Listening, a Lenten Penance

This Sunday's Gospel (Luke 9, 28-36) gives us an account of the Transfiguration when Jesus took Peter, James and John up the mountain and revealed Himself to them in His glory. At the end of this experience a voice comes from heaven and says, "This is my Son, my beloved, listen to Him." That command "to listen" is, I believe, a timely on for today, to listen to God and to listen to one another.

We live in the so-called communication age. We can be in touch with one another rapidly via cell phone, the internet and internet based social communication tools such as Facebook and Tweeter. Anyone can get their message out there, including myself with this blog. We're all talking, but are we listening.

In the halls of congress we find republicans and democrats alike yelling at one another and very few of them are really trying to listen to what the other side has to say. This is especially evident in the health care debate. Similar nonsense happens in the Church as well. On TV and radio talk shows allow callers to express their opinion, as long as they agree with the talk show host. One such host has followers who proudly call themselves "ditto heads", meaning that they don't think for themselves but just "ditto" what the host has to say.

To listen does not mean to give another some attention, a hearing, so that we can argue back and prove ourselves right. To listen means to try and we get inside the skin, inside the world of another, to try to experience life from their point of view. In the end we may still disagree but we gain a greater appreciation for the other's perspective.

Listening is a lost art not only on the grand stage of Church and politics. It is sorely needed in interpersonal relationships, especially in marriage.

How about taking on listening as a Lenten penance. Commit to listening more to you husband, wife, parents, children. Listen to someone with different political and theological opinions. Try to understand what leads them to think they way they do. What thoughts, what life experiences have shaped them. Try not to disagree, even if you do, but simply try to draw them out so that you can see where they're coming from. Make an attempt to find common ground even though you may still disagree.

Think of this. The greatest act of listening is the Incarnation where God becomes one of us to walk in our shoes, to experience life as we experience it, to be like us in all things but sin. We cannot imitate that perfectly, but we can aspire to that great act of listening. To truly listen is one of the greatest acts of love that we can perform. So listen, for Lent.

A Growing Church

It is very interesting to realize that our Church is growing in numbers in this country even though within the Church there is anger towards bishops and priests and a lot of bickering about liturgy, liturgical language, the role of women, etc. The Diocese of Atlanta has so many new members coming in on Holy Saturday that the Rite of Election will be held this Sunday at the city's Civic Center rather than at the Cathedral to accommodate the large numbers expected to be there. We are the largest single denomination in the US.

Why is this? I think that is because the faithful people who keep showing up as well as the newcomers who are drawn to us see beyond the externals to what lies deeper behind them. They see the Church to which I was referring in last week's entry entitled,the Church I Love. They experience the mystery of people of faith united in Christ.

It has been said that the greatest proof that the Church is guided by the Spirit is the ineptness and weakness of its leaders. Depending on human resources alone we would have gone down long ago. Wouldn't it be wonderful to say that the leaders help the spirit to work. Many if not most of them do but we need more on board.

Priestly Penitence

During the past week my thoughts turned to Lent, which began yesterday. The first thing that came to mind, even before preparing my Sunday homily, was that perhaps we missed an opportunity for healing. We are in the Year for Priests in the Catholic Church. Much good stuff has been said about the priesthood and people have sent me and other priests letters of support and affirmation. For this I am very grateful. Nonetheless with all the news of sex abuse still continuing, this time in Ireland and the covering up of this abuse as well, and the anger that has come from the way that Church closings and mergers have taken place it would have been wonderful to have priests and bishops dedicate the first Sunday of Lent and the week that follows it as a world time of penance by priests and bishops, penance not only for the big stuff mentioned above, but penance for the arrogance, rudeness, lack of availability that we often show to God's people. First of all we could go to the middle of the sanctuary, kneel down, and ask people's forgiveness for our failures, then we could offer acts of repentance such as giving up some free time during Lent to better serve, visiting shut-ins that have been left to the sole care of lay ministers (This is not a devaluing of lay ministers but an acknowledgment that these good people want to see a priest occasionally),having listening sessions with parishioners to really hear their concerns, and many other possibilities according to each situation.

For my part as much as I try to be kind and available there are some moments of abruptness with folks and I could be much more available to people. I am also guilty of some laziness in preparation of homilies, talks, etc. I ask forgiveness for that and for any way that I fail to reflect Christ who came to serve and not to be served and to give His life as a ransom for the many. Maybe next year there can be such a time during Lent. We priests need to do it and the good Catholic people deserve it.

The Church I Love

This past week I preached a mission at St. Isabel parish on Sanibel Island in Florida. Even after my first Mass there on Saturday I sensed a special spirit in the people there. What it came from was the fact that in August of 2004 the Church there and many of the homes of the parishioners were devastated by hurricane Charlie, the first of several to sweep across Florida that year. Parishioners, many of whom were facing severe damage to their own homes, banded together and saw to it that a new Church was built on the foundation of the old one. As I heard the story of how that happened I realized that more than a building was put up during this time. What happened is that a Church was renewed, a Church made not of stones but of living flesh and blood people.

It is easy to think of Church as institution, as buildings, as bishops, priests and the Pope. So often I hear people raising the question, “Why is the Catholic Church doing such and such?” or “I’ve had enough of the Church being out of touch, etc.” I too often raise such questions, but they need to be directed at the leaders, not at the Church, because the hierarchy, while vitally important to the life of the Church, is not the Church. The Church is the Body of Christ in the world today. It is a living, breathing community of people, united by their Christ, who suffer, struggle and also rejoice together. They come together to rebuild churches, be it in well off Sanibel Island or in extremely poor Haiti. They stand with each other in tragedy and rejoice with each other in good times.

