Laws are meant to define the minimum. Loving God demands total sublimation of the will

My Dear Friends in Christ

Grace and Peace to you in God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ in the Power of the Holy Spirit on this beautiful Sabbath day. When I still in grade school, my older brothers had a Lenten tradition that I would occasionally get to participate in. Some of you may have had a similar tradition. During Lent, my mom was a little more stringent than the church and would make us fast, not only from meat, but also from eating between meals. The church only mandates that we do that on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Nonetheless, my brothers would wait until 11:37 pm then and call Dominoes Pizza to order a pizza that would be delivered to our house a little after midnight. They were definitely fulfilling the law, just barely. Like the kid who’s asked to take his laundry to his room who puts in on the floor right inside his bedroom door or the kid that’s asked to pick up her toys who simply pushes them all to the corner of the room, we just did enough to make sure that we didn’t get into trouble.

When Christianity was being formed, there was a debate within the church as to the role the Old Testament law would play. If you simply read St. Paul, you could get the impression that we should view the Old Testament as a museum, something that used to be important that is no longer. Yet, to balance this out, we have today’s rather lengthy gospel. Jesus begins by saying that the law hasn’t passed away. In fact, Jesus hasn’t come to abolish the law but to bring a perfection to it by fulfilling it. He then shows what that fulfillment looks like by using a total of six examples, of which we hear four. First, don’t just avoid killing people. Avoid becoming angry with your neighbor and do what you can to reconcile with him. Secondly, don’t just avoid committing adultery. Don’t look with lust at someone, especially someone who isn’t your boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse. Thirdly, don’t divorce despite the fact that Moses allowed for it. Lastly, don’t just avoid swearing false oaths. Don’t swear oaths at all. Instead, just live your life in such a way that you fulfill the agreements that you make so that you don’t need to make oaths. Each of these examples takes a law that was already on the books and ratchets up the expectations. It definitely challenges the people who think that Jesus wasn’t about rules or laws but only cared that we be nice to one another. Jesus wasn’t a hippie pacifist. He expected that his followers obey the law and that they do so to a degree that others in the world didn’t.

Nonetheless, as I said before, there is a tension in scripture that is very much still present in the church today. Paul says that the law is unimportant, Jesus says that he is the fulfillment of the law and that his followers will follow every letter and then some. The way we feel the tension is, often, in certain hot-button moral issues. For example with the issue of homosexuality; Church leadership says that scripture and tradition are clear that homosexual actions are not allowed even if the person is to be treated with dignity. Some theologians and many gay rights activists say to us, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” The church advocates maintaining the law as it is and gets criticized for being mired in the law, which was abolished by Jesus Christ. Really? Did they read today’s Gospel? Or, as another example, a few years ago, the church put out a statement clarifying that artificial nutrition and hydration, the use of feeding tubes and IV’s, should not be considered extraordinary measures when it comes to end of life issues. In other words, if someone would be able to live given the presence of food and water, even if the quality of their life might not be what we consider worthwhile, the person should continue to be fed and receive water. There were some who said we were invading people’s private choices and imposing an unfair moral mandate for something that should be left to a person’s conscience.

The law was meant to define minimums for us; the least that we have to do to be okay in the eyes of God. Both Paul and Jesus agree that the problem with the law is that we shouldn’t define our lives by asking: What’s the least I have to do to get into heaven. We should be constantly seeking to grow deeper in holiness. God asks that we lead our lives in radical conformity to his will.

Let your Light shine!!

My Dear Friends in Christ

Grace and Peace to you in God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ who sent his Spirit into the world to be its light. As most of you know, I’ve spent almost all of my priesthood, in one way or another, working full or part time with either college or high school aged people. One of the things that always amazed me about this age group is how excited they are for service projects. At St. Thomas, we would get between thirty and fifty students to give up their spring breaks in order to travel to different places in this country and abroad to dedicate time for constructing roofs for the poor, playing with hundreds of homeless children, or bringing clothing to the poorest of poor people. And I’m pretty sure activities like this take place at every college campus. What was truly amazing is how it changed the students. They would go away thinking that they were going on a vacation and come back with a sense of purpose. It taught them that homeless and impoverished people aren’t that way because they are lazy or drug addled. It was amazing to watch a young person realize just how good their life is compared to most people.

The readings this week talk about how important it is for us to let our light shine for all the world. This is a kind of code that the first reading and gospel use to talk about how we, as Christians, all bear the responsibility of evangelization. Oftentimes, when we think of evangelization, we think of Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses going door to door asking us if we want to talk about Jesus. In the past few years, there have been some Catholic Commentators who believe that this is a direction we should go. There’s a fellow named Scott Hahn who talks about going into the house of a person he was attempting to evangelize when a Jehovah’s Witness came to the door at the same time. The person seemed very understanding and told them both to make their best sales pitch. To me, this sounds like the worst case scenario. And I’m a trained theologian. But, even I will admit that I’m sure there’s a passage of scripture that the person could bring up that I’d be hard pressed to explain. I have a feeling that if we Catholics mandated that every person has to go somewhere and evangelize as a year of service to the church like the Mormons do, we’d lose probably lose a good number of you. And, to be honest, if we really listen to the scriptures for this weekend, we may feel justified in this attitude.

In the Gospel, Jesus is continuing his sermon on the mount. Last week we heard the beginning of the sermon with the beatitudes, those commands that turn the world’s values on their head. You are truly blessed when you are poor in spirit, when you mourn or are meek, when you hunger and thirst for righteousness, when you are merciful and clean of heart, when you are peacemakers, or when you are persecuted. It’s those times when we are most thankful for the gifts that God has given us not when we are comfortable, well fed, and taken care-of. Jesus follows up that teaching this week with this command to let our light shine. It seems to me that part of what Jesus is doing is alluding to the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah. In that reading, Isaiah says that if we share our bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed, and homeless, clothe the naked when we see them, and don’t turn our back on our own that our light shall shine and God will hear our prayer. The prophet isn’t mandating that we go from door-to-door and give a high pressure sales pitch to get people to come to church. He’s just saying that, when we see someone who needs our help, we should offer it. And, when we do that, people will know that we are a believer and will know that this good act comes from God.

So, our real challenge is to figure out what our light is. What is it that God is calling you to utilize in order to offer him praise? For some of you, it may be reaching out to a charity to share your money with them. For others, it may be organizing a group of people to reach out to someone in need. Still others may purchase some food for someone they know doesn’t have the money to buy their own. Others of you may be part of an organization like the Knights of Columbus or the Catholic Daughters that frequently make donations to charitable organizations. In whatever capacity you are called by God, let your light shine so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.

