Father Shelton

Death, Repentance, and Life

2012-01-27T09:17:00.001-05:00

How could so great a king as David sin so badly? Not only did he commit the sin of coveting his neighbor’s wife and the sin of adultery, he also committed the sin of murder. And why did God not then end David’s royal line and start anew, as he had with King Saul? This covetous, adulterous, murderous man, King David, became the father of a royal line into which none other than the Messiah of God was born. How could this be? Because David repented. That’s why.
In response to the Supreme Court decisions of the 1970’s, men and women of good will began joining together to do three things: to overturn the pro-death decision, to shut down or keep out abortion providers, and to dissuade individuals from going through with abortions.
But over the past four decades, a massive number of living victims of abortion has joined the relatively small number that existed before the Seventies. We now have everywhere in our midst sorrowful mothers of abortion, along with regretful family, friends and even repentant abortion providers and staff. These men and women once embraced the sin of abortion, but now many repent of their crimes. Once offenders, they are now wounded by their pasts and limp along as victims of the Culture of Death.
Catholics, as a community of mercy, must work to respond to this reality. There are suffering souls who cross our paths daily and who can no more be left to fend for themselves than can infants in the vulnerability of the womb. And only faith can save them.
Granted, the pro-life movement is made up not only of many faith communities, but even of some individuals professing no faith. It is certainly possible to advance the cause of life in the streets without any immediate reference to faith. A good man who values his own life can be convinced to value the lives of others. But it is harder to respond to the living victims of abortion without reference to the mercy, reconciliation and spiritual healing that faith provides. Pro-life physicians can assist with the physical effects, and good psychologists can play an important, long-term role. But the power of the past is so strong that only faith in a future of mercy, reconciliation and healing can overcome it.
The trouble is that despite the prominence of faith communities across our nation, here in the South, and specifically here in Blount County, our faith in healing for the living victims of abortion is usually hidden beneath a bushel basket. We assume some good Samaritan will come along and offer mercy and healing while we go about our business.
There was a man two-thousand years ago who was accused of spending all his time with fallen people. And this accusation was very true. In fact, Jesus Christ sought them ought as a shepherd seeks a lost sheep. Those of us who profess faith is this Jesus Christ would do well to follow his example, actively seeking out the fallen who most need his mercy, reconciliation and healing.
Jesus had an apostle named Paul, whose conversion we celebrated Wednesday. But before his conversion, Saint Paul (Saul), prompted by the prevailing culture of his day, sought out innocent life to be handed over to death. Then, one day, God stopped him in his tracks. No longer could he function as he had before. But neither could he overcome his past until someone names Ananias intervened and showed Saint Paul the Way, the Truth and the Life. Saint Paul then became a great messenger of mercy, reconciliation and healing.
Sorrowful mothers of abortion, and other living victims, may go years suppressing an unknown pain in their lives. Then, they are stopped in the tracks, unable to proceed or to change course towards healing. They are stuck and they are suffering. We cross their paths all the time without knowing. But we must be Ananias to them. Our parish must make the healing of the living victims of abortion a prominent feature of our mission. We must learn how to invite those suffering into the long-term experience of healing, and we must learn how to react to these living victims. It does little good to preach mercy, only to have members of our parish discover, gossip about and condemn these repentant victims.
I’m pleased to announce that our parish will have the opportunity to display the Right-to-Life crosses this Spring, and I’m also happy to announce that the pastoral council last night agreed it would me good to establish a prayer garden dedicated to the living victims of abortion, which we should also be able to complete this Spring. In these ways, we will to take a visible stand for life with the crosses, and also a year-round, visible stand for the suffering mothers, fathers, families and friends who are victims of abortion.
Just as we must aggressively defend the unborn, so too must we aggressively protect these victims, especially the mothers, as they journey down a lifetime of healing. We must make their recovery, which will not end in our lifetimes, a high a priority. As we do, something extraordinary will happen. We will all begin to see how much we need mercy in our own lives, and how powerful that mercy is. This will make us all the more eager to share it with those who need it most. And, over time, we will build a spirit of mercy that will enlighten our dark culture of death, converting it into a culture of life, and eventually relegating abortion to the cultural sewers from which it emerged during the last century. This century we claim for mercy, reconciliation, healing and life.

The Disunited Kingdom?

2012-01-26T16:21:00.002-05:00

If England and Scotland get a divorce, who will get custody of Northern Ireland?
Being an American, it's hard for me to understand the exact constitutional relationship between England and Scotland. And once you throw in Wales and the Channel Isles, not to mention Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands, or the fact the British head of state is also the head of state of several other sovereign nations, it's all just a little to confusing for my simple American mind.
But then, I know we Americans puzzle the rest of the world. An electoral college elects our president, although we voters pretend that we do. Texas has a constitutional right to maintain its own navy, Louisiana has a Roman law legal system, some of our states are not "states" but "commonwealths", and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is really a "free associated state" (estado libre asociado). The governor of Texas--a state always eager to steal the spotlight from New York and California--can threaten Texas succession from the federal union one year, and run for president of the federal union another year.
We certainly have a diverse form of political unity. I think the difference is that we Americans don't take these differences very seriously, and most of us don't even keep up with them.
Anyway, Scotland will vote on independence in a couple of years. I'll have to watch Braveheart again between now and then.

2012-01-26T08:58:00.002-05:00

REMINDER: NO TRADITIONAL MASS TONIGHT!

Prayer Request (Update)

2012-01-25T14:57:00.001-05:00

Regarding the prayer request from yesterday, the case was sent on to the grand jury (we were told there was a 99% chance of that, so it's not a surprise). That date is February 27th. Only the prosecution gets to present evidence to a grand jury so that implies that it will go to jury trial.
Please keep this pro-life hero in your prayers.

Conversion

2012-01-25T09:29:00.000-05:00

Saint Paul, a zealous man eager to stamp out the "Christian heresy" from among the Jews, persecuted the Christians by identifying them, capturing them and killing them. At the martyrdom of the first Christian martyr, Saint Stephen the Deacon, Saint Paul held the cloaks of the other men as they stoned Saint Stephen to death.
But now, thanks to a miraculous intervention from God and the wise invitation from the Christian Ananias, Saint Paul converted his zeal away from persecution of Christians and towards proclamation of the Gospel.
The first lesson for us taken from the Conversion of Saint Paul is that no matter what evils a man has done, even the evil of murder, conversion is always possible if we accept the signs God gives us and follow the directions of the Church.
The second lesson is that God intends for all men to convert to the Way of his Son and to enter the Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ. Therefore, we must invite everyone to do so, neglecting to extend this invitation to no one, not even the worst of our enemies.
The third lesson is that God needs tough Christians like Saint Paul to get the job of evangelization done. Pope Benedict is asking us all to boldly take us the task of what Pope John Paul II called “the New Evangelization”. We live in an age of widespread ignorance of the truths of the Faith among Catholics, and near universal neglect of the task of evangelization in our neighborhoods. But Christ commands us to, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” Why does he command this? Because, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Those who accept the Gospel Truth concerning faith and morals and who are baptized into the death and Resurrection of Christ will live in Christ’s grace and then go to Heaven. Those who reject any part of the Gospel Truth concerning faith and morals will remain a captive of Satan and will go to Hell.
That’s reason enough for good Christians to convert from complacency and start doing the work God assigns us of bringing him converts to the fullness of truth and morals, and to the fullness of the one, true Church.
This is not an easy task, as evidenced by the later martyrdom of Saint Paul. But God gives us everything we need to accomplish the mission, because he gives us the Truth and the sacraments. With these, we drive out demons, we speak the language each man can understand, we engage in hand-to-hand combat with the ancient serpent Satan, and we remain unharmed by the cultural poisons of deception and temptation he delivers us. We heal the sick as Christ heals the sick souls of our world.
Let us meditate on these words of Christ today, as we celebrate the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle:
Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them:
"Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Prayer Request

2012-01-24T12:41:00.000-05:00

Please pray for an East Tennessee Catholic scheduled to appear in court tomorrow following his arrest near an abortion "clinic". The accuser is an abortionist with a history of making false claims to the police about peaceful pro-lifers keeping vigil on public property.

David Moves God to Jerusalem

2012-01-24T11:40:00.000-05:00

God transferred the royal lineage away from Saul’s house and over to David’s, symbolized by the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. Now, we have to think back to the beginning of salvation described in the Book of Genesis, when God told Abraham to move from modern-day Iraq over to the Holy Land. It was there that Abraham met Melchizedek, the priestly king of Salem. Remember, Salem became Jerusalem, and its king was a priest of a special order. It was also atop a mountain in Jerusalem where Abraham brought his son Isaac to slaughter and sacrifice him to God. It was to this very mountain in Jerusalem that David, a thousand years later, brought the Ark of the Covenant, over which God’s Presence dwelt, placing the Ark in the Tabernacle (tent of Moses). And like Melchizedek, David was a priestly king of a special order, allowing him to offer burnt sacrifices to please God’s Presence. A thousand years later, Jesus, a descendent of David and, like David, born in Bethlehem, was also, like David, a priestly king in the order of Melchizedek, and just as Abraham sacrificed his son in Jerusalem, God lead his Son Jesus to Jerusalem to be slaughtered and sacrificed on the Cross.
We can also see these various connections to our little church here in Townsend. We read in First Samuel, “Then David, girt with a linen apron, came dancing before the LORD with abandon, as he and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouts of joy and to the sound of the horn. The ark of the LORD was brought in and set in its place within the tent David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. When he finished making these offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.”
We sing the psalms of David today before the Presence of God on the Altar and inside the tabernacle, just as David and Israel sang to God’s Presence dwelling above the Ark of the Covenant, which was placed inside a tent called the “Tabernacle”. David offered sacrifices to the Presence of God, and we offer the Sacrifice of Christ’s Body and Blood which is then reserved in the Tabernacle. David offered God burnt offerings, and we offer God burnt offerings of incense, and also we offer God ourselves, set aflame by the fire of the Holy Ghost since the day of our confirmations. At the end of the ceremony, David blessed everyone and gave them a sacrificial communion to eat, and in the Holy Mass the priest offers the sign of Christ’s Peace and then the clergy distribute Holy Communion.
The point I’m hoping to make is that this chapter from the First Book of Samuel—and we didn’t even read the whole chapter—this one chapter from First Samuel, like every chapter from First Samuel, tells us very much about our Catholic Faith, because our Catholic Faith is built in significant ways upon the events described in First Samuel. Indeed, to know the Catholic Faith, we must know the history of ancient Israel in general, which demands familiarizing ourselves with all the books of the Old Testament. For now, I again encourage you all to read the First Book of Samuel, because it’s a great start, and just plain fascinating.

Longing for the Self-Evident Right to Life

2012-01-23T08:53:00.000-05:00

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The founding document of our great nation declares the right to life to be a self-evident truth flowing from the Law of God. Our nation, then, is founded on the natural law of God inscribed on the hearts and minds of men, a law endowing us with the right to life.
What do the Founding Fathers mean when they say the right to life is “self-evident”? In our Introit Psalm we chanted: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands. Day unto day conveys the message, and night unto night imparts the knowledge.” Creation itself declares and proclaims the message about and knowledge of nature and nature’s God, a God of law and justice. Wise men need only look to the glory of God’s creation, the marvelous work of his hands, to read the law of God inscribed in nature. After Mass today, take a look at the image on the bulletin board in the vestibule of a child half-way through pregnancy, and stand in amazement at God’s creation, allowing your heart to read for you the law of God endowing that little human creature with the right to life. The right to life is a self-evident truth written in that image, as it is written in all God’s children.
With this being the case, it’s tempting to despair when the leaders of our nation fail to protect this right for the unborn. But remember, we must engage our political and judicial leaders while trusting in God alone for victory. With God as our guide, we will win. Even when we think we’re losing the battle, we must trust in the Lord. As our Offertory Psalm puts it, “I was thrust down, thrust down and falling, but the Lord was my helper. The Lord is my strength and my song; he was my savior.”
On this day of penance for the crimes against the unborn, let us meditate upon the Law of God, the self-evident law inscribed in nature. Let us sing Psalm 119, this week’s Communion Psalm: “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! My soul is consumed with longing at all times for your decrees. See, I long for your precepts; give me life by your justice. I reach out to your commands, which I love, and ponder your statutes. My soul obeys your decrees, and loves them dearly. I have longed for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my delight.”
Finally, I remind everyone that today is officially a day of penance in the USA. The rule reads: “In all the dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion, and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life.” [GIRM-USA No. 373]

Reminder: Tomorrow is a Day of Penance in the USA

2012-01-22T20:03:00.000-05:00

"In all the dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion, and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life." GIRM-USA No. 373

Third Sunday After the Epiphany: A Roman Faith

2012-01-22T12:24:00.000-05:00

Matthew says, “And when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.” We may ask, where were all these multitudes at his crucifixion? Why were only his Blessed Mother and his Beloved Disciple there with him when he died? Christ is faithful to man even in the worst times, and so we must remain faithful to him even in the worst times. Medieval Christians meditated upon the events at Calvary during the Canon of the Mass, made easy in churches with a Crucifixion scene of Saint John, the Blessed Mother and Our Crucified Lord displayed above the High Altar. It’s easy to join a multitude following Christ down a mountain, but to follow him up the mountain of sacrifice, we must learn to imitate Saint John and the Blessed Mother. Over the past few decades, great multitudes have joined in novel experiments with lay participation in the Holy Mass. But if all the congregation does during the Canon is join Saint John and the Blessed Mother in their Calvary vigil, your participation will be full, conscious, active and holy.
Matthew continues, “And behold a leper came and adored him…” Why would a leper adore the Savior? The answer is obvious enough. The sick seek a savior to save them from their infirmities. When we commit sins, especially the mortal sins of pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy or sloth, our souls become as mangled and distorted as the limbs of a leper. Seeing this decay with the eyes of our souls, repentant sinners seek out the Savor, adoring his powerful mercy, mercy Christ is so eager to pour onto us that he was even willing to die on a Cross.
After healing him, Jesus told the leper to tell no one, but to show the priests. As a priest, I frequently encounter fallen-away Catholics who proudly announce to me that they were once altar boys, or graduated from a Catholic school, or had a pious grandmother, or have an uncle who’s a priest, or some such thing. Faced with a priest, they feel compelled to tell me something, but have nothing to show for all Christ’s Church has offered them. “See thou tell no man, but go, show thyself to the priest.” What do we have to show for a lifetime of Catholicism?
Matthew continues, “And when he had entered into Capharnaum, there came to him a centurion, beseeching him… And the centurion…said: Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof: but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.” A Roman soldier, wearing the same uniform as the one who would later thrust a lance into the Sacred Heart of Christ, approaches our Lord for healing. This foreign officer, whose empire holds God’s Chosen People captive, humbly seeks healing for his servant from the Divine King of Israel, Jesus Christ. The centurion both humbles himself before God and cares for the health of another, displaying an obedience to the Law of God revealed to the Jews, the Law requiring love of God and love of neighbor, perfectly. This pagan Roman obeys the Law of God better than the Jews he is stationed to guard! Perhaps this is why Pope Benedict says we today must make the New Evangelization such a high priority, for it promises to introduce back into the Faith men for whom the Faith has become foreign. If these formerly Catholic families and nations become Catholic again, surely the Church will experience a rush of humble enthusiasm for the power of Christ proclaimed in the Gospel and administered in the sacraments. And these converts and “reverts” will challenge the rest of us, as the faith of the centurion challenged the Jews. What we choose to do with that challenge will help determine whether we end up in Heaven or in Hell. So, it will be worth our time to meditate on these final words of today’s Gospel text during the coming week: “And I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven: But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion: Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee. And the servant was healed at the same hour.”

Third Sunday "per Annum": Nineveh 2012

2012-01-22T10:29:00.000-05:00

Nineveh, the pagan capital of Assyria, was filled with evil, from the citizens in the streets to the king on his throne. Located in modern Iraq, Nineveh was hundreds of miles from Israel, and so very far away from Jonah’s home. But God needed Jonah to travel to wicked Nineveh and tell everyone they have offended the God of Israel too much and for too long, and so God is about to destroy them all.
But the last thing Jonah wanted to do was to leave home and travel to the wicked capital of a pagan empire and walk around the city for three days telling strangers God was about to destroy them all. So, Jonah fled in the opposite direction and boarded a ship, until God sent an unusually vicious storm, forcing the crew to toss Jonah overboard, where he was promptly swallowed by a huge fish sent by God, inside which it finally occurred to Jonah that he should probably do what God asked. The fish spit him up on the shore, and Jonah went all the way to Nineveh and started walking down every street in the city announcing the pending destructive punishment. But then, remarkably and before Jonah even made it through half the city, the king and citizens repented, inflicting serious penances upon themselves, prompting God to change his mind about the destruction.
So, Jonah went to all that trouble to tell them about the destruction after God had gone to all that trouble to make him tell them, only for God to change his mind at the last minute. Jonah was furious with God, and so fled out into the desert, where God provided his reluctant prophet a little plant with large leaves for shade. Which a worm promptly killed! At this point, Jonah was completely fed up with God and with life, and told God just to kill him and get it all over with. To paraphrase, God told him, “look, you’re upset right now because that worm killed the plant you were sleeping under, but you would have no problem with me destroying an entire city? The adults there were indeed wicked, but have since repented and asked for my mercy, and what about the children and animals there who haven’t done anything wrong?”
The Book of Jonah, a very short book, concludes with God’s question unanswered. The last few lines read: “God said to Jonah, ‘Do you have a right to be angry over the gourd plant?’ Jonah answered, ‘I have a right to be angry—angry enough to die.’ Then the LORD said, ‘You are concerned over the gourd plant which cost you no effort and which you did not grow; it came up in one night and in one night it perished. And should I not be concerned over the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot know their right hand from their left, not to mention all the animals?’”
The Book of Jonah is a funny little book, and a little strange. But when we turn it on ourselves, it suddenly becomes serious and familiar. Christ commands us to preach the Gospel of repentance and conversion to sinners, but we, like Jonah, run away from our vocation more often than not. Like Jonah, we complain when bad things happen to us and wonder why God allows these things to occur, but we do nothing to prevent sinners from facing eternal damnation. Strange as the story of Jonah seems, we’re really very much like him. How many sinners have we known in our lives who would have repented if only we had encouraged them to do so? How many sins could we have prevented if only we had been faithful to our call to be God’s prophetic voice in the world? Or how many times, especially in this parish, have sinners repented of such evils as abortion or divorce, only to have their fellow Christians here gossip about them behind their backs, caring no more about their conversion than did Jonah?
But there are good examples for us to follow. Good men and women across this country are traveling to Washington, D.C. this weekend to speak out against abortion. Like Jonah in Nineveh, they travel as prophets to the capital of this mighty nation to insist that some of that “might” should be used to protect the most innocent and vulnerable of God’s creation: the infant in the womb. If God saved even the innocent animals of Nineveh, surely our nation’s judges and legislators who profess belief in nature’s God can see that they must protect innocent human life.
And there are many other American evils we must speak out against. We must take effective steps to keep our youth from fornication, our young adults from cohabitation, our married couples from contraception, and protect our nation from similar diabolical attacks on the fruitfulness God intends for mankind. The Devil and his fallen angels cannot create new life, and so wage a jealous war of lies and temptations against the human capacity to do so. Why do so many Christians allow Satan’s voice to scream into the hearts and minds of men, while our prophetic voices remain silent? We must follow the example of the American pro-life movement, raising our voices in the streets of our nation—this modern Nineveh—announcing the coming condemnation of sinners, and hoping these will repent and be saved. God said, “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it; for their wickedness has come before me.”

Right to Life: a Self-Evident Truth

2012-01-21T12:04:00.003-05:00

nrlc.org

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." --U.S. Declaration of Independence

Our Lady of the Barn?

2012-01-20T13:27:00.005-05:00

This plank of wood, taken from an East Tennessee barn, appears to bear the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe or some other Marian image, with an angel hovering in front of her. Some also see a cross and a dove, but I couldn't make these out. I think we can easily conclude it's just a board, but still worth hanging on to.

Genuine miraculous images tend to look more like this:

Showing Mercy to Enemies

2012-01-20T09:57:00.000-05:00

David was hiding in a cave from his enemy Saul. Too often, we Catholics hide in caves of our own, daring not face those hostile to faith and morals. We see and hear lies and immorality all around us, or at least we did before we became numb to it, but we would rather remain safe in our cultural caves than to risk injury from confronting these societal problems.
Saul entered the cave without knowing David was within its recesses. David could have pounced on his unsuspecting enemy, but chose mercy over victory. In our confrontations with the enemies of faith and morals, we must never accept cheap victories. Rather, we must imitate David by using mercy as our greatest weapon against pride, lust and other evils. We must not seek to condemn sinners, but to lead them to repentance before the Lord, who purchased their pardon, and ours, with his blood. How can we drink the blood of Christ’s mercy when we receive the Sacred Host at Holy Communion, and then judge and condemn others? In resisting this temptation, humility is the key. David was humble even in the face of his enemy. Humility reminds us who we are as forgiven sinners before God, and humility prompts us to show true mercy to our enemies. David was humble, while Saul was prideful. Pride tells us we are better than others, certainly better than our enemies. Humility tells us we are forgiven sinners and servants of the Lord, and nothing more. When we sin, we must beg God for mercy, which he always grants. But when others sin against us, we must beg them to accept our mercy, which we eagerly grant even to our worst enemies.
Fridays are days of penance on which we abstain from eating meat and perform the Corporal Works of Mercy in union with the Passion of Christ. In doing so, we must remember why Christ endured his sorrowful Passion in the first place. He suffered at the hands of his enemies in order to save his enemies. When we sin, we assault Christ as an enemy. But he eagerly waits for us in the confessional to impart his mercy if we repent. As we offer up our penance today, let us think of those who make us suffer. Let us offer our penances for them. Let us suffer for them. Let us long to forgive them, as Christ longs to forgive us in the confessional.
What place is there in Christianity for the angry Christian? What place is there in a parish for the resentful parishioner? What place is there in the Christian home for the bitter spouse? The mercy of Christ bled out of his hands, feet and side on the Cross for us. Let us bleed with mercy for those who offend us, who anger us, who ignore us, who forget us. Let us leave our old selves behind, kiss the wounds of Christ, and learn how to be Christians.

