Young Fogeys

If only the Eagles were a better football team

2012-02-01T15:02:00.000-05:00

From the Los Angeles Times Online, this morning:

From the Los Angeles Times Online, January 23:

A political rant

2012-01-30T11:19:00.003-05:00

I don't care who Iowans voted for, nor do I care about whom the Republicans of New Hampshire or South Carolina chose. I don't care whom Floridians choose tomorrow. They live where they live, and I live where I live. These different primary dates may have been necessary before instant communication technology, when candidates had to physically be in a state to be an effective campaigner. But we don't need them anymore.

Let's have just one primary date in America, when all 50 states go to the polls to choose their parties' nominees for elected offices ranging from the President of the United States to local dog catcher and everything in between. Boards of Education and Fire Commissioner elections usually have not only candidates on the ballot, but also the approval of their respective annual budgets; let's get a bigger turnout at those!

Please save me from hours and hours of pundits sucking up all the TV time telling me how a candidate did at a rally in Iowa and how it is supposed to affect me (I really don't care what they think, either). He or she will likely be out of race before New Jersey has their primary. Finally, I don't care how rich candidates are, how many speeding tickets their children have, or what they thought, said, or wrote any time before 2005. I don't care if they're too fat or too skinny, how they dress, or what kind of pets they have.

Again I say, save me from the TV pundits. They make me hate politics.

Great quote

2012-01-22T10:26:00.006-05:00

Again, from the Schonborn book:

The priest puts on liturgical vestments "so as to distinguish himself from himself" -
Nikolay Gogol (1809-1852)

"Who is the greatest?"

2012-01-22T10:21:00.002-05:00

When I'm not hearing confessions, I'm reading a book. Currently, it's The Joy of Being a Priest made of the talks of a retreat for Priests given by Cardinal Schönborn in Ars, France. I'm about two-thirds through it, and so far it had been full of the usuals: prayer is important, reading Scripture is important, etc.

But yesterday, it got "real". He is talking about the institution narrative in Luke's Gospel, and I quote:

"But the fact that Luke places one of these rather ignoble discussions right after the institution of the Eucharist gives us pause. How is this possible? Jesus has just entrusted to them the most precious treasure, his testament, his life given and delivered up for the salvation of the world. And a few minutes later they are preoccupied with precedence, a rivalry about who is greater, the all-too-human and all-too-clerical game of making one's importance felt, of claiming the spotlight, of vying for success, popularity, and worldly greatness. How shocking! A clerical tiff, an 'argument in the sacristy' in the Upper Room, the evening before Jesus' Passion, on the night he was betrayed, when he freely gave himself up to his Passion! How many times have we left the church after Mass only to start up our rivalries immediately - if it had not already happened, surreptitiously, during the Mass itself!"

Religion in the Modern World

2012-01-21T16:43:00.000-05:00

For all those who've had to sit through seminars and workshops like this. This one's for you.

Mark 3:21

2012-01-21T09:42:00.000-05:00

Snow finally caught up to us overnight. Like others (especially Pastors), I had held out vain hopes that we'd get through a winter without any snow. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty, it's scenic, it makes for great pictures (parents, get your kids out of bed, throw on their winter coats and send them outside, and go take your Christmas card picture for 2012!!! You laugh now but you'll thank me next December). Yes, an ontological change happens upon ordination to the Priesthood, we're all on the same page for that. But something happens when you're a Pastor, a Rector, or anyone who has to keep to a budget. In the words of Ricky Ricardo, "Lemme 'splain":

You're a child and it snows = "Yay! No school"
You're a teen and it snows = "Cool, no school"
You're in college and it snows = "Wait, it snowed?"
You're a seminarian and it snows = Doesn't matter. You still have classes.
You're a Priest and it snows = "Isn't it pretty?"
You're a Pastor and it snows = "How much will this cost to plow?"

OK, back to here. I went over for the 8am Mass, not really knowing how many would be coming. Only once in my time here have I had a Mass with no one present. In all, 5 guys showed up (no, not the burger and fries people, though that would have been cool), including a seminarian who took it upon himself to shovel the front steps of church and lay down some salt - I love the zeal.

So what was the Gospel passage on the first snowy morning of winter? Being the Feast of St. Agnes, I had the choice of the propers for her Feast Day, or the readings of the day. When I saw the latter, I couldn't resist. Mark 3:21 "...they said, 'He is out of his mind.'" Your families, I told them, might have said the very things as you left in the snow this morning to come to Mass. Certainly there must have been a few who thought young Agnes was out of her mind for not saving her own life by simply marrying the Roman Proconsul's son. But there were undoubtedly those who saw her witness and became curious about Christianity. Maybe they became Christians themselves, or maybe they just gained a new respect for Christians and their willingness to suffer for their beliefs. Just like there may have been those in cars passing the church this morning, seeing the lights on inside (and maybe a person or two walking through the snow to Mass) and wondering why you'd do that? We never know who we'll affect in life. We never know who will see us in a random drive past. But we do know God sees everything. He saw Agnes give her life, and he saw you leave a warm house to come to Mass.

[I wonder how many people God is going to watch say, "It's too dangerous to drive to Mass", after watching the same folks spend the day driving their children to karate, dance, or go to the diner, the mall, or the movies?]

A football pitch, public land, and an interesting pro-life message

2012-01-18T11:30:00.000-05:00

Here's the story: The London Telegraph has an article about an interesting situation involving a football [soccer] team's place to play. The team has played on land which was donated to the soccer club in 1922 by a wealthy woman as a tribute to the bravery of the men of the village who fought in the 1st World War.

Here's where it gets interesting: The gift of the land came with the condition that, twenty-one years after the death of King Edward VII's last living descendent (a boy whose mother was Edward & Alexandra's daughter, Maud, and who would later become King Olav V of Norway), the land would change ownership and be owned by the town. King Olav died in 1991, and so since then the town has been waiting for 2012, when the codicil would kick in and the ownership of the land would change.

Here's where it gets reeeeeeeally interesting: The club management is challenging the transfer in ownership based on the exact wording of the transfer. The words technically says that ownership changes twenty-one years after the death of the last grandchild "in being" at the time the agreement was signed. Taking "in being" literally, the lawyers are arguing, the actual last grandchild was the Earl of Harewood (a boy, George Lascelles, whose mother was Princess Mary, the granddaughter of King Edward and so a direct descendent who would later become the Earl of Harewood). Lascelles was born on February 7, 1923, only a few months after the land gift was signed, and so was, at the time, in the womb of his mother. Lawyers for the soccer club contend that he was the last descendent of King Edward "in being" at the time the gift took place. Lord Harewood died last July, and lawyers argue THAT'S when the 21 year countdown to the transfer of ownership began.

Lawyers for the soccer team and the town, of course, take positions on both sides. It will be interesting to see if English courts rule that a child in the womb (albeit 89 years ago) counts as "alive"?

Random thoughts

2012-01-16T18:46:00.002-05:00

Thank you, Tim Tebow. If you used to drop on one knee and pray to Jesus Christ, you were some sort of freak. Tim, you "mainstreamed it". Thanks.

Thank you, Eli Manning, for reminding us that a "Hail Mary" every now and then won't kill us. It might even change the course of the game.

New Security System

2012-01-11T09:57:00.000-05:00

Eager for his privacy, at an audience in the Vatican this morning, Pope Benedict accepted delivery of the first of what are rumored to be hundreds of crocodiles which will fill the newly installed moat at the summer residence of Castelgandolfo. (Thank you, Reuters, for the picture)

Wanna know how my brain works? (Warning: It's a scary place)

2012-01-11T09:31:00.001-05:00

This morning's 1st Reading at Mass tells us "all Israel from Dan to Beersheba came to know that Samuel was an accredited prophet of the Lord." This got me wondering about Dan and Beersheba.

A map on Wikipedia showed the locations of the cities, Dan in the extreme north and Beersheba in the extreme south.

So there it is: The author was making the point of Samuel's renown from the very north to the very south. I wondered how to convey that in my homily. Use the geography of New Jersey? How about the geography of the United States? Samuel was recognized in the land from Maine to....

Which in my brain led to me singing this:

Happy 100th Birthday, New Jersey native Charles Addams

2012-01-07T09:37:00.000-05:00

The Year of Faith: How to get ready

2012-01-07T09:09:00.002-05:00

Ten months before it begins, the CDF today released notes with suggestions on how, on levels going from the universal Church to local parishes, the Year of Faith should be marked. Here are the parish suggestions:

IV. At the level of the parish/community/association/movement
1. In preparation for the Year of Faith, all of the faithful are invited to read closely and meditate upon Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Letter, Porta fidei.

2. The Year of Faith "will also be a good opportunity to intensify the celebration of the faith in the liturgy, especially in the Eucharist." In the Eucharist, mystery of faith and source of the new evangelization, the faith of the Church is proclaimed, celebrated and strengthened. All of the faithful are invited to participate in the Eucharist actively, fruitfully and with awareness, in order to be authentic witnesses of the Lord.

3. Priests should devote greater attention to the study of the documents of Vatican Council II and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, drawing from them resources for the pastoral care of their parishes – catechesis, preaching, Sacramental preparation. They should also offer cycles of homilies on the faith or on certain specific aspects such as, for example, "the encounter with Christ", "the fundamental contents of the Creed", and "faith and the Church."

4. Catechists should hold more firmly to the doctrinal richness of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and, under the direction of their pastors, offer guidance in reading this precious document to groups of faithful, working toward a deeper common understanding thereof, with the goal of creating small communities of faith, and of giving witness to the Lord Jesus.

5. It is hoped that there will be a renewed commitment in parishes to the distribution of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and of other resources appropriate for families, which are true domestic churches and the primary setting for the transmission of the faith. This might be done, for example, during the blessing of homes, the Baptism of adults, Confirmations and Marriages. This can contribute to the deepening of Catholic teaching "in our homes and among our families, so that everyone may feel a strong need to know better and to transmit to future generations the faith of all times."

6. The promotion of missions and other popular programs in parishes and in the workplace can help the faithful to rediscover the gift of Baptismal faith and the task of giving witness, knowing that the Christian vocation "by its very nature is also a vocation to the apostolate."

7. During this time, members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and of Societies of Apostolic Life are asked to work towards the new evangelization with a renewed union to the Lord Jesus, each according to their proper charism, in fidelity to the Holy Father and to sound doctrine.

8. Contemplative communities, during the Year of Faith, should pray specifically for the renewal of the faith among the People of God and for a new impulse for its transmission to the young.

9. Associations and Ecclesial Movements are invited to promote specific initiatives which, through the contribution of their proper charism and in collaboration with their local Pastors, will contribute to the wider experience of the Year of Faith. The new Communities and Ecclesial Movements, in a creative and generous way, will be able to find the most appropriate ways in which to offer their witness to the faith in service to the Church.

10. All of the faithful, called to renew the gift of faith, should try to communicate their own experience of faith and charity to their brothers and sisters of other religions, with those who do not believe, and with those who are just indifferent. In this way, it is hoped that the entire Christian people will begin a kind of mission toward those with whom they live and work, knowing that they "have welcomed the news of salvation which is meant for every man."

Ten months from now, there can be no use of the excuse, "Rome didn't give us enough time to prepare to do these things." [That's me saying it; it's not in the document.]

Blessed Epiphany, everyone!

2012-01-06T21:37:00.003-05:00

Whether you adhere to the traditional January 6th date, or you'll celebrate it on the transferred date this weekend, a blessed Twelfth-night to you all.

I apologize for being out of the blogosphere since Christmas. Time moves fast, and I joined my fellow clergy in enjoying a day or two (some considerably more) of "down time" following Christmas Eve and Day Masses.

I promise I'll try to do my best to pay attention to those of you hungry for the opines that come from my brain. Until the next time, here are three gifts for you to ponder:

The translation transition went remarkably well, I think. The worry about rioting in churches turned out to have the same roots in reality as those who felt coffee makers with electronic timers would stop working on January 1, 2000.
New Cardinals were announced today. Congratulations to (in order of precedence) Archbishops O'Brien and Dolan. The National Catholic Reporter has a piece in their usual cynical style, showing they either don't know their facts about the Church's Cardinals, or they do know and opted to do an article in "bitchy little nitpicky" style (is that the new Turabian?). I won't put a link. If you go to it they'll convince themselves that you reading it means you think like they do. I've read it, and the people who comment are freakier than the reporter who wrote it.
NBC News in New York has been beautifully positive in covering the stories about the announcement of the new Cardinals (including Abp. O'Brien because he is a New York native himself). I predict that, by the time the Consistory occurs on February, most stories in the secular press will also include the obligatory mention of pedophilia, Cardinal Law, the Crusades, Pope Joan, the Borgias, Pope Pius XII, or something down that road.

Merry Christmas, new arms!

2011-12-27T21:17:00.001-05:00

A few years ago, as a gift for the 10th anniversary of my Priestly ordination, my pal, Fr. Guy Selvester (author of the blog Omniapost, Rector of the Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in our diocese, and a pretty well-known figure in heraldic circles in the U.S. and overseas) designed a coat of arms for me. As I wrote in a previous blog entry, last October I became a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. My coat of arms changes to reflect this, and so Father Guy has reworked my arms to reflect the change. Here it is:

The decoration of a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre is obviously the new addition.
The black galero (hat) identifies me as a Priest.
The ecclesial rank of "Priest" is shown heraldically by two tassels, one on either side of the shield. The two tassels on either side identify me as a Vicar Forane (a.k.a. a "Dean", the Bishop's representative/liaison for a specific geographic territory), an office to which my Bishop has appointed me for a term. When I am no longer Dean, two of my tassels will disappear.
The burning bush commemorates my roots in Judaism. The moment in salvation history represents God's call given to Moses. But the bush has also been seen as an foreshadowing of Christ. Probably the most well known artwork which shows this adorns the Paul VI Audience Hall in the Vatican, in a bronze and brass sculpture called "The Resurrection" by artist Pericle Fazzini. No, the sculpture in Rome is not one of my favorite pieces of artwork. It can mean God's call to me to enter the Catholic Church, His call to the Priesthood, or the constant call to holiness that all of us receive.
The top of the shield is black, the color most associated with Priests. The gold fleur-de-lis are symbols of the Blessed Mother as well as the emblem of the Boy Scouts of America. The crescent, a symbol of the Immaculate Conception, appears in the coat of arms of Seton Hall University, at which I attended the College Seminary of the Immaculate Conception at St. Andrew's Hall. The black upper is separated from the yellow lower by a series of small mounds, which represents my major Theology alma mater, Mount Saint Mary's Seminary.
The motto below, "Love in Deed and in Truth", comes from 1. John 3:18.

