Back in the Twin Cities

I definitely have a love/hate relationship with the Twin Cities.

Here's what I love; There are a million great places to go in the cities. There are awesome churches that are beautiful, there's the Guthrie theater, there's Grand Avenue. And you can actually get to those places, unlike other big cities that made it too complicated to get from here to there. One of my best friends in the world lives here, Fr. Bob Hart. And this place will symbolize a huge triumph in my mind: the kid that wasn't supposed to graduate from college managed to get a graduate degree.

Here's what I don't love: I had the most intense experience of education while here and there are some really negative things that happened during those four years. I met some great people, true, but I also met some people that should never have been priests. And, along the way, I had some pretty powerfully hurtful experiences of rejection...those things that take a million experiences of affirmation to undo.

I'm here for a vocations conference...the third conference I've been to this year. And this is my last for this year. And, when I drive in, I'm always glad that I can go see Bob instead of having to drive toward the seminary. It's nice to be done for a while with schooling and to know they don't have priesthood to hang over my head anymore.

So, I'll probably be posting this week about my experiences at this conference for vocation directors. I'll be interested to know just how it is they are going to tell us to get young men to consider priesthood. What works. What doesn't.

Who should apologize: the Pope or the firebombing muslims?

As you are, undoubtedly, aware, the entire muslim world is on fire because of the following quote...

Without descending to details, such as the difference in treatment accorded to those who have the "Book" and the "infidels", he addresses his interlocutor with a startling brusqueness, a brusqueness which leaves us astounded, on the central question about the relationship between religion and violence in general, saying: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached". The emperor, after having expressed himself so forcefully, goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. "God", he says, "is not pleased by blood - and not acting reasonably (σὺν λόγω) is contrary to God's nature.

This is a quote that Pope Benedict gave in a lecture at Regensburg to a group of academicians. I've been asked about it several times and, the more I read it, the more I realize that the Pope has nothing to apologize for. What the pope is doing is using a past conversation to illustrate the need for modern conversations. This is what he means by "a brusqueness that leaves us astounded..." The modern conversation that needs to happen is christianity's intrinsic connection to faith that, while intrinically connected to Judasim, is a historical development that is unique to Christianity. Islam struggles with violence because it lacks the intrinsic understanding...though it can also be open to it.

But, the Pope continues by criticizing European society for giving up on an intrinsic connection between faith and reason, which is tantamount to the very Islam that it seems at war with; it's just that Europe puts scientific reason in the forefront and Islam puts faith.

It seems to me that the Pope is challenging us, once again, to bring both sides into dialogue.

This isn't killing muslims who have come to pray. Muslims are killing christians in prayer. they need to apologize.

Reflections on a college football game

Today the number 16 University of Iowa hawkeyes defeated the unranked Iowa State Cyclones. There were some huge mistakes on the Cyclone cyde and some great plays by the hawkeyes. It was hard to come to the realization that my beloved Cyclones were going to lose to the hawkeyes and that I was going to have to hear all my hawkeye friends rub it in. Ugh!

It's tough to be a Cyclone fan. They showed marked improvement from last week and they continue to improve but they still aren't great. I think of the Cyclones as somewhat like our struggle with sin. Sometimes you win but often you lose. It's easy to get frustrated and want to give up but you know that you can't. You can get better...you just have to pick up and try again.

Iowa/Iowa State football

I'm an an Iowa State Fan. I've said it in the blog before. I will say it again. I went to Loras College but I was sold on Iowa State when my brother brought me here for little brothers/little sisters weekend.

I got this joke from a friend this week that describes my feeling for Iowa State really well....

An Iowa State Cyclone fan used to amuse himself by scaring every Iowa Hawkeye fan he would see strutting down the side of the road in their obnoxious black and gold colors.

He would swerve his van as if to hit them, and then he would swerve back on the road just before hitting them. One day, as the van driver was driving along, he saw a priest. He thought he would do a good turn and pulled the van over.

He asked the priest "Where are you going, Father?" "I'm going to give Mass at St. John Neuman's Church, about five miles down the road," replied the priest.

"No problem, Father! I'll give you a lift. Climb in!" The priest climbed into the passenger seat, and the van continued down the road. Suddenly, the driver saw a Hawkeye fan strutting down the road, and instinctively, he swerved as if to hit him.

But as usual, just in time, he swerved back to the road, narrowly missing the guy. Even though he was certain he missed the guy, he still heard a loud "THUD." Not understanding where the noise came from, he glanced in his mirrors, but he didn't see anything.

He then remembered the priest, and he turned to the priest and said "I'm sorry, Father. I almost hit that Iowa Hawkeye fan."

