Bulletin Article: Palm Sunday 2013

On Palm Sunday we commemorate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Over the next week as we celebrate Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday, we are called into the drama of the deepest mysteries of our faith. We relive these mysteries in our own time as if we were there at the Last Supper, as if we were standing at the cross, and as if we were looking into the empty tomb. This is not simple play-acting. This is not mere commemoration. God became incarnate, not to limit his presence in a privileged space and time, but to make all space and time holy.  God wishes to step across space and time to offer his Son to each of us for our redemption. These particular days help us come to terms with the drama of that sacrifice which is no less real and no less effective for our salvation in our time. Every time we celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we come face to face with the living God. I invite you to take the greatest advantage of the opportunities which are being offered for the celebration of the sacraments and for participation in the liturgies of these days. May God continue to bless you and may this be a most Holy Week!

Twelfth Station: Cardinal Wojtyla (1976)

THE TWELFTH STATION
Jesus dies on the Cross.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.

From the Gospel according to Mark. 15:33-34, 37, 39:
And when the sixth hour had come there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.  And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice: "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?", which means: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"  And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.  When the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said: "Truly this man was the Son of God".

Here we have the greatest, the most sublime work of the Son in union with the Father. Yes: in union, in the most perfect union possible, precisely at the moment when he cries: "Eloi, Eloi lama sabachthani" -- "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mk 15:34; Mt 27:46). This work finds expression in the verticality of his body stretched against the perpendicular beam of the Cross and in the horizontality of his arms stretched along the transverse beam. To gaze upon those arms one would think that in the effort they expend they embrace all humanity and all the world.

They do indeed embrace it.

Here is the man. Here is God himself. "In him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). In him: in those arms outstretched along the transverse beam of the Cross.

The mystery of the Redemption.

Nailed to the Cross, pinned in that terrible position, Jesus calls on the Father (cf. Mk 15:34; Mt 27:46; Lk 23:46). All his words bear witness that he is one with the Father. "I and the Father are one" (Jn 10:30); "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9); "My Father is working still, and I am working" (Jn 5:17).

Son of God, remember us,
at the hour of death.
R. Kyrie, eleison.
Son of the Father, remember us,
and by your Spirit renew the face of the earth.
R. Kyrie, eleison

Pater noster...

   St. Thomas Aquinas, like the other masters and doctors of his age, was a man of prodigious memory.  To be an effective teacher of the sacred sciences, one needed to have an encyclopedic knowledge and recall both of sacred scripture, as well as the writings of the early fathers and the teachings of the popes.

   Once upon a time, a man could be considered to be learned in the entire sum of human knowledge--theology, medicine, law, rhetoric--a claim that would be made by scarce few today.  Indeed, when I was in graduate school, it was commonly claimed that the knowledge in the field of the life sciences doubled approximately on the order of every 6-8 years.  This claim underscored the necessity of constant study of the latest articles and trends in the field, lest we fall hopelessly behind as a serious scientist and our professional knowledge become 'obsolete'.

   As we have organized and cataloged all sorts of information for quick search and recall on our computers and small devices we can carry on our person, the art of memory and memorization is falling by the wayside.  I was never good at memorization when I was at school, even before the advent of smart phones.  Simply stated, I was lazy and undisciplined.  But educators of days gone by clearly understood the value of memorizing information, poetry, and other facts, as it trained and formed the mind in an orderly way.  Imagine what St. Thomas Aquinas might have been capable of, given the technology of today.

   Aquinas understood that there were two types of memory active within the human mind.  An intellectual memory as one, and a sensate memory as the other.  Both need to be stretched.  The intellectual memory was one of taking in facts and committing them to one's person.  We know that one plus one is two, and remember that fact, because it exemplifies an abstract truth that is true in all places and at all times... our minds are formed to the truth by that kind of memorization.  The sensate memory is not what it sounds like... it is not a memory of the taste or smell or sight of mom's cherry pie cooling in the window-sill... Thomas puts those 'memories' in the realm of the 'imagination' which is a whole different thing.  But the sensate memory stores the relative truths that we can apprehend from the world presented to us through the senses.  One plus one will always yield two, no matter what we see or hear or think.  The sensate world though, presents facts to the intellect that are saved to this 'working' or 'instrumental' memory, as I would call it.  These memories do not bear necessary correlation with objective truth, but are relative truths as the intellect sees them.
   Lent is a time to renew minds and memories, attuning them more perfectly to recognizing and proclaiming the truth of God and his ways.  A few weeks ago we heard Moses reminding the people to "hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe" and to "not let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and your children's children" (cf Deuteronomy 4: 5-9).  Jesus then calls us to remember the not only the letter, but the smallest part of the letter of the Law, and then to watch as he fulfills it completely (cf Matt 5: 17-19).  In the coming two weeks of Passiontide, we are focused more precisely on the events of the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord, that we may know again the depth of his love for us, and be transformed by that love.  The Sacred Liturgy at the center of this observance is the 'living memory' of this love, made present (re-present-ed) for us today.
   Human memory has no higher destiny than to be the repository of God's living Word.  As we recall the great things God has done for us, we are inspired towards thanksgiving and evangelization.  The authentic Christian tradition deeply honors and reveres learning and wisdom, and the memories that are formed by God's inspiration.  That is why the stories of the saints tend to be so compelling.  This is why we tell our vocation stories.  This is why the Church has been the seedbed of generations of great thinkers and artists and political activists and everyday people who have simply responded to the invitation of God revealed in the beauty of simple truth.

