The Church of Joliet Receives New Bishop

The Most Reverend J. Peter Sartain, 54, was installed yesterday afternoon as the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Joliet, succeeding the Most Reverend Joseph L. Imesch who was the Bishop of Joliet for nearly twenty-seven years.

Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America, announced BXVI's decision to appoint Bishop Sartain to the Church of Joliet on 16 May 2006, a transfer that seems then rather swift.

The former Bishop of Little Rock has indicated his desire to make vocations a central focus of his episcopal ministry, saying, "You'll hear me very often casting the net." If every bishop would follow his example, just think of the great harvest of vocations Holy Mother Church would reap!

Bishop Sartain was ordained in 1978 and holds a Licentiate from San Anselmo in Rome.

As he has now taken his chair, let us pray for Bishop Sartain and the Diocese of Joliet, a Diocese through which I travel often.

Success!

What wonderful news! I have tried unsuccessfully for several months to upload a profile picture. For whatever reason I always received a host of error messages but, I am quite happy to say, tonight I have finally had success! Enjoy!

Something new

They say, whoever "they" may be, that you learn something new every day. Today is no exception for me.

As I read today BXVI's Angelus address which he gave yesterday, I was quite surprised to learn that "the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is also the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctificaiton of Priests." I had no idea.

For all of you who were aware of this day and prayed for us priests, I offer my humble gratitude.

Homily - 25 June 2006

Says Jesus today, "Quiet! Be still!" (Mark 4:39). These two commands of his may at first seem odd, and even perhaps out of character, but if we take a closer look into these two commands we will come to learn something deeper and more profound about what it means to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He gives these two commands in the midst of a turbulent storm as the disciples feared for their lives because of its seeming strength. To these disciples, we can attribute the words of the Psalmist today, "His command raised up a storm wind, which tossed his waves on high. The mountain up to heaven; they sank to the depths; their hearts melted away in their plight" (Psalm 107:25-26).

As the waters of the sea threatened to overcome the disciples, they seem to have forgotten him in whose company they were; they failed to recognize the one who himself has power over the very seas and the wind because he has created all things. In their anxiety and in their worry, they did not recognize the calm and quiet power of Christ, who slept in their very midst.

We know of course that in the life of every disciple of Jesus, he will find himself at one time or another in the midst of very difficult situations and circumstances, the very waters of which seem to threaten life or faith itself. It was St. Peter who first wrote to us:

In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (I Peter 1:6-7).

But why do these trials and storms come upon us? The Prince of the Apostles tells us this: "For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example that you should follow in his footsteps" (I Peter 2:21). Even today, the Successor of Peter, Pope Benedict XVI, encourages us, saying, "The Lord does not close his eyes to the needs of his children, and if he seems at times insensitive to their requests, it is only in order to test them and to temper their faith" (Angelus Address, 14 August 2005), and "The Lord’s ways are not easy, but we are not made for ease" (Address to his Countrymen, 25 April 2005).

At times it seems to us as though the Lord has left us; it seems as though the Lord is asleep and completely deaf to our cries, and so - with the disciples - we go to him, we rouse him from his slumber, we bring our storm into his calm - and we cry out to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" (Mark 4:38). We can be sure that just as Jesus answered the disciples so he answers us as well: "Quiet! Be still!"

Some might say to me, "Father, Jesus said these words to the wind and the waters, not to the disciples," and in saying so they would be correct; but at the same time we hear the Psalm and thus learn that the disciples "rejoiced that they were calmed, and he brought them to their desired haven"(Psalm 107:30). Here then, we see that Jesus says, "Quiet! Be still!" to both the sea and the disciples.

When Job found himself in a similar situation and demanded an answer to the Lord as to why he had suffered so greatly when he himself was a righteous and upright man, the Lord rebuked him, saying,

Who shut within doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb; when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling bands? When I set limits for it and fastened the bar of its door, and said: Thus far shall you come, but no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stilled! (Job 38:8-11).

Within this response of the Lord to Job we might well hear the Lord saying to him as well, "Quiet! Be still!"

This is not to say that we cannot ask these questions of the Lord when we find ourselves in difficult times and circumstances which we cannot begin to fathom. We want to know why and we certainly can ask these questions of the Lord - and in some instances it is only proper that we do so - but at the same time we must always realize who we our and who God is. We must realize that he alone has power over the tempests of life.

At the same time the more that we yell at him, the more that we question him, the less likely we are to hear him speaking to us in the depths of our heart. It has been said that God speaks in silence. God does not speak through loud noises but through quiet and through solitude. Jesus commands us to be quiet so that we can hear him calling within us in the "tiny whispering sound" through which the Prophet Elijah heard him speak (I Kings 20:12).

In his short little book, The Rosary: A Journey to the Beloved, Gary Jansen suggests that:

God is a chatterbox. I say that only slightly tongue-in-cheek, because God never stops talking to us. The reason we suffer, the reason we feel fear, the reason we feel disjointed and unfocused and lost is because we don’t realize that at any given moment the answer to all our questions, the balm for all our suffering is right in front of us. We just don’t realize it. Why? Because most of the time we don’t shut up (p. 13).

How true this is! We spend our day surrounded by constant noise: the conversation of family and friends, the television at home, the radio in the car or at work, the musak in stores, the rumble of trucks and motorcycles on the street, our cell phones and Ipods, the songs we hum in our head. We are, to be quite honest and frank, afraid of silence.

At first we feel utterly alone in silence and we are uncomfortable. When this feeling of abandonment comes upon we must remember that as the Holy Father said at his Inaugural Mass, "Those who believe are never alone – neither in life nor in death" (Inaugural Homily, 24 April 2006). The Lord Jesus is always with us, even and especially in the midst of the storm.

As the storms of life engulf us we very often try to cling to things, to people, to memories, to work, to hopes, dreams, and plans, and yet the more we grasp the more pain we feel. When the storms of life sweep over us, we must cling only to Jesus Christ for in him alone "new things have come" (II Corinthians 5:17). We must cling only to him who is Love itself, for "everything in this world will pass away. In eternity only Love will remain" (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, 25 March 2006).

The example of Saint James

In his customary gentleness and kindness, BXVI today at his General Audience, "As it is very hot today, I would like to abbreviate and mention only two of these occasions [where James the Greater appears in Scripture] now."

The Apostle, he said, "is presented to us as an eloquent example of generous adherence to Christ."

Focusing on both the experience on Mount Tabor of the Transfiguration of Jesus and of the agony of Jesus on the Mount of Olives in the garden of Gethsemane, the Holy Father noted,

In one case, James, with the other two disciples [Peter and John], experiences the Lord's glory, sees him speaking with Moses and Elijah, sees the divine splendor revealed in Jesus; in the other, he finds himself before suffering and humiliation; he sees with his own eyes how the Son of God humbles himself, become obedient unto death.

As the son of Zebedee followed after Christ Jesus "he had to discern how the Messeiah . . . was in reality not only surrounded by honor and glory, but also by sufferings and weakness. The glory of Christ was realized precisely on the cross, in taking part in our sufferings."

As BXVI has done with St. Peter and St. Andrew, he went on mention several lessons we can learn from the life, faith, and witness of St. James. These include:

promptness in accepting the Lord's call, even when he asks us to leave the "barque" [an ancient boat] of our human securities; enthusiasm in following Him on the parths that he indicates to us beyond our illusory presumption; readiness to give witness to Him with courage and, if necessary, with the supreme sacrifice of life.

But not only this, in examining the life of James we can see that he underwent a conversion of a truly profound sort. It was, of course, james "who initially requsted, through his mother, to be seated with his brother next to the Master in his Kingdom" and it was James who "was precisely the first to drink the chalice of the passion, in sharing martyrdom with the Apostles."

I expect that the Holy Father will continue these on the Apostle James next week. Keep them coming, Holy Father!

