Corpus Christ Processions

This Sunday is Corpus Christi Sunday, or as it is more commonly known today, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord. In four areas throughout the archdiocese of of Dubuque, the Archbishop and his vicars will process through town with the Blessed Sacrament and people will follow in procession. The procession will stop in areas just long enough to pray at the place and then move on. It is my hope to go to the one in Dyersville because I have never seen this before and it is the closest. In this procession, we remember something that we learned first from our Jewish brothers and sister, "our elder brothers and sisters in the faith" as Pope John Paul II used to say. Just as the Israelites were tested but never abandoned by God (he gave them manna, a food unknown to their ancestors) so we are never abandoned by God regardless of what we do. God never gives up on us. He always loves us and even gives us ways to get to know him better.

The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

One of the most powerful things that I get to do as a priest is exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. That’s what we do when we set that large metal stand, called the monstrance, on the altar so that people can adore and pray in front of the Host or Blessed Sacrament for a period of time. I am especially proud that we resurrected this practice in our pastorate on the feast days of our parishes and on the feast of our patron, John Baptist de la Salle. It is my hope that this will not only continue into the future but that many of you will notice when these celebrations take place in other sites of the pastorate and make a point of attending. Yet, regardless of how profound my experience of Adoration is, there is this little uneasy dance that happens in my heart towards the end of almost every session. I begin to wonder if people are bored. I begin to worry that people are remembering days when their mother or father forced them to come and do this. I begin to worry that people are resolving never to do this again. I begin to think that I should cut it short so that people don’t get more frustrated than what they, undoubtedly, already are. But, I stick it out for the full amount of time and stand, with all these doubts running through my head, to return the Blessed Sacrament to it’s place in the tabernacle. I kneel with my back to the people and invite them to open to the back of the hymnal and sing that classic chant, “Tantum egro sacramentum” and I hear these voices that wouldn’t be caught dead singing “Rain Down”, “Alle, Alle, Alleluia” or “Lead me, Lord” singing out this song that was first song before it’s singers knew there was a North America. Then, I approach the monstrance to bless the people and, on their faces, I see looks that bespeak respect and love. Not only do the people not feel the way my heart was trying to say they do, most of the time people wish they could have adoration more often. I even had one woman openly admit that she wished it could be much longer. I’ve never had anyone tell me that they thought mass was too short but, for this woman, she didn’t have enough time to adore the presence of the Lord. I think people see in this form a prayer a memory. And, I don’t mean that people sit around and think about the good old days, I think we are reminded of the respect that we have in our hearts for what we eat and drink each week.

That is what is at the heart of the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord. We are invited to focus on the Eucharist and its importance in our lives, an event that is even more important during this year of the Eucharist. Our readings focus on the respect that we should have for the Eucharist. The first reading from Deuteronomy reminded our Jewish brothers and sister and, through them, reminds us that the Eucharist is a gift from God. Jesus, in the gospel, takes this message a step further and reminds us that the bread that we eat is his flesh and the wine that we drink is his blood. This God given gift we receive is what connects us to Christ and to eternal life. This is a warning to us about how we receive the body and blood of Christ. We must remember that there is no church law that says we have to receive each week. We have to come to mass every week that we are physically able, but we are not obliged to receive the Blessed Sacrament every week. If you are ill, you should not receive from the cup out of respect to your fellow communicants. And, if you are concerned that you may vomit, you should not receive at all lest the Blessed Sacrament end up in a latrine. But, there are other reasons that a person would not receive. All Catholics who are able are called to fast for one hour before receiving communion in order to prepare our stomachs and hearts for the Blessed Sacrament. If you broke your fast and were able to fast for one hour, you should not receive communion. Futher, those Catholics who are aware of committing a serious sin should not receive unless they have first gone to confession. A serious sin takes us out of communion with the church. I recently overheard a conversation between a young man and a young woman in which the woman asked the man how church was. The young man sighed and said, “Alright, I guess. I tried not going to communion but my mom made me go with her.” I’m sure that that mother thought she was doing something good for her son by forcing him to go to communion, but that man had the right attitude. It was clear that he didn’t feel like he was in communion with the church and that, out of respect for the Church, he shouldn’t receive communion.

If we do decide to receive communion, we should also remember to be respectful when we come up. Remember that it is not only still acceptable but preferred that Catholics receive the host on the tongue. If you choose to receive on the tongue, tip your head back and stick your tongue out. It is the only time when it is acceptable to stick your tongue out at someone, after all. Then, when the host is placed on your tongue, gently take the host back into your mouth. If you choose to receive on the hand, please wash your hands before you come. St. Augustine says that we are to make a throne for God and, in all the pictures that I’ve ever seen, I have never seen a King’s throne covered in dirt. And don’t set your hands side by side because the host could fall through the middle when you try to put it in your mouth. Take your dominant hand, the one you write with, and set that under your other hand. That way, you can use your dominant hand to take the host from your non-dominant, receiving hand to your mouth.

