The Joy of the Gospel

  Joy and mercy.  These two words sum up both the frequent homilies and speeches of Pope Francis as well as the content of his writings, above all his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel).  Right now I would like to reflect on "joy".  I will take up "mercy" at another time,

   I was recently touring the western US by train and struck up an
interesting conversation with a young graduate student.  As we
moved from casual chatter to more serious discourse I let it be
known that I was a Catholic priest.  He let me know that he was
raised Catholic but wasn't so sure about the faith any more. We
talked about several teachings of the Church and I found that despite his doubts he was more well educated in matters of the faith than most people of his age.  When the subject of regular Mass attendance came up though I was surprised by what he said.  I don't remember his exact words but they were something like this, "There's not much fun in going to church."  I was taken aback by this not by way of taking offense but just because his words surprised me.  I told him that while I was 100% in favor of having fun that I did not go to Mass to have fun, that there were other motivations than fun for doing things.  He realized the truth of what I said and commented that nonetheless people of his generation often used "having fun" as a criterion for engaging themselves.

   That conversation has stayed with me and it deepened my realization that not only the Mass, but our faith itself while not being an occasion for fun, though I must admit that I have often had a great deal of fun at church gatherings, is an occasion for joy.

   What's the difference?  Fun is basically about having a good time. Nothing wrong with that. But joy is something deeper.  For me it is the deep abiding satisfaction and peace of mind and heart that comes from knowing that one's belief and actions, even though they be difficult and require sacrifice, give meaning to my life.   The ultimate source of joy for me is my faith in Jesus Christ.  Apart from religion I believe that there is a joy that comes from serving one's country or working for a great cause. There is joy in a good marriage even if there are many difficult moments as well. The same can be said for being a parent even though at any given moment a parent may doubt that.  There is certainly joy for me in being a priest and a Franciscan friar.

   With the news that we have heard recently of Christians being persecuted in Iraq, Syria and other places I think it is important to embrace the true meaning of joy.  In the Gospel text from Matthew this Sunday Jesus tells the disciples that he must suffer and that they too, and we today must take up the cross everyday to follow Him. (See Matt. 16:21-27).  Our faith does indeed give me and countless others cause for putting a big smile on our faces.  Moments of deep spiritual encounter with the Lord can do that.  Faith, however, is not just about feeling good.   Many today look to religion to make them feel good.  Nothing wrong with that as far as it goes.  What our faith in Jesus give us however is more than feel good moments.  It gives us the realization that when hardship and suffering and even death confront us that we have something that can take us through suffering and death to life, not only to life on the other side of the grave, but to a fullness and richness of life while on this earth because of that faith.

   At that level faith is something to live for, to be willing to die for, and it is the cause for joy.

A 50 Year Journey

  "The Rule and life of the Friars Minor is this, namely, to observe the Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by living in obedience, without anything of one's own, and in chastity."  (Rule of St. Francis, 1223)


  Fifty years ago today, on August 16, 1964, I promised to live by the rule and life of the Friars Minor.  I was 19 years old having just completed my novitiate.  I took temporary vows for three years.  In 1967 I made it final and after four more years of study in 1971 I was ordained a priest.

   The most important thing that I can say about this fifty year journey is that I am happy, and yes, I would do it all over again.

   One might ask, "How does one become happy over a fifty year period by taking vows of poverty, chastity and obedience?"  The key for me lies in the statement from our Franciscan rule which I quoted above.  These promises are not made in a vacuum, or just individually.  What attracted me to the Franciscans was not the vows per se. It was the friars. I had wonderful parish priests at St. William's in the Dorchester section of Boston where I grew up. The Franciscans who taught me at Columbus High school in Boston, however, just seemed to have a spirit that drew me towards them.  Above all they seemed happy and enjoyed being together.   Needless to say after joining the friars I was soon exposed to the not so pleasant foibles of some of the friars.  We are, after all, human, but over the years I have realized how blessed I am to have brothers who support and encourage me in countless ways. The word friar, by the way, is derived from the Latin frater, and the French frere, both of which mean brother.

   In addition to the friar, brother part of our life is that other word, minor.  At the time of Francis there were two social classes, the mairoes or majors--the powerful, and the minores, the minors, the little people, those on the margins.  Our life then is a call to live as a minor and above all to identify with and accompany the minores of our times. It can be a struggle to live that value in present day America but I can say that when I have lived that reality I have experienced the greatest joy and fulfillment of my life be it in the North End of Boston, midtown Manhattan, The Bronx, Buffalo, NY, Bolivia or my recent mission trips to Honduras, or the many different people that I have had the privilege of serving on the many missions I have preached.  That experience has helped me to realize in a deeper way that my brothers are not only the friars with whom I have lived, but that the many people I serve are my brothers and sisters as well
                                                                                                               

 

With my uncle Tom and my cousin Dennis at my simple profession on August 16, 1964

   The actual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience then are the means of enabling me to be a friar minor.  Without those everything that I mentioned above would not be possible.
 
