Civil War Memorials

As a Roman Catholic for 69 years, 43 of which as a priest, I know a thing or two about statues and images!  Hence, it is out of that perspective and the world of sacramental symbolism which is the language of the liturgical life of the church, that I offer ‘my take’ on the present Civil War monuments controversy. 

From the earliest centuries of the Church, images of Christ, Mary and the Saints have played an important role in touching the faith life and the imaginations of Christians.  Unlike our Jewish and Islamic sisters and brothers who have a prohibition against the use of ‘craven’ images, Christians, and we Catholics in particular, revel in the use of sacred imagery.  Whether it’s the gloriously luxuriant imagery in the ceiling of the Baptistery of the Duomo in Florence or the stately statues of Saints Peter and Paul in the Piazza of St. Peter’s in Rome, sacred imagery provides the catalyst for honor and veneration of those Holy Ones that Scripture refers to as ‘that great cloud of witnesses’ before the Lord. 

Baptistery of the Duomo in Florence

Images of Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, hold an altogether special place in the life of faith, since adoration belongs only to the Lord of life.  Mary and the saints are imaged so that honor and veneration may be rendered to these ‘heroes’ in the faith.  These are the ones who often walked through the crucible of suffering and even death for their belief in Christ, and are now honored as exemplars of what it means to truly be a disciple of the Lord.  Of course, it is not the wood, stone, plaster or mosaic that is rendered honor, but rather what these images ‘symbolize’ – the women and men who lived the Gospel life with extraordinary clarity and conviction. 

The raising up of monuments, images and statues of National heroes in our Country is part of the civil liturgy of our land.  We too invest great meaning in the symbols that we cherish and venerate in our beloved Country.  Whether it is our National Flag or the Statue of Liberty or the monuments to the pioneering heroes that have shaped the history of our country, these images touch our imaginations with the enduring values that have made us to be the people and nation we are today. It would be antithetical for us to honor those who have sullied the character and greatness of our Country.  Nowhere would one find in a public place of prominence, a statue or monument to Benedict Arnold!

There is no question that the great scar within our national consciousness was the Civil War that nearly shattered the ideal of our Founders of a ‘United States.’  Volumes have been written on the ‘whys’ and ‘wherefores’ of this devastating conflict that pitched brother against brother.  The tension inherent in our foundational documents between Federalism and State’s rights is often pointed to as the originating crux of this sad conflict.  However, one would have to be completely obtuse not to admit that the institution of slavery for whom the Southern states held as their prerogative and right, was the cancer that eventually metastasized into armed conflict.

Though the South surrendered and the slaves were emancipated by legal fiat, the ongoing belief that one race of people did not share the dignity and superiority of another, sadly and tragically has persisted down through the decades.

Historians have noted that Robert E. Lee, the commanding General of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, saw the foolishness in memorializing himself after the war and surrender.  He realized that the work of reconstruction and healing had to begin.  Aside from the understandable and honorable recognition of those who died on behalf of the Confederate cause and the dignified adornment of their gravesides and cemeteries, public and prominent recognition and memorialization of Confederate leaders did not take place, to any great degree, until the period of the ‘Jim Crow’ laws in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th century. (See the following article, The Real Story Behind all those Confederate Statues.)   Another spike in public memorializations took place during the early 1950’s as a reaction to the Supreme Court ruling, Brown vs. Board of Education, striking down the specious ‘separate but equal’ accommodation in public schools.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to surmise that such public and prominent memorials to leaders of the Confederate cause who, in all candor, led a treasonous rebellion against United States, was intended as a not so subtle intimidation of African Americans.  Though emancipated by the law of the land, they continued to be deprived of the vote, together with the sad litany of degrading and humiliating practices that spoke loud and clear – you are not equal.

Symbols are powerful realities in our world and in our country.  To continue to ‘venerate’ in prominent public spaces those who led or participated in a treasonous rebellion against the unity of our Country, predicated on the demonic racist ideology that a whole class of people lacked the dignity and full humanity of another, is abhorrent in the 21st century.  Respecting the legal processes that are in place in the various states, these statues and memorials should be relocated to museums and other discrete areas where proper documentation and context can be given.  Yes, we can indeed learn from history while not glorifying it.  That’s my take.

Sunday Reflection - The God of Inclusivity

Few if any of us have remained unmoved by the unsettling experiences that took place last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.  The specter of Neo-Nazis and White Nationalists, marching at night with torches blazing and chanting, “Jew will not replace us!” is incomprehensible.  In an interview given days after the horrendous weekend, the Rabbi of the local Jewish congregation in Charlottesville, shared how in his fear that his sanctuary might be burned in a latter-day Kristallnacht, he reverently retrieved the Torah scrolls from the sacred Ark, least they be desecrated.  It is indeed hard to comprehend that in 2017, such terror should be elicited in good people of this fair land. 

The moral cancer at the heart of these days of terror was the sin of racism.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church spells this out: The equality of men rests essentially on their dignity as persons and the rights that flow from it: “Every form of social or cultural discrimination in fundamental personal rights on the grounds of sex, race, color, social conditions, language, or religion must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God’s design. (# 1935)

Down through the millennia and to this very day, the Church has stood as a prophetic voice for the inherent and intrinsic dignity of all the members of God’s family.  While sadly, at times in history, some of her ministers have failed to forcefully proclaim this inalienable truth, it remains at the unwavering doctrinal core of our foundational ethic.  We are all made in the image of the Divine and, hence, each and every one of us possesses the potential of radiating that divine goodness to others.

God’s Holy Word that is set before us this Sunday reflects this foundational belief that is at the core of both Judaism and Christianity.  Isaiah the Prophet speaks of the hospitality that is afforded the ‘foreigner’ who joins himself to the Lord.  Often, the Prophets admonished the Israelite people to exercise mercy and hospitality on behalf of the foreigner, reminding them that they too were once ‘foreigners in a foreign land.’

That theme of hospitality and mercy continues in our Gospel passage today taken from Matthew.  Jesus encounters a Canaanite woman.  The Canaanites were not people of the Covenant and were often shunned, not unlike the Samaritans.  Breaking through such tribal restrictions, Jesus speaks to the woman.  Undoubtedly, sensing a kindly and receptive heart, she asks for a healing for her daughter.  The companions of Jesus were shocked at such bold confidence in the presence of the Master.  They want him to send her away.  But, Jesus would have none of it.  For the Lord saw through such meaningless class and ethnic distinctions to her heart of unwavering faith in him.  Her healing was granted by the Lord of Life.

In the wake of Charlottesville, I heard a former neo-Nazi on one of the news channels, sharing his own conversion story from racist hatred to acceptance of the dignity of all of God’s children.  He said that the catalyst for the dramatic about face in his life was the simple unsolicited kindness of an African American supervisor who took a mentoring interest in him as well as a lesbian co-worker who went out of her way to show him mercy, understanding and compassion.  Seeds were planted that began the questioning of his long-held assumptions – assumptions that had brought him nothing but havoc in his life.  Mercy and acceptance were the doors that opened for him a new life of seeing with new eyes the solidarity that holds all God’s children as sisters and brothers to each other.

Reflections on the Solemnity of the Assumption

Over the years in ministry I have been richly blessed in hearing what I like to call the “transformation” stories of individuals.  Some of those most powerful transformation stories come from those who have had to face the darkness of addiction in their lives.  Whether it was addiction to alcohol, drugs, irresponsible and self-destructive sexual behavior, gambling, whatever – these addictions have an insidious and diabolic way of taking hold of individuals and imprisoning them in the lie that this behavior was truly going to make them happy, joyful, powerful, contented and rich for the rest of their lives.  It was only through the crushing experience of being rendered helpless and victimized by these addictions and often through the grace of various 12 step programs that the light of transformation, healing and wholeness began to turn their lives around.  It has been said that the history will undoubtedly name AA and the programs flowing from this movement as one of the most important transforming experiences for men and women in the 20th century.

My brothers and sisters, it is the Lord’s great gift to us that we experience the power and renewing gift of transformation in our lives.  So important is that experience that as Catholics we look to one who has already experienced the fullness of transformation in Christ, Mary, the mother of the Lord and mother of the Church. The Church remembers her moment of complete transformation in the glory of heaven in the feast we celebrate today.  But it is also an opportunity to rejoice in hope at what the Lord holds out for each of us who like Mary are called to surrender to God’s will in our lives and to help build the reign of God in our world.

The most important moment in the history of the Catholic Church this past century was undoubtedly the calling of the Second Vatican Council.  The Council provided a rich opportunity for us as Catholics to “update” the manner in which we proclaim the constant truths of our faith.  The council reminded us that all the baptized – both the ordained and lay faithful - are called to help shape a Church that is faithful to Jesus.  Each of us is called through the gifts and talents that the Lord has given to us to shape a Church that invites all people to experience the transformation that only the Lord can bring to our lives.

For the vast majority of Catholics, the experience of what it means to be Church occurs in the parish.  Through the celebration of the Sacraments, the proclamation of the Word of God, through our service to the sick, the poor and the alienated, we are called to be faithful stewards of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

This transformation of our hearts and lives is the great gift that the Lord wants for each of us.  The challenge for parish communities today is our willingness to work together to be open to that gift of growth, renewal and development as we strive to be more faithful in our service to the Lord and His people.  May we look to Mary, the first disciple, as our model and guide as we remain open to the unfailing surprises of God's grace in our daily lives - surprises that invite us to transformation and a foretaste of the fullness of life that awaits us, with Mary, in the heavenly Kingdom.

