A Special Privilege

Fr. John with Daniel

 It is difficult not to become depressed when reading the headlines of the day, headlines ranging from violence in our cities to terrorism all over the world.  Certainly these things demand our attention, and I have delved into them in my recent blog posts, but it is good to occasionally wander into an oasis of love and hope. I experienced that hope and love over the past weekend when I participated in the First Communion Mass at St. Thomas the apostle church in Smyrna, GA.

Fr. John giving Communion to Danny

   The reason for my participation was my long time friendship with the family of Danny (pictured to the left).  I first met his mother and grandmother when they were parishioners at SS. Rita and Patrick in Buffalo, NY where I served from 1979-1982.  It was a joy to look into Danny's eyes as I said, "Danny, the Body of Christ," and he received the Eucharist for the first time.  Beside me was Fr. Brian Sheridan, the pastor at St. Thomas, who then stepped aside and let me give First Communion to the entire group of youngsters and their parents. Not being a parish priest at the present time I generally don't have the opportunity to participate in First Communion Masses.  To have experienced the youthful innocence of these children as they received the Lord truly touched my heart.  It also gave me hope.  Each child was accompanied to the altar by a parent, a parent who has chosen to pass the faith on to the next generation

   Now I have no naive illusion that all of these kids will turn out to be saints. That has never been the case. On the other hand perhaps some of them will be saints, or at least faithful Catholic Christians who love others and make a difference in the world.  They will become good spouses and parents and, who knows, some may become priests or religious.  Most importantly they carry the hope that the world can be a different place because they not only received the Body of Christ, but are indeed part of the Body of Christ in the world.

After Mass with Fr. John

Compassionate and Merciful Listening

  This blog post is meant to build upon the last two entries  on this site, the ones on mercy and on anger and forgiveness.
  
   Two seemingly unrelated incidents caught my attention this past week.  One is the terrible violence that is happening in Baltimore, the latest in a string of incidents involving African Americans and the police.  The other is the declaration by former Olympic gold medalist, Bruce Jenner, that he is now a woman.

   What the two situations have in common is that too many people are jumping to blame and judgement.  In the case of the urban rioting there is no doubt  in the end, somebody(ies) to blame. Bruce Jenner's situation is different, but people are still "blaming" him.

   What both situations most have in common is suffering.  In Baltimore and other cities the police have suffered and the African American community has suffered.  Both sides have suffered not only the violent incidents that exploded forth, but have suffered misunderstanding and mistrust. As for the other situation Mr. Jenner has suffered throughout his life. (By the way his choice is to keep using masculine pronouns for the time being, so I will as well.) 

   Without getting into moral arguments about things like gender altering surgery I want to share with my readers that I have over the years listened to the stories of several  people who have spent a lifetime struggling with the belief that their real sexual identity was other than what their physical sex was.   Years ago in New York while serving at my Franciscan province's church on West 31st St. A woman came in and asked to speak with a priest.  I was the one "on duty" that day.  She came in and prefaced our meeting by saying, "Father, I'm not seeking moral guidance right now.  I am far from any decisions.  I just need someone to listen to my story.   She spoke for over an hour about how she felt like a man in a woman's body and how she had suffered with that feeling since childhood.  I did not say a word during that time except for briefly encouraging her to continue.  When we were done she gave me a hug and told me that I was the first one who had every really listened to her story. She told me as well that she couldn't express how much that meant.  This was, for me, a beautiful and humbling moment. I do not consider myself to be a naturally good listener, but she had set the agenda and that made it possible for me to do.  I don't know what decisions she may have made about how to dress or possibly to have surgery.  What I do know is that God granted her a deep level of healing through our meeting.   That meeting has guided me in 2 other similar situations as well as others where listening was the first order of business.

   I would suggest that across the land both police officers and African Americans need to have someone simply listen to their stories and understand that hurt, fear, mistrust, etc. that all have experienced.  I know listening is only a first  step.  Decisions have to be made. Nonetheless without really listening to one another's stories we are doomed to keep spinning the same wheels.