These might seem like nit-picky concerns but they all point to the kind of respect that we need to have for the Eucharist, the pinnacle of the church’s prayer life. We celebrate today a renewal in this respect and evaluate what it means to be part of this body of Christ, the Church.

Retraction

I sent the following letter to Archbishop Jerome Hanus today.

Dear Archbishop Hanus

Grace and Peace in our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you. Thank you for the beautiful confirmation ceremonies at Holy Ghost and the La Salle Pastorate. Let us pray that the newly confirmed continue to nourish the faith that was first given to them in baptism and is now confirmed in them by your chrismation. I’m writing today to ask for your forgiveness.

Earlier this spring, I posted an unfair and rather juvenile statement on my blog (fatherdennis.blogspot.com). I was critical of you for not mentioning Fr. Dustin Vu at the chrism mass. I’m very sorry for this because, if I truly thought it was worth criticizing, I should have done so to you personally instead of just whining about it via the internet. Then, to compound the situation, I thought I had erased the post the next day but, in searching today, I found that it was still there. I did erase it today and I’m sure it is no longer posted but it remained there for far too long and, I fear, may have caused you pain or embarrassment. If so, I am very sorry. I hope that you know that I have always found you to be very supportive of me and my ministry and that, when I talk to the newly ordained priests, we all feel very honored to have you as our Archbishop.

Rest assured that this will not happen again. I am making every effort to emphasize the positive things happening in my life and in the life of the church on my blog. I truly believe it to be a useful resource for evangelization and another way in which the Spirit can work. I hope you will also allow me to offer my apology to you personally when we meet this Wednesday.

Your obedient son
Fr. Dennis Miller

The Cube and The Cathedral

I recently read a book by imminent theologian Georgy Weigel, one of the most thorough biographers of Pope John Paul II. I've, since then, become fascinated with one of the concepts that Weigel is proposing in that book. Using Europe as a foil, he shows how, in the absence of a God that has a role publicly, people use the concept of power as a guiding principal of morality. One must be in control of one's own circumstances. I was thinking about this considering the press coverage that shows like "The Apprentice" get on TV. Donald Trump is an icon of American society, not someone who values money over relationships and financial success over loving other people. This hunger for power is exemplified in the power to control all aspects of our lives, especially the power to decide human life. European populations are not producing a significant enough second generation to replace themselves. I don't want to get into Weigel's pessimistic presumption that Europe will be an Islamic state in a number of years because I don't have the expertise to know this. Instead, I'd like to focus on the notion that children need to be a chosen activity, an attitude that is dominant at this point in history. If children are seen as either a choice or a mistake it makes human life into something that is, somehow, less valuable. It could seem as though a child born into a family that didn't plan for him or her is a curse or not as good as a child born into a family that makes a twenty year plan for raising the child. Somehow, the child becomes the same as an automobile. Our culture needs to recognize that God does have an effect in our daily lives and that we aren't always in charge. Being faithful should be more important that being powerful.

Rainbow Sashes

A little over a week ago, a scene played out that was less violent but, in some ways, more painful than last year. Last year, at the Cathedral of St. Paul, a group of people wearing rainbow sashes accross their chests came to worship and recieve the body and blood of the Lord. When the time for communion began, another group of people kneeled and sat in their way making it impossible for them to come forward. The two groups, obviously, had differing agenda; one advocating greater rights for homosexual people and the other holding tightly to the teaching of the Catholic church. This year, the archbishop of St. Paul, a very good pastor named Harry Flynn, wrote the pastors of his diocese and the leaders within the rainbow sash movement a note that said the rainbow sash people should not wear the sashes to communion. It had become increasingly obvious that they didn't seek to support homosexual people but sought to change church teaching. Unfortunately, many members of that group, nonetheless, came to communion wearing their sashes and were denied communion. Now, I can't imagine having to do this, although I have heard of an instance in which someone received the host, held it up in the air, crushed it, and threw it on the ground, an action that is grounds for automatic excommunication in the Catholic church. I can't find the story on the net but, if I remember correctly, it was one of the rainbow sash people who were using the reception of communion to show their distaste for Catholic teaching on homosexuality. The reason that I appreciate Archbishop Flynn's response is because he tries to remove the use of symbols when receiving the reality of Christ. In other words, he tries to get both those who would stand in the way and those who wear the sashes to blend in with the rest of the body of Christ who didn't come to see them. He just wants people to pray and not turn mass into an oppertunity to sell their agenda. We don't come to mass to have an agenda thrust down our throat. That's what people constantly remind priests who only preach on the church's teaching on abortion. When we come to mass, we should come to pray, to love God and love our neighbor.

