Keep It Simple!

  As the Easter season winds down the readings are moving away from the appearances of the Risen Lord to Jesus preparation for His return to the Father in the Christian mystery known as the Ascension.  It is too easy to think of this mystery, that we celebrate in a few weeks, as a sort of heavenly space shot. that may seem irreverent but that is how I think many Christians perceive that event.  It is so much more. It is Jesus transitioning from being present to us in a way that is limited, being present only in one place and at one time, even in His risen form, to being able to be present to all at the same time everywhere--in the Eucharist and in the entire life of the Church.

   In the Gospel text for the coming Sunday we read in John 14:23-24, "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him."  Christianity is about accepting this offer, an offer which the Lord gives in different ways throughout the Gospels.This tells us that Jesus and His Father (as well as the Spirit) desire to dwell in us now.  We prefer to keep God at a distance and then we wonder how we will get to God, what we need to do to get to heaven.  We are afraid of spiritual intimacy.  We find it too good to be true. We think that when we overcome our sins God will dwell with us.  Wrong!!!  It is the other way around. Ask God to dwell with us and our sins will be overcome.  Even our approach to the Eucharist reflects this fear.  We readily believe that bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ, and indeed that is true.  We find it hard to believe that that transformation is only the first step. We then are transformed and sent into the world to be Christ for others.  When we start to take that seriously both we and the world will change.

Heal Us, O Lord. Lift the Anger from our Hearts!

First responders at terror attack in Boston

   Though I do not now live in Boston my heart will always be there, and it is a broken heart after the terror attack at the Boston Marathon this past Monday. I will add, however, that I truly believe in the Scripture verse which says, "The Lord heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds" (Ps 147:3)
   To be sure that healing will take a long time but I have been lifted-up and moved by the prayers coming in from all over the world and by gestures such as the one provided by the New York Yankees and other sports franchises who transcended sports rivalry to lend support and prayer. Even more encouraging has been the actions of first responders and others who ran to the scene to help the victims as well as that of Bostonians who opened their homes to stranded marathon runners and, of course, the spontaneous outpouring of love shown to the Richard family of Dorchester at the rally last night in Garvey Park. (see picture below)

    My reflection today leads me to ask why have we been experiencing so many acts of random and irrational violence, be it from guns, bombs, or whatever.The answer, I believe, lies in the human heart, a heart that is in need of healing.  It is easy to blame politicians, government or whatever for what is going on, and certainly there is much to improve about today's political world, but I think that each one of us has to look into our own heart for the answer.  The truth is thatthere is way too much anger in many of our hearts.

   Anger has its place.  We get angry at injustice.  Anger motivates us to seek justice, and then to seek reconciliation with those who have wronged us.  Often, however, justice is not granted. We are wounded. The anger is unresolved.  This may begin with little things like not getting our way with the fifth grade teacher.  Hurt builds upon hurt.  We feel excluded from the political process, from our family, our Church.  The anger mounts.  It has to come out.  For most of us it does not come out in acts of extreme terrorism, but in things like road rage or political ranting on Facebook. it comes out in acts of emotional terrorism against family, neighborhood or the people we work with.  What to do with such anger?  Ask the Lord to heal our angry hearts. Ask the Lord to drain the air from our "anger baloon" that is filled with unresolved anger.  Anger that is originally justifiable and understandable turns to bitterness and resentment.  At its worst this anger leads to terrorism. At the least it makes for a lot of angry people walking around with a chip on their shoulder.

   Alcoholics and others in 12 steps programs know that resentment is the surest way back to the bottle.  Let us head the words of St. Augustine, "Maintaining resentment is like drinking poison and hoping that the other person dies."  I would add that sometimes it leads people to outright kill.

   Lord, heal our wonded and angry hearts!
   

Spontaneous vigil for the Richard family.  8 yr old Martin was killed and his mother and sister are critical.

The Importance of Reverence

Pope Benedict XVI giving Communion in the traditional manner

   Over the past ten to fifteen years there has been a concerted effort on the part of some people in the Church to "reform the reform."  By this is meant an effort to do away with the perceived excesses of the liturgical and ecclesiastical reform brought about by the Second Vatican Council.  Many church leaders have supported this endeavor while many others in the Church have seen it as "turning back the clock and undoing the council."  With the recent election of Pope Francis many proponents of the "reform of the reform" are alarmed, while many others are rejoicing because Pope Francis seems to be departing from some of the more solemn and traditional ways.  What I would like to suggest here is that there is one unifying factor that can bring together these two disparate styles, a factor which boils down to one word--"reverence."

