Thursday after Ash Wednesday Reflection

Jesus said to his disciples:
“The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected
by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

Then he said to all,
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
yet lose or forfeit himself?” (Lk 9.22-25)

The Gospel this morning reminds us that this Lent, indeed the Christian Life as a whole, will demand a certain measure of sacrifice.

Last night, I encourage the faithful to not just make this Lent a season of sacrifice and self-denial, but to also make it a season of sacrifice for a purpose. This is to say that we can use our period of self-denial to lead us more gently into service of others.

Jesus makes this clear in the gospel today when he asks us to deny ourselves but also to "take up our cross" and follow.

There is a course; a direction; a purpose. Please take time to make this Lenten Season, a time of action; of service.

Lent is a kind of spiritual pruning time. In pruning a tree, the aim is not to inflict damage on the tree, but to help it to produce more and better fruit.

Lord, show us what we need to prune ourselves of this Lent, so that we may become more fruitful branches of you, the true Vine.

On Finding Enthusiasm In Life

One needs something to believe in, something for which one can have wholehearted enthusiasm.
--Hannah Senesh

Life offers little if we sit passively in the midst of activity. Involvement is a prerequisite if we are to grow. For our lives' purposes we need enthusiasm; we need enthusiasm in order to greet the day expectantly. When we look toward the day with anticipation, we are open to all the possibilities for action.

We must respond to our possibilities if we are to mature emotionally and spiritually. Idly observing life from the sidelines guarantees no development beyond our present level. We begin to change once we start living up to our commitments.

For ourselves, spiritually, it means getting behind God's will and purpose for me. Believing in it and acting on it. This brings passion to my life and allows others to find hope in their lives as well.

Our Faith gives us something to believe in. We are no longer the people we were. So much more have we become! Each day's worth of following God's will carries us closer to fulfilling our purpose in life.

Catholic Beliefs Not Open to Popular Vote: Pope

When the Catholic church affirms the importance of how all the faithful understand matters of faith and morals, it is not saying Catholic beliefs are open to a popular vote, Pope Benedict XVI said.

An authentic sensus fidei, which literally means "sense of faith," can come only when Catholics actively participate in the life of the church and follow the teaching of the pope and bishops, he said Dec. 7 during a meeting with members of the International Theological Commission.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church quotes the Second Vatican Council's teaching that "the whole body of the faithful … cannot err in matters of belief. This characteristic is shown in the supernatural appreciation of faith (sensus fidei) on the part of the whole people, when, 'from the bishops to the last of the faithful,' they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and morals."

Benedict praised the theological commission members for including a discussion of the sensus fidei in "Theology Today: Perspectives, Principles and Criteria," a document they released in March and which affirms the primacy of bishops over theologians as interpreters of church teaching.

"Today it is particularly important to clarify the criteria which make it possible to distinguish the authentic sensus fidei from its counterfeits," the pope said. "In reality, it is not some kind of ecclesial public opinion, and it is unthinkable to use it to contest the teaching of the magisterium because the sensus fidei cannot develop authentically in a believer except to the extent in which he or she fully participates in the life of the church, and this requires a responsible adherence to the magisterium."

The sensus fidei is a kind of "supernatural instinct" that helps Catholics recognize what does and does not belong to the faith of the church, he said, and it is a sign that "the Holy Spirit does not cease to speak to the churches and lead them to the whole truth."

Referring to another document the commission is working on, about the Catholic belief in one God, Benedict said the sensus fidei is what helps believers rightly react against "the prejudice that says religions, especially monotheistic religions, would inherently be bearers of violence, mainly because of the claim that they advance about the existence of a universal truth."

Some people, he said, insist relativism is the only way to guarantee tolerance and peace and that it best conforms to the ideals of a democratic society where everything should be open to a vote.

When people are denied the possibility of referring to objective truths, he said, "dialogue is rendered impossible and violence, whether declared or hidden, becomes the rule of law of human relationships."

The life and death of Jesus, Benedict said, demonstrates "a radical rejection of all forms of hatred and violence" in favor of the absolute primacy of love.

"If, therefore, in history there have been or are forms of violence carried out in the name of God, these are not to be attributed to monotheism, but historical causes, mainly the result of human errors," he said.

In fact, the pope said, "it is forgetting God that immerses human societies in a form of relativism, which inevitably generates violence."

Cindy Wooden - National Catholic Reporter

Keeping Christ in Christmas

St. Ann's joined with Knights of Columbus Council's across the world in proclaiming their annual message of "Keeping Christ in Christmas."

