From a magazine for liturgy

I'm in the process of preparing a response to an article in a Catholic Liturgy magazine exhorting the need to move toward a new model of church. I usually just laugh at these magazines but I really feel like this type of attitude needs to be addressed. Here's what got my blood boiling...

"...The ongoing process of ecclesial renewal is impoverished when all issues are reduced to one: namely, abortion. I detest this evil because it contradicts the biblical tradition that creation of life is God's business, and humanity is not empowered to interfere in God's business. But the behavior of some in the Christian community on this issue echoes the self-righteousness of the fundamentalist: 'I am right and you are wrong.' This has become such a banner cry for some church leaders that abortion as a pro-life issue is morphing into a pro-fetus movement and the violent rhetoric fuels lynch mob hysteria. This does little to restore respect and confidence in the hierarchy who practiced a different form of pro-choice when they chose to harbor pedophile priests rather than provide pastoral care to sexual abuse victims. voices loud in defense of the unborn but silent in defense of the living whose lives were emotionally aborted in childhood as victims of sex abuse are not grounded in a Christology that teaches a Jesus who never ridicules the violence or injustice he seeks to change. An ecclesiology with a biblically rooted Christology is the tradition that will push a model of church as dysfunctional family to become a model of church as healthy family."

Here are a few of the obvious errors:

1. Saying that the bishops shouldn't make a stand on abortion because of the sexual abuse scandal shows extreme desperation on the part of the author to avoid an issue he doesn't want to deal with. If anything, the bishops need to be encouraged to stand up for those whose lives are being destroyed (the powerless) over those who are choosing an occupation or a "normal life" over life (the powerful).

2. To my knowledge, pro life bishops haven't ever convened a lynch mob and characterizing things like the National Right to Life March as a lynch mob shows that this author has no idea about a largely lay movement in the church.

3. We believe that the fetus is alive. You don't have to choose between advocating for the unborn and the living. This is what philosophers call a false dichotomy.

4. The danger of saying that Jesus never said something is that there's always someone who will point out that he did. Luke 13:34-35 for instance, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling! Behold, your house will be abandoned. (But) I tell you, you will not see me until (the time comes when) you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

I hope to have a complete critique worked up for this particular magazine article by the end of the week and sent off. But I ask for your prayers. It's often hard for me to be charitable in these types of endeavors and I tend to give up easily fearing that I'll come off looking like the jerk. But I think it's important for me to try to articulate a few criticisms so that the publishers may be more hesitant to offer anticlerical rants in the future.

Christ is the man who knew human suffering

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ

Grace and peace in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. On Friday night, I had an opportunity to hear Boston College Philosophy professor Peter Kreeft talk in CY Stephens Auditorium on the problem of evil and suffering. To be honest, I wish I would have advertised for it in our bulletin because he did a superb job of articulating what I believe to be the Catholic understanding of evil and pain, an understanding that is also consistent with our readings today.

Part of what Dr. Kreeft was addressing was the relationship of faith with the existence of suffering or how can an all good God exist in a world where there is the evil of pain. Dr. Kreeft talked about four statements from C.S. Lewis that, in the mind of most atheists, cannot all be true. 1 God exists. 2 God is all powerful. 3 God is compassionate. 4 and Suffering exists. If God exists and he is all powerful and compassionate, then we shouldn’t have suffering. If God exists and is compassionate but we have suffering, than he cannot be all powerful. If God exists and he is all powerful and there is evil, than he must not really care about us. And, the atheists favorite, if God must be all powerful and all loving as we Christians believe he is and yet there is still suffering in the world, the suffering for instance of the Jewish people from the first reading who suffered under the Egyptians as slaves, then God must not really exist.

How do we Christians believe in God, believe he is all powerful and all loving and yet explain suffering in the world, whether it be the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people in Haiti or the suffering of the parents of missing Iowa State student Jon Lacina? The remarkable thing that Dr. Kreeft said was that we cannot know why these things happen. And, in fact, if we did know than it would contradict the very notion of an all powerful God. Suffering is a mystery. We have to trust that, in the end, there is meaning to it even if we don’t know what it is.

As I read over the gospel for today, I couldn’t help but think how true this is. Jesus didn’t run away from suffering. He starved himself for forty days, just like Moses and Elijah had done before him, and he suffered hunger. He walked out into the desert, a place where thieves, the sick, and demons hung out. Even before he began his ministry, he wanted to be with and know the pain and suffering of being in the desert. And, while in the desert, he felt temptation to alleviate his suffering. But, he refused, even when the devil used scripture as a temptation. This man, whose life is nothing but mystery, taught us all about the mystery of suffering, both in life and in death. He taught us about the all powerful God who exists and loves us so deeply that he is willingly enters into the suffering with us, to know it firsthand.

Ash Wednesday

Well, we've arrived at the beginning of the Lenten journey and I find myself reflecting on the ashes. Why do we rub a cross of ashes on our forehead. I think we can sort of decide the meaning since we, Americans, don't really have a tradition of intentionally rubbing dirt on ourselves.

