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.

What Do I Do When I'm Not Wandering?

   I will be heading over to Boynton Beach, Florida to preach a parish mission at St. Mark's Parish there. When I return home I will have an entire month with no outside commitments.  When some hear this their understandable reaction is, "Oh, your have a month off."  I politely explain why this is not so. I will be quite busy this month and I thought I might let my blog readers get a glimpse into what I do when I'm not "on the road".

   The first priority during times like this is to spend quality time with my friar community.  I'm delighted when my brothers seem glad that I'm home for a while.  Although I participate in the prayer life of the fraternity even if I'm home for one day, getting into the rhythm of doing that daily is a blessing. Also, while my personal prayer life continues when I travel it is generally deeper and richer when I'm at home.  Our friary is mainly for retirement so I also try to pitch in with things like taking the older guys to medical appointments and to other places they may need to go.  By the way at 71 years old it's great to talk of "older" guys.

   Being a traveling preacher requires preparation.  Reading and study, besides being something I enjoy, is also part of my ministry.  Without new ideas there is no development in my mission presentations. While I don't come up with something new every week, over time new thoughts enter in and my presentations evolve. I always have two books going, one a serious work of theology, spirituality or perhaps some dimension of psychology, the other is a novel.  Good fiction gives insight into the human condition, something a good preacher needs. I read while on the road, but there is more time for it when I'm at home.

   As most of you know I have authored two books.  After the second I thought that I was done with writing books but a third one will be one the way, a series of meditations on the Gospel of John. Stay tuned about that.  In addition to the books I have this blog and am occasionally asked to write an article for our province's newsletter.  People seem to like my writing and often comment on what they say is its good quality.  Saying that is not boasting on my part, it is a tribute to my Catholic education.

   Local parishes often contact our friary when a priest is needed for Masses and/or Confessions.  I have signed up for several days in May at a local parish. I enjoy doing that very much.

   Lastly, time at home affords me the opportunity to check in with the various doctors that need to be seen by someone my age.

    I'm glad to have been able to share this window into my friar life.  I won't be on the road for a month, but it certainly is not time off.  I will have that later when I take my vacation.

  

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