At a Mass in Honduras, June, 2012

Although I am a solid proponent of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council I must admit that there were many hokey and superficial liturgical expressions practiced in the name of that reform that were strictly "gimmicky" and that lacked substance.  This lead to a desire by many to return to a more staid and reverential liturgical style, and even to return to the traditional Latin Mass.  This was understandable. People were looking to have a more reverential celebration of The Eucharist and the other Sacraments.  To say, however that the actions of Pope Francis such as the washing of the feet of 12 young people at a detention center, including two women, one of them Muslim, was a move away from this is to somewhat miss the point.  What is at issue rather is different ways of expressing reverence. Hopefully we can all agree that the Eucharist must be celebrated in a reverent way.  Reverence, however, has more than one way of being expressed.  In Europe and much of the US and in parts of Asia, reverence is expressed through silence and through formally prescribed gestures of reverence such as silence, kneeling and the use of music which elevates the soul.  For me, one of the best examples of that music is polyphony. Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus, being one of the best examples of that. Gregorian Chant, of course is right there as well.  Activities such as Eucharistic Adoration certainly promote reverence in this sense.

    There is, however, another face of reverence.  It is less formal, more spontaneous, more obviously emotion-filled.  It is a reverence with which Pope Francis and anyone who has lived in Latin America and many parts of Africa has seen.  It leads to hand clapping and spontaneous shouts of praise. it is not gimmicky because it is straight from the heart. While not rejecting the rubrics and liturgical guidelines of the Church it implements them flexibly. I have experienced this sort of reverence during my days in Bolivia, in the predominately Hispanic parish in which I served in Camden, NJ, in a Morning Prayer to Our Lady of Guadeloupe in Pahokee, FL and on my recent trip to Honduras. It is not only Hispanic and African.  It is seen in the Catholic Charismatic renewal, the Cursillo and other renewal movements in the Church.

   What is important in our life of prayer and worship is faith and reverence.  Let us not fall prey to thinking, however, than one expression of reverence is better than another.  Our cultures my incline us in one direction or another. We may have our preferences, but it is all reverence, and it is all good.

What Wondrous Love is This? A Franciscan Perspective on Holy Week and Easter.

   Ever since this past Sunday (Palm Sunday) as I have been reflecting on the great mysteries of Holy Week the words to the folk hymn, What Wondrous Love is this?, now often sung in Catholic parishes during Lent, kept coming to mind.  The question raised by the title became the overarching theme of my own personal meditation and guided the homily that I preached for the friars here in St. Petersburg on Holy Thursday.

   Ever since the middle ages there has been a Christian obsession with the bloody details of Jesus' Passion and Death and with that came the evoking of guilt due to our sin being the cause of that.  Now I'm not suggesting that the sin of humanity did not cause the suffering of Jesus, but rather refocusing on what the mystery of the Cross ought to evoke in us. 

   In our Franciscan theological tradition Jesus did not come to get punished.  He came to love us. We hold that it was the plan of God from the beginning to be united with God's creation even if we had not sinned.  The sources for this in Scripture are to be found especially in chapter one of John's Gospel and in the canticle in the Letter to the Collosians.  The friars did not "invent" this approach but rather made it popular. It has its roots in the early Church fathers as well.

   Now there's no denying that Jesus was punished, that He bore the weight of human sin, but His mission from the Father was to come in love and proclaim the Reign of God. He was rejected in His attempt to carry out this mission and instead of withdrawing from us or lashing out in anger He continued to love us.  Real love always brings about suffering and Jesus' was no exception.  St. John in Chapter 13 of his Gospel tells that "He loved his own in the world and He loved them to the end."