The easiest association is with sacrifice and fasting. That's what we're doing on this Ash Wednesday, after all. But I'd suggest that the very scriptures we read tell us that, if we use it in this manner, we are being hypocritical: seeking to wear the outward sign of humility while proclaiming to everyone that we are the most humble of all.

I think that the point of that ashen cross isn't to proclaim that we are so humble/sacrificial. It's to remind us and everyone that sees it that we are dust and unto dust we shall return. All shall die and all must rely on the mercy of God. That's the real point of the Lenten journey after all. It's not an escapade into self discovery. It's an escapade into discovering God's mercy.

Can you be Catholic and Pro Choice?

For our bulletin, I get to answer questions that my parishioners pose. The above one was posed and here's my answer. In advance, I realize that my part of the answer is short and that I basically answered it by using other people's quotes. But they're great quotes, much better than I could ever do.

No.

Historically, abortion has never been considered morally permissible. In the early church, authors like Athenagoras, Tertullian, Hippolytus, John Crysostom, and others listed it among other serious, grave sins. In fact, up until the last 40 years, no serious Christian group would have ever considered abortion moral. Pope John Paul II wrote an encyclical on how it, euthanasia, death penalty, and other threat to life, are having effects in this world. I’d encourage anyone who doesn’t understand the Catholic Church’s consistent ethic of life to read this document called The Gospel of Life.

I found two quotes from other sources that have helped as I approached this question. The first comes from Pope Benedict XVI, “In the radical version of the Enlightenment’s individualistic tendency, abortion appears to be one of the rights of freedom; a woman must be able to have control over herself. She must have the freedom to bring a child into the world or rid herself of it. She must be able to make decisions concerning herself, and nobody else, so we are told, can impose upon her, from without, any ultimately binding norm. It is a matter of the right of self-determination. But, in an abortion, is the woman actually making decisions that concern herself? Is she not in fact making a decision about someone else – deciding that this person should be allowed no freedom, that she sphere of freedom – his life – should be taken away because it is in competition with her own freedom? And thus we should ask: What kind of a freedom is this that numbers among its rights that of abolishing right from the start?”

(Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions pps. 245-246 c. 2004 Ignatius Press)

Also, from Mother Teresa, "America needs no words from me to see how your decision in Roe v. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has sown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father's role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts -- a child -- as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the independent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters" And, in granting this unconscionable power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their husbands or other sexual partners. Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being's entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign."

(Mother Theresa, “Notable and Quotable”, in Wall Street Journal, 2/25/94, p. A14)

Holiness not the same as happiness

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ

Grace and peace to you in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ through the power of the SpiritI hope that you all receive some token of the Love during this Valentine’s Day/weekend. It’s good to feel loved, isn’t it? I know that one of the most exciting and hopefully parts of my ministry here at St. Thomas is being able to celebrate a wedding with a couple and watch them celebrate their love for each other. It just sort of warms your heart to hear them profess their love for each other and know that the love you are witnessing is God himself uniting them together.

In a past assignment, I used to do something else that warmed my heart, celebrating mass for Catholic grade school children. It was always an exciting and loud experience for me. However, around this time of year, Fr. Dennis would kind of become Father Downer. I would start talking to them about sin and how the children should look out for their neighbor. I remember being approached by a mother after a mass who asked a question that I think many parents can sympathize with. She said that she knew kids have a really tough time with self-esteem issues and so she was always trying to affirm her daughter and let her know how special she was but that she also knew that there were times when the gospel seemed to indicate that that was not exactly the right attitude to have, gospels like today for instance.

Because, let’s face it, this is a really hard gospel. You can overcontextualize the message by saying that the Gospel of Matthew adds “in spirit” to the first beatitude, thus making it a statement all about the spiritual realm. We should be spiritually poor. In other words, we shouldn’t become so dependent on our wealth that it becomes our god. But, Luke is different. He only has four blesseds; the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and those who are hated and persecuted but has contrary “woes” for each of these.

In some ways, the real challenge from this gospel to us today is that we have become a little too…accepted. We think that the whole point of religion should be to make us feel good about ourselves, to make us feel happy. But, happiness is not synonymous with holiness. And, the gospel challenges those of us who are the most comfortable. It’s easy to see how the poor, hungry, weeping, and despised of the world are suffering like Christ suffered. How are we who are sitting in our comfortable apartments, dorm rooms, and houses suffering? How are we preparing for the Kingdom of heaven if we have heaven on earth?

This coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, a time in which we Catholics tend to reflect on the areas of our life that are broken, whether that be instances of sin in our life or times when we have taken for granted the gifts God has given us. I invite each of you to take some time this week before Ash Wednesday to really think about what specific act you are going to do as a Lenten observance. Don’t just make it some arbitrary exercise of giving something up in order to feel better about yourself. Instead, do something that will help you understand the suffering of Christ better by becoming poor, hungry, sorrowful, or persecuted. And don’t do it for some great earthly reward or recognition. Your reward will be great in heaven.