"That's OK" replied the priest. "I got him with the door."

On Notice

A friend sent this link to me a while back and I thought this week was a good time to use it. The first one is "Coach" Mike Sanford of UNLV, by the way. Please note that Staph meetings are above Staph infections....

Once again impressed with Jack Trice Stadium

I had the oppertunity this last Saturday evening to watch the Fightin' Iowa State University football team play at Jack Trice Stadium. It's the second time I've had that chance since my childhood. It tells me a lot about what has changed here at ISU since then.

Back then, we never knew whether we were going to score, let alone if we were going win. It was dreadful and embarrassing. I went to the game to listen to the band.

When I went the other day, I had hope that Coach McCarney would pull out a victory and my hope was rewarded. Iowa State beat UNLV despite the whiney protests of one of the sorest loser coaches in football history, Mike Sanford. Can you imagine a coach that is so terrible that he keeps his team on the field for 15 minutes after the game because he disagreed with a call? And the UNLV players went out and stomped on the ISU logo...no class whatsoever.

What had great class, as far as I'm concerned, were the Iowa State University students. I was incredibly impressed with their positive attitude and support of the Cyclones. They got frustrated with eight minutes of time out that UNLV got when they reviewed one play right before the end of the game. But they sang Sweet Caroline to entertain themselves. And they did cheers. Athletic Director Pollack should be commended for his adjustment of the stadium to put the band and student sections together. I'm just glad that Iowa State students have something to rally around.

He does all things well

In talking with student, I've learned that one of the reasons they love Iowa State University is because of a certain emphasis that is placed on internships. It might seem as though they are saying that they like to be able to get away from campus but what they are really saying is that they like to be able to know that all work they put in their classes will be utilized for something. They like to know that there's a use for it in the "real world". And, to be honest, I can sympathize with that. I had four internships in my years of seminary, one of which took place here at STA. I found them all to be times when I felt like I was being validated on my journey to priesthood. Yet, there were also times when I felt like I was being challenged and totally unworthy of being a priest. One of the most difficult times happened at the end of these internships, when I would sit down with the director of seminarians and the internship director to reflect on my growing edges that need to be knocked off. A particularly hard evaluation took place when I opened up the written evaluation and started reading glowing reviews. Dennis preaches well. Dennis sings well. People feel like they can talk to and relate to Dennis well. There wasn't a single negative comment on the sheet. I thought to myself, "I'm not perfect! This isn't right. Where's the negative feedback?"

That was kind-of my reaction to today's gospel. We're used to criticism being heaved at Jesus from all sides. He gets criticism from the Pharisees, Sadducees, disciples, and crowds. It's very rare that people say, "He does all things well." Now, admittedly there's a larger theological construct going on called the messianic secret, which is a fancy phrase indicating times in the gospel of Mark when Jesus wants the crowd to be silent in order to prevent them from spreading a false understanding of what it means to be the messiah. As we heard in the first reading, there were correct understandings of the messiah but there were also misunderstandings of temporal leadership associated with the messiah. Throughout the gospel of Mark, Jesus tries to prevent crowds from spreading this misinformation, though he almost always fails.

Yet, I think Jesus' instruction is applicable to us too. The fact that he ordered them to tell no one is not just about humility, I think it has a lot to do with stewardship. Stewardship is the notion that God gives gifts to his people and we are expected to use them. Jesus was merely using the gifts that God has given to him. In so doing, he is teaching us not only to be humble in their utilization but to not be afraid to actually use them.

Each of us have been given gifts and talents by God to be used in the service of the body of Christ. There is a way that each of us have of underutilizing our gifts out of a false sense of humilty; basically by saying that we aren't good enough. This is, kind-of, what James was cautioning against in the second reading. James reminds us that there have only been two perfect people God has called to his service, Jesus the Son and Mary his mother. The rest of us feel imperfect in need of God's perfecting grace. Maybe you feel like you aren't good enough to serve in some role in liturgy; musician, extraordinary eucharistic minister, lector. Maybe you feel like you aren't good enough to reach out to the poor in loving service. Maybe you don't feel like you are good enough to consider being a priest, sister, brother, or deacon. God has given us these gifts. The question we must ponder isn't what we aren't good enough for. The question is, "What has God called you to do well?"

The danger of blogs

At noon, I thought of something to post.

11 hours later, I can't remember it.

If it comes to me, I'll put it here.

If only I could remember what it was about.