Jill Diakow, Sir Knight Richard Kozar, Monica Kozar

With the help of a couple of parishioners, Sir Knight Richard Kozar erected the parish banner at St. Ann's Church, in Flin Flon, MB.

Mother nature shined on us in giving us a day that was only mildly cold at -12.

I appreciate our local council's initiative in keeping this annual tradition alive. The banner is visible from a major highway in town and is a visible reminder of our shared need to remember that this holiday time is centred around our Lord, Messiah and Teacher: Jesus Christ.

Thank you to Sir Knight Richard Kozar, Monica Kozar and Jill Diakow who assisted in this effort.

Many thanks from all of us at St. Ann's.

Ordination of Women Would Correct an Injustice: NCR Editorial

Preamble: In light of recent happenings within the Church in the world I discovered the following editorial from the National Catholic Reporter to be timely and well written. It asks good questions and I believe it is representative of many people within the Church at this time. I believe this is a timely reflection and well worth your read. It is not only a question of women in the church, it is a question that we as priests need to address in an open and responsible forum. A retired Archbishop once told me, "Paul, if we never ask the question, than how will people know that this is important to us?" Take a look:

National Catholic Reporter, editorial, December 3, 2012:

The call to the priesthood is a gift from God. It is rooted in baptism and is called forth and affirmed by the community because it is authentic and evident in the person as a charism. Catholic women who have discerned a call to the priesthood and have had that call affirmed by the community should be ordained in the Roman Catholic church. Barring women from ordination to the priesthood is an injustice that cannot be allowed to stand.

The most egregious statement in the Nov. 19 press release announcing Roy Bourgeois' "excommunication, dismissal and laicization" is the assertion that Bourgeois' "disobedience" and "campaign against the teachings of the Catholic church" was "ignoring the sensitivities of the faithful." Nothing could be further from the truth. Bourgeois, attuned by a lifetime of listening to the marginalized, has heard the voice of the faithful and he has responded to that voice.

Bourgeois brings this issue to the real heart of the matter. He has said that no one can say who God can and cannot call to the priesthood, and to say that anatomy is somehow a barrier to God's ability to call one of God's own children forward places absurd limits on God's power. The majority of the faithful believe this.

Let's review the history of Rome's response to the call of the faithful to ordain women:

In April 1976 the Pontifical Biblical Commission concluded unanimously: "It does not seem that the New Testament by itself alone will permit us to settle in a clear way and once and for all the problem of the possible accession of women to the presbyterate." In further deliberation, the commission voted 12-5 in favor of the view that Scripture alone does not exclude the ordination of women, and 12-5 in favor of the view that the church could ordain women to the priesthood without going against Christ's original intentions.

In Inter Insigniores (dated Oct. 15, 1976, but released the following January), the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said: "The Church, in fidelity to the example of the Lord, does not consider herself authorized to admit women to priestly ordination." That declaration, published with the approval of Pope Paul VI, was a relatively modest "does not consider herself authorized."

Pope John Paul II upped the ante considerably in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (May 22, 1994): "We declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful." John Paul had wanted to describe the ban as "irreformable," a much stronger stance than "definitively held." This met substantial resistance from high-ranking bishops who gathered at a special Vatican meeting in March 1995 to discuss the document, NCR reported at the time. Even then, bishops attuned to the pastoral needs of the church had won a concession to the possibility of changing the teaching.

But that tiny victory was fleeting.

In October 1995, the doctrinal congregation acted further, releasing a responsum ad propositum dubium concerning the nature of the teaching in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis: "This teaching requires definitive assent, since, founded on the written Word of God, and from the beginning constantly preserved and applied in the Tradition of the Church, it has been set forth infallibly by the ordinary and universal Magisterium." The ban on women's ordination belongs "to the deposit of the faith," the responsum said.

The aim of the responsum was to stop all discussion.

In a cover letter to the responsum, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then head of the congregation, asked presidents of bishops' conferences to "do everything possible to ensure its distribution and favorable reception, taking particular care that, above all on the part of theologians, pastors of souls and religious, ambiguous and contrary positions will not again be proposed."

Despite the certainty with which Ordinatio Sacerdotalis and the responsum were issued they did not answer all the questions on the issue.

Many have pointed out that to say that the teaching is "founded on the written Word of God" completely ignored the 1976 findings of the Pontifical Biblical Commission.

Others have noted that the doctrinal congregation did not make a claim of papal infallibility -- it said what the pope taught in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis was that which "has been set forth infallibly by the ordinary and universal magisterium." This too, however, has been called into question because at the time there were many bishops around the world who had serious reservations about the teaching, though few voiced them in public.