Love means being willing to speak the hard truths

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ

Grace and Peace in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ in the prophetic power of the Spirit be with you. This Sunday’s gospel is a continuation on last Sunday’s gospel. Last Week, Jesus walked into his hometown and went immediately to the synagogue. He reads a passage from the prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” As Jesus sat down to preach, he gave one of the shortest homilies in the history of organized religion, “Today, this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” This Sunday’s Gospel starts right up from that point and focuses on what happens next in the Synagogue.

It reminded me of a somewhat popular show on television now, especially popular among social scientists. The show is called “Intervention” and the premise of the show is that someone has become so addicted to some substance that they need their friends and family members to intervene for them in order to get them so they aren’t addicted. I’ve actually only seen one episode of this show involving someone hooked on huffing aerosol from computer dusting cans. One of the things they did on the show was show you just how addiction changes a person. The addict in the show I watched was a good student who seemed to have her whole life together until she got addicted to this drug. Then, it changed her. She let her whole life revolve around looking for the cans of aerosol and it affected her appearance, attention, speech and every other part of her life. It was hard for me to believe that it took the friends and family of this beautiful woman created in the image and likeness of God so long to do this, that they watched her spiral downward so that she was begging for food until they actually had the intervention.

Jesus in the Temple sort of has to do an intervention for the people there. His fame has spread everywhere as a miracle worker and, as he gets home, he probably thinks that he can start to tell them the central core of why he’s really there. He even goes to the heart of local religion, the synagogue, to do this. But, instead of being surrounded by serious religious folk who wanted to know what was really going on, instead of hearing the same faith statement that Simon Peter would eventually make, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Most High”, they turn to him to keep doing the healings and mighty acts that he has already done. And, when he tells them that he won’t, they get angry and threaten to kill him. Yet, Jesus was trying to tell them about how he had fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy by doing those healings, not just keep doing them.

There are times in our lives when we have to speak hard truths to people who would rather just have a good time, times of intervention. And, it’s much easier to just ignore these times and pretend that nothing is wrong. But, when we were baptized, we became part of the body of Christ and were called to be a prophet for the world. The prophetic role is first and foremost one of love, the love that Paul was talking about in the second reading today. It’s a love that is willing to tell a friend that he can’t hit his girlfriend. It’s a love that is willing to tell someone who has had too much to drink that she shouldn’t drive. And it’s a love that asks for the help of counselors, family, and friends when someone is addicted to drugs and alcohol. It’s not easy and, as we saw in the gospel, we can probably expect anger on the part of the person who needs the intervention. But, to paraphrase what St. Paul said in that second reading; When we were children, we used to talk like children, think like children, reason like children; when we became adults, we put aside childish things. Part of being an adult, part of being a prophet is being willing to lovingly help someone whose life is out of control.

Learning a powerful lesson about addiction

When I hear or think about addiction. I usually think of the three big addictive chemicals: drugs, nicotine, and alcohol. After some reflection, I think of sex addictions like pornography and masturbation, anonymous, and violent sex, etc. I don't usually think of pop. But, that got me yesterday.

I stopped drinking diet sodas on Monday "cold turkey." I actually had my last pop on Sunday afternoon so Monday was my first day without it. I had run out and so I just stopped. I got a slight headache on Monday and felt fine on Tuesday. Then, yesterday, I was at home in the afternoon feeling just fine. I felt like a nap so I laid my head down for a quick 15 minute power nap. A half-hour later, I awoke as though I hadn't even laid down. I stood up and immediately felt a strong headache accompanied by a sick stomach. It felt like someone was taking an axe and pounding on the back of my left eyeball. I cancelled my evening appointment and laid back down in bed. My headache wouldn't go away and, if I moved, my stomache would just turn and turn almost to the point of vomiting. I laid in bed from 5:00 pm until 10:15 sleeping on and off and, finally, at 10:15, sleeping solidly until 2:30.

I awoke at 2:30 am and I stood up to go to the bathroom. My first thought was that, even though my stomach still wasn't a hundred percent, my headache was gone. I rejoiced! I smiled and laughed and went back to bed to read for a couple of hours before sleeping for another 4 hours after all of that. I was initially worried about cancer and other brain abnormalities. And then it struck me. I had all the symptoms of an addict in detox. I was jittery. I had no energy. I was addicted to caffeine.

The crazy thing is that, today, I've felt good all day and my hunger has subsided. Maybe it's just that my stomach still isn't back to normal but, supposedly, diet pop makes you crave food and I was constantly thinking about my next meal and constantly snacking.

There are a lot of things that we don't think of as addictions that probably are. I wonder what else in my life I need to give up in order to be a better disciple.

Death of a feminist

I put in a search for catholic news and heard of the death of Mary Daly. I've never heard of her before this obituary. Her story makes her seem like she could be among a list of catholic theologians who decided the church needed to be more of a theological buffet: choose what you want to believe. It made me think about the fact that the immediate post Vatican II generation really are dying. It will be interesting to see what it means as this dissident generation begins to die off. What will happen to the church? As long time readers know, I think we're set to get a little smaller. We're going to have to shed the dissident element in order to live.

There's two persistent issues that come about because of this. The first is that we need to remain a church of the academy. Even as we rebuild respect for tradition, we have to keep listening to the signs of the times and responding. And we can't just be pejorative. We must be respectful and incorporate what's good.

