A Blue Rose

A few weeks ago, my daughter and I came across a very moving story from a man named Bill Rayburn who posted the item penned by an anonymous author on his website.  While it is somewhat long, I believe it is very worth reading.

Why do I always have to be the one that starts to do the laundry and there's no detergent?  I guess it was time for me to do my "dollar store" run, which included light bulbs, paper towels, trash bags and Clorox.  So off I go.

I scurried around the store, gathered up my goodies, and headed for the checkout counter only to be blocked in the narrow aisle by a young man that appeared to be about sixteen years old.  I wasn't in a hurry, so I patiently waited for the boy to realize that I was there...

This was when he waved his hands excitedly in the air and declared in a loud voice, "Mommy, I'm over here."  It was obvious now, he was mentally challenged, and also startled as he turned and saw me standing so close to him, waiting to squeeze by.  His eyes widened and surprise exploded on his face as I said,, "Hey, buddy, what's your name?"  "My name is Denny and I'm shopping with my mother," he responded proudly.  "Wow,"  I said, "that's a cool name; I wish my name was Denny, but my name is Hal."  "Hal like Hallowe'en?"  he asked.  "Yes," I answered.  "How old are you, Denny?"

"How old am I now, Mommy?"  he asked his mother as she slowly came over from the next aisle.  "You're fifteen years old, Denny; now be a good boy and let the man pass by."  I acknowledged her and continued to talk to Denny for several more minutes about summer, bicycles and school.  I watched his brown eyes dance with excitement because he was the center of someone's attention.

He then abruptly turned and headed toward the toy section.  Denny's mom had a puzzled look on her face and thanked me for taking the time to talk to her son.  She told me that most people wouldn't even look at him, much less talk to him...

I told her that it was my pleasure and then I said something I have no idea where it came from, other than by the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

I told her that there are plenty of red, yellow and pink roses in God's garden, however "blue roses" are very rare and should be appreciated for their beauty and distinctiveness.  You see, Denny is a "blue rose" and if someone doesn't stop and smell that rose with their heart and touch that rose with their kindness, then they've missed a blessing from God.

She was silent for a second, then with a tear in her eyes she asked, "Who are you?"  Without thinking I said, "Oh, I'm probably just a daffodil or maybe even a dandelion," but I sure love living in God's garden.

Blue roses are truly rare, and some feel the only way they can be created is by taking a white rose and having it take in a blue dye.  Whatever the reality, a blue rose would certainly capture someone's attention because of its rarity.  Reading over this beautiful little story, I was reminded of the lyrics of a song called Scorn Not His Simplicity by Luke Kelly.  It also calls on the listener to be mindful of the one who is different because of a special need and I quote just a few lines:

Only he knows how to face the future hopefully surrounded by despair.

He won't ask you for your pity or your sympathy but surely you should care.

Scorn not his simplicity but rather try to love him all the more.

Scorn not his simplicity - oh no, oh no, oh no.

Are there blue roses that you know?  They may be any of those who are different from others because of an emotional, mental, or physical challenge.  When I was discussing this story with my daughter, I told her she was our "blue rose."  Not because she is mentally challenged - no.  She is a well educated and erudite woman, an artist and a writer, but one who has struggled with a physical disability since her teenage years.  This disability has rendered her unable to work any longer even though she has been a teacher in the past.  But she has known the scorn of some who like to make fun of those less able than themselves, a situation that still exists even though she is now a grown woman.

We all need to remember that there are many flowers in God's garden - some with great beauty and others with simplicity.  But all are important and all have a place in that garden.  Reach out and touch those blue roses that come into your lives; you will be richly rewarded for doing so.

As I said before, my daughter is an artist and a writer.   She created the picture of the blue rose found at the beginning of the post, and she has penned the following poem that I now share in closing:

They catch your eye,

they turn your head,

they shine against the normal red.

You may be shocked...

too shocked to see

that what you look at is true beauty!

For beauty comes in many forms...

though some can only see the thorns,

the differences that challenge those

who only accept a red, red rose.

The differences, they are a test..

their beauty shines above the rest.

Who among us will allow

a random blue within the crowd?

For when the blue does catch your eye,

don't turn away, for you will find

Beauty and love, a calm repose...

that lies inside a bright, blue rose.