Writing in The Tablet in December 1995, Jesuit Fr. Francis A. Sullivan, a theological authority on the magisterium, cited Canon 749, that no doctrine is understood to have been defined infallibly unless this fact is clearly established. "The question that remains in my mind is whether it is a clearly established fact that the bishops of the Catholic Church are as convinced by [the teaching] as Pope John Paul evidently is," Sullivan wrote.

The responsum caught nearly all bishops off-guard. Though dated October, it was not made public until Nov. 18. Archbishop William Keeler of Baltimore, then the outgoing president of the U.S. bishops' conference, received the document with no warning three hours after the bishops had adjourned their annual fall meeting. One bishop told NCR that he learned about the document from reading The New York Times. He said many bishops were deeply troubled by the statement. He, like other bishops, spoke anonymously.

The Vatican had already begun to stack the deck against questioning. As Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese reported in his 1989 book, Archbishop: Inside the Power Structure of the American Catholic Church, under John Paul a potential episcopal candidate's view on the teaching against women's ordination had become a litmus test for whether a priest could be promoted to bishop.

Less than a year after Ordinatio Sacerdotalis was issued, Mercy Sr. Carmel McEnroy was removed from her tenured position teaching theology at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana for her public dissent from church teaching; she had signed an open letter to the pope calling for women's ordination. McEnroy very likely was the first victim of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, but there have been many more, most recently Roy Bourgeois.

Blessed John Henry Newman said that there are three magisteria in the church: the bishops, the theologians and the people. On the issue of women's ordination, two of the three voices have been silenced, which is why the third voice must now make itself heard. We must speak up in every forum available to us: in parish council meetings, faith-sharing groups, diocesan convocations and academic seminars. We should write letters to our bishops, to the editors of our local papers and television news channels.

Our message is that we believe the sensus fidelium is that the exclusion of women from the priesthood has no strong basis in Scripture or any other compelling rationale; therefore, women should be ordained. We have heard the faithful assent to this in countless conversations in parish halls, lecture halls and family gatherings. It has been studied and prayed over individually and in groups. The brave witness of the Women's Ordination Conference, as one example, gives us assurance that the faithful have come to this conclusion after prayerful consideration and study -- yes, even study of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis.

NCR joins its voice with Roy Bourgeois and calls for the Catholic church to correct this unjust teaching.

Advent Prayer

Come, long-expected Jesus.

Excite in me a wonder at the wisdom and power of Your Father and ours.

Receive my prayer as part of my service of the Lord who enlists me in God's own work for justice.

Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me a hunger for peace: peace in the world, peace in my home, peace in myself.

Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me a joy responsive to the Father's joy.

I seek His will so I can serve with gladness, singing and love.

Come, long-expected Jesus.

Excite in me the joy and love and peace it is right to bring to the manger of my Lord.

Raise in me, too, sober reverence for the God who acted there, hearty gratitude for the life begun there, and spirited resolution to serve the Father and Son.

I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, whose advent I hail. Amen.

(anonymous)

Sunday Evening

Having a quiet evening and cannot believe it is Sunday night and that the first Sunday of Advent has drawn to a close.

I have the comfort is sitting with some good friends by a fireplace and watching the snow fall with Kismet on my lap.

A prayer of gratitude escapes my lips as I thank God for His Son who's Presence we await. All I have comes from God and was given to me by His Son.

Thank you, Lord

Why Yes: Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! You might wonder why I offer this greeting on the weekend of December 1st. Nevertheless a new Church year begins this weekend with the celebration of the First Sunday of Advent.

This Season of Advent, which at its heart is a season of hopefulness, comes every year to remind us of two things: The preparation to celebrate the coming of Christ historically at Christmas as well as an opportunity to reflect on the coming of Jesus at the end of time. Indeed, we are strongly rooted in the first practice but Christ's second coming is likely not something we spend a great deal of time contemplating.

I get it! It's difficult. Our culture: everyone and everything tells us that Christmas is here, right now. You would never be able to tell by what is happening around us that Christmas is still 24 days away. Why then does the Church insist on inviting to participate in a time of "waiting?"

Christianity, from the time of Jesus until today has always been "counter-cultural." This is to say that it often finds itself at odds with what happens culturally. This is not to say that our culture is wrong or that it is flawed in some way. Christianity does insist, however, that there is something more to be found in these weeks; something deeper to be experienced.