Pope Tells US Bishops to Wake Up and Pay Attention! (More or Less)

2012-01-19T13:36:00.001-05:00

Godly Strength Against Evil

2012-01-18T10:13:00.001-05:00

Goliath went into battle with his own strength, but David went into battle with God’s strength. With God, David won.
Satan and the other fallen angels go into battle with their own strength, but we must go into spiritual battle against them every day with God’s strength. And with God, we will win.
We must fight against temptations, lies and immorality. The Devil comes against us with the seven capital sins of pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy and sloth. But God arms us with the weapons of truth and grace. If we rely on God’s strength in the use of these weapons, God will achieve great victories in battle through us.
David learned to rely upon God’s strength by living in the temple for many years within a few feet of God’s Presence. Today, every Catholic has the opportunity to make holy hours in the presence of God, coming to the church and basking in the radiance of Christ’s substantial Presence in the tabernacle. Since Christians must fight battles against Satan at home, at work, in our neighborhoods, in our legislative assemblies and in our halls of justice, we must arm ourselves with the spiritual weapons God makes available to us, especially the truth of the Gospel and grace of the sacraments. Making special visits to the church to be in the substantial Presence of the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar strengthens us with the companionship of the One who is Truth and Grace, Jesus Christ. Because the Son of God is now incarnate, and because his body and soul are inseparable, the way to be in the presence of Christ is to be in the Presence of his Divine Substance, his body, blood, soul and divinity offered in the Holy Mass and reserved in the tabernacle. This is the place to be, the place from which victories over temptation, lies and immorality are won.
So, I urge each of you to commit yourselves to imitating David, placing yourselves here in God’s presence. Visit the church and make a holy hour once a week or once a month or so, and you will find yourself well-armed with strength for battle.
We say we don’t have time. But the soldier who doesn’t have time to arm himself for battle will simply be defeated. If we hope to defeat the dark forces of temptation, lies and immorality, which attack our families, workplaces, neighborhoods, legislatures and courtrooms, then we must be well armed with God’s strength, and since the divine Source of that strength is in here, this is where we should be, making visits and holy hours before the substantial Presence of Christ.

Long Live King David!

2012-01-17T08:59:00.000-05:00

Although no one has said anything to me directly, I keep hearing of complaints about the use of the Proper psalms for our weekday Masses. Today’s lesson from the First Book of Samuel begins to show us why the psalms from the Book of Psalms are so important to the Sacred Liturgy, especially in the Holy Mass and in the Divine Office, for about half of them were composed by King David himself, and all of them were inspired by God.
Since King Saul chose not to remain faithful to the proper exercise of God’s authority in Israel, God directed the prophet Samuel to anoint David as God’s chosen heir to the throne. Therefore, King Saul, the first king of Israel, became the last king of Israel of his line. God gave King David not only the throne of Saul, but also a line of royal descendants stretching all the way to Saint Joseph, the foster father of Christ. So, Jesus inherited the throne of Israel from his foster father, Saint Joseph, of the House of David.
Once we appreciate the role of King David in the life of Israel and in the history of salvation, we begin to understand why his inspired introduction of the psalms into the sacrificial worship of God is a liturgical gift the Catholic Church received and preserves with great reverence. Unlike modern hymns, composed for profit, the psalms were inspired by God and connect us through three thousand years to King David, father of the royal house of which none other than Jesus Christ, true God and true man, is the crowning member. The same psalms which were used in the worship of God at the time of Christ we now sing with joy. We must not be like King Saul, rejecting the inspired role of David, but like Samuel, responding to God’s gifts with gratitude and devotion.
Finally, I should note that we have recently left a century during which the contributions of the Jewish people to salvation were violently rejected in such places as Nazi Germany and Ba’ath Iraq. It’s one thing for a Christian today to find greater pleasure in singing modern hymns than the psalms, but to express outright hostility towards this liturgical gift from the Jews—especially to the extent of refusing to attend Mass if they are used—is highly problematic and unenlightened. Hostility towards the sacred psalms of the Jews, used in Catholic worship from the earliest days and still preferred for liturgical use in Church law, is a serious spiritual problem.
So, I suggest that we all read the First Book of Samuel and learn the lesson Saul never learned about the preferences of God trumping our own preferences. This lesson, once learned, opens the way to holiness for us.

Prayers for Abbot Martin Werlen of Einsiedeln

2012-01-16T12:02:00.000-05:00

Abbot Martin Werlen of Einsiedeln was injured in a sporting accident this weekend. Please pray for him and the monks of Einsiedeln as he recovers.
Here's a video of him speaking to a business group:

King

2012-01-16T09:44:00.000-05:00

With the establishment of the office of king, God now cared for Israel through three human offices: the office of priest, the office of prophet and the office of king. Saul was to be the first in a line of kings of Israel, but because he interfered with the office of priest and ignored the office of prophet, his royal line ended with himself.
King Saul did not listen to the prophet Samuel concerning the conduct of war, and King Saul offered a sacrifice to God by his own hands rather than through a Levite priest of Aaron’s line. What Saul failed to observe was that all legitimate authority comes from God, and so must follow the Law of God in its exercise. Saul’s behavior, then, was an abuse of God’s authority and an offense against God.
Since the time of Christ, history has witnessed many instances of civil authorities interfering with the work of God’s priests or failing to listen to God’s prophets. The first few hundred years of Christianity were marked by waves of persecution against the Sacrifice of Christ in the Holy Mass. This persecution renewed itself a thousand years later when Protestant reformers sought to outlaw the Holy Mass and stamp out the priesthood. There are still lands where offering the Holy sacrifice of the Cross is outlawed by the civil authorities, or controlled by them, such as in China.
As for the prophetic voice of Christ’s Church, we may look first at the practice of racial injustice to see Christ’s prophets speaking out but the civil leaders not listening. Pope Eugene IV condemned the practice of enslaving Black Africans in his 1435 letter Sicut Dudum. Pope Paul III issued a similar condemnation against the enslavement of aboriginal Americans in his 1537 letter Sublimis Deus. In the last century, as Nazi’s were preparing to enslave the Jewish race in labor camps, Pope Pius XII had his timely letter against national racism Mit brennender Sorge read out in every Catholic church in Germany on Passion Sunday (the Sunday before Palm Sunday) 1937. This letter had to be delivered to the churches secretly, and was kept in the tabernacles until the day it was read.
Unborn babies do not constitute a race among themselves, but many governments now allow them to be treated with a savagery one associates with slave traders or Nazi camp guards. Popes Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI have all used their prophetic voices to condemn abortion, but many politicians and judges, including too many Catholic leaders, fail to listen. Just like the Catholic kings of Spain and Portugal, and the fallen-away Catholic Adolf Hitler, these political leaders imitate Saul when they fail to obey the prophetic voice of God speaking though God’s prophetic shepherds.
But just as there once was a goodly and Godly King David to follow the bad King Saul, let us pray for political leaders and judges who will conform their decisions to the Law of God, establishing justice and peace in our land.

"I've Been to the Mountaintop"

2012-01-16T06:09:00.000-05:00

Second Sunday after Epiphany: Sign of a New Boundary

2012-01-15T12:43:00.001-05:00

Our Gospel text from Saint John describes the first of seven signs performed by Christ before his Passion. This first sign is the changing of water into wine. The second sign is the cure of the royal official’s son by the word of Jesus at a distance, revealing the power of the words of the Word of God. The third sign is the healing of the paralytic with water, revealing Christ’s power over natural evils, such as sickness. The fourth sign is the multiplication of loaves, revealing Christ as the Eucharistic Bread of life. The fifth sign is the walking on water at the Sea of Galilee, revealing Christ’s power over the dark forces of chaos, long symbolized by bodies of water. The multiplication of loaves and walking on water also reveal a coming perfection of the Exodus, with its manna in the desert for food after crossing the Red Sea. The sixth sign is the healing of the man born blind, revealing the triumph of the light of Christ over the forces of darkness. With the seventh sign Jesus raises Lazarus from death to life, just before the authorities put Christ to death.
These signs draw from events in the Old Covenant, and together signify the New Covenant. We know, for instance, that just as Christ changed water into wine, he changes the substance of wine into his body and blood during the Holy Mass, and just as he multiplied loaves of bread, so too does he have power over bread here and now, changing the substance of bread also into his body and blood.
The first of the seven signs, which we heard proclaimed today, reveals some other things about life in Christ. Notice that unlike the other three Gospels, Saint John always refers to the Virgin Mary as “the mother of Jesus”, rather than just calling her by name. At first, this can seem strange considering that it was Saint John who cared for her for up to her glorious Assumption. But perhaps his close familiarity is precisely why he always viewed her in terms of her relationship to Jesus. She was not only Christ’s mother biologically, but also thorough mutual discipleship: she listened to her son and her son listened to his mother, as we see into today’s sign at Cana.
The sign at Cana also shows a significant change in the religious nature of the Jews. The containers Christ used to make wine were intended for ritual cleansings. The Jewish purification rituals were meant to preserve the boundaries between the Jews and the Gentiles. But these boundaries are torn by Christ on the Cross, so that the veil in the Temple was rent in two and the Jewish body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ is now fed even to Gentile Christians in Holy Communion. So, we see the Jews, who long kept themselves from contact with Gentiles, now have a divine king who feeds himself to these very Gentiles, us. This is a major shifting of boundaries signified by the use of these ritual vessels to change water into wine.
Finally, we note that this first sign took place at the time of a wedding. Marriage, even when not sacramental, is an institution of divine creation, and so must be faithful to the natural laws of God. With this in mind, I wish to read a letter issued this weekend to all Americans and signed by the heads of various religious groups, including the head of the US hierarchy…

Second Sunday "per Annum": Being Present in the Presence of God

2012-01-15T12:34:00.002-05:00

Barren Hannah prayed desperately to the Presence of the Lord for a child, but the priest Eli, sitting there in his chair, couldn’t understand what she was saying, and so thought she was drunk. But once he understood her plight, Eli said to her, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him." God gave Hannah a son, Samuel, whom she later dedicated to God, placing Samuel in the temple to be raised by Eli.
One day, about twelve years later, when Samuel was sleeping in the temple near the Presence of the Lord, the Lord called out to Samuel. But Samuel thought Eli was calling him, and so ran to Eli to see what the priest wanted. Eli told him to go back to sleep, but God called again, and the whole episode repeated itself. Just as happened years earlier when Samuel’s mother Hannah came to the temple, Eli didn’t understand what was going on because he couldn’t hear the conversation. But in both cases, once he understood, Eli gave wise council, this time telling Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply,
‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening’”.
So, in the First Book of Samuel we find a desperate woman and an attentive boy conversing with the Presence of the Lord at the temple, with the priest blessing and facilitating the conversations. The people of ancient Israel had to go to the temple in Shiloh, later moved to Jerusalem, whenever they wanted to be near the Presence of God, especially when they wanted to offer God a desperate petition, or when they needed to listen to God for direction in their lives.
Today, however, every Catholic church contains the Presence of God, the very substance of Christ’s Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity present in the tabernacle. Everywhere that there is a Catholic church, and only where there is a Catholic church, the faithful may approach the Presence of God to petition him for some need, or listen to his direction. This is truly a great gift from God to man.
There is an old custom of annually exposing the Presence of God for forty consecutive hours of adoration by the faithful. More recently, we see the growth of the practice of perpetual adoration by parishes, a devotion promoted by Pope John Paul II and found in several parishes in this diocese.
For our own little parish, which is small on one hand, but with many members retired from their years of labor, we may wish to develop our own version of these customs. Specifically, I would like to see us commit ourselves to forty hours of adoration spread out over the course of each month. Now, this could be five couples (a couple sharing adoration counts as two hours) or ten individuals committing to an hour of adoration per week, or forty parishioners committing to an hour a month. But, however it works out, I would like for Our Lord, whose Sacred Substance is sacramentally present in the tabernacle, to be able to look out into this church in the hours outside of Mass and find forty of those hours marked by our devotional presence in here humbly kneeling down before his Divine Presence.
Think what our parish will be like when God the Father can look down from Heaven and see this level of faith and devotion here in Townsend. It was Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Clare of Assisi, after all, who promoted Adoration of God’s Sacred Substance in Italy, and so now, with their companionship and encouragement, it is time for us to do the same here in Townsend. We shall begin in February, and a sign-in sheet will be in the vestibule. Whether we get forty parishioners adoring the Lord for one hour a month, or one parishioner adoring his Presence for forty hours, it’s good for us to offer this increase in devotion to the Lord in 2012.
Beginning in March, we will also offer an extended solemn exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar on the First Friday of Each month as part of our devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and we’ll keep looking for other occasions to offer solemn exposition and benediction as the year moves on.
At any rate, think how great it will be if during this fiftieth anniversary of the consecration of this church we begin a devotion that lasts another fifty years. This will be very pleasing to the Lord, so let’s make it happen.

National Open Letter in Support of Marriage and Religious Freedom

2012-01-14T07:36:00.005-05:00

Leaders of some of the largest religious communities in the United States have joined together in an open letter to all Americans to voice their shared concern for marriage and religious freedom:

Dear Friends:
The promotion and protection of marriage—the union of one man and one woman as husband and wife—is a matter of the common good and serves the wellbeing of the couple, of children, of civil society and all people.The meaning and value of marriage precedes and transcends any particular society, government, or religious community.It is a universal good and the foundational institution of all societies.It is bound up with the nature of the human person as male and female, and with the essential task of bearing and nurturing children.
As religious leaders across a wide variety of faith communities, we join together to affirm that marriage in its true definition must be protected for its own sake and for the good of society. We also recognize the grave consequences of altering this definition. One of these consequences—the interference with the religious freedom of those who continue to affirm the true definition of "marriage"—warrants special attention within our faith communities and throughout society as a whole.For this reason, we come together with one voice in this letter.
Some posit that the principal threat to religious freedom posed by same-sex "marriage" is the possibility of government's forcing religious ministers to preside over such "weddings," on pain of civil or criminal liability.While we cannot rule out this possibility entirely, we believe that the First Amendment creates a very high bar to such attempts.
Instead, we believe the most urgent peril is this:forcing or pressuring both individuals and religious organizations—throughout their operations, well beyond religious ceremonies—to treat same-sex sexual conduct as the moral equivalent of marital sexual conduct.There is no doubt that the many people and groups whose moral and religious convictions forbid same-sex sexual conduct will resist the compulsion of the law, and church-state conflicts will result.
These conflicts bear serious consequences.They will arise in a broad range of legal contexts, because altering the civil definition of "marriage" does not change one law, but hundreds, even thousands, at once.By a single stroke, every law where rights depend on marital status—such as employment discrimination, employment benefits, adoption, education, healthcare, elder care, housing, property, and taxation—will change so that same-sex sexual relationships must be treated as if they were marriage.That requirement, in turn, will apply to religious people and groups in the ordinary course of their many private or public occupations and ministries—including running schools, hospitals, nursing homes and other housing facilities, providing adoption and counseling services, and many others.
So, for example, religious adoption services that place children exclusively with married couples would be required by law to place children with persons of the same sex who are civilly "married."Religious marriage counselors would be denied their professional accreditation for refusing to provide counseling in support of same-sex "married" relationships.Religious employers who provide special health benefits to married employees would be required by law to extend those benefits to same-sex "spouses."Religious employers would also face lawsuits for taking any adverse employment action—no matter how modest—against an employee for the public act of obtaining a civil "marriage" with a member of the same sex.This is not idle speculation, as these sorts of situations have already come to pass.
Even where religious people and groups succeed in avoiding civil liability in cases like these, they would face other government sanctions—the targeted withdrawal of government co-operation, grants, or other benefits.
For example, in New Jersey, the state cancelled the tax-exempt status of a Methodist-run boardwalk pavilion used for religious services because the religious organization would not host a same-sex "wedding" there.San Francisco dropped its $3.5 million in social service contracts with the Salvation Army because it refused to recognize same-sex "domestic partnerships" in its employee benefits policies.Similarly, Portland, Maine, required Catholic Charities to extend spousal employee benefits to same-sex "domestic partners" as a condition of receiving city housing and community development funds.
In short, the refusal of these religious organizations to treat a same-sex sexual relationship as if it were a marriage marked them and their members as bigots, subjecting them to the full arsenal of government punishments and pressures reserved for racists.These punishments will only grow more frequent and more severe if civil "marriage" is redefined in additional jurisdictions.For then, government will compel special recognition of relationships that we the undersigned religious leaders and the communities of faith that we represent cannot, in conscience, affirm.Because law and government not only coerce and incentivize but also teach, these sanctions would lend greater moral legitimacy to private efforts to punish those who defend marriage.
Therefore, we encourage all people of good will to protect marriage as the union between one man and one woman, and to consider carefully the far-reaching consequences for the religious freedom of all Americans if marriage is redefined.We especially urge those entrusted with the public good to support laws that uphold the time-honored definition of marriage, and so avoid threatening the religious freedom of countless institutions and citizens in this country.Marriage and religious freedom are both deeply woven into the fabric of this nation.
May we all work together to strengthen and preserve the unique meaning of marriage and the precious gift of religious freedom.

Sincerely Yours:

Rev. Leith Anderson
President
National Association of Evangelicals

Johann Christoph Arnold
Senior Pastor
Bruderhof Communities

Randall A. Bach
President
Open Bible Churches

Dr. Gary M. Benedict
President
The Christian and Missionary Alliance

The Rev. John F. Bradosky
Bishop
North American Lutheran Church

Glenn Burris, Jr.
President
The Foursquare Church

Bishop H. David Burton
Presiding Bishop
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Dr. Ronald W. Carpenter, Sr.
Presiding Bishop
International Pentecostal Holiness Church

Rabbi Abba Cohen
Vice President for Federal Affairs
Washington Director
Agudath Israel of America

Most Rev. Salvatore J. Cordileone
Bishop of Oakland
Chairman
USCCB Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage

Nathan J. Diament
Executive Director for Public Policy
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America

Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan
Archbishop of New York
President
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

The Most Rev. Robert Duncan
Archbishop, Anglican Church in North America
Bishop, Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh

Dr. Barrett Duke
Vice President for Public Policy and Research
Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Rev. Jim Eschenbrenner
Executive Pastor
General Council of Christian Union Churches

Dr. William J. Hamel
President
Evangelical Free Church of America

Rev. Dr. Ron Hamilton
Conference Minister
Conservative Congregational Christian Conference

Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison
President
Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod

John Hopler
Director
Great Commission Churches

Dr. Bill Hossler
President
Missionary Church, Inc.

Clyde M. Hughes
General Overseer
International Pentecostal Church of Christ

Rev. Kenneth D. Hunn
Executive Director
The Brethren Church

David W. Kendall
Bishop
Free Methodist Church USA

Dr. Richard Land
President
Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Most Rev. William E. Lori
Bishop of Bridgeport
Chairman
USCCB Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty

Dr. Jo Anne Lyon
Chair Board of General Superintendents
The Wesleyan Church

James W. Murray
Executive Director
General Association of General Baptists

Most Rev. Kevin C. Rhoades
Bishop of Ft. Wayne - South Bend
Chairman
USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth

Commissioner William A. Roberts
National Commander
The Salvation Army

Rocky Rocholl
President
Fellowship of Evangelical Churches

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez
President
National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

David T. Roller
Bishop
Free Methodist Church USA

Matthew A. Thomas
Bishop
Free Methodist Church USA

Dr. Joseph Tkach
President & Pastor General
Grace Communion International

Berten A. Waggoner
National Director
Vineyard USA

W. Phillip Whipple
Bishop
United Brethren in Christ Church, USA

Dr. John P. Williams, Jr.
Regional Director
Evangelical Friends Church, North America

David P. Wilson
General Secretary
Church of the Nazarene

Dr. George O. Wood
General Superintendent
Assemblies of God

To Judge a King

2012-01-13T07:43:00.001-05:00

In our lesson from the First Book of Samuel today we see the transition of God’s Chosen People from a nation ruled only by God to a nation ruled by God and man. While the judges merely enforced the Law of God and lead the people in times of crises, the new office of hereditary king would give the king the right to impose his own laws in the name of God, which the people must obey.
All legitimate authority comes from God, so this duel system of law remains in effect even today. We must obey the Law of God and those laws of the state which do not conflict with God’s Law. Even something as seemingly minor as a speed limit or tax burden must be observed because these are enacted with the authority of God.
Therefore, in a democratic republic, it is the duty of citizens to know the Law of God well and then to select officers of the state who will make decisions in accordance with the Law of God. This means the desired candidate should himself be familiar with the Law of God, and have a demonstrated history of following it in his own life and have proposals for doing so while in office.
If there are several candidates who appear equally committed to the Law of God but differing in other political respects, then one is free to select the candidate of one’s choice. If none of the candidates appear committed to God’s Law, then one should choose the candidate least likely to offend God. It’s better not to abstain from voting, since this could allow the candidate most offensive to God to win the office.
Tomorrow, Bishop Stika will lead a prayer of petition on behalf of unborn children whose little lives are threatened with abortion because of the unjust laws, and application of laws, in our nation, and because of the failure of the officers of state to protect these innocents. I urge you all to participate in this petition, so that God will give us the strength to build a more just civil code that respects the Law of God.