St. James the Greater, pray for us!

Well said, Holy Father

BXVI's homily for Corpus Christi is finally available in an English translation.

His homily is one continuously flowing meditation upon the bread which is used for the Eucharist. I highly recommend it.

You can read it here.

The "coolest guy ever"?

This morning I was browsing around the expansive territory of that place that is no place, the world wide web. As I did so I stumbled upon something that caught me quite by surprise: a web site of one of the students who attends the high school at which I teach.

I was not struck by anything that I found offensive on his site or any such thing. Rather, what I found that caught my attention completely unawares was a comment about me. In the typically sloppy, lazy, and disrespectful fashion of the day, he writes without proper capitalization, punction, and spelling. He plainly asserts that:

"prolly the coolest guy ever is Father Darin (i think some of you will agree with me on this)".

Which, translated into proper English grammar and spelling, means, "Probably the coolest guy ever is Father Daren (I think some of you will agree with me on this)".

I find myself quite perplexed and humbled by his comment because, to the best of my memory (which, is, admittedly, failing more every day) I have only had a couple of very brief encounters with this young man. And, the only one individually that I recall was when he happened to see me in the mall. He kindly greeted me by title and name and I greeted him back and we both went about our business. What is more, he is not a Catholic, although he is a Christian and a sincere believer from what I can see.

I do not know why a young man in high school would consider me the "coolest guy ever." I could, I suppose, try to find out the reasons why he makes this bold and false claim (clearly I am not any cooler than, say, St. Francis of Assisi or King Arthur), but instead I shall simply humbly accept it with gratitude to the Lord God who continues to work wonders in and through his people.

May the Lord bless this young man who does not even know that I have been to his web site.

ECD Appointed

It was announced last evening prior to the celebration of Vespers that the Reverend Father Joel M. Hastings, priest of the Diocese of Duluth, will continue in his position as the Enforcer of Choral Discipline for the Liturgical Institute at the University of St. Mary of the Lake.

Fr. Samuel Weber reappointed Fr. Hastings to the post since "he did so well" last year.

In typical fasion, Fr. Hastings said this was only possible because "there was not much to do."

The ECD is responsible for correcting any singers at Lauds, Holy Mass, or Vespers who do not sing with the rest of the assembly, thereby causing distractions from sacred worship.

Anouncement Anticipated

The Reverend Father Samuel Weber, O.S.B. is expected to announce today the appointment of the Enforcer of Choral Discipline at the Liturgical Institute of the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois.

A secret council will be convened today at which the selection of the Enforcer will be determined. So secret is this committee that, says the Benedictine monk, "they do not even know who they are; it could be you."

More information as the development continues.

Father's Day and Corpus Christi

I recognize that Father's Day is, for a great many Americans, a day to relax in the company of their father. It is a day, and a most fitting day, to honor the fathers who care for their family and raise their children well. It is a reflective day and a joyful one.

For twenty years now, the first has been true for me, but the second day not so much. When I stop to realize it, it seems simply impossible: my father has been dead now these past twenty years.

They have been good years, but they have also been difficult. Not a day goes by that I do not think of my parents (mom has been dead now these past eighteen years). While I fully know that my parents continue to care for me and protect me and pray for me - and for all this I am eternal in their debt - the pain of their loss still is great and, of course, some days it is worse than others. Father's Day happens to be one of those days.

In his song, "I'll Carry On," Rich Mullins sings,

I kissed the earth on my daddy's grave / said goodbye to brave young companions / but when they hoist that sail I know my heart will break / as bright and as fine as the morning / I don't know where this road will take me / but they say there's a place there for a man / and I'm only afraid that my dreams may betray me / and I'll never get home again.

Today I make these words my own.

It is because of the honesty of his music that I have greatly admired and loved Rich Mullins' music since I was first introduced to it on my first Teens Encounter Christ weekend (special thanks here are due to David, who has since become a spiritual father to me [thanks to Sharon, too]). My Aunt Mary and Uncle Bob, who raised my brother and I and after dad died, raised me well. I grateful for their love, encouragement, and support.

There is one thing that my uncle said to me on several occassions. He has been a factory worker most of his life and in this way has provided well for his family. It is difficult work, and yet he always goes.

When I younger, probably twelve or thirteen or so, I remember saying to him that I wanted to work where he worked because the money was good. He said to me, on three occassions that I can remember, something to the extend of, "You're too smart for that." He may even have said it this way, I cannot recall properly at the moment; I wrote them down but I do not have that notebook with me. He never said this to disparage himself or anyone else, but only to encourage me and to foster the natural ability for learning that he saw in me. I know that it is because of his words that I am now pursuing my fourth degree and have always valued academic work above "manual" labor. For this, too, I am grateful.

At any rate, in my heart I have kissed my father's grave, and my mother's, as well.

I have a vision as to what will happen to me once I have died and, according to the grace and mercy of God, I come to enter into his heavenly kingdom. I cannot help but see me entering into Paradise and being greeted and welcomed by my exhuberant parents. We will very quickly - and very briefly - embace lovingly, but they will then hurriedly grab my hands and together we will run and they will bring me before the Lord himself. And that will be our reunion; after this we will adore the Lord together and share in the Beatific Vision.

I am grateful for this vision because it brings with it great comfort and love.

Tomorrow I will have the tremendous opportunity to adore the Lord Jesus with my parents on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. We know that in every Liturgy we join in the worship of the angels and the saints; we join in the worship of heaven itself. As such, the angels and the saints are present to us at every Mass. This a reality of the faith that I think we pay too little attention.

Tomorrow, as I mourn the loss of my father I will at the same time be united with him in prayer. How beautiful are the ways of the Lord!

Pray for your father tomorrow, whether living or dead. Pray also for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all fathers, that they may learn again the great importance and seriousness of their role as the head of the family and the first teacher in the ways of faith.

Mom and Dad, pray for me!

Ponder This

Today I drove from Mundelein, Illinois to Shrewsbury, Missouri, and then to Effingham, Illinois, and from there, back to Mundelein. Thankfully, today was a splendidly beautiful day for such a drive so it was rather enjoyable.

As I drove listening to great music of various styles, I rolled down the windows and opened the moonroof and very much enjoyed myself.

But as I continued driving the interstates in Illinois, I was struck at the many convertible cars on the highway whose drivers kept the rooves of the cars up and in place.

Why is it that someone would spend the extra money for a convertible and then not take advantage of it when the weather was as gorgeous as it was today? Just something to ponder.

Retreat!

This one-word order is one that few generals ever hope to issue because it seems to signal defeat, but it is one that the Most Reverend George J. Lucas issued to his people this past week.

However, "given the hectic pace of most of our lives, it is more important than ever that we plan some quiet time to rest in the Lord." For the follower of the Lord Christ, retreating is not a sign of defeat, but rather one of coming strength and victory.

Citing the example of Jesus, the Bishop of Springfield in Illinois reminded the faithful that "the practice of taking a little time away from ordinary responsibilities has a rich tradition in our Catholic faith."

It is precisely "because each baptized person is called to holiness" that retreats are a fitting spiritual exercise for clergy, consecrated men and women, and laity alike. Indeed, His Excellecy stated that "lay persons, too, have found great benefit in making a retreat."

He issued his order to "retreat" in the form of an invitation, asking his people, "While you are considering this possibility, you can whet your appetite for more time with the Lord. Turn off the radio in the car and pray the rosary or listen to inspirational talks or music. Begin regular visitis to the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament."

Amen! Alleluia!

I can hardly believe it. The word on the street is that both the adaptations to the Roman Missal and the translation of the Order of Mass have been approved by the United States' bishops, with little more than five minutes of debate time.

I must admit that while I am ecstatic at this blessed news, I am a bit disappointed, as well. I had been hoping for a bit more of a show.

For more information, check out Rocco Palmo's blog. I have no idea where he gets his information but he is usually quite well informed and insightful.