Love One Another

My son and his family and I were having dinner the other night and he and I got into a discussion about what we believe as Catholic Christians.  He told me he had been asked by someone if, as a Catholic, he believed that anyone who did not believe in Jesus was going to hell.  He told them he did not believe that.  He then said to me that he bases his view of others on a simple passage from the Gospel of John, found in chapter 15, verse 12: This is my commandment: love one another.  Jesus repeats this again in verse 17 when he says:  This I command you: love one another.

Naturally, I felt good that my son has this view of how we should treat others.  It seems so simple: If we could all love one another, there would be no more war or persecution, discrimination, or any number of others ills that befall our society.  Why can we not do it?

I believe there are several reasons why we, as weak and sinful human beings, cannot bring ourselves to love the other.  One reason is that of fear.  We fear that if we love everyone, others will take advantage of us and we might lose something: our good name, our place of power or prestige, etc.  Two others reasons are somewhat connected.  Self-righteousness and pride, I believe, keep us from loving others.  We may feel that we are better than some others because we belong to the right church, the right political party, the right club, etc., and therefore look down upon those who, in our estimation, do not "measure up."  This is a form of pride - pride that we have some talents, possessions, or other things that make us somehow better than others and, therefore, we may look down upon others and not love them as Jesus calls us to do.

Another reason is when we are unable to forgive those who have hurt us in some way.  Because of our anger we would rather seek retaliation for injustice done to us instead of reaching out and forgiving those who have offended us.  They have hurt us; how, therefore, can we ever love them?  Yet, we have a model for how we should behave as we read in Luke 23: 34:  Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.

When Jesus spoke to his disciples at the Last Supper as quoted in John 15:12, he did not say: Love one another except...(and here you can put whatever you want:  those of another religion; those of another race; those of another sexual orientation; those of differing political viewpoints, etc.)  Jesus made no distinction when it comes to those whom we should love; we are called to love everyone.  We may not like everyone or what they do but we are called to love them which simply means that we wish them no harm and are willing to assist them whenever they are in need.

This brings me to another point.  Along with love, we must also have compassion.  In this weekend's Scripture readings in the Roman ritual, we hear the Gospel of Mark (5:21-43) in which Jesus shows compassion on first a woman who had suffered with a hemorrhage for a number of years, and then shows compassion to a synagogue official whose daughter lays dying in their home.  The woman is cured simply by touching Jesus' garments and the young girl who has died is raised to life.

In our parish each week, our Parish Life Director places a weekly reflection on the Gospel of the week.  This week she points our that compassion is not pity because pity is something we feel from a distance.  Compassion means we involve ourselves directly in the life of the person who is seeking help.  The word compassion comes from two Latin words meaning "to suffer with."  It means we need to get our hands dirty with the efforts that are required to meet the needs of others.  Love and compassion: two things our world sorely needs in these difficult times.  We look at the strife in Syria, for example, to see how humans can be destructive of one another.  At the same time, we see the valiant efforts of those fighting the wild fires that are now occuring in the western part of our country which have left countless without homes to return to.  Those brave men and women put their lives on the line to protect others.  We see the same valiant effort in those who serve our country in the military, and as we approach the celebration of another Independence Day in the U.S. we should always be mindful of their sacrifices.

We long for peace in our world.  We long for the time when we can live together in harmony.  Such a time will only come when we truly love and have compassion and respect for the other.  May this be our constant prayer.

Why I Remain Catholic

How baffling you are, O Church, and yet how I love you!  How you have made me suffer, and yet how much I owe you!  I would like to see you destroyed, and yet I need your presence.  You have given me so much scandal and yet you have made me understand what sanctity is.  I have seen nothing in the world more devoted to obscurity, more compromised, more false, and yet I have touched nothing more pure, more generous, more beautiful.  How often I have wanted to shut the doors of my soul in your face, and how often I have prayed to die in the safety of your arms.

No, I cannot free myself from you, because I am you, though not completely.  And besides, where would I go?  Would I establish another?  I would not be able to establish it without the same faults, for they are the same faults I carry in me.  And if I did establish another, it would be my church, not the Church of Christ.  I am old enough to know that I am no better than anyone else....

These words were written by Carlo Carreto, a leader in Catholic Action in Italy after World War II and later a member of the Little Brothers of Jesus.  Given the number of things that seem to be swelling about regarding the Church these days, these words probably resonate with many people.  Some who have found the Church difficult may have chosen to leave but many still remain understanding that there is nothing new about controversy when it comes to the Church, and in the words of Caretto:  where would we go?