There is 'something that is rotten in the State of Denmark' - Hamlet

The original of this post that was put up on August 13th, has been slightly edited, taking into account the President's remarks on Monday, August 14th.

Reflecting on the tragic occurrences in Charlottesville, Virginia, yesterday and listening to the various news commentaries, it is that quote from Hamlet that has quickly come to mind.  Not that hatred, bigotry and racism are new to our Republic.  Sadly, the roots of these malignancies go back to the very foundation of our Nation.  Rather, what happened as a result of a White Supremacist, Neo-Nazi, Alt-Right demonstration and the tragic deaths that ensued, point decidedly and unambiguously to the climate that has been engendered and enabled in our land during our last Presidential campaign and the eventual election of President Trump.

I, like many of you, were appalled by the tenor of the recent campaign.  From the initial race-baiting and name calling of immigrants as ‘rapists’ to the total lack of any semblance of civility in the debates that followed.  Politics, of course, is a rough and tumble ‘sport,’ yet, this recent campaign reached new lows primarily because of the example set by Donald Trump.  His core constituencies reveled in his insouciant lack of ‘political correctness.’  He prided himself in telling it like it is – ‘knock the crap out of ‘em,’ ‘lock her up,’ ‘lyin Ted,’ ‘little Marco,’ ‘could you imagine that face as President?’ and on and on.  With the release of the Access Hollywood tape, one would have thought that the jig was finally up.  But, no.  His core blithely forgave this ‘locker room banter’ and quickly moved on. They loved the fact that ‘he told it like it is!’

There was something terribly dark and sinister in this political ‘candor’ when it came to his ongoing campaign to delegitimize the Presidency of Barack Obama by questioning his credentials as a citizen of our Country.  This pernicious lie, repeated time and time again with varying degrees of promised substantiation, was a not so subtle dog whistle that pointed unambiguously to the racism that motivated it.  Sadly, a solid percentage of his base lapped it up – not all, of course, but surely enough for whom the thought of an African American President was anathema.

Fast forward to Charlottesville.  What did we hear from the ‘tell-it-like-it-is President?’  We heard a statement decrying the violence ‘on many sides!’  On many sides!  For a man who crucified Obama and his political opponents for equivocating and use of circumlocutions around ‘Islamic terrorists,’ we heard nary the mention of the words, ‘White-Supremacists,’ ‘Neo-Nazi’ or ‘Alt-Right.’  With swastika emblazoned flags waving – not one scintilla of a reference to these hate groups that are fracturing our Country with their vicious message. 

With the unprecedented criticism that the President received in the wake of his equivocation, he subsequently delivered a more comprehensive condemnation of the violence that occurred in Charlottesville, on Saturday, the 12th of August.  In his comments on Monday, the 14th of August, he explicitly mentioned the white nationalists groups by name for condemnation.  While it was uncharacteristically refreshing for the President to implicitly acknowledge his 'mistake' on Saturday, I continue to wonder the motivation behind this 'corrective.'  Was it moral outrage or merely political expediency?  I have my profound doubts.

And so, there is indeed, ‘something rotten in the State of Denmark’ and sadly Denmark has encamped on our own soil, in the People’s House.

Sunday Reflection: Courage in the midst of Crisis

It was not a long voyage across the lake — five miles at most.  The water was calm when Jesus sent his disciples off.  In such conditions, they could row across in two hours at most.  Should a favorable wind come up, they would hoist the sail and reach the other shore in half that time.

Jesus’ friends were disappointed when he refused to join them.  He insisted, however, that they set off alone.  He would get passage in another boat the next day.  Otherwise he would hike round the lake and join them.  Meanwhile Jesus needed to be alone.  Following the miracle of the feeding of the multitude, which we heard about in last Sunday’s gospel, Jesus needed to spend time in prayer, restoring his spiritual energy as he waited upon God in stillness through the night.

What began as a routine evening crossing of the lake soon turns into a nightmare for Jesus’ friends in their small boat.  Still today Galilean fishermen fear the treacherous storms caused by cold winds blowing off the surrounding hills, creating a sudden tempest in the warm air covering the low-lying water.  The storm which breaks on the disciples so unexpectedly this evening comes from just the direction in which they are heading. Against wind so strong, and waves so high, they can make no headway.  But the disciples know they must not allow the boat to be driven back to the shore they have left.  The waves could dash them against the rocks, smashing their frail craft and everyone in it.  Their only hope is to ply the oars as long as the storm continues, trying to remain a good distance from the land, in deep water.

This explains why they are still far from their destination in “the fourth watch of the night.”  The night, in those days, was divided into four equal periods or watches.  If there were eight hours of darkness, each watch would be two hours long. Assuming that they had embarked before nightfall,  they would have been in the boat seven hours at least.  They are exhausted, soaked to the skin, cold, and frightened. Small wonder, then, that they cry out in fear as they see a human figure approaching across the wind-whipped waves.  It is Jesus.  “Take courage,” he calls out.  “It is I, do not be afraid.”

One man in the boat is more impulsive than his companions.  He no sooner recognizes Jesus than he wants to be with him.  He will react in the same way upon recognizing the risen Lord on the shore after a fruitless night of fishing in the lake.  (Cf. Jn. 21:7) It is Peter.  “Lord,” Peter calls out, “if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”   “Come,” Jesus replies.

Peter’s willingness to do the unthinkable enables him to experience the impossible.  He climbs out of the boat and starts to walk to Jesus across the storm-tossed waves.  “But when he saw how strong the wind was,” Matthew tells us, “he became frightened.  And, beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’”

Jesus had a special role for Peter.  He was to be the leader of Jesus’ friends and thus of the Lord’s Church.  This terrifying experience was part of Peter’s preparation.  Years later he would remember: as long as he had kept his eyes on the Lord, he was safe.  When he looked down, and saw the danger, he began to sink.

Every detail in this story has rich symbolic significance for Matthew, the gospel writer.  Like most people in antiquity, Jesus’ people, the Jews, regarded the sea as the domain of supernatural, demonic forces.  To the Hebrew mind wind and waves were perilous: only God could master them.  When Jesus’ people were fleeing from bondage in Egypt, they were terrified to find themselves trapped between the advancing army of their former masters, and the impassable waters of the Sea of Reeds ahead of them.  In this desperate crisis, God had led them through the waters to safety.  Their pursuers had perished.  They never forgot it.  Repeatedly the psalms speak of God’s power to “rule the surging sea and calm the turmoil of its waves” (Ps. 89:10; cf. 93:3f; 107:23-30).  By walking on the raging waves, and calming the stormy sea, Jesus shows himself to be acting as only God can do.

The boat too is significant.  From biblical times Christians have viewed the Church as a boat, carrying those who are in it safely through the storms of an often hostile world, like the ark which kept Noah and his family safe amid the great flood.  In the midst of the media firestorm about the abuse of minors by some priests, Bishop Wilton Gregory, then bishop of Belleville and President of the Bishops’ Conference of our country, and now archbishop of Atlanta, spoke to St. Louis priests about this painful crisis.  In his talk, he referred to the story in today’s gospel.  We’re in that boat, he told us.  And like the disciples, we’re frightened.  But Jesus is with us.  He still has power to still wind and wave.  “Ought we not to realize,” he said, “that we have within this Bark of Peter, which is being so terribly tossed about in the public arena, the source of calm and peace.  We priests and bishops must be more devoted to our life of prayer as the only reliable source of courage and hope that will bring peace to our troubled hearts and souls.”  Bishop Gregory’s words were the message we needed to hear during that terrible chapter in our church’s history. 

This beautiful story speaks also to each one of us individually.  Somewhere right now there is someone facing a personal crisis: an illness, perhaps, your own or that of a loved one; a family problem; a humiliating failure; the sudden collapse of long held hopes, plans, and efforts.  You are filled with fear.  When you look down, you see only peril and ruin.  But look up!  Keep your eyes on Jesus.  He still has power to save. 

The story assures us that when the storm rages and the night is blackest; when we cannot see the way ahead; when we are bone weary with life’s struggle and our hearts fail us for fear, Jesus is close.  He only seems to be absent.  In reality he is never far from us.  He knows at every moment the difficulties against which we contend. Across the storm waters of this world he comes to us and chides us, as he chided Peter: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Happy if we today, in this hour, can respond to the Lord’s saving presence and power as his friends did in that boat.  Happy if we too can bow before him in awe-struck worship and say, with those first friends of Jesus:  “Truly, you are the Son of God!”

Sunday Reflection: Feast of the Transfiguration

On August 6th, 1978, an eighty-year-old Italian bishop died, following a massive heart attack.  Known most of his life as Giovanni Battista Montini, he had taken the name Paul VI in 1963, when he was elected Bishop of Rome in succession to the greatly beloved Pope John XXIII, now canonized a saint of the Church.  Paul’s fifteen-year pontificate was difficult.  He carried through to its conclusion in December 1965 the Second Vatican Council, which had been called by his predecessor.  That alone was a great achievement.  For the Church, it was a great blessing.  But as the famed English convert, Blessed John Henry Newman, wrote a century earlier: “There has seldom been a Council without great confusion after it.” 

Quoting selectively from the Council texts, some Catholics claimed that the Council had changed nothing, others that it had repudiated the Church’s past and changed everything.  Both were wrong.  The resulting confusion deeply grieved Pope Paul.  He spoke at one point of “the smoke of Satan in the Church.” 

Before Easter 1978 Pope Paul’s longtime friend, the Christian Democrat leader Aldo Moro, a devout Catholic, was seized by “Red Guard” terrorists who for fifty-five days played a cat-and-mouse game with their prisoner.  Publicly as well as privately the Pope moved heaven and earth to save the man he had known and loved since Moro’s student days.       