Busy busy busy

I went to the Twin Cities yesterday and saw the play that inspired the movie "You've Got Mail". It was a very well acted play with a lot of character development, much more than movie audiences would have permitted. The Play was called "She likes me" and is running at the Guthrie Theater. My favorite part happened when the two (until this time) anonymous lovers were going to meet at a romantic restaurant. The scene started with a waiter dropping a tray and moved from there until the entire restaurant was fighting and, eventually, in a conga line. The development of it was just precious and so well acted. I think it's worth travelling five hours to see quality acting.

Pentecost

Mary in an oil stain on the wall of an underpass in Chicago. Is it authentic? Mary on the sun spot in a window in Florida. Is it her? Mary in a grilled cheese sandwich sold on ebay. Should we believe it? In the past few weeks, these are just a few of the times that the Virgin Mary is supposed to have appeared in this country alone. Is there a difference between those appearances of Mary and the apparitions in Fatima and Lourdes. I imagine most of us would say “yes” but why?
This past week, Pope Benedict the sixteenth, opened the cause for sainthood for his predecessor, John Paul the second, or John Paul the great as one of the television network is calling him. Why not wait the normal five-year waiting period until beginning the process to let the blindness of popular opinion recede. I mean, accompanying those people in St. Peter’s square chanting “santo subito”, in other words asking that he be made a saint right now, there are people in this country that believe John Paul the second didn’t deal well with the sexual abuse crisis and the global shortage of clergy and the continued implementation of the reforms of Vatican II. Not to mention the question of what prompts the church to hurry up and make some people saints while others who were just as holy remain “blessed” for many years? The church is often given a difficult task of determining if something is of the Holy Spirit or not. Our present Pope knows a lot about this, after all. As prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he was the one that had to call in theologians that had controversial opinions to ensure that what they were teaching didn’t fall outside the bounds of correct Catholic teaching. That’s why there are some people who are angry at him because of the resignation of Father Thomas Reese, former editor of America Magazine. Fr. Reese was often called to appear before then Joseph Cardinal Raztinger’s Congregation to answer questions about issues his magazineand, apparently, those questions led to his leaving the magazine. This has caused some people in this country to see the Vatican as continuing on its conservative trek instead of seeking conciliation.
The difficulty is that the Vatican was given the responsibility that Paul is talking about in the second reading today, namely keeping together all the parts of the body of Christ underneath Christ who is our leader or, to use Paul’s terminology, our head. Paul wisely uses the imagery of a body when talking about Christianity. We are the arms, legs, torso, back, etc of Christ but Christ is still the one that’s in charge. Just like a body is pretty useless without it’s head so our church is pretty useless if we start thinking that we’re the ones that are in charge. God is still God and we still aren’t.
So, part of what the church does is make determinations as to what’s wrong under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. That’s what Pentecost is all about, after all. The Old Testament story of the Tower of Babel is an example of the culmination of the fragmentation of the human family once united in Eden. It’s almost as though the first eleven chapter of Genesis show our undoing that plagues us whenever we eat from the tree of knowledge. The undoing of this fragmentation culminates when we receive the Holy Spirit. We are really celebrating today the idea that we are united as a people and that, united, we enter into a new and unique relationship to Christ. Whatever threatens this unity is, therefore, something that needs to be avoided and stopped. That’s why the church is very careful about new organizations that seek official approval. The last thing we want is someone setting up a parallel church to the one founded on Christ. We already have enough of that fragmentation of the unity that Christ wants us to have. We need to do whatever we can to draw closer to the body of Christ and avoid whatever leads us away from it. To put it bluntly, if any organization asks you to make your diocese or bishop less important than its leadership, than it is not acting like it is part of the church and you should avoid being a part of that organization, especially if it is a religious organization.
As we come together around the altar of this church we recognize the unity that God has given to us and we commit ourselves to working for greater unity among those who are separated from us by working toward the truth. It is in the truth that we will find the Spirit.

Baptizing Twins

This morning at mass I had a bit of a strange experience. It's not every day that you baptize twin boys. Levi and Drew were the ideal babies. Levi did squak just a little during the baptism but, for the most part, they seemed to enjoy the warm water being poured over their heads initiating them into the church of Jesus Christ. I kept thinking how appropriate it was that we were doing this on mother's day and on the feast of the Ascension. Their mother was beaming with pride at these two little boys and the readings told us that Jesus' last comments were to go and baptize all nations. What a great day in my priesthood.

Illness

This week, I discovered that I had strep throat. It turned what was supposed to be a pretty full week into a week of laying in bed making apologetic phone calls, at least on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. At first, I thought that I just had the flu. But, thanks to Dr. Mom, we thought it's at least possible that I had strep. Sure enough, moving from intense chills to intense heat with difficulty swallowing throughout meant that I needed medication to be cured.

