on the staff who saw the correspondence did not think this wise because they feared lawsuits arising from the correspondence.
The correspondence, Reeves says, disappeared after that. His attempts to locate the letters were not fruitful. The best that he could determine was that they are in the Vatican and inaccessible to all. Reeves concludes that the correspondence includes fiery letters between two very proud men.
I would reason that "pride" would hardly merit a trip to the Vatican archives. In fact even the questionable financial practices of Cardinal Spellman would not rise to that level of secrecy.
I believe, as has already been reported in the New York Press, that Cardinal Spellman's flagrant homosexuality was the source of all the tension between the two powerful men. I also believe, that this will become even more apparent when Father Paul Shanley goes to trial and reveals that he was abused by Spellman while a seminarian in Boston. (You may recall that it has earlier been reported that Shanley claimed that he had been molested by one of the predecessors of Law or O'Connor--Spellman, a Boston native, would seem the likely candidate).
Sheen, no doubt horrified by what he witnessed of Spellman wanted him to either resign or be removed.
During their lifetime, Spellman won and Sheen ultimately was banished to Rochester, NY.
Several months before his death when Pope John Paul II embraced Sheen in St. Patrick's Cathedral, he praised Sheen for being a "loyal son" of the church.
How come he never spoke out? Why did he stay at a time when everyone was leaving?
The answer is everywhere in the talks that he gave during the last ten years of his life.
Listen to them. Most of them are available in Catholic Bookstores or from Keep the Faith, Inc online.
Bad priests are talked about frequently. They are a reality. Sheen lays out a recipe for not being like them:
Grow closer to Christ.
Make a holy hour everyday. Read the Scriptures. Pray.
This is advice for all of us. The church is changed as we become the good wheat growing amidst the tares.
We need a Fulton Sheen today, to speak out for the truth, but isn't it interesting that if I'm right (and I'm pretty sure that I am) that once the Pope didn't act on Sheen's advice that Sheen suffered quietly and refocused on what his mission in the Church was.
This is what we should do too. But listen to him. Pray that his cause may be furthered, we could use a Saint Fulton J. Sheen! And on that day it will be Sheen who truly won! May we join him!
(8) Meditate on the Work of the Enemy in the Church
Since the devil is hardly ever discussed in the Church, it should not surprise us that we find it so hard to explain blatant evil that exists, when faced with it, as we are in the present situation.
Read the Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat in Matthew's Gospel, Chapter13:24-30.
Notice that in Jesus' parable that the Kingdom of Heaven is not exempt from the work of the evil one. As the farmer sows good seed, the enemy sows bad. Both are allowed to grow side by side until the harvest. Contrary to our expectations the master (God) does not have his slaves go out and rip the bad from the good--out of concern for the good. In the end though the bad will suffer eternal fire.
There are two reasons it is good to meditate on this parable. One, it shows that Jesus from the very start knew that the good that he would do, would be matched by the evil that would be worked from within. Secondly, it counsels us to be patient and turn again to God who will take care of them in good time.
We must believe in God and avoid the temptation to search for him elsewhere.
More to come...
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous are posted below among the other posts and last week's archives. Here is the eigthteenth step:
(18) To help in trouble.
St. Benedict counsels us to be “helpers” something that no doubt was implanted in most of us from our youth. How can we best help others and what might keep us from reaching out to others?
When Our Lord was thirsty he asked the woman at the well for a drink. Jesus needed help. The woman rather than just giving him a drink gave him a lot of excuses. First it was racial—“You’re a Jew.”
Funny how little our reasons for not helping others changes. Our excuse might be, “You’re not family” or “You’re not Catholic” or “You’re not American” or “You’re not the same race as I.”
If God is “Our Father” who is not our brother and sister?
Saint Benedict’s counsel is simple and indeed it is the Gospel message that we are to help those in trouble. If we use excuses as a buffer to exonerate us from our duty then we risk missing out with an encounter with Our Lord who comes to us often in the guise of the poor.
The Samaritan woman’s excuse, might have kept her from meeting Jesus, had Our Lord not persisted in his desire. If our desire is to help those in need, we will not miss meeting Our Lord throughout the day.
(18) To help in trouble.
St. Benedict counsels us to be “helpers” something that no doubt was implanted in most of us from our youth. How can we best help others and what might keep us from reaching out to others?
