A Special Time

   On August 15, 1963, on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, I first put on the Franciscan habit.  One year and one day later, on August 16, 1964, I professed temporary vows as a Franciscan.  For all of the time since I have been striving, as the title of my latest book says, to follow Jesus in the footsteps of Francis. Even though it was four  years before my final profession and eight years before my ordination as a priest, I knew in my heart that being a Franciscan and wearing the habit, was to be my life.  What I did not know, on that August day was how different the world and the Church would be in the years ahead.

   It did not take long for the world and the Church to change. In November of my novitiate year president Kennedy was assassinated. Shortly after my first profession the vernacular language was introduced into the liturgy and the altar was turned to face the people.  As my seminary years progressed up to my ordination in May, 1971, the world and the country were in turmoil over the Vietnam war, protests were going on over that, and then the civil rights movement took hold.   In 1968, at the end of my first year of theology, both Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated.  As I completed my theological studies a human landed on the moon  and turmoil continued.

    I won't list the all of the further changes that took place, but events like 9/11 certainly come to mind, a shocking time for the world, and a day on which we lost a wonderful friar, Fr. Mychal Judge, OFM.

    With all of the political and ecclesiastical changes that place there also came microwave ovens, computers, smart phones and all sort of technological advances.  Certainly in August of 1963 I did not know what a blog was, and here I am writing on one.

    Needless to say my understanding of being a friar, of wearing this brown habit with its cord and hood, has grown as well.

     In spite of all that change there are several things that have remained constant about being a Franciscan:

     1. Fraternity.  We are a brotherhood. The call of the Second Vatican Council to return to the spirit of our founder has deepened our sense of what this means.  We are less institutional than we were before, but this quality of brotherhood (sisterhood for the Franciscan sisters) is a real, tangible and important part of my life.  My brothers have stood by me, and I by them, through thick and thin. That will be true even as a move into old age. (At 71 I'm notold yet).  That is a blessing.

      2.  Minority.   The M in OFM stands for MINOR.  At the time of St. Francis there were two classes of people, the MAIORES, or powerful ones, and the MINORES, the little, ordinary people. This latter group not only included the very poor, but also those who were excluded in some way, who did not have a say, those whom Pope Francis names as those living on "the peripheries" of society.  For me, though like other first world friars I struggle to truly be a minor, my encounters with folks in places like Buffalo, NY, Camden, NJ, the Bronx, Bolivia, Honduras and mid-town Manhattan as well as many of my students at Columbus High School in Boston's North End, have given me a more compassionate heart and have brought me closer to Christ. Speaking of Pope Francis, his message is only calling us to deepen our living of this quality of minority.

      3.  Prayer.  Obviously as a priest and religious prayer is important.  While my own fidelity to prayer can always improve, it is the glue that holds our life together.  In addition to personal prayer I am finding in recent years that the steady and ongoing participation in community prayer, the Divine Office, even when at times it can be celebrated better, is an ongoing reminder that faith is what makes our life tick, that our brotherhood/sisterhood is based on being children of one God.


   Indeed the world is much different than it was in 1963.  I celebrate these days not as some type of accomplishment on my part, but in gratitude to God whose grace has made it all possible.
  

Silos of Grain, Pope Francis, and today's World Situation

    This Sunday's Gospel text (Luke 12:13-31) is certainly an apt one for our times.  We are all concerned about the violence in our own country, but indeed around the whole world.  Pope Francis has on several occasions suggested that we are in a piecemeal world war, not like the two previous world wars with clusters of nations opposing each other, but rather conflict spread throughout the world involving different sets of adversaries.  The other day, at the World Youth Gathering in Poland His Holiness said that while the world is at war it is not a war of religions, but of money resources and the domination of peoples.

   Some may take exception to his statement citing the obvious connection of violent Islamic groups to religion, but at a deeper level the Pope is right.  Many of those groups are using religion to lay claim to power, control and money.   There are other wars besides the terrorist attacks, Russia and Crimea and the Ukraine and the various outbreaks of violence in Africa.

   The above mentioned Gospel text can inform us on what can be a Christian response to the present situation.  The parable in this passage tells of a man who tears down his storage barns and builds larger ones, thinking that this will provide security.  Jesus, in the end, warns about those who store up treasure for themselves and ignore the things of God.