The Church has withstood for twenty-one centuries attacks and criticisms from the outside: persecutions (even into our own day), rebellion against one or another of the Church's doctrinal or moral teachings, etc.  In the past few months, however, the Church has seen a large number of criticisms from within.  To cite a few:  1) an opinion poll in Ireland, for many centuries a bastion of Catholicism, found that two-thirds of those polled do not accept the Church's teaching on the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist (this is somewhat higher than the results of a similar poll here in the U.S. in 2010 that found 45 percent of those polled thought the Church's teaching was that the Eucharist was a "symbol" of Christ's Body and Blood); 2) the publication of supposedly secret documents from the Vatican by an Italian journalist that led to the arrest of a member of the papal household (a happening now called "Vatileaks" by the media); 3) here in the United States, a decision by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) to have a commission appointed to oversee and possibly overhaul the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) which decision has been strongly criticized by many, as well as calling into question a book published by a leading American moral theologian; and 4) the ongoing (and seemingly never-ending) clash between the conservative and traditional wing of the Church and the liberal and progressive wing.

One thing about our Church, however, that I learned sometime ago is that the umbrella of the Roman Catholic Church covers many people with differing opinions and ecclesiologies - and there is room for all.  Arguments and controversy, as stated above, are nothing new in the Church; they began with Peter and Paul in the Acts of the Apostles.  What we seem to be lacking today, however, is that while we may disagree on certain items, we turn those disagreements into attacks on those who oppose our views.  Where is there room for Jesus' command:  Love one another as I have loved you? 

In a recent edition of our diocesan newspaper, our bishop wrote an article about civility in public discourse.  Regarding how we are behaving in the Church today, he made this important statement:  We must be a Church that hears the voices of Mother Angelica and Sister Elizabeth Johnson; of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious; of the Legionaries of Christ and the Voice of the Faithful; of Opus Dei and Call to Action...  If we could all heed the words of this reasonable statement, perhaps some of the sharp edges with which we confront others whose opinions differ from our own would become smooth and we could walk together in our continued journey of faith.

Another point I would make is that all of those who hold leadership positions in the Church need to remember that our model for how we deal with others is that of Jesus who got on his knees to wash his disciples' feet.  Whether pope, bishop, priest, deacon, vowed religious or lay ecclesial minister - all must realize that the primary call of Christ is that of service to others.  Problems occur when this is forgotten.

To the question, then, that I posed in my title :  Why I Remain Catholic.  I remain Catholic because the Church is my home; it is my family.  Families have disagreements and disputes but when love covers all of these we can continue as a family.  It is within this Church that I receive the nourishment I need to continue on my faith journey: nourishment from the word of God and from the Eucharist where Jesus comes to meet me and strengthen me.  I cannot see myself walking away from this Church even with all of its warts and shortcomings because, again, where would I go?

I came across a wonderful prayer recently published in America magazine by Father James Martin, S.J.  I believe it speaks to all that I have been saying and is no doubt the prayer that many of us need to say in these trying times.  With Father Martin's permission, I present it to you now:

Dear God, sometimes I get so frustrated with your church.

I know that I’m not alone. So many people who love your church feel frustrated with the Body of Christ on earth. Priests and deacons, and brothers and sisters, can feel frustrated, too. And I’ll bet that even bishops and popes feel frustrated. We grow worried and concerned and bothered and angry and sometimes scandalized because your divine institution, our home, is filled with human beings who are sinful. Just like me.

But I get frustrated most of all when I feel that there are things that need to be changed and I don’t have the power to change them.

So I need your help, God.

Help me to remember that Jesus promised that he would be with us until the end of time, and that your church is always guided by the Holy Spirit, even if it’s hard for me to see. Sometimes change happens suddenly, and the Spirit astonishes us, but often in the church it happens slowly. In your time, not mine. Help me know that the seeds that I plant with love in the ground of your church will one day bloom. So give me patience.

Help me to understand that there was never a time when there were not arguments or disputes within your church. Arguments go all the way back to Peter and Paul debating one another. And there was never a time when there wasn’t sin among the members of your church. That kind of sin goes back to Peter denying Jesus during his Passion. Why would today’s church be any different than it was for people who knew Jesus on earth? Give me wisdom.