   What then is to be our reaction?  Yes, we ought acknowledge our sin, but not by way of some big guilt trip, rather by opening our hearts in humble faith and trusting that in His great love our merciful and loving Lord wants to enter even the darkest recesses of our souls to heal us and make us new. In me this evokes deep, heartfelt gratitude.  When Peter, again in John 13, resists Jesus attempt to wash his feet he is told, "unless I wash you you will have no inheritance with me."  What Jesus means by this is "Unless I pour all of my love into you you cannot be my follower or disciple."  As Pope Benedict XVI tells us in his commentary on this gospel text in Volume II of his Jesus of Nazareth, the foot washing is a "Sacrament" of the entire mystery of Jesus Passion and Death.  From the Cross Jesus' love is poured into all of us who open our hearts to Him.  Have we all surrendered totally to that love? I know that I have not, but that is the challenge. I am,like most if not all of us, on the way.

   So, my friends, on this Holy Saturday as we prepare to celebrate the Resurrection let us open our hearts to such a Wondrous love and allow ourselves to be transformed by it.  That is the real goal of the Christian life.

Serving the Poor, A Challenge for Deomocrats, Republicans and all of us.

The Widow's Mite

   Over the past two weeks I think that all of us have been moved by the humility of Pope Francis and by his genuine concern for the poor.  He has expressed a desire to have a Church for the poor and of the poor.  How does this translate into our everyday lives?

   I am a Franciscan and delighted by the fact that a Jesuit Pope has taken the name Francis, but I am also challenged by that fact. It makes me want to be a better Franciscan and to simplify my life even more.  The initials OFM after my name stand for Order of Friars Minor.  Even knowing that the term Friars Minor is not clear to everyone.  The minores (as opposed to the maiores) at the time of Francis were not only the very poor, but all those who were excluded from power, who had no say in things.  That included ordinary small merchants as well as lepers and beggars, all who were outsiders, as it were.  Francis wanted to be among the minores and above all let them know that they were not on the outside with God or with him and his fellow friars.  This should tell us the first thing that we need to know about serving the poor.  That service begins by being among them and knowing and understanding their struggles.  Pope Francis, as Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires did just that.  He did things like taking the bus to work.  He talked with people. He came to understand their struggles and to see things from the point of view of the ordinary person.

   I think back on my own life and realize that I have been at my best when I have been among the people, be it in the North End of Boston, mid-town Manhattan, Buffalo, NY, Camden NJ and so many of the places where I have preached parish missions.  What poor people and ordinary working people are looking for first of all is a sense that they matter, that they are not forgotten.  Yes they need and want our financial help and other assistance as well at times, but if they don't think that people form the Church or from their government, etc.(in any country) know how to walk with them and understand their struggles then anything else that is offered seems awkward, foolish or off the mark.

   I try to stay away from political commentary on this blog, but in this case I believe that a challenge can be sent to both political parties.  Republicans really do need to connect with the poor and make sure that while budget cuts are necessary they should not be made on the backs of the poor. Giving the impression that everyone who takes money form the government is a moocher and freeloader is not the way to go.  Yes, there are freeloaders, but most of the excess spending is not because of that, but because of abuses within the system of delivery of services within medicare, Social Security (which people have paid into) and other government programs. I am also upset when I go on Facebook and see requests to drug test every welfare recipient.  Welfare recipients should be treated like everyone else.  If there is reason to drug test them, fine, but don't subject all of them to this. If you have ever talked with a family that is working at two underpaid jobs and trying to make ends meet you would clearly understand this.

   And what about Democrats?  You too have to learn to walk with the ordinary people.  Many government programs are inefficient and encumbered by bureaucratic red tape. When poor folks seek help they may in fact get money, food or whatever, but they often feel degraded in the process.  Democrats these days are often accused of being socialists. That is giving them too much credit.  Most of them are just taking money from different lobbyists than the Republicans and then try to make the poor and the middle class think that they are working for them. Maybe some of the Democratic and Republican Congress people could try riding the bus to work and simply listening to what the ordinary folks have to say.

    In recent years our Catholic sisters have come under scrutiny for some of the things they have undertaken, but I believe that they, above all in the Church, are walking with the poor and the marginalized. We would do well to follow their example.

   Finally, lest I be charged with hypocrisy, I am making some cuts and simplifications in my own lifestyle and am looking for ways to better listen and spend time with the many ordinary folks that I serve as I go about preaching.

