I had one of those "coincidences" that is really a "God-incident" today.
The Second Reading in the Divine Office today was from a sermon of St. Leo the Great, one of my favorite contributors to the Church's prayer book. Here are some excerpts that particularly:
"What the Lord says is very true: Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. What is a man's treasure but the heaping up of profits and the fruit of his toil. For whatever a man sows this too will he reap.... Now there are many kinds of wealth and a variety of grounds for rejoicing; every man's treasure is that which he desires. If it is based on earthly ambitions, its acquisition makes men not blessed but wretched.
"But those who enjoy the things that are above and eternal rather than earthly and perishable, possess an incorruptible, hidden store of which the prophet speaks: Our treasure and salvation have come, wisdom and instruction and piety from the Lord: these are the treasures of justice. Through these, with the help of God's grace, even earthly possessions are transformed into heavenly blessings; it is a fact that many people use the wealth which is either rightfully left to them or otherwise acquired, as a tool of devotion. By distributing what might be superfluous to support the poor, they are amassing imperishable riches, so that what they have discreetly given cannot be subject to loss. They have properly placed those riches where their heart is; it is a most blessed thing to work to increase such riches rather than to fear that they may pass away."
In other words, true wealth is in heaven. We cannot take material possessions with us when we die, but we can take all that we have given away to those in need. In that way, wealth becomes, in the words of St. Leo, "a tool of devotion." It is a means by which we show our love for God by loving the neighbor in need with whom Christ identified himself (see Matthew 25).
After this morning prayer I had breakfast with Christopher Hoar, the president of Caritas for Children, an organization that helps children in poor countries by lining up benefactors who support their education. But in giving to these children, the benefactors receive so much more. Their material contributions become eternal wealth. They also come to realize that they are doing their part in the Church's work of evangelization. My breakfast meeting was a confirmation of St. Leo's words that I'd read when I prayed .
Further confirmation came at Mass when I read today's Gospel--Luke 21:1-4, the story of the Widow's Mite. Jesus praised the poor widow who gave not from her "surplus wealth" but from her poverty. In material terms it was less than all the offerings of the wealthy, but in spiritual terms it resembled more closely the offering of Jesus himself. Jesus held nothing back but gave all. And so did the poor widow.
We need prudence and balance when it comes to the use of our resources, but the temptation is to be so careful that we end up trusting in our wealth rather than in God. Words like today's Gospel and St. Leo's sermon remind us that we need to always ask: Where is my treasure? Where is my heart?
The "God-incidences" of daily life remind us that we have a God who cares and who will use every event of our lives to show that care.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Thursday, November 15, 2012
The Sacred Heart in the East
In 1995 Blessed Pope John II wrote an Apostolic Letter entitled Orientale Lumen or The Light of the East. In it he said: "Since, in fact, we believe that the venerable and ancient tradition of the Eastern Churches is an integral part of the heritage of Christ's Church, the first need for Catholics is to be familiar with that tradition, so as to be nourished by it and to encourage the process of unity in the best way possible for each." Unfortunately many Roman Catholics are not only not "familiar with that tradition" but don't even know that there are over 20 Eastern Catholic Churches, all in union with the Roman Catholic Church. When they hear "Catholic" they immediately think of "Roman" or the "Latin Rite." Pope John Paul II knew that in order for the Body of Christ to be healthy it needed to breathe with its two lungs--East and West.
Last weekend I had the opportunity to breathe with the Eastern lung of the Church. The Apostleship of Prayer group at St. Josaphat's Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in Parma, Ohio invited me for a retreat day. I had the opportunity to affirm their existence and to encourage them to share the heart-centered spirituality of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the largest of the Eastern Catholic Churches. The Western Church tends to be very rationalistic, focused on the head. The East has traditionally be focused more on the heart. Where the Western Church tended to try to understand everything in a rational
way, the Eastern Church has been more comfortable with mystery. In the 13th Century, when many in the West began to doubt the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, Christ appeared asking for a feast in honor of His Body and Blood--Corpus Christi. The Eastern Church, holding fast to tradition and its faith in the Eucharist, didn't need such a feast. Similarly, in the 17th Century Christ appeared in the West and revealed His Heart, calling for a feast of reparation for the irreverence shown Him in the Blessed Sacrament. Again, the East did not need such a feast. In its Liturgy it addressed Jesus in the very intimate words, "Lover of Mankind."