We provide an atmosphere of patient waiting; of expectant hope; of pausing in our life to reflect on what the coming of Jesus, the Messiah means to me. This is why the church invites us to not focus on decorations or lights, nativity sets or flowers. The church space is simple and plain with the focus being on the Advent Wreath which marks off for us each week in which we grow closer to the celebration of the Feast of the Nativity.

We do this in Lent for six weeks easily enough without a second thought. At Advent we somehow get caught up with what is going on around us that it's difficult to slow ourselves down and to admit that we are still waiting.

This year, I invite you to give this a try. Attempt to think about how the coming of Jesus in history and in our future will affect you. Does it have an effect in your life? What could our response be to Jesus when he does come at Christmas, in our hearts, and what will we say to Him when he comes again? Give it a try. I "double-dog" dare you.

End Times

These weeks we are hard pressed to not hear about the "End Times" in both every day life or within the celebration of our Christian rituals.

Last Sunday we marked the Feast of Christ the King which is the last Sunday of the church's liturgical year. This coming weekend we celebrate the First Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the church year.

The readings of the last couple of weeks and this week lead us to an examination of a reckoning in the world when God's Kingdom will be brought to fruition in the world with the second coming of Christ.

All around us, secularly, there is a buzz in regards to the last days of the Mayan calendar which will run out on December 21st. Soothsayers are abounding with thoughts of our demise.

What does this week afford us as a Christian Church? A great deal actually.

We are reminded this week, through the scriptures, that God has a plan for the world and it is unfolding in our presence. God is not only a God of history; He is a God of the here and now. God lives within us and among us.

Last Sunday's Gospel from St. Luke reminds us that Jesus came to point the way to the "truth." The truth for us today is that God remains and dwells within the world through the sacred Presence of His Son, Jesus. Jesus' presence is not only reverenced in the Eucharist at mass, but also in our daily lives when we strive to see and feel His presence. We must look.

In our lives, we can point to the "truth" of His loving and thoughtful Presence when we invite others to see opportunities for this in their lives. To see and find hope. There is an 'expectant' hope that comes in between these two seasons of the Church year. That hope is Jesus, himself. Coming to unite and heal the world and to restore us in dignity.

To remember our lasting 'hope' is to recall that Christ's Promise to come again is a reality in this world and in my life. In light of that, do I fear my future? Do I fear "the end?" Can I find some measure of comfort that God has made a covenant with this world that is being fulfilled every day I live and commit myself to His Will.

I invite you to find hope in these days; to know that God has a will and purpose for you. That God is making something good out of your life, even in times of trial, that we cannot always see or even understand.

Timely...

God gave burdens, also shoulders.
--Yiddish proverb

Some days we wake up, and we know we can't get out of bed. We lie there, trying to force ourselves, but none of the usual motivations work. We may be depressed, we may be grieving, or we may simply be tired. It's hard to resist the temptation to believe that everyone else is functioning with ease. They all show up for work. What's wrong with me? The more frantic we become, the more likely we may lapse into old ways of thinking and behaving in order to get moving. 

If we feel we can't get out of bed, there's usually a good reason why. We can give ourselves permission to discover it. By being honest, we will discover how to take care of ourselves. Maybe it's a day to stop and nurture ourselves, not force ourselves to keep going. Only we know what we really need. We do not have to compare ourselves to others or apologize for what we are going through. Instead, we can be gentle, giving our bodies, emotions, and spirits what they require. We can turn the day over to God's will. 

I pray for the willingness to make this a day of healing. I will be part of my own renewal.

Thought for the Day: On Giving Thanks

The expression of praise as thanksgiving, gratitude, and joy is among the most powerful forms of affirmation.
--Catherine Ponder

Praise inevitably has a multiple effect. It positively acknowledges another human being, enhancing his or her well being, while making us feel good. This offering of love, which is the substance of praise, heals all who share in its circle.

We can see the effects of affirmation in the people we admire. We can discern its absence too, particularly among those who struggle. How difficult is it to give small acknowledgments to those we care about? Making a habit of this heals our own inner wounds too.

Affirming a friend or ourselves connects us to the spirit residing within. That bond fills in our empty spaces, making us whole and healed. Our security grows as we praise one another.

Prayer:

I will freely offer my love in the form of praise to the wonderful friends on my path today.

UPDATE: University of San Diego Votes No Confidence in President

Almost 100 faculty members at the University of San Diego have declared a loss of confidence in their president's leadership, saying her cancellation of a British theologian's visiting fellowship and her response to criticism of the move have shown her to be "ethically bankrupt."