The soviet's watched JP II

An interesting story from Catholic world News

"Last year the Institute for National Remembrance charged that Father Konrad Hejmo, a Polish Dominican priest stationed in Rome, had been on the payroll of the Polish secret policy, providing information about the Pontiff. Father Hejmo-- who did not work at the Vatican, and did not have access to secret information-- denied that he knowingly cooperated with Communist authorities. But he did say that Pope John Paul was keenly aware of the likelihood that he was being watched. During a meeting with Polish priests in Rome, Father Hejmo recalled, the Pope made it clear 'he knew he was being spied on.'"

Labor Day - A day to take a break from laboring.

As a kid, labor day was the last really good camping weekend of the summer. After this, we knew that we'd have to leave later on Friday afternoon because of school and arrive earlier on Sunday to get homework done. This summer will make me value the fall weather more than most, I imagine.

I find myself rather philosopical today. I'm using that term somewhat loosely, a dangerous prospect for a philosphy major. Nonetheless, as I sit watching Lord of the Rings, it occurs to me that I know between now and Thanksgiving, I will get very little rest. I will have to work six and sometimes seven days out of the week. Saying that I'm behind is both an understatement and an exaggeration.

This labor day, it is tempting to try to get work done...to work on my homily for this weekend or make some preparations for a retreat I'm working on for November. And, even though I know I will have to be working on a barbecue at five today, I also know that this labor day is also my day off...my sabbath day of rest to reconnect with my God. This is the challenge I face this semester: to not work seven days a week, to not let sloth throughout the week defeat the day that gives life meaning. I hope to be like Benedict and realize that if I'm a failure as a campus minister, it is bad. But if I am a failure as a man of God, I am doomed.

Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person

Ever since the sexual abuse crisis began, I've heard a continously incresing fear of being put in compromising situations. Part of this is good. A priest who makes the decision to "groom" a boy into being his victim is, at least, a little easier to recognize.

Nonetheless, I have made a conscious choice in my ministry not to move to the extreme of religious separatism. What am I talking about? I think it's still important to engage people on a personal level. I think it's important to meet with people who are in need on a one on one basis. I think it's still important to be willing to put ourselves in those situations in order to show people the love of a father.

We cannot become absent fathers. The solution to the sexual abuse crisis isn't withdrawl. While we need to take time for ourselves, we still need to show the love of a foster Father for the children the heavenly father has given to him.

Two sides to a coin

I work for college students. I live among college students.

We live in a time in which people don't recognize authority...at least most don't. People want to know that an authority figure is a human being not entirely different from themselves. They want to joke with us but they also want to know that, despite that, I'm also holy, that I live up to what I preach.

So, the question that keeps coming up for me is when do I tell students that I can't go with them, that our journeys must go in different directions. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm never going to a bar with a group of students on a weekend night. I know priests who have done this because they met and ministered to students that they wouldn't have otherwise met. I can't get past the fact that bars tend to be places students go to get drunk. They lose inhibitions and act in ways that are inappropriate. It just seems unseemly.

Yet, sometimes students invite me over for a movie and, when I arrive, I realize one or two have a beer. They will even offer me a beer and, to be honest, I will have a beer or two with them. I'm not going to get drunk obviously but I'm not going to be puritanical either. I tend not to leave because the plan is not to get drunk but to have a drink and relax. I've had incredible conversations with students in this context because the questions that they've always wanted to ask but couldn't get the courage or didn't know how to ask them tend to come out. I feel like there's an opening for very good for ministry.

Yet, I sometimes fear that I'm getting too close; that I'm becoming too much like the "older brother" and not maintaining the "other side of the coin" that allows them to see in me the image of our heavenly Father. For me, this is what I'm learning here at St. Thomas. I'm learning how to be a priest to the current generation and how to figure out what the current generation needs in a priest. I tend to learn the hard way and there have been times when I've made mistakes, nothing that would in any way compromise my ability to be a priest but definitely times when I think that I wish I could pull those words back into my mouth or not act that way to this particular student. But, I feel blessed because students are very forgiving and very honest. They tell me when something is "not cool" and they tell me that they appreciate my willingness to walk among them now...to minister to them where they are.

I just hope that God will continue to give me the grace to minister to these students and help me be there for them when they need me. It's amazing. This has been one of those weeks where I , again, started asking if this is the right ministry for me and, if I'd stop listening to the voices that deform the gospel and listen to the people who I minister to, it would be to patently obvious that God has put me here. It doesn't matter if it's always comfortable. God wants me to be here. That is sufficient.

Bats in the bellfrey

Have you ever had a bat in your house?

I've had two circling my apartment in the last couple of weeks. One was above the drop celing in my kitchen. I called our janitor over and he took removed it from my house. Then, the other night, one was on my kitchen window. I thought I could get it out on my own but, one half hour of circling my living room later, I had a bat sleep-over in my apartment.