Marriage is a way to participate in the Kingdom of God

My dear Friends in Christ

Grace and Peace to you in God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ who humbled himself to come among us to set us free from sin in the power of the the Holy Spirit. On June 22 of 2002, I was ordained a priest but my assignment didn’t begin until July 9. That probably doesn’t seem like a huge amount of time and, to be honest, there’s a part of me who would love to have three weeks to myself nowadays but I was incredibly excited just to get started. I can remember being filled with nervous energy during those weeks before I got started. I did a lot of things around my parent’s house that week and packed and repacked all my stuff in an effort to get rid of all the stuff that I didn’t want or need. When I arrived, my pastor told me that I would be having a wedding very shortly after I got there, I believe it was the following Friday. I remember meeting with the couple and asking them why they chose the readings they did and receiving the message that they weren’t really sure why they chose them. They just kind of liked them. One of the readings they chose was the gospel for today, what we call the Beatitudes. I have to admit that I was really hoping that they would have a great reason for choosing this reading, like they were involved in Habitat for humanity or that they were going on the Peace Corps after their wedding. But, nope, they just liked the reading.

This reading is one of those readings that I feel like we hear quite often but we don’t always live by it. It’s definitely another reading that most fundamentalists don’t take literally. These Beatitudes, these series of statements about what life is like in heaven, challenge each of us here. Each of these eight statements turns what the world holds as important completely on its head. Being poor in spirit, being meek, mourning, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, being merciful, being clean of heart, being peacemakers, being persecuted…all of these things aren’t on most people’s bucket lists. Let’s face it. They challenge us. We may be tempted to say that Jesus is speaking spiritually, especially for the more challenging ones. Jesus doesn’t really expect us to be peacemakers in our community or expect us to be persecuted for the sake of righteousness. He expects us to do this in our prayer. But, I would contend that Jesus is really meaning that, as the church, we should be thankful when we are poor of heart, when we are meek, when we are peacemakers, when people are persecuting us, etc. One of the things that I love most about the church is that, despite all the anger and hatred that is flung at us, most people continue to do the good work of God and don’t get wrapped up in an angry exchange. I think of Mother Teresa wiping the wounds of the leper in the political turmoil of India and Pope John Paul II visiting the man who shot him in order to offer forgiveness. It’s exactly what Paul was talking about in the second reading today when he said, “God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.” The world may think that we are worthless, spineless, gutless and weak but God sees in us one who has done great things for him.

On the Saturday after I got to my first assignment, I looked out at that married couple and told them that I think this is a good message for a wedding. Marriage, likewise, turns the values of this world on its head and demands a kind of humble service. The world tells you to be most concerned about what makes you happy, what is good for you. Marriage challenges you to look out for the good of others; spouse and children, before you look out for your own comfort. It challenges you to be poor in spirit, humble, meek, and persecuted. Yet, if you live your marriage covenant well, you will find that it is truly a blessing and a reward unto itself. Truly the reign of God is yours.

What I put in the bulletin this past weekend.

From Fr. Dennis Miller, your pastor

Once in my previous assignment in Ames, I was standing in the gathering space of church greeting people. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a young man walking into church. He was wearing a shirt that seemed about four times too large, though at least it matched the size of his jeans. He had inch to inch and a half large disks in his ears and had one tattoo showing just over the top of his shirt on his neck. I won’t lie to you. My first thought was that this slime bag is probably here to cause trouble. But, thankfully, my cooler head prevailed and I decided to give him a chance. As I started walking towards him, I noticed that his head was pointed toward the floor while he looked out of the top of his eyes to navigate around people. I could tell he was trying to not make eye contact with me so that he wouldn’t have to talk to me but I wasn’t going to let him by without doing so. I reached out my hand and looked him in the eye and introduced myself and asked his name. He curtly told me it while continuing to look at the ground. I asked him if he was an Iowa State student, which seemed really dumb at the time but it kept the conversation going. He told me he was a Gen Ed major but that he was hoping to get into engineering. I told him that there were a lot of engineers that came to the church and maybe some of them could help him. At this point, for the first time, he raised his head and looked me in the eye, although he still looked scared. I told him that I glad he was here and that he could sit anywhere. He smiled as he walked past me and sat down. After a few weeks of seeing him and greeting him as warmly as I could, he confided in me just how scared he was to come to church that first time. He didn’t like the direction of his life and knew that he needed the church but feared walking into mass because of people’s judgment.

I’m reading a book with the Britt Ministerial Association called No Perfect People which, despite having a flawed view of grace, does challenge Christians to create a “come as you are” climate in church. The author says that we shouldn’t have expectations of people who come to our church but accept them as they are with the knowledge that, as they attend church and become a part of the body of Christ, they will be transformed as God wants them to be. Often, we set up expectations of our fellow mass goers that have nothing to do with spreading the gospel. We expect that people know exactly how to treat their crying child. We expect that people wear their Sunday best and have perfect hair and nothing unusual in their appearance. We expect that people not cough or make other noises. Basically, all too often, we expect not to be bothered when we come to church. But the whole point of church is to transform us from the inside out.

I know that I would never have seen that young man in Ames again if I would have approached him and told him to go and change his clothes. As it turned out, he ended up bringing other people who were deeply in need of knowing Christ with him to church in the next few weeks. In my time since coming to these six parishes, I’ve heard stories of people leaving church upset because of an unkind word from someone about the person’s appearance. I’m asking that this immediately cease. You never know what’s happening interiorly for that person and it’s important that we not give into the vain belief that what a person wears defines who the person is. If the person’s appearance bothers you so much that you cannot pray or participate, perhaps that speaks more about what you need to do interiorly than about anything they need to do.

Prepare for transitions

My Dear Friends in Christ

Grace and Peace to you in God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ who sent his Spirit to guide and direct the Church. One of the things that priests have to learn how to both do and teach well is transitions. As you have experienced in the past few years, priests are asked to move to a new assignment quite often and, as one who has lived in five different residences in the last eight years, I can tell you that it’s a challenge. I’m hoping that I’m not going to have to make any transitions anytime soon but, as you all know, it’s not really up to me. That’s the Archbishop’s call. Part of the challenge of transitions is spatial and part of the challenge is relational. The spatial part is, in some ways, the easier to deal with. You take all your stuff and move it to a new place and try to find the best arrangement for it. In my mind, the harder transition is relational, having to say goodbye. Both Fr. Hertges and I have remarked how much we miss people in our previous assignments. We aren’t in any way discounting the new relationships we will make. In fact, we are counting on them. We are just mourning the loss of old relationships.