Homily Thoughts - 05L-C

   The woman was caught in the very act of adultery!  Wow, that must have been quite a sight.  And where is the man she was caught with?  The scriptures don't say a word about him.  Yes, the woman faced a death penalty, but I think this is less a story about punishment as it is about shame.

   Shame is a deadly thing--it is the ugly step-sister of guilt.  We have spent Lent recognizing the righteous guilt we bear for our sins, helping us recognize  our need for repentance.  Guilt moves the contrite heart toward reconciliation, deliverance, and satisfaction--a process that is perfected in sacramental confession.  But as important as guilt is to helping us recognize our transgressions, shame on the other hand has a suffocating tendency to drains hope out of the wary sinner.  It gnaws on the very heart of those caught in sin, encouraging despair and withdrawal out of fear, rather than a new path of transformation...  a shameful adulterer will never amount to anything more than an adulterer.  A shameful thief will never amount to anything more than a thief.  A shameful drug addict will never be able to get past the addiction that keeps him/her trapped.  Jesus looked at the woman with love (not lust as she had perhaps grown accustomed) and saw her for what she really was, a beloved daughter of God... and one in need of healing and transformation and forgiveness.  A sinner, yes, but down deep a beloved daughter above anything else.  We hear the expression, 'love the sinner, hate the sin'?  That is exactly what we see here in this story.  Jesus helps the woman see that she is not trapped or even defined by her sin, but that she can make a new start at the mercy of the Son of Man.
  Guilt propels the sinner into contrition and transformation.  Shame traps them forever in a  sullied identity.  I'm not sure what the woman was experiencing, but the mob was more than happy to take this woman down, reveling in her shame and disgrace.  At the same time the mob capitalized on her weakness to attempt to undermine Jesus and his ministry as well.  Would Jesus uphold the Law and stone her, forsaking his way of forgiveness and peace, or would he reject the Law of Moses and offer forgiveness?  How do you say, o rabbi?

   As often happens in these stories, Jesus slips out of the trap through a third way that respects the Old Law and gives a deeper understanding of the New.  Let the one who is without sin in his heart cast the first stone!  Yes, there is a transgression here, but let mercy be the supreme expression of justice!
   What do you want to bet that the man who was "caught in the very act of adultery" with this woman was among the crowd sizing up stones to kill her?  Where is his shame?  Where is his guilt?  If it is true that this man were in the crowd, does it not add a new dimension to Jesus' dare that only those without sin (in the original Greek it is even tougher and more restrictive... those without even "guilty longings") to cast the first stone?  This man in particular, but all those at the scene more generally AND we who read this account have a duty to acknowledge sin in their midst, and to purge the guilt of that sin through reconciliation... with God and with the community.  Jesus provides that grace personally in his example in the Gospel.  Today, he provides the sacraments.  We then have the duty to break the cycle of shame by restoring the forgiven sinner into relationship with the community through mercy. 
   Two final points... first, this scripture is often mis-used to brow-beat the Christian into a false tolerance, that is, the tacit acceptance of sin under the guise of false mercy... we have all fallen and nobody can judge.  Wrong.  We must judge rightly and admonish the sinner and teach the ignorant... these are works of mercy.  We can't let sin slide on the proposition of 'be and let be'... this is not what Jesus is teaching.  We must always hate sin and be struggling against it in ourselves and in our neighbors.  Jesus did not simply release the woman to her old ways, but commanded her, "go and sin no more!"  That is mercy, but not tolerance. 
   Secondly, from the Francis Fernandez collection, In Conversation with God, we find him paraphrasing Augustine who proposes that the forgiveness of a sinner is the greatest act of God's creating hand.  For not only does God give life in creation, but he crowns it in restoration to a new and supernatural glory in the free acceptance of his grace.  Imagine that... "your sins are forgiven" and the priest's privilege of proclaiming "I absolve you of your sins..." bearing more love and compassion from the heart of God than even, "let there be light!". In a few weeks we will sing "O happy fault, o necessary fault of Adam, which won for us so great a savior!" in the Easter proclamation, the Exsultet.  Obviously the Church does not glory in sin, but recognizes that God's glory abounds all the more in recognizing our need for his mercy through Christ our Risen Lord.

Bulletin Article L05-C

 Baptistry mosaic of Christ, St. John's/Florence

  One of my greatest privileges as a priest and pastor has been to welcome people into Full Communion with the Catholic Church. Invariably, as I listen to the stories of people who have grown up in another faith or in no faith at all, when they speak of their encounters with the Church and its people, their family members who are Catholic, experiences of the Church through the media, such as EWTN, or by observing epochal events such as the election of Pope Francis or the festivities of a World Youth Day, I am moved by the way the Holy Spirit continues to draw people into this One Faith, One Baptism, and the One Lord of All.