Secondly, we have to figure out how to be charitable. Many of these people have spent a lifetime getting rid of the very traditions we are bringing back (adoration, "smells and bells", clerical dress, etc.). We have to treat them charitably even as we celebrate finally being able to take Vatican II seriously and not just its spirit.

The way we blow God’s millions is by NOT using them.

My Dear brothers and sisters in Christ

Grace and Peace to you in God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ in the gifts of the Holy Spirit as we continue to celebrate this great Christmas season. Have you ever heard of the film Brewster’s Millions? It’s a few years old by now but I really like it even though I’ve never actually been able to sit through the entire film before because I’m so fascinated by the idea of it. The premise of the movie is that a rich millionaire wants to leave his fortune to his only surviving relative, played by Richard Pryor. But, in order to earn the $300 million dollars the relative is offering, he has to conspicuously waste $30 million dollars in the course of a month. So, for instance, at one point in the film Pryor buys a rare stamp worth several hundred dollars. But, in order for him to waste his investment, he uses the rare stamp to mail a letter. My problem with watching this film is that I start to think about what I would do to waste the money. There were restrictions on how much charitable income that he could give away so I couldn’t just give it all to the Love Your Neighbor Fund that we have established here in the parish or Catholic Charities, for instance. It’s kind of a difficult prospect when you really think about it.

Epiphany Sunday is a time when we remember a unique visitation in the life of Jesus. While still laying in the manger, the gospel writer Matthew tells us that some astrologers from the east came to him with gifts and laid them at the feet of the Lord, gold, frankincense, and myhrr. Several traditions surrounding the story have developed that kind of distract us from the real message of the story. The real point the gospel writer is driving at is not the number or names of the magi or what each gift symbolizes. The Gospel writer is giving us a two fold message. Firstly, this was prophesied in the first reading. We heard in the first reading…

Then you shall be radiant at what you see,
your heart shall throb and overflow,
for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you,
the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.
Caravans of camels shall fill you,
dromedaries from Midian and Ephah;
all from Sheba shall come
bearing gold and frankincense,
and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.

But, the Gospel writer immediately realizes the problem. According to the Prophet, this was to take place in Jersusalem. But, it didn’t take place there, instead it took place ten miles away, in Bethlehem. That’d be like someone telling the people of Ames to prepare for something great and it taking place in Nevada instead. That’s why the gospel writer makes it seem like all of Jerusalem are just as angry with the Magi as Herod is with them. It’s only after they look into a different prophet, Baruch, that they realize that the birth was to take place in Bethlehem and that it would benefit Jerusalem. But, for the gospel writer, this is the ultimate statement that God is not just going to work in Jerusalem but is starting to let his light shine in other places as well.

The other message the gospel writer is driving home is that the world’s riches will be at the service of God. The gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh symbolize this. The gospel writer was not trying to say in any way that, by believing in Jesus, we will become rich. It merely means that we will have gifts to share with others, spiritual gifts. That’s also what Paul was talking about in the second reading when he used that often abused term stewardship. We have been given a great treasure in Jesus Christ who has made the possibility of salvation open to the whole world. And, like Brewster’s millions, the more we use them, the more we will get. In this parish, we have a program that we affectionally call DOG. It’s an acronym for Discerning Our Giftedness. This program is a process of prayerfully and analytically discerning what you like to do and what you do well and then figuring out how you can use those gifts to build up society and our church. We’ll start a new session soon and I encourage anyone who wants to be able to be of more service or anyone who feels like they’re too involved and need to figure out what they need to give up to join.

The three magi were willing to put their gifts at the feet of the Lord. I’m not sure they could have known that, in so doing, they were fulfilling decade’s old prophecy. We also need to put out gifts in service of the church. What gifts is God calling you to lay at his son’s feet.

The Christ-child priest

My Dear brothers and sisters in Christ

Grace and Peace in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ through the glory of the Holy Spirit be with you and your families as we enter this Christmas season. I hope that you all your families are able to gather for this Christmas celebration despite the terrible weather. Let’s keep each other in prayer as we journey these next few days.

On June 19^th, on the 150^th anniversary of the death of Saint John Vianney, Pope Benedict inaugurated the Year for Priests. I think most priests haven’t preached about to because we don’t know how to do it without sounding egotistical. During the year of St. Paul, we could always just preach about the second reading. But, it feels a little self-serving to preach about priests considering the preacher is usually the only one who has been ordained a priest. Yet, I couldn’t help but think about how this celebration of Christmas is connected to the year of the priest as I was preparing my homily. As a priest, one of the most formative experiences I have is gathering the people together for the Eucharist. In the letter the Pope sent to priests when he inaugurated this year of the priest, he said the following

In his time (St. John Vianney) was able to transform the hearts and the lives of so many people because he enabled them to experience the Lord’s merciful love. Our own time urgently needs a similar proclamation and witness to the truth of Love. Thanks to the word and the sacraments of Jesus, John Vianney built up his flock, although he often trembled from a conviction of his personal inadequacy, and desired more than once to withdraw from the responsibilities of parish ministry out of a sense of his unworthiness. Nonetheless, with exemplary obedience he never abandoned his post, consumed as he was by apostolic zeal for the salvation of souls. He sought to remain completely faithful to his own vocation and mission through the practice of an austere asceticism: “The great misfortune for us parish priests – he lamented – is that our souls grow tepid…”