I found something out about mysel that night. Some people are scared of bats. I'm terrified. I didn't know this about myself. For all intents and purposes, this bat was trapped in my living room behind a stack of books in my book case. It couldn't have made it into my room because I had shut my door and put a pair of jeans below the door and hung a blanket over the entrance to the hallway (there's no door there so I used a blanket instead). I bet I got 15 minutes of sleep that night because I kept convincing myself that there was a bat in the room. Irrational? Absolutely! But that's what my brain told me was reality. Each time that I heard something in the room, each time that I felt movement close to my cheek, each time that I had an itch, it was the bat!

We rely on our brains to provide sensery data to us. Yet, our brains are not infallible. If there's one thing about the human person of which we are sure it is that. Look at history and we will see people who thought big rocks fall faster than little ones, the earth was flat and stationary with a bunch of star satelites revolving around it, and that the French are cultured. We search for hard and fast laws to define these realities. Isn't the true hubris of any civilization when that civilization believes it has all the answers or is capable of defeating all quandries?

I pose this because, quite often, the intellectual community will say that religion believes that it can answer questions that it cannot. Some of this criticism is justified. It's not fair to say that a four thousand year old document was trying to answer modern scientific questions about the creation of the earch, let alone the origin of human beings. The Bible was written to answer the question of who did it, not how was it done. They did an excellant job in keeping us focused on God and did the best they could with how the whole thing took place. I know fundamentalists give us a black eye by believing in a literal interpretation of Genesis (despite the discrepencies between the TWO creation stories) but isn't it AT LEAST ironic that some in the scientific community believe that they can bring about an end for the need for God. There are some people who believe that the time will come when all the questions we have will be answered and we will figure out that there is no God.

To this I quote a friend, "poppycock"! The more answers we get the more questions we have. When you answer one quandry it opens up a dozen more. Human beings are insatiably curious. That's why the Bush Administration can see a connection between 9-11 and Iraq and why the Democrats can see a connection between religion and terrorism: because we thirst for simple answers in a complex world, especially if those answers help us feel good about ourselves. Yet, in the end, there will always be things that we simply cannot resolve. I'm not being pessimisstic. I"m being optimistic in human society as a whole. We won't stop exploring because, when we do, we will die. Mystery is a necessary part of the human person. Some explain it away and, in the process, begin down a trek toward utter hopelessness. I prefer to allow it to exist and learn how to love it. I do so because I believe it loves me and wants me to know that.

keeping the traditions

I've been reflecting on a phrase from today's reading....

"Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm
and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught,
either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours."

I've been thinking about how Paul had to get them to think "outside the box" or, better "outside the book" every once in a while. He had to remind them that the written word can be distorted and that God didn't just leave us an instruction book and abandon us. That just doesn't make sense that God would do that. God has been clarifying his relationship to us througout time, the fullness of that revelation being in the Catholic Church. We are the ones who have held "fast to the traditions (we) have been taught".

Fear not. Stand firm. Be proud to be Catholic.

murmuring

The disciples this past Sunday were murmuring. Our liturgy was very packed since we spent the first ten minutes, or so, introducing our rather large staff. So, I had to be brief and focus on what I thought the point of the homily was. Give them something to go home and think about.

I tried to focus on what it means to murmur...how that tears apart a group. I encouraged people that have complaints to approach people who can answer questions rather than simply complaining. I also encouraged people to not stay on the fringes but to get involved. I thought that was, in essence, what Peter was saying when he said, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

I wish I could have preached about the second reading about wives being submissive to husbands and such. And I wish I could have highlighted that, once again, Simon Peter is the one who has faith. But, you can't say everything.

Catholic Church not against Science

In a shocking development, this story will not make CNN or any of the major news networks.

Cardinal Christoph Schornborn of Vienna, Austria says we should study Darwinism as a science. Here's the thing that the church wants: you shouldn't have to choose to believe in God or believe in Darwin. You can believe in God, believe in the truth of revelation and still believe that we descend from Monkeys.

Shocking? Not if you had given even the slightest bit of attention.

completing my interviews

As I said in a previous post, I've been interviewing priests for an upcoming meeting of priests. I did the last one I will do last night. I didn't get all the ones I was responsible for done so I hope my brother priests will forgive. That's why I haven't posted in a while. I'm hoping that, once this is done, I'll be able to look around and find out what's been happening in the church. This feels way too much like the conclusion of finals week.

