God's Promises to Us--The Fourth Sunday of Advent. A Time to Hope

 The Gospel text for the Fourth Sunday of Advent this year gives us the story of the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth. Every line of this wonderful account could be the subject of a reflection, for example the meaning of the baby (John the Baptist) leaping in Elizabeth's womb for joy.  What struck me as significant for this year when we have just experienced the horrible tragedy in Sandy Hook, CT and see violence erupting all over the world was the last line of this text from Luke 1:45 "Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."

   These words, spoken by Elizabeth to Mary, apply to the recent acceptance by Mary of God's invitation to her to be the mother of the Savior in spite of Mary's not understanding how this can be.  What might we, today, learn from these words? How do they apply top us?

   Remember, God has made promises to us and with all that is going on today we, like Mary, wonder how all this can be. "What promises?", you may ask.  The promises yet to be fulfilled of peace, of people beating swords into plowshares.  The promise of justice proclaimed in Mary's Magnificat which concludes the visitation account--"He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty." (Luke 1:52-53). Indeed, how can these things be? Can we even imagine it?

   I believe that one of the real evils of our day is the widespread cynicism that besets too many of us.Cynicism is the lack of hope, the belief that things are a mess and that's how it is and how it will always be.  As Christians we must admit that indeed things are a mess, but hope tells us that even though we don't understand how this can be, that yes those promises of peace of the hungry being fed, etc are part of God's plan and will be fulfilled in God's time.  We are challenged as well do do our part to cooperate with God's grace and help those things to come about.  For me the outpouring of love and support to the people of Sandy Hook were a wonderful sign that evil will have its moment but it will not prevail.

    The Advent season is a reminder to us that because God's promise of a Messiah was fulfilled by Mary's fiat, her yest to the Lord, that the rest of His promises will be fulfilled as well--in His time, with our help.  We are called to look beyond the present moment without escaping from it and realize that as believers in Jesus Christ we are part of a bigger picture, a bigger plan. That is our cause, not for optimism, but for hope.  What is the difference between hope and optimism?  Leonardo Boff, a Brazilian theologian, once said, "Optimism is believing that the glass is half full. Hope is believing that when it is bone dry and empty God will still lead us to something good." (My own recollection of words that I read years ago.)

Gaudete Sunday

  The Third Sunday of Advent is upon us--Gaudete or Rejoice is the theme. We are invited to have joy because Christmas is upon us soon.  Yet in light of the tragic events of the past week, and tragic doesn't even begin to describe them, what is it that we are to rejoice in.  Are we just asked to go along for the ride liturgically as we grieve, ponder and question the meaning of this horrible event where 20 innocent children and 6 adults, some of them heroes who prevented further death, were killed?

  On the surface it is not only absurd, it is an insult to the fallen and wounded people of Sandy Hook, CT to dedicate this Sunday to rejoicing just because the liturgical calendar calls for it.  But let us ask nonetheless whether there is cause for joy and what, after all is joy?

    With these questions in mind I would like to share with you my own journey of the past week.  On Saturday, December 8, I had a wonderful weekly phone chat with my brother Michael.  Both of us were upbeat, waiting for Christmas and my visit to Boston and chatting about the New England Patriots upcoming games and Super Bowl chances.  On Tuesday, Dec. 11 my niece Laurie called to let me know that he had suffered a stroke.  Life indeed has a way of changing the game plan.  I immediately asked for prayers and worked things out so that I could travel to Boston early for my Christmas break. I chose the Amtrak auto-train so that I could have my car when I arrived.  I was quite shaken by this news about Michael's stroke. I fought back tears. He is my younger brother. I remembered the day of his birth and taking him to his first Red Sox game.I thought of the fact that he is due to become a grandfather in May and I asked the Lord to bring him through. Even before leaving Florida I realized that prayers were being answered.  Mike's improvement began immediately. I was hopeful. 

   When the train arrived in Lorton, VA on Friday morning there was more good news of his improving condition, but then as I was awaiting the unloading of my car from the train the station monitors began to show coverage of the horrible tragedy unfolding in Sandy Hook and Newtown, CT.  I have heard the news of too many other tragic mass shootings and always felt both compassion for the victims, anger at the perpetrator and confusion about the irrationality of it all. Certainly every incident form Columbine to the movie theater to the Siek Temple and so forth have evoked prayer from me.  In this case  innocent children were killed and in my already emotionally vulnerable state concerning my brother I drifted into a quiet corner of the station and began to weep. I was mildly embarrassed by this and hoping that no one would see me, but then I thought, "No, this is good. Weeping is the most appropriate response to this."  Later on Facebook I found that someone in response to this horrible event had quoted the well-known line from the Hail, Holy Queen,  "Mourning and weeping in this valley of tears."  At times that is what we need to do.