The vote of no confidence by the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences, one of seven colleges at the Catholic university, is the latest response to president Mary Lyons' rescission of a fellowship for Tina Beattie, a theologian known for her work in contemporary ethical issues.

Beattie had been scheduled to begin a fellowship at the university's Frances G. Harpst Center for Catholic Thought and Culture on Nov. 6. Lyons, who says the theologian publicly dissented from church teaching by suggesting Catholics could support civil same-sex marriage, canceled the appointment in an Oct. 27 letter.

"The president has shown herself to be ethically bankrupt, for which reason the motion is placed that this body declare a loss of confidence in her leadership," read the motion approved in a meeting Tuesday of the academic assembly of the university's College of Arts and Sciences .
The vote was 99 in support of the measure, 16 against, and 19 abstaining.

Carlton Floyd, chair of the assembly's executive committee, told NCR that while the vote was "largely symbolic," "it is hugely important as a symbolic gesture."

"It lets the world know ... that faculty here do in fact support and believe strongly in academic freedom, believe strongly and support the leadership of its directors ... and that the reasons and explanations that have come to us [for the cancellation], we consider largely invalid," said Floyd, an associate professor of English at the university.

Calls to university representatives for comment were not returned Tuesday afternoon.
The faculty's action follows wide criticism of Lyons' cancellation of Beattie's fellowship from prominent academics in both the U.S. and the U.K.

The 47,000-member American Association of University Professors, which rates universities on their protection of academic freedom, said in a letter Nov. 5 that the situation raises "serious issues."
Lyons' cancellation came after an influential university alumnus and a conservative watchdog group backed by a high-ranking Vatican official protested the appointment to the university's board of trustees.

At a similar assembly Nov. 6, the San Diego University faculty had asked Lyons to reinstate Beattie's appointment or face the vote of no confidence.

Lyons responded to the Nov. 6 vote hours before Tuesday's faculty assembly. In a letter to Floyd on Tuesday morning, Lyons wrote she would allow Beattie to speak at the university, so long as the theologian was not given an "honorary affiliation" with the institution, a reference to Beattie's expected title of "visiting fellow" of the Harpst Center.

In the letter, Lyons wrote that she recognized that her decision to disinvite Beattie left "many very thoughtful and serious academics, students and others -- including theologians -- both on our campus and beyond questioning our university's commitment to Academic Freedom."

"In response to the Assembly's request [of Nov. 6], I am endorsing that Dr. Beattie be invited by the [Harpst Center] to speak at USD, as early as the Spring semester, without conferring upon her an honorary affiliation with the University," Lyons continued.

Gerard Mannion, the director of the university's Harpst Center, told NCR Tuesday the general feeling of the faculty was that Lyons' response was "too little, too late."

"People just felt that it didn't change anything," Mannion said. "It didn't apologize, as the assembly had asked. It didn't right any of the wrongs. They just felt it was compounding the wrongs that had been committed.

"She believes herself to have the right to veto or approve visiting scholar appointments, which is itself a violation of academic freedom," he said.

Beattie, a professor of Catholic studies at London's University of Roehampton, said she would have to consider before accepting a new invitation to speak at USD.

"The only thing that would make me feel inclined to accept it is I feel an enormous debt of gratitude to faculty and students at USD," said Beattie, who also serves on the board of directors of the British Catholic weekly The Tablet and is a theological adviser to the Catholic Agency For Overseas Development, the Catholic aid agency for England and Wales.

While Beattie said she was "amazed" at the response she had seen in her case from others worried about academic freedom and freedom of conscience, she also said her experience has made her believe there are "real problems" with U.S. Catholicism.

"One thing I think that your bishops there need to be aware of, and your funders, is that from this side of the pond, why on earth would any British intellectual want to go through this?" she asked.
"I can't see why anyone in my position would subject themselves to this in order to speak in America. Part of me thinks that you have a real problem with the politics of American Catholicism at the moment. And it's really a disincentive to people wanting to get involved."

The University of San Diego's College of Arts and Sciences lists about 212 faculty members.
Academic assembly meetings, which normally occur once a month during the academic year, are open to all tenure and tenure-track faculty in the college.

In a Nov. 5 statement to NCR, Lyons said Beattie's signature on an August letter in The Times of London -- one of 27 -- that said it would be "perfectly proper" for Catholics to support civil marriage for same-sex couples was the primary reason for her cancellation of the theologian's fellowship.
Among other theologians who have publicly questioned Lyons' move are Eamon Duffy, a professor of Christian history at the University of Cambridge and a former member of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, and Paul D. Murray, the president of the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain and a consulter to the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

Beattie's cancellation marked the university's second revocation of a fellowship from a prominent theologian in recent years. U.S. theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether, a Catholic feminism scholar, was disinvited as the university's Msgr. John R. Portman Chair in Roman Catholic Theology in 2008.