On May 9th Moro’s bullet riddled body was found in the trunk of a parked car in central Rome.  Preaching at Moro’s funeral four days later, the anguished Pope quoted Job’s complaint to God, asking how God could permit such evil.  Pope Paul’s faith never faltered.  But he could have been forgiven for thinking in the closing weeks of his life that a cloud seemed to have shut out the sunshine of God’s love.  How fitting that God called his faithful servant home on the feast which reminds us that the cloud is the sign not of God’s absence, but of his presence.

The cloud symbolizing God’s presence appears often in Scripture.  God led his people by a cloud following their deliverance from slavery in Egypt.  There was a cloud on Mount Sinai when Moses received the ten commandments (Exod. 24:13).  A cloud received the risen Lord into heaven at Jesus’ Ascension (Acts 1:9).  And a cloud descended on Jesus at his Transfiguration.

From the cloud Peter, James, and John hear a voice speaking the same words uttered at Jesus’ baptism: “This is my beloved Son.”  For a brief moment, there on the mountain, the veil between time and eternity, between earth and heaven, was lifted.  Jesus’ three friends were permitted to catch a momentary glimpse of the invisible, spiritual world of God. 

The concluding words spoken from the cloud – “Listen to him” –  express the significance of this mystery for Jesus’ friends: not only for the three present there on the mountain, but for all the friends of Jesus, ourselves included. 

We, the friends and followers of Jesus Christ, are the company of those who listen to his words.  Jesus does not grant to us, any more than he granted to Peter, James, and John, the continuous vision of his glory.  We live not on the mountain-top of great spiritual experiences, but in the valley of life’s ordinary duties.  There we do not look for dazzling visions from beyond.  Instead we listen for God’s voice.

Perhaps you’re wondering: Does God really speak to us?  When?  How?  God is speaking to us all the time.  He speaks in his Holy Word, in the teaching of his Church, through the circumstances of daily life, in the promptings of conscience, and in the needs of those whom we encounter along life’s way.  In the world to come it will be different.  There we shall see God.  In this world, however, we live by faith, not by sight. 

That is the way Jesus lived.  How bitterly his faith was tested as he passed through his own dark valley we learn from his anguished cry on the cross; “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46).  Jesus calls us to follow him on the way of the cross: to endure whatever trials and sufferings life may bring.  The way of the cross will lead us, as it led Jesus, through suffering to death.  But beyond death for us, as for him, is resurrection to life eternal.  Then faith will give way to sight.  Then our earthly pilgrimage beneath an often-overcast sky will yield to the uninterrupted vision of God’s glory.  We shall have reached our true homeland, the heavenly city, which (as we read in the final book of the Bible) needs neither sun nor moon, “for the glory of God gives it light, and the lamp is the Lamb” (Rev. 21:23).

Now, however, is the time not for seeing, but for hearing.   We listen for the Father’s voice and heed his command, as he speaks to us the words first uttered to those three friends of Jesus on the mountain two thousand years ago:

         "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;
listen to him."

Qui cantat bene, bis orat

“The one who sings well, prays twice!”  I’ve always loved this adage from St. Augustine.  Perhaps that’s the reason why I’ve always been a strong advocate for supporting vibrant and quality music ministry programs in our parishes and diocese.  When I was named Rector of Holy Family Cathedral in 1988, one of my major priorities was to continue to support the outstanding music ministry program established by my predecessors.  Within a relatively short period of time, I brought onto the music staff a new full time director by the name of Matthew Gray.  I had met Matt in my previous role as Director of the Office for Liturgy and Music in the Diocese.  At the time, Matt was involved in leading a small contemporary ensemble at a parish in the Los Angeles Archdiocese.  Once Matt was on board at the Cathedral, his musical interests and skills expanded exponentially.  He eventually went on to earn an M.A. in Choral Conducting and to shape a musical sound with the various Cathedral choirs and vocal ensembles that became an example to the entire Diocese.

In 2003 when I was named Rector of Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano, an opportunity for a new Director of Music Ministry became available and I offered the position to Matt.  Having forged endearing bonds to both his choirs at the Cathedral as well as to the parishioners there, he nevertheless accepted the position and continues to this day as Music Director at the Basilica.

For nearly 30 years, I consider it more than good fortune that Matt and I have been ministerial colleagues in the service of God’s People.  I preached God’s Holy Word and Matt made that Holy Word come alive in the inspiring music and professional excellence that he has always brought to his craft.

Thirteen years ago, Matt fulfilled a long-held dream of developing a small professional vocal ensemble that is called The De Angelis Vocal Ensemble.  Over the intervening years, the group’s reputation for musical excellence and innovative repertoire introducing audiences to 20th & 21st century choral composers, has become the hallmark of their distinctive style.  Many of their performances are held in the exquisitely beautiful and acoustically perfect Mission Basilica (he said humbly!).  With an acoustical reverberation of over 5 seconds, the Basilica interior rivals that of the great Cathedrals of Europe.

The following link details information regarding their upcoming new Season of concerts.  It will be another exciting year of beautiful music-making for them.  For all music lovers, here in the County and your friends, I encourage you to consider both attending and supporting this cultural treasure in our midst.

http://deangelisensemble.org

Sunday Reflection: Praying for the gift of an understanding heart

I think all of us can identify with the fairly common question that kids ask one another at some time or another, “If a genie popped out of that mythic lamp and told you, you could have one wish granted, what would it be?”  Of course, I always responded with, "100 more wishes!"  Wouldn’t life be grand if periodically we had some omnipotent genie that could grant our wishes, dreams and desires every now and then? 

Perhaps because of the fantastic fantasy of such a dream we might find it odd that Solomon in today’s first reading when the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, God Himself, appeared to him and told him to ask for something and that it would be granted - one might have thought of all sorts of wonderful things that Solomon could have asked for.  Yet, he asked for only thing - an understanding heart to distinguish right from wrong.

My sisters and brothers, there is reason why Solomon in tradition is called wise or that we refer to the wisdom of Solomon - for in responding to the Lord’s generous gift, Solomon indeed chose wisely.

To distinguish right from wrong is the daily challenge that we must wrestle with as we strive to live lives of integrity as disciples of the Lord.  Matthew records for us the words of the Lord Jesus to his disciples - to us - speaking of the kingdom of heaven.  Through comparisons to everyday life, Jesus the master teacher, is urging us to see this new creation that he has ushered in as a treasure buried in a field, or the pearl of great price, or the great catch of fish.

In other words, seeking, living and building God’s reign in our midst must become the overriding passion that gives ultimate focus and meaning to our lives.  No wonder that we, like Solomon, should pray frequently for the gift of discernment that we too might have an understanding heart to distinguish right from wrong - what builds up the Reign of God or what can become a barrier and stumbling block for God’s Kingdom to Grow right here in our midst.

These last decades in our Church have brought home all too painfully how some who have been entrusted with the privilege of leadership in our Church have squandered that gift and have been a stumbling block that has inflicted a painful wound on the Body of Christ.  Because the gift to choose rightly and virtuously has been refused and all of us have suffered.

To choose wisely, to distinguish right from wrong will forever be the hallmark of personal integrity and holiness as members of the Kingdom.    More often than not the wisdom to choose rightly with an understanding heart begins with the seemingly insignificant choices of everyday life.  For husbands and wives, the choice to say that kind and loving word rather than to be self-righteously critical or to play those old tapes of an unforgiven wound that we hold onto to as a power play over one’s spouse;   for parents to be affirming as they maximize praise for their children and as they teach them the consequences of choosing wisely and unwiselyin their own lives; for employers who treat their employees with fairness and justice respecting the dignity of every person and for employees who bring a moral vision of what is right and wrong to the workplace.  For Bishops, Priests, deacons and all involved in the work of the Gospel, that they speak the truth in love and pray for the courage to serve rather than be served as well as the humility to seek forgiveness when we have failed to lead with integrity and virtue.

Solomon indeed chose wisely when he asked the Lord for an understanding heart to distinguish right from wrong.  In this age of moral relativism where the good is so often equated with the comfortable and convenient choices we make in life, let us too ask for that Gift from Lord.  May it be our path to integrity and holiness of life now and always.

Reflections on the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

A morning ritual of mine is to be awakened each day at 5:00 AM with the top stories broadcast by National Public Radio’s Morning Edition.  Over the years, however, that morning ritual has included the inevitable sad reporting of one tragic terrorist attack after another.  Whether it’s in the Middle East or Europe or within our own Nation, these random attacks that are often motivated by an ideology of hate, indiscriminately target the innocent.  I still shudder on hearing the stories and seeing the images of the chemical attack in Syria some six months ago.  One would have to be completely heartless not to be moved and righteously angered at seeing defenseless children, victimized by such evil. We shudder as we see such darkness in the human heart that can bring itself to perpetrate such evil in the lives of innocent children.

My brothers and sisters, these are indeed the inevitable weeds that can appear to choke out the full growth of the good seed in the fields of our lives, our country and our world.  It would be so easy for many of us to succumb to despair as we hear another story of the innocent suffering, as we endure hearing another tragic story of the dark side of humanity.

Staring at the weeds infesting our so-called life, we inevitably wrestle with the question that none us can seem to voice: Can I trust God when this good life has so much bad in it?  In his bestselling book, Who Needs God?, Rabbi Harold Kushner writes: “I meet a lot of people who, in the face of personal tragedy or a major disaster, angrily conclude that there is no God.  I am often struck,” he writes, “by how angry some people get at God for not existing.” 