     After retrieving the car and beginning to drive north I thought of this Sunday and was glad that I didn't have to preach and somehow try to bring joy into all the sorrow and concern that I was feeling. I turned on the car radio however and in addition to hearing more horrible details I heard an interview with a rabbi from Newtown who was offering spiritual assistance to the victims.  I heard that there were to be prayer vigils at two churches, one Catholic and one Protestant.  It was then that i realized where joy came into play.  Our joy is not necessarily a jump up and down, sing and dance kind of joy, but rather the deep inner joy that comes to us at sorrowful times like this when we realize that in spite of the insane, irrational evil that there is a merciful and loving God who never abandons us in these moments.  People of all faiths in that grief-stricken community realized that.  That is why their instincts called for those vigils and for the comfort of clergy.  That is truly a cause for joy as is the realization that in God's plan evil may have its day, but it never has the last word.

    My brother is now at home and facing a long recovery.  As the days have gone on there has been news of the kind of love and good that conquers evil in the persons of teachers and first responders whose actions saved even more children from being killed, some of them by laying down their own lives. 

   After spending a night in northern NJ I traveled on to Boston and had to drive along I-84, right through Sandy Hook.  I said a prayer. Another wave of sadness passed through me. I saw some small children and their parents when I stopped for coffee.  I wanted to give all of them a hug. I prayed for them.  When I arrived in Boston I knew then that there is cause for true joy, not celebratory joy, but the deep joy of knowing what a blessing is life and what a blessing is our faith, the hopeful joy of knowing that evil can never conquer love and faith.

More Thoughts about Advent--Advent in 3D

            Last week I shared with you my thoughts about Advent as a season in which we focus our desires, ultimately towards our deepest desire, the desire for God. The Church guides us on this journey of desire by taking us through three dimensions in three time zones. As important as it is to prepare our selves spiritually for Christmas that is only one aspect of Advent, one "dimension" if you will.

            Interestingly enough the first dimension is the future.  At the beginning of Advent we look to the end times.  On the First Sunday we are presented with apocalyptic literature with its frightening images of earthquakes and wars.  In spite of these scary scenarios we need to understand that this genre of biblical literature, found especially in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation, but also in parts of the Gospel, was meant to give hope to people who were suffering and oppressed. Is it any wonder that along with the Exodus story the African American slaves found this literature appealing?   For ourselves today who often become discouraged by the situation in the world—the war, the violence, the injustice, it reminds us that in the end God’s promises of peace, justice, healing and happiness will be realized.  At the beginning of Advent we are reminded that Christ will come again. In the liturgy, after the Our Father, we pray that we await this coming as “the blessed hope and the coming of Our Savior Jesus Christ.”  I liked the older translation even better which had us waiting “in joyful hope.”  In either case we do not await in fear and gloom.  Our waiting, however, should be an active waiting.  While there is not complete victory over the ills of this world until the Lord comes again this phase of Advent should spur us on to engage in the works of justice, peace and the integrity of creation.

            The second dimension is the past. We are presented with the figure of John the Baptist and are invited to “prepare the way of the Lord” along with him.  Beginning on December 17 Advent really turns to the past as we pray the O Antiphons and read Scriptures that proclaim God’s preparation of the world, right from the beginning and through the history of Israel for the coming of the Messiah King.  This looking into the past not only helps us to prepare for Christmas it also assures us that God is still providing for us and is leading us forward throughout our present history.

This leads us to the third dimension, the present. Advent is not complete if we only think of the great feast of the birth of Our Lord as a celebration of a past event that took place in Bethlehem a long time ago.  It is above all a time to welcome Christ into our life now, to let him be born in us. I tune in occasionally to the Busted Halo program on Sirius XM radio and check in with them on Facebook as well.  They have some nice two minute clips on various Church seasons and feasts.  The Advent clip tells us that Lenten penance is about overcoming our sins while the work of Advent is to prepare the house to welcome a special guest.  Hopefully we are preparing ourselves to welcome that guest now, allowing Christ to be born in us today.  St. Francis understood this well when he created the live Nativity scene at Greccio.  Br. Bill Short, OFM, in a talk that he delivered on an educational CD that I heard recently, points out that while there were various animals, etc. at the Greccio scene, there was no baby.  Francis wanted people to see their own hearts, their own lives, as the manger.  The image of little baby Jesus is a nice one, indeed an important one, but we cannot imprison him in Bethlehem. He desires to be born in us NOW.