Eastern Catholics have often been viewed and treated as second-class Catholics. They were even encouraged and forced in some cases to let go of their venerable traditions and to replace them with practices from the Roman Church. The question naturally arises, is Sacred Heart devotion such a practice, foreign to the Eastern Church and its spirituality?
One of the great heroes of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky (1865-1944), who was the Metropolitan Archbishop of his Church from 1901 until his death in 1944--a very difficult period in Ukrainian history--didn't think so. At the Archeparchial Synod in Lviv in 1940, he proposed a special decree on the Love of Jesus. He wrote: "By employing the term 'the Heart of Jesus' as a symbol of all the rich interior life of Christ, we ascribe it all to his love. All this we worship. In that symbol we have an excellent synthesis and a concrete sign of the infinite treasures of Christ's soul and the inexhaustible source of God's priceless gifts to us."
He also wrote about the great spiritual advantages that people would find through this devotion, using words that remind us of the Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart: "In the parish where the faithful venerate Christ the Savior under that form, or in that manner, the whole spiritual life begins to flourish, people flock to church, the number of those who receive the Holy Eucharist is increased, vices begin slowly to disappear from among the people, concord and love reign in families, parents come to learn what a treasure children are to them, children learn to respect and love their parents. With the cult of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, all things begin to change in the parish--just as when spring arrives, all nature awakens to new life. Hence, it is the unquestionable obligation of every pastor to foster this cult in his family, in other Christian families, and in the whole parish."
Eastern Catholics have often been viewed and treated as second-class Catholics. They were even encouraged and forced in some cases to let go of their venerable traditions and to replace them with practices from the Roman Church. The question naturally arises, is Sacred Heart devotion such a practice, foreign to the Eastern Church and its spirituality?
One of the great heroes of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky (1865-1944), who was the Metropolitan Archbishop of his Church from 1901 until his death in 1944--a very difficult period in Ukrainian history--didn't think so. At the Archeparchial Synod in Lviv in 1940, he proposed a special decree on the Love of Jesus. He wrote: "By employing the term 'the Heart of Jesus' as a symbol of all the rich interior life of Christ, we ascribe it all to his love. All this we worship. In that symbol we have an excellent synthesis and a concrete sign of the infinite treasures of Christ's soul and the inexhaustible source of God's priceless gifts to us."He also wrote about the great spiritual advantages that people would find through this devotion, using words that remind us of the Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart: "In the parish where the faithful venerate Christ the Savior under that form, or in that manner, the whole spiritual life begins to flourish, people flock to church, the number of those who receive the Holy Eucharist is increased, vices begin slowly to disappear from among the people, concord and love reign in families, parents come to learn what a treasure children are to them, children learn to respect and love their parents. With the cult of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, all things begin to change in the parish--just as when spring arrives, all nature awakens to new life. Hence, it is the unquestionable obligation of every pastor to foster this cult in his family, in other Christian families, and in the whole parish."
For Metropolitan Sheptytsky, devotion to Jesus under the symbol of His Heart, would help deepen the spiritual life of every individual Catholic, every family, and every parish.