  Lent is a time that is first and foremost a period of purification and prayer for those who are coming into the Church at Easter. In the early Church, participation by all the faithful in the penitential practices of the catechumens was a way that even ‘old timers’ and ‘cradle Catholics’ could re-live the excitement and beauty of their own baptisms, perhaps many years before. As the Church became stabilized in society, the numbers of adult converts decreased, and as the vast majority of Catholics would be baptized early in life, Lent lost some of its pre-baptismal focus and character. An effort has been underway in recent decades to reclaim that more authentic understanding of Lent, and to engage the faithful in fervent prayer and sacrifice, not only for their own good, but for the good of those who are embracing the death and resurrection of Christ through participation in the Easter Sacraments.  This process in most parishes is called the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, or RCIA for short.

   The RCIA is an adaptation of the ancient rites of initiation for our own times. Up to the 1960's and 1970's, the Roman Ritual provided for an extensive initiation rite, which was often shortened or dispensed with, which included elements that are brought out into the open and expanded over several weeks of ritual moments.  Most notably, the three pre-baptismal exorcisms (or scrutinies as they are called today) and anointings with the Oil of Catechumens are now adapted to public observance--even at Mass--in the weeks just before Easter Sunday.  While the catechumens are the subject of the rites, the public celebration is intended remind each of us of our continuing need for conversion toward God's light and life.  The Church offers the iconic images of the water drawn by the woman at the well, the light seen by the man born blind, and the new life of a raised and restored Lazarus to inspire that greater introspection and conversion on part of all the faithful.

  Take the time this Lent to actually pray and make sacrifices for those who are coming into the Church... make your Lent an offering for their continued conversion and peace over the monumental decision to become Catholic!  We look forward to Easter in just two short weeks, and look forward when, in God's grace, the unity of the Body of Christ will be made ever more manifest in the grafting of new members into the life of the Church.

Blog posts I wish I had written this week...

 

Source: BBC

   Good afternoon, everyone.  Been busy at the hideout this week and dealing with a temperamental Internet connection, so I haven't been able to post.  I have about three articles in various stages of development, but none ready to go right now... and then a bulletin article and homily reflection to offer as well.  Hopefully I'll get around to finishing all that off in the next couple of days.



   As you know, Holy Mother Church has been in the news a bit the last few days with the election of a new Holy Father, Francis.  Every time I have sat down to try to write even a little note, I find out that someone has already written an article that says what I wanted to say, and did it better than I could in the first place.  So, like the dreaded television clip-show, I offer my first "digest" article, regarding the news of the last few days.

   On Wednesday morning, before the white smoke came, I had read an article off of one of the major news services (I don't remember if it were AP or Reuters or someone else) that in the first paragraph said that the cardinals had failed to elect a pope, and then made it sound like not having a pope on the first ballot was a disaster, because there was, obviously so much disagreement among the electorate and that this was tragic because we are in such a time of CRISIS for the Church.   Crisis?  Really?

   In no way would I want to downplay the seriousness of some of the stuff the Church is facing, but this journalistic meme is not worthy of a high school rag-sheet.  Crisis?  Thomas L. McDonald over at God in the Machine points out that it took SEVEN journalistic geniuses to put this kitsch-ish article together, wringing their hands at the first ballot stalemate during one of the "most difficult periods in Church history".  McDonnald counters with a harrowing list of much worse times for the Church, starting with the execution of Jesus Christ himself, listing a couple dozen popes who had been executed or assassinated, reminding us of the early persecutions, the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Great Schism with the East, the Avignon (anti-)papacies, the three-year conclave to elect Gregory X, the Inquisition, the Reformation, the French Revolution, the anti-clerical movements of Mexico and other communist/socialist regimes, World War II and the holocaust, and much more.  Again, not to discount the challenges we face, but these crocodile tears from the media for the 'crisis' of the suffering Church shows ignorance, rather than sympathy.
   It was from Cardinal George's famous discussion about his successors dying in prison or the public square that an even more important and prophetic statement was made by the Archbishop of Chicago.  The successor of the martyr-bishop executed in the public square would be the one to "pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history."  That's the suffering Church of today--the Church guided and sustained by Christ.  No matter how badly the world would wish its collapse, we will be there.  It is that wounded Church that will ultimately be the salvation of human history and the world.  We are lucky to be living in these times of 'crisis'.  I welcome it!  If we Catholics used the courage and strength already in our hands by the power of the Holy Spirit, we could turn this world and perhaps not even have to lose our lives to do it.

   None other than Rush Limbaugh had a wonderful rant through several segments of his show yesterday, explaining that the media, while they love the idea of the South American, Jesuit pope are going to be horrified when they realize that he is CATHOLIC!  And not only that, but an orthodox, Culture-of-Life, friend-of-the-poor, personable fellow who rides the bus, who doesn't fit the media-villain meme like they would like to paint.  Not only is this an assertion of what the Church really is, an institution of FAITH, rather than POLITICS, but it shows how faith trumps politics for what is RIGHT, not what is politically expedient.  There are lessons for BOTH liberals AND conservatives as they watch the Church during these days.  It is easy to lambaste secular liberals who are unable to see that the Church can't and won't be popularly morphed into something she is not, but there is also an opportunity to remind secular conservatives the importance and security of standing for principles, rather than selling out for political expediency.

