From the Mouth of Babes...

H/T to the Ironic Catholic for this gem. It kinda makes you wonder what the world would be like if we had YouTube back when Jesus was found teaching in the temple!

Bishop to Priests: "Take the Weekend Off"

Rocco posted the following Pastoral Letter drafted by Scranton Bishop Joseph Martino. Not only will it be inserted in every bulletin in the diocese this coming Sunday, but he has also taken the very unusual step of instructing that it be read at every single Mass this weekend "at the time of and instead of the homily." Now, there's a bishop who takes his responsibility as the teaching authority of the Local Church seriously!

Since most of us will not be able to make the trip up to PA this weekend, head on over to Whispers to take a read.

As an aside, Scranton is also the diocese in which Vice-presidential nominee of the Democratic party - Joseph "I cannot impose my views on others unless they involve something other than killing an unborn child" Biden was born.

Hovering Between Hope and Anxiety

I am always amazed at the timelessness of the Second Vatican Council documents. As we teeter on the brink of economic meltdown, endure a brutal presidential campaign, and wonder what the heck is going on in all corners of the globe, we can turn to the Church's teaching. Take, for example, the following.

In no other age has mankind enjoyed such an abundance of wealth, resources and economic well being; and yet a huge proportion of the people of the world is plagued by hunger and extreme need while countless numbers are totally illiterate. At no time have men had such a keen sense of freedom, only to be faced by new forms of slavery in living and thinking. There is on the one hand a lively feeling of unity and of compelling solidarity, of mutual dependence, and on the other a lamentable cleavage of bitterly opposing camps. We have not yet seen the last of bitter political, social, and economic hostility, and racial and ideological antagonism, nor are we free from the spectre of a war of total destruction. If there is a growing exchange of ideas, there is still widespread disagreement about the meaning of the words expressing our key concepts. There is lastly a painstaking search for a better material world, without a parallel spiritual advancement.

Small wonder then that many of our contemporaries are prevented by this complex situation from recognizing permanent values and duly applying them to recent discoveries. As a result they hover between hope and anxiety and wonder uneasily about the present course of events. It is a situation that challenges men to respond; they cannot escape.

- No. 4 from Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World)

Can you believe that was written over 40 years ago?!?! It is well worth a read. So, with all due respect to Deacon Greg and his colleagues in the mainstream media, I invite you to take some time this weekend to turn off the talking heads on the TV and read how some very forward thinking folks in the Church felt we should live out our Christian vocation.

Off to Richmond...

Tomorrow, Katie and I head off to Richmond to begin the academic portion of formation for the permanent diaconate. 48 other men, their wives, pastors and instructors will all be there. Our bishop will celebrate Mass, and then join us for dinner. The next day, our class in The History, Theology and Spirituality of the Diaconate will begin. I have already finished the reading, and my head is awash with thoughts and questions about the sacramentality of the diaconate, what it means to have a vocation, and what has God gotten me into!!! I can only imagine how powerful an experience it will be to gather with so many people who are all involved in discerning a calling to the same vocation!

Jen F. over at Conversion Diary has some wonderful thoughts on this whole topic of vocation. Her thoughts we very helpful to me:

A couple years ago some Catholic readers responding to this post introduced me to the concept of "vocation," that every single person is called to one of the vocations that God has given us -- the most common being married life, the priesthood or consecrated religious life -- and that each of us is to discern to which vocation we are called. What I found most interesting about this whole concept (and, frankly, shocking and slightly disconcerting at the time), is that your life's vocation isn't as much what you do as much as it is whom you serve. This worldview basically said that each of us is put on this earth to serve others, and your vocation is simply a matter of discerning whom you'll serve and how you'll serve them. In other words, there is no living for yourself. There's no optimizing your entire life around what you feel like doing.

...

What I realize now is that I completely misunderstood the concept. I came to see that this worldview is not an expression of absolutes, but of prioritization. To live a life of service does not mean that you never take time for yourself; it means that taking time for yourself isn't the entire meaning of life. It does not mean that you turn your hopes and dreams over to the dustbin; it means you turn them over to God.

It was only very hesitantly that I put this concept into practice in my life. Slowly I began to embrace the fact that the defining purpose of my life is to be a wife and mother, that to serve my husband and my children and my parents and the world around me was what God wanted me to do...that it was even what he wanted me to do far more than write great articles or books or blog posts (even if those articles and books and blog posts were in an effort to bring glory to him). It was one of my first big exercises in trusting God to accept this premise that selfless service of others is objectively a higher life priority than seeking personal gain.

Last one out, turn off the lights!

The House that Ruth Built

1923 - 2008

In honor of this special evening, I wanted to relate a story my mother shared with me about her years growing up in the shadows of Yankee Stadium.

She would often roller skate with her friends in the stadium parking lots. One day, she fell and scraped herself up really badly. As she sat on the ground, bleeding and crying, a limosine pulled up next to her. The window opened, and a gentleman asked her if she was OK and if he could drive her home. Having the street smarts one would expect a girl who grew up in the Bronx would have, she declined the offer from the man to get in his vehicle. The window rolled up and the car drove away.