When Our Lord was thirsty he asked the woman at the well for a drink. Jesus needed help. The woman rather than just giving him a drink gave him a lot of excuses. First it was racial—“You’re a Jew.”
Funny how little our reasons for not helping others changes. Our excuse might be, “You’re not family” or “You’re not Catholic” or “You’re not American” or “You’re not the same race as I.”
If God is “Our Father” who is not our brother and sister?
Saint Benedict’s counsel is simple and indeed it is the Gospel message that we are to help those in trouble. If we use excuses as a buffer to exonerate us from our duty then we risk missing out with an encounter with Our Lord who comes to us often in the guise of the poor.
The Samaritan woman’s excuse, might have kept her from meeting Jesus, had Our Lord not persisted in his desire. If our desire is to help those in need, we will not miss meeting Our Lord throughout the day.
Sunday, May 05, 2002
I am working on How Not to Lose Your Faith During the Present Crisis, I will post part of it later today.
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous are posted below among the other posts and last week's archives. Here is the seventeenth step:
(17) To bury the dead.
The most vivid memories I have of monastic life are actually those dealing with how the dead our buried. I have witnessed these events at several types of monasteries and while the particulars differ, they all share the common denominator of being terribly comfortable with a dead body.
I remember visiting a Trappist Monastery with a friend once who had never witnessed a dead body before. Somehow she had spent over 40 years on this earth without ever having been to a funeral or grave site. Protected from death by her parents, she had not bothered to confront it as an adult either. Until the fateful day when she stumbled upon it, on a visit for Evening Prayer at the monastery. Talk about shock therapy!
We were sitting toward the back of the Abbey Church with the rest of the non-monks. The monks themselves were gathered at the door awaiting the arrival of the body of their brother monk. Upon its arrival it was placed on a flat surface (no coffin) and brought forward a few feet, with the help of several feeble monks to stop a few inches from where my friend and I stood.
The pallor of the dead body, its lifeless shell spoke of the finality of the event. I’m sure my friend still wakes up in the middle of the night with the vision of that moment.
I had seen death many times before. I had even been blessed to be with several people at the moment of death, hearing their last breath escape, watching their eyes go up and out their head, giving me an understanding of why the ancients believed that the soul came in from the top of the head and when it left a body escaped from the same portal.
In some ways the moment of death can be likened to something of a whimper. It seldom is the drawn out affair of the actor who tries by their exaggerations to communicate the tragedy of what is unfolding. While birth may take hours, death often needs only the hundredth of a second.
The Trappist bury their dead by dumping the body into a grave and throwing some lime over the corpse to aid in the decaying process. The Benedictines that I have known, use a simple pine box. Both end their funeral rites by individually throwing dirt either onto the corpse or coffin—thereby fulfilling this counsel of St. Benedict to bury the dead.
Two images come to mind. The first of my friend who for over forty years had never witnessed a dead body. The second of the monks throwing dirt on the remains of their dead brother. I wonder what is the effect on both.
My friend is symbolic of those who in our present culture seek to keep death at a distance. Someone dies, we cremate the body and someone scatters ashes in the same way that a past generation might have emptied an ashtray.
This same culture visualizes death constantly in its movies and music. It seems that if we do not bury the dead that the effect on us is that we will endlessly be haunted by them.
The monks are not haunted by the dead but they are not abandoned by them either. They see in the brother who has passed from this life leaving behind the shell of their body and example. It reminds them of their purpose and the shortness of the opportunity to fulfill this purpose. They are reminded by death that ultimately all that matters is God!
Burying the dead may be as simple as attending the funerals of our friends and families. Praying for them and asking their prayers. The uneasiness that we feel is due to the inner knowledge that this to will be our end but like every unpleasant truth in life we can either face it or try to ignore it.
If we face it, we will prepare for it. If we ignore it we will be haunted by it. Burying the dead will help to put the ghosts to rest, while at the same time allowing the saints to intercede for us
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous are posted below among the other posts and last week's archives. Here is the seventeenth step:
(17) To bury the dead.
The most vivid memories I have of monastic life are actually those dealing with how the dead our buried. I have witnessed these events at several types of monasteries and while the particulars differ, they all share the common denominator of being terribly comfortable with a dead body.