   For me this parable leads into a dimension of Catholic social teaching that has found its way into legal practice around the world and which is also explained by some of the great theologians of the ages like Thomas Aquinas, that is what is called distributive justice.  This is not the justice of individual rights, but one which says that if an individual, a group or a nation possesses so much wealth that some people do not have access to the basic necessities of life, then there is a situation of injustice.   For the untrained mind in these matters this can sound like a promotion of socialism.  It is not. It is not saying that everyone should have the same amount of goods or that the government should own and control all means of production and distribution of wealth. Both Catholic theologians and secular legal experts recognize the right to private property, with limitations, and the need for some to have more wealth because they do things like employing people and serving the common good in some way.  Distributive justice does mean that both local, national and world governments and institutions should develop a system where everyone has a fair chance.  In my own experience of working in some very poor countries I have witnessed hard working people who just have no chance of working their way out of poverty.

    When this happens people get angry and are prone to act violently.  Pope Francis is correct in saying that this is at the root of so much of the violence we are experiencing.

   I do not offer this reflection as some sort of simplistic,naive thought that this solves everything, but I offer it as food for thought in discerning what is the best path politically and economically for us to take.

   Below are two websites that may be helpful to those who which to explore more about this dimension of Catholic social teaching.



 http://sfxpeaceandjustice.org/principles_docs.html

http://sfxpeaceandjustice.org/principles_types.html

Who is My Neighbor? A Different Slant.

  This Sunday's Gospel text is the well known story of the Good Samaritan. (Lk 10:25-37) This is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible, one that is familiar even to many non-believers.  Most preachers, myself included over the years, focus on the priest and the levite who pass by and then on the Samaritan, the outsider, who proves to be the real neighbor. There is indeed a powerful message and a deep truth in that perspective.  I would like to look at this parable, however, from a different point of view, that of the man who was beaten and robbed, the man in the ditch.  Who was/is that man?  I would suggest that he/she is every person who suffers, especially those who suffer violence. Put into today's context that person is the victim of ISIS, the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, the victims of police brutality (Of course I know that most police are not guilty of that), police themselves who have been shot and killed, Muslim victims of ISIS in Istanbul, indeed all the  victims of violence, war, crime and terrorism, then we can add women and children who have been raped and abused. Add to that list those who suffer from sickness of every kind.  Look into that ditch and see all of them.

    Think now of the man in the story.  He is on the road to Jericho, in the desert where there are more robbers and wild animals.  His brothers in faith have walked by.  He fears dying.  He sees a Samaritan, an outsider, from another religion.  He must now be terrified, but it is the outsider who provides help and healing.  That outsider, the story tells us, has compassion. Maybe the Samaritan has suffered himself.  Perhaps he knows what it is like to be "in the ditch".  Have you and I been "in the ditch"?

    Now look at the Cross of Christ, look at His suffering.  He is the ultimate One in the ditch.  He is in the ditch with all of us.  In rising He lifts all of us from the ditch.  In rising He shows us compassion, compassion that we can then share with others.

    As I watch the news and peruse the internet I see people trying to find blame for why the man is in the ditch, or blame for why there is a ditch.  Few are talking about being a real neighbor and showing compassion--to all. Few also admit that they are in the ditch and are in need of that compassion.

   Again, look at the cross.  See compassion!  Be compassion!  That is what is needed today.

A Call For the Voice of Reason

  My good friend and Franciscan confrere, Fr. Philip O'Shea, OFM, PhD, a wonderful friar and a brilliant philosopher, often cited the not well known motto of Catholic education--esse quam videri, loosely translated what is rather than what appears to be.  Catholic education, in spite of some evidence to the contrary, when at its best has led the student to look beyond the surface appearances and make decisions based on the deeper truth which lies behind those experiences.  In other words it called on people to use reason, as well as faith, to make decisions. It called on people to go beyond surface emotions, to analyze the facts, and then to decide.

   It seems to me that this motto applies in today's world, be it in the Church or in politics.  I was distressed by the recent Brexit vote where people of the UK voted to leave the EU.  I am not British and there may indeed be solid ground for doing this, but it seems that appeals to fear and anger fueled this decision, and that is troubling.

