So many good thoughts that I can't even remember one

I keep having these thoughts that would make good blog ideas while on my walk but forgetting them by the time that I can actually blog. They all tend to be what I would call "interesting dichotomies" or why the church thinks differently about things. I do remember one, though.

I was listening to about four talk shows last night on my drive back from Dubuque seeing a great drum and bugle corps competition. Hannity and Colmes, Alan Colmes, George Schultz, and the O'Reilly factor. I'd listen for a while until they frustrated me and then I'd switch to the other side and listen for a while. While there were points that I agreed with all of them, there were also times when it was abundantly clear that they violated the values of Love God and Love neighbor that I treasure.

One of the more interesting conversations happened on the Alan Colmes show. There's an Arabic speaking school being opened in Queens and people are opposed to it. When I was listening to it, they got the typical redneck idiots who think that the language is the problem, not
radicals that want to kill us that happen to speak the language. One person just made me angry because he said something along the lines of, "I'll ask you a question: they will read from the Koran", which makes me mad because it's not a question.

What really made me mad, however, was that no one was listening to anyone else. Everyone else was so steeped in their own position that the basics of respect, hearing the concerns of others and addressing those concerns, was totally lost. I just kept thinking that it's a good thing that church doesn't operate like this. We aren't always going to change for you but we allow for dissent and at least try to listen to what people say.

Great Quote

I'm reading the book "Catholic Matters" by Richard John Neuhaus. I thought this was a hilarious quote and so true that it makes me cry....

"When the Second Vatican Council permitted the liturgy in the vernacular - contra many liturgists it did not mandate the vernacular - slap-dash translations of the Latin were rushed into use...Many of the appointed prayers may be summarized in the petition, 'O Lord, help us to be even nicer people than we already are.' Awe, majesty, mystery, unworthiness --anything associated with wonder in the face of the numinous -- is out."

Too true. Pray for the reform of the reform.

Hospitality

The readings today made me think of the importance of hospitality. It was tough, though, because I was in a parish that was thoroughly hospitable. My little parish in the country, Sts. Peter and Paul, is an incredibly welcoming place. There's a core group of ten or fifteen that reach out right away and make people feel welcome.

The story of Martha and Mary is, to me, a lesson in learning how to balance paing attention to guests and paying attention to guests physical needs. Martha was so fixated on food and drink that she lost how important it is just to be with someone, especially someone like Christ. Mary, on the other hand, erred on the side of conversation, on spending time with Christ. In retrospect, I could have used the example of the importance of Sunday as a day of prayer. While we work all week, Sunday should be a day of spending time with the body of Christ, the church.

Just back from the Cities

Things are spectacular in my life. I went to see the play version of my favorite musical called 1776. It has great quotes including....

"I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace,
that two are called a law firm
and that three or more become a congress..."

I tend to replace congress with "staff meeting" or "committee" and it makes me chuckle. But, the most fascinating thing was that the audience found a lot more lines humorous than I thought they ever would. Certainly more than I laughed at in the movie. I expected they would think the last hour dragged beyond belief but that wasn't at all true. It all moved along well and there really was only one time that I thought to myself, "this should have been cut." It was a depressing song called "Is anybody there? Does anybody care?"

Two more lines deserve special mention: There's a line from Ben Franklin that says, "Those who would give up some of their liberty in order to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

And, my personal favorite

"...consider yourselves fortunate that you have John Adams (or Fr. Dennis Miller) here to abuse for no sane man would tolerate it!"

Pope celebrates so-called tridentine mass

I was reading this article and thought it would be good to get it out there. It's not all that suprising, to be honest. A clarification of terms is probably necessary. A private mass probably involves less than ten people and probably takes place in a private chapel, such as the pope's private chapel in his residence in his chapel. That's where the pope celebrates private mass. A public mass would involve a more public setting, of course, and would involve more people. You might think that a private mass just involves the pope but that is not encouraged in the new mass and, unless if I'm wrong, impossible in the old rite. There were parts for the server to say and movements that the server made during mass that would be impossible for the priest to do. In many ways, being an acolyte in the old rite is light and day different than the new. Servers had to really know and understand what was happening with near military precision. It was glorious.

