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.

The Year of Faith--Vatican II after 50 Years, Part II

Singing with the ecumenical choir in Eagle River, WI

   As promised I will continue my reflections on Vatican II as we begin this Year of Faith. I want to stress that these are my personal thoughts. I do not present myself as an expert, nor do I pretend that this is an in depth analysis of the council, but simply thoughts that come from my own personal experience.

  In this reflection I would like to name 3 important things that have emerged in the Church as a result of the Second Vatican Council.  The first is ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue.

  I was riding in a car recently with someone who said, "I'm glad the days of ecumenism are over."  I was stunned by this and pointed out that they've only just begun.  It is true that in recent years the leaders of our church have warned against relativism, thinking that we're all the same when it comes to religion, and have pointed out areas where we are still not in agreement with other Christian churches.  That having been said though one should note that the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople and the Anglican archbishop of Canterbury were present at the opening of the Year of Faith in Rome. Likewise it is true that both Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI have met on many occasions with leaders of other churches and other religions.

   I remember when we were forbidden to enter Protestant Churches.  That has changed.  The council encouraged open and honest dialogue with other churches and collaboration with them in areas where we agree.  I have placed a picture above which show me singing in an ecumenical choir, something a priest would have been in deep trouble for doing years ago.  The ecumenism promoted by the Church is one which seeks to find common ground while honestly acknowledging our differences, but always striving toward the unity which Jesus prayed for in John's Gospel. (See John: 17,1),  It does seem at times that we have come to a certain point and stopped.  Some of the other churches seem hardly open to ecumenical activity as well.  We need to pray to the Holy Spirit to move us beyond this impasse.

   Some may not realize this but the word ecumenical applies only to interaction between Christians.  The term inter-religious dialogue is used for dealings with Jews, Muslims and other religions.  The council document Nostra Aetate dealt wonderfully with that and opened up a whole era of improved relations with our Jewish brethren, something for which Pope John Paul II deserves a great deal of credit.  Pope Benedict has continued that openness.  For  me I always remember my parents having Jewish friends and I worked at the soda fountain in the drugstore of a wonderful Jewish man when I was a teenager.  There was plenty of antisemitism around me though and we still have to work in society in that area even though we have come a long way.  Over the years I have had the privilege of participating in the Seder in  Jewish home and having wonderful discussions with several rabbis. Among other things the Seder or Passover celebration made me more aware of the Jewish roots of our Catholic Mass.

   As for dealings with Muslims this is a must for us today.  As we deal with Islamic terrorists who distort that faith we need, in the spirit of St. Francis who met and prayed with the Sultan during the fifth crusade, to engage our Muslim sisters and brothers in dialogue.   I am not talking about dialogue with political leaders but with religious ones.  We need to discover the common ground between us and honestly ask them about aspects of Islam that would seem to encourage violence.  Did you know that Muslims believe in the virgin birth of Jesus and see him as a prophet?  Did you know that the Franciscans and Dominicans who traveled with the crusaders were so impressed with the Muslim prayer beads and their practice of praying 5 times daily that they created the Rosary and the Angelus (prayed three times daily).

   Well folks, I began this reflection desiring to point out three  things of importance that came from the council.  The other two are lay involvement and liturgical reform.  This is enough writing however for one blog entry so I will take up the other two in my next post.

Pope John XXIII

  

The Year of Faith--Vatican II after 50 Years

Bishops gathering at Vatican II

  Fifty years ago today the Second Vatican Council, convened by Blessed Pope John XXIII, began in Rome.  Our current Pope, Benedict XVI, has called the Church to a Year of Faith to mark this important anniversary.  In my next few blog entries I would like to reflect on the core ideas and actions presented by that council and its impact on the Church and the world.  With this blog posting though I simply wish to share my own experience of the council and its aftermath.

  On October 11, 1962 I was a college freshman at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Troy, NY. While I do remember that we had a special Mass of the Holy Spirit to pray for the success of this council  I don't remember having any sense of what the council would do or was supposed to do.  That would change quickly.  I would add that the world was at the brink of nuclear war due to the Cuban missile crisis and that there was a prayer vigil for peace in Rome the night before the council began.  Could that be part of the reason the crisis was averted?

   My early days in formation were not affected by the council, though we did hear reports that the use of the vernacular at Mass might be allowed.  We prayed in Latin and were taught in the traditional way which reinforced that sense of Church that I had grown up with, but then things changed. In Advent of 1964 a limited use of English was allowed at Mass. By Advent of 1969 everything was in English and a new rite for Mass was put forth.  The rituals of all the Sacraments changed.  Over a period of about ten years the changes proposed by the council were put into effect.  The Anointing of the Sick was not limited to the time of death. Extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist were allowed. There were permanent deacons. Lay people were used as lectors.