  Here in the US the political atmosphere is an emotional reaction to things that we fear.   CAn we have rational discussions about things like immigration reform or assault weapons control rather than just yelling at those who disagree.

   Part of the problem is not just the variety of left and right politicians who play on fear and anger.  A big part of it is the breakdown of the US educational system.  This is not to deny that there are many bright and wonderful students, many of them doing wonderful things.  It is rather the fact that our curricula have become weaker and weaker on the study of the humanities--literature, history, philosophy.  Yes, science and math are vitally important.  They were my strong suit in my younger days, but it is these other disciplines that train our minds to think, to look at the deeper truth, and come to wise decisions.

   There is legitimate reason to fear many things in our world today.  There is much about which to be angry.  Let us not, however, let fear and anger consume us.  Let us not let any politician, of any persuasion, manipulate us because of our emotions. Let us pray for wisdom and faith and use the God given gift of reason with which we are endowed.

Lord, Grant Us All the Serenity and Courage that We Need!

   Following the presidential primaries and now the final run to November has been discouraging and disheartening to say the least. On this blog I have refrained from endorsing particular candidates or parties.  I have weighed in on issue and will continue to do so, especially issues that call for a faith response and not a partisan political one.

    I find both major candidates wanting.  More alarming is the amount of angry venom that has spilled over into physical violence, but also verbally violent and rude comment, especially in the social media. The electronic media and the press by and large seem content to not only fan the flames, but to pour gasoline on them.

   Where are we to go with this?  I suggest a national reflection on the well known Serenity prayer.  A shortened version of this prayer has become popular through AA and the other 12 step programs and has served people well in their goal of achieving sobriety.   The entire prayer, which I have included in the image on the upper left, was composed a number of years ago by Protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr.  If you are not Christian and just want to pray to God or a Higher Power, be free to do so. The point is that like the alcoholic, addict or co-dependent our culture, our political debate has become dysfunctional and unmanageable.

    The simple message of this prayer is to focus on the things I can change and pray to courageously undertake that change. The real challenge is to accept the things I cannot change.  That doesn't mean that we have to  like the things we cannot change.   The challenge for my readers would be to prayerfully reflect on both of these questions not only in terms of the presidential election, but in terms of all the issues that are affecting our nation and our culture--from politics to education and much more.

   One way to avoid this challenge is to play the blame game.  While I'm sure that blame can be cast all over the lot, when we concentrate on blame we tend not to find solutions.  Also being rigidly liberal or conservative deepens polarization.

   In the end this prayer is a prayer for Wisdom, the most needed virtue in leading us to where we need to go.

One Great Dance of Love--The Trinity

 Several years ago I celebrated Mass in a nearby parish.  After the Mass I greeted people at the door of the Church and someone asked me, "Father, why do we have a feast honoring a doctrine?  Christmas, Easter and other feasts celebrate not just doctrines but things that happened to Jesus, Mary or one of the saints"

   I don't remember exactly what I said to her but I pondered her question after that.  Unfortunately in the western sphere of Christianity academic speculation about the Trinity has turned our understanding of it into a dry mysterious concept.  The Trinity, however, is not just a doctrine. (No, I'm not putting down the idea of a doctrine, just noting that doctrines point to actual spiritual realities.)  The Holy Trinity is a dynamic, flowing reality of love and grace into which we are swept at Baptism, Confirmation, in the other sacraments and in many other ways.

   A moment of inspiration regarding the Trinity came on my visit to the Holy Land in 1993.  Our Catholic group was visiting an area by the Sea of Galilee.  Our bus was in a parking lot and as we disembarked we saw a Jewish group, native Israelis who were visiting the same site.  There were several children in the group and one of them, a young boy, was running, fell down, and bumped his head on the pavement.  There was stunned silence, then the boy started to cry.  With blood dripping from his forehead he spotted his father, got up, ran to him and shouted aloud, "Abba, Abba,Abba." Abba, of course, is Hebrew for father.   His father picked him up, hugged him closely, then attended to his cuts and bruises.