 

Speaking of "conservatives" having stuff to learn, there's a follow-up article from Thomas L. McDonald about the shameful response of some of the "rad-trads" which goes hand in hand with an earlier article from Acts of Apostasy.  Come on, people.  It has been 24... no 48 hours since he was presented on the loggia.    At this point, we still need to do a lot more listening before we do too much judging, talking, or comparing of papal pros and cons.  No pope is perfect.  No pope will satisfy all of our desires to see the Church become perfect... after all, he doesn't work for us... he works for God.  Let's welcome him and support him in assuming the awesome responsibility and influence as the leader of 1.2B Catholics and the heir to 2000 years of wisdom and history.  Let us also embrace him in his frail, broken humanity which reminds us of the struggles of Peter and others who have followed in the 'shoes of the fisherman' over those years.  (By the way, has anyone detected any "Shoes of the Fisherman" moments in the last few days?  I'm going to write a post on that soon, if I don't get beaten to it.)

 

Speaking of standing for our pope... here's a 'honeymoon' article from the BBC, followed by an article by R.R. Reno on the First Things site which shows what the Argentine media really think about the election of Francis.  Read and learn... this is where the talking points will come from in the next few days.  I'm serious, friends, Francis really does need our prayerful support.

 

Fr. Z over at WDTPRS had a poll on the major network coverage of the conclave/election.  While EWTN was not included on the list as a vote for a 'major network', the others were listed.  I was watching NBC with George Weigel and Fr. Robert Barron and Cardinal Egan and thought it was pretty good.  I heard afterwards from friends that EWTN was chattering inanely (and in some cases inaccurately) again during its broadcast coverage of the announcement of the new pope.  I really got mad about that during the funeral of John Paul II and the election of Benedict XVI... about half way through the funeral I turned off EWTN and tuned into CNN, which was broadcasting the events without all the play-by-play.  EWTN, I love you and what you do for the Church, but you really need to tell your people to shut up during these huge Catholic moments.  There are more than a few who watch EWTN who know Latin or can passably-interpret Italian at these big-time events.  Put the commentary on what color his shoes are on a SAP or provide a translation in the closed captions. 

 

Finally (for now), the Georgetowner speaks of the "Irony of a Jesuit Pope".  One should never take the holy event, such as the election of a pope by the guidance of the Holy Spirit as an opportunity for indulging in the fantasy of what 'scores' might be settled by the new management... lots of people were doing that when Papa Ratzinger came out on the loggia... we... will... resist... doing... that... now...  But as Francis steps out into the spotlight, and as Catholic institutions such as Georgetown hail the election of one of their brothers as the first Jesuit pope, one has to wonder how long that praise will echo...  ?  After all, an editorial back on February 27/28 reasoned that the "New pope must shepherd Church into modernity"... yeah, modernity... that has done the secular world loads of good:

"The Catholic Church has the potential to alter its stance on contraception, LGBT individuals, and women’s ordination within the next few decades, and this papal selection will be crucial in determining which course the Church will take. While a regionally or ethnically diverse pope could provide new opportunities for the Catholic Church to reevaluate its role in the world, perhaps these considerations should be forgone for a more progressive candidate, regardless of his origin. In order to remain relevant and maintain its scope of influence in an increasingly modern era..."  blah, blah, blah.

I suppose the real irony is that the selection of Bergoglio by the same newspaper was considered "implausible" just weeks ago.   (He seemed safely, 'too old', is my read of the editorial.)   Catholic Education at all levels is in desperate need of reform and re-visioning, that it may speak and teach clearly with the heart and mind of 2000 years of tradition and wisdom... will this Jesuit institution have the courage to lead the real reform which we need, renouncing the demonic Culture of Death in all its forms?  Will it accept the challenge of this pope not to be a milquetoast "compassionate NGO", but the Church, the Bride of Christ... after all, "when one does not profess Jesus Christ, one professes the worldliness of the devil."

'nuff said for today.  Enjoy all the chatter out there in net-land... there's some good and engaging stuff to wrap your minds around in these days.  BTW, I am welcoming (moderated) comments to my posts now.  Feel free to drop by and say 'hi'.

 

Twelfth Station: Danilo and Anna Maria Zanzucchi (2012)

The Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

From the Gospel according to Matthew 27:45-46
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’, that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’.

   Jesus is on the cross. Hours of anguish, terrible hours, hours of inhuman physical suffering. “I thirst,” says Jesus. And they lift to his lips a sponge dipped in gall.
   An unexpected cry rises up: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Is this blasphemy? Is the dying man crying out the words of the psalm? How are we to accept a God who cries out, who groans, who doesn’t know, who doesn’t understand? The Son of God made man, who dies thinking he has been abandoned by his Father?

Jesus, until now you had been one of us,
one with us in all things but sin!
You, the Son of God made man,
You, the Holy One of God,
became completely one with us
willing even to experience our sinful state,
our separation from God, the hell of the godless.
You experienced darkness in order to give us light.
You experienced this separation in order to unite us.
You accepted pain in order to leave us Love.
You became an outcast, forsaken, hanging
between heaven and earth, in order to receive us into God’s life.
A mystery surrounds us,
as we relive each step of your passion.
Jesus, you did not cling to your equality with God
as a jealously guarded treasure,
but made yourself completely poor, in order to make us rich.
“Into your hands I commend my spirit”.
Jesus, how were you able,
in that abyss of desolation,
to entrust yourself to the Father’s love,
surrendering yourself to him, dying in him?
Only by looking to you, only in union with you,
can we face tragedies, innocent suffering,
humiliation, abuse and death.