I remember visiting a Trappist Monastery with a friend once who had never witnessed a dead body before. Somehow she had spent over 40 years on this earth without ever having been to a funeral or grave site. Protected from death by her parents, she had not bothered to confront it as an adult either. Until the fateful day when she stumbled upon it, on a visit for Evening Prayer at the monastery. Talk about shock therapy!
We were sitting toward the back of the Abbey Church with the rest of the non-monks. The monks themselves were gathered at the door awaiting the arrival of the body of their brother monk. Upon its arrival it was placed on a flat surface (no coffin) and brought forward a few feet, with the help of several feeble monks to stop a few inches from where my friend and I stood.
The pallor of the dead body, its lifeless shell spoke of the finality of the event. I’m sure my friend still wakes up in the middle of the night with the vision of that moment.
I had seen death many times before. I had even been blessed to be with several people at the moment of death, hearing their last breath escape, watching their eyes go up and out their head, giving me an understanding of why the ancients believed that the soul came in from the top of the head and when it left a body escaped from the same portal.
In some ways the moment of death can be likened to something of a whimper. It seldom is the drawn out affair of the actor who tries by their exaggerations to communicate the tragedy of what is unfolding. While birth may take hours, death often needs only the hundredth of a second.
The Trappist bury their dead by dumping the body into a grave and throwing some lime over the corpse to aid in the decaying process. The Benedictines that I have known, use a simple pine box. Both end their funeral rites by individually throwing dirt either onto the corpse or coffin—thereby fulfilling this counsel of St. Benedict to bury the dead.
Two images come to mind. The first of my friend who for over forty years had never witnessed a dead body. The second of the monks throwing dirt on the remains of their dead brother. I wonder what is the effect on both.
My friend is symbolic of those who in our present culture seek to keep death at a distance. Someone dies, we cremate the body and someone scatters ashes in the same way that a past generation might have emptied an ashtray.
This same culture visualizes death constantly in its movies and music. It seems that if we do not bury the dead that the effect on us is that we will endlessly be haunted by them.
The monks are not haunted by the dead but they are not abandoned by them either. They see in the brother who has passed from this life leaving behind the shell of their body and example. It reminds them of their purpose and the shortness of the opportunity to fulfill this purpose. They are reminded by death that ultimately all that matters is God!
Burying the dead may be as simple as attending the funerals of our friends and families. Praying for them and asking their prayers. The uneasiness that we feel is due to the inner knowledge that this to will be our end but like every unpleasant truth in life we can either face it or try to ignore it.
If we face it, we will prepare for it. If we ignore it we will be haunted by it. Burying the dead will help to put the ghosts to rest, while at the same time allowing the saints to intercede for us
Saturday, May 04, 2002
From St. Augustine:
The season before Easter signifies the troubles in which we live here and now, while the time after Easter which we are celebrating at the present signifies the happiness that will be ours in the future.
From the Office of Readings for today.
The season before Easter signifies the troubles in which we live here and now, while the time after Easter which we are celebrating at the present signifies the happiness that will be ours in the future.
From the Office of Readings for today.
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous are posted below among the other posts and last week's archives. Here is the sixteenth step:
(16) To visit the sick (cf Mt 25:36).
The difficulty in visiting the sick is usually not their illness but rather something within ourselves that likes to hide from our own mortality. The sick too often remind us of the shortness of our own life and the transitory nature of our pilgrimage on this earth.
I remember as a young man that I would visit a young woman in a nursing home and bring her communion once a week. She was a few years older than I was at the time but was dying of terminal cancer. All of her hair had been shaved and she often wore a wig to hide the fact.
At first the smells of the nursing home and the lingering feeling of death, made the short trip to the nursing home a very difficult one for me to make. I would often speak to the young woman, whose name was Pearl, about the possibility of healing etc.—I realized all of which made me feel better—she just brushed off these comments.
Our conversations were often one sided even though we spoke to each other. She confessed that until she had been ill that she had not thought much about God, and claimed to have been a magnificent sinner. Once she even pulled out a photo of her before the cancer, only a few years before, that showed a vivacious beautiful woman laughing with her friends. Now clutching a crucifix, her constant companion in her bed of pain she smiled and said that she had accepted death.
