Opps!

     I did something yesterday that could threaten a reputation that I have spent years fostering.  There are many aspects to my reputation that remain intact.  However, my hard earned reputation of doing things at the last minute and just being on time suffered a blow yesterday when I announced that in our parish we celebrated Catechetical Sunday on September 7th at the 4:00 pm Mass.  Catechetical Sunday in the United States and our Diocese is NEXT Sunday, September 15th!  I was a week early ... ahead of time ... and wrong!  What a blow to my "just in time, never early" reputation.

     To those that may have read the post and thought that they had missed this important day, my apologies.  Celebrate well on the real Catechetical Sunday.

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I am on retreat this week, so the posts may be a little more 

sporadic.  Pray for the priests on retreat from our Diocese.

Thanks.

Catechists

     September 8th in the United States is Catechetical Sunday.  On this day we acknowledge and commission those individuals who assist our parents and guardians as well as our parish religious formation programs in the teaching of our children and their guidance and growth in the Faith.

     In my homily today I spoke of three Scripture professors that had in my seminary years at Saint Francis in Loretto, Pennsylvania.  All three were good men, but each brought a different experience to me.  The first that I mentioned was a visiting professor named Father Anthony Wei.  From China, and having studied everywhere, he was an outstanding scholar.  He was so in love with and wrapped up in the scriptures that he was (for me at least) a less than effective teacher.  He would be writing on the board in English, then switch to Latin or Greek, or Chinese or Hebrew, or whatever until we pulled him in to focus on one language for those of us not linguists.

     I mentioned Father Austin Hovan, T.O.R. who unfortunately died very early in life in an accident.  Father Austin also was a scholar and a good teacher.  If you followed his lectures, took good notes, listened attentively to his explanations, you would learn.  As a good teacher, the classroom was his lab.

     Then I mentioned Father Roland Faley, T.O.R., who was rector for a number of years and who taught scripture.  He too was a well known scholar, having penned a portion of the Jerome Biblical Commentary, a well known reference work in our time.  He was a good teacher as well.  But I told the people that the quality that set him apart from the other two for me was that he brought that love and knowledge of the scriptures with him into other settings.  It was evident in his preaching and presiding at prayer and liturgy.  He brought his enthusiasm with him into our conversations and interactions, well beyond the classroom.  For me, he exhibited what I believe that it means to be a catechist - to bring knowledge and wisdom into the journey of life ... to be a fellow sojourner, a helpful guide, a friend that helped me find my way to Christ in and through the scriptures.

     All of us are called to be catechists in this way.  We must be there for each other.

     I am grateful to Tony Wei, to Austin Hovan and to Roland Faley (who I understand is living in a retirement/nursing home in Dubois, PA).  I am grateful to my parents, grandparents, sister, friends, teachers, and catechists of all sorts who have blessed my life.  And I am most grateful to God for his love.

A challenge to the social structure

     I marvel at the power of the reading from Philemon that was our second reading in today's liturgy.  Talk about a revolutionary challenge to social structure.  Here is the situation.

     Paul is writing to a good friend, Philemon.  When Paul had recently been thrown into prison, he was imprisoned with a young slave named Onesimus, who was the property and  slave of Philemon.  Over the course of their captivity, Onesimus came to know Christ and to accept Paul as a spiritual father.  Paul grew to love this young man as a brother and a son.  When they were released, Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon - I'm sure a challenge to Onesimus but certainly a challenge to Philemon.  That is because Paul tells Philemon that he sends his former slave, now a child of God and a follower of Christ and a son to Paul, back to him as a brother and friend.   The property has now become family.  Inequality needed to give way to equality.  The social order that both had known now was transformed into something new and life changing.  The fear of going back was for Onesimus overcome by the love and assurance of Paul.  Any difficulty that Philemon had in accepting this new arrangement was dealt with in Paul's challenge to accept this new world order because it was right in the Lord and because Philemon owed this to Paul.  Who says that the way of Christ is easy?  Who says that religion is "a piece of cake"?

     The inequality that exists in our attitudes toward others, many of whom we feel are "not like us" or who are held in lower esteem, challenge our understanding of what Christ desires.  Our prejudices need to give way to acceptance.  All of us are brothers and sisters in Christ who share a common dignity and our relationships are transformational of society.   We are called to rebuild our social structures based on the call to love and acceptance found in the Lord Jesus.  Powerful indeed.

Quite a discussion

     It has been interesting watching the level of discussion in the United States and the world community regarding a military intervention in the tragic situation in Syria.  It has almost hit a frenzied moment.  It seems that everyone has an opinion and a great many people are not in favor of a U.S. action.  It is obvious that the world community needs to condemn the use of chemical weapons as well as genocide in that particular conflict as well as wherever it is found around the globe.  Civilized society, not only the United States, needs to call those to task who engage in such actions.

     But what I am fascinated by is the sudden level of these discussions now, since we have been engaged in war on two fronts for a longer period of time than ever before in our nation's history. There has been very little concern or protest or call for an end to those conflicts that have very little discernible positive results.  The cost to this nation in staggering, especially in those who have died or who face daily struggles from their wounds and experiences.  And yet, life goes on as usual.  We set withdrawal deadlines that are years in the making and will not involve the withdrawal of all of our troops.  While there are some situations that bring about positive results, there is no clear sense of victory (or defeat).  Where is that discussion?  Maybe we are afraid to speak out for fear that some may insinuate that to do so would dishonor our troops?  It is not the troops, but rather our complacent leadership that brings shadow to our glorious image.  Another day, another conflict, another year, another group of countless lost and injured lives, and countless billions in a debt ridden economy continue as if this is "normal".  I believe that we have lost our way.