I want to publicly thank Father Guy for his artwork.

Feast of St. Stephen

2011-12-26T10:08:00.000-05:00

"Grant, Lord, we pray,
that we may imitate what we worship,
and so learn to love even our enemies,
for we celebrate the heavenly birthday
of a man who knew how to pray even for his persecutors."

The Gospels are tough, and now so are Opening Prayers.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-26T10:03:00.003-05:00

A "heat event"?

2011-12-19T12:48:00.000-05:00

This is a great link to a story I do not imagine the media will be covering, the possible discovery of the remains of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The Sacred Page: Sodom and Gomorrah Excavated: By far the most interesting session at the recent Society of Biblical Literature Congress in San Francisco was one I wandered into by chance...

2011-12-17T12:21:00.006-05:00

"To go to a penance service, not tell your sins to a Priest, and leave thinking your forgiven is like going to the Emergency Room, not telling the doctor what hurts, and leave thinking you're all better!"

Me.

Last week's bulletin

The Sith who Stole Christmas

2011-11-30T09:38:00.000-05:00

Must've been a Kindergarten teacher

2011-11-28T09:27:00.001-05:00

An Associated Press article about the revised translation included this gem:

Kathleen McCormack, a church volunteer and former school teacher, said she didn't like the new translation and didn't understand why the church needed a translation closer to Latin. "Consubstantial? What is that word?" McCormack said, referring to a term in the retranslated Nicene Creed that replaces language calling Jesus "one in being with the Father."

Words are hard, aren't they? They make us sad, don't they? Maybe if I give you some crayons and a piece of paper, you can draw me a picture of how you feel.

The Breviary and its obligation

2011-11-26T07:47:00.001-05:00

In the seminary, our Liturgy of the Hours book (also known as the Breviary) came to be known as "the wife". Besides the promise of respect and obedience to our bishop (who would change through the years), the other promise we made was to faithfully pray the Liturgy of the Hours each day. The joke carried on: A guy who brought his brieviary to the cafeteria was "taking his wife out to dinner". Two guys with their breviaries were "double dating". I saw this on the Zenit site and thought it was interesting for those of us under the obligation to pray the Liturgy of the Hours.

Obligation of the Liturgy of the Hours

ROME, NOV. 22, 2011 (Zenit.org); Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.

Q: I learned from an older priest that the breviary obligation binds a transitional deacon and priest under pains of mortal sin. I searched canon law and the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours but found no clear answer. What is the right way to think of that? -- L.M., Etang Rey, Haiti

A: During the development process for the 1983 Code of Canon Law it was decided to remove expressions such as "under pain of mortal sin" with respect to the external prescriptions of Church law. In part this was done to distinguish Church law and the moral law. Church law covers the external relationship of individuals in the Christian community. Since sin also involves internal factors, the law, in itself, does not bind under pain of sin. This technical distinction does not mean that no sin is committed by transgressing Church law. The fact that the code no longer binds attending Sunday Mass under pain of mortal sin does not change the fact that willful and inexcusable absence is mortally sinful.

With respect to the obligation of the Liturgy of the Hours for transitional deacons and priests, the Congregation for Divine Worship on Nov. 15, 2000, issued a formal response to a doubt (Prot No. 2330/00/L) on this topic. This unofficial English translation was published by the liturgy office of the U.S. bishops' conference. The congregation first makes a substantial affirmation regarding the nature of the Liturgy of the Hours:

"The integral and daily celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours is, for priests and deacons on the way to the priesthood, a substantial part of their ecclesial ministry.
"Only an impoverished vision would look at this responsibility as a mere fulfilling of a canonical obligation, even though it is such, and not keep in mind that the sacramental ordination confers on the deacon and on the priest a special office to lift up to the one and triune God praise for His goodness, for His sovereign beauty, and for his merciful design for our supernatural salvation. Along with praise, priests and deacons present before the Divine Majesty a prayer of intercession so as to worthily respond to the spiritual and temporal necessities of the Church and all humanity.
"In effect, even in similar circumstances, these prayers do not constitute a private act but rather form part of the public worship of the Church, in such a way that upon reciting the Hours, the sacred minister fulfills his ecclesial duty: the priest or deacon who in the intimacy of the Church, or of an oratory, or his residence, gives himself over to the celebration of the Divine Office effects, even when there may be no one who is accompanying him, an act which is eminently ecclesial in the name of the Church and in favor of all the Church, and inclusive of all humanity. The Roman Pontifical reads: 'Are you resolved to maintain and deepen a spirit of prayer appropriate to your way of life and, in keeping with what is required of you, to celebrate faithfully the Liturgy of the Hours for the Church and for the whole world?' (Cf. Roman Pontifical, Rite of the Ordination of Deacons).
"Thus, in the same rite of diaconal ordination, the sacred minister asks for and receives from the Church the mandate of the recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours, which mandate pertains, therefore, to the orbit of ministerial responsibilities of the ordained, and goes beyond that of his personal piety. Sacred ministers, along with the Bishops, find themselves joined in the ministry of intercession for the People of God who have been entrusted to them, as they were to Moses (Ex 17, 8-16), to the Apostles (1 Tim 2, 1-6) and to the same Jesus Christ 'who is at the right hand of the Father and intercedes for us' (Rom 8, 34). Similarly, the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours, no. 108 states: 'Those who pray the psalms in the liturgy of the hours do so not so much in their own name as in the name of the entire Body of Christ."

The response adds some further historical and canonical background. It then addresses the central question of the obligation of the liturgy of the hours:

"Question #1: What is the mind of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments regarding the extension of the obligation of celebration or reciting daily the Liturgy of the Hours?
"Response: Those who have been ordained are morally bound, in virtue of the same ordination they have received, to the celebration or the entire and daily recitation of the Divine Office such as is canonically established in canon 276, § 2, n. 3 of the CIC, cited previously. This recitation does not have for its part the nature of a private devotion or of a pious exercise realized by the personal will alone of the cleric but rather is an act proper to the sacred ministry and pastoral office.

"Question #2: Is the obligation sub gravi extended to the entire recitation of the Divine Office?
"Response: The following must be kept in mind:
"A serious reason, be it of health, or of pastoral service in ministry, or of an act of charity, or of fatigue, not a simple inconvenience, may excuse the partial recitation and even the entire Divine Office, according to the general principle that establishes that a mere ecclesiastical law does not bind when a serious inconvenience is present;
"The total or partial omission of the Office due to laziness alone or due to the performance of activities of unnecessary diversion, is not licit, and even more so, constitutes an underestimation, according to the gravity of the matter, of the ministerial office and of the positive law of the Church;
"To omit the Hours of Morning Prayer (Lauds) and Evening Prayer (Vespers) requires a greater reason still, given that these Hours are the 'double hinge of the daily Office' (SC 89);
"If a priest must celebrate Mass several times on the same day or hear confessions for several hours or preach several times on the same day, and this causes him fatigue, he may consider, with tranquility of conscience, that he has a legitimate excuse for omitting a proportionate part of the Office;
"The proper Ordinary of the priest or deacon can, for a just or serious reason, according to the case, dispense him totally or partially from the recitation of the Divine Office, or commute it to another act of piety (as, for example, the Holy Rosary, the Stations of the Cross, a biblical or spiritual reading, a time of mental prayer reasonably prolonged, etc.).

"Question: What role does the criterion of 'veritas temporis' (correspondence to time of day) play concerning this question?
"Response: The answer must be given in parts, to clarify the diverse cases.
"The 'Office of Readings' does not have a strict time assigned, and may be celebrated at any hour, and it can be omitted if there exists one of the reasons signalled out in the answer indicated under number 2 above. According to custom, the Office of Readings may be celebrated any time beginning with the evening hours or night time hours of the previous day, after Evening Prayer (Vespers) (Cf. GILH, 59).
"The same holds true for the 'intermediate hours,' which, nevertheless, have no set time for their celebration. For their recitation, the time that intervenes between morning and afternoon should be observed. Outside of choir, of the three hours, Mid-Morning Prayer (Tertia), Mid-Day Prayer (Sexta), and Mid-Afternoon Prayer (Nona), it is fitting to select one of these three, the one that more easily corresponds to the time of day, so that the tradition of praying during the day, in the midst of working, be maintained (Cf. GILH, 77).
"By itself, Morning Prayer (Lauds) should be recited during the morning hours and Evening Prayer (Vespers) during the evening hours, as the names of these parts of the Office indicate. If someone cannot recite Morning Prayer (Lauds) in the morning, he has the obligation of reciting it as soon thereafter as possible. In the same way, if Evening Prayer (Vespers) cannot be recited during the evening hours, it must be recited as soon thereafter as possible (SC 89). In other words, the obstacle, which impedes the observation of the 'true time of the hours', is not by itself a cause that excuses the recitation either of Morning Prayer (Lauds) or of Evening Prayer (Vespers), because it is a question of the 'Principal Hours' (SC, 89) which 'merit the greatest esteem' (GILH, 40).
"Whoever willingly recites the Liturgy of the Hours and endeavors to celebrate the praises of the Creator of the universe with dedication, can at least recite the psalmody of the hour that has been omitted without the hymn and conclude with only a short reading and the prayer."

Rick Santorum Bares His Soul About Bella.wmv

2011-11-22T12:51:00.000-05:00

A powerful witness.

They grow 'em big in Slovakia

2011-11-21T09:17:00.001-05:00

Check out this clip from a Boston Bruins game played on Veterans Day.
http://youtu.be/X1hUATo_pGE

Not only a great moment put together for this soldier's parents, but a great idea of just how big Zdeno Chara is. Six foot nine... Plus skates. Whoa.

The storm on the horizon and my grief about it

2011-10-31T14:41:00.001-04:00

No, I'm not talking about weather. For two times in the last four days, I've been contacted to anoint someone who is dying. Certainly, this is not a problem; this is "what we do" as Parish Priests. The two live in the parish boundaries, and no one is questioning the state of their health. But here's what both have in common:

Neither appears on our books as a parishioner.
Neither had family members contact us that the person is at the end of their life (in one case, it was neighbors; in the other case, the hospice caregiver).
One of the two lived alone. The other is living with children, who also aren't registered parishioners.
I know it's petty, but neither asked if we could come, but ordered a priest to come, as if they were calling for a pizza to be delivered to their home.

Priests reading this will probably recognize the situation. The elderly, fairly Catholic, Mass-attending, faith-having believers are old and dying. Their children (and grandchildren) don't attend Mass and don't see the need for it. They see no need to come to Mass to pray for their sick loved ones, or even to stop in a church to spend some time with the Eucharistic Lord, and now, to keep their consciences clear, they want a Priest to come and give their loved one "last rites" (though they really don't know what that is or that we stopped using the term decades ago).

There's a generation of Catholics out there, generally in their 40s to 50s in age, whose years of religious education left them with nothing to turn to in their adulthood. Back then, doctrine went out the window, only to be replaced with arts and crafts and music time. They know very little about the Sacraments (if given a word pool, they could probably name all seven), and essentially don't see the need for them on our road to Heaven. Church, for them, is a commodity, like bread, milk, or eggs: They like having convenience stores nearby that will sell it to them when they want it, but they certainly don't believe they have any dependence on it for survival. And, since in their minds, "all eggs are the same", it doesn't matter whether we get our eggs at Quick-Chek or WaWas. Faith is more about instant gratification than eternal redemption. If Blah-Blah Bible Church has better donuts than St. Fillintheblank's, we'll go there instead. After all, it's all the same.

I was having lunch with a Priest-friend who lamented about a morning meeting he had. A woman called the office, requesting a sponsor certificate to be a Godparent. She identified herself as a parishioner, though there was no record of her. She was in a marriage not recognized by the Church. Oh yes, and the baptism was four days away, in St. Louis! The woman, of course, was not happy that she wasn't getting the sponsor certificate. My friend opined, "And somehow, all of this is MY fault.", when we explain why they really shouldn't have a letter from the parish identifying them as a practicing Catholic. Whenever we talk about inactive Catholics, it's almost always with a presupposition that the institutional Church is the reason they're away from the Sacraments. No one dares say that the reason they've been away is because they chose to do so. Yes, we've had plenty of talk about the "New Evangelization", but what I fear we're dreadfully unprepared for is the question of what happens when we preach the Gospel to our own team, and they choose to walk away? Do we, like Christ, have enough of a conviction of our beliefs to let them go, as he did with those who did not understand his Bread of Life discourse?

If all of this weren't enough, the generation of "Catholic-in-theory" has bred. Their children, having been brought up with the church as "location, not vocation", only know the church as a physical place, and not as the Divinely instituted community of heaven and earth (of which, by the way, they are already members through Baptism). Truthfully, most have spent more actual hours in basements of churches going to religious education than in the church itself attending Mass and praying. They have been sent to us to gain an understanding of the Triune God, of Jesus Christ, of the Church and all she professes, much like parents send their kids for lessons in piano or gymnastics (something they buy, but don't do themselves). To these families, we spend lots of time attempting a kind of ecclesial-seduction: We schedule special Masses and confessions at the same time that their children normally attend religious education, hoping in our hearts that this will get them to begin a regular practice of their faith. In reality though, we know that, if we do not schedule Sacraments while the kids are here, many parents will not do it for themselves. In their minds, this is "what they pay us for." We try to instill in the parents an understanding of the need to take their children to Mass. To do this, we try things like a sign-in sheet at the door, or prayer slips that are supposed to be placed in the collection basket. Parents, meanwhile, treat this as a game of Cat & Mouse, in which they do what they can to avoid Sunday Mass, yet at the same time trying to fool us into thinking they went. It used to be that church and parents worked together for the children; now it seems we've become adversaries.