Speak Bible!

In his address today to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Most Reverend Arthur Roche, Bishop of Leeds (England), said to the U.S. bishops, "What a shame it would be if the most important tool we have for formation and worship [translations] was reduced to politics, as if the highest or only form of discourse we can manage in the Church (or society) is political discourse."

In reference to the many complaints that have been circulating concerning the proposed translation of the Order of Mass, a translation that is faithful to the principles set forth by the Holy See, Bishop Roche reminded the bishops that "you yourselves approved our statutes when ICEL [the Internation Commission on English in the Liturgy] was reconsituted four years ago."

While Bishop Roche, the current Chairman of ICEL, admitted that the English employed in the United States, Great Britain, and other countries has varrying differences - even within a single country - he affirmed "alongside the regional variations there is an American Standard English by means of which people from all over the country communicate with each other."

The principle behind this uniform language "can be applied internationally," the Bishop noted.

Following these introductory remarks, Bishop Roche proceeded to comment on several particular instances of the proposed translation which have elicted perhaps the greatest controversies.

The translation of the Fourth Eucharistic Prayer which we currently use reads, "...he took the cup filled with wine..." while the proposed translation reads "...he took the cup filled with the fruit of the vine." Some have objected to this, saying that the fruit of the vine is wine; it is, they argue, too wordy.

In response, Bishop Roche pointed out, "we hear the words 'the fruit of the wine' on the lips of the Lord himself in all three synoptic Gospels - which I would consider as being more than enough reason to respect their form."

Taking such issues to the next level, the Chairman remarked that "the more I go through this process the clearer it is to me that very many of us need to revisit the theological reasoning behind the various parts and components of the Mass, as well as considering the theological sources from which the texts of the Mass have been culled. In the main, these are the Sacred Scriptures and the Fathers of the Church."

"The link between the Liturgy and Scripture," he reminded the Conference, "on which Liturgiam authenticam lays emphasis, seems so obvious, important and valuable. I find it quite interesting to note the issues that can arise in this regard.

Continuing in this vein, Bishop Roche pointed out "that scriptural catechesis is central to liturgical catechesis. It was said of St. Bernard that he knew the Sacred Scriptures so well that his language was biblical - he began to, as our young people would say today, 'speak bible.' My point is that in using a translation that is more faithful to Sacred Scripture we are teaching ourselves and our people to speak bible!

Concluding his remarks, the Chairman reflected that there are "so many people with so many ideas, but in the end it is we bishops, in union with our Holy Father, who have the responsibility of faithfully handing on to them [the faithful] what we have received from the Lord."

He further noted, "We are at a very important moment in the whole of this process. If the bishops of the English-speaking countries can agree on a single version of the Mass, what a sign of catholicity that will be. But more than that, it will be a guarantee of catholicity for the future, not only in our own time, and not only in our own countries. Clearly I, and all my brother bishops of ICEL, believe that you, the bishops of the United States, have a most important role of leadership to play in just that."

Well said, your Excellency! Thank you!!!

Let the words be flung!

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops continues to meet for their annual June meeting, this year in Los Angeles, California. The June meeting - unlike the November meeting - is typically geared more toward a retreat-type atomsopher, with the weightier topics before the Conference reserved for the November meeting. This year, however, this seems not to be the case.

The agenda for this week's meeting includes:

1. a vote to extend the annual appeal for the Retirement Fund for Religious beyend the year 2007;
2. a vote on the adaptations of the Order of Mass;
3. a vote on liturgical translations by the Internation Committee on English in the Liturgy; and
4. a vote to begin drafting a document entitled Stewardship and Teenagers
5. various reports will also be given by

a. the work of Priorities and Plans;
b. Catholic Relief Services;
c. the Hurricane Task Force;
d. the Vocations Committee on their DVD, Fishers of Men [which is excellent]; and
e. the task force on Catholic Bishops and Politicians

The key topic in this meeting of the Bishops is, of course, the vote concerning the adaptations of the Liturgy and the English translations now before them.

The Episcopal Conferences of England, Wales, Australia, and Scotland have - as I understand it - all apporoved the translations which the Bishops of the United States will vote on this week.

In order to approve the current translations the Bishops need a two-thirds majority vote; the last poll of the Bishops indicated that they were fairly evenly split.

In fact, the issue of translation has been a dividing issue among many Bishops for several years now. There appear to be two main "camps": those who prefer a close, literal translation of the Latin text (which is the position of the Holy See), and those who prefer simply not to change the text because Catholic Americans do not want to change and would not understand such technical language as "Incarnate." I wish EWTN was broadcasting this meeting because it would be a great show.

If the Bishops do not approve the proposed translation, it is unclear what action the Holy See will take; it has - through the words of Francis Cardinal Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments - expressed a desire that the Bishops approve the translation.

Pray for our Bishops, that they remain open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the authentic needs of the People of God.

The Example of Andrew

The Apostle Andrew "was a man who was searching, who shared Israel's hope, who wanted to know better the word of the Lord, the presence of the Lord," remarked Pope Benedict XVI in his general audience today.

A great multitude of people today is searching for the answers to the meaning and purpose of life; they search, too, for fulfillment, peace, and happiness, but never do they truly look to Jesus. May the holy Apostle intercede for them and - even as he did for his brother, Simon Peter - show them Christ Jesus, the only satisfaction to their deepest yearnings and desires.

As "the first apostle who received the call and followed Jesus" there is much that we can learn by examining the passages in the Sacred Scriptures within which we encounter this fisherman from Galilee.

On the one hand, says the Holy Father, "It is worthwhile to underline Andrew's realism," while on the other "we may deduce that we do not have to be afraid to ask Jesus questions, but at the same time, we must be ready to accept the teachings, also astonishing and difficult, which he offers us."

Why are we so very hesitant to ask Jesus the difficult and pressing questions of our lives? He has told us time and time again that we need not be afraid to come to him in humility and trust. We can - and should - ask him the questions which rise in our hearts about our purpose, our fulfillment, our happiness because he alone is the answer.

Could it be that we know what answer Jesus will give us once we ask him our questions? Do we not, at least at some level, already know that he will say to us, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23)? I think we do, and here we can look to the example of St. Andrew, the blessed martyr.

In examining the martyrdom of St. Andrew, the His Holiness exhorted everyone: "We must learn a very important lesson: Our crosses have value if they are considered and welcomed as a part of the cross of Christ, if they are touched by the reflection of his light. Only through that cross our sufferings are also ennobled and attain their true meaning. "

Thank you, Holy Father, for these reflections; we eagerly await next week's reflections!

St. Andrew, pray for us!

Fishers of Men

If you have not seen the Fishers of Men, put out by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, you really should. You can watch a clip of the video here; it is quite good and is a fine start toward a renewed promotement and encouragement of vocations to the priesthood.

As Pope Benedict has said:

"There is an urgent need for the emergence of a new generation of apostles anchored firmly in the word of Christ, capable of responding to the challenges of our times and prepared to spread the Gospel far and wide. It is this that the Lord asks of you, it is to this that the Church invites you, and it is this that the world - even though it may not be aware of it - expects of you! If Jesus calls you, do not be afraid to respond to him with generosity, especially when he asks you to follow him in the consecrated life or in the priesthood. Do not be afraid; trust in him and you will not be disappointed." [Message to the Youth of the World on the Occasion of the 21st World Youth Day]

For too many years have we simply sat by and expected vocations to rise up on their own from our parishes and families. I am absolutely convinced that vocations are abounding in the Church today, we know that the Lord has not stopped calling young men to serve him as priests, but that instead young men are not hearing his call, in no small part because we are doing very little to help them hear his call. We must do all that we can to help young men answer the call of the Lord, we must explicitly encourage vocations by asking those whom the Lord might be calling to seriously and prayerfully consider a life lived in service to the Lord and to the Church.