I'm really kind of bummed, too, because I was planning on making my big announcement this weekend. I was asked by the doctor not to say mass so I can't tell the people that I'll be moving this summer to St. Thomas Aquinas Parish and Student Center in Ames, Iowa. I'm a Cyclone! Ever since, as a boy, my brother brought me to Iowa State on siblings weekend, I've bled red and gold. I'm going to miss Dubuque and the people there but I can't wait to be in Ames.

Who do you want to be connected to?

Last week, there was a very obvious connection to the all three readings. You could hear sheep and shepherd scattered throughout. This week, not so much. At first, I thought I would be celebrating constuction Sunday with all the referances to building and stones. But, then there is that first reading about the Greek speaking Jewish Christians whose widows are being neglected. No building there. Instead, I re thought things and came up with this question.

What would you say to the people you love if you knew that you only had a few days to live? It’s an interesting question to ask yourself and something that probably seems a little out of place during the Easter season, a time when we are supposed to be celebrating Jesus’ resurrection, not his death. But, for the next several Sundays we are going to hear from the Gospel of John the words of comfort that Jesus said to his disciples to help them deal with his impending death. Jesus speaks these messages to his apostles but, I believe, he intends for them to come to all believers in order to reassure us that he will always be with us.

This past Tuesday, I set about on my usual routine. I said mass for the school children in Sherrill, the first of three school masses that I would say that week. After mass, I drove to the YMCA for my usual swim. I’d missed the previous couple of days so I knew that it would be an especially difficult work out. When I got out of the pool, I decided that I was going to try to experience one time when that smoke came out of St. Peter’s Basillica so I quickly took my shower, dried off, and got ready for the rest of the day. I think I would have hurried a little faster, however, had I known what was going to happen next. I got to my truck, turned on the starter and then turned on my satellite radio to EWTN, the Catholic channel. I heard the announcer, Raymond Aroyo, say that there was some confusion as to if it was white smoke or black. As I drove the route back to Holy Ghost it became increasingly clearer that the new pope had been chosen. I wanted to hit every green light but managed to make every red, instead, in a mad dash to get back to Church to ring the bells. I sat by the television in expectation wondering who it would be. The only thing I was sure of was that it wasn’t going to be Cardinal Ratzinger. He was too old, not Italian, and too controversial. So, you can imagine my surprise when, with a Germanic sense of time, exactly forty five minutes later, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger appeared on the balcony and was announced as Pope Benedict the sixteenth.

I had two reactions to seeing Pope Benedict. At first, I was excited to see that the Cardinals had come to a decision so quickly. I was glad to hear the crowds cheer for our new 78 year old Pontiff. I was glad that they had chosen someone with a strong sense of leadership, which I believe to be integral to our present moment in history. And, I was even glad that they had finally recognized that we Germans are not evil. But I also knew that this would not come without controversy. Even prior to the election people had called him a conservative, which made me wonder about his position on state’s rights or gun control laws. Others said that he was involved with the NAZI’s as a teenager, though he didn’t fight apparently. They acknowledged that it was compulsory service for children to be in the Hitler Youth at that point in history but they also said that some people did stand up and not serve. Another news media outlet said that he had helped cover up priestly sexual abuse for another bishop though it was unclear what his involvement was in it. Most called him right-winger with ties to Opus Dei, the vilified group of Dan Brown’s Anti-Catholic books.

If a catholic were to listen to all of this it could seem like a roller coaster of emotions. I think that we need to, once again, turn our hearts and minds to scripture to hear the gospel. When we do, we are confronted with the message, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.” This is an extraordinary message of hope to the Church. Just as the deacons from the first reading were a sign of hope to those Greek speaking Jewish-Christian widows who were hungering, so Jesus is the universal sign of hope for our church regardless of what happens. Do not let your hearts be troubled! We recognize in this message a message similar to the “Do Not Be Afraid” that Pope John Paul II said so very often. I believe Pope Benedict will now have to make clear for his detractors this same message of peace. We must always remember that, despite all their shortcomings, the bishops, and especially our Holy Father, are visible signs of our connection to the Lord. We, catholics, don’t just have an intellectual connection to Jesus. In other words, we don’t just have to feel like Jesus is close to us, we know that he is close because he gave us the sacraments and the apostles and their successors as physical connections to himself. We should feel blessed to have people like our Pope, Benedict the sixteenth, our bishops, and our priests who can say to us do not let your hearts be troubled. Have faith in God.