“Didn’t you, Lord, sow good seed in your field?”  My friends, we know somewhere deep in the earth of our souls God did and God does sow good seed, abundantly, generously, lovingly.  How can any of us look into the face of a child and not see the tracings of God’s hand in every dimple, every eyelash, every erupting tooth in a gummy mouth?  How can we witness the depth of love that blooms in this congregation when death visits one of our number?  How can we watch a father cradle his infant son and not believe that God can be trusted?  Times are, my brothers and sisters, we confess our faith in Christ standing deep in a river of tears, stuttering through our sorrow that God is good, God is great, God is love.  But, there are those other times, in the moments of darkest doubt when, we’re not so sure.  It is at those dark moments that all of us can so easily succumb to focusing all our time and energy in tracking down the weeds, doing everything in our power to root them out of what we hope will be our personal perpetual gardens of Eden.

Yes, we can spend our lives managing weeds, vainly trying to explain, fix, control.  Many of us do.  But history tells us from the bloody centuries of the Crusades to the meanness in every stripe of fundamentalism that weed control destroys more wheat than weeds.  Jesus said, “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.”  Why do that?  Are we to believe that Christians like being slapped around?  No.  Simply put, more gospel, more grace, more of Christ grows on a turned cheek than a clinched fist; always has, and always will. 

Times are, like St. Paul, we pray, staring at the weeds, “with groans that words cannot express.”  We long for answers, we want God to give us the green light, if not to “Round-Up” the weeds, at least to mow them down for a season.  Such is not always the work God places in our hands.  In fact, the parable clearly teaches that, at the end of time, God will ultimately deal with the weeds, not us.

So, my friends, you may take up the cause of weed control.  Some of us spend much of our lives doing so angry, bitter, and disappointed.  I know.  Like you, I’ve often rallied my angry soul to weed control.  Our Lord, however, offers us a better way to deal with the weeds of life.  His better way is a much holier calling, brimming with contagious joy.  And what is that?  Spend our lives nurturing the gospel.  Love those whose lives seem choked by weeds; comfort the confused; sit patiently with the grieving; surprise the cynic with an unexpected gift, and maybe do it anonymously.  For it is indeed better to light one candle in this world of darkness, to cultivate the field of God’s dreams for the human heart, than to spend all our time cursing the darkness.  

Reflections on - Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT community can enter into a relationship of Respect, Compassion and Sensitivity by Fr. James Martin, SJ

At the height of the AIDS crisis in the early 1980’s, when countless deaths as a result of this dreaded disease were occurring across our country and world, I remember vividly receiving an emergency call in the middle of the night.  It was from an AIDS Hospice here in Orange County.  The voice on the other end was agitated as he spoke quickly, “Is this a priest?  I need a priest as quickly as possible.  One of our guests is actively dying.”  I responded that I was a priest and aware that the facility was some distance from the rectory, I inquired if, perhaps, they had contacted the parish much closer.  The agitated voice said, “Father, I never want to call that place again.  The priest that came before, stood at the door and the first thing he asked our delirious friend was if he was sorry for the sins that got him into this situation?  He then mumbled a quick blessing and ran out!”  I, of course, said that I would come as quickly as possible.

That very painful situation seared into my memory not only this painful chapter in the history of AIDS in our country, but more specifically, how the Catholic Church that I love and to whom I have given 43 years in priestly ministry, has so often failed to be there in respect, compassion and sensitivity for our LGBT sisters and brothers.

It is with this personal experience in mind that I welcomed Fr. James Martin’s most recent book, Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT community can enter into a relationship of Respect, Compassion and Sensitivity.  As narrated in the preface of this small yet insightful work, what prompted Fr. Martin to prepare these reflections was the tragic shooting in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016 at the Pulse nightclub, in which 49 people were killed and 58 others were wounded in one of worst terrorist attacks since 9/11 in our country.  It was clear that virtually all the victims were from the LGBT community.  What was so unsettling for Fr. Martin and many sincere and concerned Catholics across our land, was the relatively few Bishops who named this unspeakable evil for what it truly was, the targeting of gay men and women.  Save for a few eloquent and candid statements by a handful of Bishops, the overall response was alarmingly tepid.

It was certainly not the author’s intention to present a detailed and exhaustive treatise on the moral dimensions of homosexuality as viewed from the Catholic Church’s perspective.  That perspective and teaching is clearly, if not painfully, known by the vast majority of the LGBT community.  Rather, focusing on three critical words that are found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding homosexual persons, his reflections center on how the Church and LGBT persons can mutually build a relationship – a bridge to each other – on the foundation of ‘respect, compassion and sensitivity.’  Fr. Martin is far more concerned with the pastoral exigencies of what we encounter in the present moment, where not an insignificant number of the Catholic LGBT community have either left the Catholic Church or, struggle to not only remain while tragically, at times, experiencing unjust discrimination at her hands.  Additionally, he poses the challenging question of how it might be possible for the Church, both clergy and laity, to be that ‘Field Hospital’ as Pope Francis speaks of, reaching out to those who, for whatever reason, are in need of hearing again the reconciling compassion of a loving Father and Shepherd.  So often it begins with the simple process of listening to one another.

We are all familiar with the ‘teaching’ dimension of the Church, classically framed as the ecclesia docens.  Rare, however, is it that we hear the corresponding importance of the ‘listening’ church, or the ecclesia discens. Yet, this dimension of our church beautifully mirrors an essential element within any community and certainly within the Body of Christ. Blessed Paul VI, in his first Encyclical, Ecclesiam Suam, spoke eloquently of the central dynamism of ‘dialogue’ within the household of believers.   From our own experience, I think it would be safe to say that successful dialogue always entails both speaking and listening, respectfully, compassionately and with sensitivity.

Dialogue, of course, presupposes language that itself is respectful, compassionate and sensitive. In one of the highly negative reviews of Martin’s book that appeared in First Things, the author begins with this sentence:  Is sodomy a sin?  I wonder how effective I would be in speaking to a group of divorced and remarried folks inquiring about the annulment process, if I were to begin, 'Is adultery and fornication a sin?'  The critic goes on and rather dismissively makes reference to, what our Holy Father has referred to countless times as the importance of the ministry of ‘accompaniment.’  By this is understood ‘to be there for others,’ in a supportive and loving manner, wherever one might be on the continuum of conversion toward greater virtue and Christian maturity. 

The teaching of the Church is unambiguous when it calls all to complete chastity outside of the marriage covenant.  The challenge for our gay sisters and brothers is that to be true to the Church’s teaching, they must remain celibate for the entirety of their lives. While with God’s heroic grace, this is not an impossibility, and for those who embrace this heroic discipline, they indeed deserve our support and encouragement.  However, based upon 43 years of pastoral and confessional experience, this way of life is extremely difficult. And, for those who find this teaching difficult or impossible to embrace and experience failure, what are we to do?  Do we turn our backs, close the doors of our churches and tear down any bridges of outreach until they arrive at perfection?  Or do we accept our brothers and sisters ‘on the way,’ as we continue to welcome, provide compassionate hospitality and encouragement toward growth in virtue for all of us.  For, in the end, truth be told, we are all ‘on the way.’ 

Reflections on the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

There is a quote that has always meant a great deal to me - it goes something like this, “Our lives are a gift from God, but what we do with them is our gift to God.”  That quote came home to me in a powerful way some years ago when I visited our Nation’s capital with my mother and sister.  Washington, DC is a city of powerful symbols and memorials that speak to us of the history, promise and destiny of this land.  Two of those memorials touched me deeply - the memorial to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Vietnam Memorial.  Both these memorials powerfully convey in many respects the heart of God’s Word to us this day.

Shortly before my mother married my father, the Second World War broke out in Europe.  After the bombing of Pearl Harbor my father enlisted and served in the South Pacific.  During those turbulent times, it was President Roosevelt whom my mother remembers calmed the fears and anxieties of a nation with his fireside chats and hope filled speeches. No wonder then that on visiting his memorial a flood of memories touched my mother’s heart as she remembered what this one man, bound to his wheelchair was able to do for the spirit of this nation especially in the midst of war.

Roosevelt Memorial - Washington, D.C.

The Vietnam memorial remains one of the most visited sights in Washington.  This silent memorial from a grateful nation remembers the heroism of thousands of men and women, many of whom died before the age of 25.  History will be the final arbiter of all the factors - both positive and negative - that brought us into this conflict.  Yet, for the men and women who died in this foreign land, it was the ageless value of patriotism and their willingness to lay down one’s life in defense of others, that is their glory.

My brothers and sisters, each one of us have been blessed by God in rich and varied ways.  God’s creative word has fashioned each one of us with multiple gifts and talents.  And with those gifts you are I are called to leave a legacy for others by the way we live our lives. In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of the importance of sinking the roots of our lives into soil that will yield a rich harvest.  As followers of the Lord, we have the privilege of being enriched by God’s Word and the values that it challenges us to live.  In our tradition of faith, it is the sacramental life that nourishes and supports us in our Christian walk with the Lord.  These gifts are the soil out of which we are to yield a rich harvest and bear much fruit.

As members of the Church each one of us with our unique gifts and talents are called to shape a world with the values and convictions of Jesus Christ.  The responsibility to be church and to build the Kingdom in our midst belongs to no one else but ourselves who have been made new in Christ.    Our lives are indeed gifts from God, but what we do with them for the sake of the kingdom is our gift to God.

Sanctuary or Bully Pulpit?