   These were the external changes.  They were wonderful and beautiful to me and many others.  It was a time of excitement and renewal in the Church. There was also, however, a good deal of turmoil.  Large numbers of priests and religious left and married.  There was experimentation with the liturgy that at times was "over the edge" and I must admit at least a small amount of guilt with that.  There was also an encouragement to read and study Scripture and liturgical rites became more scriptural.  This went hand in hand with the promotion of ecumenism.  In my own experience I have been able to participate in ecumenical prayer services and most recently to sing in an ecumenical choir in Eagle River, WI.

   In the western world at least the council also happened at a time of social upheaval. There was the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war protests.  Priests and nuns were participating in many of the civil rights marches and war protests.  This was a good thing and was inspired, I believe by the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern Word, or Gaudium et Spes, put forth by the council. I myself was in a few of those marches  At the same time the healthy spirit of change promoted by the council became in many cases an iconoclastic and rebellious unleashing of angers long held in check since prior to the council itself.

  As Franciscans we reflected on Perfectae Caritatis, the document on religious life.  This encouraged us to return to the spirit of our founder, Francis of Assisi.  We, and members of many other orders as well, realized how we had strayed from that spirit.  Of course the more legalistic and formal way of living religious life still produced many fine and holy people, but that in spite of structurally moving away from our early ideas.  The most visible way that our life has changed has been in having the brother,the non-clerical members of our community, become treated equally with the priest, though we are still disputing with authorities over what levels of leadership they can participate in.  Likewise we have moved away from being a sort of semi-monastic order which we were never meant to be.

   Four years after ordination I made a Marriage Encounter and became involved in that movement as a team priest.  Along with the Cursillo and the Charismatic Renewal many lay people as well as priests and religious grew into the more personal relationship with God, with Jesus, that the council was trying to promote.  I could write many wonderful thins about Marriage Encounter and how it made me a better friar and priest, but in relationship to the council it was a wonderful experience of ministering with lay people as equal partners in ministry, something now promoted by my Franciscan province.

  In recent years I have heard people say that the Vatican is trying to roll back the council.  While there may be some truth to this it really can't happen because Vatican II, like any council, is part of the Church's magisterium, or teaching authority.  I have a great respect for our ancient traditions and am glad that I was steeped in them at a younger age.  There are some today however who want to go back to an age that never really existed because it is a nostalgic notion of what it was like back then.  Have there been excesses that need to be curtailed?  Yes.  Go backwards?  No.  Let us be guided by these words of Pope Benedict XVI in this mornings opening of the Year of Faith.

"The Council did not formulate anything new in matters of faith, nor did it wish to replace what was ancient. Rather, it concerned itself with seeing that the same faith might continue to be lived in the present day, that it might remain a living faith in a world of change."
--Benedict XVI, Rome, October 11, 2012

Meeting More Wonderful People on the Road

Some other "Wandering Friars"

  My travels are off to an early start this year as I am now completing my third parish mission since finishing my summer ministry in Eagle River.  The pace will slow up a bit for a few weeks as I return to my friary in St. Petersburg and work on the editing of my soon to be released book, The Wandering Friar.

   Speaking of the book and its title my publisher, Tate Publishing, asked me to search the internet to see if there were any other similar titles of books.  While there were no similar books the search provided many hints of the fact that we friars are indeed wanderers or itinerants.  There were any number of inns and hotels named for fictional friars including the well-known friar Tuck.  Most interesting though was a fish and chips place in Suffoeirlk, UK called The Flying and Traveling Friar.  I thought you might enjoy their website and stop in there if you ever travel to England.  Just click on the link: Flying and Travelling Friar

   On the more serious side the three missions that I have done, though taking place in small parishes, have proven to be quite fruitful not only for the parishioners but for myself.  I have met so many wonderful people whose living of the faith is an inspiration to me, including a family here in Brookfiled, MO who have started a successful small business and who also have taken in foster teenagers, troubled teens that others do not want or cannot handle, and provide them with both love and the firm direction that they need.  If I write another book like the one that is awaiting publication their story will certainly be in there.   In these times when issues like pro-life and pro-choice are being bandied about by politicians it strikes me that folks like them are putting their money where their mouth is and truly living the pro-life message.

  The last two weeks spent in central Missouri have also exposed me to life in a different part of our country.  This is an area where farming is big.  It is so interesting as well as both inspiring and heartbreaking to hear the stories of people who till the land for a living.  The drought of the past summer combined with our difficult economy present some real challenges for them.  When we urban and suburban folks go to the supermarket and have to pay more for food we need to realize our connection to these good folks who work hard to grow the crops that provide our food.  This is just another example of the interconnectedness of us all in the Church and in the world.