I know that there's a quote out there from Pope Benedict which says that the Church of the future will be "less populated, but more faith-filled". Maybe in other parts of the world, but not in the United States. Our crowd of marginal Catholics will continue to live their lives separate from the Church, coming around for Christmas Eve, Easter Sunday, Baptisms, 1st Communions, Confirmations, and funerals. We'll allow it, avoiding any conversations about accountability or responsibility.

Truth is, we really don't want them to change their ways. Uncatechized adult Catholics would require work, time spent instructing them in the Truth and destructing what they've come to believe as truth, and we don't want that. Priests have a work schedule largely unaccountable to anyone, and many of them take advantage of that. We'd rather take their occasional envelopes and go on making them feel that what they do is perfectly fine. For their part, most of these marginal Catholics disagree with celibacy, the papacy, contraception, abortion, and moral absolutes, yet are unwilling to make the commitment of formally leaving the Catholic Church and going to a community that espouses those very things. They want none of the rules but all of the privileges. They haven't played one game of the regular season or playoffs, but they still want the champagne bath of a champion!

Please forgive this rant if you are one of those families who do go out of your way to fight the cultural tide and hang on to your Catholic faith. I do know you're out there and that your decisions sometimes make you the "bad guys" to your kids and "religious zealots" to your neighbors. None of this rant applies to you. It's just that sometimes pastors feel like we work and work and work to get somewhere, and we're still right where we started.

Still, time marches on. Little by little, the older generation dies, and THIS will be the next generation. The generation that put $10. in their envelope each week will be replaced by the generation that puts $10. in an envelope 4-5 times a year. Since Priests are also the managers of their parish's budget, this is something that will affect us all. The stormclouds are on the horizon, I'm just sayin'.

John 21:12

2011-10-29T17:37:00.001-04:00

A link from New Advent took me to another blogger, who has an entry entitled, "50 of the World's Best Breakfasts". Some look attractive, some I'd consider skipping, but all of them are interesting to see.

Bacteria trained to save art

2011-10-26T18:44:00.000-04:00

Sacred art restorers have a new ally in their efforts to restore centuries-old frescos. L'Osservatore Romano has the story of specially trained bacteria that eat the glue that had been used to do repairs in the past, but had done damage to the original paintings.

New Bishop for Harlem

2011-10-25T07:13:00.001-04:00

Not quite ours, but I thought it was interesting.

This morning, Pope Benedict appoint a new Auxiliary Bishop for the Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam in the Netherlands. A neat reminder of the Dutch roots of New York City.

Just who said what today in Rome?

2011-10-24T22:09:00.000-04:00

Much has been written today about the Vatican's supposed call for a central world bank. Bob Moynihan of Inside The Vatican has a nice explanation of just what did come from Rome today:

The important piece of news out of Rome today is that the Vatican has allegedly called for a "central world bank" in reponse to the continuing speculation and instability in the world financial system.

I say "allegedly" because the text in which this call appears is not by Pope Benedict, but by a Vatican office, the Council for Justice and Peace. Such an office can issue papers which do not bear the Pope's "seal of approval" in the same way that a papal encyclical would.

We are dealing here, then, with something on the order of a "position paper," not a text containing authoritative magisterial teaching.

It is a serious document, worth weighing with real attention ... but not a document with binding doctrinal authority.

Nevertheless, after the Vatican released the document at a press conference this morning, the internet was abuzz with reports like ... one from Reuters, suggesting that this document's call for some controls over global financial speculation links the Vatican ideologically to the US protest movement "Occupy Wall Street" (!!!).

That's a bit of a stretch.

Newsflash: 84 year old Pope is old!

2011-10-16T14:28:00.000-04:00

The big story at the opening Mass for the Synod on the New Evangelization was not the call for a "Year of Faith". It was the fact that the Pope stood on the same moveable platform built for Pope John Paul II. I think that makes it a 2nd Class relic, doesn't it?

MSNBC made a point of reminding us that the Pope is "aging" (add to that USA Today and the AP). Gotta love those reporters. You think they had anonymous sources? You think they did any research, digging out the Pope's birth certificate? Maybe they can send their ace investigators to find our President's birth certificate.

A few things to remember here:

Yes, the Pope is 84 years old.
The aisle of St. Peter's Basilica is long. Walking up the center aisle would be about the equivalent of walking a football field from goalpost to goalpost.
The Pope is 5'6 (without miter). The platform raises him up another two feet, allowing people to see him other than those who squeeze onto the aisle.
A crazy woman jumped the Pope a few Christmases ago. The platform makes it harder for nutjobs to get at him.
Staying on the "crazy" tangent, there are mothers who literally hold their infants out into the aisle, hoping to get the Pope to stop by them. The platform stops what must be child abuse in some form.

Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

2011-10-07T08:32:00.001-04:00

I know, about four days after the feast. But I was away during the middle of the week, and didn't have the chance to give some thoughts. Well, one big thought, really. I used this at the homily I gave at morning Mass.

I'm not sure how many of you are Star Trek fans, but the plot of one of the many movies jumped out at me early Tuesday morning, as I wondered what to preach about. Remember Star Trek: First Contact, when the crew goes back in time (I know, they always go back in time) to make sure the Borg don't prevent Zephram Cochrane from making the first contact with a passing Vulcan ship?

Geek diversion: In the Star Trek world, Cochrane's experimental Warp Drive flight catches the attention of a passing ship of Vulcans, convincing them that humans are not so primitive and are ready to find out that they're not alone in the universe. The Vulcans make the historic "first contact" with human beings.

Going back in time to stop the Borg from preventing First Contact, the Enterprise crew meet Zephram Cochrane, the man they grew up knowing as this almost mythical, legendary figure. In the future, there are monuments to him, high schools named after him, his theories are required courses in Starfleet Academy, and the place where his rocket took off has become a National Park and historic site. But when they meet him, he's not the larger than life-pioneer-scientist they expected him to be. He's a slob. He drinks too much. He flirts with the girls. He likes Roy Orbison music. He burps and makes other bodily noises. When they tell him the truth about their mission there, he tries to run away. It's all too much for him to comprehend. He tries telling them, "I'm not a statue, I'm just a man!"

What would St. Francis say to us, if we all went back in time to meet him? Certainly we'd all want to touch him, shake his hand, whip out our iPhones and snap a photo with him (preferably with a bird on his shoulders). Maybe we'd tell him how his little Porziuncola is now surrounded by a mammoth Basilica. Maybe we'd thank him for Nativity Scenes and "Make me a channel of your peace..." (Though he'd look at us funny, since he didn't write it). Perhaps Francis would laugh, thinking we're joking. He, too, might run away from all the attention, all this being too much for him to comprehend. He, too, might say, I'm not a statue (or a stained glass window); I'm just a man."

Maybe we've made St. Francis "larger than life", too. Maybe we've made him so out of our league when it comes to works and holiness that we can't even imagine genuine imitation of him. Being so far out of our range makes him "safe", we all agree he's too unreachable so we all agree not to try. Maybe we forget that the Saints were human beings like us, given the same graces, having the same weaknesses.

What if it were the other way? What if Francis came to our time, came to your parish, came to a Mass you were at, and sat next to you. Maybe you make small talk with him; maybe he introduces himself to you. What if he tells you he came from the past to tell us that sanctity is possible? What if someone else came and sat next to you at Mass, and told you they were from the future, and in their parish is a statue of you. How would you react?

Make your way to the movies!

2011-10-06T23:27:00.000-04:00

Last Monday, I was invited to a screening of the movie, The Way, starring Martin Sheen and written, produced, and directed by his son, Emilio Estevez. Why was I invited? I wish I could tell you it was because I am an influential member of the Catholic media, or that I was going to have Sheen and/or Estevez on my old radio show (at times I do miss it). Truth be told, my name is still on old contact lists for some media outlets that have Catholic connections, so off to Bensalem, Pennsylvania I went, bringing along my bud, Fr. Guy Selvester.

The movie begins with a father (played by Sheen) being told that his son (played in cameos by Estevez) was killed in a weather-related accident while making the ancient Camino pilgrimage from France and across Spain. Once there to identify and bring his son's body home, Sheen decides to make the pilgrimage himself, bringing his son's cremated remains along on last "father/son" thing they would ever do. Along the way, he meets people who both change him and are changed by him.

No surprise to anyone we're a sedentary society. The same holds true for Catholics, who sit in a car to get to Mass, sit in a pew, and then sit in the car again to go home. This movie reminds us of one of the most ancient and overlooked traditions of our faith: The pilgrimage. Can anything else be more Christlike than to go from town to town, being welcomed into homes and eating what's there? In the Q&A afterwards, Sheen put it this way: "People on pilgrimage tend to overpack, and as they walk, they discard what they find they don't really need. It starts with things, but after a while, they start letting go of feelings: anger, hostility; things they've been carrying for 35 years."

It's a great movie, and I wholeheartedly recommend seeing it. Just be prepared to hear that little voice in you question whether a pilgrimage wouldn't be good for you? I know it did that for me. For more information about the movie and where it is showing, click HERE.

Me, KHS

2011-10-03T09:57:00.001-04:00

Do not adjust your computer screens, people, yes, that's me all dressed up. This past weekend I was invested into [deep breath] The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, at a ceremony at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan. No, I didn't have to get on a horse (I know PETA would've called that animal cruelty). I'm in the mozzetta that Priest Knights wear: white with the Jerusalem Cross in red on the side. This picture was taken at the Vigil Service the day before, held at the Church of Our Saviour, also in NYC. Bishop Barres of Allentown presided at that Mass, in which we were "presented" with the mozzetta. The investiture Mass was done by Archbishop O'Brien, former Abp. of Baltimore, New York native, and the Pro-Grand Master of the Order (the "Pro" gets removed when he is created a Cardinal, which is practically a "done deal" by being named to the office), in the presence of Abp. Dolan of New York, and a bunch of other prelates. In the picture, I'm not yet wearing the actual decoration, which hangs on a black ribbon around the neck. We received that after the Investiture Mass.

For more information about the order, click on this LINK from the Vatican website.

Thoughts for this Sunday's Gospel

2011-10-02T18:02:00.000-04:00

Again with the vineyard! Two weeks ago it was about the vineyard owner's generosity in paying full day's wages to those who hadn't worked a full day. Last week it was about his sons, one a whiner who ends up doing what he's told, and the other a sweet-talker who tells you what you want to hear but doesn't carry through.

This Sunday's readings give us our last glimpse into this vineyard, and we go out in style: Isaiah gives us his friend's vineyard song, Psalm 80 is our Responsorial Psalm (all about a vine), and the Gospel tells about nasty vineyard tenant farmers who refuse to give the owner what he's owed from the harvest.

In the parable, Jesus makes a point of mentioning 3 attributes of the vineyard:

A hedge, which was almost always a thick thorn bush, deliberately chosen to keep out animals and discourage human thieves.
A winepress, used to crush the grapes and get the juice.
A watchtower, which not only gave a view to see any thieves approaching, but was a place to house workers.

Those details jumped out at me this weekend. They're not really necessary for the point of the parable to be made, and yet we're told about them. Let's focus on them:

The hedge. From what has God been protecting us?

The winepress. What has stubbornness done to us? What does God have to "squeeze" out of us in order to obtain?

The tower. Perspective changes everything. What would we have done differently in our lives, had we seen it from another point of view?

Possible miracle of Archbishop Fulton Sheen under investigation

2011-10-02T09:35:00.000-04:00

Could we be getting ready for "Blessed Fulton Sheen"?

Mass during a hurricane

2011-09-25T20:18:00.000-04:00

I rediscovered this picture just now. On the Sunday morning when Hurricane Irene was overhead, I snapped this picture after finishing the 8am Mass. Power was out in the church, but the church has no shortage of candles!

Immaculate Conception Chapel - Mt. St. Mary's University

2011-09-22T08:41:00.002-04:00

The I.C. Chapel of Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland, serves the whole community, both the college students and the seminarians. Last week (after rescheduling the event due to Abp. Chaput's installation and the memorial Mass for Abp. Sambi) a rededication Mass took place, to commemorate the chapel renovations. Thankfully, they put the ceremony on YouTube.

Photos of the chapel and dedication can be found by clicking HERE.

The Gospel of [gasp] Oprah!

2011-09-18T09:21:00.003-04:00

Last week's Sunday readings gave us the theme of forgiveness. This week, we bounce off of that and tackle the question of generosity. MT 20:15 is such a great line:

"Are you envious because I am generous?"

To see this Gospel lived out, I present to you a clip from this past season of the Oprah Winfrey Show. I first saw this watching a great show Oprah did about the "behind the scenes" stuff of what went into producing the episodes of her show's 25th (and final) season.

Everyone knows about Oprah's "Favorite Things" episodes, where an unsuspecting audience hits the jackpot and gets to take home all sorts of things that Oprah had deemed her "favorites". This year, to do things bigger in her last season, she decided to do not one, but two "Favorite Thing" episodes. The first episode went as normal, with an audience getting their gifts on the way out of the taping. This time, though, the producers did a cruel thing: they routed the departing audience past the crowd waiting to be the audience for the next taping. Of course, the departing crowd carrying bags of stuff with smiles frozen on their faces told the story of what had happened in that previous taping. No longer happy simply with being able to be part of an Oprah taping, the resentment brewed within them, resentment that they missed that taping and resentment at Oprah's famed generosity. The link below takes you to where Oprah (knowing exactly what was about to happen) leads them on in letting out their anger. You can almost hear her the landowner's question, "Are you envious because I am generous?"