Tonight/today we heard in the gospel the story of the birth of Jesus. The Gospel of Luke provides some very interesting details. First, we hear that there is an exercise of power being done by the leader, Caesar Augustus, to enroll the whole world. This meant that people had to travel to the town of their ancestors in order to be counted. This is in direct contrast to what happens to the Shepherds later in the story. They are out doing what needs to be done, taking care of their flocks. The angelic visitor, in some ways, entices them to go see the newborn child in a manger. I was recently watching a show in which a character pointed out how miraculous this act alone was! She said, “Have you ever gone to a baby shower before? There are no men at baby showers! What makes you think these common shepherds would leave their work and go see a baby?” And, she has a point. It would have taken Angelic intervention to get these guys to take their eyes off the edges of their flocks to go in town to see a baby. But, of course, this wasn’t just any baby. This was the savior who is both human messiah and Lord, both fully human and fully divine, God made flesh. To quote another saint, St. Athanasius of Alexadria, “God became man so that we might become children of God”

The newborn king doesn’t waste any time in gathering his people around him in this first mass. Yet, what I find truly instructive as a priest is how Jesus gathered the shepherds. He didn’t go out personally and invite each one. He had angels to do it. That’s why the Pope said in the letter I referenced earlier.

“In his gifts the Spirit is multifaceted…He breathes where he wills. He does so unexpectedly, in unexpected places, and in ways previously unheard of…but he also shows us that he works with a view to the one body and in the unity of the one body”. In this regard, the statement of the Decree on priests from Vatican II continues to be timely: “While testing the spirits to discover if they be of God, priests must discover with faith, recognize with joy and foster diligently the many and varied charismatic gifts of the laity, whether these be of a humble or more exalted kind”. These gifts, which awaken in many people the desire for a deeper spiritual life, can benefit not only the lay faithful but the clergy as well. The communion between ordained and charismatic ministries can provide “a helpful impulse to a renewed commitment by the Church in proclaiming and bearing witness to the Gospel of hope and charity in every corner of the world”.

Christ didn’t just come into this world to be ogled and put back into a box. He came to inaugurate a Holy Ordering to the world. As a priest I need to rely on your gifts in order to build up the body of Christ. One of the greatest spiritual gifts you can share with the church is to be like the Angels from the gospel and announce the birth of the savior. You can do this best, not by directing them back to Bethlehem but by inviting those lost sheep back to church with you. One of the frustrations voiced by those who come every week to church is that they hate Christmas and Easter because those who rarely (if ever) come to church decide to show up. Rather than complain that they don’t come, need to welcome them back and invite them back next week and the week after that. We need you angels to help guide the lost shepherds back to the church. I hope to inaugurate a process during Lent to solicit names of people who are distanced from the church in order to invite them back and help them to feel a part. During this year of the priest, let us exercise our common baptismal priest to help make the incarnation of Christ even more explicit in the lives of all the faithful.

A great celebration

The weather in Iowa is crud. I was really tempted to cancel the mass out at our little rural parish because they kept saying that the ice was coming. But, being stubborn and Germanic, I refused. And I'm glad I did. As most of my brother priests in the area made the decision to cancel mass, I went out to a full church over wet (not slick) roads. And when I came back, the snow/ice/rain combination was just starting. I went slow but the roads never got slick.

And the mass was just incredible, not because of anything that I did, just because of the preparation that went into it. The church was packed. The choirs did really well, especially the college student who led the Responsorial Psalm. And there were so many people that I've never seen before along with all the regulars.

Tomorrow I'll celebrate the 9:00 if I can possibly make it to St. Thomas. And then I may have to be alone for Christmas. But, that's okay. I'm warm and well fed. There are a lot of people who can't say that much.

I wonder if Handel ever saw this coming...

As you can probably tell, I've had a little more time than normal to post things the last couple of days. And, as a result, I've been able to read other people's blogs and see what's happening. I found this on American Papist blog and laughed a lot and hope you enjoy it too!

Do they know it's Christmas time at all?

I imagine most people in this country are well aware that there is a battle going on about health care. What probably isn't entirely clear is the battle going on behind the scenes with this bill regarding abortion. There are some people who have decided that this bill is the way to bypass long-standing laws prohibiting federal funding of abortions. They're not doing it directly, which is what is crazy. Instead, they've decided that they'll use federal funds to pay private insurers to cover abortions. The bishops of this country, especially Cardinal Daniel Denardo, deserve respect for the work they've done on investigating and clarifying what is wrong with this bill. He wrote...

"(The bill) does not seem to allow purchasers who exercise freedom of choice or of conscience to 'opt out' of abortion coverage in federally subsidized health plans that include such coverage. Instead it will require purchasers of such plans to pay a distinct fee or surcharge which is extracted solely to help pay for other people's abortions. Further the government agency that currently manages health coverage for federal employees will promote and help subsidize multi-state health plans that include elective abortions, contrary to longstanding law governing this agency."