Come Desire of Nations, Come--An Advent Reflection

   Yesterday morning our community celebrated Mass for the last day of the liturgical year. The responsorial psalm was "Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus."  To use a modern word this statement makes for a nice segue into Advent.  One article that I read recently suggests that Advent is the season of desire.  I agree.  But what is desire.

   Our desires are our deepest longings, the things that we most crave for. And what is it that we most desire. St. Augustine answers that question magnificently when he writes at the beginning of his Confessions, "We were made for You alone, O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You."  It is God, then that we most desire. This is why Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, OMI in his book, The Holy Longing, says "Spirituality concerns what we do with our desire."  At this point we get into some challenging issues.  Desire can become the desire for wealth and power, or lustful desire.  Over the years this has lead to a distortion of Christian spirituality that leads people to crush all desire.  This leads to a lifeless, dull and boring as well as rigid and legalistic approach to Christianity.  Rolheiser points out that our call is to integrate the other desires into our ultimate desire which is for God.

  Of course we desire love. When young lovers meet, desiring each other so much that they wish to marry, that is a good and holy thing.  That is why I rejoiced at the privilege of presiding at the wedding of my niece, Michelle and her husband Kevin during this past year.  We desire money,not for its own sake, but to provide us with a means of sustenance and support for our families. We can desire power, not to dominate others, but so that we can make a positive difference in this world.  As long as the realization of these desires lead us to that deeper desire for God it is a good and holy thing.  A few months ago a good friend of mine posted on her Facebook page on the occasion of her wedding anniversary a picture of her and her husband in the limo on their wedding day.  Her caption was, "best decision I ever made."  Indeed it was. She found the love of her life, the father of her children and a clear path to God in that decision.

   So what does all that have to do with Advent?  Advent celebrates the desire of the human heart, a desire that was realized in the birth of Christ so long ago.  Yet it also celebrates the fact that all of our desires are yet to be realized. There is still injustice, violence, terrorism and lack of respect for life. In Advent we not only prepare to celebrate Christmas, that first coming, we also open our hearts to prepare for His second coming when all of the ills that we lament will be overcome. There is much talk these days about Mayan calendars and the end of the world.  I would point out that our faith belief is not in the end of the world but rather in the coming of the Kingdom when all the desires of our hearts will be realized in God.  In the liturgy we pray, after the Our Father, "As we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ."  Let us, this Advent, unite all of our desires to that blessed hope.  Come, desire of nations, Come.  Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus.

Vatican II and the Year of Faith--The Liturgy

Tridentine Mass, Priest Facing Altar

Vatican II Mass, Priest Facing People

   While the Second Vatican Council brought about many changes in the life of the Church there is no doubt in my mind that the most significant of these has been the changes that have taken place in the Mass as well is in the rites of the other sacraments. I was fortunate, I believe, to be in the seminary as the council unfolded and was well-educated in the reasons for the liturgical changes as well as in the changes in approach to the theology of the Church and the understanding of the Scriptures that went along with that.

   Unfortunately while the changes were implemented in many cases the faithful were not well educated in the reason for them.  This, I believe, has led to many of the problems that the Church has had to deal with in the celebration of the Eucharist since that time.

   Without dwelling on problems I will say that without proper formation change seemed to many to be happening just for the sake of change. "They turned the altar around and are using English. What will they do next?"  Many sought even more change that was not well grounded theologically and others sought to retrench into the past.  Both tendencies are unfortunate.

   So what happened?  Even before the council there was a loosely organized, but quite strong and widespread "liturgical movement".  This movement encouraged wider participation by the laity and resulted in practices such as the dialogue Mass where the whole congregation said the responses, in Latin, that once were recited only by the altar servers.  Gregorian chant, now considered so traditional, was re-etablished because it was simpler than some of the elaborate Mass arrangements that required trained choirs to sing. There was a strong push as well for the use of the vernacular language, including many bishops and theologians.