Let us dedicate ourselves anew to the promotion of vocations, for, in the words of St. Francis of Assisi as he neared his death, "Let us begin, for until now we have done nothing."

All you holy Apostles, pray for us!

Scavenging for Treasures

Yesterday a priest-friend and I ventured down into the basement of the Feehan Memorial Library of Mundelein Seminary to the famed shelves marked "Book Sale" with the hope of scavenging uncovered hidden treasures.

On these shelves one can find anything from The Documents of the Second Vatican Council to such oddities as The Art of Tofu. It is often quite an eclectic collection.

Of the books which sat on the shelves five particularly caught my attention and begged to my numbered among the books of my own library:

1. The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy, by John Cannon and Ralph Griffiths

2. The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

3. Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers, by the USCCB

4. Holy Thursday Letters to My Brother Priests (1979-1991), by Pope John II

5. An Heraldic Alphabet, by J.P. Brooke-Little

I always get a chuckle when presenting such an assortment of books to a librarian or to a cashier at a bookstore; they are simply never quite sure how to take a seemingly odd collection of books at one time from one person. You should try it sometime.

Growing in Holiness

The Most Reverend George J. Lucas, Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, reminded the faithful that in baptism, "We are called to be holy and mediate the saving plan of God in the time and place in which we live."

He went on to reflect that the primary way in which we attain holiness and mediate the plan of God is by faithful attendance and participation at Sunday Mass. "The greatest privilege and the most important responsibility given to God's priestly people is the full participation in the church's liturgy, especially the Mass," he said. "Of course the ordained priest plays a central and unique role, as he stands in the place of Christ at the head of the church. But the Lord desires that all the members of his Body be there, too."

It is "At the eucharistic sacrifice, the baptized bring their lives and offer them to God, in union with the perfect offering of the Lord, for their salvation, and also for the salvation of the world," the Bishop reflected.

At the same time, there are additional means to growth in holiness. "In good works, too, the baptized exercise their priestly function."

Indeed, "The baptized, made holy by sanctifying grace, participate in the priestly work of Jesus by living as holy spouses, holy parents, holy children. They are not shy about being holy in public. They are reminders of God's plan for the sanctification of all the world in businesses and on the farm, in classrooms, in hospitals, in labor unions and in government."

Bishop Lucas concluded his remarks on the universal call to holiness with a call to the basics: "The essentials remain: the Eucharistic liturgy and the privilege, at work or at leisure, of sanctifying the world in union with our Lord Jesus Christ."

It Won't Be Long - I Hope!

It has been reported that the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops will soon present to the Holy Father an outline from the Synod discussions which Pope Benedict will use to write his post-synodal apostolic exhortation on "The Eucharist: The Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church."

The Holy Father has already expressed his desire to write this exhortation. Let us invoke the guidance of the Holy Spirit as Pope Benedict writes this important message. Let us pray, also, that he does not take too long writing it.

The Liturgical Institute

Today marked the first day of classes for the Summer 2006 session of the Liturgical Institute at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake.

It feels very good to be back on campus, to the place I lived and studied in for five years. I have memories of seminary life here, some unhappy, but most quite joyous and good.

I began the day with an early morning swim since I woke up at 5:00. When I was seminarian I began every day and ended every day with a swim. I feels great to be able to this again. If you can, I highly recommend it!

Thus far, I have been in two of my three class: History of Christian Thought IV and Marriage and Orders, taught by Fr. Robert Barron and Fr. C. Eugene Morris, respectively. Both are excellent instructors and I beleive both classes will be quite interesting and exciting.

I must be off shortly for Latin I; I hope all is well!

The objectives for the classes are as follows:

History of Christian Thought IV: This course is an exploration of the Christian theology that emerged in the West during the revolutionary sixteenth century. Because of the protest raised by Martin luter and his fellow reformers, Christians on both sides of hte Protestant-Catholic divide were compelled to wrestle with basic questions in the areas of theological anthropology, Christology, sacramental theology, and ecclesiology. We shall follow some of these debates by studying key texts of Martin Luter and John Calvin, as well as the official Catholic response to the Reformation as detailed in the decretals of the Council of Trent. Our study will close with an examination of the densely complex arguments concerning the relationship between divine grace and human freedom that preoccupied Catholic theologians at the close of the sixteenth century.

Marriage and Orders: The sacraments of Matrimony and Holy Orders are examined. The course will provide an overview of hte historical development of these two sacraments as well as discuss the complementarity of these sacraments as it is articulated in The Catechism of the Catholic Church. There will be an examination of their current theological understanding along with attention given to the current rituals. Specific attention is given to the following topics: the sacramentality of marriage; the theology of the body; the relationship between marriage and celibacy; the relationship between ordained ministry and the lay apostolate; an understanding of hierarchy and the relationship between the three degrees of Holy Orders; the nature of the Eucharist as sacrifice and as foundational necessity in both sacraments.

In this Church

Several weeks back I learned that my home parish of All Saints in Quincy is to be closed within the next year or so.

I sat down last week and wrote the following, reflecting back on the importance of this church in my life.

In this church I learned that God is love.
In this church I learned that God loves me.
In this church my father appeared to me - after his death - three times as if to say,
“I love you. I am watching you. I am caring for you. I will embrace you again.”
From this church my mother was buried.
In this church I made my first Confession.
In this church I received the Holy Eucharist for the first time.
In this church I learned to pray.
From this church my grandfather was buried.
From this church was cousin was buried.
From this church I hoped to be buried.
In this church I learned to serve the Holy Mass.
In this church I found joy.
In this church I found comfort.
In this church I found peace.
In this church I found my fulfillment.
In this church I heard God’s call.
In this church I responded to his call.
In this church I understood the unity and bond of the Mystical Body of Christ.
In this church I received the Anointing of the Sick.
In this church I was sent forth to study and be formed for the priesthood of Jesus Christ.
In this church I celebrated my first Mass of Thanksgiving.
In this church I wept and laughed and loved and prayed and listened and preached and was loved.
In this church I am at home.
In this church is all I have and all I have known.
In this church is my home.

The Eucharistic Feast

Following is a fantastic passage I found while on retreat which the former Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger wrote some years back in his Feast of Faith. I thought I might share it with you:

The novel Christian reality is this: Christ’s Resurrection enables man genuinely to rejoice. All history until Christ has been a fruitless search for this joy. That is why the Christian liturgy – Eucharist – is, of its essence, the Feast of the Resurrection, Mysterium Paschale. As such it bears within it the mystery of the Cross, which is the inner presupposition of the Resurrection. To speak of the Eucharist as the community meal is to cheapen it, for its price was the death of Christ. And as for the joy it heralds, it presupposes that we have entered into this mystery of death. Eucharist is ordered to eschatology, and hence it is at the heart of the theology of the Cross. This is why the Church holds fast to the sacrificial character of the Mass; she does so lest we fail to realize the magnitude of what is involved and thus miss both the real depth of what it means to be human and the real depth of God’s liberating power. The freedom with which we are concerned in the Christian feast – the feast of the Eucharist – is not the freedom to devise new texts but the liberation of the world and ourselves from death. Only this can make us free, enabling us to accept truth and to love one another in truth (65).