Yes Minister

2012-01-12T11:04:00.007-05:00

The US Supreme Court says ecclesial ministers are not protected under anti-discrimination laws. As far as I know, no one seriously questions the right of faith groups to choose, discipline and dismiss priests, rabbis and similar persons who lead congregations in the study and worship of God. The main question here had been the extent to which this exemption from employment laws extends to ecclesial school teachers and ecclesial university instructors. For now, anyway, the high court is adopting a broad and flexible definition, if I understand correctly.
The deeper issue concerns a desire to remove the prominence of religion from public life. Liberals view religion as a private matter tolerable only as long as it remains a way to organize one's thoughts or stabilize one's emotions. The more religion escapes the confines of the individual, the more dangerous they think it is. This is why Liberals understand freedom of religion mostly in terms of individual thoughts and feelings, and do not understand the need for constitutional protection of the activities of religious institutions, especially the protection of institutional practices at odds with laws that apply everywhere else.
I'll leave it to lawyers and human resource coordinators to explain the precise freedoms and limitations of this ruling, but it does bring up a good question for us: what does the Church say constitutes an ecclesial minister?
First, there's obviously the clergy, consisting in the West of deacons and priests, with priests including presbyters and bishops ("high priests"). If a priest is suspended from active ministry, he is still a minister and member of the clergy. In extreme cases, a deacon or priest can even be removed from the rolls of the clergy, but is still a sacred minister insofar as he possesses the capacity, but not the permission, to (if he's a priest) offer the Mass, hear confessions and anoint those in danger of death, although if someone is actually near death, even these priests are allowed (indeed, required) administer the Last Sacraments in the absence of another priest.
Then there are the lay ecclesial ministers. First among these are the formally instituted acolytes/subdeacons and lectors. Since these ministries are reserved to adult men, they are rarely given to anyone not preparing for holy orders. The bishops of each nation may also formally establish other lay ministries, such as cathechists or almoners.
Then there are those laymen who are not formally installed as ecclesial ministers, but who function as such on occasion. Those who read the readings or serve at the altar at Mass, as well as those who, in extraordinary circumstances, assist the sacred ministers with administration of Holy Communion, all function as ministers, but are not called by any special title and enjoy no special rights. Similarly, cathechists, "youth ministers", and others who carry out certain duties of the Parish Priest or diocesan bishop also function as ecclesial ministers.
Within the home, parents minister the faith to their children, and are even permitted to impart blessing upon their own children. A couple administers the sacrament of matrimony on their wedding day.
So, we have sacred ministers (deacons and priests), formal ministers (installed acolytes and readers), functional ministers (other readers and altar servers), extraordinary ministers (mostly concerning Holy Communion), and familial ministers (mom and dad) within the Church.
That's a lot of ecclesial ministers, but notice the notion is still more precise and restrictive than it at first appears. Why does it need to be restrictive? Mainly because the pope and local bishops are responsible for ensuring that the Faith is taught and administered faithfully. Therefore, they must be free to designate who may do what, and to what extent, in teaching and administering the Faith.
I should correct some misunderstandings about ecclesial ministry as it affects administering Holy Communion. First, there is no such thing as an "extraordinary minister of the Eucharist". Priests alone are Eucharistic ministers, and there are not extraordinary versions of us! Second, while the celebrant may call upon laymen to assist him and the deacon in the distribution of Holy Communion as "extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion" in accordance with the guidelines of the local bishop, priests (celebrants) are not obliged to do so and no layman ever has any sort of right to distribute Holy Communion. This isn't about being elitist, but about ensuring that the sacred ministers exercise our ministry fully.
But also remember that the Church is about truth, grace and salvation, and that her mission extends through, but beyond, ecclesial ministry. If we define a parish or the whole Church exclusively in terms of ecclesial ministry, then we leave out the daily duties of Catholics in the realms of marriage, work, politics, etc. But all these activities are meant to be holy parts of the life of the Church, even though they are not ecclesial ministries.
So, let's be careful not only with our terms, but also with our understanding of the extent to which the Gospel should be active in our world. The Gospel is more than ministry.

Samuel the Prophet and Jesus the Christ

2012-01-12T07:34:00.000-05:00

The barren Hannah went to the temple in Shiloh, where Eli served as high priest, and she desperately asked God for a child. God heard her prayers and gave her a son, Samuel, whom she later placed under the priestly care of Eli at the temple. One day, years later, the Philistine enemies of Israel waged a winning war against the nation, when Israel’s army fetched the Ark of the Covenant—and therefore the Presence of God—from the temple in Shiloh, and carried God into battle. The Philistines knew what had happened to pharaoh in Egypt once God got involved, and so both they and the Israelite armies assume Israel will win, now that Israel is about to carry God’s Presence into battle.
But the impossible happens; the unthinkable: Israel not only loses the battle, but the Philistines capture the Ark of the Covenant. Not only has Israel lost a battle, they’ve lost God! Their very identity as God’s Chosen People centers around the Presence of God dwelling in their midst at the temple, and now it’s all over. No longer is it possible for someone like Hannah to offer desperate petitions before the Presence of God, or for priests like Eli to offer sacrifices to God’s temple Presence. God is gone, and the Philistines have him. This is a disaster, the very worst thing that could happen.
The troops flee the battle site in fear, and when the blind priest Eli hears some fleeing soldiers passing by the now empty temple, he asks what’s going on, and when there’re planning to bring the Ark back from the battlefield. They tell him the bad news, and Eli falls backwards in his chair, breaking his neck.
But the Philistines soon discover that everywhere they go in their lands with the Ark of the Covenant, bad things start happening to them, including breakouts of the plague. It’s not long before they have had enough, and decide to send God back to Israel. (There’s a peculiar story involving two cows at this point, but more about that some other time.) The Philistines send God back to Israel. Good bye and good riddance!
Israel gets the Ark back, but then the plague breaks out among them, too! So, the prophet Samuel, the child of barren but prayerful Hannah, raised by Eli at the temple, gathers the nation to repent of all their personal sins, only after which are they fit to enjoy once again the Presence of God in their midst.
But what in the world does all this mean? (A.) A barren woman has a child, (B.) the child grows up in a temple, (C.) God gets captured in battle, (D.) a priest breaks his neck, (E.) God comes back and makes everyone sick: what does it all mean?
We can look for answers by looking at Christ. (A.) Christ was born of a virgin, (B.) found as a child in the Temple, (C.) captured and (D.) killed by the Romans, (E.) resurrected from the realm of the Enemy and preparing now to judge sinners, condemning some, based on our choices. So, we see the parallels between Christ and the texts from the First Book of Samuel we’ve heard all week. In both cases the lesson is that God’s Law and God’s Presence must remain central to all our decisions and actions. God’s Law and God’s Presence go together, and so cannot be separated without great harm befalling his people. There are those today who claim to obey God’s Law, but claim not to need his Presence in the Holy Mass or reserved in the tabernacle. But how can one love God and not desire to be near his Presence? Similarly, there are those who come near God’s Presence but do not follow God’s Law. This is how we get Catholics who come to Mass but who promote such evils as unmarried cohabitation, contraception, divorce, abortion, same-sex unions, and various heresies and schisms. This lack of integrity does great harm to the Church.
But God’s Law and God’s Presence are meant to be together in our lives, and if we repent of our sins and allow his Presence and Law to change us into Godly people, we will see this more clearly and then help build a Godly culture around us.

Call of Samuel to Prophecy

2012-01-11T19:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we heard how Samuel was conceived in the womb of a barren woman, thanks to her bold prayers and God’s miraculous intervention. Today, we find Samuel, by now around twelve years old, living in the temple under the care of the priest Eli, when the child received the call of prophecy from God.
How could God call someone so young to prophecy? Shouldn’t God have allowed Samuel to grow and choose for himself whatever way of life he preferred? This is how we sinners think, because we forget that true happiness is found only in pleasing the Lord.
This is why we must encourage children from a very young age to consider a prophetic vocation in consecrated life or the sacred ministry. God wants us to love him and the needy the best way we can, and consecrated life and the sacred ministry are both powerful ways to do both. The earlier children encounter these vocations the better.
As we will see in the life of Samuel, living a prophetic vocation means promoting true worship of the Presence of God, and fighting against the enemies of faith and morals. Samuel fought for the Ark of the Covenant over which God dwelt, and he combated both the enemies of Israel and the enemies of true faith and true morals within Israel.
So, let us not fail to promote many vocations to consecrated life and the sacred ministry, teaching the young to say, “here I am, you called me; speak, LORD, for your servant is listening”, and may the LORD be with them, not permitting any word of theirs to be without effect.

Blessed Nicolaus Steno, Bishop: Father of Modern Geology

2012-01-11T07:02:00.002-05:00

Google's clever front image today commemorates the birth of Blessed Nicolaus Steno, father of modern geology and a Danish convert to the Catholic Faith, eventually ordained to the priesthood and episcopacy. There's a great biography of this great man called The Seashell on the Mountaintop: A Story of Science, Sainthood, and the Humble Genius Who Discovered a New History of the Earth, available at Amazon.com. I read it several years ago, and remember it being easy to read and entertaining.
Blessed Nicolaus Steno, pray for us.

Hannah at the Temple

2012-01-10T08:59:00.001-05:00

Elkanah and Hannah are married, and the purpose of marriage is procreation and upbringing of children. But Hannah is unable to bear children, so her life as a wife is incomplete. Elkanah does his best to comfort her over the years, offering her his devoted companionship. But this isn’t enough for Hannah, for a wife is meant to be a mother.
So, one day Hannah went to the temple and “presented herself before the LORD”, and “in her bitterness she prayed to the LORD, weeping freely”. We should notice three things here. First, we must learn to present ourselves before the Presence of the Lord, who once dwelt above a temple and now dwells in the tabernacles of Catholic churches. This is where God is, so this is where we should be.
Second, Hannah shows us that we should not only present God our thanks and praise, but also our requests and complaints. Whenever the circumstances of our lives change for the better or the worse, we should learn to present ourselves promptly to God’s Presence in the tabernacle, offering him joyful thanksgiving or bitter petition. A parish filled with joys and sorrows, but with a vacant parish church, is a parish without faith. So, whether there’s a birth of a grandchild or the diagnosis of a disease, let us not delay a visit to the Presence of God in the tabernacle.
Finally, we should notice that Hannah is unconcerned with the thoughts of onlookers as she presents herself before the Presence of God. While others thought she was drunk, Hannah was only concerned with what God thought of her. People tell me they want to kneel to receive Holy Communion (as Pope Benedict suggests), or to wear the traditional chapel veil in the church, or to perform other such humble signs for God to see, but they’re afraid of what others will think. Hannah shows us that what we do before the Lord with devotion is for the Lord, and so none of anyone else’s business. Similarly, just as Hannah would one day present her son Samuel, mothers of infants want to present their children to the Lord during the Holy Mass, but are often driven out of Mass by the hostile crowd. The trouble is that the crowd thinks the Mass is Christ’s sacrifice to them, rather than to the Father, which is blasphemy. But those participating in the sacrifice of the Mass are a congregation of sinners worshiping God, not a crowd of gods to be pleased and entertained. Children are part of Christ’s gift to the Father, and so when infants make noise, the congregation does well to keep this in mind. Mothers of infants, for their part, need only think of Hannah.
May she guide us all in prayer and petition.

"I Want to Visit the Traditional Mass, But I'm a Little Afraid"

2012-01-09T14:28:00.011-05:00

The ordinary form of the Roman Mass is called 'ordinary' for a reason: it is the form of the Roman Mass that seems best to foster full, conscious and active participation for average Latin Catholics. It is, therefore, the form of Mass Latin Catholics ordinarily prefer, at least for now. But some Catholics prefer the extraordinary form of the Roman Mass because it fosters full, conscious and active participation best for them. This is why popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI have both taken concrete, legal steps to ensure that the faithful have convenient access to both forms of the Roman Mass.
I know that there is a growing number of Catholics who are not certain which form is best for them because they either haven't been to a traditional Mass, or because they only remember the Low Mass from their childhood. Further, contrary to liturgical law, there are still some traditionalist groups that discourage the congregation from singing the dialogical responses with the choir, which lessens the appeal of the traditional Mass for those coming from the ordinary form. These factors make it difficult for Catholics to decide which form is best for their full, conscious and active participation.
If you are unsure, please allow me to suggest the following:
(A.) Remember that you are a Catholic of the Latin Church, and so have the right to participate in either form of the Roman Mass. No one else has the right to make that decision for you, and so you should not feel at all uneasy about participating in one form or the other. Eastern Catholics, by the way, are also welcome.
(B.) Don't be afraid you'll do something wrong the first few times you attend the traditional form Mass. It is very different from the newer form, and so there is a lot to learn, but that will take time. God will see that you are doing your best to worship him reverently, and knowing that should give you courage and peace.
(C.) There are some pretty intense people sometimes associated with traditional form congregations. Some of these have been brutalized by bad pastoral care over the past few decades. Learn to appreciate them, but don't let yourself be bothered if they don't appreciate you. 90% of the traditional congregation will not be like them, and will have already learned how to deal with these special cases. Most traditional congregants are normal people like you who just want to worship God in the traditional Roman way.
(D.) Don't worry about Latin. The traditional Mass is celebrated in Latin because that's the pastoral language of the Church and the primary liturgical language of the Western Church. However, very few Catholics are attracted to the traditional Mass because of Latin. Rather, they find that the traditional Mass on the whole is more clearly oriented towards God and away from sinful man than the other form. In the traditional form, neither the personality of the priest nor the temperament of the congregation has much effect on the celebration of the Mass, which helps those participating to concentrate more on the Mass as Christ's sacrifice to the Father for the forgiveness of our sins. This means that even if the traditional Mass were celebrated in a modern language and the newer one in Latin, those who attend the traditional Mass now would probably continue to do so even if it were in English. I should also note that since hand missals are available with the readings in English, and since the most important part of the Mass--the Eucharistic Canon--is prayed in virtual silence anyway, few find the use of Latin in the Mass to be any sort of impediment to their participation. Don't worry about the Latin.
(E.) Give it a few attempts before deciding which form is best for your participation. The traditional form is so different from the newer one because it carries with it the ritual labor of many generations of Catholics. It is not possible to appreciate all that ritual structure on just one occasion.
(F.) Be prepared for children. Catholics who prefer the traditional form of worship are predictably more faithful to Church teachings on the regulation of birth. Therefore, there will likely be more large families there than at the other form of Mass, which means more infants making noise. Before you let this bother you, remember that the Mass is Christ's offering to the Father, not to us, and that those children are part of his sacrifice. God wants them there, so please don't give the mothers dirty looks when their children make noise.
(G.) You don't need to read anything before participating for the first time. Just go and take it all in. Be curious. Ask questions afterwards (but don't talk inside the church after Mass!). Let yourself be like a little child as you kneel in awe at the majesty of God. If you're determined to do some reading, then I suggest For the Visitor at Mass, available at Fraternity Publications for around $3.00.
(H.) Just do what everyone else does as best you can, and you'll be fine. Few of them grew up in the traditional form, so they've been where you are. You'll notice them doing things like kneeling a one point during the Creed and placing their hands under a white cloth to receive Holy Communion, but if you miss these or just forget to do it right, don't worry. These things take time to sink in.
(I.) I do recommend dressing up a little, and for women to wear a chapel veil. For that matter, I recommend coats and ties for men and dresses and veils for women at both forms of the Mass. But that's just my opinion. If you can't do these things, however, don't let that stop you from participating in a celebration of the traditional form of the Roman Mass.
(J.) Sadly, I do not think there is a reliable national resource listing accurate locations and times for the traditional Mass. The resources that are available seem to do their best, but the information changes and the number of Masses is growing all the time, so it's apparently very difficult to keep up with it all. Further, they usually include problematic groups in their lists. East Tennessee has a local group I can recommend calling itself the Knoxville Latin Mass Community, which has a website listing those celebrations approved by the bishop of Knoxville.
If you have any questions, feel free to post them below and I'll do my best to answer them promptly.
I hope this helps the person who asked the question and anyone else who may benefit.

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

2012-01-09T07:32:00.000-05:00

Saint John the Baptist came clothed in the same sort of garment once worn by the Elijah, the prophet of Mount Carmel. When Elisha took over the prophetic work from Elijah, he put on Elijah’s cloak, in effect “putting on” the prophetic office of the Prophet of Mount Carmel. Similarly, when we wear the scapular of the Virgin of Mount Carmel, we “put on” her virtues. See how this works? John appeared in the habit of the prophet, for indeed he was the new Elijah, and this is how Christ will refer to him later.
Saint John poured penance upon his disciples who acknowledged their own sinfulness. Christ accepted this penitential consequence for our sins, an acceptance which culminates in the Cross. Because Christ was baptized into our punishment on the Cross, we can now hope for redemption from the eternal punish we deserve for our sins.
But notice that the penitential baptism of Christ and his death on the Cross are not primarily morbid affairs, but relational encounters. At his baptism, the Father pours down his blessings upon his obedient Son. On the Cross, Christ offers himself to the Father as an eternal sacrifice for our salvation. The Father gives himself to the Son at the baptism, while the Son gives himself to the Father at the Crucifixion.
At his nativity, Our Savior was given the name “Joshua”: Jesus. At his baptism, Jesus received the down-pouring of the Holy Ghost, understood to be a divine anointing, so that Jesus became known as the “Messiah” (“anointed hero”): the Christ (from Gk). Today, we use both names for him: Jesus Christ.
In the Book of Genesis, we read that the Creator divided the waters and created dry land. One becomes a Christian through the division of waters at baptism, and then approaches the “dry land” of the Holy Altar. To remind us of this, baptismal fonts are traditionally located at the entrance to churches, and altars are traditionally made of stone. So, we see the connection between Our Anointed Lord’s baptism and his sacrifice of the Cross even in the design of our churches, for the baptismal font provides our penitential baptism into Christ’s death and Resurrection, and the Altar provides for our participation in his eternal sacrifice to the Father on the Cross.
So, let’s wear the prophetic scapular every day, let’s dip our hands into the death and Resurrection of Christ each time we enter a church, and let’s eat the Sacrifice that saves us when we approach the Holy Altar.

Fulton J. Sheen on the Training of Children

2012-01-08T17:44:00.000-05:00

The other two parts are available on YouTube.

Feast of the Holy Family (EF)

2012-01-08T08:05:00.001-05:00

If God himself chose to grow within the virtuous life of a human family, then our modern culture can certainly grow under the influence of virtuous Christian families.
This means each member of each family must learn self-discipline. Spouses should certainly feel free to express emotions to each other, but must learn sufficient self-discipline to do so in a manner that always respects the dignity of the other spouse. Criticism is best reserved for private conversations. But apart from the more intense moments, it is perhaps even more important to practice self-discipline in less intense encounters. Spouses should learn to greet each other actively and reverently, rather than passively or negligently. When one spouse is speaking, however mundane the topic, the other should cultivate the habit of thinking, “this image of God, my image of God, is speaking to me, so I’m going to stop what I’m doing, turn towards my image of God, and listen”. This seems like a lot of effort for minor matters, but the trouble is that the Devil never sees it that way. He takes full advantage of every opportunity to dull the brilliance of God within the marital covenant. The discipline of diligence in spousal conversation is a powerful frontal attack on the divisive forces of the underworld.
Children are faced with the triple burden of: (a.) growing in personal virtue, (b.) obeying the commands of two parents, and (c.) contending with siblings who are at times virtuous and at others less so. This requires self-discipline in the three areas: (a.) keeping in proper balance the personal freedom God gives each of us, (b.) practicing the Fourth Commandment to honor one’s father and mother, and (c.) practicing the virtue of fraternity towards brothers and sisters. This is demanding and so requires self-discipline in order to cultivate personal virtue and to keep the family virtuous.
So, we look to the Holy Family as the model of virtue and as companions to families today. May the fruits of the Holy Family make all families virtuous and pleasing to God.

Basílica de la Sagrada Família

2012-01-07T17:33:00.000-05:00

Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family on the EF Roman calendar. Here as a brief history of the Spanish basilica dedicated to them.

Feast of the Epiphany

2012-01-06T07:35:00.000-05:00

Today is the 12th day after Christmas, and so the Feast of the Epiphany on the Roman calendar, although in some countries, such as ours, the episcopal conference has moved the Feast of the Epiphany to Sunday. One of the customs on the 12th day of Christmas is to proclaim the key festival dates of the coming year, which I will do in a moment. In this way, just as we celebrate Christ’s Epiphany—his manifestation—to the nations, we also boldly proclaim that time itself now belongs to Christ.
The Epiphany of Christ occurred when the Three Magi visited him from their respective (?) foreign lands, from which they traveled to adore the King of Israel and savior of mankind. The Epiphany of Christ continued at his baptism in the River Jordan, when the Father himself proclaimed the epiphany of his Son.
With his Epiphany, all of human time now centers on Christ. This centralization begins with the week. The first day of the weekly cycle now gives way to a new, “eighth day”, which we call the Lord’s Day: Sunday, which supplants the old Sabbath observance. We now count years from the time of Christ, so that all human time is either “before Christ” or “in the year of Our Lord”. In the Divine Office, clergy and religious mark the hours of the day with recitation of the psalms. (The Office of None from the Divine Office gives us our English word “noon”.) Laymen and families are encouraged to recite the Angelus thrice daily, at the beginning, middle and end of the day. Christians traditionally worship and pray facing east, the direction of rising sun, which represents for us both our faith in the first manifestation of Christ when he dawned upon the nations, and our hope for his return in Glory at the end of human time. Human time now belongs to Christ.
Christ is the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega, divine revelation to the nations and lord of time. So, please listen now with joy as we solemnly claim this coming year for Christ.

Epiphany Proclamation 2012

2012-01-06T06:47:00.000-05:00

Dear brothers and sisters,
the glory of the Lord has shone upon us,
and shall ever be manifest among us,
until the day of his return.
Through the rhythms of times and seasons
let us celebrate the mysteries of salvation.
Let us recall the year's culmination,
the Paschal Triduum of the Lord:
his last supper, his crucifixion, his burial,
and his rising celebrated between the evening of the fifth day of April
and the evening of the seventh day of April,
Easter Sunday being on the eighth day of April.
Each Easter, as on each Sunday,
the Holy Church makes present the great and saving deed
by which Christ has forever conquered sin and death.
From Easter are reckoned all the days we keep holy:

Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent,
will occur on the twenty-second day of February.
The Ascension of the Lord will be commemorated on the (seventeenth) twentieth day of May.
Pentecost, joyful conclusion of the season of Easter,
will be celebrated on the twenty-seventh day of May.
And, this year the First Sunday of Advent will be
on the second day of December.
Likewise the pilgrim Church proclaims the passover of Christ
in the feasts of the Holy Mother of God,
in the feasts of the apostles and saints,
and in the commemoration of the faithful departed.
To Jesus Christ, who was, who is, and who is to come,
Lord of time and history,
be endless praise, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Rosary Garden?