Click HERE.

Mosaic work - "I'm not dead yet"

2011-09-16T08:58:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I took the train into Manhattan. I came out in front of a new exit out of Penn Station on 7th Avenue. As I was taking an escalator up, my eyes caught the most beautiful and detailed mosaic tile artwork. Their beauty caught my attention, A clock, the Post Office, a Greek column.

I did some digging on the internet, and found the company that made them. Check out the panels by clicking HERE. The work was done by The Unicorn Studio, located in New York City.

How wonderful it would be to see some newly created mosaic work in churches.

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

2011-09-14T18:57:00.000-04:00

My pal, Fr. Guy, put a "Cross" themed song up on his blog. I've always liked this one.

Abp. Gomez's history lesson

2011-09-14T09:15:00.001-04:00

I both love and hate when American civil holidays intersect with the Church's calendar. I love reminding people that July 4 is the Feast of St. Elizabeth of Portugal. I love telling people in Confession that they didn't have to confess they missed Mass on Thanksgiving Day. I hate having the fight with musicians who want to play patriotic music as a hymn on Memorial Day or Veterans Day weekend (even though the actual day we celebrate it is not the Saturday night or Sunday in question). My most favorite moment was a year July 4 fell on a Saturday, and so Independence Day was "celebrated" on Monday, July 6. I was preparing for daily Mass on the Feast of St. Maria Goretti, when the parish organist came into the sacristy, telling me they would be playing for the Mass, "Because I always play on the 4th of July." I told them I'm not celebrating the 4th of July today (right about now I noticed the organist's red, white, and blue couture); I did that on the past Saturday, and that I was celebrating the Feast of St. Maria Goretti. In short, I was celebrating July 6 on July 6.

But I digress. What I love, when American civil holidays come, is to give a quick reminder of the Catholic roots of United States History. I like to remind people about how the full name of Christopher Columbus' third ship was "Santa Maria de Immaculada Concepcion", and the role of a Priest, Fr. Juan Perez, in introducing Columbus to the Spanish Royals. I love to talk about the influence of St. Robert Bellarmine on the thinking of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. But, above all, I love telling the story of the first explorers of America, largely Catholic, and the remnants of their explorations.

Archbishop Gomez of Los Angeles brought this to light as part of a speech he game recently titled, Immigration and the Next America: Perspectives From Our History. You can read it by clicking HERE; The history part starts on page 2 of the speech.

I'm in a New York state of mind

2011-09-12T10:47:00.003-04:00

Archbishop Dolan's Blog has links to both his homily at the Mass he celebrated at St. Patrick's Cathedral yesterday, as well as Cardinal Egan's homily from the Mass he celebrated yesterday at St. Peter's Church, just across from Ground Zero.

My 9/11/11 Homily

2011-09-11T21:01:00.003-04:00

Aha, I gotcha! Yes, I'll get to this weekend's homily. But first you must sit through this informative presentation about a wonderful opportunity to own vacation property in Laurence Harbor, New Jersey. Well, not really. But this might be helpful to understand before I get to the homilies I preached this weekend.

My homilies are not, so to speak, "set in stone." They morph, they flow, they change from Mass to Mass. I've used the metaphor before, but I look at preaching a homily the way people use batting cages. You know, get in the cage, pop some quarters into the machine, 10 baseballs come at you, your job is to hit them. When I do it, the first round of batting cage baseballs is all about simply making contact with the ball; fouled off, bouncer to the pitcher, I don't care. The next round is about making decent contact with the ball: not just hitting it, but hitting it solidly. Once I've got this down, the rounds after this are when the fun begins. Now that I'm "in the groove", so to speak, it's time to see what I can do with the ball. Can I pull it? Can I go opposite field? Can I hit a power homer straightaway center field? Can I deliberately hit a base hit between the 3rd baseman and shortstop? Two weekends a month, in my parish, a Deacon preaches two Masses, leaving me to preach the other two. But the other two weekends (and the occasional fifth weekend in the month), I preach all the Masses. On those 4-homily weekends, the "batting cage" philosophy goes into effect.

Except for a Homiletics class I took in the seminary, I have never preached a word-for-word prepared text. Years ago in my political days I read a book of collected speeches by President Ronald Reagan, in which he revealed that he used a kind of written shorthand for notes for his speeches. My years of watching political speeches taught me that prepared texts do not keep peoples' attentions for long, so I made the resolution long ago to stay away from them. The papers I read from the Ambo are actually just the notes of what I want to say, things that jar my memory. If you read them out loud, they make little sense. They are, so to speak, the bat I will use to swing at these baseballs that will come at me. And what are the "baseballs", metaphorically speaking? The ideas, the concepts, the thoughts I want the people in the pews to hear, to understand, to think about and hopefully to take with them out of the church when Mass is over.

For the first homily, on Saturday night, I'm just concerned about getting my timing down as I'm delivering the homily. The Saturday night crowd is this subculture the Church has created whose overriding attitude is that Mass is something to be gotten out of the way so Sundays can be free for whatever reason. Believe me, many are sitting through my homily pondering not what I'm saying, but whether they'd rather go to the diner for dinner or for Chinese food?

Yes, I know what they're thinking. I can read minds. I'm also a Jedi Knight. I just haven't figured out how to use the Force to lock the church doors so they can't all blow out of Mass early.

By the end of that homily, I know whether the jokes work, whether something is worded awkwardly, and whether my notes take me where I want to go. After the homily is over, probably like most Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, I think of what I could have said that would have been better. So on Saturday night the homily again gets tweaked for use at Sunday Masses.

The second homily happens at the first Mass on Sunday, and here that's the 8:00am Mass. The 8am crowd is, in some ways, like the 4:30 crowd from last night, except they've resolved that the Sunday is all theirs' AFTER Mass. The tougher thing about the 8am Mass crowd is to get a reaction from them. It's early in the morning, and very few are keen on laughing out loud (and certainly not answering any questions if I give them a 'pop quiz' on what they remember from last weekend's Mass?). "If you get the 8am Mass crowd to laugh out loud", I've told visiting clergy, "you've essentially jumped through two hoops. You were funny and you were funny enough to get a reaction out of them." That means I have to work harder to get my message into their heads, and so therein lies the connection to the second round of batting cage balls. I need to not just make contact with the balls, but good, solid contact. It's the "Pete Rose homily": mostly base hits, with the occasional strikeout and the rare home run.

If I've done that, then the next two Masses become the fun homilies. Having in my head what I want to say and how I can get that message out of me best, I can now have some fun with the homilies. Maybe a new opening? Maybe a quote from someone? Maybe a new joke? Maybe a different ending? Maybe a line from the weekend's readings that I didn't focus on before? The other homilies I focused on the Gospel; maybe this time I'll tackle what the 2nd Reading has to say and why it was included this Sunday? It would be personally boring to me to give the same exact homily multiple times at Sunday Masses, and if I'm bored with it I know that will seep out into my delivery and body language. The fear is that it leads to the "He doesn't care, why should I care?" attitude.

I tell you all of this as the world's HUGE-EST preface: In passing along my homily from this past weekend, I'm not really telling you what I said verbatim. I'm really synthesizing all four homilies, and in doing so presenting myself in the best possible light.

That being said, It's now more than an hour later than when I started typing. Now I'm hungry, and so you'll have to wait a little longer for the homily.

[It's the next day now - and here's the homily]

I'm always amazed how, more often than not each week, the Sunday readings seem to come have some relevance to both local and world events. A few weeks ago, last Monday, knowing what we'd be remembering this weekend, I looked at the readings, and there it was in front of me: "Lord, how often must I forgive?" I thought, "Whoa, Lord, you're good."

On this weekend when it seems that every channel on TV is re-presenting the events of ten years ago, begging us to remember the feelings we had, this weekend the Lord puts in front of us "The f-word": Forgiveness.

What can we say about forgiveness? We know that it's so important that, when Jesus gives the Apostles the Our Father (a prayer in which we ask for 7 things), He makes a point of having us ask God to forgive our sins. But he didn't stop there! He put a condition on it: "Forgive us our trespasses ...as we forgive those who trespass against us." In other words, we're asking God to only forgive our sins as much as we forgive those who hurt us.

That's the point of today's parable in the Gospel. The servant owes the King a huge amount, he can't pay it, and the King decides to forget about the whole debt. We call that "Grace": a free gift from God. Over the course of our lives, we've had thousands of those "grace meetings" with God, some graces we know about (going to Confession, receiving Holy Communion), some graces we won't know about until after we die. So the King forgives the huge debt of the servant, and that same servant refuses to forgive the debt he is owed by another servant. Matthew makes a point of telling us there's physical violence: the one servant chokes the other! Then the King finds out, and there's another meeting. This time, there's no grace, just judgment. We'll have thousands of "grace meetings" with God, AND, like the servant, we'll have exactly one "judgment meeting" with The King.

This time, I noticed the King has "torturers". St. Matthew makes a point of telling us there is more than one of them (he uses the plural). How do you get that job? Is there an exam you have to pass? Is it a civil service job? Do you start as an apprentice torturer and then work your way up? Can you imagine the job description? So he sends the servant to the torturers until he "pays the debt". THAT'S WHAT WE DO TO OURSELVES. When we refuse to forgive, we send ourselves to the torturers over and over.

The 1st Reading from Sirach lays it out so beautifully. "Forgive your neighbor's injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.", and, "Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself, can he seek pardon for his own sins?" Once again, we can only expect God to forgive our own sins if we show Him that we are trying to forgive others who hurt us, just as He Himself does.

Why do we do it? First, because as St. Paul tells us in the 2nd Reading, "whether we live or die, we are the Lord's." But also because of what Sirach says, "Remember your last days." In other words, remember there will come a time when your life in this world will end, and think of what really matters in consideration of that. I was watching a show last night about the phone messages made by people trapped in the Twin Towers to their families. Knowing their lives were in danger, did they call their enemies to tell them, "I still don't like you!"? No, they called their families and said, "I want you to know I love you." When lives were on the line at Ground Zero, humanity wanted to give: store owners gave out food, cases of water, sneakers, whatever they had and people needed. Furniture owners sent recliner chairs to the site so rescuers could take breaks. Towns around the country sent filter masks, gloves, and even their own fire and rescue squads. Lines went out the door at Blood Banks around the country, as people wanted to give their own blood. Children around the world sent stuffed animals to the children of the deceased.

The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (which is like the "Cliff notes" to the Catechism itself, says this in talking about forgiveness:

Compendium #595 – “Mercy can penetrate our hearts only if we ourselves learn how to forgive – even our enemies. Now even if it seems impossible for us to satisfy this requirement, the heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit can, like Christ, love even to love’s extreme; it can turn injury into compassion and transform hurt into intercession. Forgiveness participates in the divine mercy and is a high-point of Christian prayer.”

"Even if it seems impossible" - the Church knows it's going to be hard for us. Forgiveness isn't a reflex like breathing, that a baby is born knowing how to do. Forgiveness is a learned behavior; we have to learn to know how to do it. It means we're not going to be good at it at first, but if we practice it, we'll get better at it. And not just in words, but to forgive, as Jesus says, "from the heart".

On this weekend, yes, we absolutely pray for the repose of the souls of those who were killed ten years ago. We pray for the families who lost loved ones and still feel their loss. Free will allowed evil men to commit an evil deed that killed thousands of people and directly affected all of our lives today (you know this if you've had to take your shoes off in an airport or bring 8 forms of identification just to renew your Driver's License). But free will can also be used for good. No one held a gun to police and firefighters and ordered them to try to save people in the Twin Towers or at the Pentagon; they freely chose to do so. No one demanded the passengers of Flight 93 over Shanksville get out of their seats and attack the hijackers; they freely chose to do so. God has given humanity a share in His free will. It means the decision rests with us to use our free will for good or bad intent. Forgiveness is a good. Forgiveness is more for ourselves, saying, "I won't let those who hurt me hurt me anymore. I won't let hate eat at me from the inside like rust." Today, whether it is a world event like 9/11, or a struggle with another person, or even a mistake we know we ourselves made, we ask God to give us the grace to "participate in the divine mercy", and forgive.

My 9/11/01 Memories

2011-09-11T19:35:00.001-04:00

Here is a link to my blog entry from this day in 2007, when I sat at the keyboard and just began to type what I remembered from my day on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.

Bishops: An Arranged Marriage

2011-09-08T21:28:00.000-04:00

An impressive homily, definitely worth a read.

Homily and Closing Remarks of Abp. Chaput

September 8 - Our Lady's Birthday

2011-09-08T09:26:00.001-04:00

First, the intellectual...

"In the 8th century, Andrew of Crete was the first theologian to see a new creation in Mary's birth. This is how he reasoned: 'Today humanity, in all the radiance of her immaculate nobility, receives its ancient beauty. The shame of sin had darkened the splendor and attraction of human nature, but when the mother of the fair one par excellence is born, this nature regains in her person its ancient privileges and is fashioned according to a more perfect model truly worthy of God. ... The reform of our nature begins today and the aged world, subjected to a wholly divine transformation, receives the first fruits of the second creation' (Sermon I on the Birth of Mary)."

Pope John Paul II

General Audience

May 15, 1996

Now, the personal...

Today is the 14th anniversary of the one and only episcopal ordination we've experienced in the Metuchen Diocese. On Sept. 8, 1997, Msgr. Vincent D. Breen was ordained and installed as the 3rd Bishop of Metuchen. I was a Deacon at the time, and my most vivid memory of the day was that I think I had some heat exhaustion. We were crammed into the sanctuary of St. Francis Cathedral, Bishops, Diocesan muckety-mucks, Servers, etc. Add to that a warm day and the heavy Holyrood dalmatics they had us vested in, and I could feel a headache and nausea sneaking up on me as the Mass went on. It wasn't until about 30 minutes into the reception at The Pines Manor that I began to come out of it (thanks to eating dinner rolls and sipping Diet Coke).