    The changes, then, did not happen in a vacuum.  There was a previous impetus leading up to them as well as several principles set forth by the council and leading up to it.  Almost everyone has heard of aggiornamento, Pope John XXIII's term for updating, literally "bringing up to the day". But have you heard of resourcement, or resourcing. Many theologians like Yves Congar and Henri de Lubac from France were calling for us to look back to the earlier theological resources of the first centuries of the Church and not to rely solely on the scholastic theology of the Middle Ages.  Without rejecting the latter they called for a new look at the former..  It was this movement which led to the re-establishment of the Kiss of Peace and the Prayers of the Faithful, as well as the practice of concelebration by many priests at the same time.  These things were not innovations but the recapturing of ancient practices.

   The council also insisted on "full, conscious and active participation in liturgical services" (Constitution on the Sqacred Liturgy, # 14.) as well as  a liturgy  which "respects  and fosters the qualities and talents of the various races and nations.  The call for active participation included increasing the role of the laity in formal liturgical roles such as lectoring and eventually.  The several statements on cultural expression has led in my experience to some beautiful African, Oriental, Slavic and Hispanic liturgical celebrations.  The Council did insist that some aspects of the Mass are unchangeable but that others may be adapted according to these principles.

  I grew up with the Tridentine (Council of Trent) Mass in Latin.  I sang in a boy's choir and was fortunate to be in a parish where we children sang the high Mass every Sunday of the school year. I have a great appreciation for all that was represented in that way of worshiping. I have gregorian chant and Palestrina motets on my iPod.  Nonetheless,  I have grown to embrace the new rite for Mass and see the need for us to move forward with it so that we can develop an equally rich tradition as the one that is behind us.  I will admit that there have been excesses in the implementation of changes, some of them merely silly, others outright wrong. I also think that some things were cast aside that the council never meant to cast aside and we need to re-claim those.  But in this Year of Faith we need to move forward.  90% of the Church now lives in Asia, Africa and Latin America.  Theologians and bishops in these places, most especially in Africa, attribute a great increase in the practice of the Catholic faith not only to superb missionary efforts, but also to the use of vernacular language and openness to cultural expression. The Mass in Latin was seen as a foreign ritual that rightly or wrongly kept many away. They can now celebrate the Eucharist in a manner and with an expression that is native to them and yet is the Eucharist in union with the whole Church.

   As we move forward in the Year of Faith let us deepen our understanding of the Mass. Let us realize that in theEucharist not only are bread and wine changed into the Body and Blood of Christ, but those of us who receive that Body and Blood are called to be changed and transformed by it so that we can be Christ in and for the world.



  

All are Called to Holiness

A gathering of Asian Laity

Back in October I started a series of reflections on Vatican II as we began our Year of Faith.  Several events have intervened--the election, hurricane Sandy and my own need to complete the final edits on my soon to be published book.  Regarding the latter please stay posted for a release date and the possibility of pre-ordering the book. As for the other two events know that while they interrupted the orderly flow of postings on this blog they each, in their own way, summoned up our faith. The vocation director of my province, Fr. Brian Smail, OFM, had some interesting thoughts on Sandy posted on his blog.  Just click on this link to see that. Be a Franciscan

   Now it is time to continue where I left off on October 21 when I promised to highlight 3 facets of Vatican II and covered only one.  I will take up the second of the three now--the role of the laity in the Church.  It has been said that prior to Vatican II the role of the laity was "to pray, pay and obey." While this is certainly an exaggeration, it is not far from the truth. The parish in which I grew up, St. William's, in the Dorchester section of Boston had a robust number of activities for the laity.  Most of them involved prayer and devotion, e.g. the Ladies Sodality and the Holy Name Society, and fund-raising for the parish.  That was not bad, but the model was that of helping the priests to run the parish.

   The council made it clear that the laity working under the leadership of the clergy, are called to service and ministry in their own right by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation (see Lumen Gentium (Constitution on the Church)# 33. Also in the previous section of that document it is clear that the laity are equally called to holiness, along with priests and religious, a theme that runs throughout the council documents.

   The result of this is that many lay people see themselves as "engaged in ministry" rather than as simply "helping out in the parish"  Lay people have felt their voice and express it, often to the consternation of the clergy.  Interestingly enough this applies to both the more liberal and the more conservative members of the laity. 