And so, the Archeparchial Synod of Lviv, in a directive dated December 20, 1940, told its priests to read an act of consecration to the Heart of Jesus after the Divine Liturgy every year on the third Sunday following the Descent of the Holy Spirit. It also approved the Apostleship of Prayer and recommended that it be introduced throughout the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
This is the origin of the Apostleship of Prayer group that meets at the Eparchy of Parma's St. Josaphat's Cathedral. My weekend of retreat and then the celebration of a feast day dinner with Bishop John Bura and the parish, was an example of how the Heart of Jesus can be the source of unity.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
The Saints: Witnesses of Faith
On Saturday I had the privilege of participa-ting in the Magnificat Day of Faith event at the Crystal Cathedral in the Orange Diocese of southern California. Next spring, when this building will be consecrated for Catholic worship and become the new cathedral for the diocese, it will be named Christ Cathedral. I gave the following homily as part of the Morning Prayer.
Over ten years ago Blessed John Paul II, in his apostolic letter at the end of the Jubilee Year and the beginning of the new millennium, wrote: "The time has come to re-propose wholeheartedly to everyone the high standard of ordinary Christian living." He issued a "call for a genuine 'training in holiness'" and said that "this training in holiness calls for a Christian life distinguished above all in the art of prayer."
Just last month, Pope Benedict, in his homily at the opening of the Synod of Bishops which met to discuss the New Evangelization, said that holiness is "the language of truth and love."
How do we learn to understand and to speak this language? From those who have spoken it. From the saints, the witnesses of faith.
When Pope Benedict announced the Year of Faith in his apostolic letter Porta Fidei, "The Door of Faith," he presented the saints to us. First and foremost he spoke of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a model of faith, saying: "By faith, Mary accepted the Angel's word and believed the message that she was to become the Mother of God in obedience of her devotion. Visiting Elizabeth, she raised her hymn of praise [the Magnificat] to the Most High for the marvels he worked in those who trust him." He went on to say that Mary trusted the dream that her husband St. Joseph received and "took Jesus to Egypt to save him from Herod's persecution." And, "with the same faith, she followed the Lord in his preaching and remained with him all the way to Golgotha."
Then the Holy Father presented to us the apostles and the first disciples of the early Church and the martyrs, about whom he said: "By faith, the martyrs gave their lives, bearing witness to the truth of the Gospel that had transformed them and made them capable of attaining to the greatest gift of love: the forgiveness of their persecutors."
And then he wrote about all the saints of every time and place, saying: "By faith, across the centuries, men and women of all ages, whose names are written in the Book of Life, have confessed the beauty of following the Lord Jesus wherever they were called to bear witness to the fact that they were Christian: in the family, in the workplace, in public life, in the exercise of the charisms and ministries to which they were called."
We too are called to be holy witnesses as they were. As Pope Benedict wrote: "By faith, we too live: by the living recognition of the Lord Jesus, present in our lives and in our history."
"Living recognition." This is what St. John wrote about in the reading we have just heard (1 John 1:1-4)--"what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands." We are not able to see and to touch Jesus the way John did, but we can still see and touch him in a deeper way. We can see him with the eyes of faith. We can touch him with the eyes of our heart. And Jesus says that we are more blessed in seeing and touching him this way than in the way the apostles did.
Do you remember the scene in the Gospel when Jesus appeared to the apostles and Thomas did not believe until he actually touched the wounds of Jesus? Do you remember what Jesus said to him? "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed" (John 20:29). We are blessed because, though we have not seen Jesus physically, we have seen and touched him through faith and with our hearts. Or rather, the Heart of Jesus, which was pierced open on the cross, has reached out to us. The Sacred Heart of Jesus has seen and touched us and so we have come to believe in the deep love he has for us.
We believe but we always need to go deeper in our faith. Our belief in his love for us can grow and deepen. How?
Pope Benedict gives us the answer in Porta Fidei: "Faith grows when it is lived as an experience of love received and when it is communicated as an experience of grace and joy."
Faith is a matter of the heart. Our faith is "an experience of love received," the love of God's Heart which was made flesh in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Through faith our hearts respond to the One who loved us first and loved us totally, even to death.