Help me to trust in the Resurrection. The Risen Christ reminds us that there is always the hope of something new. Death is never the last word for us. Neither is despair. And help me remember that when the Risen Christ appeared to his disciples, he bore the wounds of his Crucifixion. Like Christ, the church is always wounded, but always a carrier of grace. Give me hope.

Help me to believe that your Spirit can do anything: raise up saints when we need them most, soften hearts when they seem hardened, open minds when they seem closed, inspire confidence when all seems lost, help us do what had seemed impossible until it was done. This is the same Spirit that converted Paul, inspired Augustine, called Francis of Assisi, emboldened Catherine of Siena, consoled Ignatius of Loyola, comforted Thérèse of Lisieux, enlivened John XXIII, accompanied Teresa of Calcutta, strengthened Dorothy Day and encouraged John Paul II. It is the same Spirit that it with us today, and your Spirit has lost none of its power. Give me faith.

Help me to remember all your saints. Most of them had it a lot worse than I do. They were frustrated with your church at times, struggled with it, and were occasionally persecuted by it. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake by church authorities. Ignatius of Loyola was thrown into jail by the Inquisition. Mary MacKillop was excommunicated. If they can trust in your church in the midst of those difficulties, so can I. Give me courage.

Help me to be peaceful when people tell me that I don’t belong in the church, that I’m a heretic for trying to make things better, or that I’m not a good Catholic. I know that I was baptized. You called me by name to be in your church, God. As long as I draw breath, help me remember how the holy waters of baptism welcomed me into your holy family of sinners and saints. Let the voice that called me into your church be what I hear when other voices tell me that I’m not welcome in the church. Give me peace.

Most of all, help me to place all of my hope in your Son. My faith is in Jesus Christ. Give me only his love and his grace. That’s enough for me.

Help me God, and help your church.

Amen.

Joy - The Fruit of the Holy Spirit

Yesterday, Pentecost Sunday, we brought the Easter season to a close with the celebration of that momentous event in the early Church that brought the message of Christ out into the world.

Pentecost has often been referred to as the "birthday of the Church."  Some theologians would hold that the Church was born from the wounded side of Christ as he hung on the cross.  I don't want to get into a theological argument but I would like to see Pentecost as "the miracle of the Church."

Consider what happened on that day.  The disciples were gathered in that upper room which had become their place of hiding (after the death of Jesus), a place of discernment (as they tried to fathom what the resurrected Jesus was asking them to do), and expectation (having been told to await in the city for the coming of the Holy Spirit).  Then they are disturbed by a "mighty wind" and tongues of fire appear over them.  They then go out and change the world.

Remember that there were none of them who held a master's or a doctorate degree in theology or Scripture.  They were simple people who earned their living with their hands and the sweat of their brow.  Yet, it was to these that the Holy Spirit came charging them and giving them the strength to begin to bring the message of Jesus to the world.  Consider, also, that down through the centuries of the existence of the Church, there have been persecutions, corruption on the part of leaders of the Church, ruptures in the body of the Church, and scandals which exist even in our own day.  Yet, here we are, twenty-one centuries later still joining together to worship that resurrected Christ and coming together as a community of faith.

This is because of the power of the Spirit.  In the seventeenth chaper of the Acts of the Apostles, we read about Paul's discourse with the Athenians in the town square where he comes upon a shrine dedicated to the "unknown god."  Paul proceeds to tell them about Jesus and what his message was for the world.  Sometimes I think that for us Christians, the Holy Spirit is the "unknown God."  We pray daily the Lord's Prayer (the "Our Father") and pray often to Jesus to aid us.  How often do we pray to the Holy Spirit?  Yet it is the Spirit, given to us in our baptism and fortified with his gifts at our confirmation, that guides us in our faith journey.  It is the Spirit who moves us to prayer especially when prayer comes with difficulty.

In chapter five of his epistle to the Galatians, Paul speaks about the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  These are wonderful attributes and virtues to have and they are gifts of the Holy Spirit.  In my homily yesterday on the Feast of Pentecost, I spent some time speaking about joy.

Did you ever notice that sometimes people who consider themselves quite religious often seem unhappy or even grumpy?  A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending the annual Spring Enrichment program sponsored by our Albany Diocese.  The keynote speaker for this event was the Jesuit author, Father James Martin.  He spoke about the need for joy and humor in our spiritual lives.  He commented on how often pictures and statues of the Lord, the Blessed Mother, and the saints show them to be somber.