We also may feel saddened in our pastorate for a different reason, however. Our beloved Father Tom will be leaving us in July and I’m sure many of you will miss him and the stability he has provided to our pastorate these past few years. We need to take comfort in these words as well, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Part of believing in God means believing in God’s ministers and their diverse gifts. Regardless of who stays and who goes in July, God will take care of the St. LaSalle Pastorate and will continue to show you the way, the truth, and the life. So don’t put your faith in CNN, Fox News, ABC, CBS, NBC or any thing else. Put your faith, hope and love in God and the church that he has given to us to show the way to God’s house and trust that he will always lead us home.

Everyone has an opinion

I was watching the Daily Show last night. Ordinarilly, I love it because of the humorous way that it portrays the Bush administration as well as the dems (can't forget them) by showing how self serving most politicans are. But, they last night they had eminent theologian Dennis Miller on. No, I'm not talking about yours truly, the priest with a masters degree in theology. I'm talking about the guy who couldn't even make it as a football announcer and now has a show on MSNBC, a station I trust even less than Fox News. Dennis seemed to know everything about Pope Benedict XVI and what he should do during his pontificate. Which is good because the church really needs to listen to guys that have no intention of ever joining it to give it advice. I'm sure that Benedict had no intention of continuing to deal with the sexual abuse crisis until Dennis Miller said he should. There's part of me that still thinks I'd just be better off if I canceled my cable subscription altogether and just listened to satelite radio. Then there's another part of me that just thinks I need a good night's rest. I think a nap could cure both problems.

Habemus Papam

The Germanic world is ecstatic to hear about the election of one of her own, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, as Pope Benedict the sixteenth. In the coming weeks and months, the media is going to do everything it can to split the church. It’s going to call Benedict a Nazi. It’s going to call him a sexist. It’s going to call him everything it can because it hates absolute truth, the kind of truth that the church contains in it’s connection to Christ. We must listen to John Paul the second when he said, “Do Not Be Afraid”. Read one of his books instead of listening to the media and you will hear an intelligent man who cares about the church. Then you will see the heart of the man who was so beloved by John Paul the second.

Good Shepherd Sunday

In Israel, grass is a scarce commodity. In particular in Judea, the southern part of Israel at the time of Jesus, to find grass and water was like finding a trustworthy Cardinal fan, a hard task indeed. This means that a shepherd can’t treat their sheep the way most farmers in our country do: set up a fence on a lush hillside with a stream running through it and let their sheep have at it. They have to constantly wander through the country looking for food and water to give to their little flocks. To this day, groups of these wanderers, called Bedouin, still live in temporary villages of tents wandering about to find the perfect place to live for a few days. At night, there is no use in setting up a fence to protect your herd since you will likely be moving on at some point. So, they find a place that has protection on three sides, a cave for example, and the shepherd or shepherds lie down on the fourth side. This way, no sheep can wonder off in the night and any other animal that thinks he’s going to have mutton for dinner is going to have a shepherd to deal with first.
This is why Jesus says simultaneously in the gospel that the shepherd is known because he goes through the gate and that he is the gate, because in some way the shepherd would come from the gate since his laying down was the gate. Jesus’ point to us is quite simple, that just like a shepherd is willing to put his life on the line to save his sheep, so Jesus will lie down and die for us, his sheep. But, Jesus left us human shepherds as well, that’s the origin of the word pastor after all. We at Holy Ghost have been blessed for the past six years to have been led by an excellent shepherd in Father Paul Otting. It has been an honor to work alongside him during this last year of his priesthood and I can say that this archdiocese is losing one of her best pastors as he goes into retirement and the relaxation of being a priest without meetings, schedules, and time demands. We will miss him when he leaves us in July. But, for those of you who do not receive the Witness, we know who the new pastor will be and I can say for certain that we are blessed. I’ve had the honor of working with him for the past year out in the St. La Salle Pastorate. Fr. Tom Zinkula was a sacramental priest there as well as playing an important role in the marriage tribunal. His duties in the tribunal have been limited so now he is able to become our pastor. Fr. Zinkula is a gifted leader, though he will undoubtedly do some things differently than Father Paul. As always, we need to remember our Lord’s command that we know who the shepherd is because we follow him. We must recognize his voice.
This Sunday is a good time to remember the larger shepherds of our church, however, especially as the Cardinals gather in conclave to choose the successor of John Paul. This week, the infamous Bernard Cardinal Law presided at a mass in St. Peter’s Basillica, much to the anger of the survivors network of those abused by priests. There’s a part of me that wishes people could see that being taken from being a cardinal in a large Catholic diocese like Boston and becoming the pastor of a parish in Rome underneath the watchful eyes of the Pope and his advisors is a demotion but he didn’t commit an act of sexual abuse. He can still say mass. But, then there’s a part of me that wishes they wouldn’t give him such a prominent place. Ever since the priesthood sexual abuse scandal erupted there has been a general distrust of Bishops and Cardinals, even of our own excellent Archbishop Hanus. I think this anti-leadership feeling is what drives people to believe the lies that Dan Brown sells in his books like the Davinci Code and others.
What Mr. Brown, certain members of our media, and others don’t always understand is that we don’t trust the shepherds of the church, the bishops, because they are perfect. You would not have to look that hard to find times when Peter and the other apostles failed. We follow the shepherds of the church because, in so doing, we learn how to follow Christ. We follow the bishops because that same Holy Spirit that is leading the Cardinals to choose the next Pope is also directing the bishops and keeping us from falling into false doctrine and the whim of the majority. We follow the bishops to remind ourselves that we want to follow Jesus, the good shepherd, into everlasting life.
I want to close by saying that I have been privileged to be your associate shepherd this past year. No one knows what will happen to me in July since associates’ assignments have not been made yet. I do want you to know that I have loved being your associate pastor and I ask for forgiveness for those times that I have not lived up to that title.