The saints knew this love. They believed in it and they lived in union with its source--Jesus. We have their example and witness to inspire us. This is why Blessed John Paul II beatified and canonized more people than any previous pope. He wanted us to have examples of holiness to follow.
But there is more. We have not only their example and witness to inspire us. We have their help.
Have you ever been asked, "Why do you Catholics pray to saints?" The answer is very simple. People don't think twice about asking others to pray for them when they are faced with a crisis or difficulty. They turn to their family and friends to ask for prayers. This is what we do when we turn to the saints. Though they are dead they are not dead and gone. Though they are separated from us physically, in time and space, they are united to us spiritually in the Church, the Communion of Saints. So it is natural that we ask for their help.
The Letter to the Hebrews 12: 1-2 has a beautiful image of this: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith." Whenever I read that passage I think of watching the marathon in the Twin Cities.
For four years I lived at our Jesuit novitiate which was located on the route of the marathon at about mile 21. Each year, on a Sunday in October, we would watch the runners: the first ones racing by and then over the next few hours the others chugging along, some simply walking. We would cheer them on and pass water to them, encouraging them to not give up. That's the image presented in Hebrews. We are all in a marathon and the saints are on the sidelines cheering us on, encouraging us, and offering us refreshment with their prayers.
We are part of a great Communion of Saints. We who are on earth are saints-in-the-making. Others have finished the race but they aren't resting. Rather, they pray for us and encourage us.
So don't give up! Have faith! Persevere! And may we all meet again in the Heavenly Jerusalem which, according to the Book of Revelation 21:11 gleams "with the splendor of God, ... its radiance like that of a precious stone, ... clear as crystal."
 |
| Crystal Cathedral on Friday before Magnificat Day of Faith |
Over ten years ago Blessed John Paul II, in his apostolic letter at the end of the Jubilee Year and the beginning of the new millennium, wrote: "The time has come to re-propose wholeheartedly to everyone the high standard of ordinary Christian living." He issued a "call for a genuine 'training in holiness'" and said that "this training in holiness calls for a Christian life distinguished above all in the art of prayer."
Just last month, Pope Benedict, in his homily at the opening of the Synod of Bishops which met to discuss the New Evangelization, said that holiness is "the language of truth and love."
How do we learn to understand and to speak this language? From those who have spoken it. From the saints, the witnesses of faith.
When Pope Benedict announced the Year of Faith in his apostolic letter Porta Fidei, "The Door of Faith," he presented the saints to us. First and foremost he spoke of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a model of faith, saying: "By faith, Mary accepted the Angel's word and believed the message that she was to become the Mother of God in obedience of her devotion. Visiting Elizabeth, she raised her hymn of praise [the Magnificat] to the Most High for the marvels he worked in those who trust him." He went on to say that Mary trusted the dream that her husband St. Joseph received and "took Jesus to Egypt to save him from Herod's persecution." And, "with the same faith, she followed the Lord in his preaching and remained with him all the way to Golgotha."
Then the Holy Father presented to us the apostles and the first disciples of the early Church and the martyrs, about whom he said: "By faith, the martyrs gave their lives, bearing witness to the truth of the Gospel that had transformed them and made them capable of attaining to the greatest gift of love: the forgiveness of their persecutors."
And then he wrote about all the saints of every time and place, saying: "By faith, across the centuries, men and women of all ages, whose names are written in the Book of Life, have confessed the beauty of following the Lord Jesus wherever they were called to bear witness to the fact that they were Christian: in the family, in the workplace, in public life, in the exercise of the charisms and ministries to which they were called."
We too are called to be holy witnesses as they were. As Pope Benedict wrote: "By faith, we too live: by the living recognition of the Lord Jesus, present in our lives and in our history."