Within the last few months, I’ve been amazed at the level of passion and energy created by Facebook followers.  My plunge into social networking was rather late, prompted by the beginning of my Blog, Rectoremeritus.org.  As I have shared in various posts, I have been gratified by the positive responses by various readers to my more serious musings in my Blog as well as my more “off the cuff” and whimsical postings on my FB page.  In addition to the postings of photos at lunches with family and friends, together with the selfies with dogs (l love dogs!), I have not shied away from the occasional political post or sharing an op-ed commentary from this or that major newspaper or journal.  Being now, both emeritus and retired, I am freed from the care and caution that characterized such sentiments and comments when I was pastor. 

During my 41 years as an active priest and more particularly, cognizant of my responsibilities as Rector at Holy Family Cathedral for 15 years and subsequently as Pastor/Rector of Mission Basilica for 11 years, I assiduously strove never to use the ‘sanctuary’ pulpit as a ‘bully’ pulpit for personal, partisan politics.  That is not to say that I shied away from raising what some might refer to as ‘social gospel’ themes and issues.  However, I invariably hued carefully to the guidance provided by the Bishops of our Country, particularly in their documents touching social and political themes, such as Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. 

Now, freed from these more public roles as a minister of the Gospel, there is a greater freedom to engage in sharing more partisan perspectives in the rough and tumble world of social media.  It goes without saying, that such musings and sharing’s are wholly personal and in no way, reflect official positions of the Diocese of Orange, its Bishop or anyone else holding public office in the church.  Rather, they are the fruit of my own thoughtful reflection and convictions.  Being retired does not mean that one retires one’s mind from ongoing engagement in the important social and political issues of our time.  Being retired does not mean that one retires from being a faithful citizen of this blessed land, nor engaging in the political discourses that might hopefully lead to a ‘more perfect union’ in our country.  And finally, being retired does not mean shying away from vigorous engagement with others on the important topics that will shape the integrity and goodness of our country both now and for generations to come.

It is with all this in mind, that I was disappointed in receiving recently the following response to a post that touched upon political themes:  “…. I just friended him to see first hand a "man of God," post cheap propaganda and fake news using his fame with his FB following to spread divisiveness between Republican and Democrats. Some Republicans did this to Obama when he got elected. #soreloosers unfriend and pray for them. God warned us about "shepards (sic) leading the lambs astray." Pray for him and others.”  My response was simple: “Wow,…….. that's quite an indictment. I too have the same freedom as others in our beautiful country to hold to my political convictions as I respect you to hold yours. FB is a forum for a variety of perspectives to be shared w hopeful civility. When you reached out to 'friend' me, I had no idea that there was an ulterior motive. That saddens me. God bless you and your lovely family.” 

Believe me, folks, in the many years of priesthood such indictments are pretty much par for the course.  One cannot preach the gospel with a modicum of integrity without “comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable”  at some point or other!

In the end, I’ve always viewed Facebook like a buffet in Las Vegas.  Laid out in extraordinary abundance is every possible delicious goody one could ever imagine.  Invariably, though, there will be something we don’t like – broccoli or pig’s feet or whatever – and we just skip it.  Odd would be the person who marches up to the head waiter and demands that it be removed because we find it offensive.  This is America, we simply have the freedom of responsible choice!

  “In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity” - Rupertus Meldenius

Reflections on the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Some of you may be aware that I’m a history buff.  Most of my personal reading is non-fiction and I particularly enjoy reading American History.  Some years ago, I made my way through David McCullough’s 1776, that tells the fascinating story of that fateful year that fashioned for us a Nation.  Not long ago I picked up a series of audio lectures by the Historian Robert Dallek, on great presidents of the 20th century.  In the opening lecture he asks the question, “what made a great President in the last century or any century, for that matter?”  He lists a number of traits that were inevitably present in the lives of the great presidents.  They were men of vision, great communicators, practical, men of integrity and also men of luck – being at the right place at the right time.   Nowhere, however, in this list of characteristics and attributes of a great president are we to find the two words that Jesus in today’s Gospel asks us to emulate – two words that are used to describe Jesus himself – meek and humble. 

In fact, I think most of us would be shocked if we ever heard a politician or any great leader for that matter speak of himself or herself as meek and humble!  In a culture that exults the self made individual, that extols so often the type “A” personality, that admires the great movers and shakers in society – meekness and humility don't quite cut the mustard!  They certainly wouldn’t be on most folks’ lists of indispensable attributes leading toward greatness.

Yet, Jesus in his call for us to come to him, particularly those who are burdened and stressed out by the relentless rat race of contemporary life and to rest in him – we are invited to put on the two qualities that so framed and shaped his deepest identity as the Son of God – meekness and humility.  Sound pretty counter cultural, doesn’t it?

Part of our difficulty in fully appreciating just exactly what Jesus is inviting us to is a language problem.  The English connotation of those two words – meekness and humility – clearly conjure up an image in most of our minds of weakness and passivity.  From a Biblical perspective, however, that could not be further from the truth.  As our first reading from the Prophet Zechariah points out, the kings of Israel saw their ultimate greatness in their keen awareness that all their power and authority rested in God.  This was powerfully conveyed through the symbol of the King entering the city riding on a humble donkey.  The King exercised power because it was a gift and responsibility from the giver of all power and prestige – the Lord alone.

In Biblical language, meek people were usually people of enormous power and potential.  Moses was called a meek man, and certainly he was not a weakling, a push-over, or a human doormat to whatever bully might be lurking on the playground.  Just ask Pharaoh!  And in our gospel reading, Jesus called himself meek.  Certainly, Jesus was no weakling, no retiring quiet pawn on the chessboard of the powerful.  And yet he was meek.  Because, my friends, meekness is simply controlled strength.  Meekness is great power and potential harnessed and directed toward its finest goal.  Meekness is strength placed in the control of a higher power, even God Himself.

We need only think about the Enron scandal in our society, some years ago, to realize that many a person possessing the characteristics or talent of greatness failed to achieve their potential because they squandered their gifts on themselves, or failed to refine and sharpen those talents through hard work and clear goals.  My sisters and brothers, it is not enough to be strong and talented and powerful or beautiful or wealthy.  If those gifts are not placed under the reins of God’s control for the greater good, then the great talent lacks focus, and soon dissipates.  As the maxim says – “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely!”   But on the other hand, if a strong and gifted person is meek allowing God to manage and direct their giftedness, that person has the chance to achieve their potential, and become the true leader and servant to the world they were born to become.

And so, my friends, seen from this perspective, “Who is meek among us today?”  Let’s pray for the courage and personal integrity to step up and be counted.  Jesus has a job for each of us to do in life.  It is not an easy job, but it is a great job.  Take his yoke, pulling alongside Christ himself, strength matched with strength, meekness aligned with meekness, we can partner with the Lord to help turn an untamed world back into a garden paradise.  Now, who wants to be called “meek”?

Independence Day

Some years ago, National Public Reading was airing essays entitled “This I believe” in which the authors share their foundational beliefs that have shaped their lives and give meaning and purpose to their existence.  The journalist, Andrew Sullivan, gave a reflection on his belief in living in a blessed land whose foundational documents extol the values of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” 

My friends as we join with our sisters and brothers throughout our land to mark and celebrate this Independence Day in, it is good that we begin our great National Holiday in prayerful gratitude to the Lord – the giver of all good gifts.  It is good that we remember and rejoice in the values that continue to shape our lives as citizens of this blessed land.

As the coin of our realm consistently reminds us, it is “In God we Trust” and it was the wisdom of that insight that influenced our founding ancestors to create something radically new that would reverence the gifts of individual freedom and responsibility in this land so blessed by the Lord.

The Apostle James presents us with practical wisdom as we live out that freedom and responsibility.    Our greatness as a people will never be found in “bitter jealousy and selfish ambition” but rather in the wisdom that comes “from above that is pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconsistency or insincerity”  For the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.

These words might appear paradoxical as we find ourselves as a nation engaged in painful conflicts that world terrorism have thrust upon us.  Yet, experience has taught us that our work for peace has always been costly.  The defense of liberty is not a cheap  grace but rather one that inevitably is paid for by the valiant lives of those whose convictions have led them to lay down their lives for their brothers and sisters.  On this 241st anniversary of our Nation’s Independence, we cannot help but remember and give thanks for the Tradition of that selfless commitment that continues in our service men and women to this day.

St. Luke in setting before us the life giving words of the Master admonishes us to always set our sights on becoming “rich in what matters to God”.  Our greatness as a people and a Nation will always be in proportion to our daily striving in growing “rich in what matters to God”.  Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness can never be simply ends in themselves but rather gifts from the creator given to help fashion a community where the intrinsic dignity of all God’s children will be reverenced and celebrated.   As we pray in the Preface of today’s mass “This message lives on in our midst as a task for us today and a promise for tomorrow.”

And so, my friends, as we enter into the wonderful rituals of today, as we gather with family and friends and enjoy our hot dogs and hamburgers and this evening see our skies brightened by the brilliance of fireworks exploding in mid-air, may our hearts be filled with gratitude for the author of liberty and for the God in whom we trust, now and always.

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

One of the great privileges of being associated with Mission San Juan Capistrano is, from time to time, baptizing infants in the venerable Serra Chapel.  Shortly after St. Junípero Serra founded this Mission on November 1, 1776, plans were laid for the construction of its first permanent place of worship. Even before the Chapel was completed, Fr. Serra holds the distinction of celebrating the first baptisms here at the Mission as early as 1778. When I was installed as Pastor of the Mission and the 34th successor to Serra, as part of the installation ceremony, Bishop Tod Brown, solemnly entrusted to me the first volume of the Baptismal registry of this Mission in which is inscribed, in Serra’s own handwriting, the names of those whom he first baptized. 