Rage: On the Road and in Cyberspace. A Call for Healing

  In the past few days two people connected to my home city of Boston have been convicted of murder.  One is Dzhokar Tsarnaev, perpetrator of the terrible bombing at the Boston Marathon 2 years ago. The other is Aaron Hernandez, a former star for the New England Patriots who was convicted of one murder and awaits trial on 2 others.  Let me say right from the start that I have no sympathy for either of these characters, but I am troubled by some of the reactions I am seeing on social media, though those reactions do not surprise me.

   What troubles me is the level of vitriol expressed.  Certainly any American, and especially the citizens of greater Boston have every right to be angry about the bombing.  What troubles me is people spewing not just anger, but vitriol over it using curse words and suggesting what kinds of torture these people deserve.  I see similar responses when people are displeased with politicians and athletes.  The phrase, "Get a Life!" applies here.  Have people nothing better to do. Anger is a normal human emotion.  It's purpose is to help us to seek justice. whether in big court cases such as the ones mentioned here, or in our own personal affairs.  Once the conflict is resolved the anger is no longer useful to us and it becomes resentment and bitterness.  It has been said that resentment is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies.  Both of these criminals will spend life behind bars. One may be given the death penalty.  I am opposed to that, but that is for another blog post.  Wishing all kinds of evil upon them will do nothing to hurt them.  It will make the person who does this even more unhappy even if it brings temporary relief.  As people in 12 step programs rightly observe resentment is a sure way back to the bottle.  That is because resentment is a drug that gives temporary relief.

   There is also here a sense of moral superiority.  Getting on one's high horse over the evil and wickedness in others is a way of saying, "I might be bad, but at least I'm not like that."  When it comes to attacking politicians and other public figures angry ranting takes the place of reasoned argumentation.  I look forward to items on line that point out disagreement with a position and that state why.  Just calling someone an idiot is useless. I would ad that everything I said here applies to road rage as well.

    What to do about this.  Remember that forgiveness is not necessarily about compassion for the wrongdoer.  It is about compassion for oneself.  Please don't give Tsarnaev or Hernandez any rent free space in your head.  Commend them to God and get on with your life.  If you don't like a politician don't vote for him/her the next time.  Perhaps write a letter or send an e-mail expressing your disagreement.   Also, realize that almost all of us carry a lifetime of grievances with us.I call these our "anger bag."  When useless anger about the past arises I ask God to take it from me. I still have a few more things to let go of but I am a much happier man today because of practicing this discipline.

   Finally,  I will be praying for the above mentioned criminals as I do for all prisoners.  I pray that whatever evil entered their souls will be cleansed and healed during their days in prison.  After all that is why the Church provides chaplains there.

   




  

Pour Oil on it, A Reflection on Mercy

       This Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter, has come to be known as Divine Mercy Sunday.  The focus of this Sunday has generally been to encourage people to go to confession and celebrate the Lord's wonderful gift of merciful forgiveness.

     I would like to use the occasion of this day to focus on some of the broader aspects of mercy, for though forgiveness of sin is truly a manifestation of God's great mercy it is only one aspect of it, though indeed an important one.

     You will notice that the image I have chosen for this article has the Greek words Kyrie Eleison which means Lord, have mercy.  Recently I discovered that the imperative verb eleison is derived from the word elios which means oil, especially olive oil.  To have mercy then is to pour oil on troubled situations to smooth our the friction.  To ask the Lord top have mercy on us is not only to ask forgiveness of our sins but to smooth over the pain and hurt in our life and in society.