"Living recognition." This is what St. John wrote about in the reading we have just heard (1 John 1:1-4)--"what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands." We are not able to see and to touch Jesus the way John did, but we can still see and touch him in a deeper way. We can see him with the eyes of faith. We can touch him with the eyes of our heart. And Jesus says that we are more blessed in seeing and touching him this way than in the way the apostles did.
Do you remember the scene in the Gospel when Jesus appeared to the apostles and Thomas did not believe until he actually touched the wounds of Jesus? Do you remember what Jesus said to him? "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed" (John 20:29). We are blessed because, though we have not seen Jesus physically, we have seen and touched him through faith and with our hearts. Or rather, the Heart of Jesus, which was pierced open on the cross, has reached out to us. The Sacred Heart of Jesus has seen and touched us and so we have come to believe in the deep love he has for us.
We believe but we always need to go deeper in our faith. Our belief in his love for us can grow and deepen. How?
Pope Benedict gives us the answer in Porta Fidei: "Faith grows when it is lived as an experience of love received and when it is communicated as an experience of grace and joy."
Faith is a matter of the heart. Our faith is "an experience of love received," the love of God's Heart which was made flesh in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Through faith our hearts respond to the One who loved us first and loved us totally, even to death.
The saints knew this love. They believed in it and they lived in union with its source--Jesus. We have their example and witness to inspire us. This is why Blessed John Paul II beatified and canonized more people than any previous pope. He wanted us to have examples of holiness to follow.
But there is more. We have not only their example and witness to inspire us. We have their help.
Have you ever been asked, "Why do you Catholics pray to saints?" The answer is very simple. People don't think twice about asking others to pray for them when they are faced with a crisis or difficulty. They turn to their family and friends to ask for prayers. This is what we do when we turn to the saints. Though they are dead they are not dead and gone. Though they are separated from us physically, in time and space, they are united to us spiritually in the Church, the Communion of Saints. So it is natural that we ask for their help.
The Letter to the Hebrews 12: 1-2 has a beautiful image of this: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith." Whenever I read that passage I think of watching the marathon in the Twin Cities.
For four years I lived at our Jesuit novitiate which was located on the route of the marathon at about mile 21. Each year, on a Sunday in October, we would watch the runners: the first ones racing by and then over the next few hours the others chugging along, some simply walking. We would cheer them on and pass water to them, encouraging them to not give up. That's the image presented in Hebrews. We are all in a marathon and the saints are on the sidelines cheering us on, encouraging us, and offering us refreshment with their prayers.
We are part of a great Communion of Saints. We who are on earth are saints-in-the-making. Others have finished the race but they aren't resting. Rather, they pray for us and encourage us.
So don't give up! Have faith! Persevere! And may we all meet again in the Heavenly Jerusalem which, according to the Book of Revelation 21:11 gleams "with the splendor of God, ... its radiance like that of a precious stone, ... clear as crystal."
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Travels and Travails
My silence in the blogosphere is due to two things--travels and travails. First, the travails because they are more important and they are not mine. Stephanie Schmude, the Apostleship of Prayer's receptionist, Spanish-speaker, webmaster, leaflet designed, and order-taker and filler, is sick. Three weeks ago she was diagnosed with acute leukemia and she has been in the hospital ever since undergoing chemotherapy and other treatments to build up her blood and immune system. In her absence the Apostleship of Prayer office has been somewhat chaotic as we try to stay on top of all the things she does. That's especially difficult because this is our busy time of year when people around the country and in other parts of the world are ordering our leaflets with the 2013 papal intentions. While we could use prayer support now, Stephanie needs it even more. Please pray for her healing.
From October 12 to 14 I was at Sacred Heart Retreat House in Alhambra, California giving a retreat for 75 women.
Then last weekend I was at a Marian conference in Rolling Meadows, Illinois that was sponsored by Totally Yours Pilgrimages. It was a tremendous weekend in which many people stopped at my table to talk, to tell me that they hear me on Relevant Radio, and to get some of our materials. On Sunday night I was honored to be given the 24th annual Msgr. Popek award at a banquet sponsored by the St. Gregory VII Chapter of Catholics United for the Faith in Milwaukee. The title of my talk was "The Sacred Heart and the Year of Faith" and I hope to present it here in parts.