Reckless Love

While on retreat with my brother priests I resumed and finished reading Ilia Delio’s excellent book, Franciscan Prayer (Cincinnati, Ohio: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2004). It is a book that I highly recommend to all those interested in learning more about or following Saint Francis of Assisi as well as for those who seek to grow deeper in the spiritual life. There is a passage that particularly struck me - there are many, actually - and I would like to share it with you:

[Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi] understood that friendship with God is a mutuality of desires: God’s desire for us and our desire for God. That is why the cross is the sign of friendship because here is the visible sign of God’s unconditional love for us or, we might say, the pledge of God’s friendship with us. But if we really desire friendship with God we must ask, what kind of God do we desire to be friends with? If somehow we find our answer apart from the cross, we will always be seeking the ideals of joy and happiness in the wrong places. Francis and Clare assure us that the happiness of friendship with God is found in the strange relationship of suffering and love. If we are willing to love by way of suffering we will be on our way to friendship with God. Yes, friendship with God may be strange but then again this is no ordinary God. Rather this is a God who is reckless in love, and the one who desires friendship with God must become reckless in love as well – loving unto death. People who are reckless usually wind up in trouble because they do crazy things. Imagine being reckless for the kingdom of God. Just think what might happen. Friends of God loving one another the earth. Heaven breaking open in our midst (p. 103).

By no means do I have a reckless personality; I have never had such a personality, nor do I expect that I ever shall. I have always preferred the cautious and calm manner for myself, all the while admiring those who seem a bit more reckless and spontaneous.

Despite this, it is a beautiful dream to ponder - being absolutely reckless with the love of God, so reckless as to care not at all of the reactions of others, reckless enough to desire nothing more than the love of God, reckless enough to share this love with the world. Lord, make me this reckless!

Pax et bonum!

Homily - Trinity Sunday

Who is God? This is the central question that the Church asks and celebrates today on this, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. Who is God?

This is the very question Moses asked when he encountered the Lord in the burning bush. After receiving his mission to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, Moses asked, “But when I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?” (Exodus 3:13). In other words, “Who are you?” This is the same question Saul asks of Jesus before he follows him and spreads his Gospel as the great Apostle, Paul: “Who are you, sir?” (Acts 9:5).

Do we not each ask this question of God: “Who are you?” Moses is given this answer: “I am who am” (Exodus 3:14). Saul is given this answer: “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting (Acts 9:5). At the moment these two answers were given they were not especially helpful and certainly did not really clarify the strangeness of the two situations. Indeed, concerning the answer given to Moses, Pope Benedict remarks that the answer, “I am who am,” “seems much more like a refusal to give a name than the announcement of a name” (Introduction to Christianity, 86). And so it is with us.

The more that we seek to define God, the more that we seek to fully understand him, the more that we desire to say, “This is God,” the more he will elude us. Saint Augustine said, si comprehendis, non est Deus - “If you understand him, he is not God” (Sermon 52:16). Because God is infinitely different and greater than us, we can never fully grasp him, we can never fully comprehend him. Before all of our questions, before all of our intelligence and reflections we will always learn that the more we know about God the less we truly know about him. This being said, what then are we to say to our question, “Who is God?”

Many years ago I asked this very same question, “Who is God?" I did not ask this question in so many words, but the very pain of my being cried out to the Lord with this question. After the death of my father, I, as an eight year-old boy whose world had been torn asunder, cried out to the Lord in great pain and agony demanded an answer as to why my father had suddenly died. Two years later, I again cried out to him in pain and agony this time demanding an answer to my mother's death. I never did receive an answer as to why my parents died - nor do I think I ever really expected one - but I did learn something very profound through this pivotal experience.

The more that I questioned, the more that I demanded an answer, the more that I wept and yelled, the more I came to realize the presence of God around me. It is, really, an indescribable sensation and realization to know that God is with you. All that I can say is that I felt very much at peace even though the two people whom I love most in the entire world are no longer with me. The more that I questioned God’s reasons and purposes, the more I asked, “Who are you?" perhaps without even knowing it.

I do not know if this is an ancient saying or not, but if it is not it certainly should be: We cannot love what we do not know. As I asked God, ”Who are you?" The more I felt him saying to me, ”I know your pain. I suffer with you. I have suffered for you. I loved you. You are mine. Come to me.”

But I did not realize at the time that in feeling the Lord say to me, “I love you,” he was revealing to me the very essence of who he is. We know, first and foremost that “God is love” (I John 4:16). We know, too, as the Holy Father teaches us, “Love is always ‘mysterium’ – more than one can reckon or grasp by subsequent reckoning. Love itself – the uncreated, eternal God – must therefore be in the highest degree a mystery – ‘the’ mysterium itself” (Introduction to Christianity, 114). So then, God is love and love is a mystery, therefore God is a mystery. But then is this all that we can say about God? Is this all that he has said to us? Of course not.

With the love of God as our starting point, we realize – as Pope Benedict reminds us in his Encyclical Letter - that God alone has created all things, he alone has created each of us, “consequently, his creation is dear to him, for it was willed by him and ‘made’ by him” (Deus caritas est, 9). We learn also that “this God loves man” (Deus caritas est, 9).

In Jesus Christ, we realize also that “God’s passionate love for his people – for humanity – is at the same time a forgiving love. It is so great that it turns God against himself, his love against his justice” (Deus caritas est, 10).

One could, in fact, say that God is a relationship of love. It is precisely because God is love that God is a relationship of persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One could see the Father as the Lover, the Son as the Beloved, and the Holy Spirit as the Love shared between the Father and the Son. In this way God is a communion of love, three persons all in one: the Blessed Trinity. It is because God is a communion of love that he calls each of us to receive his love and to share his love. In short, he and invites each of us to be in a relationship of love with him. Such is the beauty and the wonder of the power of love.

This is, admittedly, still a difficult concept for our minds to grasp. We ask, how can there be one God, and yet three persons in the Godhead? All I can tell you is that from my faith and from my experience I know this to be true. I cannot explain much better than this. Many of the saints have tried and this, it seems to me, is the best explanation that we have. We must be satisfied, then, to keep this mystery - this mystery of great and divine love - before us always.

In the scientific and rationalistic age in which we live, we want to have control of everything around us. We want to explain everything away and remove all mystery. In short, we want to be in charge of our lives and of our surroundings. My friends, this we simply cannot do. Let us then instead follow the wisdom of Saint Francis of Assisi, who encourages us with these words:

Let us desire nothing else, let us want nothing else, let nothing else please us and cause us delight except our Creator, Redeemer, and Savior, the only true God, let nothing hinder us, nothing separate us, nothing come between us (Earlier Rule 10).

The Annual Retreat

Having returned on Friday from a brief holiday respite in Lansing, Michigan, today I will my brother priests of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois will be on retreat with our Bishop, the Most Reverend George J. Lucas, through Friday afternoon in Belleville, Illinois.

Please keep us in your prayers, even as we assure you of our prayers, that we may grow in greater unity as a Presbyterate and that we might be given the grace of the Holy Spirit that gives refreshment and zeal in our ministry.

Homily - Pentecost

In the beginning, “the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep, and God’s spirit hovered over the water” (Genesis 1:1 [Jerusalem]). We see here the presence of the Holy Spirit at the dawn of the world and we see also the Holy Spirit present at the creation of mankind: “the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). The breath of the Spirit creates and gives life.

Today there is one question that we must ask: Why did the Holy Spirit come down upon the Apostles as “tongues of fire” (Acts 2:3)? Saint Anthony of Padua suggests that the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles in this fashion

because it was by tongues (namely those of the serpent, Eve and Adam) that death entered into the world [cf. Wisdom 2:24]. The tongue of the serpent was poison to Eve, the tongue of Eve poisoned Adam, and Adam’s tongue tried to turn the blame back on God. The tongue is a cold organ, surrounded by moisture; thus: “It is an unquiet evil, full of deadly poison [James 3:8],” than which there is nothing colder. Therefore the Holy Spirit appeared in tongues of fire, to apply tongues to tongues, fire to deadly poison (Sermons, Pentecost, 3).

With his forked and deceitful tongue, the serpent spoke a great lie to Eve and tricked her into believing that God did not want – nor even know – what was best for her, what would lead her to happiness, fulfillment, and peace. Through her conniving, Eve convinced Adam that it was safe to eat the fruit of the tree of which they were forbidden to eat. Through his pride, Adam refused to accept responsibility for his action, blaming first Eve for having tricked him and in the end blaming God, presumably for having placed the tree in the garden in the first place.