2012-01-05T09:31:00.003-05:00

I'm entertaining the idea of putting in a Rosary garden in our vacant lot next to the church. It could consist of round stepping stones for the Ave's and square ones for the Pater's. Six square stones, four in a row and one on each side, could form the cross. Seven rose bushes just outside could represent the Seven Dolors of the BVM. A little statue of the Blessed Mother and two benches could go inside. The whole thing could be dedicated to the pro-life cause. It would cost some money, which we don't have much of here, but in time I think we could raise it. Parishioners would have to do the labor. My finance and pastoral councils would have to work out some details, but I think it could be a good, spiritual addition to this "little church on the Little River".
Any thoughts???

Saint John Neumann, Bishop

2012-01-05T09:03:00.000-05:00

Saint John the Apostle tells us to let God love us with his truth and mercy. The pope and bishops teach God’s truth, and priests offer the merciful sacrifice of the Mass and administer God’s mercy in the sacrament of penance.
The faithful who receive the truth and these sacraments should respond to them by offering the truth to your neighbors and by becoming merciful Christians. You can offer the truth simply by inviting your family and friends into (or back into) the Catholic Church, and by shining the light of truth on daily morals situations. You can offer your mercy by always looking for opportunities to forgive family and friends who offend you, rather than harboring grudges against them.
In the Catholic history of the United States we see this truth and mercy taught and practiced beautifully. The immigration of large numbers of poor Catholics into a Protestant nation posed an enormous problem for the Church, and created a great opportunity. These poor immigrants established: beautiful churches for the sacrifice of the Cross; schools to teach the truth about God, man and the universe; and hospitals and orphanages to impart God’s mercy in imitation of the sacraments.
Thanks to: the leadership of men like Saint John Neumann, the generosity of those very many young women who entered religious life, and the hard work and fidelity of Catholic families, the Church in the USA not only survived, but thrived for decades.
Today, however, we may feel a little like the citizens of Rome after the collapse of the Roman Empire, living in huts amidst the ruins of buildings and institutions their own generation could not hope to recreate. Today, most American Catholics are not faithful to Mass attendance, knowledge of the Faith seems to be decreasing with each generation, far fewer young women are now giving themselves generously into religious life, and Catholic schools are closing and universities being privatized, among many other problems.
But what Saint John Neumann and his and several succeeding generations teach us is that even in the worst of times, if we listen to Saint John the Apostle and remain faithful to the truths of the Faith and open to God’s mercy, while giving ourselves generously to others in the service of the Christian truth and mercy, then God will accomplish great things through us.
Remember, hope is not something we generate, but a virtue from God. God, and God alone, gives us hope. And he wants to give us this gift of hope. When he does, he wants us to respond to it generously in our families, parishes and neighborhoods, in order to rebuild his Church in America.
May the companionship, intercession and example of Saint John Neumann help us in this great project of rebuilding God’s holy Church in our nation.

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious (d. 1821)

2012-01-04T07:47:00.001-05:00

Saint John tells us we must choose sides, urging us to choose God’s side over the Devil’s side. There will always be those who claim to be Godly while rejecting certain truths of the Faith or stirring up trouble within the Christian community, but Saint John tells us such persons are easy to identify by their words and actions, and therefore easy enough to avoid. So, whenever we are faced with a group denying certain teachings of the Church concerning faith or morals, or otherwise causing scandalous divisions within the community, we can always turn to the First Letter of John for advice and consolation.
In choosing sides between God and the Devil, it is good for the Church to mark the battle lines clearly. When men and women enter religious life they help us all emphasize the boundaries of the battle. Their simple, common way of life, lived according to a particular rule based upon the Acts of the Apostles, reminds the whole Church that we must all choose to live in the light of Christ in all our decisions and in all our relationships. Next to religious life, only martyrdom gives a clearer witness to the Gospel in our dark world of sin and lies.
When King Henry VIII chose the Devil over Christ, establishing himself over the affairs of the Church, he left in his wake generations of souls at a distance from the full force of Catholic truth and mercy. But Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, a daughter of the Reformation and heiress of King Henry’s heresy, converted from the darkness of error to the light of truth, becoming Catholic and founding an American branch of a religious order dedicated to shining the light of truth in classrooms and imparting the mercy of God upon the poor. The widowed mother of five children, Saint Elizabeth became a spiritual bride of Christ and a religious mother of charity.
It is humble women like her, obedient to the truths of the Faith, dedicated to the needs of the Church and generous to the poor, who show us all how to be good Catholics, choosing the right side in the fight between light and darkness. Let us enjoy her Heavenly companionship this day, and may many young women choose to enter religious life after her example.

How Catholic Are Catholics Today?

2012-01-03T10:11:00.006-05:00

Some Catholics claim to be more Catholic than the pope, such as those Catholics who reject the Second Vatican Council, while others claim the pope is too Catholic, such as those who reject the Council of Trent. But while such extremists may require the pastoral attention of the Vatican and some local bishops, the average Parish Priest doesn't have to concern himself much with them because their numbers are so small.

Looking just at average Catholics under the care of average priests in average Western (European, North American, Australian, etc.) parishes, just how Catholic are they? The purpose of my question is not to award or indict anyone, but to gain a clearer understanding of the pastoral needs of average Catholics today.

The reason this pastoral evaluation is a difficult one for me is that, at least in my experience, priests spend a lot of time working with only a few parishioners. For example, no one calls for a priest when a child doesn't do his homework or when the budget presentation is due at work. The daily duties of family and work are very Catholic activities when performed by a Catholic, but do not require the direct care of a priest. However, even when non-practicing Catholics want to have a wedding, have a baby christened, are dying in the hospital or need to be buried,someone usually calls for a priest. Similarly,practicing Catholics seem to be more likely to complain when they dislike the pastoral care of a priest than to communicate satisfaction with that pastoral care (at least, I think this is the case, but I really don't know). As a result, I spend most of my time working with Catholics in some need, either because the difficulties of sin or life are burdening them down, or because my pastoral style distresses them.

The impression I get from my direct interactions with Catholics leads me to believe the Church, on the whole, is in very serious trouble due to: widespread presumption of God's mercy, religious indifference, militant heresy and worldliness. But I think this impression may be wrong. And while surveys tell us a lot, they may not tell us enough. I am beginning to think it could well be that most Catholics want to know and understand the truths of the Faith, and that they only reject certain ones of them because they don't understand them. For example, perhaps the widespread acceptance of cohabitation, contraception and divorce among younger Catholics could be curtailed if only priests would explain Church teaching on marriage and family more clearly and frequently, and push the sacrament of penance more firmly as an antidote to these sins.

Since most Catholics in Europe and the USA don't even go to Mass each Sunday, and fewer than ten percent (my estimate) ever go to confession, I don't think we can hope that the average Catholic is really faithful and we just don't know it. But I do hope there may be more to the picture than meets the eye. I tend to assume that every Catholic knows the very basics of the Faith, and then the majority make an informed decision not to live the Catholic Faith fully. But if, as I'm beginning to suspect, most Catholics truly want to understand a Faith that is somewhat foreign to them, and would say "yes" to it if only someone would show them how, then this reality would demand an entirely different pastoral approach than what I and most other priests are now attempting.

For example, if I prepare a homily assuming most members of the congregation have made up their minds to oppose Church teaching on many matters of faith and morals, this assumption may lead me to address my words to those who understand and accept Church teaching, without bothering to try to lead the others into the truth. If they've already made up their minds, then why bother? But if the complaint letters and harsh words after Mass represent only a tiny minority, then I should feel liberated to lead the others deeper into the Faith, starting with, rather than skipping over, the basics. (Actually, I think we tend to stick to "nice" sentiments in homilies to avoid the whole problem in the first place.) Many other examples could emerge to address this more accurate reality, if it exists.

On the other hand, if things are at their core what they appear to be on the surface, then it is probably best not to rock the boat just now. This seems to be the approach of Pope Benedict. You'll notice he only takes very subtle, often temporary steps towards reform, perhaps fearing he'll do more harm than good with another approach if the majority of Catholics are just waiting for a reason to rise up against him. But what if they're not?

Introit Psalm 45

2012-01-03T07:31:00.000-05:00

Our Proper Introit psalm this week is a selection from Psalm 45. It describes the joyful preparations for a royal wedding between a foreign girl and a king of David’s line. The father of the bride gives her away to the Godly king, a king renowned for his might and his virtue.

The father tells his daughter to forget her own nation and her own family, and to give herself as a rich and fitting gift to the king of Israel. In return, she will receive the gifts of wealth, companionship and influence, as befits a queen.

Christ is the perfection of the royal line of King David, and he takes the Church for his bride. It is for the Church, then, to leave behind all attachments to the world and go to Christ the King arrayed in splendor, accompanied by a host of angels and eager to intercede before the king on behalf of all sinners in need. So, when we recite this psalm, Psalm 45, we think of Christ the King and his holy bride, the Church.

The first and foremost member of the Church is the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Queen Mother. She shows the rest of us how to be faithful to Christ the King. We learn from her how to “listen” to the law of God and to “heed” the precepts of the Church. She teaches us how to pay homage to God, and so how make ourselves pleasing to him. She shows us the true treasures of the Church, the treasures of truth and mercy which are entrusted to the Bride of Christ. Just as Mary once interceded at the wedding feast of Cana, so too must the Church now intercede on behalf of repentant sinners, the sick and the poor. Mary was ever attentive to Christ on Earth, and now shows young women how to please Christ as his prophetic brides in consecrated life. And, just as the Blessed Mother sits now in Heaven body and soul, so too will faithful members of the Church sit one day in Heaven with her, where the Church will be “escorted amid gladness and joy” as she passes “within the palace of the King”.

Saint Basil the Great

2012-01-02T08:55:00.000-05:00

On this Feast of Saint Basil the Great, let us consider for a moment the nature of Church teachings. Christians must listen to the truths taught by God’s Church and allow these truths to grow within us, guiding our consciences in right thinking and virtuous living. Just as Christ is one, the truths taught by the Church are one, even as they touch on the diverse areas of thought and action. We can no more pick and choose which truths to accept and which to reject than we can pick apart Christ, accepting some parts of him and rejecting others. The truths of the Faith are one.

The three persons of the Blessed Trinity are also one, sharing one divine substance. When the Father sent the Son to teach the disciples and the Spirit to guide the popes and bishops, all these activities came from the same God, and so must be accepted as the work of the one, eternal God. Therefore, it is not possible to be a faithful follower of Christ and at the same time to reject Church teaching on matters of faith or morals, for to reject even one teaching is to reject God.

But when we accept the faith and morals taught by the bishops, we find ourselves in communion with the Church and with God. For example, we must believe Christ is of the same substance—consubstantial—with the Father, in order to be in communion with God and with his holy Church. We must believe the bread and wine become the substance of God during the Mass in order to be in communion with God and his Church. We must believe the True Faith is found in its fullness only within the Catholic Church, governed on Earth by the pope and those bishops united with him.

Church teaching on sexual morality, on respect for life, on the permanence of marriage and on other subjects are meant to liberate us from the darkness of Satan, rather than to impose a heaven burden on us. When we begin to think the truths taught by the Church are burdens, we should remember that God himself guides the pope and bishops in these teachings, and will ensure that they will not lead us astray, but into God’s grace and eternal life. The truths concerning faith and morals as taught by the Church, then, are liberating truths, meant to be accepted and passed on to others. There is no darkness in them; only in rejecting them.

And remember, these truths are not proposed for our blind obedience. Rather, the Church, which has always loved scientific inquiry, uses the language of science to explain the truths she teaches. The Catholic truth is God’s gift for us to hear, to study, to live by and to enjoy.

The Vatican in 2012

2012-01-01T18:08:00.002-05:00

Nativity Octave (EF Sermon)

2012-01-01T12:30:00.003-05:00

What is the grace of God? We know we receive grace in the sacraments, but what is it? Saint Paul says the grace of God can be seen and heard. The grace of God is the Word of God alive in our lives. The grace of God came to live in human history in the person of Jesus Christ, who came to mankind in a human body, and who spoke to his disciples the saving truth. By the power of the Holy Ghost, the grace of God is now available to all men of good will who listen to the Gospel truth and who eat the Body of Christ.

Saint Paul says the Word of God instructs all men in the truth that sets us free from the worldly chains of Satan. It’s true that all descendants of Adam and Noah know by nature not to commit the sins of murder, theft, fornication or adultery. But divine revelation, perfected in Christ, now teaches all men how to live perfectly in right relationship with God and with each other. This is why we must avoid the temptation to think of the Catholic Church as an ethnic group propagated only from parent to child. Rather, since Christ teaches his truth to all men, we must be his voices, inviting all men into this living truth.

What, then, are we to make of the circumcision? Did this event not limit Christ to the Nation of Israel, which is, in effect, an ethnic group? We are quick to say “no”, but we need to know why. Both the spilling of Christ’s blood at his circumcision and the spilling of Christ’s blood on the Cross are part of God’s plan of salvation, a plan God accomplished through a particular nation, Israel. Christ was born under the Law of Moses that he might perfect its observance and then spill the grace of his presence upon the hearts and minds of all men. Israel spilled its own blood in circumcision, and the blood of its lambs in sacrifice, and so Christ perfected both this sign of the Law and the act of sacrifice so that through him the Law and sacrifice of Israel could be made available to all men, allowing us all now to know the Law and to participate in the sacrifice. The circumcision of infants and slaughter of lambs marked Israel as God’s Chosen people, obedient to his Law, and so when Christians are washed in the Blood of Christ, the same blood spilled in obedience to the Law at his circumcision and on the Cross in sacrifice, the fullness of God’s grace is made available to us in the living gift of Holy Communion.

The Church faces a great crisis today because many Catholics separate the circumcision of Christ from his sacrifice on the Cross. It is now common for Catholics to neglect obedience to the Law of God in their lives but to come forward for Holy Communion at Mass. These men attempt to impose a division between Christ’s blood spilled at his circumcision—the sign of his obedience to the Law—and his blood spilled on the Cross at his sacrifice. When we pick and choose which commandments of God and precepts of the Church we will observe, we turn ourselves away from the grace of God. The obedient blood of Christ’s circumcision and the saving blood of his sacrifice are one in Holy Communion, and cannot be divided.

Even when we accept, in principal, the unity between Christ’s obedience and his sacrifice, we still find ourselves tempted to divide them. We commit little sins here and there, sometimes habitually, thinking they will somehow go unnoticed by God. But the God who notices the tiny drops of blood spilled in obedience to his Law at circumcision will surely notice even our venial sins. Or, we commit a sin so great that we doubt God can ever forgive us. But even the smallest drop of Christ’s blood, such as that spilled from his tiny body at his circumcision, can save a universe of repentant sinners.

So, brethren, let us dream of a day when all men will come into the Catholic Church, to receive the living truth of God’s Law, and to receive the living sacrifice of Christ’s mercy.

Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God

2011-12-31T17:42:00.001-05:00

The priests of Israel blessed the nation with the face of God. They prayed that God’s face, which no one was allowed to see, would shine its light upon the people as they bowed their heads in reverence. The priests blessed the people with God’s face, and the prophets bound the people with God’s Law, the keeping of which marked Israel as God’s Chosen People, upon whom his face shined.

Many generations later, God’s light and God’s Law would come together perfectly one day in a little girl. When the time was just right, Mary was conceived in the womb of Saint Ann. Mary, unlike all other children conceived in all other wombs, directly enjoyed the shining face of God from the first moment of her conception, for she was conceived free of the stain of original sin, which all other men inherit from Adam and Eve, our common parents.

Mary was always filled with the light of God’s presence, for not only was she free of original sin, but also remained free of any personal sins her whole life.

When the Archangel Gabriel called to her, “Hail, full of grace, the LORD is with thee: blessed art thou among women”, Saint Gabriel was speaking to the first human being ever conceived without sin, and therefore the only person on Earth full not only of God’s blessing, but also of God’s presence, making her truly unique, truly blessed amongst women, the new and perfect tabernacle.

When this divine presence came so close to her as to bear fruit in the Incarnate Word of God, Jesus Christ, Mary devoted herself to his presence throughout his life, from his infancy to his cross, becoming his first and foremost disciple. Who better than the Blessed Virgin to show us how to be followers of Christ? She stood faithfully by her divine son as he was crucified, and he, even in the passion of rejection by his people and the pain of the cross, still cared for his mother, placing her into the care of Saint John.

When her days on Earth were at an end, God assumed her into Heaven body and soul, where she now reigns as queen of Heaven and Earth.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is our queen and our mother, the first and sinless disciple of Christ Our Lord. And so we devote ourselves to her. Three times a day we pray the Angelus, recalling her essential role in our salvation: “The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary... And she conceived of the Holy Spirit... Behold the handmaid of the Lord... Be it done unto me according to thy word... And the Word was made flesh... And dwelt among us...”

In times of trouble, we call out to her in our distress, praying from memory the Memorare: “Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee,

O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.

Amen.”

When we habitually wear the Scapular of Mount Carmel, it becomes a sign of the love between the Blessed Mother “…and the faithful who entrust themselves totally to her protection, who have recourse to her maternal intercession, who are mindful of the primacy of the spiritual life and the need for prayer.” [Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, 205]

And when we, her spiritual children, crawl into the lap of our Heavenly Mother each day to meditate with her on the mysteries of our salvation, the Holy Rosary becomes the arms of Mother Mary wrapping around us and squeezing out our angers and our anxieties, as she draws us closer and closer to the God whose presence she has always enjoyed.

May devotion to the Holy Mother of God grow in our hearts and in this parish over the coming year, that we may all move closer to her, and so share in the light of God’s face and in fidelity to God’s Law.

"May We Eat Meat Today?"

2011-12-30T09:28:00.001-05:00

Great question. Unlike the Easter Octave, which has the rank of a (first class) solemn feast, the Christmas Octave is of a lower rank, and so its festive nature does not replace the Friday penitential obligation. Sorry. (Thankfully, I have no "Dislike" button below my posts!)

CHAPTER II.

Days of Penance

Can. 1249 The divine law binds all the Christian faithful to do penance each in his or her own way. In order for all to be united among themselves by some common observance of penance, however, penitential days are prescribed on which the Christian faithful devote themselves in a special way to prayer, perform works of piety and charity, and deny themselves by fulfilling their own obligations more faithfully and especially by observing fast and abstinence, according to the norm of the following canons.

Can. 1250 The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.

Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Can. 1252 The law of abstinence binds those who have completed their fourteenth year. The law of fasting binds those who have attained their majority, until the beginning of their sixtieth year. Pastors of souls and parents are to ensure that even those who by reason of their age are not bound by the law of fasting and abstinence, are taught the true meaning of penance.

Can. 1253 The conference of bishops can determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence as well as substitute other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety, in whole or in part, for abstinence and fast.

The Hermeneutic of Continuity Brought Knoxville a Solemn Gift for Christmas

2011-12-30T09:16:00.000-05:00

You may be interested in this local story about the first solemn Christmas Mass in Knoxville in some forty years (my ordination classmate served as the deacon):

"With thanks to God Who surely was worshiped well, kudos to everyone who contributed to the success of our first solemn high Mass of the Nativity of Our Lord. To celebrant Fr. Christopher Riehl, deacon Fr. John Arthur Orr, and subdeacon Fr. David Carter. To seminarian Michael Hendershott who served as master of ceremonies for the Mass. To Joshua Jakubowski who (with Michael Garner) assisted the sacred ministers in their preparation and organized the fourteen MCs, thurifer, acolytes, servers, and torchbearers who preceded them in the opening precession as approximately two hundred faithful sang Adeste fidelis, and to our dedicated corps of servers themselves. To our schola--and director Mary Garner and organists Anne Hendershott and Jonathan Ziegler--for a beautiful prelude of traditional Christmas music; and during the Mass itself: the Gregorian chanted propers, the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei in sacred polyphony (di Lasso), motets and antiphons including Victoria and Palestrina. How many times was the word "heavenly" heard in expressions of thanksgiving afterwards?" --From the Knoxville Latin Mass Community Newsletter

Feast of the Holy Family

2011-12-30T09:08:00.001-05:00

At first glance the Holy Family is an ordinary family: Joseph is its head as protector and provider, Mary is the loving wife and mother, and Jesus is the infant joy of their union, completely dependent upon them. But then we see that the little infant is God Almighty, that Mary is the sinless Mother of God, and Joseph is a simple craftsman. The usual family order is reversed in this family.

Imagine what it was like for the eternal God of all creation to look up at two creations that have now become his parents. Imagine what it was like for the Blessed Mother to hear the sad prophecy of Simeon in the Temple. And imagine what it was like for Saint Joseph to lead a family made up of God and God’s sinless mother!

While the Holy family was unique in its virtue, it was also unique in its suffering. Saint Joseph provided for a wife whose perpetual virginity he had always to respect. Jesus, rather than being crowned king of Israel and of the universe, was destined to be crowned with the thorns of rejection and condemnation. And the Blessed Virgin stood dutifully as a mother at the feet of her tortured, dying son, whose body she received from the cross.

By its nature and by its endurance of suffering for the sake of salvation, the Holy Family is truly holy. And the holiness of the Holy Family bears fruit in Christian marriage, for just as salvation comes to man through a family, so too does salvation strengthen all Christian families into schools of virtue.

Just as the Holy Family endured hardships, so too can Christian families endure daily difficulties and grow in holiness, thanks to the grace flowing from the Cross and into the sacrament of matrimony.