Jesus experiences his death as a gift for me, for us, for our families, for each person, for every family, for all peoples and for the entire human race. In that act, life is reborn.

Homily Thoughts 4 Lent C

   This weekend's Gospel of the "Prodigal Son" invites our deep meditation on the love of God the Father for all of his children, 'prodigal' and otherwise.  The point that I would like to leap to, leaving all else aside for this short reflection, is the line where we hear the son saying, "I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.  I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.'"   (Luke 15: 18-19)

   There are at least two things working in this line that are relevant and important to us as we hear this parable and we see our own faces in the mirror Jesus points at his followers:

   First:  The movement of the son is ultimately one of conversion.  Another word for this moment might be metanoia, where one's 'mind' is 'made new'.  The son, realizing the horrible error of his ways, decides that he cannot live like this anymore, and must go find help and deliverance--even at the hands of the one he has sinned against most dreadfully.  He knows that while he has no right to the assistance, let alone love or respect of his father, that he nonetheless has some degree of confidence in protection and sustenance as the least one in his house.  So he heads home based on that smallest glimmer of the father's love remaining deep within his heart.

   Second:  He knows who he is as he prepares to stand before his father and beg his way back into the house.  He is a son, but he is also an unworthy sinner who has dishonored his inheritance along with the life and livelihood of his father.  There is a relationship which is being weighed... the wholeness of the father-son relationship versus the corruption of that relationship through sin.

   We know how the story ends... the father wraps his arms around the son and takes him back into the house, with a ring and sandals and a festive meal.  We have heard this story so many times, that we might need to back away from it a bit to consider the surprise or incredulity that the first hearers of this parable might have had as Jesus told the story, perhaps with a little smirk on his face.

   Certainly there is a moral angle to the story... do not dishonor the Father, turn from your evil ways of squandering your Father's gifts and return to him for forgiveness and repair of this essential relationship, God's love is forever.  These are all important lessons and they are all true.  Once again, we hear the familiar, yet ever-more urgent call to repentance, conversion, and sacramental confession.

   I want to look at it more deeply with an appreciation of what is actually happening to the son, as I invite us to stand in his shoes and take on his identity a bit more closely.  What happens when we sin?  We damage or break the relationship we have with the Father, certainly becoming unworthy of our participation in his household.  But even more distressingly, we cut ourselves off from God's sanctifying grace, in which we 'live, move, and have our being'.  Now, in our sin, we are not instantly zapped into non-existence, as plausible a solution that might be in the hands of a wrathful god who might call back his gifts upon a transgression.  Our created reality has an integrity that transcends sin--a concession of the mercy of God, I would contend.  But why?

   First: the integrity of our being preserves human free will to love God or not.  Imagine the coercive pressure you'd feel to "be good" if you saw your neighbor get zapped out of existence for something small... let's say a parking ticket?  We are not puppies being trained with dog-biscuits.  We are intelligent beings with the glimmer of divine life rooted deeply within us, inviting us to use that greatest power we have: to freely love as God has freely loved us.  It is a virtue that must be practiced and perfected across a lifetime of experience... sometimes granted and strengthened as one encounters the shadows of sin and overcomes the darkness by God's grace.  In any case, free will is a most important ingredient written into our human nature.

   Second: the integrity of our nature lends the opportunity for redemption.  As long as we draw breath, we can start crawling back to the source of life, no matter how ugly the transgression might have been.  Can we call to mind stories about deathbed conversions, confessions, and baptisms?  Death itself--the reality that our existence is finite--is a great encouragement towards making the most of the time we have, and living in a state of holy readiness for the unexpected time when we will be called to account for our lives.

   Third: there is a relationship that perdures, even through the darkness of sin.  Those who sin against God as given their free will to do so, and God continues to love them.  The most horrifying reality of God's love is hell.  In God's love, if one were to prefer his/her own pathetic, pusillanimous self-interests, God will accommodate allowing the soul to turn in on itself, and away from the eternal love of the Father.  The fire of hell is none other than the fire of God's love tormenting the committed sinner who wishes that he/she could completely abandon that love and exist only in and for himself/herself.

   Fourth: it shows us that God's way is not to 'throw away' mistakes.  He doesn't create evil or defective creatures.  He doesn't throw the glop back on the potters wheel and start over when something defaces his creation.  He fixes it.  He restores it.  He reconditions it.  He re-creates it.  As long as we walk upon this earth, we are subjects of God's creating hand.  He didn't simply create us in our mother's womb, wind up the top, and let us spin away.  He is intimately involved in our continuing creation (and when necessary, re-creation), as long as we live.