The readings today are all trying to deal with transitions, each in their own way. Starting from the middle and working out, in the second reading, Paul is communicating with a church he founded that has several problems transitioning away from Judaism and Roman pagan religion to Christianity. Part of the reason for this difficulty is that they have splintered into different groups. Some associate themselves just with St. Wenceslaus, others just with St. Patrick, still others just with St. Boniface…wait, I’m sorry. That’s not right. Let me try that again. Some with St. Paul, others with a fellow named Saint Appollos, and still others with St. Peter or, as St. Paul calls him, Cephas. These groups are independently developing their own traditions and may even have been formed because of the minister that came to town to baptize the people in the groups. But, ultimately, Paul worries that the divisions will not allow for the unity that needs to be a component of the church. He asks, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” The answer to all of these questions is, of course, “No”. Paul emphasizes for them that the Jesus should be the one that draws them together not “the wisdom of human eloquence.”

In the gospel, Jesus is likewise dealing with a transition. His cousin, John the Baptist, has been arrested and this indicates that it’s time for him to stand up and begin to lead. He moves out of his parents’ house and moves to the big city of Capernaum. It’s interesting to note that Jesus’ first public message is basically the same message as John the Baptist gave, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” He, then, goes on to begin recruiting help. He had to be concerned about John, but he knew that his time had come and that he needed to begin his public ministry.

I imagine each of you has had to deal with transitions in your life. It could be sickness or death of a parent and realizing you are now the one who has to be the “adult” for your family. Maybe it’s dealing with your own financial problems or health concerns. Maybe you’ve been part of a group that used to do things to help people and the group has had to face tough realities like declining membership or funding decreases because of the economy. These are difficult transitions and ones that are best met, as I imagine Jesus did in the gospel, with a great deal of prayer and discernment as to what God wants you to do next. Yet, we find hope in the first reading that Jesus, likewise, found hope in the gospel. Despite bad times in the past, eventually “The People who walked in darkness (will see) a great light…” Transitions can be difficult and frustrating and there’s always a part of us asking why we have to undergo them. Yet, if they are done well and with hope, we hope to echo the words of Isaiah the prophet, “Anguish has taken wing, dispelled is darkness…upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shined.”

A little background into the bottom homily

At the end of December, the chaplain at Waldorf College invited me to preach at their weekly chapel service. It took me a while to get back to them but we eventually decided that it should be this week. The text on which I preached was 1 Samuel 3:1-10 but, as you can tell below, I really preached on the first five chapters on 1 Samuel.

I was incredibly nervous, partly because this wasn't the format with which I was most familiar and partly because this wasn't the congregation with which I was most familiar. But, I think things went well as I got a lot of compliments and made a few contacts at the college that I probably wouldn't have had otherwise. And I think it was a good chance for me to learn about the expectations of a pastor.

Vocation

My Dear Friends in Christ

Grace and Peace to you in God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. I’d like to begin this reflection by thanking Kelly for inviting me to preach during this week dedicated to Christian Unity. I’ve heard there was a time when there was not a lot of love between St. James Catholic Church and Waldorf College and I, for one, am glad that some of those old feelings of suspicion and fear have disappeared from both sides and we can work together to build up the Kingdom of God. There is much work that still needs to be done to undo the suspicion that our Christian Communities have for each other but it is situations of prayer like this that continue the grace-filled process of healing that is crucial to that ongoing dialogue. Now onto the reflection.

I chose to preach about the story of God’s call of Samuel to continue the reflection on vocation that Kelly began last week. What always strikes me about this story is that Samuel doesn’t know who God is when he calls. Why not? It says in the text that, “In those days the word of the Lord was rare; prophecy was not widespread.” We know that Eli, the high priest who is training Samuel, had very corrupt sons who used to steal from the meat of offering and threaten the people who would point out that immorality. Yet, one wonders if they got this way because God didn’t speak to their childhood selves as he did to young Samuel. There’s no record of their mother singing the song of dedication that Hannah sang for Samuel. Was it the love of the mother that opened the silent Word of the Father for her son? We do not know why God chose to speak to Samuel, just that he did.

Samuel hears the call from God clearly enough to believe that Eli was the one who called. Three times he hears the call and three times he innocently asks Eli what he wants until finally Eli recognizes it for what it is: the call of God. Does this mean Eli heard this same voice at one point in his life? Is that why he can help young Samuel respond, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening”? One wonders if part of the reason that it took Eli so long to recognize God’s call was because God never called his own sons who would probably have slept in the same area as young Samuel. And, yet, when Samuel tells Eli all about the revelation God made to him, that God was going to punish Eli’s house for the excesses of those sons and no apologetic act could undo it, Eli accepts the sentence saying merely, “He is the Lord; He will do what he deems right.”

God’s call is often murky and difficult to recognize. We may need the assistance of a mentor, pastor, priest, or professor, even one who is as fallible as Eli. Oftentimes, there are people who we believe would be much more capable of doing what God wants us to do and, yet, if there’s one thing that we can learn from Samuel, it’s that, when God’s will is made clear to us, we must do it regardless of how difficult it is. After all, “He is the Lord.” We must do what he deems right.

It is too little

My dear friends in Christ

Grace and peace to you in God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit that we first received from Christ in baptism. As some of you probably know, Fr. Hertges and I spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week at our leadership training class. This time we talked about leadership of the entire parish. It incorporated a lot of what we’ve already learned but it also forced us to recognize three different kinds of leadership situations. There are new initiatives, problems, and ongoing improvement. I imagine, if you think about it, you all have these three categories of activities in your life. You have the things that you want to start new, like a project around the house or something that you’ve always wanted to do but just haven’t had the time. You probably also have things that aren’t working in your life, areas that you know need work but you just haven’t got to them yet. And then there’s the stuff that is working right now but that you have ideas of how it can improve. According to the leaders, we should have between three and five new activities going, one to two problems we’re trying to solve, and one to two programs we’re trying to improve. I felt this great sense of relief when I heard those parameters defined. The leader said that, if we get any more than that, we are overloaded and need to admit that we simply cannot take on more. Yet, it also lets me know if I’m just being lazy by saying no or if I’m legitimately too busy to take on another project.