I decided to try out this premise.  In my breviary (from which I pray the Divine Office), I have a large number of holy cards that I obtained usually at the time of someone's death.  I have two kinds of these remembrance cards - those that picture Jesus, Mary or one of the saints, and those containing the actual pictures of the deceased person (priest, deacon, religious or lay person).  Father Martin was right on - all the "holy cards" picturing Jesus or the saints had hardly even a hint of a smile.  Those picturing the deceased were overwhelmingly pictures showing their smiling faces.  Obviously they knew that there was something better to come after this life.

The late writer and humorist, Erma Bombeck, tells the story of how one day in church she was seated behind a young mother and her little son (about three or four years old).  Bombeck said the child was not fidgeting or rummaging through his mother's purse; rather he would occasionally turn around and smile at the people behind him.  At one point, the mother cuffed him and said "Stop smiling!  You're in church!"  As Bombeck said: if that little boy couldn't smile in church where else was he to go.

We need to have joy and laughter in our lives.  We need not to take ourselves too seriously or we can become somber and miss all the beauty that God has given to us.

Now, some might say that there are times in our lives when sadness occurs: loss of a job, loss of a loved one, the diagnosis of a terminal illness, etc.  There is no doubt that difficulties and suffering will be part of our lives.  Yet, does that mean that we have to be deprived of joy?

A native son of our Albany Diocese, Bishop Joseph Estabrook (who was a bishop in the Military Archdiocese) passed away a few months ago from the results of pancreatic cancer.  Before his death, he wrote a reflection and I would like to share a few things that he mentioned in that beautiful reflection.  He tells how after receiving the first news about having the cancer, one of the doctors hung back and finally asked him how he could receive such news and remain so positive.  The good bishop thought for a moment and said to him:  Faith and fear cannot live in the same space.  He went on to write shortly before his death:  We must embrace the sufferings of the moment and the fears as they come to us, but, at the end of the day, we must let joy be the victor that Christ alone can give to us.  A beautiful statement of faith because Bishop Estabrook knew that our God is one who loves us intensely.  He clings to us in our moments of difficulty; he holds us tight like a lover.

Let us, then, be people of joy.  Let us echo the words of Psalm 126:  Our mouths were filled with laughter; our tongues sang for joy....The Lord has done great things for us; Oh, how happy we were.

The spiritual writer, Anthony DeMello once wrote:  Look at God looking at you...and smiling.  All we need to do is smile back.  May you all have the joy of the Spirit in your lives.

What's Been Happening - Again!

It's been several weeks since I last posted and I would like to bring everyone up to date on what's been happening in my busy life.  In addition to being ill during the first part of the Easter season (see most recent post - The Year I Missed Easter), a number of things have been happening in my life as well as in our country and around the world.

For several months I have been serving as the interim administrator of a parish in Troy, New York while awaiting the return of the pastor who had been on medical leave.  That part of my life has now come to an end with a return of the pastor and my being able to move on to do a number of other things that I do for the Diocese of Albany, New York.

Toward the end of my sojourn at Sacred Heart Church in Troy the parish was able to complete a long-awaited dream of constructing a new playground for the children of the parish school and the neighborhood.  It was my privilege, together with the priests from the parish, to bless and dedicate this new playground a few weeks ago.  The children are now happily playing using this new facility.

Two events happened that have affected us in our country.  One was the announcement by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to review the workings of the Leadership Council of Women Religious (LCWR) in the United States because of what the Vatican felt were possible deviations from Catholic teaching.  This has led to an uproar and cries from various people throughout the country coming to the defense of the women religious.  The secular media in our country, of course, in their usual way, chose to make this sound like an attack on all the good work being accomplished by religious women in our country.  Two things need to be kept in mind: 1) The LCWR was created as a response to the Vatican's call for religious congregations to have a national entity which would be a conduit for various religious orders to maintain a connection to the universal Church; and 2) the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) is empowered and responsible for seeing that institutions and groups affiliated with the Church are adhering to the doctrinal and moral teachings of the Church.  Having said that, if what the Vatican is alleging is a problem within the LCWR, let me say that it is my hope that the commission now charged with looking at the work of the LCWR do so with sensitivity and openness.  Also, in no way should the review of this commission fail to take into account the tremendous work done by the religious women in our country who dedicate their lives to assisting the poor, in teaching, social work, and health care.  The many thousands of these dedicated sisters must not go unnoticed or unappreciated.  My feelings in this matter have been echoed before in one of my previous posts - Women: God's Gift to Today's Church.