I will never be able to measure the effect that my weekly visits with Pearl have had on my life or for that matter what continued influence she has on my life even now. Only in Heaven can I hope for a true accounting of this. But I do know that the image of her in her bed of pain clutching that crucifix remains with me even now. Like a mirror held up to the moments of my life—each event is measured by how well I use my time here.
I have visited the sick many times in my life, usually out of obligation. The reluctance, and hesitation to set out on those journeys remains. It seems that we are reluctant to meet a side of the other that we fear to meet within ourselves. We fear seeing ourselves as we really are.
Visiting the sick is a holy activity. We should bring the healing of Christ to those who are ill, and we should commend them to our prayers, as well as asking their prayers.
When I left to go to school, Pearl often wrote to me in the months before she died. She called me her “angel,” saying that I often appeared to her by her bedside. The fact was that she was my angel, a messenger from God pointing to the truth of the fleeting nature of this life and to the crucifix that she clutched to like a life preserver, to the Savior who has the power to save us
(16) To visit the sick (cf Mt 25:36).
The difficulty in visiting the sick is usually not their illness but rather something within ourselves that likes to hide from our own mortality. The sick too often remind us of the shortness of our own life and the transitory nature of our pilgrimage on this earth.
I remember as a young man that I would visit a young woman in a nursing home and bring her communion once a week. She was a few years older than I was at the time but was dying of terminal cancer. All of her hair had been shaved and she often wore a wig to hide the fact.
At first the smells of the nursing home and the lingering feeling of death, made the short trip to the nursing home a very difficult one for me to make. I would often speak to the young woman, whose name was Pearl, about the possibility of healing etc.—I realized all of which made me feel better—she just brushed off these comments.
Our conversations were often one sided even though we spoke to each other. She confessed that until she had been ill that she had not thought much about God, and claimed to have been a magnificent sinner. Once she even pulled out a photo of her before the cancer, only a few years before, that showed a vivacious beautiful woman laughing with her friends. Now clutching a crucifix, her constant companion in her bed of pain she smiled and said that she had accepted death.
I will never be able to measure the effect that my weekly visits with Pearl have had on my life or for that matter what continued influence she has on my life even now. Only in Heaven can I hope for a true accounting of this. But I do know that the image of her in her bed of pain clutching that crucifix remains with me even now. Like a mirror held up to the moments of my life—each event is measured by how well I use my time here.
I have visited the sick many times in my life, usually out of obligation. The reluctance, and hesitation to set out on those journeys remains. It seems that we are reluctant to meet a side of the other that we fear to meet within ourselves. We fear seeing ourselves as we really are.
Visiting the sick is a holy activity. We should bring the healing of Christ to those who are ill, and we should commend them to our prayers, as well as asking their prayers.
When I left to go to school, Pearl often wrote to me in the months before she died. She called me her “angel,” saying that I often appeared to her by her bedside. The fact was that she was my angel, a messenger from God pointing to the truth of the fleeting nature of this life and to the crucifix that she clutched to like a life preserver, to the Savior who has the power to save us
Friday, May 03, 2002
Information
The Roman Catholic Faithful have been reporting on these abuses for years. They have tons of material on their website, if you've never been there, it is worth a visit. They are also publishing a book entitled: The U.S. Bishops, Pedophile Scandals and the Homosexual Agenda, by Paul Likoudis.
The Roman Catholic Faithful have been reporting on these abuses for years. They have tons of material on their website, if you've never been there, it is worth a visit. They are also publishing a book entitled: The U.S. Bishops, Pedophile Scandals and the Homosexual Agenda, by Paul Likoudis.
Prayer of Brother Roger of Taizé
Breath of Christs loving, Holy Spirit,
in the depths of our soul you set faith.
It is like a burst of trusting repeated countless
times in the course of our life.
It can only be a simple act of trust,
so simple that all can welcome it.
Breath of Christs loving, Holy Spirit,
in the depths of our soul you set faith.
It is like a burst of trusting repeated countless
times in the course of our life.
It can only be a simple act of trust,
so simple that all can welcome it.