The guys with whom she had been rollerskating asked her, in shock, why she did not take the ride home. She said there was no way she was getting in a car with a stranger.

"Do you know who that was?" one of them asked.

"No, who was he?"

"That was Joe Dimaggio!" they shouted in unison. I am sure at that moment each and every guy in that group wished they were the one who had taken the spill.

My mother's reply:

"Who's Joe Dimaggio?"

UPDATE

Mike Hayes has a poignant reflection over at Busted Halo. I guess we can forgive him for being a Mets fan...

Rocco also has some thoughts about the "Last Call at the Cathedral" over at Whispers.

And, for your enjoyment...

"Because I wanted to sell more books"

This was the answer Dr. Gomes provided when asked by Stephen Colbert why was Jesus' Gospel "scandalous". I was listening to the interview the other night as I was falling asleep, and made a mental note to post a link on my blog. However, as usual, Deacon Greg beat me to it!

For my listening pleasure...

My many travels between Lynchburg and Richmond provide for a lot of time to listen: to CD's, to radio, and, more often than not, to God.

My usual ritual for the 2+ hour drive to the See City involves listening to four podcasts I download off the USCCB website. The first is Lino at Large, described as "Catholic radio for 'Generation X'." The weekly interview program Personally Speaking with Msgr. Jim Lisante, along with American Catholic Radio and Catholic Radio Weekly round out my selections. They are each about a half hour and, if I start listening to them when I roll out of my driveway, they are just about wrapping up when I pull into the parking lot of the Diocesan Pastoral Center! Since I go about every two weeks, I have just enough to listen to both ways.

As I have posted before, I have recently been impressed with the undercurrent of spirituality that flows through Bruce Springsteen's lyrics. I am not alone. America Magazine just pulled an article by Andrew Greeley from its archives and dusted it off.

While Greeley is certainly a controversial figure in many circles, I think he provides some very interesting insights as to what it means to be a Catholic as well as why we express our Catholicism the way we do:

Springsteen is a liturgist, I propose, because he correlates the self-communication of God in secular life with the overarching symbol/narratives of his/our tradition. Moreover, I also propose that he engages in this "minstrel ministry" without ever being explicit about it, or even necessarily aware of it, precisely because his imagination was shaped as Catholic in the early years of life. He is both a liturgist, then, and a superb example of why Catholics cannot leave the church.
…
A word about the Catholic imagination: Unlike the other religions of Yahweh, Catholicism has always stood for the accessibility of God in the world. God is more like the world than unlike it. Hence Catholicism, unlike Protestantism, Judaism and Islam, permits angels and saints, shrines and statues, stained glass and incense and the continuation of pagan customs—most notably for our purposes here, holy water and blessed candles.

The entire article is worth a read.

Reflection on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

About three months ago, my pastor invited me to take part in a training session for implementing the Sunday Celebration in the Absence of a Priest (SCAP). Although we have a deacon assigned to our parish, he was concerned about what would happen if he was incapacitated and the deacon was out of town , or unable to celebrate as well. So, he organized a committee of about 15 leaders of the parish to be trained to be "on call."

We have met several times to work out the logistics, and decided to open last night's meeting with a dry run. Since we are preparing for something we hope we will never have to use, it is a bit tough. As those who preside at liturgy know, the only way to get comfortable with leading a congregation in worship is to actually do it frequently. That will not be an option, since this will be the "celebration of last resort." Anywho, I was asked to prepare the reflection for last night's service:

Seven years ago today, we gathered in this very space – in shock, in fear, in mourning. And, by this point in the evening, the very first stirrings of anger had begun to sink in. We prayed to God and asked him to see us through these difficult times. The Hebrew people depicted in the First Reading made similar requests during their time in the desert. However, their complaining to God, verbal expressions of ingratitude for all God HAD provided, was also a metaphor for sin, an attempt to assume the role of gods, entitled to all they wanted simply because they wanted it. Such behavior had resulted in painful, deadly consequences. Suffering abounded, and they blamed God for their situation.

Now, you will certainly recall the response of a number of preachers in the days following September 11. The terrorist attacks were labeled as a punishment from God. Retribution for the sinful society we had become. And while the devastation of that day was not solely the fault of the terrorists in the plane, or Al Qaeda, or their supporters around the world, it was certainly not the fault of people who lived or supported immorality.

After all, there are always two aspects to sin – the individual and the communal. The choices each of us make - good and bad, have a residual effect on all of creation. Individual acts of greed and pride become institutionalized, and the corporate accumulation of those decisions is eventually reflected in public and foreign policy.

Every choice each of us makes has an impact on the world around us. Like drops of water, they accumulate. Over the millennia, they have formed into a pool that would make the Water Cube in Beijing look like a shot glass. The ability for tragedy, pain and suffering to come into the world as a result of the sinful behaviors of a given culture at a given point in history is no more likely than the ability for a couple of guys with straws and buckets to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool. And likewise, it would be easier to empty that pool with the same straws and buckets than to prevent tragedies such as 9/11 with a change in a Presidential Administration or the introduction of a few new policy initiatives. No, there is a lot more at play.