At the end of the evening (you know seminarians, we'll stay anywhere as long as there's free food), two of us who were going to be ordained Priests the following May introduced ourselves to the Bishop by saying we would be his first ordination class. His face lit up, he put his arms around the both of us, and said, "I'm very excited." I was just thankful I didn't throw up on him.

If you're reading this, say a prayer for Fr. Roberto Busa, SJ

2011-09-07T18:50:00.002-04:00

L'Osservatore Romano's weekly English edition has an article about the death of Jesuit Father Roberto Busa this past August 9 at the age of 97. It's an interesting article to read, especially as you're sitting in front of a computer screen.

Why? I'll let the author of the article tell you:

"If you surf on the Internet, it is thanks to him. If you jump from one site to another, clicking on links highlighted in blue, it is thanks to him. If you use a PC to write emails and documents, it is thanks to him. And if you can read this article, it is thanks to him."

Read the article HERE.

Hurricane prayers

2011-08-27T09:22:00.001-04:00

My pal Fr. Guy answers your "who do I pray to?" questions at his blog, Omniapost.

Matthew 7:25

2011-08-26T18:09:00.002-04:00

Here's a sentence I never thought I'd be typing: After experiencing an earthquake this past week, I now get ready to get myself and the buildings and grounds of St. Lawrence parish through tomorrow's hurricane.

But what about the people? There's really not much for me to do for them now; That's what government and public safety is for. People are "Doin' what they gotta do" (as we say in New Jersey): shopping, putting things away, even evacuating some places. Once the storm has passed, that's when the Church goes to work, helping those who have suffered any losses.

As the one who signs the checks to pay the bills here, it kills me that this storm arrives on a Saturday afternoon and continues through Sunday afternoon. Another weekend we'll lose a collection we need to pay bills (not to mention any repairs that may be necessary from hurricane damage). I ask anyone reading this, who will not be able to make Mass at their parishes this weekend, to "double dip" next weekend, and give two week's worth of contributions next weekend. And, if you were planning on blowing off Mass because of Labor Day weekend next weekend, then you've got to "triple dip" the weekend after that!

But, as the one who is shepherd of souls for this parish community, I ask all of you reading this to use common sense. IT IS NOT "FUN" OR "HEROIC" TO DRIVE THROUGH A HURRICANE-LEVEL STORM TO GO TO MASS; IT IS SELFISH AND FOOLISH. You not only put yourself and any passengers in the car at risk, but also the emergency service volunteers who will have to go out into the storm to rescue you, should something bad happen. Stay indoors. Pray. Read the Sunday Scriptures. Pray a Rosary as a family. Download some hymns from iTunes.

Remember, a hurricane is just a warm blizzard. Treat it appropriately.

Your mission this week

2011-08-15T08:43:00.003-04:00

Watch for (any) mainstream media coverage of World Youth Day. See the contrast between the angry youth of the English riots/looting with the participants of WYD.

See if the media tries to draw comparisons.

A personal pondering: Is proficiency prevented by pudge?

2011-07-30T09:10:00.008-04:00

Last week the Governor of New Jersey had an asthma attack, something he has kept under control for a number of years. Smelling blood (or maybe his breath, I suppose), the national media moved in to dogmatically declare a flaw in a potential Chris Christie run for the Presidency.

Said nicely, he has "health issues". The underlying message which you got, once the media included pictures of the Governor's girth: "He's too fat to be President".

Not a day later, the L.A. Times opined about Governor Christie: "Is America ready for a President who, frankly, doesn't look healthy?" O.K., let's start by getting the sarcastic replies out of the way:

"Really, and how did a bodybuilder governor work out for you, California?"
"Are we really striving for a President whose waist size matches the unemployment rate?"
"Hey, California, 37 million people in your state you could've voted for and you brought back Jerry Brown. Seriously?"

This is just another passive-aggressive tactic of the liberal, democratic biased mainstream media. Their signal to let everyone start to pounce on Governor Christie. Leno, go to work. Conan, do your thing. Piers Morgan, well, no one really watches you anyway. Hey, maybe Tina Fey can put on a fat suit and try to do to Christie what she did to Sarah Palin? Maybe they can just refurbish the fat jokes they used on Ted Kennedy. Oh wait, they left his waistline alone.

Sad but true, the same bias exists in ecclesial circles. From the moment we're seminarians, we learn very quickly there's another evaluation going on besides academic or intellectual ability. I'll say it: Seminarians (and later Priests) are judged on their physical looks. I can remember getting off a bus with other seminarians during the 1996 visit of Pope John Paul to Baltimore. As we stepped off, a Priest pulled some guys out of the line and put them by themselves. We wondered what was happening? We found out: He needed seminarians to be interviewed on TV about the Papal visit, and was picking guys based on their looks (we knew this because the guys chosen looked like a GQ cover shoot; not a zit between the 5 or 6 of them). Nevermind some of these guys had never read any of the Pope's encyclicals; I'd bet some of them couldn't even spell "papal"! It carries through into Priesthood. If you're thin, somehow the judgment is made that you're a good, successful Priest, without anyone ever checking to see if they spend more time worrying about their looks than the parish to which they're assigned. If you're fat, the presumption is made that you've got something wrong with you. Hindsight, though, is always wonderfully honest in this regard. Nothing is less surprising in the Church then when a bella-figura Priest drops off the radar or announces he's leaving, the moment he's not the center of attention anymore. A well known example of this in recent history is the story of a young priest who had to be literally begged by a bishop (now retired) to become his secretary. The young man had a condition: he'd take the job only if, after a few years, he'd be allowed to go for further studies in Rome. The Bishop ok'ed it, and the young priest served as secretary, and then was sent to Rome. When he finished his studies and returned home to his diocese in the northeast, he found he couldn't function. He missed Rome, and in particular, a young Italian man he met while studying theology on his diocese's dime. When last heard from he was living in Europe with his special friend and teaching English to foreigners.

The truth will come as no shock that Governor Christie's brain is separate from his stomach. His ability to make decisions and lead has nothing to do with what he has for lunch... or dinner... or as a snack at 11pm. The same rings true for Priests. This is nothing more than schoolyard bullying modified for grown-ups who never, well, grew up. You want to wish he would lose weight so he can feel healthier? That's fine. But to say he shouldn't be President because he can't say no to Yodels or because Americans don't want to see a President with some meat on him insults both him and all of us.

R.I.P. - Virgilio Cardinal Noë

2011-07-25T11:46:00.005-04:00

The Vatican Information Service reported the death of Cardinal Noë yesterday at the age of 89. His Eminence had served as Papal Master of Ceremonies under Popes Paul VI, John Paul I and II, before being made Archpriest of the Vatican Basilica and created a Cardinal in 1991. He retired in 2002.

I first met the Cardinal in 1995, when my home parish made a pilgrimage to Rome. I was able to serve as Master of Ceremonies for a Mass he celebrated for our pilgrimage group at the Altare Alla Tomba. A few times after that initial meeting, I stopped in on him for visits on subsequent trips to Rome. He was always a gentle and kind man, gracious to me and the friends who came with me to visit.

May he rest in peace.

What's it worth?

2011-07-24T20:05:00.002-04:00

These crazy days of 100+ degree weather meant that I spent a little more time than normal sitting in my air conditioned room watching TV. When some form of Law & Order was not on, I watched some of this new wave of shows:

Pawn Stars - the story of a family run pawn shop in Las Vegas, and the things that people think are valuable enough to sell.

Auction Hunters - two guys who travel around, bidding low on abandoned storage units and hoping to find treasures inside to sell high.

American Pickers - two more guys who travel around to meet people who've amassed all sorts of stuff, hoping to buy some of it from them to sell others at a higher price.

The Gospel this weekend fit right into these shows, as Jesus gave 3 parables about treasure. The first two parables compliment each other: the first guy finds the treasure by accident; he wasn't expecting it and suddenly there it is. The second guy knows what treasure he's looking for, and has spent his life looking for perfection before he finally finds it. In both cases, Jesus says the same thing: each guy "sells all that he has" to purchase their respective treasures. A great question for us. Would we be so bold to make that kind of commitment to gain a treasure?

What about the treasure of our faith? The opening prayer of today's Mass has the great line, "God our Father and protector, without you nothing is holy, nothing has value"(the better translation is nothing is "worthwhile", but "value" works better for my train of thought). It makes sense; we'll pay more for something that we want more (that's why air conditioners cost more this time of year than snow blowers!). So, I suppose, the first question to be asked is, "Is our faith a 'treasure' in our eyes?" Is it precious? valuable? something to be protected and guarded?

What are we willing to pay (or give up) for our treasure? Will we give our time for it? This should be easy, our time costs relatively nothing. Will we give time to God each day? Do I give God time in mental prayer? Do I give God time each week by my Mass attendance? As a Priest, do I freely give the Church my time with the Breviary? Do I see it as something I have to do or as something I have to "get over with" so I can do something else? The same with Mass; Do I celebrate/participate at Mass because I "have" to, or because I "want" to? Is Mass an encounter with God to be treasured, or some kind of spiritual jury duty I want to get out of as soon as possible? Too many of the laity, most particularly this time of year, simply blow off Mass. Mass is unimportant to them, and therefore not really a treasure. It's sad, really, the way they don't see any need to give God part of their time, and yet when their life falls apart they expect the Church to give of her time telling them they did nothing wrong. No, God didn't care that you missed Mass because your children play summer baseball, soccer, or compete in martial arts or cheerleading. You just keep on reinforcing these twisted priorities in your child's head; they'll come in handy later on when you're in a nursing home desperate for visitors and little Bobby or Betty have Yankee tickets.

So what is our faith worth to us? If you had to have your faith appraised, what would you be able to show the appraiser to get him to up the value? This week's Gospel (along with the past 2 weekends) asked us to consider God's presence in the world and our response to Him.

A Week in the Life of a Priest

2011-07-21T20:27:00.001-04:00

YouTube has this great video produced by the Archdiocese of Sydney (and featuring their Vocation Director).

Sandro Magister on "how it happened"

2011-07-19T12:14:00.005-04:00

Italian Vaticanista journalist Sandro Magister, writing about today's appointment of Archbishop Chaput on his Chiesa blog, seems to give the backstory of who else was in consideration. An interesting read, check it out HERE.

Abp. Chaput to Philadelphia

2011-07-19T09:07:00.004-04:00

This morning's appointment of Archbishop Chaput to the See of Philadelphia has been announced by every Catholic journalist and blogger... AND NOW is finally official because of the announcement by Rome.

John Allen has what may be the first interview with the Archbishop about the move east. It's available by following this LINK to the website of the National Catholic Reporter.

(See, I can link to the NCR and not get the cooties! By the way, the picture was taken in 2000)

Whoa!

2011-07-15T20:31:00.002-04:00

Today I received in the mail an advance copy ofThe Word Among Us' Advent edition. Last Advent I bought copies for parishioners so they could have something extra for their Advent preparations.

Besides the daily meditations, the booklet also has an insert with the daily Mass readings, as well as the Mass parts. This year it means the new translation, and it's odd to see it in print in something so familiar as The Word Among Us.

I read through the 2nd Eucharistic Prayer, and all I could say was "Whoa!".

Big posters on the wall of the Mount

2011-07-05T13:54:00.001-04:00

Two weeks ago, I was on retreat at my alma mater, Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. The seminary organizes this annual retreat for alumni (though any Priest is welcome), which gives us the chance to roam the halls, campus, and vicinity as we did when we were students.

On a bulletin board in the hallway which contains faculty offices, two large posters were on a bulletin board. I took pictures of them, and I think you can click to enlarge them.

2011-07-03T11:19:00.002-04:00

The Gospel of Matthew 11:25-30

“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to little ones.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father. ...
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

The New Colossus, by Emma Lazarus (1883)

"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Fr. Corapi and the bigger issue

2011-06-19T18:12:00.006-04:00

For Priests of my generation, Fr. Corapi has been a well-known figure. A frequent face on EWTN, we are used to getting his name mentioned to us by regular church-goers. "I love watching Father Corapi" is something we're all used to hearing.

Maybe that's why I've always had a small amount of resentment towards him.

It's not about his shows. I can honestly say I have never really sat through a Fr. Corapi TV show, but from what I have seen and heard his stuff is pretty orthodox. His voice has always seemed a bit "over the top", but no more than other Priests and Deacons I've known that have a "Mass voice" and a "Regular voice". The truth is his voice has always reminded me of the public speaking voice of Jim McGreevey, and I think anyone who has heard both of them speak from behind a podium will attest to this. What I resented about Father C. is probably the same resentment infantry soldiers have towards fighter pilots: While infantry soldiers are "on the ground" fighting for every square inch of ground to gain in the battle, the pilots take off from someplace behind the battle lines, fly over, drop a few bombs, then go back to land at the safe spot. To some extent, it's easy to be orthodox if you have gigs like this. You show up at an event. Your audience is almost completely those who feel the same way as you do, you make them laugh, get serious, tell Catholics what the liberals are doing wrong, say Mass, sign some autographs, and you're done and out of the town 6 hours after you arrived. Oh yeah, and you get paid, not only for being there, but for all the tapes, books, CDs, and DVDs people are encouraged to buy.

When this is all said and done, my hunch is that it's not going to be about sex, it's going to be about money. This guy lives on a ranch in Montana. Once I went searching for information on his website about the possibility of having him speak in a parish I was assigned to at the time. The fee was something like $3,000, beside his expenses (travel to and from Montana, which can't be cheap).

The latest blog entry I heard is that his religious superior asked him to stop living alone in Montana and live in community with other clergy. This Fr. Corapi refused to do, and this is where his abandonment of the Priesthood stems.