At the conclusion of the Gospel of St. Matthew, we hear the stirring mandate, given by the Lord himself to his apostles, to go and baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  For nearly 2000 years, we Christians have been faithful to that mandate and have been privileged to lovingly hand on the faith from one generation to the next, through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.

While we Catholics believe that the central Sacrament of the Lord’s enduring presence with his people is found in the Holy Eucharist, our access to the Holy Table and the food of eternity can only come through the life-giving waters of Baptism.

In today’s second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, we have an exquisitely beautiful meditation on this first sacrament of the Christian journey.  St. Paul reminds his hearers that in Baptism, you and I were plunged into the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.  Through this sacramental moment, a radical transformation took place in our deepest identity – we became sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, and brothers and sisters to Christ, His Son, and hence, brothers and sisters to one another.  No longer is the common expression, ‘blood is thicker than water’ applicable to us as Christians.  For, through the waters of Baptism, you and I are irrevocably bound to one another as members now, of God’s Holy and Beloved family.

To die and to rise with Christ in the waters of Baptism was powerfully conveyed in the structuring of Baptismal fonts or pools in the early church.  Invariably, they were positioned at the threshold of the church building and were literally pools of water where individuals would step down into the waters and be plunged completely, and then rise out of the waters, born again through the grace of this moment.

Archeological Museum in Sousse, Tunisia 

While Catholic theology over time developed an understanding that Baptism frees one from the original disorientation of our lives from God’s will and purpose – freedom FROM original sin – the grace of this Sacrament is far more a freedom FOR something.  It is a freedom for each one of us to live the life that we now bear as being ‘Christ-ed’ or ‘Christened.’  As the Baptized of the Lord, we are called and empowered by the grace of the Holy Spirit to be the prophetic voice of Christ in our families, society, nation and culture in which we live.  We are called to be the leaven of transformation to a world that is yearning to be freed from the power of darkness and despair by the bright promise and hope of the Good News of Christ.

No wonder, then, that as recipients of so great a gift, we should Forever sing the goodness of the Lord.

Saint Junípero Serra - the Great Evangelizer of California

In the Roman Catholic calendar of saints, July 1st in the United States is set aside as the memorial of St. Junípero Serra, the great Evangelizer of California.  On the occasion of his canonization, two years ago, by our Holy Father, Pope Francis, during his first pastoral visit to the United States, I was called upon to offer reflections on this great pioneer in the faith.  The following is the slightly edited transcript of my presentation, given at Mission San Juan Capistrano.

On this historic eve of the canonization of the founder of our beloved Mission San Juan Capistrano, it is a joy for me to offer these reflections on the Legacy of Fr. Serra. For all those associated with Mission San Juan, the visit of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, possesses special significance in light of the long anticipated canonization of our founder, Blessed Junipero Serra and Padre Presidente of the California missions.

As many of you know, Mission San Juan is the seventh of the nine missions that Fr. Serra himself founded. While all the 21 missions were under his governance as the Padre Presidente of the Alta California mission system, only nine were privileged to be founded by Serra himself, beginning with Mission San Diego de Alcalá, founded on July 16, 1769.  The ninth Mission, San Buenaventura was founded on March 31, 1782.  Our own beloved Mission was founded on the Solemnity of All Saints, November 1, 1776.

These reflections on the legacy of Fr. Serra, cannot be disengaged from the totality of his life.  And so, for that reason, these reflections are placed in the context of a brief overview to the life and ministry of Fr. Serra.  I will then explore briefly his road toward canonization, focusing on the often asked question: How does one become a ‘saint’ in the Catholic Church? Finally, I will conclude with a few personal comments on the ‘controversy’ that has surrounded his canonization.  Is Serra worthy of the title, saint?

Fr. Serra was born on the island of Majorca, off the eastern coast of Spain, on November 24, 1713.  At the early age of 17, he heard the call of the Lord to follow in his service and eventually joined the Alcanterine Franciscans, a reform movement in the order founded by St. Francis.  Within a relatively short time it was clear to Serra’s superiors that he was gifted with intellectual brilliance.  He went on to receive a doctorate in Sacred theology and was appointed to the Duns Scotus chair of Philosophy of the Lullian University in Palma.  Together with his academic prowess, his reputation was growing as an extremely engaging preacher and was sought after to give stirring parish mission retreats. 

Cathedral in Palma, Majorca

I share all of this with you to paint the picture that we have a young man whose career path in the church knew few limits.  He was one of the movers and shakers in his order at an early age.  Remaining in Majorca, he could easily have become Provincial or regional superior of his order.  But that was not meant to be. From his earliest days in religious life, Serra’s first love was simply to share the Gospel of Christ with others.  Serra lived during the heady times of continuing exploration and settlement in the New World.  Spain and her monarchs – designated as Los Reyes Catolicos – the Catholic monarchs – were laying claim to lands, to both enrich the Spanish treasury as well as claim new souls for Christ and the Gospel. Serra would eventually give up what undoubtedly would have been a brilliant career in the Church within the comforts of his homeland, to embrace the life of a missionary. 

In 1749, Serra and a group of his Franciscan companions landed in the port city of Vera Cruz to begin their Gospel adventure in the new world.  Walking most of the way to Mexico City, he first was assigned teaching duties in the College of San Fernando in Mexico City – until, at last, he was missioned to preach the Gospel to the indigenous people of central Mexico in the Missions in Sierra Gorda, in the present State of Querétaro.

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol in the Sierra Gorda

God writes straight with crooked lines – with the suppression of the Jesuit order to the delight and complicity of the Spanish government – a vacuum was created in the missionary efforts in Baja California as well as the Southwestern portion of what would later become the United States.  Worried about incursions of the Russians from the North and the British from the East, Spain began its conquest of these lands and, as was their custom, would bring the ‘cross’ along with the ‘sword.’

Serra was now missioned first to the Missions in Baja California and then to what was known as Alta California where his legacy as the great evangelizer of California began.

He labored for the gospel some 14 years in his beloved Missions – confirming some 5309 neophytes, many of whom he had baptized himself.  Traveling mostly by foot, he was plagued with an ulcerated leg that nearly crippled him a number of times.  Yet, he would not be deterred in traversing the length of California ministering to and administrating the mission system that he established. On August 28, 1784, Serra died at his beloved Mission San Carlos Borromeo and was buried in the sanctuary floor.  Presidency of the Missions passed on to his colleague, Fr. Fermín Lasuén.

From Volume I of the archival Baptismal Registry of Mission San Juan Capistrano - 1778 - Serra's own Baptismal notation and signature - (c) Mission San Juan Capistrano

Before we examine Serra’s own road to sanctity, the question that continues to fascinate both Catholics and non-Catholics alike is simply:  How does one became a saint in the Catholic Church? What is a saint?  In Catholic theology, a saint quite simply is one who has tried to live a virtuous and good life here on earth and is now in heaven with the Lord.  In other words, there are countless unnamed and unknown saints in heaven and we honor them in a special way one day in the church calendar – November 1st – the Feast of All Saints – the day this mission was founded. However, there are some men and women in the history of the Catholic Church whose lives have been such outstanding examples of holiness and grace that they are set before the household of believers as exemplars, mentors and models of holiness and integrity.  These are the men and women who upon their death have spontaneously attracted the attention of others for their goodness and devotion has been given to them.  In time and after careful study of their lives by the Church they have formally been declared saints. The agency within the organizational structure of the Catholic Church that does this scrutiny or investigation is called the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.  It is part of what is called the Curia of the Catholic Church.

Over the centuries there have been various reforms in the process whereby one is formally declared a saint – the most recent reform having taken place in 1983 under the pontificate Pope St. John Paul II. At this point, it is important to note that canonization does not mean that an individual lived a perfect or sinless life.  Rather, it means that one so heroically and demonstrably lived the life of faith, hope and love that their life became a powerful witness of the goodness of Christ himself to the world.  Sin and evil never had the final say in their lives but rather the grace and love of God ultimately triumphed in the unfolding of their lives.

There are various stages leading to eventual canonization:

i)      After submission of a detailed spiritual biography of the individual in question, called the summarium, and if the Congregation finds the individual worthy of further investigation, they are given the title “Venerable”

ii)    Normally one miracle is required through the intercession of the person in question to be advanced to the next stage which is called “Blessed.”

iii)  A second miracle is required for one to advance to the final stage, that is, for canonization and formal ‘sainthood.’

iv)   These candidates for ‘Blessed’ and ‘Sainthood’ are moved through the process by advocates called postulators or vice postulators who prepare the extensive biographies for examination.  They also assist in bringing forward potential miracles to be scrutinized carefully by medical personnel.

v)     A much more detailed explanation of this process can be found in Kenneth Woodward’s fascinating study: Making Saints: How the Catholic Church Determines who becomes a saint, who doesn’t and Why.

When Father Serra died at the ago of 70 in 1784, he was mourned by friars and many of the Mission Indians, who referred to him for generations after his death at ‘el santo’ – the saint. However, it was not until 1934 that his cause was formally introduced to the Congregation by the Bishop of Monterey-Fresno. In 1941, the Vatican appointed a Vice Postulator for Serra’s cause who began the meticulous historical preparation of documentation required by the Holy See. He was assisted by the famous Franciscan historian, Fr. Maynard Geiger, the archivist for Old Mission Santa Barbara who prepared the 7500-page documentation that was submitted to Rome. It was presented to the Congregation in the summer of 1950 and finally in 1985 (Rome moves slowly!), Serra was declared ‘Venerable.’  Between 1985 and 1987, the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Missouri and the Theological and Medical Commissions of the Congregation of Saints in Rome investigated a reported miracle of Sr. Boniface attributed to Serra.  The result was that there was no medical explanation for the nun’s healing from lupus.  The Holy Father affirmed the miracle and on September 25, 1988 Serra was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II.