    Back in 1964 I could not have imagined the changes that would take place in the Church and in the world over the next 50 years.  The Second Vatican Council as still in progress and I actually took my vows in Latin.  In 1967 I would pronounce my final vows in English.  The whole way that religious life was lived has undergone tremendous development over that time.  I am thankful for having experienced all of it, both past and present.

   The same can be said for the world we live in.  The Vietnam War was on and the civil rights movement was in full swing.  Though we were isolated from that in the novitiate those events would impact our life as friars in the years ahead.  From those times right up to our present post 9/11 struggles it became clear that as Friars Minor we were called to be a prophetic presence in the world, not withdrawing to the monastery, but living in the friary and stepping out into the world supporting the struggling and challenging all to live the values of the Gospel.  For those who know me it is this and not any political leaning, that generates my stands on any number of issues in our present world.  My province and the entire Order are a source of strength in doing that.  After all, as the opening statement says, "The rule and life of the Friars Minor is to live the holy Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ.."  I am still, after 50 years, growing in living up to that challenge.

October, 2013, after not quite 50 years

A Canticle from a Jubilee Journey.

I just returned from a wonderful vacation, an Amtrak train vacation through parts of our country that I had never seen (and I few that I had seen).  As many of you know on August 16 I will celebrate 50 years a a professed Franciscan, my golden jubilee.  My province of the order gives us a little more time and money for vacation on that occasion.  Instead of traveling overseas, which I have had the good fortune of doing several times, I thought of seeing parts of our own country that I had not seen.  Also I love trains and thought that viewing areas by train rather than flying over them would be a great way to accomplish this.  I was not disappointed.

   I wanted to share this experience and decided that rather than some type of travelog I would express myself in a different way.  Inspired by St. Francis Canticle of the Creatures, though not imitating it slavishly, I have composed my own canticle with pictorial accompaniment. Though I do not, as did St. Francis,  address the various aspects of creation and all of God's wonderful creatures as brother and sister I certainly more and more are becoming aware that I am the creature, not the Creator, and that I am brother to all of creation.

Canticle from a Jubilee Journey

Most High and Glorious all good God. To You be praise for all the awesome beauty and grandeur of your creation and for the men and women who enhance that beauty.

Praised be You my Lord for great cities that house your people and that give expression to the highest aspirations of men and women, cities that show forth great tall buildings and that display wonderful works of music and art, not to mention hospitals and medical centers that bring healing to so many.

And may You be praised as well for farms and fields that produce food in abundance to feed your people.

For majestic high mountains be praised as well, mountains that show your mighty grandeur, mountains that send water into your streams and rivers, waters that quench our thirst and keep us clean.

For wide open plains so splendid in their vastness may you be praised, reminders that we creatures are so small in relation not only to our planet, but to the universe and above all to You, our great, glorious and Most High God. 

Be praised as well my Lord for vast and arid desert places, places that remind us that You alone can fill the many voids and dry places that we find in our own lives.

And above all dear Lord, be praised for people, men and women made in your image and likeness, people of every race and religion, people of many styles of life all of them made in Your wonderful image and likeness.



 

And Yes, dear Lord, we must sadly admit that we don’t always reflect the goodness and beauty that comes from You alone.  We abuse your creation and we create divisions among ourselves that lead to hatred, division and war.   

Help us to remember Lord who you are, to trust in your great love and to seek your mercy, for only then will we know the peace that You alone can give.

So then Lord, be praised when by your grace we heal our divisions through forgiveness and restore the beauty of your damaged creation. 




All praise, thanksgiving and glory to You, O Lord, for all the blessings that have come my way in 50 years of Franciscan life 

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Immigration Reform with Eyes of Faith

   

       Over the past few years I have more and more become an advocate of comprehensive immigration reform.  At the outset I want to state that the reason is not political. It is religious, born of my commitment to live the Gospel.  To tell the truth politicians of both liberal and conservative leanings have disappointed me.Enough said about that let's take a look at a few issues.

      Many law-abiding citizens understandably stop immediately at the issue of legality. They decide that if they are here illegally the debate is over.  Not so fast please.  I draw on my personal experience here.  I was a missionary in Bolivia over thirty years ago.  Because of this I speak Spanish and have had the privilege of preaching parish missions in Spanish in the southeastern United States.  Most of the immigrants whose stories I have heard would love to have come legally into our country but the door was closed.  We allow, I believe, 5000 unskilled laborers into our country every year.  Many business leaders say that we need 250,000 such permits.  Without debating the numbers let's agree that a lot more such permits are needed.  The undocumented (I refuse just to label them as "illegals".) people that I see are faith-filled Catholics who work hard at jobs that most Americans refuse to do.  They are not lazy parasites drawing unjustly on the welfare system, though yes, there are some of those.  Many pay taxes and pay into social security.  Most are raising children who are fine US citizens.  Many immigrants as well as their children have served in the US military, some of them sacrificing their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

      Lest those reading think that I am naive and looking through rose-colored glasses I assure you that I am not.  I am aware that drug traffickers, smugglers and human traffickers are among those who who cross our borders illegally.  The borders must be secured to be sure.