What a Week it Has Been--The New Pope and a Gospel Reflection

  After a week of hectic travel I am at St. Michael's Church in Crowley, LA, to begin a parish mission.  On Wednesday afternoon I was gathered with the pastor and the parish staff at Jesus, Our Risen Savior, in Spartanburg, SC when the TV showed white smoke emerging from the chimney at the Vatican.  An hour later came the good news, " Gaudium magnum annuncio vobis,Habemus Papam."  The real stunner came a moment later when his name was announced--Franciscus, Francis.  I myself wondered if it might be Francis Xavier since the new pope is a Jesuit, but no, it is indeed Francis of Assisi after whom he is named. I have always sort of joked that the perfect Catholic has a Jesuit mind with a Franciscan heart, and this is what we have in Pope Francis.

   Many are asking about the kind of changes that he might make in terms of several hot button issues.  As understandable as that is I have always felt that a change in the way of doing business in the Church must precede any other change and I believe that this is what we will see with Pope Francis.  His humility and simplicity are already rubbing off on those around him, and in my case are causing me to have a good look at my own life in terms of these qualities and I hope that we might all do that and not just point to the hierarchy and their need for reform, which is certainly there as well.

The Adulterous woman and Jesus

   This leads me to segue into a reflection on this Sunday's Gospel, the well-known story of the woman taken in adultery. (Jn 8:1-11). We all know the story.  The authorities want her stoned according to Jewish law.  Jesus speaks the well known words, "Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone."  He then writes on the ground and the crowd flees.

   What is Jesus doing?  Several things.  First, he is showing that sin is overcome foremost by forgiveness, not punishment, not by throwing stones.  Second, he is confronting the crowd and us to look at our own sins.  Third, while we may be afraid that He will turn and throw stones at us, He forgives us as well.

   And what does this have to do with Pope Francis.  Besides the humility and simplicity that he shows I think he is asking us to stop throwing stones at each other and to work together as one. That was the tone of his opening remarks from the balcony--"Bishop and people together."  We have our differences indeed, and they must be dealt with, but not by name-calling and rancor, but by walking together in the footsteps of Jesus.

Laetare Sunday--A Celebration of Mercy

Rembrandt's Return of the Prodigal Son

    We are arriving at the middle of Lent and the Sunday that the Church calls "Laetare" or rejoicing Sunday.  We are reminded as we do penance that the purpose of the penance is to be ready to not only celebrate the great feast of the Resurrection, but to be embraced by the Risen One.

   This year's readings on Sundays are from cycle C which features the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel text is the well-known, but not always well understood, Parable of the Prodigal Son, a story that Pope Benedict XVI, in the first volume of his Jesus of Nazareth series, calls the parable of the Good Father. There is good reason for this because the two sons in the story are very typical.  It is the Father (God the Father) who stands out.

   When the younger Son begins to return we are told that the Father "ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him." (Lk 15:20).  We have heard this story so often that we take that action for granted, but the first hearers of this parable at the time of Jesus would have been astounded, shocked or even scandalized.  A father at that time would have been expected to wait at home and have the son come begging to him.  This son had squandered his inheritance and was working with swine.  Remember, this is a Jewish family. Working with swine made him unclean.  The son thinks that he can no longer be a son. just a hired worker.  The father then astounds us more by putting a fine robe on him, a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. (Lk 15:22). These gestures tell us that the boy is no hired worker, but a son again.  Wow.

    Over the years both within the confines of the confessional and outside of it I have encountered people who thought that their sin had permanently cut them off from God.  They make statements like, "I'm hopeless father, you don't want the likes of me."  I always tell them that not only I, but most importantly our God, wants them back.  In fact like this son, even when we begin to turn back to God, God is already running out to meet us.  The Sacrament of Reconciliation is where we get the  robe, the ring and the sandals. 

   Unfortunately too many of us are like the older son, the prodigal who stayed at home, whose obedience is resentful and who is full of self-righteousness. There are too many people today who are focused on who should be thrown out of the Church than on how to draw people closer to Christ.

  So, let us rejoice this Sunday as we priests appear decked out in rose-colored vestments rather than dark purple one. Let us seek and celebrate the wonderful, astounding mercy of our God, and let us rejoice when someone returns to our God.  Remember, they killed a fattened calf for the occasion (Lk 15:23)  Animals were not killed just for one family in those days with no refrigeration.  When an animal was slaughtered it was so that the whole community could rejoice together. What a wonderful message to have before us in this week when the cardinals will most likely elect our next Pope.