Tomorrow I leave for southern California again where I'll be giving a retreat to the leaders of "Magnificat, A Ministry to Catholic Women." I'll be on the West coast all week and preach on Saturday, November 3 at "The Magnficat Day of Faith." This is different from the other Magnificat group. It's being sponsored by "Magnificat," the prayer book and missal people and it is being held at the Crystal Cathedral, soon to be consecrated as Christ Cathedral for the Diocese of Orange. I hope to get pictures, but without Stephanie's expert help I may have trouble figuring out how to post them.
From October 12 to 14 I was at Sacred Heart Retreat House in Alhambra, California giving a retreat for 75 women.
Then last weekend I was at a Marian conference in Rolling Meadows, Illinois that was sponsored by Totally Yours Pilgrimages. It was a tremendous weekend in which many people stopped at my table to talk, to tell me that they hear me on Relevant Radio, and to get some of our materials. On Sunday night I was honored to be given the 24th annual Msgr. Popek award at a banquet sponsored by the St. Gregory VII Chapter of Catholics United for the Faith in Milwaukee. The title of my talk was "The Sacred Heart and the Year of Faith" and I hope to present it here in parts.
Tomorrow I leave for southern California again where I'll be giving a retreat to the leaders of "Magnificat, A Ministry to Catholic Women." I'll be on the West coast all week and preach on Saturday, November 3 at "The Magnficat Day of Faith." This is different from the other Magnificat group. It's being sponsored by "Magnificat," the prayer book and missal people and it is being held at the Crystal Cathedral, soon to be consecrated as Christ Cathedral for the Diocese of Orange. I hope to get pictures, but without Stephanie's expert help I may have trouble figuring out how to post them.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Happy Anniversary
Pope John XXIII's reason for calling the Council
"And now the Church must once more reaffirm that teaching authority of hers which never fails, but will endure until the end of time. For that was Our reason for calling this most authoritative assembly...."
"The major interest of the Ecumenical Council is this: that the sacred heritage of Christian truth be safeguarded and expounded with greater efficacy. That doctrine embraces the whole man, body and soul. It bids us live as pilgrims here on earth as we journey onwards towards our heavenly homeland. It demonstrates how we must conduct this mortal life of ours. If we are to achieve God's purpose in our regard we have a twofold obligation: as citizens of earth, and as citizens of heaven. That is to say, all men without exception, both individually and in society, have a life-long obligation to strive after heavenly values through the right use of things of this earth. These temporal good must be used in such a way as not to jeopardize eternal happiness."
"And our duty is not just to guard this treasure [of the truth of the Church's doctrine], as though it were some museum-piece and we the curators, but earnestly and fearlessly to dedicate ourselves to the work that needs to be done in this modern age of ours, pursuing the path which the Church has followed for almost twenty centuries."
What is needed is to turn to Christ and to share the faith with enthusiasm
"Certain it is that the critical issues, the thorny problems that wait upon men's solution, have remained the same for almost twenty centuries. And why? Because the whole of history and of life hinges on the person of Jesus Christ. Either men anchor themselves on Him and His Church, and thus enjoy the blessings of light and joy, right order and peace; or they live their lives apart from Him; many positively oppose Him, and deliberately exclude themselves from the Church. The result can only be confusion in their lives, bitterness in their relations with one another, and the savage threat of war."