In the course of pursuing the second miracle, Pope Francis – the Pope of Surprises – in an impromptu press conference on his plane on returning from a pastoral visit to the Philippines – said that he was hoping to canonize Serra in the course of his pastoral visit to the US in September of that year.  This announcement caught everyone by surprise, including your's truly, who had just become the Rector emeritus of the Mission! What happened to the miracle?  Since the Pope is the supreme legislature in the Church and while he cannot change doctrine he certainly can change his own structures and traditional processes in the church. He dispensed from the second miracle through what is technically called ‘equipollent canonization’ stating that the decades of veneration given to this holy man warranted such a dispensation.

It comes as no surprise that the cause for Serra’s canonization had not been welcomed by all.  While I am not a trained historian but rather an avid student of history, I have tried to understand both sides of the arguments both in favor and against canonization.  While I would like to say that I am being absolutely objective, I am well aware that all of our perceptions can be colored by our own individual histories.  I am not a Native American and so the deeply felt perspectives and narratives that strongly objected to Serra’s canonization have not been my experience.  In the end, however, that critique must stand or fall based on the facts of his life and legacy.  And, in all candor, they are disputed by historians with those who supported and favored his canonization and those who did not.  With that in mind, I offer these personal reflections and perspectives:

The Church is canonizing the man, not the colonization enterprise that he was a part of.  It is indisputable that the Spanish conquest of the New World failed to respect the inherent dignity of the indigenous people of this land and was the catalyst for cultural genocide.  For this reason, the Holy Father asked forgiveness during a pastoral visit to Bolivia. where there may have been complicity on the part of the Church.

To judge the missionary techniques and methods of Serra, a man of the 18th century by 21st century standards is unfair.  There was indeed corporal punishment used with the neophytes who were kept in the safe confines of the missions. This was rooted in a paternalistic attitude exemplified by the Mission fathers who literally referred to these neophytes as ‘my child’ or ‘our children.’ This sequestration was done to protect the Indians from the Spanish soldiers who invariably abused and took advantage of the Indians.  Relative to the use of corporal punishment, I confess that I was at the receiving end of some (on very rare occasions) in the grammar school I attended!

Historically, Serra was an advocate for leniency on behalf of the Indians in a famous incident that involved an Indian uprising around San Diego Mission when both soldiers and padres were killed in the uprising.  Serra pleaded with officials that those responsible not be given capital punishment, otherwise, how would they ever come to understand the God of unfailing mercy and forgiveness.

Sadly, disease was introduced by those involved with the conquest of these lands.  Yet, my read of the historical evidence points to the preponderance of deaths occurring after the Serra period.  The systematic victimization of the Indian nations reached its zenith, not during the time of Serra but decades after, becoming particularly brutal during the early years of California statehood. In the recent historical research and new translation of hundreds of Serra’s letters done by the historians, Rose Marie Beebe and Robert Senkewicz, in their recent book, Junípero Serra: California, Indians, and the Transformation of a Missionary, it is clear that Serra’s sole motivation in life, the passion to which he left family and fame and the comforts of home, was simply to be a disciple of Christ and to share His good news with the people he was called to both serve and love.  He did this, not perfectly, but certainly heroically until his last breath. 

Padre Junípero Serra, the great evangelizer of California, was canonized on September 23, 2015, on the campus of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., by Pope Francis.  The mission and ministry of this heroic and courageous man of the Gospel was finally recognized with the title of ‘saint.’  He truly was the apostle to California where the seeds of the Christian faith were planted here by him and his missionary colleagues.  Over the intervening years, those seeds have prospered.  From its relatively humble beginnings in 21 mission outposts, the Catholic Church in California has grown to 2 Archdioceses including the largest in the United States, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and 10 Diocese.  Catholics make up over 32% of the population in the State.  The motto of Serra remains an insightful legacy for all people of Good Will as together we strive to be good stewards of the common good in our State.  Siempre Adelante – Nunca Atras – Always forward – never backwards.

The statue of St. Junípero Serra in the Great Retablo of Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano

Solemnity of Sts. Peter & Paul

As war raged over Europe in the 1940's and the Nazis held virtually every Country in Europe in its tight grip of fear and terror, the city of Rome and its inhabitants were not spared this enslavement. The dictator, Mussolini, had entered into a war pact with Adolf Hitler and in time the Nazi storm troopers were marching down the via Appia into the Eternal City.

Pope Pius XII was keenly aware of the precarious situation that he and the Church faced in this dangerous situation. While Vatican City, of course, claimed neutrality and was narrowly freed from the terror of occupation forces within its hallowed precincts, nevertheless, the situation was precarious. The Holy Father through various diplomatic means attempted to provide safe shelter for members of the underground who were maintaining ties with the allies in their attempt to ultimately bring about the liberation of the city of Rome and all of Europe.

In the midst of incredible danger that was taking place “above ground”, there was another story - equally historic yet far more peaceful - taking place “below ground” - in fact directly under St. Peter’s Basilica. While the war raged on, Pius XII had ordered extensive excavations under the most well-known Church in all the world. Tradition has it that St. Peter’s Basilica, which in fact is the third Church to be built on this site, stands directly above the tomb of the prince of the Apostles and first bishop of Rome, St. Peter. The venerable story that has been passed down from one generation of Christians to the next is that St. Peter, having traveled to the center of the Roman Empire and having preached the Gospel of Christ, eventually died a martyrs’ death on Vatican Hill - crucified up side down - unworthy, as he said, to be crucified like his savior.

After the execution, his body was reverently taken down and buried in a small pagan cemetery not far from the place of his execution. Within a short time, his burial spot became a place of pilgrimage for early Christians who revered the man whose three fold denial of the Lord was transformed by his threefold profession of love which eventually would be a love unto death.

In order that undue suspicion would not be drawn to this place of veneration, a pagan altar was built above the tomb - to mislead the pagan authorities as to the real reason for the gathering of pilgrims to this holy spot. Yet, on a marble slab supporting the pagan altar, a devout pilgrim had inscribed a graffito in Greek helping pilgrims identify this spot as the tomb of St. Peter - It simply said, “Peter is here”!

And so, each day while Roman Jews were hiding for fear of their lives, and resistance fighters were gathering in secret, archeologists were quietly unearthing one of the most amazing and significant archeological finds of the 20th century right below the great Basilica. They eventually unearthed a city of the dead - a necropolis dating back to the time of the early Christians and St. Peter himself. They unearthed the tombstones and ancient burial chambers and then to their utter amazement, came upon a small pagan altar, intact, with a slab of stone nearby covered with ancient graffiti. As scholars examined the stone, they found the words, “Peter is here”! Excavating around the site they discovered bones which later through forensic investigation would be determined to be those of man in late middle age, short in stature, dating to the time of St. Peter himself. This news was immediately brought to the Holy Father who visited the site himself and in prayer, knelt to venerate as Christians of old, this most venerable site directly below the high altar of St. Peter’s.

The remains of St. Peter in the Confessio beneath the High Altar in St. Peter's Basilica

Following the war, news of this amazing archeological find was gradually made known to the public at large. The ancient necropolis has been almost completely excavated. Blessed Paul VI ordered that the bones not be removed, but rather remain intact, in what undoubtedly was the original tomb, so that pilgrims might come and give honor to the one whose feast together with that of St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, we remember and celebrate today.

Tomb of St. Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles, in the Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls

To this day, the Feast that gathers us in celebration this day remains a holiday in the city of Rome. St. Paul, who also journeyed to Rome, was slain by the sword and buried outside the walls of the city of Rome.

While the history of this feast and the archaeology that surrounds it may fascinate us, we remember today not just interesting facts of history, but a profound theological truth. When the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven, he promised his followers that he would not leave us orphaned. He promised that He would remain with us always. Through the missionary zeal of those who have followed in the footsteps of St. Paul, and in the office of the one we call the successor to St. Peter, the universal Pastor of the Church, the Bishop of Rome - Peter and Paul remain with us still.

Statue of St. Peter - 5th cent. - St. Peter's Basilica

As a Church which is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, our roots are sunk deeply into a 2000 year heritage of belief. Yet, that belief while ever ancient, remains ever new. The heroes of our faith are not the dry and lifeless bones of the past, but the living and breathing flesh and blood of those men and women who join their response to that of Peter when asked by the Lord, “Do you love me?” - May we respond with them, now and always, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” To which, Jesus responds, “Then feed and tend my sheep”. May we do so with courage and gratitude for all those who have gone before us in faith.

New Decree from the Bishop of Springfield, IL: Pastors must deny funerals to Catholics in Same-Gender Marriages

There is a certain amount of pastoral wisdom that is gained by my 43 years as a priest – a few of which as a monsignor, no less!  I’ve learned that invariably, Catholics are either gained or lost at Baptisms, Weddings or Funerals!  A beautiful, gracious and welcoming celebration of one or the other of these significant sacramental moments have garnered such comments as, “Father, I was so moved by the beauty and prayerfulness of this celebration, I might just consider coming back to mass!”  Or, “Father, I’m not Catholic, but I felt so included in this special moment for my friends.  How can I find out more about the Catholic Church?”  Sadly, through the years, I have also heard such painful stories and comments such as, “It was clear that Father didn’t want to be at the Baptism.  He rushed through it as if he wanted to be anyplace else but in that Church!” Or, “Father didn’t even get the names right.  He was a robot, totally disengaged from any human feeling.”  The most painful comment, however, that a priest can ever hear is one that goes like this, “My father was dying.  He hadn’t been to Church in years but we knew that deep in his heart, he loved the Lord and was connected to the Church in his own way.  I called for a priest and his first question was, ‘Are you registered in the parish?’  When we said, we weren’t, he said that he wouldn’t come. That was the last time we had any contact with the Catholic Church.”