This probably seems kind of trite criticism, especially the part about the government agency promoting and helping to subsidize abortions. But, think about what is really being discussed. Hospitals, clinics, doctors, and everyone else who provides health care are basically being told that you either abort children or pay for someone else to do. And, there'll be a government agency that'll make sure you do that very thing.

This needs to be addressed before this bill gets passed. And we need to make sure our senators hear that message.

The meaning of the season

I preached this morning about how important it is to connect with people over the Christmas season, just like Mary connected with Elizabeth. I see it as an excellent opportunity to do some corporal works of mercy, which we don't usually talk about anymore.

The most surprising thing of all is that I got a compliment for praying Eucharistic Prayer I. A whole family came up to me and asked why we don't hear it more often. I love that prayer. I know it's long but I love the imagery that goes along with it. People amaze me often at what they pick up on.

Vatican Humor

Got this from a cousin...

VATICAN HUMOR

After getting all of Pope Benedict's luggage loaded into the limo, (and he doesn't travel lightly), the driver notices the Pope is still standing on the curb.

'Excuse me, Your Holiness,' says the driver, 'Would you please=take your seat so we can leave?'

'Well, to tell you the truth,' says the Pope, 'they never let me drive at the Vatican when I was a cardinal, and I'd really like to drive today.'

'I'm sorry, Your Holiness, but I cannot let you do that. I'd=lose my job! What if something should happen?' protests the driver,wishing he'd never gone to work that morning..

'Who's going to tell?' says the Pope with a smile.

Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope climbs in=behind the wheel. The driver quickly regrets his decision when, after exiting the airport, the Pontiff floors it, accelerating the limo to 205 kph.. (Remember, the Pope is German..)

'Please slow down, Your Holiness!' pleads the worried driver, but the Pope keeps the pedal to the metal until they hear sirens.

'Oh, dear God, I'm going to lose my license -- and my job!' moans the driver.

The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the cop approaches, but the cop takes one look at him, goes back to his motorcycle, and gets on the radio.

'I need to talk to the Chief,' he says to the dispatcher.

The Chief gets on the radio and the cop tells him that he's stopped a limo going 205 kph.

'So bust him,' says the Chief.

'I don't think we want to do that, he's really important,' said the cop.

The Chief exclaimed,' All the more reason!'

'No, I mean really important,' said the cop with a bit of persistence.

The Chief then asked, 'Who do you have there, the mayor?'

Cop: 'Bigger.'

Chief: ' A senator?'

Cop: 'Bigger.'

Chief: 'The Prime Minister?'

Cop: 'Bigger.'

'Well,' said the Chief, 'who is it?'

Cop: 'I think it's God!'

The Chief is even more puzzled and curious, 'What makes you think it's God?'

Cop: 'His chauffeur is the Pope!'

WARNING!!!

I was looking over the comments in my blog. I don't get many so it was easy. But, there was one with a lot of Asian writing that was a series of links. I didn't know what any of it said and so I thought I'd at least try and make sure it was appropriate. But, the link was not at all appropriate. So, if there is a comment with any type of link in it, just avoid it. I have safeguards in place that make sure they can't easily spam but safeguards can be bypassed by the determined. So, just avoid following links and I'll try to remember to come here and delete any suspicious activity quicker. Sorry for any of you who found the message I deleted before I could do so and may have followed the links there!

REJOICE!

My Dear Friends in Christ

Grace and Peace in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ in the joy of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Before I begin the substance of my homily today, I want to turn to the college students who are here that the campus ministers; Fr. Jon, myself, Misty and Shari, are here to visit if you are feeling overwhelmed this week. This is a stressful time for you and we want you to know that we are not only praying for you but hoping that you will find joy in the midst of this time.

This past Tuesday night, I celebrated the 7:00 mass here at St. Thomas for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. I was determined to do so even though I knew I was going to have to travel the mile and a half back to my apartment after it was over. And I hate snow! I hate being cold. I hate the cold wet feeling that you have when you go inside and the snow melts on your jeans and neck. But I’m also just enough of a stubborn German to hate the idea of cancelling mass. After mass, I kind of wanted to just hurry home, settle under a blanket and tuck in for night. However, I forgot to notify my apartment complex that I was going to be late in returning so they hadn’t plowed when I got there. I got about a hundred yards from my garage when I ran into a two-foot tall snow drift. I tried to get my truck out by backing up and taking another run but it was no use. It was stuck. I walked over to get my shovel try and free my truck and, thankfully, a stranger came by and helped me dig. It took an extra half hour of clearing a path and moving the truck forward before I could go into the warmth of my apartment and relax. The strange thing was, however, when I got in I got very excited. I probably could have been frustrated at the fact that I got stuck and had to dig myself out. I even could have been frustrated that I couldn’t get my truck in the garage where it belonged but, instead, had to park the thing in an already snow packed parking spot where the plows would just keep packing snow around it. But, I was joyful. I was joyful because I had met someone who I probably wouldn’t have met any other way. And I was joyful because I had a warm place to call home with enough food to survive for several days if I had to.