A Novel Take on the Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the people I cannot change,
which is pretty much everyone,
since I’m clearly not you, God.
At least not the last time I checked.

And while you’re at it, God,
please give me the courage
to change what I need to change about myself,
which is frankly a lot, since, once again,
I’m not you, which means I’m not perfect.
It’s better for me to focus on changing myself
than to worry about changing other people,
who, as you’ll no doubt remember me saying,
I can’t change anyway.

Finally, give me the wisdom to just shut up
whenever I think that I’m clearly smarter
than everyone else in the room,
that no one knows what they’re talking about except me,
or that I alone have all the answers.

Basically, God,
grant me the wisdom
to remember that I’m
not you.

Amen

James Martin, SJ

On Satisfying Our Hunger

Hunger serves us well. Physical hunger prompts us to eat the food we need to promote and maintain health. Emotional hunger sends us in search of companionship, intimacy, and love. Our hunger for achievement fuels our contribution to the work of the world. And our spiritual hunger leads us to a Power greater than ourselves. Peace, unity, goodwill all of these and more, we hunger for.

If we find ourselves trying to satisfy our hunger in ways that don't work, it's time to reassess and make changes. That's what we do when we take time to share our lives with others. We can admit that our false satisfactions have gotten out of hand and are threatening destruction.

The satisfaction of our various hungers is within reach. Much of what we crave we will find within ourselves as we develop a relationship with a God.

All Souls Day

Today is the Feast of All Souls

Let us remember our deceased members of our families, our friends and community.

Eternal Rest Grant Unto Them, O Lord, and Let Perpetual Light Shine Upon Them.

May their Souls and All the Souls of the Faithfully Departed Rest In Peace.

Amen.

US University of San Diego Withdraws Theologian's Invite

A rare, but not unheard of, move has occurred at the University of San Diego. Tina Beattie, a professor of Catholic studies at London's private University of Roehampton known for her work in contemporary ethical issues and Catholic understandings of feminism, received notice of the cancellation Oct. 27. She was scheduled to take residence at the university on Tuesday.

There was pressure from the University's financial contributors over Professor Beattie's position on the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Although none of these issues were stipulated by the university she nevertheless had her invitation to the university withdrawn.

If this were truly a result of the cumulative fears of some financial backbenchers what does this signify for the future of Catholic Christian intellect? It is a slippery slope that has no clear end in sight. Professor Beattie is a world renowned theologian. I find the action of University of San Diego's President, Mary Lyons, to be lacking in justice and integrity. To bow, in the intellectual world, to outside pressure is to begin the process of eroding the very fabric with which our academic world is founded. To grow intellectually is to accept that we should never close the door on the surfacing of ongoing thought and reflection. What was Christ about if not dialogue?

I feel sorry for those "financial contributors" who pushed this to happen. I wonder what type of church they will find themselves in years from now. This "god in a box" mentality will guarantee a beautiful, if not empty, church.

For those interested in the article it may found here.

Pope Benedict on Faith: Church as Community

This past Wednesday, Pope Benedict gave his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square, on the theme of faith. It is a brilliant reflection on the need to exercise one's faith within the embrace of a community which is supportive of this, namely one's parish. I hope you find it as inspiring as I did:

Dear brothers and sisters,

We continue on our journey of meditation on the Catholic Faith. Last week I explained that faith is a gift, for it is God who takes the initiative and comes to meet us. Thus faith is the response whereby we welcome him as the stable foundation of our lives. It is a gift that transforms our existence, for it allows us to see through the eyes of Jesus, who works in us and opens us to love for God and for others.

Today I would like to take another step forward in our reflection, beginning once again with a number of questions: Is faith only personal and individual? Does it only concern my own person? Do I live my faith alone? Certainly, the act of faith is an eminently personal act that takes place in the most intimate depths of our being and signals a change in direction, a personal conversion. It is my life that is marked by a turning point and receives a new orientation.

In the liturgy of Baptism, at the time of the promises, the celebrant asks for a manifestation of faith, and he puts forward three questions: Do you believe in God the Father Almighty? Do you believe in Jesus Christ his only Son? Do you believe in the Holy Spirit? Historically, these questions were addressed personally to the one who was to receive baptism, before immersing him three times in water. And today, too, the response is in the singular: “I believe”. But my belief is not the result of my own personal reflection, nor the product of my own thoughts. Rather, it is the fruit of a relationship, of a dialogue that involves listening, receiving and a response. It is a conversation with Jesus that causes me to go out of my self-enclosed “I” in order that I may be opened to the love of God the Father. It is like a rebirth in which I discover that I am united not only to Jesus but also to all those who have walked, and who continue to walk, along the same path. And this new birth, which begins at baptism, continues throughout the whole course of life.