Protesting

As a kid, I learned about Protestants. I met Protestants and was babysat by them. I think that, in general, we aren't as afraid to talk to Protestants as Catholics used to be. We are a lot closer that what we used to think we were. The strange thing is that, as I become more and more theologically adept, I realized that we aren't becoming closer to most Protestant groups. We continue dialoguing with the Orthodox and we've come to respect our Jewish brothers and sisters a lot more but we are, I believe, actually growing apart from our separated brotheren. So-called "mainline" Protestant groups are falling into cultural attitudes of greater acceptance of homosexuality and abortion. The common concern that we used to have for contraception has passed and, morally, we are growing farther and farther apart. The evangelical fundamentalists (so called) are wrapped up in a debate about a non-biblical theological opinion that they made up involving the tribulation and the rapture. Prior to this century, no one had read the particular passages of scripture that they use to propose these two ideas so inorrectly. It's almost like they think they are reading a science text book. Maybe a cook book would be a better analogy. How can Christianity ever fulfill the demands of Jesus and be one as he and the father are one when we seem to be only moving in different directions?

Tuesday gray day

The rain has been on and off all day and the clouds have made this an overcast/grey day. But, this has been an incredible couple of weeks. Ever since Easter, we've had warmth. In my thoughts, I kept thinking that even the earth is teaching us about the warmth of Christ's love.

Emmaus

Sometimes priests run out of ideas. That happens to me when I have several big presentations to give. So, I tend to borrow some ideas. I did for this homily from a website that I trust. If you want to read the original and then read my adaptations, here's the site.

http://www.munachi.com/a/eastera3.htm

Otherwise, my adaptations are below. Be sure to check back this Sunday for a big announcement in my homily!

Imagine, for a second, if you were not one of the disciples on the road to Emmaus but one of the disciples that bid them farewell as they walked away. It is morning, and two of our depressed friends leave our company in Jerusalem and head to the country to get away from all the craziness of the past few days. Then, late in the evening of the same day, they come back to rejoin us full of excitement and joy. Wouldn’t we all wonder what happened to them to cause this drastic change of heart? Wouldn't we all think that they may have had too much to drink? How would we react when we heard that they met a stranger on the way, a stranger who did not quite look like Jesus but who turned out to be him?
Would we remind them of the first rule that our parents taught to us, “Never speak to strangers!”? What would have happened had Cleopas and his companion followed this parental advice? Jesus probably would have passed them by and they would have never had the transforming encounter with the risen Lord. Who knows how many times the risen Lord has passed by us and we did not recognize him or experience his transforming grace because of our fear of strangers?
Cleopas and his friend were trying to distance themselves from the incredible disaster that befell the apostles and followers of Jesus with his shameful death at the hands of the very Roman soldiers that they thought he had come to defeat. But even as they tried to get away from it, they could not get their minds off it. They were talking about it all along the way. We have probably all had one of these situations in life when the only thing that we want to forget is the first thing that comes to our minds. Our hearts were filled with disappointment, sadness and deep depression all at once, as were the hearts of Cleopas and his fellow traveler.
Suddenly a stranger catches up with them along the way and says to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along”. The most natural answer we would probably give is, “Hey, mind your own business?” That’s the typical response you get from people who operate on the principle of fear of strangers. But Cleopas and his friend were different. All they said was, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days”. And this led to a frank and profound discussion that set their cold hearts aflame with insight and inspiration. All because they trusted a stranger and were disposed to inform and be informed by him!
Cleopas and his companion shared with the stranger all the way through. Not only were they ready to share their secret faith with him, but they went all the way and shared their meal and shelter with him as well. It was in the process of this sharing that the moment of revelation occurred and they suddenly realized that the one whom they had accepted all along as a helpless stranger was indeed Jesus, the answer to their hearts’ questions. This discovery that the one in whom they had trusted, Jesus Christ, was indeed alive and not dead, gave new meaning to their lives, their faith and their vocation. Suddenly able to release all fear and fatigue they got up and went back that same night to rejoin the company of the apostles and followers of Jesus and share the good news with them that they had met the risen Lord in the person of a stranger.
This, in turn, leads us to two slightly different but interconnected ideas. It was in the breaking of the bread that these frustrated disciples saw the risen Lord. This points to the central importance of the breaking of the bread, which is what we would today call the celebration of the mass. We are all aware of the declining number of priests and I’ve spoken before about how important it is to encourage our children and grandchildren to become priests. Yet, today, I renew this call for us to keep encouraging any young man that has the qualities to become a priest to courageously follow God’s call. It is, oftentimes, only in perseverance that someone will realize the gifts and talents that they have received. And, as always, if you are a young man who is interested in priesthood, my ear is always open to hear from you and pray for you.
But the celebration of the Eucharist, as we saw in this story, is built upon the notion of hospitality. In other words, we can have priests, servers, lectors, music minsters, and everyone else but still not recognize the presence of the Lord among us if we aren’t open to it. For a long time we emphasized the presence of Christ in the cup and host, which is fitting since the real sacramental presence of Christ is the most fundamental. But, Christ is also present in the gathered assembly. In other words, whenever two or three gather together in Jesus name he is there present to us in a special way. That means that we can’t come to church and just ignore those people around us. We must be like those disciples and not let the frustrations we bring with us from the outside these walls make us so hard hearted as to mistreat the presence of Christ within them. It’s all right to smile at one another and say “Hello” as someone enters. In fact, it’s not only all right to do that, it should be expected that you would do that. We should especially do this for new people who come to our church, the strangers in our midst. We cannot get to the point where new people in our church are seen simply as new financial contributors or new people to add figures to our count in order to keep us open. As I said before, being a follower of Christ means that we a don’t just think of mass as a time for personal private prayer but as a hospitality opportunity to be the body of Christ as a community gathered in Jesus’ name.