But, back to the article, it's intriguing that, this close to the announcement of permission, the media is putting this out there. It's almost as if they are trying to indicate that this is the Pope's preferred way to offer mass. BUT the pope has indicated that the novus ordo mass (the mass as celebrated since the reforms of the Vatican Council) is still to be the norm. The present pope undoubtedly finds a great deal of consolation in the rite that he learned in seminary and has found a place that he can continue to find that proximity to God. What a joy for him and for us.

But, we will continue to make novus ordo masses the norm even as we try to do them with more reverence and more relevance. To the liberals that are terrified that this is going to turn the church back 50 years and the conservatives who hope that it will I say this: Don't try to make the exception the rule.

Happy St. Benedict's Day

Today is the feast of my spiritual father, St. Benedict. His words have become very important for my spirituality in the last year and a half.

And, I'm hoping to have a few thoughts tomorrow about the Pope's latest "controversial" statements. I have a feeling that I won't say the same thing to say as major media outlets.

The theological virtue of hope

I heard a lot about the this virtue during the readings for this weekend. In the first reading which dealt with the celebration the Israelites had when they returned from exile, in St. Paul's rejoicing in the cross of cross which he saw in the marks on his flesh, and in Christ warning the 72 that he is sending them like sheep among wolves; it all points to the suffering we must endure patiently knowing that God is still in charge even when the evil one seems to be so.

It was hot in my little church in the prairie. We had a short mass and then I got back to my camper to load it up. It was too uncomfortable to even stay for lunch. I hurried home and am now sitting in air conditioned relaxation. The good thing is that it should promote growth of corn and that means we Iowans will have some corn on the cob...right around the time my friend Kate moves to town.

Some thoughts on the fourth of July

I don't consider myself a particularly patriotic person. I mean I do have respect for the USA because it does seem to be the best form of government possible in the absence of the promised presence of the Holy Spirit. And I'm a person that believes we should do things in service to the country simply because it is our country.

I think it's interesting that there are some who seem to constantly criticize the government because it cannot do anything right. And there are those who seem to believe that the government cannot do anything wrong. I am a theologian not a political scientist so this could be wrong...or maybe I should just form this in the form of a question since I'm really not trying to say that I know this for sure.

Why does it seem like liberals have no hope and conservatives have false hope? When I think of liberals, I think of people that always find the negative, always seek to criticize. And, conservatives can criticize too but they like to ignore any problems that are present. Am I totally wrong on this?

Intersting article

The pope recently reached out to the church in China in a letter. As I've said in this blog before, he's already going to visit the country but he first communicated a theological message. I find this article interesting that the reaction isn't outrage and anger, at least none that they're aware of.

choosing between two goods

I used the gospel for this weekend to preach about how difficult it is to choose between two goods. It is difficult to know which is the greater good. I used two examples: giving your children education in music or sports or contributing to a charity. Or buying a new iphone or buying groceries to donate to a food shelf. Sometimes the greater good is clear. Other times, it's harder to discern. The question that guides us is what God wants us to do.

Abram and Lot

Yesterday's daily reading was about Abram and Lot, two brothers. In modern parlance, we would say they are small family farmers, though that is at least a bit of an anachronism. They decided that they couldn't stay in the same place because there wasn't the resources for both flocks to feed. So Lot moved East of the Jordan valley into modern day Jordan and Abram stays in modern day Israel.

Then it says God blessed Abram with much prosperity. There is no comment about what happens to Lot but we know that, in the future, his wife will be transformed into a pillar of salt because she looked back. The question that haunts me is why did God bless Abram and not bless Lot. What made Abram more special than Lot?