I was really struck this week by one phrase from the first reading in connection to this. The Prophet Isaiah is addressing an Israel that has been taken to exile in Babylon. He is talking to a people who feel demoralized, a people he warned to reform their ways before God got fed up with them and sent them into exile. And, yet, his message isn’t that they are just getting what they deserve. He tells them about a hopeful future. He preaches the Word of God to them that God still cares for them and still wants what’s best for them. In fact, God so cares for them that, not only will their release from exile be a source of salvation for themselves or just their fellow Jews. God says to them, “It is too little…for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel. I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation reach to the ends of the earth.”

What a big job! I’m sure that there had to be at least one person who said that being a light to the nations is just too big, just too difficult. And yet, God called them to not dream too little, to not act too diminutively. And, what’s really amazing is that God is calling them to do this despite the fact that the nations to which they are called to be lights are the very same ones that just invaded their lands, beat them militarily, did bad things to their women and children, and took the best and brightest back with them to be their servants in Babylon. It would be tempting to think that their goal should be just to go back home and reconstitute Israel. But God has bigger plans for them.

The same is true in the gospel today. John the Baptist, who seems to forget that he leapt for joy in his mother’s womb when he first met Jesus, claims points out to his followers what it means for Jesus to fulfill and complete his ministry. It won’t be a simple baptism to remove sins any longer. Now it will involve receiving the Holy Spirit. There’s something different with Christian Baptism that other people’s baptism and it involves receiving the Holy Spirit. The people that originated because of John’s ministry but later became Jesus’ follower are given something new, something bigger than a removal of their own personal sins. The Holy Spirit connects us to the life of the trinity and makes us all connected to the life of Christ.

Part of what I love about the formula that our class gave us is that we tend to image the church as an institution that has everything pretty well settled. Go to mass every week. Go to confession once a year. When you’re sick, call a priest. And you’re doing pretty good if that’s what you do. God says to the church, “It is too little…” We must advocate respect for human life from natural conception to natural death. We must be a voice that seeks understanding and tolerance between the members of various religions. We must testify with John the Baptist that the Christ is the Son of God to those who feel lost and alone without God. In some ways, each of these things aren’t new but the way we do them must be continuously renewed to speak to new challenges and new people. It is too little if we just fix problems and try to keep refining what we’ve done in the past. We must keep our ears open to what God is calling us to do that is new.

Responding to rudeness

In my time as a priest, the most surprising and most frustrating parts of the vocation quite often have come from email and the US postal service. It's amazing how personal people will make criticism of homilies and columns I've written. It's not that I don't welcome a little dialogue on a subject or people seeking clarification. Quite the contrary, most of the time when people challenge me on a subject I end up learning and teaching a few things.

The difficulty for me comes when you put some theological statement out there about a controversial issue and then receive criticism that is personal in nature. You say that America is plagued by the scourge of abortion and then are accused of not being held enough as a child. Or you ask people to keep things more social before and after mass instead of conducting business and they tell you that you are a bad priest who can't handle the job and  that you should ask for a transfer.

The thing that I never know is whether I should respond or not. On the one hand, I feel like you give people credence to make other personal attacks if you do respond. I also feel like it makes it seem like there's merit to a personal attack. But, if you don't respond, you could be making the same argument. A bully thrives when the person they're pushing around doesn't fight back and gains power by being bullying.

If you look to scripture, things aren't much clearer. On the one hand, we are told to turn the other cheek, be passive when attacked. But, we are also told that if you're brother sins against you, you should correct him. If he persists, you should take one member of the church and if he continues then two or three members and so on. What do we do?

Unfortunately, we will never have perfect agreement on all fronts among the members of the body of Christ. But, I'd hope that one thing that we could count on is that a member of the body of Christ would first and foremost keep love in the midst of a dialogue. Love the sinner, hate the sin. But, what does that love look like? Is it a gentle but firm parent making a phone call and asking an errant child to back down the rhetoric. Or is it a firm but gentle parent ignoring the middle child who seems like no amount of attention is ever enough?

The inspiration of the Kings

My Dear Friends in Christ

Grace and peace to you in God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit as we join the Magi in their silent homage on this feast of the Epiphany. While studying in Israel during the fall of 2000, I had many eye opening experiences. It was the first time I lived in a place in which I was a minority; a white guy who couldn’t speak Hebrew or Arabic. I learned what it was like to be calm around 17 and 18 year old soldiers carrying guns. And, I learned a lot from a man named Baruch Schwartz. Professor Schwartz was a conservative Jew who was asked to teach my class all about the prophets. We walked into his classroom the first day with a great deal of skepticism. We all wondered how a Jew would teach Christians anything of value about the prophets. I mean, would we even interpret the Bible in the same way. My class was talking on the way there about how we had all had arguments with Christian fundamentalists in which we quickly discovered that we would never agree because we were interpreting the Bible differently. They would take a passage, say that it doesn’t say something, and then say that means the Catholic Church is wrong. Oftentimes we, on the other hand, had trouble debunking them because we didn’t know the chapter and verse number, let alone the complete quote we were searching for. So, as we sat in the room waiting for our professor to arrive, I remember there being a certain unusual tension hanging in the room.

In the gospel today, we hear about the visit of Magi to the newborn Christ-child. We often associate these figures with kings because of the Old Testament verses, present both in the first reading and responsorial psalm today; kings from Tarshish and the sea coasts. These are actually the representatives of kings, the equivalent to presidential advisors. They were intellectuals who followed the star to where Jesus lay with his mother. What’s striking, of course, is that these are not Jews. They wouldn’t have known anything about the Old Testament predictions of their coming. They simply see something unusual in the sky, a star that guides them to the house where Jesus lay. And, yet, these are the ones who are among the first to fall down prostrate in awe and respect of the newborn king. It’s as though God is signaling through these priestly representatives of foreign kings that his works are always mysterious, always grander than our meager minds can accept, and never confined to one group or person. God works in and through whomever God wants to work.

Oftentimes, we have a great deal of skepticism toward people of other faiths. We hear about terrorism and violence between Christians and Muslims, we see how strangely that a Hindu dresses, or we hear the knock of the Jehovah’s Witness or Mormon at the door and we start to feel fearful because their traditions are so different than our own. And, yet, if we start from the differences, we may never find what connects us. That’s what my classmates and I discovered in that Prophets class in Israel. As he started talking about the Prophets, we found out that we agree on most things. We agree with our Jewish brothers and sisters that Prophets are, first and foremost, warning the people to repent and return to their lives of faith. Prophets are not setting forth a secretive agenda about the future that only a few “in the know” can understand. They are telling people that, if they follow the way of the Lord and do what he commands that, “Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance” to quote the first reading.