      Cardinal Walter Kasper who is very close to Pope Francis has written a book on mercy.  In it he says that mercy is part of God's very nature.  He points out that over the years we have treated mercy as an attribute of God rather than as an aspect of God's very essence.  I think that an observation of nature manifest this very quality of the Creator.  Have you ever noticed the forest turning green rather quickly after a forest fire, or land ravaged by a storm or a flood naturally restoring itself.  To me this reflects God's way of acting.  Things will break and get destroyed, but they will always renew. We humans, when things break down, tend to get caught in fear that it will always be that way.  The Paschal Mystery of the Lord's Death and Resurrection teaches us that God's way is bringing new life from old even when we don't see it coming.

       Like many of you I have been quite distressed by the recent spate of incidents between African Americans and the police.  Depending on the incident I have seen fault on both sides.  How can mercy be applied to these situations. First of all instead of immediately looking for someone to blame we should ask, "What's the deeper problem?"   Also, "What is the truth?"  It seems to me that many on both sides really didn't want the truth.  They just wanted what put them in a better light. It is obvious that there is a lack of trust on both sides--not necessarily with everyone, but widespread nonetheless.  Might we pray for guidance ask ask God in His mercy  to show us the way through this impasse, to pour His healing oil over the situation.  This doesn't mean that some people might need to go to jail, but it moves beyond simply finding out who to punish and seeks to avoid the problem in the future.

     This same approach might apply to any number of conflict situations in our own lives,m in our families  and in society.   Pray for wisdom, pray to face the truth even if it is unpleasant. Ask for mercy to find the way from darkness to light.  Kyrie Eleison.  Lord have mercy.

The Passion of Christ, A Gift of Love

     At the end of a mission that I preached last week someone approached my and asked why the word Passion was used to describe the suffering and death of Jesus.  Good question,  Though I gave a brief and, I think, satisfactory answer, the question stayed with me.

    Given the modern day meaning of passion as the equivalent of lust and illicit sex it is understandable the the question would be raised.  I would ask that we look at another contemporary use of that word which suggests that passion is an intense dedication to someone or something.  People passionately love sports teams and hopefully they passionately love their families.  This gets us closer to the use of the words passion for Jesus' suffering and death.

   The word passion actually come from the Latin word for suffering.  In the case of Jesus it aptly describes the fact that He suffered so much because He passionately loves us. In our Franciscan tradition we eschew the emphasis on punishment as the motive for Jesus coming to us. The Lord certainly was punished and bore the weight of our sins but His mission in coming to us, in humbling himself to become human was to love us and show us how to love.  This is why the deepest response to what we celebrate this week is not so much guilt or sadness but rather gratitude and joy at what He has done for us.  This joy and gratitude hopefully will impel us to imitate that love by humbling ourselves in loving service to others. Pope Francis delivered a beautiful homily in this vain at his daily Mass this morning.  You can read the text of that homily by clicking on  the link below.

http://muoianhsang.com/en/the-pope/speeches/pope-francis-imitate-christ-s-meekness-and-humility.html

   Finally I call your attention to the three images on this page.  For me the portray what I think is the deepest suffering of our Lord, His mental and spiritual anguish born out of love for us.















Also, please enjoy Busted Halo's Holy Week in 2 minutes;
http://bustedhalo.com/video/holy-week-in-two-minutes

Seventy Times Seven Times

  For the past twenty seven years I have been a member of the Franciscan Ministry of the Word team preaching parish missions all over the US and in parts of Canada as well.  We are committed, in the spirit of St. Francis, to preaching the basic Gospel message.  A key part of that message, and one that seems to touch the hearts of many people to whom we preach, is Jesus' call to forgive those who have wronged us. I happen to believe that this mandate of the Lord is the most difficult part of following Him.  Most of us probably have or have had a situation that made us think, "Forgiveness yes, but not that. I'll never forgive that." Yet Jesus never said, "OK, forgive everything but 'that'."

   What to do?  I offer some suggestions.
   1.  It's OK to be angry.  The purpose of anger is to obtain justice, not revenge.  Properly expressing anger can lead both parties to the path of reconciliation.  When the offender and the offended truly listen to each other this can happen, no matter how serious the offense. When the offended person communicates their hurt and anger it give the offender a chance to make amends.