It is through the tongue and through the breath that the poison of sin and death entered into creation and doomed mankind to eternal death. Now it is through a tongue that the antidote to the poison of sin and death will be given to a fallen world. Today, through the breath and tongue of the Holy Spirit the Lord “renew[s] the face of the earth” by bestowing upon us his manifold gifts, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Ezekiel:

O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. O my people! I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land; thus you shall know that I am the LORD. I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD (Ezekiel 37:12-14).

Through the power of the Holy Spirit God the Father raised the Lord Jesus Christ from death and restored him to life. As the Crucified and Risen Savior breathed the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles he breathed into them his very life, and so Jesus breathes this same Spirit into and upon us so that we, too, might live. As Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit anew in this fashion what was done through the breath and tongue of the serpent, of Eve and of Adam has been undone; all has been restored and renewed. Through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit we are made new creations in Christ the Lord.

We have seen why the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles in the form of tongues, but why did he descend as tongues of fire? Saint Anthony teaches us, saying:

Note that fire has four natures: it burns, it cleanses, it warms, it gives light. Similarly the Holy Spirit burns away sins, cleanses hearts, shakes off sloth, and enlightens ignorance (Saint Anthony of Padua, Sermon, Pentecost, 3).

It is first of all, then, the fire of the Holy Spirit that we received at Baptism that burns away the poison of sin and death. It is the fire of the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our sins and leads us to confess them by waking us from our slumber and laziness and filling us with the light of Truth. In this way, and only in this way, we are re-created. We must be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit within us. We cannot stifle his work. We must yield to him and so come to a profound understanding of the love that Christ the Lord showers upon us sinners.
Let us always remember that, as Saint Anthony of Padua teaches us,

The Holy Spirit, “sharing with each as he will” [cf. I Corinthians 12:11], breathes his grace where, how, how much, when and on whom he will. May he deign to breathe it on us, he who this day breathed his grace on the Apostles in tongues of fire. To him be always praise and glory, through everlasting ages. Amen” (Saint Anthony of Padua, Sermon, Pentecost, 3).

A Factoid

Yesterday after our practice for the ordination of a new priest for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, a priest-friend of mine remarked that I hold a special distinction of the priests of my presbyterate: I am the only priest under thirty years of age. This distinction I shall keep for one more year.

Homily - Ascension of the Lord

When Christ the Lord took on flesh and was born in Bethlehem of the Virgin Mary he took upon himself our humanity together with his divinity. He lived among us and taught us the way to the Father as he made the difficult and agonizing journey to Jerusalem. All the while his divinity remained veiled. The veil over his divinity was pulled back, as it were – his divinity was revealed - when he healed the sick; when he cast out demons; when he raised the dead; or when he multiplied the loaves and the fishes, but his divinity was not seen by all, nor was it seen all of the time.

When the all-powerful God chose to come be with us he did not come with the blare of trumpets or the march of armies. He did not come as he deserved; rather he chose the way of poverty and humility, all to reveal to us the awesome power of his love. He came among us so quietly that he almost came unnoticed.

In his death on the Cross, we see the fullness of his humanity and the depth of his great love for us. In his Resurrection from the dead we begin to see more of his divinity, but at the same time we see his humanity given greater glory as he stayed among these past forty days. In his resurrection, he reveals more of his majesty to us, but in his ascension into heaven we behold the fullness of his divinity.

Pope Benedict XVI, in reflecting upon the meaning of Jesus’ ascension into glory, reminds us:

The meaning of this last gesture of Jesus is twofold. Above all, ascending on “high,” he unequivocally reveals his divinity: He returns to where he came from, that is, to God, after having fulfilled his mission on earth. Moreover, Christ ascends to heaven with the humanity he had assumed and which has resurrected from the dead: That humanity is ours, transfigured, divinized, made eternal. The Ascension, therefore, reveals the “supreme vocation” (Gaudium et Spes, no. 22) of every human person – called to the eternal life of the kingdom of God, kingdom of love, light and peace (Pope Benedict XVI, Regina Caeli Address, 21 May 2006).

But how do we enter into this kingdom?

After the Last Supper Jesus said to the Apostles, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where [I] am going you know the way” (John 14:2-3). Today he says this to each of us as well. Having ascended to the Father he prepares a place for us, but we must seek to follow after him. We must desire to be where he is. He will not force us to be with him; we must desire it and we must have faith in him. We must implore for the gift of this faith.

To this statement of Jesus Thomas demanded, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” (John 14:5). Do we not say the same to Jesus: “Lord, where have you gone? Why have you left us?” Jesus answers this question, which we all pose to him, saying, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). He has not abandoned us; rather, he is our hope, for he shows us the way to the Father.

After watching in bewilderment Jesus ascend to the Father, the Apostles continued “looking intently at the sky” (Acts 1:10) and “standing there looking at the sky” (Acts 1:11). It is as though they stand there asking again with Thomas, “Master, how can we know the way?” They see Jesus ascend in his glory. They know where he has gone but they do not know quite how to get there, they do not quite know how to follow him.

To their wonderment, the two men told them how to follow after Jesus: “This Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven” (Acts 1:11). “He has not abandoned you; he will come back for you when all is ready.”

The way to heaven, the way to the Father, the way to eternal life is no thing, it is a person; the way is Jesus Christ! Knowledge of the Savior and a mature faith in him is the way to heaven, is the way to follow him; in short, what is needed is a faithful relationship with Christ Jesus, nothing more, nothing less. We are reminded again of the Holy Father’s words: “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice of a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction” (Deus Caritas Est, 1).

Today we witness where Jesus has gone. This is the new horizon we are given and the decisive direction. Our new horizon, our decisive direction, is the ascension of the Lord. We see him “lifted up” (Acts 1:9) into heaven and we know that today “God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy; the LORD amid trumpet blasts” (Psalm 47:6).

“We rejoice that Christ our savior has taken his place at the right hand of the Father, because where he has gone, we hope to follow” (Pope Benedict XVI, Regina Caeli Address, 21 May 2006).

Let us then not be found staring into the sky wondering where it is that Jesus has gone and pondering how it is that we are to follow. No, we know the Way! The Way knows us and loves us and calls us to himself. Let us then yield to the power of his love. Let us embrace the power of the Cross and resurrection so that when he comes again with the angels and the saints we may be found worthy to share with him eternal glory. Amen.

The School of Faith

Yesterday, in his General Audience address, the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI continued his powerful reflections on the person of Saint Peter the Apostle.

Referring to the faith of the Prince of the Apostles, the Successor of Peter said:

His was still an initial faith, a journeying faith. It would come to true fullness only through the experience of the paschal events. But, nonetheless, it was already faith, open to a greater reality -- open above all because it was not faith in soemthing, but faith in Someone: in him, Christ.

Thus our faith is also an initial faith and we must still journey a long way. However, it is essential that it be an open faith that lest itself be guided by Jesus, because not only does he know the way, but he is the way.What comforting and assuring words the Holy Father speaks to us! He continues:

The school of faith is not a triumphal march, but a journey strewn with sufferings and love, trials and faithfulness to be renewed every day.

Like Peter, we follow willingly after the Lord and we also deny the Lord and betray him. But we can take courage and consolation from the example of Peter because he did not let his failings stand in the way of his following after Christ. Rather, through his failings he came to know, in a more profound way than before, the love of Christ.

Pope Benedict XVI points out that, in the passage where Jesus thrice asks Peter, "Do you love me?" there is a distinction in the Greek in the words used for "love". The Holy Father says:

Jesus asks Peter the first time: "Simon . . . do you love me ('agapas-me')" with this total and unconditional love (cf. John 21:15)? Before the experience of the betrayal, the apostle would certainly have said: "I love you ('agapo-se') unconditionally." Now that he has known the bitter sadness of infidelity, the tragedy of his own weakness, he says with humility: "Lord, I love you ('filo-se')," that is, "I love you with my poor human love."