The other event occurring in the country was the announcement by our president that he supports the concept of marriage for gays and lesbians.  This is a hotly contested issue and polls show the country evenly divided on whether or not these unions should properly be called marriages.  My own position is that I believe in the traditional concept of marriage as being between a man and a woman, and in my Church this union is seen as sacramental.  Nevertheless, the fact that this topic is alive today should give us all pause to take a look at how we treat our sisters and brothers whose sexual orientation is different from our own.  All individuals are children of God and are worthy of being shown the respect that is due to all persons regardless of creed, race, gender or sexual orientation.  May we all take a long, hard look at our own views and how we regard those who are different from ourselves.

Getting back to my final days at Sacred Heart Church, I must tell you about one of the last activities I was able to attend.  Our parish school - which has children in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade - held their annual musical show the other night.  The children in the cast were from grades four through six and they performed the musical Annie which was, for this production, entitled Annie, Jr.   These children were amazing and well poised as they performed.  The audience was tremendously pleased and thoroughly enjoyed their efforts.  It was a great mark of excellence for a great school.  I will certainly miss the children.

One thing I do have to look forward to in the near future is a trip to the Eternal City - Rome, where on October 21, I will be privileged to be among the hundreds of thousands who will gather for the canonization of several new saints.  Two of these new saints are from upstate New York:  Blessed Marianne Cope, a religious sister who worked with (St.) Father Damien in the leper colony on Molokai.  The other one is one who was born here within the borders of our own Diocese of Albany - Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha - a Mohawk Indian maiden who will become the first Native American saint to be canonized.  It will be a glorious celebration and one to which I look forward with great anticipation.

Finally, today, here in the United States, we celebrate Mother's Day.  We all owe a great deal to those wonderful women who have borne the sacred name of "mother" be they living or deceased.  As a tribute to them, I would like to quote a passage from the author John Killinger from his book Lost in Wonder, Love and Praise:

I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God,

who was born of the promise to a virgin named Mary,

I believe in the love Mary gave her Son,

that caused her to follow him in his ministry

and stand by the cross as he died.

I believe in the love of all mothers,

and its importance in the lives of the children they bear.

It is stronger than steel, softer than down,

and more resilient than a green sapling on a hillside.

It closes wounds, melts disappointments,

and enables the weakest child to stand tall

and straight in the fields of adversity.

I believe that this love, even at its best,

is only a shadow of the love of God,

a dark reflection of all that we can expect of him,

both in this life and the next.

And I believe that one of the most beautiful sights

in the world is a mother who lets this greater love

flow through her to her child,

blessing the world with the tenderness of her touch and the tears of her joy.

The Year I Missed Easter

A few weeks ago as we were preparing for Holy Week, I was looking forward to the wonderful celebrations that take place especially during the Sacred Triduum.  Then the unexpected happened.  I became ill earlier in the week and ended up with a diagnosis of acute bronchitis.  This left me unable to participate in any of the Triduum and also Mass on Easter Sunday.  It was the first time since my youth that I had not been able to be a part of this most sacred week in our Church's liturgical year.

It got me thinking back to the Holy Week celebrations when I was a young boy and how much has changed in our liturgy since then.  Prior to the early 1950s when Pope Pius XII began a renewal of the liturgy, the Triduum celebrations were held in the morning.  On Holy Thursday, we would have Mass followed by the procession taking the Eucharist to its altar of repose in another part of the church building.  It was the custom then for people to visit various churches during Holy Thursday to adore the Eucharist as it reposed in a variety of settings almost all of which were highly decorated (it almost seemed like a competition between churches to see which repository was the most beautifully decorated).

On Good Friday we would celebrate the Mass of the Presanctified.  Eucharist that had been consecrated at the Mass on Holy Thursday would be used to distribute Communion to the faithful.  The priest would wear black vestments as a reminder of the death of Christ.  Other ceremonies - which remain to this day - included the veneration of the Cross and special prayers of intercession.  Now we usually celebrate the Lord's Passion sometime during the afternoon or early evening with the celebrants now wearing red vestments.

Then on Holy Saturday morning, we would gather for the Holy Saturday celebration which would include the lighting of the Paschal Candle - a symbol of the risen Christ.  We would then proclaim the "alleluia" which had been silent since the beginning of Lent.  We would go home after the service and continue to observe the Lenten fast until noontime.  Now, of course, we know that Lent officially ends with the stroke of midnight at the beginning of Holy Thursday as we begin the solemn remembrance of the Lord's Last Supper, death and resurrection.