I'm not sure what would cause that but it has caused a lot of reflection on my part as to why my family has had such a (relatively) great life while other people have such difficult lives. I have no doubt this is at least partially explained by the mind of God dealing with humanity's transgression. And maybe I should be happy that, at least for now, my family is more among the Abrams than the Lots.

Stewardship as empowering others to service

One of the tools that I use in my ministry in order to get to know people better is playing games. It’s a skill my parents taught me when we would visit relatives. I learned to play card games such as 500 and Pepper when we would visit my aunts and uncles. And, typically, just as much gossiping…I mean conversation…would happen as cards. In my first assignment, I used my five hundred skills to get in a card club. Now, admittedly, I was the only member of the club under seventy but it helped me connect with some parishioners and listen to their concerns.

When I came here, it was harder to find card players so I find myself playing more board games with some of the people that live in my apartment complex. One of our favorite games is Cycloneopoly. I usually play with two very competitive guys and a not so competitive woman. The other day, we started playing and it became obvious that the guys were winning. They had most of the properties and were working on a deal that would give both of them monopolies. I had one property and the woman had the other matching property. When she landed on the second one, it became obvious what I needed to do. I gave her a monopoly and some money in exchange for a couple of less expensive properties. Everyone realized that I was throwing the entire game just so that the boys would lose.

It probably seems a little bit odd to throw a board game just so that two ultra-competitive guys would not be able to win. It’s almost as strange as this celebration, the solemnity of the birth of St. John the Baptist. There are very few celebrations that the church allows to interrupt the normal flow of Sundays. You see, today should be the twelfth Sunday in Ordinary time. But, there are a few celebrations that are so important that we fix dates to their celebration, December 25th, being just one example. A few other examples include the presentation of the Lord, the Annunciation of the Lord, the feast of Ss. Peter and Paul, The transfiguration of the Lord, The Assumption of Mary, and a few others. What makes this celebration especially odd is that, unlike all those other celebrations, this is for someone who didn’t directly experience the central mystery of our faith. In other words, John the Baptist was dead long before Jesus died and rose. You may remember that John the Baptist was beheaded by King Herod when he denounced Herod’s unlawful marriage to his brother’s wife, Herodias. The gospels seem to agree that Jesus’ ministry began after John had left the scene.

So, why is this celebration important enough to make it such a priority. I mean, we don’t even know all that much about John the Baptist in the first place. The pope, in his new book Jesus of Nazareth, points to speculation that John may have been associated with a Jewish separatist group known as the Essenes. They lived close to the Dead Sea in a type of monastic environment. John may have begun a ministry just to the north of them of ritual purification through immersion or baptism, as we have come to know it. The Pope speculates that several of Jesus’ disciples may have originally been John’s. For instance, we know from the gospel of John that Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of John’s followers. The Pope also believes that Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot may have come from this group since the Essenes were likely the group that eventually rebelled against Rome and were called the Zealots. It’s also possible that Jesus was one of John’s disciples before he began his ministry.

All of this may help us understand John a little better but it still doesn’t make it clear why this celebration is important. I’d like to suggest that the reasoning is in the color the church assigns to the garment I’m wearing and the celebration itself. I’m wearing white, a color that, in terms of mass, harkens to Easter and resurrection. I’m not wearing red, a color that points to one who died in witness to the death of the Lord, a martyr. And, the celebration is his birthday, not the day of his death. We are celebrating his life and, in particular, how he prepared the way for Jesus. That is what we all remember about John. He’s the guy that, from the beginning, was chosen to help people have Jesus in their life. It wasn’t all about John. It was all about Jesus and John had to tell people that.

There’s a desire in all of us to be special, to be the best. But, most of us will not be superman, never have the opportunity to reach out and pull the guy away from being hit by a bus, or never find the cure for cancer. But maybe we can prepare those who will. All too often, we can see the gifts in other people clearer than we can see our own. We should be willing to be like John the Baptist and help others recognize the gifts and talents in their own lives. This, I believe, is what the church wants us to see in this celebration of the birth of John the Baptist: that helping to prepare people for God’s presence in their lives is just as important as having our own relationship to God.