Today is called Guadete Sunday in the church because the opening antiphon for today’s mass begins with the Latin word Gaudete, REJOICE! The full quote is actually from the second reading for today, “Rejoice in the Lord, always. I say it again, Rejoice.” Paul is writing this to the church in a little town in modern-day Turkey called Phillippi. The crazy thing is that Paul is writing this letter to them from Prison. He was put there for his willingness to spread the Gospel in a country that considered it illegal to be Christian. And, despite the fact that Paul probably knows that he is on his way to execution, he tells his people to rejoice. He tells them to rejoice in two other places in this letter as well. You could say it is one of his central themes for the church in Phillippi, Rejoice! It is what binds the Christians together. It’s not fear that will define the Christian but joy.

It’s the same kind of joy that the people who came to question John would have felt. They are all aware that something is wrong with their life. Some are not being charitable but only taking care of their own needs for food and clothes. Tax collectors are there who are robbing from all people in order to pad their pockets. And the soldiers sent to protect them are helping the tax collect extort from people in order to take their own cut. John’s reaction is not to tell them to abandon everything and take on a whole new way of life. He simply says that they should take the life they have now and live it with renewed vigor for justice, peace, and holiness.

What strikes me about this is that John doesn’t tell his questioners that they need to make a radical change. Even the evil tax collectors can find joy if they just doe their job well and stop extorting. If John the Baptist were here tonight/today, I wonder what his message would be to each of us. If you are a student, find the joy in finals! Find joy in demonstrating to your professors the hard work you’ve done this semester in learning their subject. Do not be afraid that you’ve not done enough work, just show them in joy what you have learned. If you are a professor, find the joy in realizing that, even though they didn’t learn everything and undoubtedly could have worked a lot harder, you did your best in conveying the information to them. If you aren’t either one of those, find joy in that; that you aren’t being tested this week and say a prayer for them as this semester finishes. Let us all find a way to rejoice this Gaudete Sunday in the midst of our shopping, work, family, school, and other commitments, we are almost there! Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again and again and again, REJOICE!

HOLY COW!!! How did I miss this?

Long after the cold war between the US and USSR ended, the Vatican and Russia struggled to have or maintain any kind of relationship. Most of the problem dealt with the ongoing concern of the Russian Orthodox that Rome was going to run in and steal their flock who had just returned after communist repression.

But then there's this that tells that those relations may be thawing. The Russians are starting to talk. It's not perfect yet but it can't go anywhere if both sides don't talk. Let's pray that we are able to return to unity with our separated brotheren.

First Sunday of Advent

My Dear brothers and sisters in Christ

Grace and Peace to you in God, our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ who will come again in the power of the Holy Spirit. One Christmas, when I was a kid, there was one thing I wanted more than anything in the world: a remote controlled car. For weeks prior, I had made a point of pointing it out whenever my mom and I went by a toy store and bringing it up in conversation in a not so subtle way of showing her that it was important to me. I knew she would, in turn, communicate the importance of the car to Santa Clause since she kept telling me we couldn’t afford it. I used to sit around and think about all the cool things I would do with my remote controlled car when I got it and how fast it would go on our gravel drive way. In my family, we used to unwrap gifts in two stages. On Christmas Eve we would unwrap the gifts from my parents and on Christmas day, the gifts from Santa. I can remember opening my parent’s gifts and getting the usual, clothes. BORING! I went to bed that night with visions of a red remote controlled car jumping off step, making a perfect landing while I watched from the front porch smiling. The next morning, I awoke and ran to the Christmas tree to find several cool presents. I found a sled, a new Transformer, and more clothes. But, the one thing I didn’t find was a remote controlled car. I couldn’t believe it! I made a deal with Santa. I was a good boy for a whole month and I didn’t get my remote control. He broke his promise!

For the past several Sundays, we’ve been hearing apocalyptic stories about end times and how Jesus will come again in the midst of future tribulation. All along, we are cautioned to be prepared. But, to be honest, I have a difficult time with all these end time statements. It’s not that I don’t believe Jesus could ever come again or that I don’t want Jesus to come again. It’s just that, after 2000 years of waiting, I’m not sure how to remain vigilant. I mean, to be honest, the idea of the end times predates Christianity. We heard but one prediction in the first reading from the Prophet Jeremiah predicting a perfect world built by God in which the Lord is justice. God promises his people, in that reading, that he will take them from a very unjust society filled with corrupt leaders and raise up just leaders that will make them secure and peaceful.

Our Gospel picks up on this apocalyptic promise of peace and tells us that, in the end times, despite all the terror surrounding us and the fear and confusion of the unbeliever, we Christians should stand up with our heads raised like one who is anticipating great things, not hiding in fear of what is happening. This seems to pick up on exactly what is so frustrating about these end-times passages, a lot of holy people thought that they were living in the tribulation when, in fact, they were not. A lot of people have longed to see the coming of our Lord Jesus and have ended up merely seeing the coming of the end of their lives instead. How can we take these promises of apocalypse seriously if Jesus still hasn’t come? How long do we have to wait?