This is the Priesthood epidemic of our age: Priests owning property. Secular (diocesan) priests certainly can own property, they make no actual vow of poverty as those entering religious life do. Those who do have another place have it for varieties of very legitimate reasons: Perhaps they inherited the home or money when their parent(s) passed away. Some saved money for years and perhaps share ownership with another priest or with family members. Some were able to buy the place at a significantly reduced price from an older Priest whose health now prevents him from using the home. I don't want this in any way to appear as if I'm saying the Priest acquired the house through illegal means (that's a whole other conversation). I'm simply talking, in this case, about diocesan priests who own private property.

In my humble opinion, the danger is this: This situation is radioactive; it may not affect them at once, but little by little, over a period of time, it has the potential to do so. The house can slowly change the way the Priest thinks about his life as a Priest in the Roman Catholic Church. How does it show itself? A Priest with a private home doesn't want to be assigned too far away from that home, so there goes his flexibility in assignments. Suddenly, besides the normal considerations, the house is a factor in where to exercise ministry. Priests are allowed a day or day-and-a-half off. Is that enough time spent in their retreat? A priest who owns another home soon finds that his day off expands to two days, then more (I know of a Priest who would leave his parish after his Sunday Masses, and then return on Wednesday morning). Another question to ask: Do his neighbors know he's a priest? Not that he has to put a blinking neon sign on the door, but has he deliberately gone out of the way to hide the fact that he is a priest? Some of my brothers, I fear, see the house as an "alternate reality", one in which they stop being priests in their minds the moment they enter this house. This place becomes their "home", while the rectory and parish they're assigned to as a spiritual father simply becomes the place they "work". If Bishops want to tackle the next great problem, here's where to start digging. Find out how many of your priests own or rent a private home.

In their defense, a little honesty here. I actually do envy those who do have their own apartment/condo/townhouse/home. So much in our priesthood is out of our control. One never knows, when you're going downstairs for a cup of coffee, who will be sitting in your kitchen. Some Parochial Vicars (Associate Pastors) live with Pastors who make it abundantly clear that they are only "borders" in the house, and that everything from having guests, to putting things on the shopping list, to inviting people for meals, must be run past the Pastor. So much of what we "have" is not really ours. You can see how the idea of having a place that no Bishop can take us away from with one phone call is inviting; we Priests love to "nest". The danger is in how much of our time does it occupy? How much does it factor in our commitment to obedience? If we choose it over our Priesthood, then there will be more Father Corapi's down the road.

A Priest on "Father's Day"

2011-06-18T08:39:00.004-04:00

With Father’s Day upon us, I’d like to share a poem I read in a book of talks given by Archbishop Tim Dolan. This comes from his book, Priests for the Third Millennium. He concludes a talk on parish priesthood with a poem published in The Priest magazine, written about the fatherhood of the priest:

Who are you, man of Mystery, our Father?

By what arrogance do you approach the Holy –

offering your manliness to mate with Sacred Spouse,

and vowing with such singular abandonment

to wed yourself to Holy Mother Church

and so with her, in promiscuity divine, the seeds of Life?

Or can it be that, led by ceaseless calling,

summoned by the Matchmaker who serves the cause of Love,

pursued by the Relentless One, you have succumbed -

and so it is submission which, to unholy eyes, appears presumption?

How is it that, child-free, you are our Father?

Is it that you daily bear God’s children?

Is it that, with human voice, you speak a Father’s Word?

Is it that you, fasting and breaking fasts, call us to supper

and gather us at table for meal of Bread and Wine?

Or that you celebrate our rites of passage,

advising, chastising, baptizing us with water and with fire?

Is it that you lift us in prayer, holding,

embracing and blessing as only a Father might?

Or that you hear our calling in the dark

and come to take our hand and light a light –

Or, in your priestly parenting,

you come anointing, pointing the way past death to life?

Who are you, man of Mystery, our Father?

You’ve wed yourself to Holy Mother Church and, everywhere,

you sow with her, in promiscuity divine, the seeds of Life.

You bear and speak and feed, you shape and renew

and heal and bless as only a Father can do.

And so we, on this Father’s Day, your untold children, grateful, pray,

“May life and Holy Spouse and God bless you.”

Tony Blair on children

2011-06-08T23:19:00.004-04:00

I'm in the midst of reading Tony Blair's memoirs. This part made me laugh out loud:

"As things settled down a little, I took a break in Tuscany ... I had a great time with [his youngest son] Leo, able to spend proper moments with him. At five years old, he was getting to that fascinating age where you can almost see the brain sprouting forth. Except to the doting parents, babies are frankly pretty boring - sweet and cuddly, but still a bit inanimate, if you see what I mean. From about age three onwards, they get interesting and remain like that up to around twelve, when the dark mists of hell envelop them. Unbelievably, they emerge again as semi-civilized human beings around the age of twenty, you stop thinking you are a bad parent or there is genetic delinquency in the family, and realise they are still your children and you love them. There are exceptions, of course, but that's my experience." (pg. 525)

Reflection on the Priesthood by St. Norbert

2011-06-07T20:43:00.003-04:00

On the occasion of his ordination to the priesthood, Norbert said, "O Priest! You are not yourself because you are God. You are not of yourself because you are the servant and minister of Christ. You are not your own because you are the spouse of the Church. You are not yourself because you are the mediator between God and man. You are not from yourself because you are nothing. What then are you? Nothing and everything. O Priest! Take care lest what was said to Christ on the cross be said to you: 'He saved others, himself he cannot save!'"

Has it really been?

2011-05-25T21:40:00.002-04:00

I know, I promised I would write more on this little blog. Today, though, marks a new step in the life of my blogging. I'm writing is from balmy Orlando, Florida, on my new "toy", an iPad.

Since 2005, I've always been able to get away from the parish sometime on the 2nd week of Easter. It started when some of us were still Parochial Vicars, and so time off on the first week of Easter was usually reserved for our Pastors. This also worked out well with the schedule down in Orlando, which tended to be super crowded when schools were off, either Holy Week or Easter Week. This year, though, Easter was extraordinarily late, and the 2nd week of Easter was actually the first week of May. In looking at the calendar, with religious education over for the year and 1st Communion and May Crowning out of the way, I was able to get down.

So there you go, a blog entry from an undisclosed location. I'm here on the blogosphere, and now it doesn't matter where "here" is.

Bishop Conley on the new Mass translation

2011-05-15T11:03:00.003-04:00

Click HERE for a transcript (provided by Zenit News Service) of an address by Bp. James Conley, auxiliary of Denver - and alumnus of Mount St. Mary's Seminary. Here are some appetite-whetting quotes:

In Advent, we are going to introduce a major new English translation of the Mass with the third typical edition of the Roman Missal.

What are Catholics in the pews going to make of the changes in the words they pray and the words they hear the priest praying? Will the changes make any difference in their experience of the Mass? In the way they worship? In the way they live their faith in the world?

This new edition of the Missal is the Church’s gift to our generation. It restores the ancient understanding of the Eucharist as a sacred mystery. It renews the vertical dimension of the liturgy — as a spiritual sacrifice that we offer in union with the sacrifice that our heavenly High Priest celebrates unceasingly in the eternal liturgy.

First Holy Communion rant

2011-05-11T09:05:00.004-04:00

That's probably a bad title, because what I'm about to tell you can easily be seen at other church events. Pick one: wedding, confirmation, baptism, funeral. It's there.

Look at the irony: we spend weeks teaching the 2nd grade children that the Eucharist is an amazing gift from God, and that every church has the Eucharist kept in the Tabernacle, and that, when we are in the presence of the Tabernacle, that Jesus can see and hear us and we can speak to him. We teach them that the day they receive their 1st Holy Communion will be a truly special day, and that they should behave in a way that shows they understand it is a special day. We rehearse them to walk in a solemn procession, to keep their hands folded together in a prayerful gesture, to stand and sit and kneel at the proper times, to receive the Blessed Sacrament properly (either tongue or hand), and then to go back to their seat and reflect on that great gift in silence. Of course, we tell them not to spend the Mass speaking to the children on either side of them.

Then, the day of the Mass comes. The kids are fine. The grown ups? THEY SUCK!

I'll leave it at that.

Priests can relate

2011-05-10T20:09:00.003-04:00

Some go for the stunning sunset, but there is no more magnificent sight to behold than an empty parking lot, that only a week before was loaded with cars because of CCD.

Excuse me, I need a tissue.

International Star Wars Day

2011-05-04T22:13:00.001-04:00

May the fourth be with you!

The Tomb of Sts. Philip and James

2011-05-03T09:32:00.003-04:00

I took this during a 2008 trip to Rome. Their tomb is located in the crypt level of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Rome. In 570, Pope John III placed the bones of Sts. Philip & James, recently brought back from the east, in this church and dedicated it to them and to all the Apostles.

A seminary buddy, Fr. Gary Coulter, studied in Rome and has posted many of his pictures online. Here is a photo he took of the tomb.

Beatification: NOT the last stop!

2011-05-03T09:06:00.003-04:00

Fourteen years ago, I was in the spring semester of Third Theology, preparing for ordination to the Diaconate. There were two of us from the Metuchen Diocese at The Mount, and both of us wanted to be ordained with our seminary classmates at the Basilica of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg. I went to see my Bishop, to ask him for permission for the two of us to be ordained "out west". Bishop Hughes said he had no problem with it. Diaconate ordinations, he said, can get a little "over the top", especially when done at the home parish of the guy being ordained. The zeal of the parishioners to make it a wonderful celebration means it can, at times, end up eclipsing the Priesthood ordination that will follow the following year.

This was a thought I've been having in the aftermath of Pope John Paul's Beatification. What could be done to top it? Could the crowd be any bigger? The all-star lineup any more impressive? The weather nicer? The music more glorious? Sadly, there's nowhere to go BUT down when it comes to expectations from both within and outside the Church (and the media will be looking for some way to criticize it).

In the case of seminarians, the Diaconate is wonderful, but not the ultimate goal. Similarly, Beatification is marvelous and terrific and (to be British for a moment) brilliant, but not the final goal. The final goal is Canonization. There is no "striving for permanent beatification", and stopping there.

There is another thought here (my head is full of 'em): Pope Benedict is no fool. He is the one who returned the tradition of beatification Masses being celebrated not by the Pope, but by a designated Cardinal (usually the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints). Of course, being Pope has it's perks, and when it's someone you have a fondness for, you can always bump the tradition and do it yourself. Pope Benedict did for Blessed John Henry Newman, and obviously here for Blessed Pope John Paul. But maybe he allowed all the pomp and devotion because he doesn't think the canonization will happen in the foreseeable future. Maybe like the Hebrew slaved freed from Egypt, they will not see the promised land, but their children will. For us, this may be it for what we will see in our lifetimes.

In the meantime, this is a neat little video explaining the difference between Beatification and Canonization, explained by Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, former Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Bl. John Paul II arrives at his new home

2011-05-03T08:52:00.002-04:00

Thank you, Rome Reports, for the video footage.

There's one in every crowd

2011-05-01T11:37:00.004-04:00

"What do you mean it was at ten AM???"

It was pretty easy to tell who was the last to receive from the abnormally overfilled chalice.

Thank you, Reuters, for the pics.

Back in the saddle again

2011-05-01T09:07:00.004-04:00

Last night I found out my pal, Fr. Guy Selvester, decided to re-enter the blogosphere. Check him out at his new location, OMNIApost.

The First Time

2011-05-01T05:29:00.004-04:00

The Catholic (and others, too) world rejoices today in the Beatification of Pope John Paul II. I presume we officially call him "Pope Blessed John Paul II" (if we base it on the way we speak of "Pope St. Pius X"), or, "Blessed John Paul II" for short. Whatever we call him, the joy of the Easter season is made that much sweeter because of Pope Benedict's declaration that we enroll Karol Josef Wojtyła amongst the Blessed of the Church.

So here I am, awake for the ceremony, listening to the homily of the Holy Father while I type this. Irreverent? Nope, I never said this counted for my Mass attendance (for the record, I have my usual 3 to do today). But either the muse has struck me or the caffeine has kicked in, and so I'm ready to type.

Four times I was privileged to attend Mass in what we now know to be purely Blessed John Paul's invention: attendance at the Holy Father's Mass, in the chapel of the Papal Apartment. What a gift! Each of the four Masses took place at different steps along my journey to the Priesthood: one in college seminary (1994), two during Major Seminary (1995 and 1996), and one after Priestly ordination (2001). I thought I'd share some thoughts about each time, using what I had written in my diary at the time (please excuse the grammatical errors). So, today, here are the notes I wrote after the first time I attended Mass with Pope John Paul:

Saturday, January 8, 1994

5:47am

Well, perhaps I slept about 3-4 hours total, that being broke up into 30-45 minute bursts. Thank God, both alarms worked and even if I slept, I'd have been woken up. I know this last hour will go slower than the last 8 hours since I heard the news.

1:20pm

What an unforgettable morning. How memorable this has been and will continue to be for the rest of my life. But let me start from the beginning:

We left here [the house we were staying in] at 6:05. Well, not exactly. We found out we're locked in this building! Even the courtyard doesn't let you out to the street. So after a brief panic attack, I discover a window that we can get out of, so we did just that, looking like 2 well dressed burglars.

We get to the Bronze Doors at 6:25 and already there are 5 people waiting. Using my German for the first time in years, I strike up polite conversation. [The other seminarian with me] is making sure his shirt collar is alright. We go up the stairs and, after giving our names to a plainclothes guard, we're let in. AT about 6:35 we begin the ascent to the Papal apartments.

O.K., so now we're up in the chapel. We're lead to our seats, but where's the Pope? All the pictures I've seen, he's usually praying in his chair while people are seating. "Oh no, he's not going to do this", I fear. But then I see the vestments on the altar and a little white zucchetto and I calm down.