   Martin Luther had the theory that the human person saved by Christ is "simul iustus et peccator", which roughly means, "both justified and a sinner at the same time".  There is something wise about this... can you think of the time when it seemed like you had an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, battling it out for your conscience and soul?  While we want to do good, there are appetites and desires within us that lead us astray.  A famous quote from a young Augustine illustrates these conflicted desires, "O Lord, make me chaste, but not yet!"  As long as we live, we are subject to the conflicting desires of body and soul, heaven and earth.  Luther's theory is interesting and true on a certain level, for we do spend our lives being 'two minds' about so many things--we ultimately do need to make a choice.  But Luther understates the beauty and power of what happens when the son rises up to go to the Father.  The son is a rank sinner and has no claim at all on the father or his house or his wealth or even his goodwill.  To have the father accept him back, both as a son and as a sinner (iustus et peccator), is to admit an unpaid debt into that relationship.  The father may proclaim and insist that "all is forgiven," but we as observers know that until every last penny is restored to the father and the indignity of his profligate ways are repaired, the son 'owes' the father something in justice.  The father is not interested in offering a cheap forgiveness... a forgiveness declared in words and emotion and sentiment for a good ending to the story, 'covering up' what happened in the past.  The father goes far beyond covering up or tolerating sin for the greater good of reunion:

   "Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.  Take the fattened calf and slaughter it... this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again..."  (Luke 15: 22-24)

   The father does not welcome his son back with mere words and emotions, coerced by the darkness to cover up the son's transgression for a greater good in having him restored to life.  There is transformative union of mercy and justice in the father's actions.  The father's forgiveness is made manifest as he invests the returning son with signs that denote a deeper reality of the filial dignity restored to him... the robe representing the son's share in his father's wealth and fortune, the ring representing the son's authority to bind and lose and otherwise contract business in his father's name, and the sandals representing his status, not as a slave to the damaged relationship they have put behind them, but as a son.  With this, they slay the fatted calf and enjoy a festive feast.  The son is not simply forgiven in words, but also in deed.  He is completely restored to all that the father has, not out of duty or right, but out of the father's reckless, prodigal love.  The son who was dead is now re-created anew in the household of the father.

  And so, the story comes full-circle now, as the son, realizing who he is--a sinner against heaven and his father--now realizes that he is restored as a beloved son.  All the son needed to do was realize who he really was and then turn to his loving father.  The restoration in the father's transformative love was full and perfect--not just tolerating the sinner back into the house as a servant who owed his life to the father, but as a son, who was restored to life and the inheritance of the household.

Bulletin Article 4LC - You call it "pink", I call it "manly rose"...

Quincy, IL TV Mass for shut-ins,
c. 2006 (when I was a bit younger and heavier)

   Laetare Sunday... one of two Sundays during the year that presents the option of dressing the priest and deacon in Rose vestments.

   I have always understood the "rose" weekends of Advent and Lent as the "heads up" weekends of each season.  In both cases, when they come, we are just over half-way to the great feast.  This is the time of the season when confessions and penance services kick in to high gear.  Indeed, I like looking at opportunities to see a "little Pentecost' in the midst of Advent during the Third Sunday, and Lent when the readings lend themselves to that interpretation, as we can sometimes faintly see the inexorable movement of the Spirit, hidden in the common and the lowly, but about to erupt in new life and joy for the world in the Incarnation and the Resurrection.

   The "rose" Sunday of Lent, "Laetare" Sunday comes from the first words (in Latin) of the Entrance Antiphon from the day.  The Entrance Antiphon appears in the front of your missalettes at church, and remains the official "song" for the beginning of Mass, although most parishes out there typically ignore it and go straight to some metrical hymn-type tune that may or may not have anything to do with the actual liturgy to be celebrated... which is unfortuante, but gris for the mill on another post someday.

  And so, that anitphon reads:

• Laetare Jerusalem: et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam: gaudete cum laetitia, qui in tristitia fuistis: ut exsultetis, et satiemini ab uberibus consolationis vestrae.
 
• Rejoice, O Jerusalem, and come together all you that love her, rejoice with joy you that have been in sorrow: that you may exult and be filled from the breasts of your consolation.

   The mothering image of Jerusalem is contrasted with the continual movement of Jesus 'up the road' to the Jerusalem where he would be consummate his covenant upon Calvary.   The image of nourishment from the sacrifice of the cross and the Last Supper is unmistakable here.

   I always am also drawn to remember that this fourth week of Lent is intended to remind us that the drama of our salvation has already played out in Jerusalem, and we know, happily, how the story ends.  In faith, then, even though continuing the discipline of the Holy Season, we take this weekend to look forward in confidence and joy, the saving work that has already been completed and which is celebrated, even these days, in the light of the resurrection.

   So brothers, get out the rose and wear it proudly for mom and holy mother Church.  Let it stand for a subtle injection of the fire of the Holy Spirit during the season... let it be a cooler color than the moody violets and bloody purples of the rest of the season.  There is something offer in hope as we look to the trajectory of the entire season: an unfolding of the resurrection in our own day and time.

Twelfth Station: Blessed John Henry Newman (c. 1860)

The Twelfth Station
Jesus dies upon the Cross
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam Crucem tuam redemisti mundum.

Jesus hung for three hours. During this time He prayed for His murderers, promised Paradise to the penitent robber, and committed His Blessed Mother to the guardianship of St. John. Then all was finished, and He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit.