    I thought, "Wow!  Our Christian faith is about God, our loving father, sending Jesus to unite with us. In Jesus God picks us up and lovingly embraces us.   In that embrace their Spirit fills our hearts.  The Trinity then is not just a concept about God. It is a wonderful mystery of love into which we are swept.

   St. Bonaventure, a great theologian in the early days of the Franciscan Order,  speaks of God as a continuing dynamic of love.For Him God is so loving that God has to create.  It is not enough that Father, Son and Spirit are a community of love.  God must go out of Gods" self to love even more.  He calls the Trinity a "fountain fullness of love." into which the whole universe is is swept.  Sr. Ilia Dileo, a contemporary Franciscan theologian, drawing on Bonaventure's fountain image, invites us to think of Niagara Falls. Can you imagine that not as water, but as a source of God's love and grace which envelops us. Now that is something to celebrate.  Happy Trinity Sunday.

Accompanying Others: Understanding Pope Francis

  Ever since Pope Francis uttered the words, "Who am I to Judge?" in reference to a gay person he has been open to unfortunate misinterpretation and misunderstanding. Two words are need to properly understand much of what he says--dialogue and accompaniment.  Both of these are vital elements in good ministry.  I can't say that I have practiced these virtues at all times, but I can say that when I have I have experienced some of the most fruitful moments of my ministry.

   There is a tendency to define people by their sins and weaknesses and to then justify writing them off.  Pope Francis is constantly reminding us that everyone, and he means everyone, is a human person first and therefore worthy of dignity and respect regardless of what they have done.  His visits to prisons and his messages to the prisoners are a great example of this.  He is calling us to keep this in mind in our dealings with those who come to us in the Church, many of whom feel alienated from the Church because of harsh treatment not only by priests but by ordinary parishioners as well. This attitude does not mean on the other hand excusing wrongdoing.  So often to lead a person to conversion and to facing their sins we need to listen to their story.  We have only to turn to Jesus to see this modeled.  I think of the story of the Samaritan woman at the well.  Jesus engages her, asks for a drink of water (a taboo in those times for a man to engage a strange woman in that way) and then talks of living water.  When the woman expresses her desire for this living water Jesus then confronts her with the fact that she has five husbands, something which does not offend her but leads her to tell her friends that He is a prophet.  Jesus listened to her and then spoke the truth in love.  His inviting Himself to the house of Zachaeus, the tax-collector, is another example.

     Pope Francis, in his apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia,  brings up the issue of people who are divorced and remarried. Throughout his papacy he has reminded us that they are not excommunicated even though they may not, according to official teaching, receive communion.  Unfortunately I have heard horror stories of people telling me that they were shunned by priests and even close friends because of their situation.  In inviting us to accompany them we are urged to listen to their pain, to listen to the fact that many did no choose divorce.  Their spouses abandoned them.  Many are, in spite of their situation, making great effort to raise their children Catholic.

    I think of the question of abortion.  Of course it is wrong,  but we need to listen to and understand the pain and desperation that leads so many women to choose abortion.  Our Church has a wonderful program called Project Rachel which is available in many diocese to offer healing to women who have had abortions. Perhaps we need to do more to accompany them before they make such a decision.  I'm not saying that we never do this, but we need to do it more.

   Another concern of mine is the treatment of immigrants.  For those who do not have legal status to simply dismiss them as illegals is wrong.  I often preach missions in Spanish.  A majority of those I preach to are undocumented.  Are they rapists, thieves and murderers? No, they are by and large good Catholics with families that they are trying to form in the faith.  They are fleeing poverty and oppression in the countries they come from.  they are hard working and trying to make a new life here.  Our own laws are overly restrictive.  Most of them would like legal status but we give very few visas for unskilled laborers.  Anyone who takes time with them and listens to their stories would not write them off.   Of course there are bad apples, as it were, among the immigrant population.  Yes, we need border security, but to just lump them all together and seek to deport them all is morally wrong. 

   A short article like this may seem to oversimplify things.  There are certainly twists and turns, complexities in everyone's story.  By truly listening we offer them an opportunity to be open to God's grace and to discover the presence of God in their pain and brokenness.  Sometimes, finally, those of us who minister and listen and dialogue encounter Christ in them.