2.  Make sure that the offense is real and not perceived.  My mother often said, "Never take offense where none is intended.

3. Reconciliation is not always possible, but forgiveness is always possible.  Huh?  What do I mean by this?  Sometimes the other party refuses to participate in a process of reconciliation or is unable to. Why?  They are mean and nasty.  They are in the throes of addiction. They are severely mentally ill. They have moved far away.  They are dead.  When this happens the offended person is stuck with anger that now has no useful purpose.  It will not get justice of even punish the offender.  It becomes a spiritual cancer that eats away at the heart of the offended person.

4.  One exception to the above is the addicted.  If they get into recovery they will probably seek you out to make amends.

5. It is pride and ego that makes us hold on to anger--the need to have been right.  You were right, dummy, but your anger is becoming bitterness and resentment and will do you no good.

6.  The accumulation of resentment fills what I call "the anger baloon". This accumulation of resentment is the cause of things like road rage and ranting on social media and talk shows.

7. What to do with this resentment?  Do not stuff it back in.  Admit that it is there and pray to the Lord that it be taken away.  Barring a miracle it will take time, but it will go away.  My  own balloon is greatly deflated because of following this step. Notice that I said greatly deflated.  I will most likely take some of this to the grave but I am a much more peaceful man now than when I started doing this.

8.In the words of a popular hymn,  "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me."

Making the Leper Clean: A Challenge For All of Us."

                     

         On this final Sunday before Lent we are presented with two readings that deal with leprosy.  In the first one from Leviticus (Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46) we see the prescriptions describing how a leper is to be declared "unclean" and forced to live outside of the community.  In the ancient world this disease was a terrible scourge and it was sound public health policy to do this.  Many people who were not leprous suffered, however, from this practice.  People with acne, psoriasis or other skin conditions were often falsely put into this state of uncleanness, not to mention the families and friends of the leper.  We now call this disease Hansen's disease and we know that it is much less contagious than was thought by the ancients.

   In the Gospel (Mark 1:40-45) a leper says to Jesus, "If you wish, you can make me clean." Jesus responds, "I do will it. Be made clean."  As wonderful as it was to cure a leper, Jesus was doing much more than that.  In making the man clean he was restoring his relationship to his family, friends and the community in general.  What we need to realize is that this was at the heart of Jesus ministry.  He does not perform miracles to show off.  They are performed to heal and restore not only physical health , but broken relationships with God and with others.  That is why He also forgives sinners.

      And what might you and I learn from this story?  We need to move off being awestruck by the miraculous element of this curing and realize that in making the leper clean Jesus is beginning a ministry of inclusion, of bringing back into the community those who were cast out.  We need to ask "Who are the  lepers of today?"    We might start with the victims of AIDS who, especially when this disease first became known over 30 years ago, were victimized not only by the disease but by the fear, prejudice and ignorance of too many people.  We could likewise take a look at others who, while not suffering from a physical illness, are cast out, not formally, but by social rejection.  Pope Francis has called attention to the plight of immigrants in Europe, the Middle East, and in our own country. Sometimes we stigmatize the poor and the homeless.  We stigmatize them and blame them for their condition.

      While I think the question, "What would Jesus do?" is often trivialized and overused I believe that it applies here.  I don't think that Jesus would want to remove all public health and security measures, but He would call us to realize that every one of the above mentioned people are just that, people, human beings, our brothers and sisters.  He would ask us to realize that they are suffering from poverty, rejection, disease or any combination of the three.  He would ask us to do what we can to bring them back into the wider community.  He would ask us to realize that even if some of them had to be in prisons, or hospitals, that they are still our brothers and sisters, in need of forgiveness or healing, and that whatever else they are, they are not just "unclean".  "I do will it. Be made clean."  He said it then, and He says it now.