Against the evils that threaten family life, such as fornication, contraception, adultery and divorce, and against the evils that mock family life, such as cohabitation and homosexual unions, we must hold up the virtues of the Holy Family, and proclaim with renewed joy and confidence the salvation brought to us through Christ’s birth into a human family.

For if God himself chose to grow within the virtuous life of a human family, then our modern culture can certainly grow under the influence of virtuous Christian families.

May the fruits of the Holy Family make all families virtuous and pleasing to God.

The Next Catholic President of the USA?

2011-12-29T21:00:00.001-05:00

I don't have anything to say about his politics, but I do appreciate that Mr. Santorum is a Catholic who takes his family to the traditional Roman Mass.

How Can God's Church Be So Messed Up?

2011-12-28T11:42:00.027-05:00

A group of struggling Catholics asked me to address a serious problem for them, which I will now try to formulate in simple words: it's easy enough to accept in principal that the Catholic Church is the one, true Church, but there is so much contradiction in teaching and pastoral practice, especially from the local clergy and even some national hierarchies, that it's hard, practically speaking, to believe in the Church. The group was not asking about sinful acts among the clergy; they understand that every bishop and priest is a sinner. For example, while the Church has had some truly dreadful sinners as Bishop of Rome, embarrassing as these may have been, as long as the Truth was taught and God was worshiped, the faithful had the tools they needed to become holy, even despite the sins of bad popes and other members of the hierarchy and their clergy. But how, the group wants to know, is it that God now allows so much confusion in what the Church teaches and in how she worships God? Confused teaching and worship, even when the clergy and hierarchy are unusually holy, is catastrophic for the laity. And this, the group would say, is the great problem today for those who claim the Church to be "truth and grace incarnate".
Let me provide some examples of what they are talking about. From the age of the Apostles to the 1960's, the Sacred Liturgy developed gradually from generation to generation in cooperation with the gentle promptings of the Holy Ghost and in response to the pastoral needs of the congregations. Why, then, did God allow the introduction in the Western Church of a new missal that is now celebrated in such a way that all the attention is on the personality of the priest or the choir or the congregation, instead of clearly on God? The mysterious festivity the Roman Mass once was is now a folksy gathering of pagans, it sometimes seems. What good does it do for God to establish one, true Church if he is going to allow so much Mass confusion (pardon the pun)?
Or, if the Church is established by Christ with specific truths to teach, why did he permit the Church to move from clearly and succinctly taught truths about faith and morals in schools and in the missions to the present mess in which at least two generations now don't know the Faith, and no one cares about converting pagans to Christianity or about actively inviting Protestants back into full communion?
As a simple matter of logic, one is left to conclude that if what the Church is doing today is right, then what she was doing for the previous 1900 years was wrong. Or if the past was right and the present wrong, then what does it mean exactly to say the Church is the One, True Church (i.e. how can she be true is she's currently false)?
Intelligent Catholics who call themselves "liberals" (as if there are political parties in Our Lord's Church!) would say that the Catholic Church is simply a historical invention of Medieval followers of Christ, who himself was merely an exceptionally good philosopher, moralist, revolutionary, or some other such purely secular thing. These Catholics believe the Church finally admitted as much in the 1960's, when all Hel..., well, when all of something completely different came to dominate the daily life of the Western Church.
Less intelligent Catholics calling themselves "liberals" want the Church to stick around as a convenient place for ritual celebrations of the births of their children (the ones they don't contracept or abort), their first marriage and for the funerals of their grandparents, the last generation to know the Faith and go to Mass regularly. Other than that, they don't really have anything against the Church because they aren't quite sure what she is. But since they are not inclined to join any other religious group ever since they toyed with Buddhism in college, these Catholics continue to identify themselves as Catholics, showing up for Mass on Christmas and Easter, if the weather holds out.
I honestly can't recall hearing anyone call himself a "conservative" Catholic, although I suppose the companion principals of personal freedom and personal responsibility (instead of the deification of the state) associated with such political conservatives as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher would not be foreign to the principals of a Catholic whose ecclesiology is "conservative". At any rate, if we at least borrow the term "conservative" for a moment to refer to the dedicated but non-liberal Catholics, I think we can say that there are also two sub-groups within this category of Catholics.
The first sub-group I will call "John Paul II" Catholics. These conservative Catholics believe in the traditional teachings of the Church, especially the moral ones, but not so much in the traditional liturgical practices (except the ones required for validity). Then there are the "Benedict XVI" Catholics. This sub-group of conservatives believes in the traditional teachings of the Church, but is also deeply concerned with the need for a return to the Roman liturgical tradition, even in the use of the missal of Pope Paul VI. (The connection of these two subgroups to these two popes is tentative, but commonly accepted.)
Whatever you think of my particular categorization of these groups and subgroups of Catholics, I think you'll agree that groups holding contradictory positions not only exist, but do prominently so. The problem is that there should not be all these kinds of groups in Our Lord's Church. There has always been diversity in the Church, but the teachings have remained universal, and even the liturgy has universally oriented itself away from our sinful selves and towards God. In the past, one of these modern groups would simply be called heretics, and the other faithful Catholics, and that would be that. Those wishing to be good Catholics would know what to believe and what to do. But today, with contradictory divisions even among the hierarchy, and with none of them ever being excommunicated, how are the faithful supposed to know what to believe and what to do? Where is God and why isn't he doing anything about the contradictory teachings and practices? We may have no other choice but to pray quietly about the problem, but God doesn't pray, he acts. So why doesn't he act?
I would like to address the situation with reference to chapter seven of Saint Matthew's Gospel. Basically, Our Lord tells us not to judge, and then proceeds to tell us we must make a lot of careful judgments! Talk about contradictions! The point he is trying to make is that we must be careful to discern the right choice in every decision we make. We must not follow the crowd or take the easy path in life, and we must "beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves". Some men who claim to be Godly leaders are really men of Satan, but these are easy to identify with the eyes of faith.
One advantage we have in our own time is the instrument you are using right now. Through the internet, for the first time in history, you can easily and accurately learn what the pope is saying and doing without being filtered by contending parties. Once you know, you can compare. If you learn that the pope distributes Holy Communion on the tongues of kneeling communicants, but a local priest forbids the practice, is this really a confusing situation, or a perfectly clear one in light of Matthew chapter seven? If a quick search brings up Pope Paul VI's encyclical reaffirming the evil of contraception, but a local priest tells you to take the path that's easiest for you, has God really permitted confusion, or is the truth not clearer than ever? If you read on the Vatican website that Pope Benedict commands that the traditional Roman Mass be made available in every parish where there is a reasonable desire for it, but the local clergy take no steps to meet these demands, is the Church really in a state of confusion, or is the situation perfectly clear?
In other words, I would suggest that just as the invention of the printing press paved the way for the implementation of the decrees of the Council of Trent concerning the teaching of the Faith (the Roman Catechism) and the worship of God (the Roman Missal), the invention of the internet, and its rapid spread even to less developed nations, is paving the way for the implementation of the decrees of the Second Vatican Council, which has been so sadly abused and neglected these past few decades.
We are, then, on the verge of a golden age in the Church. It will once again be clear to anyone interested enough to "google" it what the Church really teaches and how she is supposed to worship, though God now assures this access to the truth through a whole new medium, but, mind you, from the same old Chair of Peter. So, instead of bemoaning our place in a thorn bush when we'd rather be in a rose garden, do this:
Fight the good fight of faith: lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art called, and hast confessed a good confession before many witnesses. I charge thee before God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate, a good confession, that thou keep the commandment without spot, blameless, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in his times he shall shew who is the Blessed and only Mighty, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, and inhabiteth light inaccessible, whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and empire everlasting. Amen. (Timothy 6:12-16)

The Holy Innocents, Martyrs

2011-12-28T08:43:00.003-05:00

So far, we’ve celebrated the feasts of the deacon Saint Stephen, the first martyr for the Gospel, and of Saint John the Evangelist, who died a natural death in the service of the Gospel. Both these men chose to give their lives to the service of the Gospel, but the Holy Innocents made no such choice.

Why did King Herod have them killed? Because he sat on a throne that was not his own, and ruled sinfully. Saint Joseph was the legitimate king of Judah, and Jesus was the Messiah of Israel. The advent of the Messiah could only bring trouble for Herod. Even if this Bethlehem messiah was a fraud, it still spelled trouble for King Herod if the people followed the messiah instead of him. The Romans, Herod’s masters, would not tolerate unrest in their imperial territories.

So, Herod first hoped the foreign magi would bring this messiah to him, but when that failed, he executed his final solution, killing all the infants in the area. But the angel warned Saint Joseph, which a few years later allowed the prophecy to be fulfilled by which the messiah was both born in Bethlehem and drawn out of Egypt.

But we can ask, if an angel warned Saint Joseph and the magi about the pending slaughter, why weren’t the parents of these children warned? The practical answer is that a whole community of families fleeing into Egypt would have been an easy target for the king. But we must look still deeper for answers.

Why does God not intervene to prevent other acts of violence against infants? Abortion and pedophilic assault come to mind as unspeakable crimes today. Why doesn’t God stop these evils?

God has questions of his own. Why did Herod’s soldiers obey those orders? Why did the people of Judah submit to the rule of a false king? What are the people of Townsend today doing to prevent child abuse and abortion? What kind of leaders are Americans sending to Washington?

By giving us free will, God gives us much of his power. The people of Bethlehem could have refused to obey Herod, and then perhaps all died martyrs’ deaths, rather than setting the stage for the massacre of their children. We all have the power to refuse to cooperate with injustice. And God gives us the strength to do so. But he leaves it up to us to decide whose side we’re on.

We are not called to be revolutionaries, but we are called to stand fast in holiness, never cooperating with evil. Holiness requires taking a stand on the side of virtue in all matters subject to the Law of God. But we have to make the decisions. And we have to take the consequences for our decisions. When we make Godly decisions, we do hear the voices of angels. When we make sinful, selfish decisions, we hear another voice:

“A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.”

Feast of Saint John the Apostle, Evangelist

2011-12-27T09:16:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we celebrated the feast of the deacon Stephen, the proto-martyr. Today, we celebrate the feast of Saint John the Evangelist. Saint Stephen was the first Christian martyr. Saint John was the only apostle who was not martyred. But noticed that both these men were faithful to God to the very ends of their lives, each in his own way. Saint Stephen preached the singular Gospel of Christ, announcing to his Jewish brethren that salvation and grace are found only through Christ. There is no way to God but through Christ, and there is no way through Christ except by taking up our own crosses and following him, which Saint Stephen certainly did.

Saint John the Evangelist devoted himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, as Christ commanded him from the Cross, and he wrote his account of the Holy Gospel, two epistles and the Book of the Apocalypse.

Together, these two men teach us an important lesson: we are not in Heaven yet, so we should not expect the experience of faithful Christian living to seem like we are. Saint Stephen was faithful in proclaiming the Christian truth, and was stoned to death for it. Saint John was faithful in proclaiming the Christian truth, and embraced the burden of being a caretaker for the Blessed Mother.

Today, we want to be Catholics without the burden of sharing the Catholic Faith with others, and with only a nod to the Mother of God. Saint Stephen accepted death by stoning, but we allow even the threat of harsh words to deter us from spreading the truth about faith and morals. Saint John devoted himself to the Blessed Mother until her glorious Assumption, but we cannot be bothered to recite the Angelus, wear the scapular or meditate daily with the holy rosary. If we want the Church to be holy, then we must become more like these two saints, cultivating the evangelical bravery of Saint Stephen and the Marian devotion of Saint John.

I know there is a group in our own parish who believe what’s needed here are more parties and other social events without a spiritual focus. But I must insist that the purpose of a parish is growth in holiness, and we must build up this holiness on the foundation of Christ and through the imitation of his saints. There is no other way. No other way.

Is imitating the saints a burden? Yes, of course. It leads to all kinds of trouble for us. But I assure you, there is a joy in imitating the saints that will fill us, sustain us and make us want to do even more and more for God. Once we start down the road to holiness we begin to see just how good holiness is. And it is good. The nonsense we must push aside and the crosses we must bear are worth it. Giving ourselves—giving this parish—entirely to the service of the Gospel, proclaiming the Catholic Truth to Townsend and lavishing—yes, lavishing—the Blessed Mother of God with a treasury of devotion: it’s all worth it. We’re not wasting our time doing these things. The joyful deaths of the martyrs and the joyful lives of the saints prove it. No one ever died a heroic death for a party. But the Gospel, the Gospel is worth everything, every suffering, every effort, every cross. And if we make the celebration of Holy Sacrifice of the Cross, the proclamation of the Truth to Townsend and devotion to the Blessed Mother the core principals of this parish, then we will grow in holiness, and we will begin to see amazing things happen here.

Mass Intentions

2011-12-26T09:10:00.000-05:00

I have many Masses available for intentions. If you have a specific and personal intention, please comment below and I will probably be able to include it in the coming weeks. If you prefer that the Mass be in the traditional form, please include the following at the end of your request: (EF).
Please use first names (the baptismal name) and last initials only, for the sake of internet privacy.
I will announce the date and time of your intention(s) at the bottom of this post.

On the Feast of Stephen

2011-12-26T07:34:00.003-05:00

Jesus warned his disciples to beware of other men. Why? Because these men will attack good Christians, using both religious and secular arguments against them. So, why doesn’t Christ prevent this sort of thing from happening to his followers? Because when a Christian endures such sufferings patiently, onlookers will see the inner strength Christ gives his followers. Rather than an outward display of power, which Satan and his followers prefer, good Christians possess an inner strength that allows us to endure joyfully the assaults of the arrogant, and our outward display of this inner strength converts those on the sidelines to Christ.

But what does one say when the enemies of truth challenge the teachings of the Church and attack those who proclaim these truths? Let's look at an example. Priests and deacons are charged by our bishops with the task of preaching the Gospel truth, and are required to take great care in doing so. But when we are threatened by others for what we preach, we are not to carefully prepare our defense as we would prepare a sermon. This is a very interesting command of the Lord to us all. But it’s easy enough to understand. Preparing sermons is a job God gives us. We must accomplish this task ourselves, being careful to preach the Catholic Truth entirely and exactly. Why should God do this job for us? He shouldn’t. We are laborers of the Word and must do the labor.

But in the case of persecution from Godless men, God prefers to show his power—not our own—working through us, so we allow God to speak though our moths and our patience towards the persecutors. This allows God to reveal his power, but it also makes the enemies of Truth enemies not of the simple priest or deacon, but of the one speaking through him, God.

Similarly, each of you have the duty of spreading the True Faith according to your own circumstances, and so you should remember to rely upon God’s strength working inside you in times of persecution.

Now, here’s the hardest part of this message. The persecutors Christ speaks of here are not only pagans with a hatred for Christians from a distance, but also men who profess belief in God. Some of the harshest persecutions can come from those within our community of faith (think of the deadly Protestant Reformation). The deacon Stephen was not charged, condemned and murdered by the pagan Romans, but by the Jewish leaders of the town. Why? Because Saint Stephen preached that Christ, the Jewish Messiah, is the only way to the Father in Heaven. The only way to live fully in the truth is to live in Christ’s Church. The only way to worship God fully is through Christ, whose body and blood we offer the Father sacrificially in the Holy Mass. What Saint Stephen said was too much for too many, so they killed him. For that matter, what Christ said was too much for too many, so they killed him. What the clergy of this parish have to say in the name of Christ may disturb some enough to attack is in various ways in an effort to kill our enthusiasm or our reputations. What you have to say to your friends and neighbors, even to your own family members, about Christian faith and morals may lead some of them to despise you and lash out against you. But remember these words of Christ:

“Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved."

May the holy words and faithful blood of the martyr Stephen remind us of our duty to spread the Catholic Faith, and of God’s power working within us.

Christmas Mass During the Day

2011-12-25T10:15:00.003-05:00

In a world filled with suffering, sin and death, we may well wonder why the ancient birth of a baby in Bethlehem is even worth celebrating, since everything from news reports to our own experiences tell us the world is no better off today than it was when Christ was born. It’s not a very happy line of thought, but one enough thoughtful people take that we must take it seriously. With the rapid rise in recent decades of such evil practices as contraception and abortion, mankind seems to be losing its love for conception and birth, so we may even ask, what good is conception and birth in the first place?

That there is so much evil in the world, both natural and manmade, poses a serious challenge to men of faith, namely, if there is a good and mighty God, then why does he permit such evils?

We may begin our search for answers by looking at God’s response to the sins and sufferings of mankind. Notice first that God does not forcefully intervene to stop our sins, but gently intervenes to save us from them. God does not intervene to prevent the natural evils of the world, but, rather, makes himself vulnerable to them, being born an infant.

The very fact that God chose to become one of us tells us there is something about us worth saving, but also something about us worth preserving. God does not seek to end our freedom to choose between good and evil, nor does he act to eliminate our vulnerability to the universe, but, rather, embraces this freedom and vulnerability both in the manger and one the cross.

In this way, God shows us that the answer to human suffering, especially suffering that is, in effect, self-inflicted through sin, is not for him to take away our freedom or vulnerability, but, rather to shine the light of truth upon it and to empower it with the grace of his Presence. He shows us that when we accept our vulnerability and the consequences due to our sins, and humble ourselves to be more like him, we become more fully human, not less so. Humility makes us more fully human. That’s a true revelation. God humbled himself to become a man, but in doing so he became truly human.

No sooner was Christ born than the evil King Herod sought to kill him, forcing the Holy Family to immigrate at once to the land of Egypt, the very land that once enslaved their ancestors. No sooner do we celebrate this feast of Christ’s nativity than we celebrate the martyrdom of Christ’ First Martyr, Saint Stephen, tomorrow. On Wednesday we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents, remembering all those children killed by King Herod in his attempt to kill the vulnerable Christ.

We see, then, that the advent of the Messiah, the birth of Christ, occurs very much within a world of sin, but can still be celebrated precisely because both Christ’s vulnerable birth and his sacrificial death give meaning to human suffering by showing us the value of human life and giving us the hope for a new, sinless life to come in Heaven.

No matter how difficult we may find life at times, or how far we fall into sin, we always have reason to hope for redemption because God became one of us, and then, through his life on Earth, revealed a path for us into Heaven.

So, may we celebrate this day filled with joy and hope, and thankful that our redemption is at hand.

Midnight Mass

2011-12-25T01:28:00.001-05:00

Getting ready for Midnight Mass in Townsend, Tenn.

Christmas Midnight Mass (EF)

2011-12-24T20:53:00.000-05:00

1. And it came to pass, that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled. We see the contrast here between the arrogant and the humble. Israel is a conquered nation of freed slaves, while the Roman Empire is the center of civilization.

2. This enrolling was first made by Cyrinus, the governor of Syria. Ancient Assyria reduced the number of tribes of Israel from twelve down to just Judah, and now at the birth of Christ Roman power at work in modern Syria begins the process of counting the remaining Jews. But however much they count, the measurements of man cannot count the value of the infant in the womb of the Virgin.

3. And all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. It's important to remember here that Saint Joseph is the legitimate heir to King David, who once angered God by conducting a census of his own. Now, King David's descendent is subject to the imperial census, which he has no choice but to obey, for the land of Judah, once ruled by God, is now ruled by the pagan caesar.

4. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: because he was of the house and family of David… David came from Bethlehem, but went to Jerusalem where he established the nation’s capital and moved the Presence of God. Christ was born in Bethlehem, but finished his Earthly life in Jerusalem on the Cross, making his Sacred Heart, pierced with the soldier’s lance, the capital of Christianity.

5. To be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child.

Saint Joseph obeys Caesar, while the Blessed Virgin Mary obeyed God by receiving his Son into her womb at the Annunciation. The Fruit of her womb would would later address the tension between God and Caesar with his instruction: render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God what is God's.

6. And it came to pass, that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. The Jews waited generations for the advent of the Messiah as a nation pregnant with hope. The BVM waited nine holy months for the Nativity of the Christ. The Church now waits with hope for the Second Coming of Christ in glory to judge the living and the dead. The Virgin once welcomed Christ into her womb, and the Church must now welcome him into our ears during the proclamation of the Holy Gospel and onto our tongues during Holy Communion.

7. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. Her own, holy body having served as Christ's clothing for nine months, the Virgin wrapped her firstborn son in protective clothing. While there was no room for him in the inn, we must clear out our sins to make room for him inside our bodies and souls.

8. And there were in the same country shepherds watching, and keeping the night watches over their flock. Just as the shepherds kept watch over their vulnerable sheep, so too must we keep watch over the vulnerable among us, especially the lonely widows, poor immigrants and unwanted children.

9. And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them; and they feared with a great fear. We must cultivate reverent fear in our lives, growing in awareness of our unworthiness and of God's majesty.

10. And the angel said to them: Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people:

We must allow God to meet our fear with the truth of his Gospel, and to feed our joy with himself in Holy Communion.

11. For, this day, is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. King David was a shepherd from Bethlehem, and now the Messiah is born in Bethlehem, the infant who will grow to lead his sheep away from the demonic wolves of the world and into the verdant pastures of Heaven.

12. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. Christ was bound in swaddling clothes at his birth, and bound with nails at his crucifixion. They laid him in the feeding trough of animals at his nativity, and he is fed to his sheep in the Holy Mass.

13. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying: Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will.
Let us celebrate this day with the angels, and have a merry Christmas!

Christmas Vigil Mass

2011-12-24T14:51:00.000-05:00

Our Gospel selection begins, “this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.” It’s important for the evangelist Matthew to show that Christ is central to God’s grand plan to save humanity from sin and Satan. Christ was not born where he was or when he was or how he was by some chance of history. Rather, God planned long ago to send his divine Son, born of a sinless virgin and into the royal line of King David, to save Israel and men of good will. With peace maintained by Rome, science taught by Athens and the faith of Israel perfected in the Blessed Virgin Mary, the time was finally right for the advent of the Messiah.

