Contemplating the "Awe" of our Faith.

    That's "awesome".  We have heard our young people, many of whom are not so young any longer, say this for several years now regarding any number of things that get their attention in a positive way.  Nothing is wrong with that to be sure, but when is the last time we heard anyone say that our faith is awesome, that what God has done for us is awesome?

   Too many people come away from Mass or other religious services and say that it was "boring". Why is that? Some say that because of our culture people expect church to be entertaining. Others say that because of modern science and the widespread explanation of so many things that once seemed to have no explanation that religion is more and more dismissed as "mythical nonsense".  There is some truth to both of these assertions and some remedies that might be suggested.  I would like to follow another path, however, on the subject of awe, faith and religion.

   Today I came across and advertisement for a National Geographic six part series, beginning, I believe, this Sunday, April 3 at 9 Eastern, 8 Central, called The Story of God and featuring one of my favorite actors, Morgan Freeman.  (Do check local listings to be sure of date/time).  While Mr. Freeman played God in a rather frivolous movie called Bruce Almighty, and while he is not someone I turn to for my theology, this special looks to be an interesting and serious exploration of how people in different religions see God.

  In an interview about the series Mr. Freeman made the statement, "Awe is the Beginning of God."  While these words could be taken to mean that when humans first experienced awe they invented God, I don't think that is what he meant.  It was more the fact that when our early ancestors first experienced the awesomeness  of the world around them, of the unexplainable, they came to realize that there is indeed God.

   For me viewing the images of the various parts of the universe that come from the Hubble telescope inspires awe, as does appreciating the beauty of the ocean, as does the birth of a child and so many other things.  Perhaps one of the keys to evangelizing our young people then is to instill in them a sense of awe, wonder and mystery even before we teach religious doctrine.  To simply stand in awe before some of these things and to ask how they came to be is the foundation of belief in a God who not only created everything, but who is at work now and continuing to create.

   As for the specifics of our Catholic and Christian faith I point out in my book, Following Jesus in the Footsteps of Francis, that St. Francis marveled at the beauty of creation and and at the mightiness of the God who created, a God whom he saw as "Most High and Glorious"  He then marvels at how this mighty God became one of us.in what I call his "big WOW."  He was not a professional theologian but he was able to put together the notion that God is at the same time mighty and unexplainable as well as intimately close to us in the person of Jesus Christ.  That is indeed awesome.
 
   Jesus told us that to enter the Kingdom we must become as little children.   Perhaps what that means is that we must never lose the capacity to be awestruck that we see in little children.

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For a preview of The Story of God go to: https://youtu.be/DkdgPbpZpRI

The Face of Glory in a Humble God

 When we hear the word glory in reference to God images such as the ones posted hear come to mind.  We think of radiant burst of light and spectacular manifestations in the heavens.  This dimension of glory creeps into sports.  We talk of the glory of those who win championships or who accomplish great individual feats.  This is the most common way in which glory is spoken of.  The Bible is filled with such manifestations of God's glory.  The story of Moses on Mt. Sinai and that of Jesus in His Transfiguration come to mind here.

   St. John, in his gospel, turns the word glory on its head.  As we move into the end of Lent and into Holy Week I believe that it would be good to reflect on this other dimension of Glory.

   The final section of the fourth Gospel is called the Book of Glory.  It begins with the washing of the feet of the apostles and continues through the account of Jesus' passion and death.  We don't see a lot of the more common revelation of God's glory, rather we see that when God humbles God self in Jesus to enter into the basest and most sinful parts of the human condition it is then that God is glorified.  We see this, as I said, in the washing of the feet, an event which Pope Benedict XVI called the Sacramentum of the Passion because it symbolizes the depths of love that we see in Jesus as He freely gives Himself over to death  in the most cruel fashion.  God is glorified in John not with mighty deeds of splendid power, but rather when Jesus delves into sin and evil and destroys it not with wrath and punishment, but with mercy and forgiveness.

    After the prologue at the beginning of this Gospel comes the Book of Signs.  They are called signs and not miracles because they point to various aspects of the ministry of Jesus and to the lessons that we are to learn from them.   Water is turned into wine not only showing compassion for the wedding party, but showing that in Jesus something new is being revealed.  After this a Samaritan woman is set free from her sins, a blind man is cured, bread is multiplied for a hungry crowd, an adulterous woman is forgiven and finally Lazarus is called forth.  All of these events have in common the manifestation of God's glory in Jesus who enters into the depths of sin, sickness hunger and death to wipe them away and offer people new life.

   This Sunday, as I continue my time in Little Rock and preach the mission in English I will be preaching on Lazarus for the Mass for the RCIA catechumens, and on the adulterous women at the other Mass.  In both cases the glory of God is shown not from on high, but rather with the humble love of Jesus who stands with the sinner and who weeps for his friend before forgiving one and giving new life to the other.