Let me describe the chapel. About 20-24 feet wide and about 60 feet long. Done mostly in black and white with black backless stools for us to sit in. The floor is black and white marble, and the ceiling is one giant stained glass collage which looks artificially lit. At the far wall is an altar with a tabernacle at the front & center. To the left are 3 lit candles and to the right is a bunch of lilies ("But this isn't Easter", I wonder). A bronze crucifix hangs above the altar with a picture of Our Lady of Czestochowa at the foot of the Cross. Access to the sacristy is from behind the altar, and on either side of the access walls are earth-toned mosaics of the crucifixion of St. Peter and the beheading of St. Paul. At the left side of the chapel is a creche with a baby Jesus in it. A pulpit is off to the left. In front of the stools is a large green copper chair in the center with a white cushioned prie-dieu. This is the Pope's seat.

By 7:10, the secretaries are with us sitting, and I know it's going to happen soon. From behind the altar comes the Pope, looking, I must confess, a little tired. He stands before the altar, and with precision and dignity, the secretaries dress him for Mass. First, the amice, the alb, the chasuble, then back with the pectoral cross. They do this so precise that one secretary kneels behind the Pope and fixes the pleats on his alb so they fall straight. I get the feeling they do this whether there are people there or not.

Mass was in French, so I could follow it a little. After Communion and a brief while after Mass, we had silent meditation. I prayed for all who I care for, and even those I don't care for. Eventually we were led to the conference room where I shook his hand and had photos. Soon, the photo proofs will be ready and I've got to check those out soon.

Pope John Paul's Barber

2011-04-30T14:41:00.002-04:00

Rome Reports has been posting videos of stories revolving around the Beatification of Pope John Paul. Definitely worth checking out on YouTube. Here's one of them that caught my eye:

Wonder whether he kept any of the Pope's hair? Wouldn't they be 1st class relics?

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T09:23:00.002-04:00

Fr. Cantalamessa's homily

2011-04-24T09:18:00.002-04:00

Here is the text of Fr. Cantalamessa's homily from Good Friday.

Spy Wednesday

2011-04-20T08:55:00.005-04:00

Spy Wednesday. Traditionally, the day Judas Iscariot made the deal to reveal a place Jesus could be arrested. Because of it, Judas' made his very name synonymous with betrayal. What do we know about him?

If you go by artists' depictions, then the other 11 Apostles were a bunch of idiots not to see this coming.

One Lord.

Twelve guys.

Eleven halos.

You do the math.

Other artistic depictions show Judas with a tormented scowl, making us thing he had a perpetual sourpuss face that should have made revealing him as the betrayer pretty simple to deduce.

But it couldn't have been that way.

Even though we know him now as the betrayer, Scripture tells us Judas was amongst the twelve first chosen by Jesus to be Apostles. Maybe they all came from different backgrounds, but there had to have been a zeal present in Judas' eyes and heart, just as much as it existed amongst Peter, Andrew, and the others.

This is what I think of (and have thought of in the past) when I run into brother Priests who are bitter, indifferent, angry, or have reduced their vocation as something they "do" in between their dayS off. You look at them and wonder, "They couldn't have been this way when they started!" Though it's hard to believe in some, every Priest started off on ordination day thinking they could make a difference in the world.

Another thought: Scripture tells us that, when Jesus announced at the Last Supper, "One of you is about to betray me", the Apostles all asked the Lord, "Is it I?" That means a few things to me. First, it means that the 12 were a tight group. None of the Apostles could come up with a "short list" of possible betrayers of Jesus, when pushed to do so. They were so perplexed about the betrayer's identity that they even began to question themselves. Maybe the answer comes from Scripture. John tells us that it was only after Judas accepted the morsel handed to him by Jesus that "Satan entered him". It's one thing to think about sinning; it's another to think about it and then to do it.

So what pushed Judas from thinking to doing? Maybe something as simple as jealousy. For some time the Pharisees and Temple officials have been looking for an opportunity to get to Jesus without a crowd around Him. How many of the Apostles might have been approached and propositioned, asked, "What's your price to turn Him over?" But scripture tells us Judas went to the chief Priests, not the other way around. Maybe Judas seemed unable to turn, even to them, so imagine their surprise when he comes to them. Maybe it was all about, "Why did they approach the other Apostles and not make me an offer?"

Whatever the reasons he turned, however unlikely it seemed to the Apostles, Judas' betrayal is key to setting the Passion in motion. Once the Triduum starts, we get so caught up into it that we get swept away by the current before getting much time to think about the causes. These were just my thoughts this morning, before Wednesday morning Mass.

Cantores Pueris

2011-04-18T08:54:00.002-04:00

The London Telegraph has a video about the boys' choir that will sing at the upcoming Royal wedding. Click the link and watch a bunch of what must be 5th and 6th graders singing in (brace yourself) Latin. Nowhere in their hands did I see the "Children's Glory & Praise" book (though perhaps they use that for personal devotion).

Could a parish have a boys' choir? Could that pure tone of the pre-Peter Brady voice fill a church with angelic tones? Could a pastor survive the complaints that a choir was excluding girls? Could he endure the inevitable trash talk about "Father has a thing for boys"? One wonders.

Finally, if for no other reason, click on the link to see the boy with what must be the most difficult last name imaginable.

JP2's Feast Date

2011-04-11T20:32:00.003-04:00

Rome Reports has reported that the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has issued a decree, assigning October 22 as the Feast Day for soon-to-be Blessed Pope John Paul II.

I wondered about this. If they followed the tradition of his date of death (April 3), it would be an "inconsistent" feast, only really being able to be celebrated when Easter is extraordinarily early (since the days of Lent, Holy Week, the Triduum, and the Octave of Easter would all take precedence over the commemoration of his feast).

The last line of the video is also interesting. "Until John Paul II is canonized, his memory can only be celebrated in Rome and in Poland".

Transfer of Pope Blessed Innocent XI

2011-04-09T18:02:00.003-04:00

This is one of those times when the internet is great. A ceremony we normally would not have seen, not only because it was in Rome and we're not, but also this would be done after the normal hours when the general public is in the Basilica.

For your information, Innocent XI was Pope from 1676 to 1689, but his body has only been here since 1955, when he was Beatified.

Fr. Michael Manning needs a slap upside the head!

2011-04-08T21:26:00.003-04:00

C'mon, Church, we're all thinking it.

If you don't know the story yet, click HERE. Here's a snippet (note the obligatory "blame celibacy" diversion):

Kotowski, 59, recently said that she and Fr. Manning are “kindred spirits and soul mates,” telling the Monterrey Herald that she hopes the news of her relationship with the priest will increase dialogue within the Catholic Church over clerical celibacy.“The reality is that we love the Church, we're committed to the Church, but I'm hoping a dialogue will open up (about) obligatory celibacy, the whole question of celibacy,” she said on April 6. “Is it right for all people?”

Two things stick out to me from the story.

It grinds my gears that the parties involved in these sorts of things always seem to make their case only AFTER they've been discovered. Shades of the Father Alberto Cutié brouhaha.
I would think that, if anything, having a long-term sexual relationship with your second cousin actually SUPPORTS the idea that at least one of you should have made a vow to remain celibate.

Archbishop Sheehan of Santa Fe

2011-04-07T09:21:00.002-04:00

The Archbishop has written a pastoral letter on cohabitation that pulls no punches. Two pages long (no one can complain it's too long to read), he fulfills his role as a teacher of the faith for his flock (as well as the rest of us).

The letter is available by clicking on this LINK, which takes you to the letter as it is available on the archdiocesan website.

The letter has been explained and commented upon by Father Z (who also shows us the rantings of a reporter for the National Catholic Reporter) by clicking on this LINK.

A peek inside

2011-04-03T19:53:00.003-04:00

The Sundays of Lent, I've been trying to follow the advice of Abp. Fulton Sheen, in a talk he gave about preparing a talk. He proposed writing and rewriting the talk until your notes for the talk take up no more than one page (he was able to get his notes for a live, 30-minute TV broadcast down to a piece of paper no bigger than a supermarket receipt).

What does my homily look like from my perspective? Glad you asked.

A Laetare Sunday Haiku

2011-04-03T15:37:00.005-04:00

O rose chasuble,

How quickly you come and go.

See you in Advent!

I chose this photo because it shows Pope John Paul in the same exact rose chasuble I own. I bought it in Rome from a place called Galleria Di Arte Sacra, for a church dedication in 1999. When I saw this picture in Life Magazine in 2005, I freaked out.

6 years ago today

2011-04-02T07:00:00.001-04:00

Growing in my priesthood

2011-03-31T08:52:00.009-04:00

I'm fat. There, I've said it. I might even be obese. I'm not sure how many pounds overweight you have to be for that classification, but I'm up there.

The readings today smacked me in the head: Jeremiah and the stiff-necked, back-turning, hard-hearted people. The gang that are so stubbornly unwilling to accept Jesus as the messiah that they credit the Devil for saving a man from possession. The truth was right there in front of all of them, but it was so much more convenient to believe something else.

So who is to blame for my girth? Everyone but me!!!!

Nah, just kidding.

Let's try it again. Who is to blame? Me. Myself. I.

This may be a no-brainier, but living alone requires discipline in a lot of ways, especially with regards to eating habits. I'm not a victim of corporate fast food. No one held me down and jammed White Castles down my throat against my will. I wasn't lured into McDonald's because of the promise of a cute toy in a Happy Meal. It's not about the parishioners who bake for events and then insist I take the uneaten cakes back to the rectory (I even considered lying and telling them I'm a diabetic, but then they'd just make the same cakes with Splenda). It's not because of my workload or meetings. It's because of "What I have done (ate junk) and what I have failed to do (exercise)". Where have I heard that before?

I got myself where I am. Arriving at that conclusion may not seem like much of an accomplishment from your point of view, but for me this was like getting knocked off of the horse on the road to Damascus (or maybe scales falling from my eyes, I'm not sure). No more stubbornness. No more excuses why.

I write this so that I can't hide from it. You who have known me for years have known this and, God love you, you've been more than polite in not saying what is totally obvious.

I will do this myself, but I seek your help. No, not money. Accountability. Feel free to ask, "Exercised today?", or, "When was the last time you had fast food?".

There you go. Brutal honesty on the internet. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to congratulate myself with a donut. No, not really. Wouldn't that be sad?

"What's so wrong with...?"

2011-03-30T23:04:00.002-04:00

Here's a LINK to a great article that was passed along to me. Worth a read if you're tired of the Church's liturgy becoming "improv night" at your local church.

3 Points of View

2011-03-28T08:55:00.004-04:00

Some thoughts about this morning's 1st reading at Mass, the story of Naaman the leper.

Naaman, in search of a cure, heads down to Israel with a load of treasure. He presumes that a cure is going to cost him a bribe to the King. Here Naaman is concerned with handling things as he thinks other people expect.
He ends up at Elisha's house, parks in front, and Elisha sends him the cure in message form. Naaman is put off because Elisha doesn't even do him the courtesy of coming to the door. Im sure in his home country and in the lands he's conquered, doors get opened for him and important people fawn all over him. Now, Naaman has let the way he sees himself get in the way.
Finally, there is the way God sees it, and the cure to his leprosy. Naaman goes and jumps in the Jordan seven times. Not only is he cured of the leprous sores of putrefying flesh (no reason to tell you that, other than I love that word), but his skin goes back to being the skin of a baby. Only when he moves beyond others and himself can he open himself up to God.

What a great lesson in our spiritual lives.

See the big picture

2011-03-27T20:38:00.002-04:00

The first 2 weeks of Lent tell the same story, no matter which cycle of reading we're in:

Week 1 = temptations

Week 2 = transfiguration

But in the 3rd week, the cycles break off from each other. This week we heard the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman who meet at Jacob's well. It's a great conversation between Our Lord and the Samaritan woman, but it's been a long day and I'm sure most of you reading this heard something about the conversation.

More than the parts, look at the whole. The woman has a conversation with Jesus. He speaks, she listens. She speaks, He listens. He questions, she responds. She speaks, He answers. He knows everything about her. She goes from calling him "a Jew" to "the Messiah" (meaning she has grown to know Him better). We should envy her, wish we were her, desire to imitate her.

We certainly can do so. Lent is about almsgiving, fasting, and PRAYER. Who better to put in front of us than someone who converses with the Lord? Who better to learn from and imitate.

Stations all year, penitential days every Friday

2011-03-25T20:21:00.002-04:00

I just returned from the recitation of Stations of the Cross over in the church. Never has there been so simple a devotion that causes such havoc on knees and leg muscles for two days afterward!

I wonder why parishes don't encourage the recitation of Stations all year round. I mean, the Stations are not like the Advent wreath, here for the season and then gone 'til next time. In our churches, for the most part, they are permanent fixtures. But you never hear of public recitation of the Stations outside of the season of Lent.

Am I wrong? Please, if anyone has been to a parish that does have regular recitation of the Stations of the Cross, let me know.

Today, the Solemnity of the Annunciation, much has been made about the fact that Canon 1251 specifically says that you do not abstain from meat on days that rank as Solemnities in the Church. In other words, in celebrating the Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord today, the Church asked us to "step out" of Lent. We wore white vestments. We sang/chanted/recited the Gloria and the Creed. The final piece of it is that we were given a "treat" by the Church to allow ourselves some meat today. We do it when St. Joseph's Day falls on a Friday. We have to ask to do it with regards to St. Patrick, since his feast is a commemoration during Lent (ranking him with St. Turibio, among others), and not a Solemnity. Like most things in the Church, though, there is even an exception to that. If you live in a diocese or archdiocese that has St. Patrick as a diocesan patron or secondary patron (New York, Boston, Burlington (VT), Erie (PA), Fort Worth, Harrisburg, Norwich (CT), or Sacramento), then his feast is celebrated as a Solemnity, and no dispensation from the law is needed.

Now, part of this "ho hum" attitude is that, for many of us, Fridays of Lent are the only times meat is not a regular part of our diets. To understand the treat we're given in Canon 1251, we need to look at Canon 1250:

"All Fridays through the year and the time of Lent are penitential days and times throughout the universal Church."