Today is the Feast of St. Philip and James. I once visited the ruins of an ancient church dedicated to St. Philip in Heiropolis,Turkey. It was the spot where both St. Philip and his daughter were martyed. It was close to where the ancient church of Laodicea (see Revelation 3:14) was located. Here is a description of the church:
This martyrion, located outside the city wall, is an imposing octagonal building dating to the late 4th or early 5th century. It is built on a square measuring 20 by 20 meters. This monument-tomb was erected in honor of St Philip, who is believed to have been martyred in Hierapolis. After Christianity became the state religion, the site of the saint's martyrdom became a place of pilgrimage. The actual grave of St Philip has not yet been discovered.
This martyrion, located outside the city wall, is an imposing octagonal building dating to the late 4th or early 5th century. It is built on a square measuring 20 by 20 meters. This monument-tomb was erected in honor of St Philip, who is believed to have been martyred in Hierapolis. After Christianity became the state religion, the site of the saint's martyrdom became a place of pilgrimage. The actual grave of St Philip has not yet been discovered.
This is interesting to me, only because Amy was wondering out loud last night, why certain priests she has know who were obviously homosexual (and seemed generally uninterested in God) would be attracted to the priesthood. Mark Jordan offers his opinion in the Boston Globe today:
What makes the Catholic priesthood or religious life so attractive to gay men? Why makes it easy for them to ''dominate'' in it?
The beginning of an answer is that the Catholic Church is and has long been both loudly homophobic and intensely homoerotic. Our public discussions of priestly sexuality won't make any progress until we can begin to talk about the homoeroticism written into Catholic imagination and its institutions.
Gay friends who are not Catholic often ask how a gay man can remain in the church, which is, as they see it, one of the most dangerous enemies of gay civil rights in the United States. The puzzle is worse than they think. Some of us don't have the excuse of being born Catholic: Like myself, we converted. We were drawn to the church as much through our sexual orientation as through any other natural disposition.
Converts or cradle Catholics, many gay believers further feel a strong calling to priesthood or religious life. The call doesn't seem to deny same-sex desires; it seems instead to complete them. A vocation to the celibate, all-male priesthood is a grace. It is also a call to act out your manhood against social expectations, outside heterosexual marriage and in the company of other unmarried men.
So I tell my friends that my sense of vocation to religious life gave me my first gay identity. Pious young men struggling with homoerotic desires are still attracted to seminaries and religious houses of study. Why? Because they are promised an exchange of their ''disordered'' identity as outsiders for a respected and powerful identity as an insider. Because they want to remain in the beautiful, sexually ambiguous space of the liturgy. Because they are drawn to public celebration of suffering that redeems. Because they want to live in as gay a world as the Catholic Church offers.
What makes the Catholic priesthood or religious life so attractive to gay men? Why makes it easy for them to ''dominate'' in it?
The beginning of an answer is that the Catholic Church is and has long been both loudly homophobic and intensely homoerotic. Our public discussions of priestly sexuality won't make any progress until we can begin to talk about the homoeroticism written into Catholic imagination and its institutions.
Gay friends who are not Catholic often ask how a gay man can remain in the church, which is, as they see it, one of the most dangerous enemies of gay civil rights in the United States. The puzzle is worse than they think. Some of us don't have the excuse of being born Catholic: Like myself, we converted. We were drawn to the church as much through our sexual orientation as through any other natural disposition.
Converts or cradle Catholics, many gay believers further feel a strong calling to priesthood or religious life. The call doesn't seem to deny same-sex desires; it seems instead to complete them. A vocation to the celibate, all-male priesthood is a grace. It is also a call to act out your manhood against social expectations, outside heterosexual marriage and in the company of other unmarried men.
So I tell my friends that my sense of vocation to religious life gave me my first gay identity. Pious young men struggling with homoerotic desires are still attracted to seminaries and religious houses of study. Why? Because they are promised an exchange of their ''disordered'' identity as outsiders for a respected and powerful identity as an insider. Because they want to remain in the beautiful, sexually ambiguous space of the liturgy. Because they are drawn to public celebration of suffering that redeems. Because they want to live in as gay a world as the Catholic Church offers.
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous are posted below among the other posts and last week's archives. Here is the fifteenth step:
(15) To clothe the naked...
For some reason the first thing that comes to mind when confronted with this counsel of St. Benedict is something that I read some years ago in a work by Peter Brown in a book entitled The Body and Society: Men, Women and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity -a book that among other things, looks at early Christianity’s view of the body. Brown speculates that the Church’s view of modesty in the Roman World is colored by the fact that nudity was the privilege of the wealthy.