Mathew continues “When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.” The evangelist establishes here that Christ is not like other men. He is not merely some sort of wise philosopher or dependable politician or social reformer or community activist. He’s something much more, something miraculous. The very fact that he was conceived within a woman who had never been with a man points to miraculous intervention by God. But that’s still not all. Christ is also not simply the fruit of a miraculous conception, but the eternal Word of God who always lived within the Blessed Trinity, even during the time his new body grew within the Blessed Virgin. He always was, even before he was a man. Christ is God.

Mathew continues, “Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.” This tells us something about our devotion to Saint Joseph. The Book of Deuteronomy requires that a husband who discovers his new wife to be pregnant before they live together is to present his claim to the city elders. If they rule in his favor, then, and I quote, “they shall bring the young woman to the entrance of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death, because she committed a shameful crime in Israel by prostituting herself in her father’s house. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.” Saint Joseph would have been well within his rights to take this action against Mary. But notice that he decided not to do so even before the angel appeared to him in a dream and told him what was going on. In other words, Saint Joseph now believed his wife not to be a virgin when he married her, and that she was pregnant with another man’s child, but nevertheless he did not wish to expose Mary to shame, and so decided to divorce her quietly. We see, then, that Saint Joseph was a good man, who practiced justice tempered with mercy. And remember, Saint Joseph—not Herod—was the rightful heir to the throne of David. A king’s job is to maintain justice in his kingdom, justice tempered by mercy. Although his kingdom was stolen from him, Saint Joseph still displayed the virtues of a king. This is the kind of man Christ had for an earthly father.

The evangelist continues with the words of the angel to Saint Joseph, “‘she will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us’.” With the advent of the Messiah, God is no longer above a temple in Jerusalem, but here “with us” (Emmanu-El) as a divine man who “saves us from our sins” (Yeh-oshua: Jesus) in the Holy Mass, which is the sacrifice of the Cross. In every celebration of the Holy Mass, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, who is Emmanuel, appears on the Holy Altar, from which he is lifted up in sacrifice to the Father for our sins (Jesus). When you approach the Altar Rail, you have the opportunity to adore Christ miraculously present in what looks like only a small piece of bread, just as Saint Joseph and the Blessed Virgin adored the Almighty God in what appeared to the world to be nothing more than a poor infant lying in the feeding trough of barnyard animals.

That all of salvation history, thousands of years’ worth, could center on an infant in an animals’ manger, or on a man being executed on a cross, is amazing. Amazement is the appropriate response to all this. Christ was bound in swaddling clothes at his nativity, and he was bound by nails at his death. He was placed in a feeding trough at his birth, and he is fed to us in the Holy Mass. May our amazement be turned into adoration, and our adoration turned into obedience to this child-king, who rules the hearts and minds of those who choose to follow him, dispensing justice tempered with mercy.

Information Concerning the Two Saints Whose Images are Now in Our Parish Hall

2011-12-23T13:45:00.000-05:00

Saint Clare of Assisi, d. 1253; disciple of Saint Francis of Assisi; founded the Poor Clares whose convent at Assisi, Italy (then within the Papal States) she directed as abbess for forty-two years; led an austere life, rich in the practice of charity and mercy. Clare sought to imitate Francis' virtues and way of life so much that she is called an alter Franciscus, another Francis. She also played a significant role in encouraging and aiding Francis, whom she saw as a spiritual father, and she took care of him during his illnesses at the end of his life, until his death in 1226. Saint Claire’s feast day is August 11th.

“Padre Pio” was born Francesco Forgione in 1887 in the small Italian village of Pietrelcina. A Capuchin priest who had received the stigmata, he spent fifty years at the monastery of San Giovanni Rotondo, where he was much sought after as a spiritual advisor, confessor and intercessor. Despite such notoriety, he would often say, “I only want to be a poor friar who prays.” His life was devoted to the Eucharist and to prayer. He died 23 September 1968 at the age of eighty-one. He is the patron saint of civil defense volunteers and Catholic adolescents. Padre Pio’s feast day is September 23rd.

No 11 A.M. Mass in Townsend this Sunday

2011-12-23T09:25:00.001-05:00

Friendly reminder: We will NOT have the usual 11 am traditional Roman Mass in Townsend this Sunday, due to the earlier Midnight Mass in the traditional form.

Late Friday of Advent

2011-12-23T09:06:00.001-05:00

Our lesson today is taken from the Book of the Prophet Malachi. After their return from Exile, God’s Chosen People rebuilt the Temple, but soon became lax in their sacrificial offerings. Remember, the only offerings acceptable to God are the ones that are the very best we have to offer. Whenever Christians bring gifts to God, whether it’s the weekly tithe or gifts for the poor, its important to keep in mind that God accepts only the best of what we have to offer, and rejects everything else. The Jews had fallen away from virtuous giving, and so the prophet Malachi chastised the nation, reminding them that God gives the best of what he has, so God’s people must give the best of what they have.

All of this comes together with the advent of the Messiah. In Christ, God gives Judah and the world the very best of what he has: his Eternal Word, Jesus Christ. It is now the responsibility of Christians to offer the priests bread, wine and all else needed for a noble sacrifice, as well as to provide for noble places for the sacrifice, so that the priests may fittingly utter the words that change the very substance of the bread and wine into the Substance of Christ. During the Eucharistic Canon, the Church offers the very best of what she has to the Father, for she has his perfect Son.

Malachi makes the disturbing point that if the pagans had what the Jews had, then the pagans would be more appreciative and generous than the Jews in offering sacrifice. We Christians today must allow the prophet’s words to convert our minds and hearts as we look around and see how seriously the world takes everything from cars to football. Do we take our efforts towards God and his holy Church more seriously than the world takes its secular pursuits? How much money, how many hours and how much labor do we give to God and his Church compared to what we give to various non-essential interests? It’s good to keep asking these questions honestly.

Sometimes, what we have to offer doesn’t seem like much to the world. This is especially the case in poorer communities. In our world of contraception and abortion, an infant in the womb of a young woman appears to have only conditional value. But it was just such an infant in just such a woman who became the world’s only hope for salvation. A little baby lying in the feeding trough of barn animals doesn’t seem like much in our world. But he is the very best God has to offer us, and the very best we have to offer him.

So, before we celebrate Christmas, or continue with this celebration of the Holy Mass for that matter, let us meditate us this warning of Malachi to the lax priests and negligent Jews of his day:

But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner's fire, or like the fuller's lye. He will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, refining them like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD. Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in the days of old, as in years gone by. Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet,

Before the day of the LORD comes, the great and terrible day, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the land with doom.

Christmas Greetings from the Pope

2011-12-22T17:14:00.000-05:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As Christmas approaches, I offer prayerful good wishes to you and your families for a spiritually fruitful celebration of the Lord’s birth. At Midnight Mass, we sing: “Today a Saviour is born for us”. This “Today” evokes an eternal present, for the mystery of Christ’s coming transcends time and permeates all history. “Today” – every day - we are invited to discover the presence of God’s saving love in our midst. In the birth of Jesus, God comes to us and asks us to receive him, so that he can be born in our lives and transform them, and our world, by the power of his love. The Christmas liturgy also invites us to contemplate Christ’s birth against the backdrop of his paschal mystery. Christmas points beyond itself, to the redemption won for us on the Cross and the glory of the Resurrection. May this Christmas fill you with joy in the knowledge that God has drawn near to us and is with us at every moment of our lives.

I greet all the English-speaking visitors present, including the pilgrimage groups from Singapore and the United States. My special greetings and good wishes go to the Tenth World Congress of the International Association of Maternal and Neonatal Health. My greeting also goes to the primary school children from Korea. I welcome the alumni of the Pontifical North American College who are celebrating their fiftieth anniversary of ordination, and the students of Holy Spirit Seminary in Brisbane, Australia. Upon all of you and your families I invoke God’s abundant blessings. Merry Christmas!

Late Thursday of Advent: Magnificent Sacrifice

2011-12-22T13:07:00.000-05:00

Hannah brought a full sacrifice to God: “bread” and wine, a bull and a boy. It’s important to remember that true sacrifice is a pleasing act, not a destructive act. The one making the offering to God hopes to please God through the sacrifice. By offering flour and wine, Hannah shows God she appreciates these gifts from God, so that her gratitude and God’s gifts come together in the form of sacrifice. Similarly, by offering the animal and her son, Hannah brings together her love for God and God’s love for her. God gives, we receive, and the love between us gives birth to sacrifice. Sacrifice, then, is a sort of “offspring” of the love between our generous God and his grateful people.

Hannah’s sacrifice is very specifically a maternal sacrifice. The love between God and Hannah produced a son, and so Hannah offers this son to God in sacrifice.

The love between God and the Blessed Virgin Mary is also specifically maternal. The love between God and Mary produced the incarnate Word of God, whose sacrifice on the Cross saves repentant sinners.

The sacrifice of the Church is specifically maternal. The love between God and Holy Mother Church changes her bread and wine sacrifice into the body and soul of Christ, and then she offers Christ sacrificially to the Father.

So, please mediate upon these words from the Book of Samuel today, especially the very last line:

“I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request.

Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD;

as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD.”

She left Samuel there.

Late Wednesday

2011-12-21T08:57:00.000-05:00

Our Responsorial Psalm is taken from Psalm 33. The psalmist tells Israel to “sing a new song” to their God, who has an old plan: “Sing to him a new song…the plan of the Lord stands forever”. We give God what is new and fresh, rather than what is old and worn. We’re working to put this into practice here, where there may have been a tendency in the past for parishioners to acquire new items for their own homes, but then give the old items to the church, and to otherwise allow older items here to lose their luster. From removing the broken down furniture in the education building to restoring the deteriorated Infant of Prague statue in the parish hall, we’ve been working together to make these things as new and fresh as possible for God house.

The psalmist sings of the “design” of God’s heart and of the people God has chosen for his own. The heart of God here refers to an intimate part of God’s eternal being. But God has decided with his eternal heart to adopt a people as his own, so that Israel is now counted among God’s personal possessions, along with his heart. God has a heart and a people.

The psalmist continues, saying “our soul waits”, “our hearts rejoice”. The unseen “soul” of Israel is incomplete except when the God of Israel is near, and the hearts of the people rejoice at God’s Presence in the Jerusalem Temple. Most of Israel is far away from the Temple, and so remains in a state of longing. But each family journeys on pilgrimage to God’s Presence in Jerusalem, were they can rejoice to be so near the God who holds the nation near him. Catholics must live and work away from the substantial Presence of God in the Mass and reserved in the tabernacles, and so the Church is in a constant state of waiting for the Lord. But our hearts rejoice each time we have the opportunity to be near him in the Holy Mass or to visit his Presence.

The psalmist then praises the name of God, who is the protective shield of Israel. So powerful is God’s holy name that he only reveals it to his faithful people, who dare not utter it except on the most solemn occasions. God’s people practice a reverent fear of God’s name, and the dark forces of the underworld flee in terror before it. God’s holy name is a shield against temptation and other demonic activities. The birth of the Messiah would bring a new fear to believers and terror to Satan, for at his nativity God receive a new name, Jesus, at which Christians bow our heads in reverence, and upon which we call in times of distress.

So, let us sing a new song to the Lord for sending us his Son as part of God’s eternal plan, a son who would offer his heart on the Cross to shield our souls from the fires of hell, and to feed us his heart and soul in the Holy Mass.

Late Tuesday

2011-12-20T13:12:00.000-05:00

When we think of the season of Advent, we naturally think of the prophecies of Isaiah. And while Isaiah has very much to say to us about preparing for Christmas, today’s lesson from the Book of Isaiah is easily the most important text concerning the advent of the Messiah of Israel and Savior of mankind, for it speaks of the “virgin with child”.

Let’s situate the prophecy in its historical context. The nation of Israel was twelve landed tribes ruled by God with the occasional assistance of military judges. But the people asked their God for a king, which God granted. But the first king, Saul, failed to listen to God’s prophet Samuel, and he interfered with the work of God’s priests, so God took the royal lineage from Saul’s family and gave it to David’s. Now, it’s important to understand that each generation of Davidic kings was more than a politician, for each of these kings over the years embodied the promise of God to maintain justice and peace in Israel. While the prophets preached the Law of God and the priests offered sacrifice to God, the Davidic kings provided a secure environment by the power of God in which the prophets and priests could work effectively. So, the presence of the Davidic king in each generation was the very presence of the divine promise of justice and peace: “emmanu’el”.

But the people soon lost interest in God’s promises, resulting in the division of the Kingdom of Israel into two kingdoms, with Samarian kingdom in the North and the Kingdom of Judah in the South. The Kingdom of Judah, though containing only two of the landed tribes, did contain both the Presence of God at the Temple in Jerusalem, and the promises of justice and peace in the Davidic kings of Judah. Eventually, the ten tribes of the North were conquered and dispersed, with pagan immigration into the land creating a new, pagan land of Samaria.

In the South, the Kingdom of Judah struggled to remain faithful to God, despite God’s fidelity to Judah. In today’s text from Isaiah, King Ahaz has made up his mind to depend upon his own cunning rather than the promises of God to protect the nation from foreign invaders. The prophet even promised God would give King Ahaz a sign of God’s strength, but Ahaz simply wasn’t interested. He was determined to do things his own way, and so entered into an alliance with a foreign, pagan nation. Not long after that, the king even went so far as to repeat the crimes of old King Saul by interfering with the priests, this time setting up a pagan altar in God’s Temple.

So, what about the sign Isaiah spoke of? Since the king would not choose one for God to perform, Isaiah instead spoke of a future sign of salvation, a virgin giving birth to a child possessing the Davidic promise of justice and peace, Emmanuel.

Let us prepare to celebrate the Nativity of the Messiah, welcoming him as our High Priest, as our prophet of the Law and as our King. As we fall down in adoration before him, let us recommit ourselves to worship of Him, to listening to him and to obeying him.

The LORD spoke to Ahaz:

Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky! But Ahaz answered,

"I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!" Then Isaiah said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.

Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent ("Late Monday"): Handmaid Salvation

2011-12-19T08:59:00.000-05:00

Before God gave the nation a king, the tribes of Israel depended upon men called “judges” to lead them in times of distress. These leaders “judged” among various options to decide which strategy their particular tribe should adopt, especially in combating pagan enemies. The Book of Judges describes the time period during which Israel was ruled in this decentralized way—that is—when Israel was ruled by God but without a central, human leader, such as a king, acting on God’s behalf for the whole nation.

The Tribe of Dan was one of two “handmaid” tribes of Israel. The Twelve Tribes of Israel bore the names of Jacob’s sons. (Remember that Jacob was renamed “Israel”, which is how the nation Israel itself later got its name.) But two of the Twelve Tribes had patriarchs who were indeed Jacob’s sons, but who were born of a woman who was not Jacob’s wife: Bilhah, the handmaid of Rachael. The Blessed Virgin Mary would later declare herself the “handmaid of the Lord”, agreeing to bear the Son of God. So, when you hear the name “Dan”, think of the “handmaid” origins of the tribe of Dan, and then of the handmaid origins of our salvation in Christ.

O.K. An angel appeared from heaven announcing the birth of Sampson to a childless couple of the Tribe of Dan. Sampson would be filled with the strength of God, which he would use to defeat the pagan enemies of Israel by offering his own life for the nation’s liberation. You’ll recall the famous scene in the Philistine temple when Sampson, having recovered his Nazirite powers (remember, we discussed another Nazirite, Samuel, yesterday) toppled the pillars and then the whole building upon his capturers, thereby destroying the enemy all at once, but also killing himself.

So, a childless woman of a handmaid tribe bears a son by the power of God, and this son goes on to conquer the enemy, laying down his life for his people.

The Blessed Virgin Mary, the “handmaid of the Lord”, bore a son by the power of God, and this Son went on the defeat the enemy Satan by laying down his own life for the salvation of his Church.

Physicists speak of a fourth dimension, time. We should learn to see that God works through the four dimensions, executing a grand plan that stretches through the ages. The individual events described in the Holy Bible are not isolated from each other, but are all connected by the hand of God, and all centered on the person of Jesus Christ. To understand Christ, we must understand the Holy Bible, for, as Saint Jerome put it so long ago, “ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ”. We only have one reading from the Book of Judges this week, but I encourage you to pick up your Bibles today and read the Book of Judges as part of your preparation for Christmas.

Fourth Sunday of Advent: Chaos in Corinth

2011-12-18T14:20:00.002-05:00

Saint Paul discovered that after a community is converted to the Gospel, there is a danger of corruption in faith and morals without the firm but gentle hand of Our Lord’s shepherds. After their conversion, the Corinth Catholics soon drifted into rival groups, rather than following their pastors. But the Corinthians must learn to listen to their pastors and to follow them, rather than dividing into different groups and deciding for themselves what they will believe and do.

The reason Saint Paul makes such demands upon the Corinthians is because once Christians are baptized, we no longer belong to ourselves or Satan but to Christ. Since we belong to Christ, we must do whatever Christ wants us to do, and do nothing Christ wants us not to do. How do we know what we’re to do? The pastors tell us. How do we know the pastors are right? Because the Holy Ghost works through Apostolic Succession, prompting bishops to a lifestyle oriented towards God and towards teaching consistent with the Gospel. We know from history that the first few generations of shepherds would develop Gospel teachings in response to certain questions and controversies, but always building upon, and never contradicting, previous generations of shepherds. Only when a shepherd clearly contracts defined teaching on a point of faith or morals may the faithful dismiss his teaching as false.

The Corinthians belong to Christ, and therefore must follow the teaching of Christ’s shepherds in thought and mind. Since not only the minds but also the bodies of the faithful belong to God, Saint Paul tells the Corinthians to stop dressing immodestly and to stop treating the nuptial act as anything other than what intends it to be. The Corinthians’ casual attitude towards the interactions between the men and women, along with their permissive attitude towards divorce, is contrary to the Gospel and has to stop.

Similarly, the casual attitude of the Corinthian Catholics towards the pagan culture around them is marking them more as Satan’s children than as the children of God. So, Saint Paul insists that they must live in the world without belonging to the world.

Yet another weakness we find in Corinth is at Mass. The casual attitude of the congregations shifts the focus of attention away from God and towards themselves, so that the congregations are, in effect, worshiping themselves rather than God, thereby creating nothing less than celebrations of blasphemy.

Finally, Saint Paul must counter disputes about the resurrection of the dead. If Christ did not die and rise from the dead, then we all have no hope of resurrection. But since he did, and we do, we must all live in the light of Christ until that day of resurrection comes to us.

So, we can sum it up this way today: Christians must remain united in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, following the pope and bishops united with him in the proclamation and administration of the Gospel, obeying the law of God concerning marriage and its actions, worshiping God and not ourselves during Mass, and living in the light of Christ until he returns in glory at his Second Coming to judge the living and the dead, and to reward the saints with blessed resurrection.

As we prepare to celebrate our annual feast of Our Lord’s first advent at his Nativity, let us also prepare ourselves for his second coming in glory to judge the living and the dead.

Fourth Sunday of Advent: Advent of the Davidic Messiah

2011-12-17T13:57:00.009-05:00

In order to understand today’s [Sunday's] lesson from the Second Book of Samuel we need to know three people: Samuel, Saul and David.

The prophet Samuel was a Nazirite. Nazirites were men ritually dedicated to God through baptism, and who stood apart from other men by: their distinct appearance, abstinence from certain pleasures and avoidance of the dead. These Nazirite practices would become especially important with the advent of the Messiah, both in the preaching of Saint John the Baptist and in the ministry of the apostles. Nazirites offered three sacrifices to God: one to please God, one to express sorrow for sin, and one for peace. With the advent of the Messiah, Christ would offer himself as a pleasing sacrifice to the Father, a sacrifice that forgives sins and establishes peace.

The Nazirite Samuel preached the proper relationship that must exist in political life: politicians must follow the laws of God in their decisions in order for the state to function with justice. When politicians do not follow the laws of God in their decisions, the state becomes unjust.

The preaching of Samuel prepares the way for the office of “king” in Israel. The first king was Saul. Samuel anointed Saul king, but Saul did not listen to the Law of God which Samuel preached. Specifically, Saul tried to take over the priestly office of the Levites by offering a sacrifice with his own hands, while neglecting the duties of king by failing to fight against the enemies of God. God punished King Saul by taking the office of king from his family and giving it to the shepherd David, the third man we need to know today.

Although David was a sinner like everyone else, committing such sins as adultery and murder, he always genuinely repented of his sins and followed God’s Law in the administration of the kingdom. Therefore, David became the first in a long line of kings stretching forward a thousand years all the way to Saint Joseph, the foster father of Jesus.

So, we have Samuel, Saul and David. Samuel is important both because of his way of life and because he tells us how a Godly ruler must behave. Saul is important because he shows us what happens when an ungodly ruler interferes with the priests while neglecting the duties of his own office. And David shows us even a sinner can be a Godly ruler, and so God rewarded David with a family of kings culminating in the kingship of Christ.

We need to know these three men, described in detail in the books of Samuel, in order to understand the advent of Jesus Christ.

Now, let's look very specifically at today's account of King David. Having established justice and peace in the kingdom, David was finally in a position to move the nation from a nomadic to a civilized life. King David moved the capital to Jerusalem, the ancient kingdom of Melchizedek. Remember that Melchizedeck was the priestly king who offered the bread and wine sacrifice for Abraham, the "great grandfather" of the Nation of Israel. When Christ came many centuries later, he would be a priest not of the line of Levi and Aaron, but of Melchizedeck, King of Salem. (Notice that you can see the name "Salem" in "Jerusalem".)

So, David moved the capital to Jerusalem, and then built himself a house instead of continuing to live in a tent. But God still lived in a tent, dwelling above the Ark of the Covenant. How could a Godly king like David live in a palace while God lived in a tent? For David, the solution was obvious: he must build a house for God's Presence. But he was wise enough to ask the prophet Nathan if this is what God wanted, before building anything.

God, speaking through his prophet Nathan, made it clear that it is really God who builds the nation, and so it is God who will "build" a royal house for David, that is, a royal line stretching all the way down to the Messiah. God, not the king, would decide when the time was right to build the Temple, which David's son Solomon would accomplish.