   It has often been said that because of the clergy shortage that lay people are exercising more minstries in the Church.  In the Diocese of St. Petersburg here in Florida where I live the chancellor of the diocese is a fine laywoman, Joan Morgan.  Many faith formation programs are led by laypeople as well. This is the case in my summer parish in Eagle River, Wisconsin where Mrs. Adele Svetnica does a wonderful job in that role.  I do not agree, however, with the sentiment that it is principally due to the lack of numbers among priests and religious. that this is so.  Lay people, especialy in the western world, were becoming more and more well-educated after World War II.  They themselves often read the council documents and were ready to lay claim to what the council taught.

   It is obvious too that lay participation in the liturgy has changed dramatically.  Before Vatican II the only lay people to serve in the sanctuary were altar boys (and not girls).  Now there are lectors, extraordinary minsters of the Eucharist and altar servers (girls as well as boys).  I will say more about htis in my next reflection on the liturgy and the council. 

   What is obvious is that the age of the laity is with us and it is not going away.  My own Franciscan  province has made partnering with the laity in all of our ministries a priority and many dioceses run formation programs for lay ministers. Even at that Vatican there is a council for the laity.  This, I believe, is a welcome change.

   Finally, my own life as a priest and friar has been enriched by the laity with whom I have been involved, from the lay teachers at Columbus High School, to the couples on the Marriage Encounter weekend, to people in the parishes where I have served and Mrs. Linda English of Ridgewood, NJ and Mr. Pete Suarez of Miami, FL who have worked with the Ministry of the Word as lay preachers.   The life of our Church is blessed today and is indeed a more complete expression of the mystery of the Body of Christ in the world because so many laity are serving in ministry.



  

Stormy Days, Election Day--A Time for All the Saints

Long Beach Island, NJ under water

The Communion of Saints

   For those who have been following my Vatican II, Year of Faith, reflections they will continue.  In the meantime the events of recent days have called me in another direction.

   On this All Saints Day morning I am sitting in northern Michigan preparing to fly home to Florida this afternoon.  Even this far west of the Atlantic we have felt the effects of Sandy, though in a very minor way compared to the destruction that has been inflicted on the East Coast, especially in New Jersey and in New York City.  As people of faith what are we to make of such a tragic event?

   First of all let me say that I am glad that I have not heard any nonsense about God punishing people there.  People have asked though, "Why did God send us this storm?"  I don't think that God sits in heaven and sends storms, earthquakes and other natural disasters our way.  God not only did create the universe, but is still creating it.  The universe has both life-giving beauty and terrifying destruction.The Creator has built in a natural cycle of death and renewal into the universe. We humans are placed on this planet in the midst of all of these forces of nature. The real question is "How do we deal with it? How do we respond when a natural disaster strikes?

   We are fortunate to have more advanced technology and things like weather radar that help us to forecast such things with more accuracy.  With this tremendous storm the meteorologists were at their best and warnings were sent out.  Most heeded the warnings. Some did not.  Such is  human nature. Even for those who prepared for what many called the "superstorm" the destruction wrought was beyond anything we might have imagined.  I have friends in New Jersey and New York, as well as many of my fellow friars, and my prayers go out to them.  It will take months and maybe years to fully repair all of the damage.

   As we move ahead what will it take to move forward, especially in the most ravished areas?  The answer lies in today's Feast of All Saints.  It will take saints.  No, not robed spirits sporting halos, but rather the saint, the holy one, the dwells in all of us. Yes, we are all sinners as well, weak and imperfect human beings, but saints, as they say, are nothing but sinners who have grown and are forgiven.  To not only recover from hurricane Sandy, but also the economic and political  mess that we are in will call forth the saint in all of us, the capacity to go beyond selfish interests and to pitch in and serve others.

   Whether it was the days after 9/11, or hurricane Katrina or now hurricane Sandy, our saintliness will be needed.  And it will be seen in the short run.  People of different political stripes will pitch in and work together. We have already seen some of that.  The challenge is to strive to sustain that spirit as things get better, and not to despair if they get worse.

   We have a big election coming up with much at stake.  Neither of the candidates and neither of the parties is fully satisfactory to me.  I will have differences with whomever wins as well as areas of agreement.  It will take the same kind of "saintly" working together to move our country forward as it takes to recover from this storm.  Let us disagree with our leaders where we must, where our consciences tell us that this must be so, but let us fond enough common ground to move forward, to recover from all of the storms that threaten us.  Of such is the Reign of God.