However, trying to understand and explain the tragedy of September 11 is only part of the story. St. Paul reminds us “where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more.” The construction of the Water Cube was important in as much as it provided a venue for some amazing achievements. And so it is with God’s story.

The swimmers who competed in last month’s Olympics prepared for a lifetime to do so. Years of sacrifice and practice conditioned them to stand on the starting block and await the starter’s signal. One race that will always be etched in my memory is the Men’s 4 x 100 freestyle relay. Along with most of America, I sat on the edge of my seat as, Michael Phelps, Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak, and Garrett Weber-Gale pulled off an amazing come from behind victory. I mention all their names not in order to show off my vast knowledge of Olympic Swimming, but rather to emphasize the importance of team work in all we do. As a Church, we are One Body. We do not stand alone! That being said, and even though without them Phelps would leave China with only seven gold medals, I am pretty sure that if I had asked you who else besides Michael was on that team, you would have been hard pressed to give an answer. (I have to admit, that without Google, so would I!) But none the less, all four had to give their all in order to succeed.

And so it is with this assembly. As we can see, without a priest, something is most certainly missing. But Christ is still truly present here today – through the assembly gathered together as well as the Word of God proclaimed and preached. Through this celebration, we are able to worship and praise God!

After one of his many other victories, Michael Phelps exclaimed, "That was probably one of the most painful races of my life. Everything was left in the pool.” In the second reading today, Paul reminds us that Jesus, if interviewed after the resurrection, probably would have answered in much the same way. Everything was left in the pool. He gave his all to save each and every one of us.

In recalling an ancient Christian hymn, Paul tells us that Jesus “did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.” The Greek word translated as “grasped” comes from the same root as our verb “to cling.” In the today’s Second Reading, I think that makes more sense. The hymn goes on to tell us that Jesus emptied himself – leaving everything in the pool. His obedience to God’s will, an obedience that required him to Love regardless of the consequences, resulted in pain and suffering beyond imagination. But, through the eyes of faith, we can see that left in the pool as well!

And so, like the Hebrew people in the desert, as we reflect on the world around us, we turn to God and ask for a sign. We already have the sign, and it is hanging on the wall behind me. We are called to be like Him. To Love. To reach out with kindness and forgiveness, never, ever to strike back. In the Gospel for today’s daily mass, Jesus instructs us to “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." Considering the anniversary, what a coincidence! However, if Christ was here, I bet he would be somewhat indignant at our needing to connect the reading to the anniversary of the terror attacks in order to view it as significant. After all, the entire Gospel- God’s entire being - is based upon that very message.

The Cross we celebrate today is a constant reminder that we are not called by God to Love simply because it feels good or because we are loved. We Love because God Loves. And God Loves because God is Love. To Love like God loves requires us to be willing to risk losing everything we hold dear in order to reach out and be the presence of God to others. That kind of love recognizes each and every life as priceless from the moment it was thought into being by God until long after He calls it back home. It does not take into account what that life has done or has not done. It is loved by God. That is all that matters. Every other decision is made after placing that truth at the forefront. It must be the foundation of every political platform, policy decision, and election.

That is all well and fine. But I challenge you to reflect this evening about what that means if you were to encounter Osama Bin Ladin in the parking lot tonight, looking for a meal. Or perhaps Seung-Hui Cho might be there, asking for someone to help him find a place to sleep. Now, let me make something entirely clear. I am not minimizing the tragedy, suffering, pain, and pure evil that each of these men wrought. Far from it. They are horrible people who did horrible things. And I do not even presume to stand here before you and suggest that I am at a place where I can say with certitude that I would act in a manner consistent with the theme of this reflection. But nonetheless, I ask you to join me in praying that God would grant – will grant – each of us the grace to do His will should that unlikely event ever take place.

Living our lives according to such a standard is a daunting task. One we cannot undertake glibly. It is not enough to think of it only when we are seated here once a week. We must wake up every day determined to climb the stairwells of whatever buildings God puts in front of us, knowing full well we may never reemerge. Then, strengthened with the gift of God’s Grace, we have to dive into our lives - leaving everything in the pool.

Civic Duty

I have always been frustrated by those on either side of the political spectrum who believe that their ideology has a monopoly on the Catholic Conscience. As I examine my conscience and decide how to cast my vote, I have to admit that at this point, none of the options available are satisfactory. I ask you to pray for me (as I pray for each of you) that God gives us the grace we require to separate the wheat from the chaff of information.

The following quote from Archbishop Chaput has been first and foremost on my mind:

But [Catholics who support pro-choice candidates] also need a compelling proportionate reason to justify it. What is a “proportionate” reason when it comes to the abortion issue? It’s the kind of reason we will be able to explain, with a clean heart, to the victims of abortion when we meet them face to face in the next life—which we most certainly will. If we’re confident that these victims will accept our motives as something more than an alibi, then we can proceed.

Take a few moments to view the following. It may not help you make up your mind, but perhaps it can help you focus. I know it helped me:



H/T to Deacon Greg & Catholicvote.com