This is why the Second Vatican Council said, “From ancient times down to the present, there is found among various peoples a certain perception of that hidden power which hovers over the course of things and over the events of human history; at times some indeed have come to the recognition of a Supreme Being, or even of a Father. This perception and recognition penetrates their lives with a profound religious sense.” As individuals, we need to forge closer ties with all people of faith. Part of the way we do this, believe it or not, is to be comfortable enough as Christians that we don’t fear people who have different beliefs than our own. And, we must focus on points of agreement instead of rushing to areas of disagreement, even if the only agreement we can find is a basic belief in God or a Higher Power. Sometimes this is particularly frustrating because the person with whom we are conversing may make ignorant statements about Christianity or Catholicism that make us want to fight back. But, remember, in those situations, that the earliest defining characteristic of Christians is that we loved even those who hated us. To, again, quote the second Vatican Council, “We cannot truly call on God, the Father of all, if we refuse to treat in a brotherly way any(one), created…in the image of God. (Humanity’s) relation to God the Father and his relationship to humanity are so linked together that Scripture says: "He who does not love does not know God" (1 John 4:8).

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly

My Dear Friends in Christ

Grace and Peace to you in God our Father and his Son, or Lord Jesus Christ whose birthday we remember in the midst of this liturgy. We come together to celebrate the birth of the Messiah, the Great King of Kings and Lord of Lords celebrated in the first reading. The Prophet Isaiah said of him that he would be called, “Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.” Each of these terms is chosen to represent a specific element of leadership. The Messiah must be Wonder-Counselor to be able to make the best decisions for his people. He must be God-Hero to ensure that he is the strongest and most able to reign. He must be Father-Forever as one who cares for his people and looks out for what is in their best interest. And, lastly, he must be Prince of Peace to make sure that the peace is kept among his people from without and within. Each of these traits describes the ideal leader. And, yet, so few of them apply to most of our leaders.

One of my favorite historical figures is Abraham Lincoln. His mere election as President was enough to split this country in two. If you were to look into his life, you would discover that he lost more elections than he won. When he put together a cabinet of advisers, he was so naïve that he actually hired all his competitors, all the people who lost to him in the primary, and expected that they would put aside any differences they had to serve the country. Sometimes he was justified in this belief but often he was not. He was incredibly patient with his generals, arguably too patient with men who believed they could retake lost territory by playing a defensive game. And, yet, despite being far from a “Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace”, Lincoln is remembered as one of the best presidents in American history by almost everyone.

Today we celebrate the birth of the long-awaited Messiah who, in some ways, shares more with Lincoln than you might expect. Jesus was not born in a castle and raised on the finest foods. He was born among animals, seemingly in shame. It’s interesting to note that, despite being back in his home town, there’s no mention of visits from other family members to Jesus’ nativity. They may have come and paid their respects but they may also have been avoiding this man whose wife was having a child who was clearly not conceived in wedlock. Instead, the people who come and pay their respects are the shepherds, men often were considered necessary but religiously unclean because they dealt with the blood of animals at the animal’s birth and death. They are the ones informed by the Angels of the birth of Jesus and who are privileged to hear the angelic chorus sing “Glory to God in the Highest and on earth, peace to his people.

It’s amazing how we tend to only expect great things from those who are born into great wealth and great power and how that always seems to disappoint us when those people have affairs, financial malfeasance, and other sordid activities. And, yet, over and over again, to paraphrase the song of Mary, God casts down the mighty from their thrones and lifts up the lowly. Part of what I find so encouraging about living here in the United States is how we seem to exalt when this happens. On the one hand, we have incredibly greedy people who seem intent on not sharing their gifts with those around them, the scrooges if you will. But, on the other hand, there are people who will take a homeless African-American kid into their family and help raise him. There are those of you who won’t even hesitate to help a a sick neighbor in getting the crops out of the field. And, in the last month, I’ve felt privileged to see some of you reach out to those who are truly struggling with bills and food to try to lift them up. In some ways, when we do this, we are standing beside the Angels heeding the call they received to give respect and honor to a simple infant wrapped in swaddling clothes who is truly “Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.” May the peace of the Christ-child guide you in all your decisions.

Ask for a sign from the Lord

My Dear Friends in Christ

Grace and Peace to you in God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ in the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever been disappointed by God? Ever asked for something from God and not gotten what you want? A few years ago, I was riding with a good priest friend of mine named Fr. Bob Davies. Fr. Davies has, since then, passed away but he used to accompany me four times a year to the Twin Cities to watch plays with some other priests. One time, we were talking about budgeting frustrations that he was having with his two rural parishes. Now, to understand why this next comment is so shocking, you have to understand something about Fr. Davies history. Prior to becoming a priest, he was involved in local and national politics. If you travel to Hampton and mention his name, they will probably remember him best as the county recorder. He was a whiz with numbers and budgets. He was one of the guys that Senator Harkin relied on to work behind the scenes on his finances and make sure he wasn’t overspending. So, as we were driving along Interstate 35 close to where it intersects with interstate 90, you can imagine how surprised I was to hear him say that he thought parishes take budgets too seriously. This is man who, prior to priesthood, dedicated his life to being the guy who said to politicians that they can’t spend something because it would go over budget. But, according to Bob, by being so strict about staying in budget, they missed out on the possibility that God may be calling us to do something more. At the time, I was just a new Associate Pastor but it still struck me and continues to strike me the more I think about it.

Today’s first reading and gospel are a definite exercise in point, counter point. In other words, two people are presented with similar situations and end up with complete different solutions. Both Ahaz and Joseph have to make a life or death decision. Ahaz is in charge of Judah which is situated between two countries that wanted to wage war with two countries on his southern border. Ahaz thinks that he can remain neutral but one of the southern countries is Israel, a sister Judaic country. He has to know that he’s going to get drug into this war somehow, even if he isn’t sure whose side he should be on. Joseph, on the other hand, isn’t dealing with war but with a personal life or death situation. To be engaged at the time of Jesus was a serious commitment. If someone were to have relations with another person, it would result in their death. Yet, since the marriage hasn’t happened, the couple is not allowed to have relations. In both cases, God approaches the men even before they ask. God seems willing to allow Ahaz to keep Judah neutral and will even protect him if he asks. God tells Joseph to marry Mary quickly and protect her from shame. This is where the two stories both diverge and interlock. Joseph does as the Angel tells him and sets up for us what we will celebrate at the end of this week. Ahaz, on the other hand, basically says he’ll deal with things his own way and won’t ask God for help, despite the fact that God told him to do so. You can’t tempt a God who is telling him to ask for help. Since Ahaz refuses to ask God for help, God tells him that he will be replaced by someone who will. As Christians, we believe that this child is the Christ, the one whose earthly father did what the Angel wanted.