It seems to me that Jesus knew that this frustration would happen. That’s why we heard in the gospel today, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a thief.” Our hearts become drowsy when we start to put limits on God and how his plan works in our lives. We may never get the remote control car from Santa or some other gift that we think we need to have. But, we will one day see the coming of the Son of Man on the clouds. How do we know? Because God promised us and his word is good. God promised he would send the just descendant of David and he made good on that promise with Jesus. Jesus will make good his promise too.

I have to admit it’s getting better…or worse…or both.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ

Grace and peace to you in God our Father who sent our Lord, Jesus Christ, to rescue us from the power of darkness and bring us into the kingdom of light in the power of the Holy Spirit. We rely on this grace and peace all the days of our lives, but especially in times of trial and distress. Speaking of trial and distress, do you think the world is generally getting better or worse? Think about it for a second. Overall, do you think things are better today than they were fifty years ago? I imagine some of you would say yes because you didn’t even exist fifty years ago. Others might note the growth in technology and knowledge that seems to make life easier. Today we have X-ray machines and MRI’s and doctors that can interpret the results with such accuracy that they can find problems at the origin when there’s still time to deal with it. Plus, we have machines that make back breaking, repetitive work a thing of the past. However, some of you may say that things are actually getting worse. As a country, our economy is in the dumps and our national debt seems out of control. Some of you have felt this personally when you lost your job or couldn’t find a job and started wondering where your next meal was going to come from. And, even though we claim to be such an advanced society, in many ways we have simply hidden our atrocities against human life. We no longer send rows upon rows of young men to die in battle, now we send armored vehicles in to do the killing. And we no longer have the public spectacle of hanging for the death penalty. Instead, we strap prisoners to a gurney in a prison basement and inject them with poison to civilize our brutal behavior.

In these times of tribulation, we turn to the Wisdom of theology to find some meaning, something to help sort out where God is in it all. And, when we do, we are confronted with a picture that challenges both optimist and pessimist alike. The reading from the gospel of Mark is often used by our fundamentalist evangelical friends as a predictor of future events. Televangelists like Jack and Rexella Van Impe see in this passage a pessimistic viewpoint of the future. If you’ve never seen these two on TV, the wife, Rexalla, reads the news of the day and husband, Jack, then applies scripture to the particular news item. So, he might say that the mention in the first reading of those in everlasting horror and disgrace is clearly an allusion to certain politicians who have cheated on a wife, which clearly points to the fact that we are in the tribulation now and that Jesus will come soon. This viewpoint often leads them to a rather pessimistic viewpoint of human activity in relation to the kingdom of God. You never hear Jack say that the fact that Iowans are willing to go to Honduras in order to put in a well points to the prediction that the thirsty will be given water. It’s always about how death, destruction, and tyranny will lead to the overthrow of all goodness. To my knowledge, this theology has not made any inroads in the Catholic Church because of how pessimistically it views the coming of the kingdom and how incorrectly it interprets scripture.

A related movement that has had an effect in the Catholic Church began in the late 19th Century, largely in Germany. Partly in reaction to World War I and partly because of a sense of the need for greater unity within mainline Protestant denominations, there erupted what was called a liberal protestant movement. It began with the idea that the world is slowly getting better, slowly growing to become the kingdom of God. In fact, some liberal theologians think that the change was happening so subtly that, one day, we would wake up and see that the Kingdom had been here for quite some time and that we simply hadn’t paid well enough attention to notice. Some Catholic thinkers including Teilhard de Chardin, Yves Congar, and Leonardo Boff came to embrace this optimistic ethic.

If we take a critical look at scripture, we can see that it’s not always as easy as ideologies make it out to be. Jesus, indeed, warns that there will be tribulation and that there will be darkness before the brightness of the Son of God, an image he borrowed from the first reading from the book of Daniel. But, he cautions that no one knows how or when it’s going to take place. Even the images that he uses are not entirely clear as to what they mean. “Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near.” I’m pretty sure Jesus isn’t saying that we’ll grow branches instead of arms know that he is coming when our branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves. Instead, I think Jesus is telling us that most universal of all end times messages: Be in a state of constant preparedness.

But, how do we do this? How can we be prepared? We do this by coming together in this gathering as members of the body of Christ so that we can share in the foretaste of the coming Kingdom by sharing in the Eucharist. We do this by suffering personal trials and tribulations in our daily lives knowing that, by doing so, we are sharing in the suffering of the larger body of Christ. We do so by utilizing the church’s sacrament of reconciliation in order to be free from what holds us back from the happiness of the kingdom. And, we do so by cultivating a rich personal prayer life that allows us to connect one-on-one with the Christ who is coming to lead us to eternal life.

Perhaps the best image for us to reflect on comes from the second reading from Paul’s letter to the Hebrews. In it, he says, that, unlike all other priests who must stand and continually offer sacrifices to God, Jesus can sit and rest by his heavenly father because his sacrifice is once and for all. Heaven and earth will pass away but the Word of the Lord will last forever. While, in many ways, this world isn’t getting better or worse, we know that the suffering of this world will end. Let us live our lives so that, one day, we will finally be able to sit next to Christ in heaven and be at rest.