Do you see the point here? God, not man, calls the shots. God tells the priests how to offer the nation's sacrifices (see the Book of Leviticus). God tells the prophets how to preach the Law of truth and morals. And God tells the kings how to achieve justice and peace. When the time was right—and this is the key—when the time was right, God told King Solomon to build the Temple in Jerusalem, so that God's Presence in the Temple could be the national center for the three “offices” of Israel: the center of worship (office of priest), truth (office of prophet) and justice (office of king) for the nation. Again, all this when God decided the time was right.

Many centuries later, after their return from the Babylonian Exile, the Jews became part of the Greek empire, from which they learned the language of science. Then, they became part of the Roman Empire, from which they benefited from the mighty Pax Romana. With the mind of Athens and the strong arm of Rome in place around the heart of Jerusalem, the time was finally right for God to dwell in a "new tent", the Blessed Virgin Mary, who would give birth to the Lamb of God (Priest), the Word of God (Prophet), the Prince of Peace (King): Jesus Christ, the Son of God and son of David. The Catholic Faith in Christ today is the culmination of the Faith of Israel, is examined and explained using the scientific method of ancient Greece, and was spread around the world by missionaries from Christendom, which was nothing less than the Roman Empire baptized. We see that God picked the perfect time in history when everything was just right for the advent of the Messiah, who would perfect the dedication of the Nazirites, complete the preaching of Samuel, depose the rule of Satan, perfect the ritual sacrifices of Israel on the Cross, establish a new, catholic priesthood in the order of Melchizedeck, and set up his Body around the world in the Holy Mass as the new Temple of God.

Samuel, Saul and David; palaces, tents and temples; priests, prophets and kings; law, truth and justice; worship, repentance and peace; religion, science and strength; Jerusalem, Athens and Rome: we see all of this in one, little baby in the womb of one, little Virgin, in a little town called "Bethlehem".

Friday of the Third Week of Advent: A Foreign Faith

2011-12-16T15:15:00.000-05:00

God speaks to his Jews through his prophet Isaiah, saying, “Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed.” The Savior comes to save those who work to save others. The Messiah brings mercy to those who show mercy to others. The Infant, protected for nine months in the womb of the Virgin, will give grace to those who protect the weak.

God continues, “Blessed is the one…who keeps the sabbath free from profanation…” The advent of the Messiah would bring the creation of a new day of the week, the “Eighth Day”—Sunday—and the rule for the Lord’s Day is simple: set that day aside to worship, study and celebrate God’s mercy. That’s the rule, and the Just Judge will judge our observance of his holy day.

Then God speaks of foreigners. His Chosen People were foreigners enslaved in Egypt when he established them as his nation, and now, as Isaiah writes, the Jews are exiled in Babylon. So, God has no tolerance for mistreatment of foreigners. We must treat foreigners with respect and welcome them in a spirit of hospitality. And notice that God goes even further, telling his people that soon all nations will be invited into God’s house, so that the God of Israel will be worshiped by all good men. The advent of the Messiah would bring the establishment of the Catholic Church, assigned the mission of teaching, leading and sanctifying the whole world. The visit of the Magi from abroad would signal the beginnings of this new, global religion, a religion anyone may join. The only condition is that we must listen to, worship and obey God.

As today’s lesson puts it, “Let not the foreigner say, when he would join himself to the LORD, ‘The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.’

The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, ministering to him, loving the name of the LORD, and becoming his servants--All who keep the sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant, them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus says the Lord GOD, who gathers the dispersed of Israel: others will I gather to him besides those already gathered.”

Thursday of the Third Week of Advent: Marital Fruit

2011-12-15T10:09:00.002-05:00

“Raise a glad cry, …break forth in jubilant song…For…your descendants shall dispossess the nations and shall people the desolate cities.” We see here that fruitfulness is a blessing from God, while barrenness is a curse. The nation with many children is blest, while the nation with few children is cursed. We’ve forgotten this in our contraceptive culture, but the Jews in exile heard the words with great joy, for they had suffered hard for their sins, with the nation of Israel much reduced in numbers. But now God promises the Return to the Promised Land of their fathers, where the mothers will give birth to many children.

But notice that God sees his relationship with Israel as something much more than that of a prison guard releasing prisoners who have served their sentence. No, God, the Creator of mankind and Liberator of Israel, will be the husband of the nation: “for he who has become your husband is your Maker… The LORD calls you back, like…a wife married in youth and then cast off… For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great tenderness I will take you back. In an outburst of wrath, for a moment I hid my face from you…” (Remember we discussed the significance of God’s face a few weeks ago.)

The Return is good news, but here is even better news: “This is for me like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah should never again deluge the earth;

So I have sworn not to be angry with you, or to rebuke you. Though the mountains leave their place and the hills be shaken, my love shall never leave you nor my covenant of peace be shaken, says the LORD, who has mercy on you.” This is an amazing promise. God will never again “hide his face” from his Chosen People. He will never leave his bride again, no matter how badly the nation sins.

God sent his Son, born of the Virgin, to become the Bridegroom of his Catholic Church. Members of the Church have reason to rejoice, for the Advent of the Messiah and establishment of the Church means we now enjoy the same divine promise as Israel, for Christ will always be with his bride, the Church. In the Holy Mass, we have the Body and soul of Christ on our Altars, and the Bridegroom gives his Body and soul to his bride during Holy Communion.

So, let us rejoice and be glad that we have such a relationship with God, with a God who will never hide his face from his faithful Church.

The First Commandment

2011-12-14T09:27:00.001-05:00

God speaks through his prophet Isaiah, saying, “I am the LORD, there is no other...” There is only one God, the God who revealed himself to Israel in the desert, and whose Son became man in the womb of the Blessed Virgin. While other religions may propose elements of saving truth, these propositions are true only insofar as they correspond to the saving truths God reveals through the Scriptures of Israel and the teachings of the Catholic Church.

The lesson continues, “I form the light, and create the darkness…” To study the universe is to study the handiwork of the Creator, and to study the Messiah of Israel is to study both God and creation, for Christ is true God and true man. It is for this reason that the Church has always loved scientific inquiry. From the early general councils of the Church in which she determined to describe God’s revelation in scientific terms, through the medieval universities which sought to unite all scientific learning and inquiry in their great institutions, to such modern cleric-scientists as Bishop Steno (Father of Geology), Father Mendel (Father of Genetics) and Msgr. Lemaitre (father of the “Big Bang Theory”), we see how love for the God of light and darkness drives our study of his universe.

Our lesson continues, “I make well-being and create woe…” Ours is a God of justice. He lifts up the humble and destroys the arrogant. At the Last Judgment, the humble will go to Heaven, the final “well-being”, while the arrogant will go to Hell, the final “woe”.

I suggest we each repeat the following words of God all day today, words God first spoke through Isaiah to Israel, “Turn to me and be safe, all you ends of the earth, for I am God; there is no other!”, and let these words guide our behavior.

The Light of the Virgin Martyrs

2011-12-13T15:49:00.001-05:00

Between men and women, men are often thought to be stronger. Between women and girls, women are usually thought to be stronger. But the virgin martyrs show us that the grace of God is strongest in the weakest. Ours is a God of the poor, the sick and the oppressed, the widows, immigrants and orphans. The enemies of God are the rich and the powerful, whose love for the ways of the world makes them arrogant towards the Law of God.

When the enemies of God and heaven demanded that Saint Lucy adapt herself to worldly expectations, taking a husband and living in luxury, she responded by offering her virginity to God and renouncing all worldly possessions in favor of the poor.

By offering her virginity to God, Saint Lucy imitated the Blessed Queen of Heaven and “preached without words” the coming wedding Feast of Heaven. For in Heaven there is no marriage but that between Christ and his Church, and so consecrated virgins on Earth shine the light of Truth on the life to come in Heaven.

By offering her wealth to the poor, the virgin Lucy showed herself to be rich in mercy, having herself received the great mercy of God poured out from the side of Christ on the Cross. For believers, poverty and piety are the true treasures of the Earth, while wealth and power are the devil’s currency.

Today, let us pray for sexual purity and for a spirit of generosity. May our girls and young women prefer a life of consecrated virginity, if they are strong enough, or a life of marital fidelity without the grave sins of fornication, adultery, contraception and divorce. And may the rich and the powerful place themselves at the service of the poor and powerless, showering the needy with virtuous mercy.

Why Tepeyac?

2011-12-12T09:24:00.000-05:00

Why did the Blessed Virgin appear in Mexico? Why did she insist they respond to her visit by constructing a church in her honor? Why wasn’t it good enough to allow the clergy to do their job of leading, teaching and sanctifying the people? Why wasn't the inherently Marian piety of Spanish Catholicism good enough in Mexico without this appearance and instruction from the Virgin? And why build a church in the desert when there were plenty of churches in the towns and villages?

Long before the Virgin appeared in Mexico to a man of no social importance and told him to build a church in the middle of nowhere, Our Lord warned against lukewarmness, the temptation to do the minimum for God, the plague of “good enough” faith. God is so majestic, so glorious, that he deserves the very best we can give him, the very most we can offer. The Virgin understands this. The extraordinary, spectacular event of appearing to Juan Diego and then leaving her image on the tilma for generations to revere shows her desire to do the most she can for the glory of her God. She goes beyond what is merely required, and beyond what is minimally necessary.

The people of Mexico respond to the fervent faith of the Virgin with their own fervent faith. Her love for God inspires them to love God as much as possible. Even during the 70 year reign of the Freemasons, the people of Mexico remained “siempre fiel”, always faithful to the Catholic and Apostolic Faith. Penitential Catholics crawl on their knees for miles to see her image. Families gather early in the morning before sunrise to sing songs in honor of Christ’s Mother. Men and women dress in bells and ribbons as they walk in procession on her feastday. The atheist shakes his head in dismay at such expressions of faith. The faithful are so filled with holy joy that that gladly make fools of themselves in the sight of God, and before the image and on the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

How far are we willing to go to give glory and honor to the majesty of God? Do we merely offer God the minimum, satisfying ourselves with a “good enough” faith? Are we fervent Catholics, or just “good enough” Catholics of the lukewarm variety Our Lord threatens to spew from his mouth?

During this fiftieth year of the sacramental presence of the Church in Townsend, and second year of our parish, we must take a good, hard, honest look at the state of the Church here. Are we doing the most we can do to give glory to God in Townsend, or just the bare minimum? Looking at our facilities, our educational programs, our assistance to the poor, our devotional practices, and, most of all, our worship of God at Mass, are we planning to give more and more to God’s majestic glory, or are we satisfied with things as they are, saying everything is “good enough”?

Let us leave behind any lukewarm tendencies, and go to extremes to glorify God and build up his Church in Townsend, that our Blessed Mother may look upon us and smile. She is worth it, and God is worth it. Juan Diego and the New World were both worth the appearance of the Virgin. God and the Virgin are both worth that church in the desert. God gives us here so very much. How much is his generosity worth to us?

Third Sunday of Advent ("Gaudete Sunday"): Who Wants to Know?

2011-12-11T10:21:00.003-05:00

Our Gospel text begins, “And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites to him, to ask him: Who art thou?” When Saint Francis of Assisi dedicated himself to the Lord at a time of great spiritual poverty in the Church, everyone noticed what he was doing, with the humble reforming their lives and following him in his poverty and piety, and the arrogant challenging him for making them feel uncomfortable. Similarly, when Saint John the Baptist appeared on the scene living as a hermit and preaching repentance and reform, the humble sought him ought while the arrogant feared him. Among the arrogant were the priestly tribe of Levi from down the river in Jerusalem, and soon enough the local king, a member of the infamous Herod family, would join them.

Saint John the Baptist told the arrogant, “I am not the

Christ.” The titles “Christ” and “Messiah” identify an anointed hero: priest, prophet and king. The advent of the Christ could only spell doom for the arrogant priests, the pseudo-prophetic Pharisees and the pretender Herodian kings. The advent of the Messiah would displace them all. For the humble, this advent was a time of hope, while for the arrogant it was a time of terror.

The Levites, determined to know the Baptist’s identity and plans, persisted, “Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? …He said: I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias.”

Then the Pharisees stepped in. These are the Jews who were divided into various schools of Biblical interpretation, each headed by a “father”, and who were licensed by their schools as “rabbis” and “teachers”. Their competitive concern with spiritual politics made them especially uncomfortable with new leaders appearing on the scene and attracting many followers, since this could only be to the detriment of their influence. They asked, “Why then dost thou baptize, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet?”

John then gave his famous answer, disturbing them further, for they now had to fear an even greater man that the Baptist, but they didn’t know who or where this man was. Fear of the unknown must surely have gripped them! The Baptist spent his whole life preparing to announce the advent of the Messiah, and now his time had come. He announced the immediate coming of one greater than he, the “…latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose.”

Brethren, as we prepare to celebrate the feast of Our Lord’s Nativity, and as we await his Second Coming, let us rid ourselves of our arrogant ways, and humble ourselves with Saint John the Baptist.

Upcoming Parish Events

2011-12-09T09:49:00.001-05:00

Parish Mission: “A Giving Heart”. Presenter: Paul Simoneau LtCol USMC (Ret.), Director of the Office of Justice and Peace, Diocese of Knoxville. Saturday after Ash Wednesday, February 25th, 2012, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Pre-registration required by February 20th: sign-up in the church or email Father Shelton. All are welcome to attend.

Lenten Education Series: "The New Evangelization: An Invitation to Faith". Wednesdays of Lent from 6:30-7:30 pm in the Education and Reflection Center at Saint Francis of Assisi Church, Townsend. Presented by Father Shelton. Companion text: The Evangelization Equation: The Who, What, and How, James A. Wehner. Available at the Paraclete Books and Gifts and at Amazon.com.

The third weekend of each month will be "Parish Education Weekend", beginning the third weekend of March. Father Shelton, or a guest speaker, will provide instruction on and lead discussion of various topics important to Catholics after the 4pm Saturday and 9 am Sunday Masses. The first series will be: The 3,000 Year Story of the Holy Mass.

Beginning February 29th, the "Little River Readers Book Club" will begin meeting Wednesdays from 9:00 am to 10:00 am in the Education and Reflection Center to discuss a spiritual “book of the month”.

Friday of the Second Week of Advent

2011-12-09T09:12:00.002-05:00

God speaks through his prophet Isaiah, saying, “I, the LORD, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go.” God teaches and he leads. God teaches through the words of his prophets, such as Isaiah, and he leads through others, such as the kings of Israel. The advent of the Messiah would bring the definitive realization of these two offices, with Christ fulfilling them perfectly in himself.

It is now for the sacred pastors of Christ’s Church to teach and lead in his name. These sacred pastors are not free to teach their own truths or to lead in their own way, but, rather, are bound by the Gospel to teach the truth about faith and morals in its entirety, and to lead the faithful away from sin and Satan and towards virtue and God.

There have always been Christians who protest this authority of the sacred pastors, which we see early on in the epistles of Saint Paul. Even today there are those who suggest the sheep should tell the shepherds what to preach and where to lead. But they make such suggestions at their own spiritual peril. For the Holy Ghost guides the hierarchy in the work of teaching and leading, especially by means of Sacred Tradition. This special assistance is not directly available to laymen. If the shepherds taught and led according to the consensus of the sheep, rather than according to the directions of the Sacred Tradition established by the Holy Ghost, then that roaring lion Saint Peter says is always on the prowl looking for someone to devour would easily devour the sheep as they strayed into deadly fields (1 Peter 5:8). When the sacred pastors teach the truths—and lead in the way—of Sacred Tradition, it is not proper for laymen to debate and dispute what they are taught or where they are led. It is for laymen to listen and to follow. When you hear certain laymen with hostile tongues denouncing the teaching and leading authority of the sacred pastors, flee quickly from such dangerous persons. Do not argue with them, for if they will not listen to those men the Lord ordains to teach and lead for him, then they will not listen to you, but will likely do you and your family and friends much harm. At times there is no opportunity to flee, so fight the good fight. As Saint Paul says to the Ephesians, “Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil.” Saint Paul insists that it is not really against human beings that we must fight, but against armies of unseen demons wandering about freely. These demons will successfully tempt many, including many in the pews, to follow them, and to lead others astray.
But what about wayward shepherds? How do laymen know the sacred pastors are right? By whether or not these men are faithful to Sacred Tradition. It’s that simple.

Isaiah continues, “If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river…” There are those who establish their own sinister agendas to compete with the commandments of God. There are those who establish their own commandments for others to follow, commandments crafted to preserve their authors’ comforts and to promote their authors’ pleasures. But God’s faithful must turn always to God’s commandments, commandments directing us: to worship him alone, to combat the temptations of immorality, and to be generous with what we have.

So, we’ve seen that God uses his shepherds to teach and lead his Church in obedience to his commandments. Let me conclude by urging each of you to meditate upon two lists: the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost, and the Seven Deadly Sins. We must cultivate the one here in our little parish, and fight with all our might against the other, so that God can more easily teach and lead us in the way of his commandments.

1. Wisdom

2. Understanding

3. Counsel

4. Fortitude

5. Knowledge

6. Piety

7. Fear of the Lord

1. Pride

2. Covetousness

3. Lust

4. Anger

5. Gluttony

6. Envy

7. Sloth

Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M. (E.F. Sermon)

2011-12-08T16:58:00.003-05:00

We do something strange today: we celebrate someone’s conception. This is not something we usually do, even in honor of very important people. It would be hard to pick a date for such celebrations, and the mystery of a new soul inhabiting the nuptial gifts of one’s parents is more a matter for private meditation or theological research than for public festivity. (But notice we don’t refrain from celebrating the conception of others simply because they inherited Original Sin from the moment of their conception. New life even with Original Sin is still worth celebrating, or else we would not celebrate the birth of children, or the birthdays of eighty year-olds.)

But Holy Mother Church does ask us to set aside this day for celebration, going to Mass and abstaining from labor. So, let’s look at the mystery in order to understand what we celebrate.

First, if this event in the Virgin’s life was singular, then we were all conceived with the stain of Original Sin. From the beginning of our lives, we are polluted by sin. And yet we must recall that the purpose of the Immaculate Conception was to prepare a maternal home for the Son of God, who would endure his sorrowful Passion in order to save us polluted creatures from the ultimate consequences of sin. In other words, even in our polluted state, there is something sufficiently valuable about us to make us worth the trouble of saving from damnation. From the child conceived following the violence of rape to the rapist locked behind the mightiest prison walls, each human life is more valuable than the friendliest dog or the most majestic eagle. And if human value extends even through to the days of our most abominable adult crimes, then it certainly extends to our most vulnerable state within the wombs of our mothers, before we had spent a lifetime adding our own personal sins to the Original Sin we started with.

So, what exactly did the Blessed Virgin have at her conception that the rest of us did not at our own? We can begin by looking back at what Adam and Eve lost upon their expulsion from Paradise. No longer did they have the immediate Presence of God as their close companion. They and their decedents could speak to God and hear God, but only from a reverent distance. When God established himself among his Chosen People, he did so behind layers of veils and above a Sacred Box. The High Priest could approach the Presence of God but once a year, and then only after the most exceptional preparations. To even utter the name of God became a ritual few dared to practice.

But from the first moment of her conception, the Blessed Virgin enjoyed the full Presence of God; she was “full of grace”. This was before God had a body, a “substance”. Years later, when God took on a body of his own, he did not come to dwell with the Virgin, but, rather, continued to dwell with her with the addition of his divine substance, the Body of Christ.

Since we have the privilege of receiving God’s merciful grace in the sacrament of penance (which has a certain parallel to the Immaculate Conception) and then receiving his Substance in Holy Communion (which has a certain parallel to the Annunciation), how could we not celebrate the origin of these privileges? How can we receive the grace of God’s mercy and his body without recalling the one who was conceived full of God’s grace so that she could one day give birth to God’s merciful body? Everything God gives us Catholics started with what he gave Mary at her conception in the womb of her mother. Sin started in a garden, and salvation started in the womb of Saint Ann. The creation of Eve led to the fall of mankind, while the conception of Mary led to the salvation of repentant sinners. Life begins at conception, and New Life begins at her Immaculate Conception.

And so we celebrate.

I'm Still Not Sure About This Fellow, But This Is Good

2011-12-08T13:01:00.000-05:00

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.

2011-12-08T07:45:00.000-05:00

Inmaculada Concepcion, 1630

Francisco de Zurbarán

“After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree, the LORD God called to the man and asked him, ‘Where are you?’” Adam hid himself after his violation of the tree of morality, but when Christ was nailed to the tree of death on Mount Calvary, he commended himself to the Father for the forgiveness of sins against the moral law of God.

Adam said, "The woman…gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it." God created Eve for Adam, and she led him to sin. God created the Blessed Virgin Mary for Our Lord Jesus Christ, and from the very moment of her conception in the womb of Saint Anne, she remained always without sin.

God asked Eve, "Why did you do such a thing?" Sinful Eve answered, "The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it." When God sent the Archangel Gabriel to the sinless Virgin Mary, she answered, “be it done unto me according to thy word”.

Adam called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living. All generations call the Virgin “blessed” because she is the mother of all the saints.

[Sermon cut short at this point due to freezing rain upon the roadways. This is a mountain parish!]

May our love for her grow as we begin this annual day of celebration on the feast of her Immaculate Conception.

Welcomed Weblogs

2011-12-07T17:26:00.008-05:00

I've updated by blog list, both in my Google Reader account and the one on the side of this page. There are some great clergy and laymen out there with blogs, and so if I eliminate a blog from my list of recommendations or don't include one in the first place, this does not mean I have a problem with the author himself. But I do have some expectations of blogs.
First of all, I think a weblog should be a daily log of one's own thoughts and experiences, rather than a place for infrequent postings or merely re-posting material from other well known sources. I've got nothing against those who use their blogs this other way, it's just that I won't read or promote such blogs.
Secondly, whatever other attributes a blog may have, if it presents itself as the blog of a Catholic but takes pronounced stands in opposition to a spirit of charity, then I will not read or promote that blog. We all know the Church is in a mess at the moment, but regularly ridiculing those who got her that way will only slow down the process of reform, and deter those who are "on the fence" from joining the reform effort.
Thoughtful, original, kind, constructive, logical and informative blogs are good blogs.
Also, if you know of any good, Catholic blogs, feel free to leave me a comment below. Or, you may follow a blog that is not particularly Catholic, but does promote some area of Western culture (i.e. the cultural patrimony of Christendom: Jerusalem + Athens + Rome), such as architecture, music, science, politics or economics. It's best to just leave the name of the blog, rather than a link, since the spam blocker sometimes blocks comments with links. Thanks.

Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent

2011-12-07T07:43:00.002-05:00

Isaiah speaks for God, saying, “To whom can you liken me as an equal?” We live in a time when no one wants to say that one religion alone is true and the others are false, but God himself certainly does not share this view. He alone is God, and no other person or force can compare to him. And it is God, not men, who established Israel and then the Catholic Church.

“To whom can you liken me as an equal? says the Holy One.” Isaiah doesn’t use God’s proper name, which be abbreviate YHWH, but instead calls him the “Holy One.” To say God is “holy” is to say he is internally perfect, without owing anything about his identity to anyone, anything or anytime outside himself, and “holiness” also describes God’s works towards creation as being perfect. God’s holiness is such that for us to be perfectly holy we must obey and worship this God who made and sustains us, and who decides our destiny.

Isaiah urges God’s people, “Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things... Do you not know or have you not heard? The LORD is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. … He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound. …They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles' wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.” Statesmen and tradesmen, the young and the old, the rich and the poor, leaders and followers are all looking for strength. But we must all look first to the strength of the Holy One of Israel, and ensure that any strength we or those we trust employ is faithful to the Law of God and oriented towards the worship of his majesty.

In a democratic republic such as our own, this means we must choose those statesmen most likely to obey God’s revealed Law and to worship his majestic Presence. In seeking a spouse, the young should seek out a companion who trusts God’s Law and worships his Presence. And we must take care ourselves to resist the ancient temptations of the Evil One who suggests we rearrange the Law to suit as and then worship ourselves. Rather, we must obey God’s Law entirely and worship his Presence frequently in the Holy Mass.

Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent

2011-12-06T09:06:00.000-05:00

Isaiah says, “Here comes with power the Lord GOD, who rules by his strong arm…” Our God is a powerful ruler, who rules by his strong arm, scattering the arrogant. He tells us what to do and expects us to do it. In ancient times, God ruled through his kings, and now he rules through his bishops. We should fear offending the Lord by violating his Law or disobeying his Sacred Pastors: the pope and bishops. Whenever we see a bishop’s crosier (shepherd staff), we can think of the mighty arm of God directing the world in Godly living.

Isaiah continues, “…in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom...” We see that not only does God rule with the might of his arm, scattering the arrogant, he also gently cares for the humble by carrying them in his arms. So gentle are the arms of God’s mercy towards repentant sinners and the poor that he does not want even one of these to be lost to the arrogance of Satan or the rich. This is why each member of this parish must take seriously the work of evangelization. There are repentant sinners out there who would love to receive God’s mercy in the Sacrament of Penance and to feast on his mercy in Holy Communion, and otherwise receive the care of God within his Holy Catholic Church, but you must invite such men to come to the arms of the Good Shepherd. God assigns you this task. You must also not merely respond to the requests of the poor, but actively seek them out and offer them the care that God wants them to receive.

God rules us with his mighty arm, commanding us to seek out the repentant and the poor, so that he can gather them into his sacramental arms as the shepherd gathers his lambs.

José Carreras: 65th Birthday Today

2011-12-05T16:14:00.000-05:00

Monday of the Second Week of Advent

2011-12-05T09:17:00.002-05:00

Isaiah says the wastelands “will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song.” It’s hard to do but we can imagine a desert suddenly blooming with flowers. But how does one imagine a desert singing? Well, the desert is really the sad people of Judah, who will sing for joy when God returns them home to plant them on his holy mountain in Jerusalem.

“The glory of Lebanon will be given to them, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon…” Mount Carmel was the place wher the prophet Elijah tried to return the Ten Northern Tribes of Israel away from the sex demon Ba’al and towards the God of Israel. Upon his death the prophet Elisha put on Elijah’s prophetic cloak and continued the prophetic work. We recall this prophetic work today when we imitate Elisha by putting on the Carmelite scapular. The scapular expresses the depth of our hope, for although the Ten Tribes were lost in the end, and the remaining tribes of Judah were taken into exile, God still triumphed by returning Judah to the Holy Land and then by sending the Messiah to be born of a Virgin daughter of Judah, who now enjoys the tile Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Isaiah then speaks of the glory of the Lord, who will, “strengthen the hands that are feeble, [and] make firm the knees that are weak”. In other words, the broken people of God will once again be able to work for God’s glory. Fear of the world will turn into fear of the Lord: “Say to those whose hearts are frightened:

Be strong, fear not!”

Although God’s people long refused to look to him or hear him, now “…will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared…”

The land God’s people once filled with sin will be transformed, for “a highway will be there, called the holy way, [and] no one unclean may pass over it, nor fools go astray on it. It is for those with a journey to make, and on it the redeemed will walk.

Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy;

They will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee.”

Second Sunday of Advent (EF): A Hopeful Evangelization

2011-12-04T12:15:00.000-05:00

Saint Paul tells the Romans, “For what things soever were written, were written for our learning: that through patience and the comfort of the scriptures, we might have hope.” From the beginning of the Babylonian Exile to the advent of the Messiah, many decades passed. So, on one hand, the Sacred Scriptures taught Judah patience in waiting for salvation, but also gave the people comfort with the knowledge that the Messiah would indeed come. Biblical patience + Biblical comfort = Jewish hope.

Saint Paul continues, “Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of one mind one towards another, according to Jesus Christ: That with one mind, and with one mouth, you may glorify God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Saint Paul’s hope is that the Christian hope of the Jews will give hope of Christian salvation to the Gentiles, and that those converted Gentiles will give Christian hope to those many Jews who have thus far failed to accept the advent of the Messiah. In other words, if all Christians, Jewish and Gentile, will only think and speak “with one mind and with one (‘mouth’) voice”—the mind and voice of Christ, then everyone, Jew and Gentile, will accept the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and enter into his holy Catholic Church. Saint Ignatius of Antioch first used that term “Catholic Church” in response to heretics claiming Christ was incorporeal. But if Christ had no body, then he was not a Jew. So, we go back to Saint Paul, who insists that, in effect, the Church of Christ is the Church of the Jewish Messiah, who invites all men, Jews and Gentiles, into the salvation won by the sacrifice of his Cross and accessible through the Holy Mass. In order to be saved, a man, whether Jew or Gentile, must enter into the Catholic Church, and then think and speak with the one mind and one voice of Christ’s holy Catholic Church.

Saint Paul continues, “Wherefore receive one another, as Christ also hath received you unto the honour of God.” We are all sinners, but Christ invites us into the salvation of his Church. Having received so great a gift, how could we not share this gift with others? But, sadly, we usually withhold the invitation to the True Faith from others because we too often derive our patience and comfort from elsewhere than Christ. Our patience is timed and our comfort worldly, so we have no patience with evangelization and find no comfort in saving men’s souls. How very unlike Saint Paul we are. He gave so much to spread Christian salvation to all men; we give so little. We need to relearn from Saint Paul how to be Christians, and then we need to imitate his example.

Listen to the apostle’s joy as he spreads the Faith: “Therefore will I confess to thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and will sing to thy name. And again he saith: Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. And again: Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and magnify him, all ye people. … There shall be a root of Jesse; and he that shall rise up to rule the Gentiles, in him the Gentiles shall hope. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing; that you may abound in hope, and in the power of the Holy Ghost.”

Second Sunday of Advent (OF): A Comfortable Preparation

2011-12-04T12:12:00.000-05:00

The prophet Isaiah speaks for God, saying, “…give comfort to my people…speak tenderly to Jerusalem…” God punished his Chosen people for their sins against his Law, but now they have served their sentence and the time has come for their return from exile. But notice that God does not announce the completion of their sentence as simply a cold, hard fact. The people themselves had chosen a cold, hard relationship with God before the Exile, so God did have to break their coldness and hardness with the punishment of exile. But now that the people are receptive to God’s paternal care, God can finally speak to them with the warm words of comfort and joy: “…give comfort to my people…speak tenderly to Jerusalem… that…her guilt is expiated, [and] she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.”

So, what’s next? The people are still in exile, so how exactly will they get back home? God requires one step at a time. The danger here is that the people will return once again to their former self-centeredness as they return home, focusing on the return itself rather than on the God who returns them home. In order to keep their focus on God rather than on themselves, God tells them to prepare very specifically for a return with God to Jerusalem. They will not return alone, for they will have a divine companion. “…Prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!” God orders his people to demolish any obstacles in his way, from the mountains of sin to the valleys of death: “every valley shall be filled in, every mountain…shall be made low…” This return, from the perspective of the people, must be all about God, or else it will be a spiritual failure. It cannot be merely a return to lost property and financial independence. Obedience to God’s Biblical Law and the worship of his Temple Presence must become the hallmarks of the return.

But God is determined not merely to make the return of the Jews “successful”, but to make it perfect by sending the Messiah—the Christ—to introduce all nations to obedience to God’s Law and worship of his Presence. As Isaiah puts it, “Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together…”

So, exiled, punished Judah now has reason to hope, for their return from punishment is near, and their return will hasten the advent of the Messiah, who will lead all mankind to the One, True God. Although the Jews remain for the moment in Exile, God wants them to be filled with joy even now, so they will be ready to give thanks to him upon their return. Isaiah tells them, “Go up on to a high mountain…cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news! Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God! Here comes with power the Lord GOD, who rules by his strong arm…in his arms he gathers the lambs...”

Brethren, the same God who saved the Jews from their exile is coming to save us from death and damnation. We must prepare the way for God into our souls. We must make straight his paths. Our judgment day is near. One day we must each stand before the Just Judge, who will determine our eternal destiny based upon whether or not we made obedience to his Biblical Law and worship of his Eucharistic Presence the twin pillars of our lives. He promises to save us from the fires of Hell if we make him the source of our joy. He gives us plenty of time in this life to make the right decisions, but our time is limited. As Saint Peter puts it, the Lord “…is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish… …Be eager to be found without spot or blemish… …But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out.”

God did not rush to return the exiles to their homes because he wanted to be certain they were truly reformed before doing so, or else they would have only returned to their former way of life. Similarly, God does not rush to take us to Heaven, for he wants to give us plenty of time to turn away from our sins and towards him, and to give us plenty of time to spread the True Faith to as many others as possible before he comes. But he is coming, and it’s up to each of us to be ready.

Let us, then, make straight the pathway of the Lord into our souls.

Local Youth Conference

2011-12-03T18:32:00.002-05:00

Saint Francis of Assisi Church, Townsend, welcomes participants in local youth conference:

Friday of the First Week of Advent

2011-12-02T09:01:00.001-05:00

Our readings from Isaiah are coming from various parts of his book, so it’s important to familiarize ourselves with the whole thing in order to understand these selections in their context. Today’s selection is preceded by denunciation of Israel’s deafness and blindness to God’s words and actions. Rather than depending upon God’s Law and power in an open and consistent way, the nation turned to secret meetings and alliances to protect them from the invading Babylonians. Ungodly conspiracies are the opposite of trusting in the Lord, for such secret activities leave God’s people dependent upon themselves: upon their own ways of thinking and acting. Rather, as the nation faced its annihilation, it should have gone to the Temple in Jerusalem and asked God what he wanted them to do, and then they should have trusted that he had the power to lead them.

Immediately after denouncing the self-centered tactics of old Judah, Isaiah foretells a day when the people will no longer be deaf to God’s Law or blind to his mighty works. “On that day…”—remember the significance of this phrase from yesterday—“On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book…the eyes of the blind shall see.”

Next, we have another recurring theme: the arrogant versus the humble. Basically, the arrogant are doomed but the humble have reason to hope. Isaiah says, “The lowly will…find joy in the LORD, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the tyrant will be no more and the arrogant will have gone…”

Because the arrogant are known for their conspiracies against the humble, Isaiah has specific words against the conspirators: “All who are alert to do evil will be cut off, those whose mere word condemns a man, Who ensnare his defender at the gate, and leave the just man with an empty claim.”

Isaiah then refers to the centuries of work God has already put into his people, from Abraham (who came from the very same land where the Jews are now exiled!) down through his grandson Jacob, later renamed “Israel”, who became the father of God’s Chosen People. Isaiah says because of “…the God…who redeemed Abraham, now Jacob shall have nothing to be ashamed of when his children see the work of my hands in his midst...Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding, and those who find fault shall receive instruction.”

Thursday of the First Week of Advent

2011-12-01T08:44:00.000-05:00

The prophet Isaiah tells God’s Chosen People, “On that day…” He uses this expression repeatedly, because he speaks to a suffering people for whom every day is agony. “On that day they will sing this song…”: on that day…this song. “That day”, no matter how promising, is still in the future, and so of limited comfort in a time of present suffering. But if the tormented people of Judah can sing today the very song they will sing in the joyful future, then perhaps this will stir their hope enough to sustain them through the present.

Isaiah continues with the song itself, “A strong city have we; he sets up walls and ramparts to protect us.

Open up the gates to let in a nation that is just, one that keeps faith.” Now, remember that when Judah was forced out of Jerusalem by Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar, Judah certainly was not a just or faithful nation. That’s why God let Nebuchadnezzar exile them to Babylon. So, it will be a changed nation that returns, a nation that has learned its lesson.

The song concludes, “A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace; in peace, for its trust in you." Peace requires trust and firm purpose. Back when Israel trusted God and his human leaders, and when Israel made worship of God and care for the poor the firm purpose of the nation’s existence, there was peace. But when the people trusted their own ideas and cared firmly for themselves, there was turmoil.

Next, Isaiah speaks of vengeance, saying, “He humbles those in high places, and the lofty city he brings down; He tumbles it to the ground, levels it with the dust.” So, the civilization (civitas) that trusts in itself and makes taking care of itself its firm purpose will be trampled to the ground by God and the poor. Isaiah always puts it best, “It is trampled underfoot by the needy, by the footsteps of the poor.”

We should learn from all this. If we want peace in our own time, then each family and nation must trust God and Godly leaders, and must make the worship of God and care for the poor our firm purpose. Do our families and leaders fear God? Is worship of God and care for the poor the firm purpose of our families and our nation? If so, then we can expect a future of peace. If not, then we should expect turmoil.

Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle

2011-11-30T16:03:00.005-05:00

Our Gospel text begins: “As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee…” Notice that the Messiah doesn’t sit around at home waiting for people to come to him for truth and salvation, nor does he open a synagogue as the center of his operations, which would have made him merely one more “abba” with his own particular school of Jewish Biblical interpretation. Rather he went out walking along the roads and shores of the nation like a king visiting his kingdom.

Today’s text continues, “He saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew…” What are we to make of this? We have two brothers here who have not gone their separate ways in life, but rather, are working together for an income. The Messiah will need men willing to work together to accomplish the tasks of preaching and saving. Christ wants a Church in which everyone thinks and acts together like a family, rather than according to competing schools of thought and action like the Pharisees.

Peter and Andrew were brothers and fishermen, and so Our Lord said to them, "'Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.' At once they left their nets and followed him." Commercial fishing requires skill, patience and perseverance. Our Lord needs the men who will lead his Church to be men with these virtues. The Messiah also needs leaders willing to forego all other concerns in life, such as marriage and trade, in order to fish for men. These two brothers said “yes” to Christ’s invitation, leaving behind their lives in order to share life with Christ.

Today’s Gospel text concludes, “He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.” Here we see the pattern repeat itself: two brothers, commercial fishermen, who leave behind life as they know it to follow the Messiah.

We each have our own ideas and habits, and these ideas and habits may be very good. But when Our Lord’s Holy Church asks us to make a change in Christ’s name, we are to say “yes” and leave behind our old thoughts and actions and follow Our Lord’s Church. This can be difficult, and even lead to suffering for us. Saints Peter and Andrew, for example, were both crucified for following Christ. But the more we imitate these saints, following Christ and his Church unconditionally, the more holy we will become, and the more “fish” Our Lord will be able to bring into his Church thanks to our influence on them.

Tuesday of the First Week of Advent

2011-11-29T08:53:00.002-05:00

Isaiah says to downtrodden Judah, “On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.” Jesse was the father of David, and David became so great a king that he remained the model for future kings. But with the Assyrian and now Babylonian conquests, the royal line was chopped down, so to speak. But Isaiah says that from the stump of David’s royal line will come the Messiah, who will restore the royal line in a new and definitive way.

“And his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.” The Messiah will not concern himself with the demands of men, but with the demands of the Father. The Messiah will act not according to the promptings of the crowds, but upon the gentle promptings of the Holy Ghost.

“Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide…” for the Messiah will make decisions based only upon the Law of God.

“…He shall judge the poor with justice, and… strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.” These are amazing words! The Messiah will show mercy towards the humble, but towards the arrogant he will speak the words of truth that will be their condemnation. If we pay careful attention to the world we can see that in every age and in every place, from ancient Israel to our own "neck of the woods", the silent needs of the humble go unmet while the arrogant demand ever more attention for themselves. The quiet suffering of the humble teaches us the very reason for the advent of the Messiah in the first place: he came for them, while the self-centered shouts of the arrogant show us how the Messiah came later to be nailed to a cross.

But when the Messiah finally returns in glory at the Second Coming, he will wipe out the arrogant, sending them to Hell, and then there will be peace on Earth, “for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea.”

Also, no longer will religion be limited to ethnicity, for, as we saw yesterday, the Jewish God will become the God of all good men, for these will come from every part of the globe to embrace the Christian Faith. As Isaiah puts it, “On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, The Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious.”

Parish Pastoral Plan

2011-11-28T09:09:00.000-05:00

The Pastoral Plan for Saint Francis of Assisi Church, Townsend, follows:

A Pastor’s mission is to teach, sanctify and guide a particular Christian parish on behalf of the diocesan bishop, who, in turn, teaches, sanctifies and guides a diocese in the Person of Christ, Head of the Church. The Parish Pastoral Plan describes how the Pastor plans to carry out his pastoral obligations--either in person or assisted by others--according to the particular circumstances of his parish.

Pastoral activities are understood to include, but are not limited to: pedagogy on prayer, catechesis on the importance of the Sunday and daily celebration of the Most Holy Eucharist, encouraging adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, promoting the practice of the Sacrament of Penance, encouraging spiritual direction, fostering Marian devotion and the imitation of the Saints, as well as on forming parishioners in parochial and diocesan stewardship and in the apostolic commitment to live the daily duties of work and family, and on forming parishioners in consistent political and social engagement.

In this parish, we will support pastoral activities already underway and take the following steps to advance the holiness of the parish:

We will initiate a monthly book club to read and discuss spiritual works of the saints.

We will offer a series of classes on the Biblical roots of the Holy Mass.

We will extend the length and increase the frequency of public adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

We will provide “examination of conscience” cards for adults and children each year during the first week of Lent.

We will hold an annual parish retreat (“mission”).

We will celebrate the “Rite of Blessing Rosaries” on or near the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

We will offer a Lenten educational series.

We will improve communication of parish finances to parishioners.

We will organize greater participation in the annual “Forty Days for Life” and “March for Life” in Knoxville, the “Right to Life Prayer Chain” in Maryville, promote fuller observance of the annual ember day penance on the anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision, and also increase promotion of diocesan, USCCB or Vatican initiatives to increase respect for human life.

We will promote greater participation in feast day Masses for the patron saints of the various professions.

We will offer an annual “end of life” seminar.

We will offer presentations near Election Day on the “Faithful Citizenship” program of the USCCB.

We will improve hospitality towards visiting Catholics.

We will enhance dialogue between the clergy and parishioners at the monthly socials.

We will hold an annual “open house” for other Townsend residents to learn about the Catholic Church in general, and the Latin Church in particular.

Monday of the First Week of Advent

2011-11-28T08:40:00.001-05:00

Our first reading begins, “This is what Isaiah…saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.” Remember that the ten northern tribes of Israel are now gone, having been captured and scattered by the Assyria invaders. To this day, no one knows what happened to them. For a while, all that was left of Israel was Judah in the south, whose capital was Jerusalem. But now Jerusalem has been sacked and the Jews are exiled in Babylon.

But there is hope for the future. Isaiah continues, “In days to come, the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established as the highest mountain... All nations shall stream toward it.” This is significant. The mountain Isaiah is referring to is Mount Zion in Jerusalem, where the Temple of the Lord once stood before Babylon destroyed it. Soon, not only are the Jews going to return to Jerusalem and rebuild God’s Temple, but a new religion will then emerge in which all the nations of the world will be able to worship the God of Israel. We know that the Jewish nature of this new religion will be preserved, for Jesus Christ was born a Jew in Bethlehem, so that we Christians now worship a Jewish God. Our God is a Jew.

But Gentles will worship him. Isaiah continues, “For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples.” Jesus Christ alone shines the full light of truth onto the behavior of nations. All political decisions of the nations must now conform to the Gospel. The task of Christians is to spread the Gospel to every nation, so that the leaders of these nations will worship the God of Israel and obey his Law in all their political decisions. Once this happens, once all nations are administered by faithful and wise Christians, something truly extraordinary will develop: there will be peace on Earth. As Isaiah puts it, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.”

So, if we want peace, we must work for justice, and if we want justice, we must spread worship and obedience to the God of Israel to everyone, especially those in positions of political power.

Parish Traditional Mass Notice

2011-11-28T07:46:00.001-05:00

Due to deanery Advent Confessions, I will not say the traditional Mass publicly on the following evenings:
Tuesday, November 29th
Tuesday, December 6th
Tuesday, December 13th

Squirrels: Friend or Foe

2011-11-27T13:01:00.001-05:00