JP II and Peter

I was thinking about what it may be like in heaven when John Paul the Second (or JP II as he is affectionately called) and Peter meet. It might go something like this.

Peter: Karol Wojtyla! JP II. Welcome to heaven!
JPII: Who are you?
Peter: Do not be afraid! (Both laugh at hearing Peter say John Paul's motto) I'm Peter, the rock on which the church is built.
JP II: (He begins to kneel out of respect)
Peter: No, don't do that. (Peter looks around embarrassed) Up here we pay respect to God alone since we can finally see him face to face.
JPII: (Nodding understandingly): I see
Peter: Hey, nice job carrying on my office. I appreciated the World Youth Days. In your time, the youth can be led astray by so many things so it was important to do whatever you could to combat that attitude. Oh, and the whole Polish Solidarity movement was beautiful. Single handedly taking down the mighty Soviet Union and allowing Reagan to think that he helped. Way to listen to the Holy Sprit!
JP II: She has always been a sure guide! And I always appreciated those letters you left for us that we incorporated into our scriptures. They were always reminders to me of the holiness of my office. Let me ask you now that I have you here, did you really write those letters?
Peter: What do you mean? Did I really write those letters! What are you suggesting?
JP II: Because some people said that you didn't. I just saying, they thought you didn't write them because of the understanding of the church in them and other things they thought pointed to a much later date of composition.
Peter: You're going to believe Raymond Brown over St. Jerome? (Peter said this while pointing over to a man who seemed to be passionately disagreeing with an angel holding a harp. JP II could hear the man say, "I'm just saying, Gabriel, psalm 15 is a much better psalm than psalm 105. I think we should sing it at the next praise session.")
JP II: I thought you wrote them, I was just checking. (JP II smiles embarrassed to have asked)
Peter: Oh, and one other thing and then we can live in peace for eternity. When they called you the most traveled Pope ever, did you ever suggest to the media that I may have traveled more than you?
JP II: Oh?
Peter: Yeah. I traveled from Jerusalem all the way to Spain and ended up in Rome. And that was without planes and busses and stuff and it was back when we thought the world was flat. I was terrified that I was going to fall off the edge for crying out loud.
JP II: Well, still Peter. I went all over the world. I even went to Iowa, which, might I add, Kevin Costner was right. Heaven does look a lot like Iowa!
Peter: I never thought of that before. (Peter looks around and the looks down toward earth) We even have pigs and corn and have all four seasons. But, getting back to traveling, I still think that you could have mentioned to at least one reporter that you thought I traveled more.
JP II: Well Peter, don't forget that I also learned all several languages and met with world leaders.
Peter: (looking irritated, which Peter is not used to feeling!)
JP II: Let's just say that I always felt like Paul was the better traveler between the two of you. You didn't even go east did you?
Peter: (Suddenly looking understanding) No, I guess not. Okay, whatever. I'm just saying that if I had a pope mobile with bullet proof glass that didn't smell like donkey I may have been more willing to travel.
JP II: (smiling) I have no doubt Peter.
Peter: In any case, well done good and faithful servant. Now take your place in the everlasting banquet of heaven. (Peter puts his arm around JP II and the two of them walk off towards the other people seated around a gigantic lavish table with God at the head...)