   After calling Lazarus forth Jesus tells those gathered there to "untie him and set him free." It seems to me that he is calling us to open ourselves to Him to be forgiven, healed and restored to life. The Church then becomes the field hospital that Pope Francis desires it to be, untying each other and setting one another free.

The Other Face of Glory

  

Walls, Bridges and Mercy--A Faith Perspective.

A little over a week ago there was  a big bruhaha over Pope Francis' remarks at the US border. The Pope said,"A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not bridges, is not Christian." Of course he was specifically focusing on Donald Trump.  Now that a little dust has settled I would like to take a deeper look at this message and the reaction to it.

   I don't believe, and Vatican response confirms this, that the words were meant to say that we should build a bridge and let everyone who wishes cross it without regard to border security. That would be crazy.  What he was doing was calling us to a Gospel, a biblical attitude towards the issue of immigration.  He was saying that we should first think of how to respond to the plight of people who are poor and oppressed who wish to migrate here, or to any country.  How can we help them?  How can we facilitate their transition to a better life?  I also believe that while the remarks were focused on Donald Trump that every one of us ought examine our consciences on this matter. Republicans, rightfully so, take a lot of the heat from proponents of just immigration reform, but Obama and other Democrats are hypocritical, talking of reform while deporting many and breaking up families in detention centers.

   I am not naive.  I understand that some who cross our borders are drug lords and human traffickers.  Others may be terrorists.  Any rational person knows that there has to be security and screening.  That is why the bridge I chose to picture above is the Peace Bridge connecting Buffalo, NY and Canada.  There is a US Customs station at one end and a Canadian one at the other.Bridges don't have to be wide open.  Restrictions are necessary.  The question is "Do we think of the bridge first, and the wall or restriction next.?"

  I am in Little Rock, Arkansas this week to preach a parish mission in Spanish. Next week I will do it in English.  I am sure that many of the Spanish speaking are also undocumented.  This is the case in most of the work I do with Spanish speaking.  Most of them are good Catholic hard-working people.  The only reason that they are not with legal status is that we don't grant enough visas for unskilled labor.  They would rather live here under a cloud than live with the poverty and oppression back home. The Pope has called for a year of Mercy.  Mercy, of course, is a Gospel value.  It was not invented by Pope Francis.  I do not favor a blanket path to citizenship, but I do favor a path to legal status prior to citizenship to the many who can show that they are living good and productive lives and have not committed crimes.  I don't think that the crooks would come out of the shadows to apply for this.

   Let us use this Year of Mercy to be merciful to the immigrant by ending the insane impasse we are in now. And yes, let us establish a sane method of border security without responding to irrational fears and keeping everyone out.

  

Bless Me Father: Some thoughts on The Sacrament of Reconciliation and the year of Mercy

 First of all, dear readers of this blog, I want to let you know that I have not stopped writing.  I have gone through a time of just not knowing what to write about.  At any rate the muses are beginning to speak again and this blog is back in business.

  We are now several months into the Year of Mercy declared by Pope Francis, a year, that among other things, is placing, a new emphasis on the Sacrament of Reconciliation. (aka confession, penance)

   Unlike many my boyhood memories of this Sacrament are positive.  I was never yelled at and no priest ever said, "You did what?"  This is unfortunately not everyone's experience.  I certainly hope and pray that bad memories of confession can be healed and that this wonderful Sacrament can be a positive experience for many.

   One moment from my childhood experience of  Confession is related to the first time I attended a night game of the Boston Red Sox.  It was a Friday night. I was invited by some neighbors to the game and was given refreshment money by my parents.  Completely forgetful of what day of the week it was, my friend and I purchased and ate a hot dog. Shortly thereafter we realized that it was Friday.  I felt as though I had committed a sin second only to mass murder.  The next day I went to confession to Fr. Hart, one of the kindest men there ever was.  When I nervously told him what I had done he said, "I hope you enjoyed it. Try to think the next time."  What a relief.

  Relief, Freedom.  That is what I pray that everyone might experience with this Sacrament even with matters much worse that accidentally eating meat on a Friday. During the past few weeks, while preaching several parish missions, I have encountered a good number of people who found that freedom, freedom from the burden of guilt carried for a number of years.  As a priest I am humbled by these moments, humbled because they have nothing to do with me and everything to do with the power of Christ working through me.  People do not come to me in confession because my name is John Anglin. They come because in this sacrament they encounter the merciful Christ, the same Christ who forgave the woman caught in adultery and who ate and drank with tax collectors.

   In recent years the Church has referred to this Sacrament as the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  I like this terminology because it places emphasis on what is important.  We have called it Confession or the Sacrament of Penance.  Nothing is wrong with those terms.  But, who does the confessing? the penance?  We do.  Who does the reconciling?  The Lord does.