I cannot build my personal faith on a private conversation with Jesus, for faith is given to me by God through the community of believers, which is the Church. It numbers me among the multitude of believers, in a communion which is not merely sociological but, rather, which is rooted in the eternal love of God, who in himself is the communion of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - who is Trinitarian Love. Our faith is truly personal only if it is also communal. It can only be my faith only if it lives and moves in the “we” of the Church, only if it is our faith, the common faith of the one Church.

On Sunday, when we recite the “Creed” [the “I believe”] during the Holy Mass, we express ourselves in the first person, but we confess the one faith of the Church as a community. The “I believe” that we profess individually is joined to an immense choir spanning time and space, in which each person contributes, as it were, to a harmonious polyphony of faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes this with great clarity: “’Believing’ is an ecclesial act. The Church’s faith precedes, engenders, supports and nourishes our faith. The Church is the mother of all believers. ‘No one can have God as Father who does not have the Church as Mother’ [St. Cyprian]” (n. 181). Therefore, faith is born in the Church, leads to her and lives in her. This is very important to remember.

At the beginning of the Christian adventure, when the Holy Spirit descends with power on the disciples on the day of Pentecost, as narrated in the Acts of the Apostles (cf. 2:1-13), the nascent Church receives strength to carry out the mission entrusted to her by the risen Lord: to spread the Gospel, the good news of the Kingdom of God, to every corner of the world, and to guide every man to an encounter with the risen Christ and to the faith that saves. The Apostles overcome every fear in proclaiming what they have heard, seen and personally experienced with Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, they begin to speak in new languages, openly announcing the mystery they had witnessed.

In the Acts of the Apostles, we are then told about the great speech Peter addressed on the day of Pentecost. He begins with a passage from the prophet Joel (3:1-5), refers it to Jesus and proclaims the core of Christian faith: He who had been bountifully good to all, and was attested to by God with miracles and mighty works, was crucified and killed, but God raised him from the dead, establishing him as Lord and Christ. Through him, we have entered into the definitive salvation announced by the prophets, and whosoever shall call upon his name shall be saved (cf. Acts 2:17-24). Many of those who heard Peter’s words felt personally challenged; they repented of their sins and were baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 2: 37-41).

Thus begins the Church’s journey. She is the community that carries this proclamation through space and time, the community of the People of God founded on the new covenant in Christ’s blood, whose members do not belong to a particular social or ethnic group but who are men and women from every nation and culture. The Church is a “catholic” people that speaks new languages and is universally open to welcoming everyone, that transcends every border and breaks every barrier. St. Paul says: “Here there is not Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11).

From her earliest days, then, the Church was the place of faith, the place where the faith was transmitted, the place where, through baptism, we are immersed in the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s Death and Resurrection, which frees us from the prison of sin, gives us the freedom of children and introduces us into communion with the Trinitarian God. At the same time, we are immersed in a communion with other brothers and sisters in faith, with the entire Body of Christ, and in this way we are brought forth from our isolation. The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council reminds us: “God does not make men holy and save them merely as individuals, without bond or link between one another. Rather has it pleased Him to bring men together as one people, a people which acknowledges Him in truth and serves Him in holiness” (Dogmatic Constitution, Lumen Gentium, 9).

Again recalling the liturgy of Baptism, we may note that at the conclusion of the promises whereby we renounce evil and respond “I believe” to the central truths of the faith, the celebrant declares: “This is our faith. This is the faith of the Church and we glory in professing it in Christ Jesus Our Lord”. Faith is a theological virtue given by God but transmitted by the Church throughout the span of history. Again St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, states that he has handed on to them the Gospel, which he himself had also received (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:3).

There is an unbroken chain in the Church’s life, in the announcement of God’s Word, in the celebration of the Sacraments, which comes to us and which we call Tradition. It provides us with the guarantee that what we believe in is Christ’s original message, as preached by the Apostles. The core of this primordial announcement is the event of the Lord’s Death and Resurrection, from which the entire patrimony of faith flows. The Council says: “The apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved by an unending succession of preachers until the end of time (Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, 8). Thus, if Sacred Scripture contains God’s Word, the Tradition of the Church conserves and faithfully transmits it, so that men of every age may have access to its immense wealth and be enriched by its treasures of grace. In this way the Church, “in her teaching, life and worship, perpetuates and hands on to all generations all that she herself is, all that she believes” (ibid.).