"What is needed at the present time is a new enthusiasm, a new joy and serenity of mind in the unreserved acceptance by all of the entire Christian faith, without forfeiting that accuracy and precision in its presentation which characterized the proceedings of the Council of Trent and the First Vatican Council. What is needed, and what everyone imbued with a truly Christian, Catholic and apostolic spirit craves today, is that this doctrine shall be more widely known, more deeply understood, and more penetrating in its effects on men's moral lives. What is needed is that this certain and immutable doctrine, to which the faithful owe obedience, be studied afresh and reformulated in contemporary terms. For this deposit of faith, or truths which are contained in our time-honored teaching is one thing; the manner in which these truths are set forth (with their meaning preserved intact) is something else."
In these words of Blessed John XXIII there are clear echoes of what has come to be known as the "New Evangelization." Christ is not new. The contents of the faith are not new. What is new is the enthusiasm with which the faithful ought to believe and to share their faith. What is new is the method with which the Church communicates its knowledge to a world in desperate need of the faith that leads to love of God and neighbor. May this anniversary and the Year of Faith inspire us all!
Friday, October 5, 2012
Play and Work
These have been busy weeks as I try to learn how to use a smart phone. I got one because I thought it would make it easier to access emails on the road and to use an app for my Breviary, thus saving my suit case some space and weight. But not being technologically savy, I'm finding myself spending extra time learning how to use it. Is there a manual "Smart Phone for Dummies"? But another advantage to the phone is being able to take pictures more easily as I travel and I'm hoping to share those more frequently.
Last weekend I went to Door County, Wisconsin where I spent an absolutely perfect weekend weather-wise with my sister and brother-in-law. Besides having my first ever "fish boil" I saw some of Peninsula State Park.
I returned on Sunday to give a talk at Mary Queen of Heaven Parish in West Allis, a suburb of Milwaukee. It was scheduled before the end of the Packer game but quite a few people showed up,
including Confirmation candidates and their parents.
Last weekend I went to Door County, Wisconsin where I spent an absolutely perfect weekend weather-wise with my sister and brother-in-law. Besides having my first ever "fish boil" I saw some of Peninsula State Park.
I returned on Sunday to give a talk at Mary Queen of Heaven Parish in West Allis, a suburb of Milwaukee. It was scheduled before the end of the Packer game but quite a few people showed up,
including Confirmation candidates and their parents.
And now, this weekend, I'm in St. Louis at the White House Jesuit Retreat House giving a retreat to 70 men. I've never seen the Mississippi River, which is just below the bluff on which the retreat house is situated, as low as it is because of this summer's drought. It rained all day today, keeping the retreatants inside, but providing the earth and its growth and rivers with some much needed moisture. God is good!
Sunday, September 23, 2012
"The Benjamins of Providence"
This morning I celebrated Mass at Mount St. Joseph, the care center run by the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence in Lake Zurich, Illinois for people with developmental disabilities. My retreat with a dozen of the Sisters ends today and I celebrated Mass not only with them but with the residents, some of their families, and some of the staff. As Providence would have it, the readings were perfect.
In the Gospel (Mark 9: 30-37), Jesus is on the road with his disciples, teaching them and preparing them for what is going to happen--that he is going to be handed over and killed and then will rise from the dead. They are confused. How could this man, so successful that crowds follow him to hear his every word, come to such a bitter end? How could this man who has healed so many be rejected in such a way? They are afraid to ask him for an explanation. Better to let it pass.
Jesus knows their lack of comprehension and he walks ahead of them. They begin a discussion that turns into an argument over which of them is the best, which is the greatest apostle, which of them is Number One. When they arrive at the house in Capernaum, Jesus asks them what they were arguing about. They fall silent, ashamed. They know Jesus doesn't approve of such talk.
So once again Jesus begins to teach them about greatness. He tells them that God sees things in a very different way. God turns worldly values upside down so that the least are the greatest, the last are the first. He tells them to be servants like he is. Because he is the servant of all and because he will be despised and rejected and discarded, he will be raised up to be the greatest and the source of salvation for all.
Then Jesus hugged a small child, one who in that world was considered unimportant, and said: "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me." These words echo another Gospel--the judgment scene in Matthew 25, where Jesus says that whatever we do for one of his least brothers and sisters, we do for him.