  Now it's on to St. Anthony Friary and at least the end of the Oct 4 Feast of St. Francis with my brother friars.

Seasonal Reflection: Middle East Conflict | HNP Today newsletter: September 26, 2012, Vol. 46, No. 20 | Communications | Holy Name Province

Michael Calabria, OFM, a member of my province and a  student of Islamic and Arabic studies offers a thoughtful reflection on the situation in the Middle East.  I urge you to read it and reflect.  It is much different than the knee-jerk thoughts we see coming from the media. Just click on the title above to read it.

Seasonal Reflection: Middle East Conflict | HNP Today newsletter: September 26, 2012, Vol. 46, No. 20 | Communications | Holy Name Province

The Book--When? What? Why?--Coming Soon

   As many of my blog readers know I have written a book which will become available in early 2013.  Many have asked,  "Why so Long to publish?" or "What's it all about?" or "What's the name of the book?

   As of now the book title is the same as the title of this blog, The Wandering Friar, the my publisher has let me know that titles can change in the editing process.  I finished the book in the spring and Tate Publishing of Oklahoma accepted it in late May.  They then explained to me the process of moving it to production.  They actually began that process earlier this month and are reviewing it for grammatical errors and adjusting the format a bit.  In October I will be assigned a copy editor who will suggest changes.  Fortunately after returning from two weeks in Missouri preaching missions I will be free the cooperate with that process and do some re-writing and new writing.  In November they will design the cover and the layout of the book with my collaboration.  After that comes pre-release publicity.  The book will have its own web page as well as a Facebook page. Finally in January or February the book will be released. It will be in paperback and also eventually available on Amazon.com and on the various e-readers such as Kindle.  That should answer the first question as well as the third.

   More important is the "What's it all about?" question.  The answer to that is twofold.  It tells the story of how I got my Franciscan vocation as well as how from an early age I have been a wanderer or traveler. My friends from Savin Hill, St. William's Parish and from Columbus High school will enjoy that part of the book.  The bulk of the book is a collection of true stories from my life and the lives of people I have met in my ministry travels who are the Church.  So often the Church is presented only from the perspective of its institutional life and often not favorably.  My book shows the Church to be the People of God and the Body of Christ alive in its many-varied members from many different cultures and backgrounds.  Without denying the problems that confront the Church it accentuates the positive in presenting the stories of its members.

 I think that it will be an easy and enjoyable read.  It would be a great  asset for  RCIA programs, for vocation directors as well as providing for Catholics and non-Catholics alike a positive picture of Church as Church is lived. 

  I hope that I have peaked your interest and that you will purchase a copy when the time comes. The book will be available in parishes where I preach missions as well as in my northwoods Wisconsin summer parishes.  Likewise there will be various book signings.

Ephphatha--Be Opened

 Now that we are back into the Gospel of Mark for the second week in a row after five weeks of John this coming  Sunday presents us with an interesting miracle story, one from which we can all learn.  People bring to Jesus a man who is deaf and cannot speak.  The Lord touches the man's ear and spitting touches his tongue (See Mk 7:31-37) and says "Ephphata (that is "Be opened.") and the man's ears are opened and he is able to speak.

  Like the people in the Gospel account we might be amazed at what Jesus does, but as is often the case with Jesus' miracles amazement is not enough.  There is a lesson to be learned that is often missed.  What is the lesson for us.

   In the rite of Infant Baptism there is an optional ritual where the child's lips and ears are touched with a recollection of this story.  The following prayer is then said"
                  The Lord Jesus made the deaf to hear and
                       the dumb speak. 
                  May he soon touch your ears to receive
                       his word,
                  and your mouth to proclaim his faith.
                  to the praise and glory of God the Father. Amen.

    The first challenge for us then is to realize that our gifts of hearing and speech are given to us not only to hear the many sounds that come to us in God's creation and in the the human voices around us, and not as well to speak the words that we have to say, but to hear and proclaim God's word.  To do that we need silence. We need to get behind the myriad sounds and noises around us not to mention the anger filled and fear mongering words that come to us in order to truly hear what God is saying.  We can then be proclaimers of that Word as well.

   As we become more tuned to hearing God's Word we became more able also to listen to one another.  it seems to me that in this era of blogs and social communication networks that we can all get out some sort of message, but we don't know how to really listen.  That is why our political ads and debates so often degenerate into negative ads and name calling.  We have so-called talk shows which are only meant to reinforce ideas already held.  Try to call one of them with the opposing point of view.

   Lest we heap blame on politicians and media leaders we need to look into our own personal lives.  Do we really try and listen to our spouses, family members, friends?  Do we try and listen to and understand people who disagree with us about politics and religion or do we simply tune them out and shout them down?

   We all need Jesus to touch our lips and our ears and say "Ephphata, be opened."