Please keep the people of St. Anthony in your prayers

Yesterday was a difficult day for me. It started off with the first time I've been involved with a close relative's funeral from a priestly perspective. My Aunt died and I preached at the funeral. It was hard to lose her since she was such a sweet lady and someone our whole family will miss.

As I walked up to the church, my brother told me the church in St. Anthony was burning. I called my pastor who is the dean and told him what was happening. After the funeral, I went to the town and saw what I didn't expect. The entire church was destroyed. The building was at gound level when I got there and I saw the floor collapse.

Even though they had to know that their tiny little parish was going to close soon, (50-60 members), it's hard to lose something that was so important to them. I hope they can find some way to recover from it.

A good lesson learned

I have always thought of myself as a dog owner without a dog. A week ago I went and got a dog and found, in the course of a week, that I wasn't a dog owner without a dog. I would have had to change my life so much that it was clearly not worth it. I like being free to pray for hours on end and being free to read for hours on end. I like being able to be gone for a day or two to visit friends and not have to worry about having someone take care of my dog.

So, I took Hiro back. He was a great dog and he deserves someone who can take care of him. I kind of hope he won't even remember me.

The wisdom confession

The readings for the eleventh Sunday in Ordinary time all deal with the importance of being accountable before God. God knows of our transgressions before, during and after we commit them but we still need to actually ask for forgiveness to receive it.

And I'm back...

I had one full week of being a priest "incognito", still a priest but no one knew. I wore shorts all week and saw a few of the very rare archaeological sites that are in the United States. It was wonderful. Now I go off for a few days of convocation and then I've got to get started preparing for next school year. My month of relaxation is quickly coming to an end.

Gone again!

I will be leaving tomorrow, June third, for a vacation and won't really return until the fifteenth. I make a brief pass through next Sunday for a mass for the good people of Sts. Peter and Paul in Gilbert Iowa before starting three days of priests' convocation. I will do my best to update my blog but don't count on much until I get back. Then you'll all be blown away at how exciting and fresh my ideas will be!

That in all things God may be praised.

Spirit of Wisdom, wisdom of Father and Son

Who would you say is a truly wise person? Stephen Hawking? Probably most of us would agree that Stephen Hawking is truly wise. Despite his tremendous physical limitations, he is a world-renowned theoretical physicist complete with a type of radiation named after him that comes from black holes, as well as other scientific contributions. Of course, I’ve never met Stephen Hawking before so I don’t know that first hand. And, especially in this academic community, we know that there are people who intelligent who may not be very wise. There are, after all, different kinds of knowledge out there. Some people are incredibly book smart but not very street smart or vice versa. Someone may be very good with managing money but have no knowledge of how to take care of cars and property. And there’s always that academic that could wax on poetically about any subject you could ever want to know about but is such a jerk that you don’t even want to talk to him. I imagine we all have our strengths and weaknesses when it comes to knowledge and the appropriation thereof. And, I may even go so far as to say that we all believe that our knowledge plays a very important part, if not the most important part, in making this world run smoothly and that, if more people just cared about the knowledge that we care about, the world would be a better place.

One of the traits that characterized the renaissance that, I fear, has been lost today was a sense of continuity in knowledge. In other words, if something was true for theology then it necessarily must be true for natural science. And, if something was true for sociology, then it must be true for law and theology and political science. And so forth. All too often, in contemporary civilization, either points of disagreemtn are seen as irreconcilable and, therefore, points of multiple truth or divergent sides of a chess match in which people must choose as to which competing truth they will believe. Either you are pro-evolution or pro-creation and never the twain shall meet. This view is not only myopic and unsatisfactory but it gives into a kind of hopelessness that politicians thrive on.