Heard about that lately?

On Beatification and Bones

2011-03-21T21:35:00.004-04:00

A part of the process connected with the upcoming beatification of Pope John Paul II is starting to make waves.

An AP story carried on Yahoo news talks about relics connected to JP2, whether first class (parts of his body - or, as you can read, his blood) or second class (items used by the late Pontiff - clothing, etc.).

Part of the procedures leading up to Beatification involves exhumation and examination of the deceased's body, as well as the collection of 1st class relics (10 pounds, I once read) to be sent to Rome. Since Pope John Paul is obviously already in Rome, this will be a much simpler process.

This will give the media a chance to poke more fun at the Church, calling us ridiculous for such devotion to clothing and body parts. The thing is, these are the same people who were awfully quiet when the clothing belonged to Princess Diana or Jacqueline Onassis, or the hair belonged to Elvis or Michael Jackson.

2 great Dolan posts

2011-03-19T21:16:00.002-04:00

Both of these come from Archbishop Dolan's blog:

The first one is the Archbishop telling a story about an encounter he had in an airport. Not for the faint of heart, but the reality of the way some people see things.

The second one is the Archbishop's pastoral letter, entitled, "The Altar and the Confessional".

The Meat Police - encore

2011-03-19T17:51:00.003-04:00

I first wrote this blog entry during Lent of 2007, when I was assigned at another parish. But, this past Friday, as I stopped in a local pizzeria for some meat-free lunch, the same situation happened once again as it did four years ago:

Priests wear many hats in their daily work. Yes, supernaturally we're "other Christ's", and "co-workers of the Bishops." But naturally, if you will, at times we wear the hat of an office manager, a teacher, a decorator, a floral designer, a carpenter, and quite often a janitor.

And today I realized we have another title that only comes out this time of year.

So there I was, walking into my local pizzeria, ready to get myself some lunch, when I realized that people are looking over at me. Then, suddenly, it's a little quieter than it was when I first walked in. People started contorting, twisting as if they were protecting whatever it was on their tables.

That's when it hit me. It's a Friday of Lent, officially a meatless day, it's lunch time, and I've become the freakin' Meat Police!

All the Catholics in the place are treating me like this is a roadside drunk-driver checkpoint, and I've got a flashlight pointed at their plates. "Hmmmm, is that a BLT I see?" "Did you seriously think a turkey burger doesn't count as meat?" I'm like those Gestapo agents in Hogan's Heroes who only seem to say, "Your papers, please."

To be honest, I really don't care what they were eating. But it was kind of fun watching the Catholics in the pizza shop show me how incredibly bad they'd be at playing poker. The part of their brains that houses "Catholic guilt" works faster than the part of their brains that tells muscles not to make sudden movements in a vain attempt to hide the hoagie.

Your faces gave you away, but I'll let you off with a warning this time.

SC 54

2011-03-16T10:35:00.004-04:00

About once a month, as the schedule allows, I do a "Catholic Q&A" in my parish, inviting anyone and everyone to come learn more about our faith. One of the questions I received had to do with the fact that, during the season of Lent, we've begun using the Latin Agnus Dei plainchant during daily Mass. The questioner wondered if this was just for Lent or a permanent thing.

In answering the question, I rambled a bit [no surprise if you know me] and eventually read for them from Vatican II's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, paragraph 54:

"A suitable place may be allotted to the vernacular in Masses which are celebrated with the people ... Nevertheless care must be taken to ensure that the faithful may also be able to say or sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them."

I think this surprised most of the people there. While most Catholics will tell you that "Vatican II called for the end of Latin", not many have heard that, when it comes to musical settings, through the years we were supposed to have been taught to be able to recite or sing the Gloria, Creed, Sanctus, Mortem Tuam (a.k.a. memorial acclamation), Our Father, and Lamb of God.

Hopefully by now the Catholic who attends Mass weekly knows that the English translation of Mass will be changing next Advent. Along with the prayers, we'll also be hearing new musical settings for the retranslated Mass propers. Along with the new settings in English, I think a golden opportunity exists to, about 50 years after the fact, implement what was called for by the Council.

Some thoughts

2011-03-14T10:04:00.003-04:00

I'm trying to make good on my resolution to blog more, so having just finished Mass, a funeral, and some laundry, I've got a moment.

Every time I said the word, "Temptations" (a few times per homily/4 homilies in the weekend), all I could think about was the musical group. "My Girl" kept going through my head. But anyway...

It was a great weekend for readings, if we're going to take Lent as a time to reflect upon sin, our weakness, and the usefulness of the season in our goal to defeat sin.

First, the 1st Reading:

The Devil is cunning. He's not some buffoon in a red suit and a pitchfork. He's dangerous. His presence requires our attention.

"Did God really tell you no to eat from any of the trees in the garden?" Of course God didn't say that, and the Devil knows that. That's a lie. All sin is a lie.

"You certainly will not die." True, your body will not die if you eat the fruit (the tree is not poisonous), but that's not the problem. We are body and soul, and each will be affected by breaking God's command. As for the body, eat of it and your life afterwards will certainly suck, compared to how good you had it before. As for the soul, there's the bigger problem. Bodies die, souls do not. For all the bad that will happen to the body after Original Sin (work for your food, sweaty labor, pain in childbirth, etc.), at least that ends with death. A soul separated from God through deliberate, grave sin will remain that way forever. If there's fruit on every freakin' tree around you, is it really worth it to eat the one you're not supposed to?

"The moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods..." Well, there it is, isn't it? The root of sin. Making ourselves little 'mini-gods'.

"The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes..." All sin looks good from a distance. It makes sense at the moment we think of doing it.

"she also gave some to her husband, WHO WAS WITH HER," Adam was there the whole time Eve is being tempted and doesn't say a word. If Eve sinned by commission, Adam's sin was omission. Sometimes we sin by doing; other times by not doing.

"Then the eyes of both of them were opened" After sin comes shame for ourselves and distance from other people as well as between us and God.

Now, the Gospel:

"command that these stones become loaves of bread." Matthew tells us Jesus is hungry, and the Devil knows it. He could have tempted Jesus on day 4, or 7, or 19, or 36, but he waited until he was hungry. The Devil knows our weakness(es). He's not going to attack us where we're strong (remember, he's no idiot), he goes for the flaws. Lent is a time to work on our weaknesses, to acknowledge them and do what needs to be done to make them less so. So what about the temptation, 'turn stones into bread'? In other words, "Satisfy yourself, Jesus. Take what you want. Don't wait, don't deny yourself." The Devil's first temptation, even when it comes to us, is to SELFISHNESS. We are an instant gratification society.

"Throw yourself down. God will catch you, won't He?" Test God, Jesus. If you won't, are you afraid He won't be there? Afraid He won't 'pass the test'? The second way the Devils tempts is is to DOUBT. Maybe God isn't there? Maybe I'm not important or good enough to earn His attention? There's real suffering in Japan, am I wrong in bothering God with my little problems? If I can't conquer these little things, should I even bother the big things? The Devil loves playing mind games with us, beware of them.

"All these I shall give you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me." OK, I can't break you of your relationship with God the Father, but I can certainly make your life easier, Jesus. Just bend your knee to me, Jesus, in submission. No one has to know; it'll be our little secret. The third temptation is to COMPROMISE. Where do we find that? In the Catholics who do attend Mass weekly, but think it's perfectly fine to arrive late or leave early. In those who do go to Confession, but deliberately hold back saying all their sins.

SELFISHNESS. DOUBT. COMPROMISE. Wanna know where to focus your attention during Lent?

How I spent my summer vacation

2011-03-13T22:20:00.003-04:00

Well, not really. Last summer is a memory, and next summer hasn't happened yet.

But it has been 43 days since my last entry. In the last two weeks, in particular, I've had more than a few people ask me why I wasn't blogging anymore.

No reason, really. Lots of reasons, actually. I don't know. What was the question again?

To be honest, blogging is a bit of a thing of the past. Facebook does it better, and it's much easier to put a thought or two onto a Facebook page than have to write something relevant, witty, and complete, on a blog. Don't get me wrong, I am overwhelmingly flattered that people want to read what I have to say. I thank you all for your support and your very kind words. You mean the world to me.

I've also been a bit busy lately, unlike some of the bloggers out there, I have a "daytime job", so to speak, and that comes first (and second, and third). Blogging has always been more of a freetime activity than a ministry, so when the freetime diminishes, so does the blogging.

BUT, Lent is here, and with it, the chance to not just eliminate something from my life but also add something. So, yes, I will try to be more attentive to the blog and spewing my sludge around the blogosphere for any and all who wish to read.

I'll be around here more often, and I hope you will, too.

FrJT

Alive and kicking

2011-01-27T20:09:00.004-05:00

I apologize for my sporadic blogging. Lately my time has been taken up with shoveling and my new one: shaking wet snow from the branches of trees so they won't snap and kill the tree.

Canons 528 and 529

2011-01-19T11:36:00.000-05:00

A former Canon Law professor of mine brought these canons to my attention. If you're a Priest, read 'em. If you're not, copy them and send them to your parish Priests. I'm thinking of taping them to my bathroom mirror so I read them every morning.

Can. 528 §1. A pastor is obliged to make provision so that the word of God is proclaimed in its entirety to those living in the parish; for this reason, he is to take care that the lay members of the Christian faithful are instructed in the truths of the faith, especially by giving a homily on Sundays and holy days of obligation and by offering catechetical instruction. He is to foster works through which the spirit of the gospel is promoted, even in what pertains to social justice. He is to have particular care for the Catholic education of children and youth. He is to make every effort, even with the collaboration of the Christian faithful, so that the message of the gospel comes also to those who have ceased the practice of their religion or do not profess the true faith.

§2. The pastor is to see to it that the Most Holy Eucharist is the center of the parish assembly of the faithful. He is to work so that the Christian faithful are nourished through the devout celebration of the sacraments and, in a special way, that they frequently approach the sacraments of the Most Holy Eucharist and penance. He is also to endeavor that they are led to practice prayer even as families and take part consciously and actively in the sacred liturgy which, under the authority of the diocesan bishop, the pastor must direct in his own parish and is bound to watch over so that no abuses creep in.

Can. 529 §1. In order to fulfill his office diligently, a pastor is to strive to know the faithful entrusted to his care. Therefore he is to visit families, sharing especially in the cares, anxieties, and griefs of the faithful, strengthening them in the Lord, and prudently correcting them if they are failing in certain areas. With generous love he is to help the sick, particularly those close to death, by refreshing them solicitously with the sacraments and commending their souls to God; with particular diligence he is to seek out the poor, the afflicted, the lonely, those exiled from their country, and similarly those weighed down by special difficulties. He is to work so that spouses and parents are supported in fulfilling their proper duties and is to foster growth of Christian life in the family.

§2. A pastor is to recognize and promote the proper part which the lay members of the Christian faithful have in the mission of the Church, by fostering their associations for the purposes of religion. He is to cooperate with his own bishop and the presbyterium of the diocese, also working so that the faithful have concern for parochial communion, consider themselves members of the diocese and of the universal Church, and participate in and sustain efforts to promote this same communion.

Let it snow (just not on a shopping day)

2011-01-02T23:14:00.005-05:00

Weather is an amazing thing. One week ago I could look out my window and we were in the midst of an honest to goodness blizzard. One week later, and most of the snow has melted, the streets are clear, and the only people who are still cranky are New Yorkers (No surprise there; They're always angry about something).

Lots of criticism has been thrown at Gov. Christie for not being in the state to personally drive a plow across the thousands of square miles of our state. But who is really to blame, and what are people really mad at?

If you want to be mad at something, be mad at the blizzard. This was a major storm: lots of snow, high winds, temperature below freezing. But, hey, NEWSFLASH: IT'S WINTER! This is what is supposed to happen. Want to get me nervous? Give me a blizzard in August.

Let's go back to the Governor. Does the State regulate snow plowing? Should it? Of course not. You really want the question of whether your street deserves attention being made by someone who doesn't live in your town? You want someone staring at a map down in Trenton who can order your town's snowplows to the other side of the state? GOVERNORS DO NOT CONTROL SNOWPLOWS; MAYORS DO! The one thing State government has right is that it knows that local towns know their streets better than the State does. Here's a question worth asking: Thanks to the press, everyone knows Gov. Christie was on vacation when the storm hit. But do you know whether, between Christmas and New Year's, your town's mayor was around? Heck, we had a major blizzard along the east coast, affecting 4-5 states, our President was in Hawaii, and everyone seems to be fine with that.

So why the anger? Comfort. We don't mind being told we have to stay inside for a snowstorm. But, whether there is three inches or three feet of snow, we want it all cleaned and pretty so we can get back to our usual lives the very next day. C'mon, it's after Christmas! We've got gifts to return, giftcards to cash in, and supermochafrappalattes to suck down at the mall.

Most Priests try to take a little break following Christmas, and the blizzard did squash many a travel plan (clergy included). And, though I have gone away in the past, I had no such plans this year. But I have to say this: from Sunday afternoon until about Tuesday evening, I had a very relaxing post-Christmas rest, right here in my Rectory.

For that, I say, if you really are to blame, then "Thank you, Governor Christie".

Bishop Thomas Olmstead

2010-12-26T09:16:00.003-05:00

If you haven't heard the backstory, Bishop Olmstead of Phoenix forbade a hospital to call itself a "Catholic hospital" because it performed a direct abortion. Now he's facing his own blizzard of negative press, not only from the pro-abortion gang you'd expect, but from a bunch of what are supposedly our own troops, who I think see themselves mirrored in that hospital.

In this clip, Bp. Olmstead was asked how he felt about all the negative things being said about him in the blogosphere.

Good answer. So many times as Priests, Deacons, Religious, laity, we allow the truth to pass through the filter of, "Will this make people not like me?" (the grammar may not be the best, but you know what I mean)