Another thought that comes to mind, is the way in which Baptisms were done in the early church. The catechumen would strip naked leaving the clothing they entered the church with behind, as they entered the Baptismal pool and then as they emerged from the waters and had oil poured over their heads, they would be clothed in a new garment.
The young man in Mark’s Gospel (Mk 14:52) who fleas the scene of the arrest of Jesus naked, is another image that comes to mind. Whereas the apostles had left everything to follow Jesus, now at the crucial moment of decision this young man (thought by some to be the writer of the Gospel--Mark) leaves everything behind to get away from Jesus.
But it could be that this young man’s presence in the Gospel is also an indication of the early Church’s Baptismal practice. When you understand how Baptisms were done, and also what entering the waters of Baptism symbolizes (entering into the Death and Resurrection of Jesus) you will see the connection between the young man leaving his clothes behind and then reappearing after the Passion in the Empty Tomb, (in place of the Angels who are there the other Gospels).
I have worked in a clothing closet before. Handing out clothing to the homeless. They would come in on Saturday mornings about 30 minutes before the soup kitchen would start serving food and would tell you what they needed.
“I need a shirt, extra large. Something in dark colors.”
I would go to the rack of men’s clothing and look for something that fit that description. Often the item would be an expensive shirt donated by someone who no longer felt it fashionable enough for their taste. Hardly ever was the clothing in any form of disrepair.
The poor man would usually snatch the piece of clothing from my hand and look at it before grunting and moving onward toward the kitchen. Some would thank me, many would avoid looking at me in the eye—embarrassed, only once did someone ask for the shirt that I was wearing—which I wish I could say that I had given to them.
None of the people I handed clothing to were ever naked.
So who are these “naked” that we are to clothe?
Are they the rich who in their warmth, security and pleasure filled lives, find in their nudity a way to recreate Eden without God?
Are they the unbaptized, who we are to offer the mantle of salvation?
Are they the poor who need material clothing to survive?
I believe they are all three. To often we neglect the person in our midst, because our focus is on someone not present. Good works are always to be done to the person who is in our midst. Everyone needs Christ and in judgment scene of the Gospel (Matthew 25), everyone is somehow Christ. We dare not let him pass by, without offering him the shirt off our back
(15) To clothe the naked...
For some reason the first thing that comes to mind when confronted with this counsel of St. Benedict is something that I read some years ago in a work by Peter Brown in a book entitled The Body and Society: Men, Women and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity -a book that among other things, looks at early Christianity’s view of the body. Brown speculates that the Church’s view of modesty in the Roman World is colored by the fact that nudity was the privilege of the wealthy.
Another thought that comes to mind, is the way in which Baptisms were done in the early church. The catechumen would strip naked leaving the clothing they entered the church with behind, as they entered the Baptismal pool and then as they emerged from the waters and had oil poured over their heads, they would be clothed in a new garment.
The young man in Mark’s Gospel (Mk 14:52) who fleas the scene of the arrest of Jesus naked, is another image that comes to mind. Whereas the apostles had left everything to follow Jesus, now at the crucial moment of decision this young man (thought by some to be the writer of the Gospel--Mark) leaves everything behind to get away from Jesus.
But it could be that this young man’s presence in the Gospel is also an indication of the early Church’s Baptismal practice. When you understand how Baptisms were done, and also what entering the waters of Baptism symbolizes (entering into the Death and Resurrection of Jesus) you will see the connection between the young man leaving his clothes behind and then reappearing after the Passion in the Empty Tomb, (in place of the Angels who are there the other Gospels).
I have worked in a clothing closet before. Handing out clothing to the homeless. They would come in on Saturday mornings about 30 minutes before the soup kitchen would start serving food and would tell you what they needed.
“I need a shirt, extra large. Something in dark colors.”
I would go to the rack of men’s clothing and look for something that fit that description. Often the item would be an expensive shirt donated by someone who no longer felt it fashionable enough for their taste. Hardly ever was the clothing in any form of disrepair.
The poor man would usually snatch the piece of clothing from my hand and look at it before grunting and moving onward toward the kitchen. Some would thank me, many would avoid looking at me in the eye—embarrassed, only once did someone ask for the shirt that I was wearing—which I wish I could say that I had given to them.