The Easter Vigil, as now celebrated, is the highpoint of the Church's liturgical year.  It must not begin until after darkness has set in and we now refer to it as the Night Watch of the Resurrection.  It is the time when those desiring admittance to our Catholic Christian community receive the sacraments of initiation - baptism, confirmation and first Eucharist.  It is my favorite liturgy of the entire Church year.

Needless to say I was quite disappointed not to be able to be among those who celebrated.  I had been scheduled to preach at the Holy Thursday liturgy at the parish of my former pastor; since my voice was more like the squeak of a mouse, I had to decline that opportunity.  I was also looking forward to proclaiming the Exultet, the great Easter proclamation (even using the new translation in the Roman Missal), and had to forego that opportunity as well.  I was also missing out on the reception of several people into our parish community through the sacraments of initiation (people that I had helped prepare for this special time).  But as it has been often said:  When we make plans, God laughs.

While I was not able to celebrate the great mysteries this year, I am still full of hope that comes with the belief in the resurrection of Jesus who brought new life to the world.  I wish all my readers a most blessed Easter season - and I hope to be back celebrating again next year.

The Church in the Public Square

This is a post that admittedly I have been hesitant in writing.  The Lord knows that a great deal has been spoken and written about this issue over the past few weeks in the United States.  The issue came to a head with the announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of the United States that it would be enforcing the provision of contraception (and other medical procedures) as a part of the Affordable Health Care Act which was a hallmark of the present administration in Washington.  This announcement, made on January 20, caused a fire storm of reaction, particularly from the Catholic Church and its leaders because the mandates would require institutions funded and operated by the Church to provide contraceptive services to their employees, including sterilization and certain drugs considered to be those that can cause an abortion.

This announcement caused a response from Catholic leaders, as well as persons of good faith in other religions, because it was felt that this was a violation of religious liberty guaranteed by the United States Constitution.  It would require that church operated institutions, such as hospitals and charitable organizations, to provide access to contraception (and the other items mentioned above) which would violate the basic beliefs of the religious institutions.  Even many who disagree with the Church’s position on artificial birth control were in harmony with the call for a relaxation of these mandates in the name of religious liberty.

In an editorial in its February 13 issue, the editors of America, a weekly Catholic magazine, stated that this decision by HHS represented “a misunderstanding of the Catholic mission in the United States.”  It went on to state that “…serving the broader community through hospitals, clinics, service agencies and institutions of higher learning is not an extraneous activity for the Catholic Church.  It is a civic manifestation of the church’s deep beliefs in human dignity, solidarity with the suffering and forgotten, the importance of learning and commitment to the common good.”

I believe that the Obama administration made a grave miscalculation if they felt that simply by mandating these policies be carried out by such church institutions, those institutions would in turn just “roll over and play dead.”  It was not to be.  Consequently, the President attempted to submit a “modification” by stating that the institutions would not be required to pay for such medical procedures or drugs but private insurers would do so.  At first, this seemed to be an attempt on the part of the administration to quell the uproar that followed the original announcement.

At first, the United States bishops seemed to feel that this was a first step in overcoming the chasm that had erupted.  On further study of the “accommodation,” they found certain things that they felt were unacceptable.  The chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, pointed out three things that were troublesome to the bishops.  (Cardinal Dolan, back in the fall in a private meeting with the President had been assured by him that “he would do nothing to impede the good work of the Church in health care, education, and charity, and that he considered the protection of conscience a sacred duty.”  It was, therefore, a shock to him when the announcement of these provisions was made on January 20.)

The three items, in the Cardinal’s words are:

…(T)here was not even a nod to the deepest concerns about trespassing on religious freedom, or of modifying the HHS’ attempt to define the how and who of our ministry…

…(S)ince a big part of our ministries are “self-insured,” how is this going to help us?  We still have to pay!  And what about individual believers being coerced to pay?

…(T)here was still no resolution about the handcuffs placed upon renowned Catholic charitable agencies, both national and international, and their exclusion from contracts just because they will not refer victims of human trafficking, immigrants and refugees, and the hungry of the world, for abortions, sterilization or contraception.