We live in a very cynical, pragmatic world. So often, when we need help there is a temptation to believe that we either do it ourselves or it won’t get done. Yet, as believers, we are challenged especially by today’s readings. Miracles do in fact happen. Not everything is so predictable that we can write the story even before it happens. Sure, we need budgets and auditors to make sure that we don’t go off the handle. And, as your pastor, I do my best to make sure that we live within our budget. But, that will never stop me from dreaming for a miracle. Please don’t stop dreaming for that miracle cure or that problem resolved. For, soon we will remember the greatest miracle of all time: the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Great Quote from the movie "Going my Way"

Bing Crosby "Bishops are like umpires. You have to have them to call the close decisions."

Last Bulletin's Article

Because of all the bad weather we had last weekend, most of my parishioners didn't get to have a bulletin. Here it is with a few amendments...

You might remember a few weeks ago, I asked you to submit questions you’d like addressed in bulletin columns. These are the first two:

Are we having mass on Christmas evening to fulfill your Sunday Obligation?

            Since Christmas is the second-most important holiday in the Catholic Calendar, we are unable to celebrate a Sunday vigil mass on Christmas Day. So, both Duncan and Buffalo Center masses will be cancelled that weekend and I ask those people to go to a neighboring parish on Sunday for Mass. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Does SCAP fulfill your Sunday Obligation?

            For those of you who do not know what the acronym SCAP means; Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest. This celebration takes place on a Sunday when a priest cannot get to a given church to celebrate mass. It’s among a list of liturgical celebrations that are what I call “oops!” celebrations (ex. general absolution, confirmation by the parish priest, and lay baptism in an emergency situation). In these situations, the church provides for times in which the norm is impossible.

            To fulfill your Sunday Obligation, a catholic is obliged to participate in mass on either Saturday evening or Sunday. Mass is the only liturgy that can fulfill your Sunday Obligation. It says in paragraph 12 of the Directory for Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest

The following are the principal requisites for the Sunday assembly of the faithful.

1. the gathering of the faithful to manifest the Church, not simply on their own initiative but as called together by God, that is, as the people of God in their organic structure, presided over by a priest, who acts in the person of Christ;

2. their instruction in the paschal mystery through the Scriptures that are proclaimed and that are explained by a priest or deacon;

3. the celebration of the eucharistic sacrifice, by which the paschal mystery is expressed, and which is carried out by the priest in the person of Christ and offered in the name of the entire Christian people.

We have the very interesting situation here in this pastorate of a scheduled SCAP on the first Saturday Night of each month in Buffalo Center. This is done with the permission of Archbishop Hanus because it is impossible to have mass there that weekend. Some of the people, having read this question, may well wonder if they should attend SCAP or drive to another parish. I want to emphasize that you should all continue attending SCAP when it is offered. If the Archbishop or I expected you to drive elsewhere that weekend, we would simply ask Deacon Popowski or Jody Smith not to offer SCAP. The fact that it is offered indicates that we expect you will it.

One way to look at is is that, by attending SCAP, you have done all you can do to fulfill your Sunday Obligation. The fault does not lie with you. You have done two of the three components listed above. You have gathered as a community in Christ and have heard the Word of God. The parts that are missing are that the priest can't preside over the assembly or offer the Eucharistic Sacrifice. But you cannot control that. 

One of the things that has impressed several of the priests in the past few years as well as our Episcopal Vicar, Msgr. Wilgenbusch, is that the SCAP is as well attended  as the Sunday Mass in Bufffalo Center. This speaks to the need for it as well as the vibrant sustainability of your parish. As we go foarward, it is possible that we will need to offer SCAP in more parishes on a more consistent basis. I will look toward you, the people of St. Patrick's, to assuage any fears associated with SCAP and to speak to the positive effect is has had in your life and the life of your parish.

            On a related note, in the 80’s and 90’s, there arose a practice on weekdays when a priest could not celebrate a daily mass for a lay person or a sister to celebrate a Word and Communion service. Both the Vatican and Archbishop Hanus have recently asked that we discontinue these. There is no obligation to attend mass on weekdays and, quite often, these services promoted scandal within the church as the preacher may be untrained in theology or may have a theological “axe” to grind. The one possible exception to this rule is distributing communion to the sick in a nursing home or hospital, if the pastor gives his approval.

Blizzard Warning

At the beginning of this week, I took a great deal of solace knowing that I would reach 6:00 on Sunday night, although I had no idea what was going to happen between Monday and Sunday.

On Monday, I concluded the Priest's Council meeting that began a week ago. We talked about the issues that are affecting the diocese and tried to offer some solutions. I came home that evening to a meeting with a couple, something that I never do on my day off if I can avoid it. I woke early on Tuesday for a meeting in Britt with the ministerial association. We talk about a book one of the minister's has recommended. I went back and worked in my office for most of the day on Tuesday but then had the first of my Immaculate Conception masses. On Wednesday, I drove to Garner for some business but I had a meeting with a couple of people regarding rental assistance so I had to hurry back. And then ended the day with two masses for the Immaculate Conception, one in Forest City and one in Lake Mills. On Thursday, I went to a funeral for a long-time church worker in Buffalo Center. It took a long time to actually get to the cemetery for the burial so I headed straight to Garner for a meeting with my Associate and supper. I finished off that day with Pastoral Council in Forest City. The next day, I had to be in Cedar Falls by 9:00 for a leadership training class I've been taking for the last year and a half. We finished at 3:00 and then I headed back to Forest City. I posted a comment in Facebook that I was relieved to finally have a significant amount of time to sit and relax. The only thing that concerned me was that the priests were at my leadership training camp were saying that this weekend's snow was going to be bad.

Now, before I get into the heart of the weekend, let me preface things a little. This weekend, we were supposed to have a talk by a religious sister about the Retirement Fund for Religious. This happens once a year in all the parishes in the diocese. However, when I got home on Friday, I called her and told her not to come. I was afraid she'd get here and we'd have to cancel masses on Saturday night. Also, Deacon Dennis Popowski was supposed to preach in the masses I celebrated. Notice the word supposed in the last sentence....