   Folks often balk at telling their sins to another human being.  Why?  In self help, 12 step and therapy sessions we do this all the time.  Those are wonderful, therapeutic tools.  In Reconciliation we encounter, through the priest, our merciful Lord.

   One last thought is for the ordinary person who has no major sin.  We have gone though a time of questioning the place of confession, especially for such persons.  People say, "After all I am basically good."  That is indeed true.  In the past we perhaps so emphasized sin and guilt that we forgot that all are made in God's image and likeness and that there is an original goodness to go along with original sin. For the ordinary person with no major sins it is still important from time to time to admit that he or she is in need of mercy, that we are not the authors of our own salvation.  One does not have to make up a "laundry list."  One can name ones weaknesses and commit to working especially on one of them.  Most importantly the Sacrament is an opportunity to encounter the merciful Lord.

   Maybe you haven't experienced Confession for a while.  In recent years, and especially in this Year of Mercy, various diocese are selecting a day when all churches have their doors open for confession. Make this Lent the time to take advantage of this openness to the gift of Mercy.

The Year of Mercy

   I was delighted a few months ago to hear that Pope Francis had declared this year to be  Holy Year of Mercy.  It is to be a year of opening ourselves to God's mercy and of showing God's mercy to others.  But, what is mercy?

   The obvious answer is that mercy is what God shows when God forgives us our sins.  That is true, but the real answer is even deeper than that.   Mercy is God's response to what is broken and damag3ed in us and in all of creation  Mercy is not only shown in forgiving our sins, but in healing everything in us that leads to sin.  It is also the Lord's response to sickness, pain and grief as well as to the terrible injustices suffered by us humans.  Cardinal Walter Kasper in his book Mercy: The Essence of the Gospel and the Key to Christian Life suggests that unlike the thinking of many theologians who see mercy as an attribute of God, mercy is part of the essence of God.  This means that our loving God can't help but be merciful to us.  The key is that we must open ourselves to this precious gift.

   I would like to offer a few practical suggestions that might be followed during this Holy Year.
   
   1.  Celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation.   Notice that I did not just say "Go to Confession."  This wonderful Sacrament is meant to truly be a celebration.  Over the past few years (actually decades) many people have fallen away from the practice of going to Confession. There are many reasons for this.  Some blame lies with us priests for celebrating it poorly or without compassion.  I promised the Lord when I was ordained that I would never yell at anyone in confession, or take their sin personally.  Yes, at times gentle guidance and teaching must be given, but emphasis on "gentle."
Many people who attend Mass regularly have not gone in years.  They figure "I'm basically a good person." In this they are right, but none of us are perfect persons."  To periodically celebrate this sacrament is a way of humbly going before God and saying, "Lord, I am in need of your mercy. Please not only forgive me, but heal in me what leads me so sin."  This is an important dimension that has not been given enough attention.  An example is the person who confesses using bad language.  They want to stop, but don't seem to be able.  The reason is that it is not just a matter of will power and trying harder, but of being healed of the anger, etc. that leads to this practice.  With this brief advice I urge you to go to confession, especially if you haven't been for a while.  Finally, there is no sin, no matter how great, that our merciful God cannot and will not forgive.

   2.  Pray and reflect on what needs healing and compassion within you.  So many of us carry hurt, resentment, fear and shame.  Ask the Lord to set you free.

   3.  Practice mercy. Practice mercy in dealing with others.  Strive to be understanding and gentle even when you disagree.  The social media are filled with angry rants and hurtful comments to others.

    4.  Forgive.  Forgive. Forgive. Not because the wrongdoer deserves it, but because you deserve to be set free from the bondage of past hurts.  How many people are filled with anger over what happened to them years ago?  It's not that one should not have been initially angry, but that carrying it over time harms no one but you.

   5. Practice the Corporal and Spiritual works of mercy.  Huh!  What's that?  Those of us who go back to catechism days had to learn them, but they haven't been done away with, so this is what they are:

Corporal Works of Mercy

The Corporal Works of Mercy are these kind acts by which we help our neighbors with their material and physical needs.

feed the hungry
give drink to the thirsty
clothe the naked
shelter the homeless
visit the sick
visit the imprisoned
bury the dead

Spiritual Works of Mercy

The Spiritual Works of Mercy are acts of compassion, as listed below, by which we help our neighbors with their emotional and spiritual needs.

counsel the doubtful
instruct the ignorant
admonish sinners
comfort the afflicted
forgive offenses
bear wrongs patiently
pray for the living and the dead

So, as Scripture says: "Be Merciful, as your heavenly Father is Merciful" (Lk 6:36)

O Wisdom, A Needed Prayer for Our Times

 December 17 marks the beginning of the final part of Advent, the time when we move to the immediate preparation for our celebration of the Lord's birth.  Each day between now and December 24 is marked by the recitation, or even better, the chanting, of one of the O Antiphons.  We find these during the Alleluia verse at Mass as well as at the praying of the Magnificat at Evening Prayer (Vespers).  These Antiphons, composed in the sixth or seventh century beautifully express the world's longing for the coming Messiah.  While I won't be able to write on each of the coming days I find it worthwhile to comment on this first of the O Antiphons.