None of the people I handed clothing to were ever naked.
So who are these “naked” that we are to clothe?
Are they the rich who in their warmth, security and pleasure filled lives, find in their nudity a way to recreate Eden without God?
Are they the unbaptized, who we are to offer the mantle of salvation?
Are they the poor who need material clothing to survive?
I believe they are all three. To often we neglect the person in our midst, because our focus is on someone not present. Good works are always to be done to the person who is in our midst. Everyone needs Christ and in judgment scene of the Gospel (Matthew 25), everyone is somehow Christ. We dare not let him pass by, without offering him the shirt off our back
Thursday, May 02, 2002
From a talk given by Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R. about a month ago in Yonkers concerning the present crisis:
Does this shake your faith in the Church? I hope so, because ultimately your faith should not be in the Church, ultimately. Ultimately our faith is in Jesus Christ, and we accept the Church. We support the Church. We belong to the Church because Christ established the Church.
Somebody who belongs to the Church as a big organization, as a great philanthropic thing or the great social catalyst or whatever else you want to think, they’re going to be badly shaken. They may get out.
But we belong to the Church as the crucified body of Jesus Christ. If the Church is the body of Christ, don’t be surprised that it’s crucified. Don’t be surprised that it’s dragged through the streets and spat upon and wounded and crowned with thorns. That’s what’s going on right now.
The Church is the body of Christ, and when you love the Church, you should love it as the body of Christ.
Our dear Holy Father on Good Friday wrote this: “In the acute pain of the suffering servant, we hear already the triumphant cry of the risen Lord.” Christ on the cross is the King of the new people, ransom from the burden of sin and death, however twisted and confused the course of history may appear. We know that by walking in the footsteps of the crucified we shall attain to that goal. Amid the conflicts of a world dominated by selfishness and hatred, we as believers are called to proclaim the victory of love. Today, Good Friday, we testify to the victory of Christ crucified.
Not so long ago, the Catholic Church seemed to be very triumphant. I lived through those days at the end of the council. The Church seemed to be very powerful, and I’ve lived to see the mystical body of Christ crucified, betrayed, attacked, abandoned by the frightened apostles. And we’re all part of it. We’re all part of it. Don’t ever exempt yourself. I reproach myself every day that unwittingly I went along and stupidly I got involved in things that ultimately did not serve the Church or Christ so well.
Turn to Christ.
Does this shake your faith in the Church? I hope so, because ultimately your faith should not be in the Church, ultimately. Ultimately our faith is in Jesus Christ, and we accept the Church. We support the Church. We belong to the Church because Christ established the Church.
Somebody who belongs to the Church as a big organization, as a great philanthropic thing or the great social catalyst or whatever else you want to think, they’re going to be badly shaken. They may get out.
But we belong to the Church as the crucified body of Jesus Christ. If the Church is the body of Christ, don’t be surprised that it’s crucified. Don’t be surprised that it’s dragged through the streets and spat upon and wounded and crowned with thorns. That’s what’s going on right now.
The Church is the body of Christ, and when you love the Church, you should love it as the body of Christ.
Our dear Holy Father on Good Friday wrote this: “In the acute pain of the suffering servant, we hear already the triumphant cry of the risen Lord.” Christ on the cross is the King of the new people, ransom from the burden of sin and death, however twisted and confused the course of history may appear. We know that by walking in the footsteps of the crucified we shall attain to that goal. Amid the conflicts of a world dominated by selfishness and hatred, we as believers are called to proclaim the victory of love. Today, Good Friday, we testify to the victory of Christ crucified.
Not so long ago, the Catholic Church seemed to be very triumphant. I lived through those days at the end of the council. The Church seemed to be very powerful, and I’ve lived to see the mystical body of Christ crucified, betrayed, attacked, abandoned by the frightened apostles. And we’re all part of it. We’re all part of it. Don’t ever exempt yourself. I reproach myself every day that unwittingly I went along and stupidly I got involved in things that ultimately did not serve the Church or Christ so well.
Turn to Christ.