The church is people who have faith, but whose faith is tested when an eleven year old son dies in a car accident, or a young mother dies of cancer. They are hurt by priests who are arrogant, rude and unavailable and by bishops who are more interested in protecting the institution, than in cherishing the mystery of the living Church, because they forget that the institution, though necessary, is there only to serve that mystery.
And where is that Church? It is alive and well. I have seen it over and over again in the over 330 parishes in the US and Canada where I have preached missions. These parishes are rich and poor, urban, rural and suburban. They are made up of English and Spanish speaking, as well has Haitians, Vietnamese and others. This is the Church that I love, the Church that sustains me, and to which I gladly give my life.

Thank You Sister

Many readers of this blog are aware that the Vatican is conducting a visitation of the communities of religious sisters here in the U.S. Some might wonder just what a visitation is. In religious communities of women and men, especially at times of chapter when new leadership is to be elected and/or new policies are to be implemented, someone from outside the community is appointed as a visitator. In the case of us Franciscans it is a friar from another province within the order. This visitator visits each community and each individual friar, listening to the stories of the members, affirming the gifts of each one, but also challenging us to live our life more fully. In recent years I have found these moments to be a blessing. This is what a visitation is supposed to do.

In the case of our religious sisters in the US. the visitator is a sister from Rome, under the direction of a Cardinal who will be helped in her task by a team of sisters. I really do pray and I hope you do as well, that our sisters have a visitation in the sense that I described above. I fear though, that instead of a visitation, there will be an investigation, with the outcome predetermined before the stories are heard.

We are in the midst of The Year for priests, called for by the Vatican. During this year I have been deeply touched by the letters of affirmation that I have receieved from several people, thanking me for my vocation and encouraging me to go on. Perhaps we can contact some of the religious women who have educated us and guided us in other ways, and let them know how much we appreciate them and what they have done for us individually and as a Church. We can also let them know that we are praying for them and that we support them and stand with them during this visitation. Thank you Sister, all of you, for your dedicated lives.

A Well Deserved Award

Holy Name Province of the Franciscans, to which I belong, has over the past twenty years encouraged us friars to not only promote lay involvement but to "partner" with the laity in all of our ministries. By way of backing up this commitment our province since 1998 has given ministries the opportunity to award the Francis medal to those lay people who make outstanding contributions to our life and ministry.

Many of you have commented favorably on the fact the we in the Franciscan Ministry of the Word preach in Spanish as well as English. One of the reasons for our success in this endeavor is Mr. Pete Suarez of Miami to whom we gave the Francis Medal this past Saturday at a dinner in his honor here at St. Anthony Friary.

Rod Petrie and Marty Bednar of our team met Pete back in the early 90's. Pete not only introduced them to various pastors in the Miami area but also became involved as a lay preacher. Pete has been doing that ever since. He also became involved with us on a province wide level, serving as a member of our Hispanic Ministry Committee for several years and participating in several province wide convocations for ministry. In addition to his work with us Pete, who by profession is a plumbing contractor, has earned an MA in Theology and teaches part time at the college seminary of the Archdiocese of Miami. He is likewise involved in his home parish.

At the award dinner Pete was accompanied by his wonderful wife Hilda and four other couples, all of whom are wonderful Catholic Christians and examples of how laity can make a difference in the Church and the world. Congratulations Pete.

In the picture above Pete is pictured with his wife, Hilda, Rod Petrie and John Anglin, to their left, and Marty Bednar on the right.

Human Tragedy, Haiti and God

Once again we receive news that a population made up of some of the poorest people in the world have been struck by a natural disaster, this time the terrible earthquake in Haiti. As soon as such events happen the cry goes up, and understandably so, "Where is God? How can a just and loving God allow things like this?" While I do not pretend to have any definitive answer to that question and no one really does, I would like to offer a reflection and a perspective on this terrible tragedy.

First of all I reject offhand, and indeed find it appalling, that anyone who considers them self Christian would suggest that God is punishing these people. Shame on the Pat Robertsons of this world who say things like this. What is true is that the Creator has placed us in a fragile world where storms, earthquakes, pandemics, etc happen frequently. Life is fragile and when these things happen they should provide an awakening to all of us and a reminder that we are not in charge here, that there is no guarantee that we will live to be 80 years old, even though that is more or less the statistical norm. I say this not to frighten anyone but rather to suggest that in spite of our modern technology and great advances in medicine we will never succeed in total control over nature. It is an illusion to think otherwise and when we face the truth of this we become more free and more aware of what is really important in life.

More importantly we can so easily ask, "Why does this happen to poor people so often?" Instead, I think we need to be asking "Why is there so much poverty? Why is there so much unequal distribution of the goods of this world, gifted to us by the creator?" A 7.0 earthquake is a tragedy whether it happens in Beverly Hills, Greenwhich, CT, Nigeria or Haiti. The challenge for us is to learn the lessons, not so much that the Creator sends us from above, but that are naturally built into such tragedies by the Creator. The whole world is and will continue to respond to help the poor people of Haiti. We always seem to step up to the plate when these tragedies strike. In a short while, however, the aid will cease to come and the poverty and injustice will continue, or will it? The blame for that falls on us humans, not on the creator. Will our response be different this time? Will we numb ourselves to the human suffering in Haiti and elsewhere, or will we change our priorities?