   O Wisdom, O Holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet gentle care, Come and show your people the way to salvation.

    Wisdom is a virtue that we all admire, yet I find that it is sorely lacking in today's world.  There are indeed individuals who are imbued with wisdom, but overall it is much needed in our world today.  Our political and social discourse and even many of our religious discussions are in need of wisdom.  Wisdom is different from knowledge and intelligence.  It is the quality of knowing how to use knowledge and intelligence.  Without it we see the tendency to oversimplification.  What passes for political debate in both of our parties is not debate at all.  It is largely the utterance of one-liners and remarks that "show up" the opponent.  With wisdom would come the recognition that problems like fixing the economy, defending against ISIS and other terrorists, gun violence on our streets, immigration reform and a host of other issue, are not solved by quick fix answers.

   Even in Church circles we too easily get polarized into liberal and conservative camps and settle for merely attacking the other side.  Wisdom calls us to pray to find the deeper truth that unites us.

    I use social media and this blog is always posted on Facebook and Twitter, but I must admit that I am often tempted to abandon the social media because it is filled with a lack of Wisdom.  I have indeed at times been guilty of that myself.

   Among the many prayers we might utter between now and Christmas, and well beyond is "Holy Spirit, Fount of Wisdom, fill us with that gift as we strive to meet the challenges presented to us by the world in which we live, and give us leaders in the Church and in society who are imbued with that wonderful gift.

A Gift of Life in Death

 Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, in his recent book, Sacred Fire, discusses the challenges of developing a mature spirituality during the middle years of life.  At the end of this wonderful work he presents the notion of making your death a gift.  He promises to write his next book on that topic, and being ready to turn 71 this week I am eager to read that book when it is published.

   Last night (Friday) and this morning I experienced just what it means to make one's death a gift.   I arrived at St. Luke's parish in HoHoKus, NJ on Thursday in anticipation of preaching a parish mission here beginning with the evening Mass tonight at 5.  Unlike most of the parishes I visit I am no stranger to St.Luke's.  My very good friends Joe and Pat Eitner live here and I have been here often for weddings and baptisms for their family.  I also preached a mission here 26 years ago in 1989.  Each time I visited  here I was warmly received by Fr. Paschal Tsiquaye, a priest who hails from Ghana in West Africa.  He has served as a full and later part time assistant here for many years. Fr. Paschal was close to Joe and Pat especially because he reached out to Pat's mother in her final years.  I can't say that I got to know him well, but the more I saw of him the more I was impressed that he was a truly holy man, not just someone with a lot of external piety, but a true saint.  Shortly after arriving at St. Luke's I was informed that Fr. Paschal had died.

   I attended the wake service for him last night and concelebrated at his funeral Mass this morning. What an outpouring of love for a man who loved so much. Fr. Paschal's family and friends who have now settled in the US and Canada were there, many parishioners and about 20 priests.  The presider at the Mass was Bishop John Flesey, an auxiliary bishop of Newark and regional bishop for this part of the Archdiocese.



   The various testimonies and homilies that were given confirmed my impression that this was a holy man.  He was a man who suffered kidney problems and had to undergo dialysis regularly, yet he gave of himself both tirelessly and cheerfully to everyone he met.  Among the many things said of him that impressed me were first of all words from his pastor of many years.  Besides the many accolades that he bestowed on him he said that he had never received a complaint about him.  Not many of us priests can havew that said about us. When bishop Flesey began the words of final commendation at the end of the Mass he said that like all priests Fr.Paschal frequently said the words of consecration, "This is My Body,  This is My Blood, etc." The bishop said that Fr. Paschal lived those words with his own life.  He gave his body and blood to the Lord and his people.

   As I participated in this beautiful funeral rite I began to realize that I was being given a gift in Fr. Paschal's life and death, a gift that will inspire me to be an even better priest, to give my body and blood, along with the Lord's to God's people.  I am sure that in his life and death he is a gift to many others as well.  May he rest in peace!

   I will live you with one final thought.  Fr. Paschal was know to often say during Mass and especially in homilies, "God is good."  People always completed that sentence by shouting out "all the time,"  As we move into the second week of Advent and here the invitation to "prepare the way of the Lord" let us remember that our Lord and God is good, all the time.