On this Trinity Sunday, the church attempts an answer to this conundrum of conflicting comprehensions. Last week, we spent some time talking about the Holy Spirit and the personal gifts She gives to individuals. Today we reflect on the gifts that She gives to all of creation, to believers, and to the church. I refer to the Holy Spirit in the feminine today because of the first reading from Proverbs which images wisdom as a woman. She was God’s first creation before anything else and, in the chapter previous to the one we heard, provided the Lord with a blueprint for the earth. It is the Holy Spirit who is begotten, or “possessed” to use the biblical image, by God and is portrayed as wisdom dancing before God to his delight. While this is probably a little too anthropomorphic for modern sensibilities, it speaks about the nature of the relationship of Father and Spirit that pre-exists the creation of human beings and exists as the basis of wisdom.

The Spirit is operative in the lives of believers because, according to the second reading, we who have faith have been given peace through Christ. This wisdom can seem to contradict the wisdom of the world in what it prizes. The world will tell us to look for what is comfortable and easy and the wisdom of the Spirit will tell you to find the peace of Christ amidst the trials and troubles of this world. We find our hope in Christ Jesus and the peace that he offers to us in the chaos of his death and resurrection. The wisdom given to the believer is faith regardless of the wisdom of the world that seems to stress comfort, safety, and security above all else. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not giving into the very multitude of truths that I’m positing do not exist inasmuch as acknowledging that, we who have been given faith and have appropriated that faith into our lives, are going to have certain expectations placed upon us in this life. This is not denying the continuity of wisdom inasmuch as acknowledging a multiplicity of ways that the Spirit expects us to respond to that wisdom.

As we hear in the gospel, all wisdom comes from God through Christ by the Holy Spirit. The wisdom that we receive was why Christ came into this world; to impart his wisdom to us, and to give glory to God through his wisdom. The Spirit, the giver of wisdom, will guide the church and enlighten the disciples to a fuller understanding of Christ, therefore giving glory to Christ. Thus, all wisdom comes, not from us, but from the Holy Spirit.

This demands a certain kind of humility, therefore, for all people and especially for the intellectual community. We cannot look at wisdom as something that we have to the exclusion of others. True wisdom has been given to us to use to the glory of God. If we are honestly discovering truths, we are learning more about God and God’s creation. It should put us into a greater relationship with the human community, not a lesser one, and call us into greater service of one another. I mean, after all, one of the most shocking things that we have learned in the last 2000 years is that God, who is one, is in a relationship of persons within the unity of himself. If even God, in this unity, is in a relationship of persons, we must see wisdom, the gift of the Spirit, as forcing us into relationship with one another.

lectio continua finale

So, after two comments, some email suggestions, and some thoughts on my own here is the final list.

D7
1. Rule of Benedict (my spiritual father)
2. Apostolic Fathers (St. Ignatius, St. Justin Martyr, St. Iraneus, St. Clement, St. Cyprian)
3. The Apostolic Tradition of Hypolotus
4. The Prophets/Sabbath by Abraham Joshual Heschel
5. Documents of Vatican II
6. One of the many documents of John Paul II
7. Summa Theoligica by St. Thomas Aquinas

Now I just have to remember each day to find three minutes and do this. It's the snail method of reading them.

The "profesionalization" of priesthood

On retreat, I had the opportunity to reflect on the ramifications of having priests who are thought of as a professional. There are obvious positives but there are also negatives. In the wake of the priesthood sexual abuse crisis, it probably seems to make sense to be more professional. To talk about "boundaries" and the importance of privacy.

But, there have been movements to make the church look more like IBM than Jesus Christ and that concerns me. Christ didn't tell us that we only need to take up our cross during office hours. In fact, in the gospel of Mark, it becomes clear that those times that he most wants a break are the times that he doesn't get one. And, he calls his disciples to not want to take breaks but to pour out one's life for one's friend.

Boundaries are safe and, for some, they are incredibly important things. But, they can also shield us from being "Father" or "Sister" and turn our celibacy into the bachelorhood. I think we need to look into our history before we move too quickly on this.