Can any of us love Jesus with more than our poor human love? What else have we to offer him?

Pope Benedict continues:

Christ insists: "Simon, do you love me with this total love that I want?" And Peter repeats the answer of his humble human love: "Kryie, filo-se," "Lord, I love you as I know how to love."

The third time Jesus only says to Simon: "Fileis-me?", "Do you love me?" Simon understood that for Jesus his poor lve, the only one he is capable of, is enough, and yet he is saddened that the Lord had to say it to him in this way. ... It would seem that Jesus adapted himself to Peter, rather than Peter to Jesus!

Such is the powerful and tremendous beauty of the love of Christ, who loves us as we are and calls us to grow in love, while at the same asking only of us the love that we can give.

Thank you, Holy Father, for these beautiful reflections! I eagerly await your continuing reflections on the Apostles!

Somebody Had to Say It

After repeated requests for decency went unheeded at a recent graduation ceremony, the Most Reverend Michael Jarrel, Bishop of Lafayette, walked out of the ceremony.

Parents, relatives, and friends persisted in cheering in the form of "hoots and hollars" for their graduates, despite instructions to hold their applause and cheers until all graduates received their diplomas.

Like many of you, I am sure, I, too, have witnessed such debacles and I find them very distasteful, self-centered, and immature at best.

To refrain from such ridiculous and obnoxious behavior seems a fair request, and a decent one, that adds dignity and respect to the ceremonies.

In a statement he issued in response to the controversy his walking out has caused, Bishop Jarrel wrote,

I have great respect for the graduates. They were perfect young ladies and gentlemen. They did all that was asked of them by the school. I believe that they wanted a dignified ceremony and one not interrupted by rude behavior by others. Thirty years ago it was the graduates who created disruptions. Today's graduates are models of good behavior; the problem is in the audience. What I did was for the sake of the graduates in future years (emphasis added).

It is high time somebody said such a thing! Way to go, Bishop Jarrel! Keep up the good work!

No Cross, No Christian

In a letter to Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI reiterated a centrul truth of the Christian faith, saying, "In fact, being Christian is only possible with our gaze fixed on the cross of our Redeemer."

So many who would call themselves "Christians" - largely in the Western world - are promoting a version of "Christianity" that seemingly seeks to avoid the cross of our salvation in everyday faith and living, but such a vision clearly is false and dangerous.

The letter, written on the occassion of the fiftieth anniversary of Pope Pius XII's Encyclical Letter Haurietis Aquas (On Devotion to the Sacred Heart), centered on the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Praising this devotion, Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that "gazing at the side pierced by the lance, where shines God's boundless will for salvation, cannot then be considered as a passing form of veneration or devotion. The adoration of God's love, which found historical-devotional expression in the symbol of the pierced heart, remains irreplaceable for a living relationship with God."

In reflecting on the call of the Savior, Pope Benedict XVI recalled that "the experience of God's love is lived by man as a 'call' to which he must respond." Let us respond generously and with loving hearts to this invitation and so fulfill the Scripture, "They shall look on him whom they have pierced" (John 19:37).

Sweet Tackiness

The other day a friend sent a link my way that I thought I would share with you: Talking Bible Dolls.

To my mind, they seem the epitome of tackiness and religious "fluff," but what do I know?

The three dolls are to represent Jesus, Moses, and - so as not to leave out little girls - Esther. I might have thought to make a doll out of Mary to go along with Moses and Jesus, but again, what do I know?

While Moses recites for us the Ten Commandments, Esther tells us about herself. Jesus, meanwhile, recites various passages from the Scriptures for us. You can make them talk by pressing their red hearts. How sweet.

A Lovely Day

I must say that today has been quite a lovely and - for the most part anyway - refreshing day. Without having to teach class in the afternoons I now have a good chunk of free time in the day that I have not had in many months, which has resulted in the possibility to get to projects that have been waiting to be attended.

This morning as I was shopping about for various necessities, I found a bookcase that I liked and thought would work well in my library in the rectory. I have been searching for a bookcase for some weeks now, without success (obviously).

After purchasing the bookcase, loading it into my Toyota Matrix (which is excellent for hauling large objects around), and returning to the parish I lugged the bookcase into the rectory foyer with the help of our Administative Manager (summers are quieter for him, too).

I then spent the next two hours in the successful attempt to put the pieces together in the appropriate order (that part was a bit tricky as the directions were none too clear). However, I finally finished the project and ate some pizza.

After some delicious slices of pepperoni (left over from a meeting last night) I returned to my library and began the very peaceful and relaxing process of transferring books from one shelf to another, resorting books, and finally - after some three months - taking books from the ever-growing pile on the floor to place them properly on shelves, where, as everybody knows, all books belong.

I still have a bit more work to do in the library, including the hanging of various decorative pieces and some organzing to the workspace. When I finish this project I will take a picture of my library and post it - if I remember.

And don't forget, as Cicero once said: "A room without books is like a body without a soul."

With the end comes the beginning

Although I have very much enjoyed teaching at the high school of my parish, I am quite happy to say that the school year is now officially over. Last evening, we graduated forty-five seniors and - as of this moment - we have enrolled sixty-one freshmen for the coming school year.

Even as classes at the high school drew to a close, my preparations were only beginning. This summer I will return to the Liturgical Institute of the University of St. Mary of the Lake to resume my studies toward the Licentiate in Sacred Theology.

What follows is the text of a letter that I sent to the parishioners on the Memorial of Saint Catherine of Sienna, 29 April 2006:

My dear parishioners,

The Lord give you peace! The Lord is risen from the dead! Alleluia, alleluia! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

During my final year of studies and preparation for the priesthood at Mundelein Seminary, I enrolled in the Liturgical Institute of the University of St. Mary of the Lake and began studies toward a Licentiate in Sacred Theology with an emphasis in sacramental theology (this degree is somewhat higher than a Masters degree). I completed the first year of studies during my final year in the seminary and I now have the second year yet to complete.

With the permission of Bishop Lucas, I have discussed with Msgr. Enlow the possibility of my returning to the Liturgical Institute this summer to resume these studies from June 12th through July 14th, with the aim of completing them in the summer of 2007. Msgr. Enlow has kindly granted me permission to resume these studies this coming June and July.

In my absence, Fr. Carl Schmidt and Fr. Ben Meyer have graciously offered their sacramental ministry to the parish until I return. Please know that my commitments in the parish – particularly weddings – I will keep. As such, I will be back in the parish about every other weekend. Fr. Schmidt and Fr. Meyer will celebrate Masses during the week and on many of the weekends.

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience my absence may cause, but at the same time I know that these studies will only enhance my future ministry and teaching. I assure you that you will all remain in my prayers while I am away this summer and I ask your continued prayers for me.

As Saint Francis of Assisi encouraged his brothers so I encourage you: Praise and bless my Lord, and give thanks to him and serve him with great humility.
Peace and Joy,

The Rev. Daren J. Zehnle
Parochial Vicar

I am very much looking forward to my return to studies; I feel I am an academic at heart.

Homily - 21 May 2006

The Sixth Sunday of Easter (B)

It is this passage from the First Letter of Saint John that gave rise to Pope Benedict XVI’s first Encyclical Letter, Deus Caritas Est, God is Love. In this beautiful and moving reflection on the God who loves, the Holy Father reminds us that the foundational tenet of the Christian faith is this very passage, that “God is love” (I John 4:8). In fact, this belief and truth is expressly unique to Judaism and Christianity; in terms of the religions of the world, it is something entirely new and unheard of.