     It is unusual for me to use this forum to speak out politically, so forgive me.

     Pope Francis is calling upon all men and women of good will to pray and fast tomorrow, September 7th, the eve of the feast of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Queen of Peace.  I encourage you to join in this special time of appealing to heaven with our prayers.

On WORK on Labor Day

     Work is a dirty word for many.  It speaks of toil and drudgery, necessity and slavery.  In our day, the joy of work is seen not in the pride of the end product or result, but rather in the finishing of the task or of receiving the paycheck.  Work for all too many is that elusive reality that is beyond their grasp, or if they are lucky enough to find work, they can barely make ends meet to provide for their families.

     And yet work is a beautiful gift of God.  In fact, the first work that God called Adam and Eve to enter into was god-like: the entrustment of all creation to them so that they may name creation, take part in the ownership of creative things, and be stewards of that creation.  They were reminded that God's work was the work of creation.  They saw that everything that he had worked on was acknowledged to be good.  Their work continued God's work, and it was good.  Even after the fall, their work was good, though now it would require the sweat of their brow.  They were to use the grace provided, do the best that they could, give thanks to the Creator, and take pride in their accomplishments.

     The work of God continues in the work of his Son, Jesus.  The redemption that he accomplished has set us free of toil and drudgery, of burden and slavery, and given us freedom.  It does not mean a life of ease.  It does mean a life worth living, of satisfaction in work, of pride in our accomplishments.

     On this day in this great nation when we honor work, we need to renew our efforts and re-establish our desire to see that all men and women are provided with decent jobs, given adequate pay, shown respect and dignity, and be allowed to see their talent and ability put to use in the fulfillment of God's plan.  We have a long way to go.  But we also have graces given us that allow us to have hope and to strive for what is better.  Saint Joseph, patron of workers, pray for us.

A source of inspiration

     I have to admit that I do not have a twitter account nor do I know much about twittering or tweets ... except that my daily viewing of the Vatican web site brings me in touch with the Tweets of Pope Francis - found at Pope Francis @ Pontifex.  As of this afternoon (9/1) he has had 2,903,598 who have responded (I think that this is only the English language responses).  He tweets fairly often, and they are wonderful moments of teaching and insight into faith.  I highly recommend viewing what he has to say.

    A few of his recent tweets:

"Faith is not something decorative or for show. 
To have faith means to put Christ
truly at the centre of our lives."

"The love of God is not something vague

or generic; the love of God has a name and a face:

Jesus Christ."

 

"Don't be afraid to ask God for forgiveness.

He never tires of forgiving us.

God is pure mercy."

 

"We cannot be Christians part-time.

If Christ is at the center of our lives,

he is present in all that we do."

 

"One cannot separate Christ and the Church.

The grace of Baptism gives us the joy

of following Christ in and with the Church."

 

 

     Such pearls of wisdom so clearly stated.  Check out the Holy Father's twitter account.

Standing secure

     I shared these thoughts today at liturgy.

     Through the great love of God we were created and made in the image and likeness of God.  Earthly creatures, we were given a share in the Divine.  Even with one foot in each dimension, we were able to keep our balance, hold on to our equilibrium because we walked with God. 

     Then came the tempter ... then came sin ... then came the fall.  We were thrown off balance.  Without our undivided focus upon the Creator, we struggled to stand upright.  We would often stumble and fall, be unsure of our footing, and it became more and more difficult to focus, to stand with God, to live a holy and righteous life - not impossible, but a heck of a lot harder.

     Then came the ultimate manifestation of God's love in the gift of his Son as the God-man, one like us in all things but sin.  He came to invite us to repentance and renewal, to renew the call to holiness and uprightness of life, to show us a way back to the Divine.  The readings of today remind us of that fact.  We are in the world but not of the world.  We are called to approach Mt. Zion, the holy city, the angelic hosts, the heavenly vision.  With one foot in this world to which we have been called to be stewards, we find our other foot in the mystical dimension of God's grace.  And we are called to focus upon what is most important, namely our relationship with the Lord.

     I am reminded of the passage a few weeks ago about Jesus visiting Martha and Mary and Martha complaining because Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and listened.  Jesus tells Martha that, good and necessary as hospitality is, that Mary has chosen the better portion - being one with the Lord.  We are invited to humbly embrace the love of God found in Christ Jesus and to allow the grace of that love guide and direct every aspect, every moment of our existence.  If we do, there will be no lack of balance, not floundering, no struggle, but rather the joy of the Lord.  A good message.

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     Speaking of good messages, I would like to draw your attention to a new blog initiated by the Office of Evangelization of the Diocese of Greensburg and presented by the director, Greg Petrucci.  It is entitled "OMG" and can be viewed by going to the web page of the Diocese - www.dioceseofgreensburg.org - and on the bottom of the home page going to the "Let's Communicate" section.  Give Greg a read, and mark it as a favorite.  Evangelization is vitally important to the Church.  Congratulations, Greg.