Okay, it might be nothing like that. But, don't you want to live you life so that you might be able to see it?

Encountering Teens Encountering Christ

I just spent the last three days with fifty seven high school seniors on retreat. There were undoubtedly a million other things that High School Seniors could have been doing other than hearing a group of adults talk about their relationship to Christ. But, that's what happened for me these last three days. I have a huge headache and I'm about three phonecalls behind but I'm filled with the Holy Spirit right now. I won't go into details but, for me, the best part of the weekend was watching the kids from different High Schools and different lives slowly be transformed into a trusting, cohesive group that care about one another. I love watching the kids that normally don't fit in being accepted because the seniors are far enough away from Middle School to start accepting people for who they are. I love when that kid that you don't think is going to get anything out of the weekend says something incredibly profound in a moment of prayer. I feel full of energy and exhausted at the same time.

Second Sunday In Easter

I’ve been thinking a lot about my grandma recently. Her married name was Helen Schott or “Shut” as it was often pronounced on this side of the state. I can’t imagine any of you meeting Helen Schott since she lived most of her adult life on a farm in Perry, Iowa. I myself didn’t get to know her very well but two of my greatest regrets happened with my grandmother. The first happened when she wanted to go see the movie Annie when I was in grade school. Since my snobbish brothers and sisters didn’t want to go. Grandma Helen had to go see Annie all alone. The second regret that I have with my grandma happened when I was supposed to go visit her in the nursing home as a teenager. But, in my defense, grandma had changed since she invited me to go see a movie. Grandma had gone from a cook, comforter and matron into a person that didn’t recognize her children or grandchildren when they came to visit. She stared into space and ground her teeth; the results of years of Alzheimer’s-like dementia taking away all the personality my grandma used to have. I just wanted her to die, to be at peace, and to not interfere with my beautiful life with ugliness. Grandma had become an…inconvenience.
We’ve probably all heard about doubting Thomas before. We read this story each second Sunday of Easter, after all. We hear Thomas doubt Jesus’ resurrection and, one week later, be invited by Jesus to probe his wounds if it will help his belief. We may have even asked ourselves why the gospels are so hard on Thomas considering Jesus comment last week to Mary Magdalene about letting go of Jesus so that he could go to the Father. Wasn’t Thomas just doing the very act that the tearful Mary Magdalene wasn’t able to do? What we may not have considered before is why Thomas wouldn’t have been excited about the prospect that Jesus is still alive. I think there’s a parallel with my own experience with my experience with my grandma. I imagine at the time of the resurrection there were times when a person appeared to have died who had, in fact, merely fallen into a coma or vegetative state. This same person may come out of these situations and appear to have been raised from the dead. But, the truth is that, in that context, the person was going to still have to die, probably in a slow painful way since the technology we have of feeding tubes and drugs wasn’t present as a source of comfort. Thomas may have feared, therefore, that Jesus would have a miserable existence and figured that he’d be better off dead.
This week we have all been forced to think about death. First, we heard about Terry Schiavo and, as the biased media portrayed it, her “right-to-die” situation. Then we heard about the illness and eventual death of the only Pope that people my age and younger have known. You may have questioned why the church came down so heavily on the side of the Schindlers who wanted to keep their daughter, Terry, alive but then John Paul the second didn’t even go to a hospital for advanced care towards the end of his life. Was the Pope being a hypocrite by not getting aggressive care while expecting ford and hydration for Terry Schiavo. Was the pope asking that Terry Schiavo participate in suffering that he himself shirked in the end. Hardly!
Being a Christian, indeed, being human means that life has value. We shouldn’t have to be productive or happy or good looking or intelligent to be worth something. We should just be able to exist and that should be all that matters. When we start to attach certain benchmarks to determine if life has quality to it, then life becomes meaningless. Life itself has value. And part of what we realize is that even death can be passing to new life if we die to ourselves and and our own convenience and let God be in control. In the mind of the church, therefore, basic nutrition and hydration should not be considered extraordinary. We give food and water to people because no one should have to starve to death.
As we continue to reflect on death the next few days of the Pope’s funeral, this pope that I believe would have been honored to die on Divine Mercy Sunday, let us always remember that even as inconvenient and unexpected death is, so will our resurrection be unexpected and grace filled.

Pray for the Pope

The whole church tonight is thinking about the pope. We have divisions and squabbles some of which come from this Pope. But tonight we are thinking about the same thing, the Pope and his health. What a fitting time, so close to Easter, for us to be united about anything.