The worst is over. The Holiest is dead and departed. The most tender, the most affectionate, the holiest of the sons of men is gone. Jesus is dead, and with His death my sin shall die. I protest once for all, before men and Angels, that sin shall no more have dominion over me. This Lent I make myself God's own for ever. The salvation of my soul shall be my first concern. With the aid of His grace I will create in me a deep hatred and sorrow for my past sins. I will try hard to detest sin, as much as I have ever loved it. Into God's hands I put myself, not by halves, but unreservedly. I promise Thee, O Lord, with the help of Thy grace, to keep out of the way of temptation, to avoid all occasions of sin, to turn at once from the voice of the Evil One, to be regular in my prayers, so to die to sin that Thou mayest not have died for me on the Cross in vain.

Von Speyr on priests and the sacrament of confession...

   "The confessions the priest hears are much more numerous than his own.  While listening to confessions he hears the most varied, and at times most serious sins, ones that startle him and perhaps have an enduring influence on him.  There is, of course, the grace of office that protects him in this respect, but he must deal properly with it.  On the one hand he should not employ its objectifying power as a kind of trick by when he pushes away everything he has heard so that he need know nothing more of it, simply locking the office door in order to be left alone.  On the other hand he should not immerse himself dangerously in what he has heard.  In order to strike the proper balance here he must look at the Son and his relationship to the Father.  The unique Son has become the Son of Man and has been depersonalized in the generality of human existence; but this individual man, looking up to the Father, is at the same time personalized as the unique Son of God.  He has become flesh and has to defend this flesh against the world, but does so as one who perpetually offers this same flesh to the Father in his service of redemption.  He is continually gathering himself together in order to give perpetually of himself, of his flesh and blood.  He defends himself against the world so that he may be collected for the Father and let himself be scattered into all the world by the Father and in the Father's will.  The Father desires that the Son be this individual flesh that remains intact in the face of the world no matter how intensely it gives itself to the world.  In giving his own flesh he must have the experience of incarnate existence, not in such a way that he succumbs within it and becomes tainted, nor in such a way that he feels elevated above it and closes himself off.  The real priestly situation of the Son is found where the Son is both a body surrendered in suffering and in the sacrament and the unique Son of the Father in human form.  An that is also the position of the priest who must administer confession of those entrusted to him, yet must himself confess and embody before the Father in a single totality both the complete authority and the complete submission to confession.  He gathers confessions, but he scatters them as well by confessing along with the penitents, by intervening in their confessions as penitent and by rounding out the confessional sacrifice of his penitents through his own sacrifice.  Wherever it may appear that he stands above confession, there he as a genuine priest must stand under it; he washes the feet of the Lord's disciples.

   The penitent comes as a person and experiences the official authority within the confessional; the priest comes as the representative of the office and must enter into the personal realm.  As a priest he can do this only if he is intact in his own existence as a person; only thus can he infuse the official aspect with a personal element.  At Cana the Lord offered the best wine; it would have sufficed for the miracle if it had been any wine at all or if the water had taken on the taste of wine.  What the Lord offers beyond that is an expression of his own personal standard; he knows what good wine is, and this is the wine he wants to give.  The priest should administer confession similarly so that the very best emerges from within it, and thus he must become ever more personal according to God's intentions so that he may fructify the office in a more enduring fashion."

... from Adrienne von Spyer, Confession, tr. Douglas W. Scott, Ignatius Press (1985), pp. 134-35.

Keep going, my pretties!

Ok, it's been a month, and I am finally closing on my first thousand visits to the blog.  Thank you for your support... oh, and keep clicking that lever and stimulating that pleasure center in your brains.  More clicks!  Tell your friends!  Pass it around!

Homily Thoughts - 3-Lent C

   In today's Gospel (Lk 13: 1-9), Jesus comments on the signs of his day.  First, he speaks of an otherwise-unknown event where Pilate desecrated the offerings of the temple with the killing (shedding of blood) of some Galileans.  Then he remarks about eighteen people who were killed in a construciton accident in Siloam where a tower fell upon them.  All one needs to do is turn the TV or radio, or open the newspaper to hear more than one's fill of depressing news-- the failure of politics, the corruption of power, the oppression of the poor and needy, the indignity of human beings toward one another, natural disasters, crime, accidents, lawsuits, and on and on and on...

   Jesus seems to be making one point about 'being prepared'.  We know not the day nor the hour when lightning will strike and we may find ourselves standing before the throne of God, accounting for our lives.  Did the Galileans expect to be mowed down on that fateful day?  How about the construciton workers in Siloam?  Any day we could step out into the street, to be felled by someone running the right-of-way.  Any day, we could slip and break our necks on a step.  Any day, we could come down with or be diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.  This is the day and we stand in the light.  Should we not use this time, particularly in the season of Lent, to be sure that we are completely prepared to give an accounting before God of our lives?

   But then Jesus tells a story about a recenly-planted fig tree... one that was yet to give fruit.  The land-owner would put all of his effort in the coming season to make sure that the environment was optimal for the tree-- to cultivate the land, water and nourish it--and if it still doesn't give fruit, then it would be cut down.  Jesus is drawing a distinction, I think, between those things we can handle and change, and those we cannot.  We cannot prevent or even be faulted for disasters or accidents... we must simply be prepared for them.  But for those things we can change... our attitudes, actions, relationships... we need to take advantage of this season of change and growth and fruitfulness.