It is within this context that I painfully read the news of the recent Decree from the Bishop of Springfield, Il.  When one reads such an astonishingly heartless and cruel judicial directive, any priest with an ounce of human compassion, let alone, pastoral sensitivity, is left breathless and rightfully, angry.  Now, I want to be clear.  The received teaching of the Church regarding what constitutes marriage is unambiguous.  One need only refer to the Catechism of the Catholic Church in reference to what it is that we believe about marriage. I certainly am not questioning this reality of our church teaching.  What I am questioning is the pastoral propriety to exclude Catholics from the sacramental presence of the church at some of the most vulnerable and difficult moments in life’s journey - at death.

Pope Francis has set an inspiring model for all priests and bishops, when he spoke of the analogy of the Church as a ‘field hospital.’  For, we are about reaching out and building bridges of mercy and compassion for all God’s people, but with particular love and care for those on the margins of Catholic belief and practice - those who are wounded and broken.  That’s what a good shepherd does.  He reaches out to embrace the lost sheep – not with words of condemnation or exclusion, words of self-righteous judgement – but rather with words of affirming encouragement that is befitting the inherent dignity of any child of God.

The moral credibility of the Catholic Church was understandingly devastated by the recent sexual abuse crisis.  Its lingering effects continue to hang as a dark cloud over the leadership of the church.  Pope Francis has done a great deal to begin rebuilding an image of the Church by humbly acknowledging our own brokenness, while endeavoring to show a Church willing to ‘accompany’ all those who are reaching out for the mercy of God – even those who are on the margins of Catholic belief and practice.  We are all in need of the Lord’s mercy, and “Who are we to judge” the inner heart of our sister or brother?

When a bishop issues a statement such as the one recently promulgated in Springfield, he does an immense disservice to his brother bishops, many of whom, like Cardinal Tobin of Newark, are attempting to right centuries of harm to and exclusion of the LGBT community, not, of course, by changing church teaching but, more importantly, by changing and transforming a ‘tone’ – from exclusion to inclusion, from ‘you need not apply’ to ‘all are welcome at this Table, from you are ‘defective’ to you are a beloved daughter and son of God.

All the law degrees in the world, both canon and civil, are no substitute for a shepherd’s discerning heart that is always more concerned about binding up wounds for healing rather than banishment from the fold.

In this day and age when the term ‘cafeteria’ Catholic is vogue, referring to the penchant of picking and choosing what beliefs we want to follow, perhaps Fr. James Martin, SJ, said it best in his Facebook comments regarding this recent decree:

If bishops ban members of same-sex marriages from receiving a Catholic funeral, they also have to be consistent. They must also ban divorced and remarried Catholics who have not received annulments; women who have, or men who father, a child out of wedlock; members of straight couples who are living together before marriage; and anyone using birth control. For those are all against church teaching as well. Moreover, they must ban anyone who does not care for the poor, or care for the environment, and anyone who supports torture, for those are church teachings too. More basically, they must ban people who are not loving, not forgiving and not merciful, for these represent the teachings of Jesus Christ, the most fundamental of all church teachings. To focus only on LGBT people, without a similar focus on the moral and sexual behavior of straight people is, in the words of the Catechism, a "sign of unjust discrimination" (2358).

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Reflection

Years ago, Stanley Coopersmith of the University of California became curious about why some people succeed, while others with equal talents and opportunities fail.  To answer his question, he studied 1,700 students for six years, following them through the key growth years.  Coopersmith's findings are remarkable.  They show that the most important factor contributing to success or failure is a person's self image.  A person with a positive self-image is apt to succeed.  A person with a negative self-image is apt to fail.

In other words, if we perceive ourselves to be valuable or lovable, we will probably succeed in what we do.  But if we do not perceive ourselves to be valuable or lovable, we will probably fail. 

But the effect of our self-image extends even beyond this.  Psychologists now tell us that our self-image holds the key to success not only as professional people but also as Christians.  How is this so?  Our success as Christians is measured by our ability to love God and our neighbor.  Studies show that people with a positive self-image are far more capable of loving God and neighbor than are people with a negative self image.   The reason for this should be obvious.  For love is nothing less than to see ourselves as a gift given to another person.  If we don't think we are valuable or lovable we won't be able to give ourselves as a gift to another person.  No one gives junk to another person, especially to someone he or she respects or admires.

A critical question, however, remains.  How do we develop our self-image?  Where do we pick up the idea that we are valuable or lovable?  The answer should be obvious.  We pick up this idea from other people, especially those closest to us, like our family and friends.  No wonder then that the role of parent, to be father or mother is so important in our world today.  Parents hold the unique privilege of being the first to shape the identity of their children; to help them come to know and accept their goodness and lovableness through the tender care, the challenging guidance and the forgiving love which they show to their sons and daughters. 

As Christians, we believe that God is the ultimate loving parent in our lives.  With the love of a father and mother, our identities are shaped by God's abiding and caring love.  Today's gospel speaks an important message to us.  It says that we are valuable and lovable.  For, God himself has told us so.  It is up to us to speak this same message of love to one another, especially the young.  Their future well-being, not only in this world but also in the world to come, depends on it.

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

Probably one of the most celebrated depictions of the Last Supper is that painted by the great Florentine artist, Leonardo da Vinci.  As a small child, I remember vividly receiving a Holy Card in the second grade from Sr. Dorothy Ann, which had this famous picture of the Lord seated at table with his apostles on the night before he died. 

Art Historians tell us that from 1495 to 1497 Leonardo labored on this masterpiece that was painted as a mural to grace the wall of the refectory, or dining room, of the Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan.  Unfortunately, his experimental use of oil on dry plaster - on what was the thin outer wall of a space designed for serving food, was technically unsound, and by 1500 its deterioration had begun.  Since 1726 attempts have been made, unsuccessfully, to restore this magnificent treasure of Renaissance art.  A concerted restoration and conservation program, making use of the latest technology, was begun in 1977 and is reversing some of the damage.  Although much of the original surface is gone, the majesty of the composition and the penetrating characterization of the figures give a fleeting vision of its vanished splendor.  That restoration is now completed and those who have seen the newly restored Last Supper are astounded by it’s luminous quality with details appearing that have not been seen for centuries – details that have led to some incredible flights on fantasy on the part of the author Dan Brown in his book of some years ago, the DaVinci Code!

Leonardo was undoubtedly inspired to paint the Last Supper because of his own keen awareness of how important this central event was and is in the life of every Catholic Christian.  The greatest legacy given to us by the Lord is the gift of the Holy Eucharist.  Paul writing to the early Christian community at Corinth speaks of the radical unity that is ours as brothers and sisters in Christ who share this one bread and one cup.  Many though we are, when we eat this bread and drink this cup an intimate union - a divine communion - is forged between the Lord and each one of us who share this sacred meal.    It is this Tradition that has both anchored and shaped our identity as Catholic Christians.  It is the Eucharist that makes the Church.

It is the perennial teaching of the Church that in the Holy Eucharist, the Lord Jesus is truly present, body and blood, soul and divinity under the sacramental forms of bread and wine. In the power of the Holy Spirit and through the great prayer of remembrance in which the Lord's own words on the night before he died are spoken, the great transformation takes place.  The deepest reality of what may continue to look like bread and wine, has been transformed into the deepest reality of the Risen Lord himself, as food and personal communion for our journey in faith.

Recent surveys, of American Catholics however point to an alarming trend regarding Catholic belief in the Eucharist.   A growing number of Catholics of all ages, no longer hold to teaching of the Church in regard to the Holy Eucharist.  Many see the Lord's presence in the Eucharistic elements only in a "symbolic" or personal and spiritual way.  It is as if- like the great painting of da Vinci, in the consciousness of many Catholics today, the integrity of Catholic belief in the Holy Eucharist is fading with its distinct features becoming blurred and compromised.  Perhaps in a subtle way this diminished belief is reflected in the growing and unsettling trend particularly among our youth of failing to reverence this Holy Presence in Church through the venerable custom of genuflecting or bowing in humility on entering this Holy Place. 

Each year, the Church sets aside one Sunday to once again call to mind the foundational and central place the Holy Eucharist has in our lives as Catholics.  On this Feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord, we are reminded of the Lord's continuing desire to feed our deepest hungers - for unconditional love, forgiveness and inner healing - with the food of his life poured out in love for you and for me. 

Deep and abiding understanding and love for the Holy Eucharist must begin and be fostered in our Catholic families.  It is here in the most practical way that what was "handed down" to us by our ancestors in the faith, is now "handed on" to a new generation of Catholics.  If the commitment and reverence to this Sacrament of the Lord's loving and abiding presence is not central to lives of those of you who are privileged to exercise the vocation of parent, it will never become the heart and center of faith for your sons and daughters.

I am the living bread from heaven, says the Lord; if anyone eats this bread will live forever.  Each Eucharist provides an invitation to once again profess our belief in this wondrous gift.  May the "Amen" we speak as we receive the Eucharist in communion this day, truly reflect the conviction of our heart, "So be it, I believe".

O Sacrum Convivium - Thomas Tallis

O sacred banquet, 
in which Christ is received, 
the memory of His Passion is renewed, 
the mind is filled with grace, 
and a pledge of future glory is given us. 
Alleluia.