Lastly, I would like to emphasize that it is within the ecclesial community that personal faith grows and matures. It is interesting to observe that in the New Testament the word “saints” refers to Christians as a whole - and certainly not all of them had the necessary qualities to be declared saints by the Church. What, then, was intended by the use of this term? The fact that those who had faith in the Risen Christ and lived it out were called to become models for others, by putting them in contact with the Person and the Message of Jesus, who reveals the Face of the living God. This is also true for us: a Christian who allows himself to be gradually guided and shaped by the Church’s faith - despite his weaknesses, limitations and difficulties - becomes, as it were, a window open to the light of the living God that receives this light and transmits it to the world. In the encyclical Redemptoris missio, Blessed John Paul II affirmed that “missionary activity renews the Church, revitalizes faith and Christian identity, and offers fresh enthusiasm and new incentive. Faith is strengthened when it is given to others!” (no. 2).

The widespread tendency today to relegate the faith to the private sphere contradicts its very nature. We need the Church to confirm our faith and to experience God’s gifts: His Word, the Sacraments, the support of grace and the witness of love. In this way, our “I” taken up into the “we” of the Church – will be able to perceive itself as the recipient of and participant in an event that far surpasses it: the experience of communion with God, who establishes communion among men. In a world in which individualism seems to regulate human relationships, causing them to become ever more fragile, faith calls us to be the Church, i.e. bearers of God’s love and communion to all mankind. (cf. Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 1). Thank you for your attention.

Story of a New Priest

The pathway to the ministerial priesthood of Jesus Christ is not spoken of often today. As a priest and pastor in 2012 it is an issue near and dear to my own heart. Our diocese has not ordained a priest in over 10 years. I am one of two incardinated priests of my archdiocese. We hover around a dozen priests for 49 parishes and two thirds of our clergy are currently priests from overseas.

I am the youngest diocesen priest of this diocese as my counterpart is over the age of 70 now. I wonder, daily, what the future of our diocese will bring.

I came across an article about the formation of priests today and in particular the priesthood of a young man from Boston who was recently ordained. It is a lengthy article but if you have time, if you love your church, if you love priests then take time to read it.

It made my day and reminded me yet again, how much I love the priesthood.

You may find the article here.

When Was The Last Time...

The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Psalm 126

For most people the response to last Sunday's psalm has been easily forgotten. Afterall it has been almost a week. Nevertheless, it has remained a focus of my prayer and ministry this week. For a variety of reasons I did not preach about the psalm this past weekend but it did inspire me.

I cannot help but thing of the Israelites of old. There was a certain sense of a deepfelt relationship with God.

God was responsible for their livelihood, their work, their play, their families, their bounty...everything. When things became difficult, they prayed harder; when things became bountiful, they were fillled with joy.

I asked myself this week: when was the last time I truly felt deep and lasting joy in God's Presence in my life? It is an honest question. God's will was that each of us take delight in His creation. Do I take delight, I mean REAL delight in God's gifts to my world? The Israelites were very much in touch with that on a deep and personal level.

Have I grown to accept God's activity in my life as being commonplace and no longer extraordinary? Have I taken my family, my loved ones, my ministry, my work, my life for granted and they no longer fill me with a joy that can only come from God? God who knows me intimately more than I know myself and who has provided for me according to my needs.

This Psalm challenged me this week to see something personal about my relationship with God. It challenged me to see that God has given me everything in this life that I have. I need to remember to not take this for granted and to be joyful over what I do have and who I have in my life.

The Lord has done great things for me...I can say "yes" today, I am filled with joy!

Giving of Myself TODAY

We all have regrets, don't we? Some of us left jobs or spouses or neighborhoods only to wish we hadn't. Perhaps we closed the door on our family of origin and then felt grief when parents or siblings died. More commonly we regret the instances when our mean spirited behavior or attitude hurt someone else. We weren't always honest and forthright; we didn't always try to help a friend or co-worker who needed our advice. We simply didn't put our best self forward when the opportunities for doing so presented themselves.

Dwelling on the "shoulds" of past years is fruitless. We did the best we knew how to do at the time. The past is gone. Let's quit digging up the bones of old regrettable experiences. All they do is cloud our minds when we're trying to respond to today's opportunities.

I won't have anything to regret tomorrow if I respond to today with my best self.