Places to leave prayer intentions (so that others will pray for you or your intention too) online:
Taize Community or email prayer intentions
Little Flower Society-- Prayer Intentions
St. Anthony Messenger Site--Prayer Intentions
Monastery of the Holy Spirit-- Prayer Requests
Holy Resurrection Monastery--(scroll down) Prayer Intentions
Leave an intention here and the good deacon will forward it to three:
Carmelite Monastery of Our Lady and St. Joseph in Pittsford, NY
Dominican Monastery of Mary the Queen in Elmira, NY
Abbey of the Genesee (Trappist) in Piffard, NY
Taize Community or email prayer intentions
Little Flower Society-- Prayer Intentions
St. Anthony Messenger Site--Prayer Intentions
Monastery of the Holy Spirit-- Prayer Requests
Holy Resurrection Monastery--(scroll down) Prayer Intentions
Leave an intention here and the good deacon will forward it to three:
Carmelite Monastery of Our Lady and St. Joseph in Pittsford, NY
Dominican Monastery of Mary the Queen in Elmira, NY
Abbey of the Genesee (Trappist) in Piffard, NY
Pope John Paul II has released an Apostolic Letter today entitled MISERICORDIA DEI (The Mercy of God) ON CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE CELEBRATION OF THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. A definition of "salvation" is given in the first lines:
Salvation is therefore and above all redemption from sin, which hinders friendship with God, a liberation from the state of slavery in which man finds himself ever since he succumbed to the temptation of the Evil One and lost the freedom of the children of God (cf. Rom 8:21).
The purpose of the Apostolic Letter:
With these words, I intended, as I do now, to encourage my Brother Bishops and earnestly appeal to them – and, through them, to all priests – to undertake a vigorous revitalization of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This is a requirement of genuine charity and true pastoral justice,(5) and we should remember that the faithful, when they have the proper interior dispositions, have the right to receive personally the sacramental gift.
The principle teaching of the letter seems to be--making the sacrament of reconciliation more available, making general absolution less likely, and refusing absolution to "habitual sinners" (see my post below about 'retaining sins'):
It is clear that penitents living in a habitual state of serious sin and who do not intend to change their situation cannot validly receive absolution.
Salvation is therefore and above all redemption from sin, which hinders friendship with God, a liberation from the state of slavery in which man finds himself ever since he succumbed to the temptation of the Evil One and lost the freedom of the children of God (cf. Rom 8:21).
The purpose of the Apostolic Letter:
With these words, I intended, as I do now, to encourage my Brother Bishops and earnestly appeal to them – and, through them, to all priests – to undertake a vigorous revitalization of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This is a requirement of genuine charity and true pastoral justice,(5) and we should remember that the faithful, when they have the proper interior dispositions, have the right to receive personally the sacramental gift.
The principle teaching of the letter seems to be--making the sacrament of reconciliation more available, making general absolution less likely, and refusing absolution to "habitual sinners" (see my post below about 'retaining sins'):
It is clear that penitents living in a habitual state of serious sin and who do not intend to change their situation cannot validly receive absolution.
Who moved my "school?"
When Father Matthew Siekierski, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in La Plata, was returning home April 28 and could not see the parish school in the dark, he thought to himself, "Where is my school?" Then he saw most of it -- lying on the ground.
Earlier that evening, around 7 p.m., a deadly tornado ripped through southern Maryland, leaving a trail of destruction in the town of La Plata. It killed three people, injured dozens of others and left Sacred Heart's Archbishop Neale Elementary School seriously damaged.
Many of the school's walls were torn from the building, and roofing and other debris were scattered throughout the classrooms. The twister slammed against the school and then hit its child-care center, leveling it to the ground. Now the center's stairs lead to a mound of rubble. From CNS
When Father Matthew Siekierski, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in La Plata, was returning home April 28 and could not see the parish school in the dark, he thought to himself, "Where is my school?" Then he saw most of it -- lying on the ground.
Earlier that evening, around 7 p.m., a deadly tornado ripped through southern Maryland, leaving a trail of destruction in the town of La Plata. It killed three people, injured dozens of others and left Sacred Heart's Archbishop Neale Elementary School seriously damaged.
Many of the school's walls were torn from the building, and roofing and other debris were scattered throughout the classrooms. The twister slammed against the school and then hit its child-care center, leveling it to the ground. Now the center's stairs lead to a mound of rubble. From CNS