I awoke on Saturday morning, ready to face the day. It had rained since about midnight the night before, which caused some concern for me. As I walked toward the church, I started noticing the first hints of snow amidst the rain. After morning confessions were over in Forest City, I called my Associate and we both agreed that we need to cancel the masses for Saturday night. The rain had frozen and was being covered by snow, making for hazardous conditions. I figured that conditions would improve by morning so I did nothing with regard to Sunday. However, at 9:00 that night, I heard that the Iowa State Patrol was requesting no unnecessary travel through mid morning on Sunday. I called my Associate Pastor and he agreed that we should cancel. So I called the media, who must have been overwhelmed at that point as none of my calls and emails were ever published, and called some of the parishioners. It really was a blessing as both my Associate Pastor and I were still trapped in our houses as of 8:30 the next morning. The plows would clear our parking lots and then the wind would blow it back in. We each got to celebrate one mass, he in Garner and I, without a deacon preaching, in Forest City. We even had to cancel the communal reconciliations we had scheduled for this afternoon because the wind continues pushing the cleared snow back out on the roads. And I've spent more time in the rectory in the Forest City Rectory than I have since I was assigned here. It's now 6:00 on Sunday and I've cancelled all but four of the original fourteen liturgies I was supposed to do this weekend.

In the future, I hope I can make my decision by noon on Saturday and it's better to be safe than stuck in a ditch somewhere between here and Lake Mills. Although, hopefully this will be the last time we'll get a snow storm on Saturday and Sunday. Wouldn't that be great?

What kind of tree are we?

My Dear friends in Christ

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father through the Lord Jesus Christ on this first snowy weekend of winter. A few weeks ago, the National Christmas Tree came through Britt. From what I understand, one of the guys who is in charge of taking it from Wyoming to the Nation’s Capital wanted to stop through Britt to pick up some cookies from his grandma and, from that request, Britt became a stop along the route. If you read the write up in the newspaper, you know that it arrived on time and left on time. You know that there were songs by children and several politicians spoke, even politicians who only spoke at most a sentence or two. You know that we sent ornaments to President Obama and the First Lady to hang on the Christmas tree. There were a lot of really nice things in the article. You know what was totally missing? Any mention that the ministerial association put together a program involving a reading of the traditional story The Tale of the Three Trees or that one of the minister’s in town read a prayer at the ceremony. I don’t mention this because we demand attention inasmuch as to point out that the religious elements intentionally or unintentionally were complete excluded from the story.

The gospel today tells the story of John the Baptist. Last week we started hearing from the Gospel of Matthew and you can kind of tell that Matthew has a great deal of respect for John the Baptist. First of all, he writes that John appeared in the desert of Judea, which almost seems magical. Elijah was supposed to appear when the end times were near so it seems as though Matthew is indicating that John the Baptist is Elijah who has returned. You might remember that the Old Testament figure of Elijah was taken up in a fiery chariot. John the Baptist may not have the fiery chariot but his rhetoric is fiery enough to take its place. John dresses like a crazed prophetic monk wearing clothing made of camel’s hair and a leather belt. He enjoys a balanced diet of honey and locusts and, yet, despite appearing to be totally nuts, draws all kinds of people to his baptism of repentance. He’s the exact opposite of a mega church pastor in lifestyle with the same popular result.

John’s message to both the liberals and the conservatives of his day was the same: “Produce good fruit! …every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” I prayed about this and something occurred to me that makes this statement quite striking. John is preaching this message from the desert, a place where a tree is valued simply because it can provide shelter. When you are in desert heat, you may not need figs or apples or pomegranates. Just having a place where a person could sit and rest outside of the heat of the sun makes the tree worthwhile. But, not for God. Trees that just sit there not producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. They not only need to look pretty, they also need to be a source of nourishment.

So, John is telling us that we need to produce good fruit or we will be cut down and thrown into the fire. What are the good fruits that God expects us to produce? It seems to me that the first reading helps us know what our good fruit should be. “…the wolf shall be the guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them… There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea.”

There is so much hurt and so many divisions in our world, our church, and our family. That’s what upsets me so much about how the article didn’t mention the fact that a group of ministers put together one program to help people remember that the Christmas tree is more than just a storage place for presents. Our Churches are not yet united but at least we’re working on accomplishing the good work we are called to by our heavenly Father. Yet, not only churches are called to heal divisions. All of us are called to this work of forgiveness and unity, especially during this Advent season. Isn’t it time to call up that relative that you got into a fight with years ago and offer forgiveness? Maybe it’s time to call up that old friend that you haven’t talked to in some time and reconnect. Or maybe it’s time to sit down with your mom and dad and admit that you were the one who stole that $20 from them and that you’re very sorry. Now is the time to produce good fruit and stop sitting around hoping to be shade for someone.

Be Prepared

My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ

Grace and Peace to you in God our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ in the Power of the Holy Spirit as we enter into the watchful season of Advent. Prior to coming to this assignment, I sat on a board at Iowa State University called the Institutional Review Board or IRB. The IRB was responsible for making sure that research done on human subjects was being carried out in as ethical a manner as possible. Most colleges and universities have and IRB. We would be handed the paperwork for anywhere between 8 and 20 research studies and, in the course of one week, have to read everything and make sure the people participating in the research wouldn’t suffer unnecessary hardship. Most of the time that we found a problem, it was something very technical like they forgot to have a space where the person could print their name as well as sign a form of consent. But, sometimes we would find that a student hadn’t thought about how their research could affect a person with diabetes or with a heart condition or someone who didn’t have English as a first language. It was our responsibility to make recommendations to help the person be prepared.

Our Readings today help us enter into this holy season of Advent, a season which seems almost fixated on preparation. The second reading today from Paul’s letter to the Romans, in particular, uses several images to encourage us to be prepared. Paul encourages us to be awake, to throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Paul also encourages us to put on Christ. One of the commentaries that I read said that what a person wore during the time of Christ marked who they were. That’s probably not too surprising for us. Even today, when I’m in Buffalo Center, I see people the blue of North Iowa. When I’m in Lake Mills, I see the Blue and Gold of Lake Mills. When I’m in Forest City, I see a lot of the Red of Forest City. Each of these, obviously, delineates support of your local High School. What does it mean to put on Christ in today’s world? In early October, I started seeing and hearing advertisements for Christmas sales. The clothing of secular society means that Sunday afternoon should be spent in the mall searching for that perfect gift. The clothing of Christ says we should honor God on the Sabbath. The clothing of the world says that we should set out our Christmas decorations and start listening to Christmas music right now so that we’re sick of it by December 25, let alone January 6 when the Christmas season comes to an end. The clothing of Christ knows that we need to prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ before we celebrate his coming.