   What to do?   If 11 million people are undocumented and most of them came here to escape poverty and find a home here let's create a path to legal status and possible citizenship.  This is not amnesty. It is not a free ride. It is not just handing out citizenship papers instantly.  There has to be a path with strict requirements, perhaps a more difficult path than the one traveled by those already here by legal means.  Doing this would help weed out the bad guys because I don't thin that the crooks would apply for fear of getting caught.

     Some say, "Just deport them all."  At what cost financially?  And to our image as a country?  Unfortunately the Obama administration is deporting a lot of people and splitting up families in the process.  Is this an expression of the family values

In My Hands, In My Heart--Corpus Christi, Honduras and the World

  This past Sunday I returned home after having made, for the third year in a row, a mission trip to Trujillo, Honduras with Christ the King Parish in Little Rock, Arkansas. Over those three years I have visited several small towns whose residents are poor but who are filled with faith.  I have celebrated Mass in those places and visited some of those confined to home due to illness. Those visits range from a 22 year old young woman suffering from cerebral palsy whose smile warmed our hearts two years ago, to a little boy  of 7 years old suffering from the effects of encephalitis to a 101 yr old man whose smile was radiant simply because a priest was visiting him. I also visited the local hospital  where I anointed several patients awaiting surgery and got to see the bright smile of Victor, nine years old, who received a prosthesis for his amputated leg two years ago and who now plays soccer.  Adding to the list of memories are the celebrations of Mass at an orphanage there, a place where the Franciscan Sisters and their staff bring love, care and good education to many children, truly a place of hope, but also celebrations of Mass in the Trujillo jail, a place of darkness and despair, but one graced by the faith of a small group of residents for who the Mass meant so much.

   With all of this in mind I am preparing to celebrate Corpus Christi--The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, a feast of the Eucharist.  Over the years this feast has taken on ever greater importance for me not only because I believe that the Lord is indeed truly present in the consecrated bread and wine which I hold in my hands but because through the wonderful gift of the Eucharist I am one, not only with the Lord but with the people of Honduras and all of the people that I have had the privilege of serving over the years.

   This year I will be especially mindful of the people of Honduras as well as the missionaries from Arkansas that I had the privilege of serving with.  I will hold them in my hands, and in my heart, because they, along with people everywhere, are part of the Body of Christ.

   This is a dimension of the Eucharist that I feel is sadly neglected.  The term Body of Christ was first used by St. Paul in reference to the Church that he had been persecuting.  He would later connect the mystery of the Body of Christ with the Eucharist and in his first letter to the Corinthians he writes, "Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread." (1 Cor 10:17)

   It seems that unfortunately there are many who truly believe in the real presence of Christ in the bread and in the wine but they do not make the connection to the entire mystery which is the Body of Christ. There are others who do not believe or who think it is just a symbol.  Perhaps their faith would be strengthened if this connection were made more clearly.

  At any rate when I celebrate the Eucharist I try to be mindful that in Christ I am one not only with the people of Honduras mentioned above, but also with suffering Christians all over the world, with people who are victims of war and violence and with people of all cultures who celebrate the same Eucharist.

   One final note--the above message is clearly laid out in my book, The Wandering Friar. It is available on Amazon and also at thewanderingfriar.tateauthor.com

  The Body of Christ.   Amen.

One Last, But Wonderful, Report from Honduras

Full Moon over Trujillo

  Well folks, the electricity and internet has been spotty at best this year, but it's up and running today.There have been many touching episodes that show that the good Lord is at work here.  Again I will let the pictures tell the story

Evangelization team leader Suzie Blanco working with children

Walking on dirt path to visit the sick in Santa Fe

Very poor home of a woman we visited

Woman baking coconut bread in Santa Fe

|Stained Glass window at orphanage says in Spanish, Let the children Come to Me."

Fr. John Marconi and I at special Baptism Mass at the orphanage

Mass at the Trujillo Prison

Victor who received a prosthesis two years ago from the mission. He now plays soccer and is fitted for an updated prosthesis.

3 sisters baptized together at Mass at Finca de los Ninos orphanage.

More Pictures, More Stories

  After another busy day here in Trujillo and surrounding towns great tings continue to happen. Yesterday our evangelization team went to Maranones in the morning followed by a visit to Carney-Guadaloupe in the afternoon where we did one of our encuentros. Today found us in Santa Fe which is home to the Garifuna people here.  They are a wonderful people whose origins are in Africa. Their forebears shipwrecked on the way to becoming slaves in what is now Haiti.  The survivors ended up on an island where they were chased off by the British.  They found their way to the coast of Central America.  They are Hondurans. they speak Spanish, but they have also maintained their own language and culture.  Some of the pictures show us in Santa Fe.  Enjoy.

Gathering for an encuentro Mass at Carney

People waiting at clinic in maranones

Our leader, Sandee Haslauer with Hector Mendoza, our Honduran leader

Deacon Don Greenway, Myself and Fr. John Marconi at encuentro Mass

Wonderful attendance at Encuentro Mass

Santa Fe Garifuna woman baking coconut bread loves

Back at Maranones with people waiting for clinic service gathered in prayer