Great pastoral letter

Bishop Braxton of the Belleville, Illinois has written what I think is a great pastoral letter. You can find it here.

Pay particular attention to his critique of the direction of the church in the US. Very good for a pastor who has been there just one short year.

Retiree visits Lebanon

Most people, when they retire, start planning vacations.

Here's a cardinal who went to a war zone to make sure catholcs were doing what we could do.

I am the bread of Life

I can remember, in my younger days, seeing a female friend walking down the hallway of my High School. I ran up behind her, threw my arms around her waste, lifted her up in the air, (as was our custom) only to realize that this wasn’t my friend at all. This was a poor stranger that I was triumphantly holding up in the air…right next to her boyfriend. I apologized, put her down, and walked, red-faced, in the complete opposite direction. I imagine most of you have not had quite that huge of a mistake but we all get names and faces confused. After a year at St. Thomas, I still marvel at the number of people who I should be able to call by name that are still a mystery to me. I’d rather not call people by any name than call them by the wrong name and, being a man, I’ll definitely not ask them their name any more than I’ll ask for directions.

In the gospel today, we heard Jesus say, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” It’s hard to believe that a seemingly simple statement such as this caused as much turmoil as it did and I have to be careful here because, two years ago, my homily got me in trouble. People complained loudly about it for this Sunday and I think part of the reason had to do with leaving out the context. You see, to understand why this statement is so controversial, you have to know what comes before it. You might remember that two weeks ago we heard the story of the multiplication of the loaves. Jesus looked out over the crowds and had pity on them. Last week, we briefly interrupted our regular Sunday schedule to celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration. We should have been hearing the first part of this reading in which, one day after the multiplication of loaves, a group who had been fed seek him out in order to be fed again. Most of us can probably sympathize with both Jesus and the crowd. When someone does something nice for you, you are more likely to turn to them in need, right? And, likewise, it seems like there are some people that constantly turn to you for help if you offer it once. In what was supposed to be last week’s reading, Jesus sought to help them understand that he wasn’t just giving them a hand-out, he was giving them salvation. They ask for a sign similar to the one that Moses had given their ancestors. So Jesus reveals to them that the bread that they were eating was his flesh that would, through his suffering on the cross and his glorious resurrection, redeem the world.

That brings us to our present reading which is, in some way, trying to clarify how Jesus’ flesh is this bread of life. There is an allusion to the Old Testament Exodus event in that, just as the Jews murmured through the desert on their way to the promised land, so this group of Jews are murmuring about Jesus’ identity. In some ways, this story reminds me of the story that we heard a few weeks ago when Jesus was in his home town but he could not perform a miracle for them because of their lack of faith. These Jews have the same objections. They ask, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” You can almost hear the sarcasm seething through each word. As scripture scholar Diane Bergant said, “In a clever turn-of-phrase, (Jesus) explains that only those drawn by God will be drawn by the one sent by God.”[1]

What would only become clear later was that, in this instruction, Jesus was calling them to a new identity. He was calling them to become Christian. Not just to break bread with him, but to believe in him and, through that belief to see in the bread the reality of his flesh, his very self. The action of the Eucharist was to manifest and enliven the faith that was given them by the Father. Now, please don’t get me wrong. If you know me you know that I have a profound love for the Jewish People. I get frustrated by the statements of some liberal Jews and I get frustrated by some of the actions of Israel. But, especially given what has happened surrounding Mel Gibson and the military activity in the Middle East, I think it’s once again important to understand that Jesus was inviting the Jews to a fuller, deeper understanding of their relationship to God, not nullifying their past understanding. Our Jewish brothers and sisters remain in a relationship with God, even if it is incomplete without an understanding of the messiah.

In our present circumstances, unfortunately, the Eucharist not only separates Jew from Christian but, as we are all painfully aware of, it also separates Christian from Christian. In our ecumenically charged world in which we tend to emphasize what unites us as Christians and even find ourselves frustrated by certain Christian denominations that don’t even consider us Christian, we may feel tempted to obliterate the differences and expect that anyone is allowed to take communion. As we look more deeply at this reading, we are confronted by a very divisive Christ that does not tolerate half-hearted unity. Either, we understand that, through the body of Christ that we receive and the faith that we cultivate, we are being led to the Father or we do not have eternal life. This isn’t simple bread that appears from heaven, this is the flesh of Jesus Christ that connects our lives to the cross. In our exuberance to be one, we cannot deny the differences that painfully separate the body of Christ even as we continue to pray and work for those differences to be eliminated. We, as Catholics, must continue to take seriously the gospel call, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

[1] Bergant, Diane Preaching the New Lectionary Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Mn c. 1999