This is true wisdom. Wisdom is not knowing a lot of things, knowing how to make a lot of money, becoming wealthy and powerful. The Second Reading from the Letter of Saint James (3:16-4:3) says that this worldly wisdom leads to envy and conflicts. True wisdom "from above" is, according to James, "pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits." True wisdom is knowing what's most important--God and the heaven he has prepared for us. In the Gospel Jesus shows us true wisdom, the way that leads to our ultimate goal of heaven. It is to care for one another. It is to care for God's "good children." It is to serve all those who are in need and whom God places in our lives.
That's what I told the congregation this morning. The expression "good children" is what St. Louis Guanella, the founder of the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence, used when speaking about those who had developmental disabilities. There they were in front of me. The world thinks of them as the least and the last, as people lacking wisdom because they cannot read or write or care very well for themselves. Many were in wheelchairs and movable beds. Fr. Guanella had another expression for them--"the Benjamins of Providence." Remember: Benjamin was the last son of Jacob. After the disappearance of the second youngest son, Joseph, Benjamin became Jacob's favorite. It is a mystery of Providence that some people are born with disabilities. They are seen by the world as the last, but in God's eyes they are the first and the favorites. They are given to us so that we may have the opportunity to love God by loving them. What a privilege it was for me to celebrate Mass with them today.
In the Gospel (Mark 9: 30-37), Jesus is on the road with his disciples, teaching them and preparing them for what is going to happen--that he is going to be handed over and killed and then will rise from the dead. They are confused. How could this man, so successful that crowds follow him to hear his every word, come to such a bitter end? How could this man who has healed so many be rejected in such a way? They are afraid to ask him for an explanation. Better to let it pass.
Jesus knows their lack of comprehension and he walks ahead of them. They begin a discussion that turns into an argument over which of them is the best, which is the greatest apostle, which of them is Number One. When they arrive at the house in Capernaum, Jesus asks them what they were arguing about. They fall silent, ashamed. They know Jesus doesn't approve of such talk.
So once again Jesus begins to teach them about greatness. He tells them that God sees things in a very different way. God turns worldly values upside down so that the least are the greatest, the last are the first. He tells them to be servants like he is. Because he is the servant of all and because he will be despised and rejected and discarded, he will be raised up to be the greatest and the source of salvation for all.
Then Jesus hugged a small child, one who in that world was considered unimportant, and said: "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me." These words echo another Gospel--the judgment scene in Matthew 25, where Jesus says that whatever we do for one of his least brothers and sisters, we do for him.
This is true wisdom. Wisdom is not knowing a lot of things, knowing how to make a lot of money, becoming wealthy and powerful. The Second Reading from the Letter of Saint James (3:16-4:3) says that this worldly wisdom leads to envy and conflicts. True wisdom "from above" is, according to James, "pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits." True wisdom is knowing what's most important--God and the heaven he has prepared for us. In the Gospel Jesus shows us true wisdom, the way that leads to our ultimate goal of heaven. It is to care for one another. It is to care for God's "good children." It is to serve all those who are in need and whom God places in our lives.
That's what I told the congregation this morning. The expression "good children" is what St. Louis Guanella, the founder of the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence, used when speaking about those who had developmental disabilities. There they were in front of me. The world thinks of them as the least and the last, as people lacking wisdom because they cannot read or write or care very well for themselves. Many were in wheelchairs and movable beds. Fr. Guanella had another expression for them--"the Benjamins of Providence." Remember: Benjamin was the last son of Jacob. After the disappearance of the second youngest son, Joseph, Benjamin became Jacob's favorite. It is a mystery of Providence that some people are born with disabilities. They are seen by the world as the last, but in God's eyes they are the first and the favorites. They are given to us so that we may have the opportunity to love God by loving them. What a privilege it was for me to celebrate Mass with them today.
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