We learn from the Old Testament that the Lord God has created everything that is, that “all things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be” (John 1:3). With this in mind, the Holy Father says we can learn two things: first, that

the whole world comes into existence by the power of his creative Word. Consequently, his creation is dear to him, for it was willed by him and “made” by him. The second important element now emerges: this God loves man (Deus Caritas Est, 9).

In the ancient world the notion that God would love humanity seemed absurd and bizarre at best. Today, too, many people are tempted to believe the same. How could it be that God loves mankind, they ask. Look at what people do to one another, look at how people even ignore their God. How could God possibly love man? Even worse, some people go so far as to ask, “How could God love me?” To this very question Jesus responds clearly, “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love” (John 15:9).

It is true to say that we do not deserve the love that the Lord has for us, but it is precisely here that the beauty and wonder of this love is made manifest. “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins” (I John 4:10).

Just as the Old Testament teaches us something new about the God who loves, so, too, does the New Testament. The New Testament is, of course, primarily concerned with the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and of his continuing activity in the Church through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Father reminds us that

The real novelty of the New Testament lies not so much in new ideas as in the figure of Christ himself, who gives flesh and blood to those concepts – an unprecedented realism. In the Old Testament, the novelty of the Bible did not consist merely in abstract notions but in God’s unpredictable and in some sense unprecedented activity. This divine activity now takes on dramatic form when, in Jesus Christ, it is God himself who goes in search of the “stray sheep”, a suffering and lost humanity (Deus Caritas Est, 12).

Can there be any greater wonder than this? People often say to me that religion is boring, and by this they mean Christianity. Whenever they say this I have to wonder if they have been even the slightest bit of real attention throughout their entire lives. Can anything be more exciting than this?

Purely out of love God created us and fashioned us for himself. Purely out of pride we sinned against him and forfeited the graced relationship we had with him and were thereby condemned to death. Even so, God never stopped loving us. We might even say that his love even intensified as he continually lovingly called us back to himself, even as we continually turned away. But then, in the fullness of time, God did something seemingly unimaginable: he took on flesh and blood for us sinners, to redeem us and save us, and to restore our relationship with him. Such is the power and the depth of his love! Even when we did not love him he still loved us! So great is his love for us that, seeing us in the dark misery and pain of sin and death, forever separated from him, he sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to atone for our sins. In Christ Jesus we learn firsthand that, as the only Son of God says to us, “no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends…” (John 15:13-14). In the Christ Jesus, “The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power” (Antiphon, Psalm 98). Amen. Alleluia!

Homily - 7 May 2006

Today we celebrate not only this fourth Sunday of Easter, this “Good Shepherd Sunday;” we also celebrate today the forty-third World Day of Prayer for Vocations because today Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and will lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10: 14-15). Through his prophet Jeremiah, the Lord also promises us, “I will give you shepherds after my own heart” (Jeremiah 3:15).
These are beautiful words the Savior says to us today and they are comforting words, for we cannot truly “know” another person unless we first love them. We may think that we know someone whom we do not love, but what we really mean is that we know about them; we do not – in reality – know them personally. We do not know their thoughts or true concerns, their worries, fears, and loves. Jesus says to us with confidence and with authority: “I know mine and mine know me.” He knows us through and through because he loves us and it is because he loves us that he reminds us, “[I] will lay down my life for my sheep.” This is the very reason he has come to us, to show us the depth of the Father’s love and to call us back to him. “[I]n Jesus Christ, it is God himself who goes in search of the ‘stray sheep’, a suffering and lost humanity” (Pope Benedict XVI, Deus caritas est, 12).
He comes among us and lives with us. He listens to us, he encourages us, he challenges us, he calls to repent and to turn from sin and he loves us. He loves us like no has ever loved before and he loves like no one will ever love again. He picks us up – wounded, broken, and in pain as we are – and places us upon his shoulders. He carries us all the way to the Cross, all because he loves us. And he invites certain men and women to join him in this act of love, in this act of service.
Jesus cannot know us any more deeply than he already does because he loves us perfectly and completely. We, on the other hand, can always know Jesus more deeply because we can always love him more profoundly. This side of heaven, our love for him will rarely be perfect. Nevertheless, he calls each of us to know him and to love him and so to become one with one.
As we grow in knowledge and love of God we come to know his will in our lives and we come to accept his will. So very often we consider our will for lives – what I want – and what God wants for my life as two very different things, almost as two forms of life set completely in opposition to each other. But this is not the case for the more we come to know and love the Lord

God’s will is no longer for me an alien will, something imposed on me from without by the commandments, but it is now my own will, based on the realization that God is in fact more deeply present to me than I am to myself. Then self-abandonment to God increases and God becomes our joy (cf. Psalm 73 [72]:23-28) (Deus caritas est, 17).

My will becomes one with God’s will for me because I have come to know and experience his marvelous love, a love which knows no limits. In knowing his love I come to learn that he desires my happiness and joy – this is his will for my life and only in him will any of us ever be truly happy and joyous.
This, then, brings us to the heart of the prayer of the Church today. Pope Benedict XVI reminds us today that

it should never be doubted that Christ continues to raise up men who, like the Apostles, leaving behind all other work, dedicate themselves completely to the celebration of the sacred mysteries, to the preaching of the Gospel and to pastoral ministry” (Message for the 43rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations).

Still today the Lord calls men in this very parish to serve him as priests and deacons, just as he calls men to serve him as consecrated brothers and as he calls women to serve him as consecrated sisters.
This is a faithful parish and a vibrant parish. The faith is alive here, and yet there has been no priestly vocation to come from this parish in quite some time. And so the question must be asked, “Are we doing enough? Are we doing what the Lord truly asks of us? Are we living the faith as we should? Is there more the Lord asks of us?” Fifteen years – twenty years – since the last ordination from this parish is simply too long.
I can say with great certainty that I would not be standing before you today, I would not be a priest of Jesus Christ, if it were not for the parishioners of my home parish in Quincy. These faithful men and women have a great love of the Church and of priests, as do you. These men and women saw something in me when I was in high school and they thought the Lord was calling me to the priesthood and so they told me; in fact, they repeatedly told me. Little did they know that at this very same time I, too, believed the Lord was calling me to the priesthood. Even so, without their invitation, without their support, without their enthusiastic encouragement, I would not have had the courage to pursue the priesthood, feeling myself unworthy of such a sacred calling. And indeed I am unworthy of the priesthood – as is every priest; but as the Holy Father reminds us, “Weaknesses and human limitations do not present an obstacle, as long as they help make us more aware of the fact that we are in need of the redeeming grace of Christ” (Message for the 43rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations).
With this in mind, then, I challenge you to ask the Lord to let you know which young men in this very parish he is calling to serve him as priests and deacons. Ask him, too, to tell you whom is calling to serve him as consecrated men and women. I am watching several young men and women – and have been for some time – whom I believe the Lord is calling at this very moment. Many of them know who they are and so do you.
These are the young men and women with whom you live, work, study, and play. You know their qualities and characteristics and you have a sense whether or not the Lord is calling them. When was the last time you extended the invitation to a young man to consider the priesthood or to a young woman to consider the consecrated life?
Vocations are nourished, supported, and sustained through the parish; vocations do not simply fall out of heaven. The Lord raises up men and women to serve him and his Church through the communities of faith we call parishes and families. Vocations must be supported, they must be talked about, they must be encouraged if those whom the Lord calls are to hear his call and to respond to his call with generosity and with love.
The Holy Father reminds us that the Lord invites all people to know him love him. He says,

Already on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, many allowed themselves to be won by Jesus: they were in search of healing in body or spirit, and they were touched by the power of his grace. Others were chosen personally by Him and became his apostles. We also find some, like Mary Magdalene and others, who followed him on their own initiative, simply out of love. Like the disciple John, they too found a special place in his heart (Message for the 43rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations).

Let us then always encourage and invite young men and women to offer their lives to the Lord as priests, deacons, and consecrated men and women. Lord, give us shepherds to lead us!