So, the confrontation between the government and private religious institutions still goes on.  What will happen next?  In a subsequent editorial in America magazine (one, incidentally, criticized by Cardinal Dolan), the editors called for a continued dialogue in a “conciliatory style that keeps Catholics united and cools the national distemper…”   This is a laudable statement, although I would have to say that in my view neither of the principal spokespersons in this debate, Cardinal Dolan or President Obama, has engaged in the kind of divisive and damaging rhetoric that has become too much a part of this year’s presidential campaign.

The America editorial goes on to quote Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est as saying:  …(T)he Church does not seek to “impose on those who do not share the faith ways of thinking and modes of conduct proper to the faith.”  This certainly reflects the Church’s teaching on religious liberty – no matter what religion someone is a part of.  Nevertheless it does seem to me that the government in this instance has seen fit to impose its beliefs regarding health care on others without consideration of the “other’s” religious beliefs.

Where will this go from here?  Some have called for the Church to practice “civil disobedience” and simply ignore the government’s rulings.  Others have called for the shut-down of all Catholic institutions that would be affected by these policies.  Before anyone should rush to make that a reality, let us consider just what the effect would be if Catholic institutions closed their doors because of these mandates.

To quote from a piece written by Ed Morrissey (on his Hot Air site) entitled What If the Bishops Aren’t Bluffing:

The Carholic Church has perhaps the most extensive private health-care delivery system in the nation.  It operates 12.6 percent of hospitals in the U.S…accounting for 15.6 percent of all admissions….Catholic hospitals handle more than their share of Medicare (16.6 percent) and Medicaid (13.65 percent) discharges, meaning that more than one in six seniors and disabled patients get attention from these hospitals, and more than one in every eight low-income patients as well.  Almost a third (32 percent) of these hospitals are located in rural areas, where patients usually have few other options for care….

Imagine the impact if these hospitals shut down, discounting the other 400-plus health centers and 1,500 specialized homes that the Catholic Church operates as part of its mission that would also disappear….(T)he current system…would have to absorb almost $100 billion in costs in each year to treat them.  Over 120,000 beds would disappear from an already-stressed system.

I don’t believe the leaders of my Church would go so far as to close down such a vital part of the nation’s health care system.  While we came together in solidarity behind the bishops when these restrictions were first announced, may we not come together in prayer to ask God to assist all of those involved in this debate to find a way to protect religious freedom and still maintain a viable and needed health care system.

Not everyone agrees with the Catholic position on contraception, and there are a good number of Catholics who admittedly use birth control.  In 1968, Pope Paul VI issued the now famous encyclical on this matter entitled Humanae Vitae.  It admittedly was not well received and has been the source of much discussion and critique since it was issued.  There are some statements made in that encyclical, however, that should be looked at again in light of our present discussion.  To counter those who say that the Church just wants people to have more and more children, the pope said this:

With regard to physical, economic, psychological and social conditions, responsible parenthood is exercised by those who prudently and generously decide to have more children, and by those who, for serious reasons and with due respect to moral principles, decide not to have additional children for either a certain or an indefinite period of time.

One of the issues raised by the mandates announced by HHS is that in addition to artificial birth control means, the practice of sterilization and the prescription of drugs that can bring about an abortion are also included.  These latter items certainly fly in the face of the Church’s long-standing belief in the sanctity of human life from the beginning of conception.  The pope’s words on this are:

We are obliged once more to declare that the direct interruption of the generative process already begun and, above all, all direct abortion, even for therapeutic reasons, are to be absolutely excluded as lawful means of regulating the number of children.  Equally to be condemned…is direct sterilization, whether of the man or of the woman, whether permanent or temporary.

Perhaps the final statement I would cite from Humanae Vitae seems to resonate with today’s situation.  The Holy Father said this:

…Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective?  Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone.  It could well happen, therefore, that when people, either individually or in family or social life, experience the inherent difficulties of the divine law and are determined to avoid them, they may give into the hands of public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife.

Is this what we are seeing now?  I hope that this is not the case.  It should be stated that the Catholic bishops do not have a monopoly on morality.  Many voices in other religions may speak out regarding their own beliefs in this matter.  Yet, the Catholic bishops do have a powerful moral voice that needs to be heard.  I would hope that a meeting between the President and the Chairman of the Conference of Catholic Bishops (such as was held this past fall) could occur again in hopes of resolving this issue while preserving the Church’s important role in community life.  This would be my prayer and I hope it is yours also.