The gospel warns us to be prepared. Jesus uses the story of Noah and the flood as well as the parable of the thief to illustrate the unexpected nature of Christ’s coming. He says, “Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake!” As we enter into this preparation for the coming of Jesus, I think this is the most important message for us to hear. Don’t get lost in the gift giving and decorations of the season. If you were to look Jesus in the face tomorrow, what would be your greatest regret? What do you have to do to be free from that remorse?

Sometimes you get short homilies

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ

Grace and Peace to you in God our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ in the Power of the Holy Spirit. For the past year and a half, Father Hertges and I have been in a leadership training course called Good leaders, Good Shepherds. We have been learning techniques that will help us be better pastors. The challenge has always been to make sure that we are following Gospel values of leadership first and foremost and using skills of business when they support and correspond to those Gospel values.

The gospel today shows us Christ’s vision of leadership. As he is hanging on the cross, he is mocked by powerful soldiers to use his power to come down from the cross. Even one of the convicts being crucified with him wants to preserve his earthly life and echoes the mockery of the soldiers by asking that Jesus remove himself from the cross. There is only one convict that truly understands that Jesus true power is in salvation. He says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

On this Christ the King Sunday, we don’t think of a king in beautiful robes seated on a royal throne. We contemplate the King of heaven and earth enthroned on the cross for our sins and echo the sentiments of the good thief, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

It’s a call to discipleship not a secret plan to blow up the world!

My Dear brothers and Sisters in Christ

Grace and peace to you in God, our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy spirit on this cold and snowy weekend. As we get to the end of the liturgical year and approach the season of Advent, I’ll admit to you that I think most Catholic priests do a crummy job of preaching these readings. Most of us don’t want to deal with them because they do seem so vengeful and not at all the loving, forgiving, hugging God we want to preach. Our first reading talked about the proud and evildoers being burned to death. The gospel has a whole litany of things that will precede the end times: wars, insurrections, plagues, famines, awesome sights and mighty signs from the sky, and even persecution from the government, family, and acquaintances. I can understand why most priests would rather talk about the second reading from St. Paul where he says that we are all expected to contribute to the body of the Christ, the church, instead of just taking from it whatever we can get. If you don’t work to bring people to the church than you shouldn’t eat the body of Christ, or at least some priests will say this weekend. And, don’t get me wrong, I agree. It’s an important message. Just not for today.

Today, we focus on the end time. Why do we do so? If you turn(ed) on a TV on Sunday/this morning around 7:00 and watched a televangelist, you know why. They read passages like we read and then point to things happening in the world as though there is a one to one relationship. There’s an earth quake in Haiti and it mentions earthquakes in the gospel. We’re clearly in the end times. There’s a famine in Africa which is also mentioned in the gospel. End times. There’s a mysterious plume of smoke in California. That’s clearly a awesome sight and mighty sign from the sky. I think I can Jesus from here! They say that all these signs point to the end times and then start a narrative about how it will all come about. There seems to be three components that they aren’t sure about the order of: tribulation, judgment and paradise. Some say that we will be judged and taken up into heaven before the tribulation begins. Others say that we will be judged and taken up to heaven in the midst of the tribulation. Still others say that judgment will happen after the tribulation has ended. I can still remember talking to a shocked fundamentalist preacher who asked what the Catholic Church’s stance was on this. I looked at him and told him that we don’t believe in a theology of the end times that didn’t exist prior to 1800 and one that seems intent on missing the entire point of the gospel when it comes to the end times.

In the Gospel, Jesus acknowledges that there will always be suffering. Even if we could find a way to make peace throughout nations, there will still be natural disasters, disease, and the presence of evil to make life difficult. Jesus isn’t giving a secret treasure make to those who understand about how things are going to unfold in the end times. He’s trying to encourage us to be active evangelists, to speak and live our lives as though the Gospel does matter. The gospel is a mighty fire that will burn us alive if we don’t live out its precepts and invite others to do so as well. Jesus even says not to worry if you feel unworthy or unprepared. He will speak through you and tell you what to say if you have your heart open. I’ve heard many people say they don’t feel as educated about the Bible or about the faith as others, in particular our Protestant brothers and sisters. Do not be afraid! You may be surprised what Jesus will do through you if you are opn to it.

What’s what we have to keep in mind about these upcoming end-times readings: they aren’t there to scare us. They aren’t there to give us a detailed account of the end of the world they are there to encourage us to witness to the power and the glory of Jesus Christ in our everyday words and actions. Huh. Maybe my brothers priests are right. Maybe the whole point of the end times is that if we don’t work to build up the body of Christ, we shouldn’t eat and drink the body of Christ.

One of the crazy things about being a priest...

Sometimes you get to know one of your parishioners and really like him. Your personalities click; he likes to talk and you like to listen. You laugh with him. He opens up to you and tells you his greatest hopes, dreams, fears, and aspirations. You tell him what you love about priesthood and why you can't imagine yourself ever being happy being anything but a priest. He is one of the few people you talk to who can see that priests and married people have more in common than not. You get to know his family and look forward to seeing them at church and visiting them.

And then their family calls you and asks you to come and be with them as he dies. You wan to be there so you go and are strong with the family, praying the prayers for a good death as everyone breaks down around you.

And then they call you and ask you to do the funeral. You do what you can to make it a meaningful celebration of the life of this man and give people hope in darkness. You walk with them to the cemetery and help them to say goodbye led by the ritual of the church.

And then, as a priest, you jump right back into the rest of your life. Brides still want to schedule their weddings. The next funeral needs to be planned. That one parishioner needs to come talk to you about something of great importance in his church. That other parishioner wants to come and complain because I'm not spending enough time with someone. And all you want to do is sit for a few hours and mourn the fact that your friend died. You want to be sad for his wife and his kids.

There's a part of me that admires the priests who keep a distance from their parishioners. Unfortunately, I don't think I could do that. It's not me. My heart is on my sleeve. It's one of the crazy things about priesthood.  We have to be immersed in the life of our people so that they trust us while being separated enough to help them in times of trouble. Please keep us in your prayers.