   Lent is that season for growth and change in the love and mercy of God.  God's love is all consuming for his people, burning like a bright fire, yet not competing or destroying our free will and our humble human efforts.  God perfects our striving for holiness and makes our lives fruitful through his grace... a grace that enlightens and engulfs, but does not consume or destroy.

   There are many things we have direct control over in our lives that can guide us on the pathway to peace, happiness, and contentment.  We have this season to make the most of those opportunities through God's grace.  There are many more events, with potentially disastrous outcomes, that we do not have control over.  We have this season also to make the most of these opportunties as well, that when the darkness of this world and its fickle game of chance envelops us, that we will be seen as standing firm and ready to endure well.

Bulletin Article: 03LC

  'Tis the season for spring cleaning! In recent weeks I've been sorting and putting away and throwing away junk that has collected up over years and even decades.  One of my favorite projects is scanning stuff into my computer that I've been storing in a file cabinet, then getting rid of the paper. I do need to finish doing my taxes, pay some bills, and do some laundry today as well.  It will be such a good feeling to have these tasks done. Afterwards I tend to ask myself why I let things go for such a long time before taking action! I suppose day-to-day busy-ness is as good an excuse as any, but that still doesn’t make it right.  The gift of a little free time has been a great opportunity to restore some order back in my little corner of the world.
  Such is the Holy Season of Lent. Lent is, fundamentally, a season of spring cleaning.  Having completed two-and-a-half weeks (18 days) since Ash Wednesday, it is a good time to look back to see how we are doing: fasting, prayer, and almsgiving— have we made any progress? Has the discipline of the season renewed us physically and spiritually?  If not, there is still time to join in and receive the gifts of grace which God wants to share with you in this season. Here are some ideas:
   Physical renewal:  How has the Walk to Calvary been? Each day this is an opportunity to burn a few calories, strengthen some muscles, and form good (better?) eating habits. If you’re feeling tired and listless from a winter of being indoors, maybe some physical activity as the days grow longer and warmer may be an answer!
   Spiritual renewal: the Sacrament of Reconciliation is offered throughout the Lenten season, with special times published as we approach Holy Week.  Do a good examination of conscience, and make a firm resolution to do some spiritual spring cleaning in the weeks ahead.
   Fasting: for those who are avoiding chocolate, sweets, or other goodies, whether altogether or simply between meals, keep up the good work! If you have ‘fallen off the wagon’, use today to get back on the program. If it has grown too difficult to continue, consider coupling your original resolution with a new one. For instance, “I will give up coffee for Lent, but when I am challenged or give into temptation or I find it not convenient in social situations to continue, I will take time in prayer to pray for the peasants who farm (often for unjust wages) on coffee plantations throughout the world or I will put 25¢ into the Rice Bowl for each cup— add a ‘positive’ dimension to ‘giving something up’.
   Prayer: in addition to the opportunities already available for daily Mass, have you made time to participate in the Stations of the Cross, the rosary before Mass, or Adoration?  Is there a good spiritual book laying somewhere that you purchased or was given as a gift that has never been read?  Maybe there is a retreat or conference or day of recollection that you just haven't gotten around to going to?  This is your opportunity to stake out some "holy ground" where God can speak to you and show you his love.
   Almsgiving: Besides cash and labor donations to charities and organizations, think about how much stuff is there cluttering your home?  Almsgiving can take the form of giving that extra coat or television to a favorite charity. It is easy to get rid of stuff that is hopelessly outdated or used up... An Atari or a Betamax system or those handsome bell-bottoms of yesteryear, but how about that stuff that is not so used up that just hasn't been worm or used in years?  Rather than simply collecting it and holding it, "just in case," until you do find it absolutely useless, how about passing it along?
   Spring cleaning helps us feel better about ourselves and our environment. It prepares us to make the most of the growing season which lies ahead. It is an opportunity to accept the invitation to deeper personal conversion, to take a step to being a better person and, as we engage the spiritual dimension, to become a better follower of Christ.

Twelfth Station: Sr. Maria Rita Piccione (2011)

Twelfth Station
Jesus dies on the Cross

"I thirst." "It is finished." With these two phrases Jesus, looking first to humanity and then to the Father, bequeaths to us the burning passion at the heart of his Person and mission: love for man and obedience to the Father. His is a love both horizontal and vertical: in the shape of the Cross! And at the intersection of this twofold love, at the place where Jesus bows his head, the Holy Spirit wells up, the first fruits of his return to the Father.

This final breath which brings Jesus' life to completion evokes the work of creation, which now is redeemed. But it is also a summons to all of us who believe in him to "bring to completion in our own flesh what is lacking in Christ's afflictions" That all may be complete!

Lord Jesus, who died for our sake! You ask, that you may give, you die, that you may leave a legacy, and thus you make us see that the gift of self opens a space for unity. Pardon the gall of our rejection and unbelief, pardon the deafness of our hearts to your cry of thirst which echoes in the suffering of our many brothers and sisters.

Come, Holy Spirit, parting gift of the Son who dies for us: may you be the guide who "leads us into all the truth" and "the root which sustains us in unity"!