The Heart of the Matter

A Brief Synopsis of the Catholic Faith

There are 5 basic truths of the Catholic faith.  I wrote about them in a book of mine, "A Scriptural Catechism of the Catholic Faith."  In the months ahead, I will go into more detail about these truths in this blog.  Here's a synopsis of these truths:

Truth 1:  God has a plan; and that plan is that He loves us and wants us to be joyful and live life to the full.

Truth 2:  There is a problem; we're not always happy.  And the cause of the problem is the willful misuse of free will, resulting in wide scale suffering, unhappiness, and the failure to know God's love.

Truth 3:  There is a solution to the problem; and it is Jesus Christ.  Only though Him can we know God's love and find the joy-filled way to live life to the full - even if we must face terrible suffering.

Truth 4:  There needs to be a response to the solution: we need to undergo a conversion of heart, consecrate our lives to Jesus Christ, receive His Holy Spirit so as to be empowered to witness to Him, and love His Body, the Church.

Truth 5:  There is a reward for making this response to Jesus Christ: it is joy - now and forever.  This joy is sustained by an on-going conversion, a life of compassion and service to the values of Christ and His Church, and when this life is done, the reward is heaven.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem

Psalm 122 tells us, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem."  All these centuries after the psalm was written and still there is no peace there.  Now, however, there is yet another opportunity for peace.  So, "pray for the peace of Jerusalem."  Once when I was in Jerusalem during the 2000 intifada I got to spend an all night vigil in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  In one of my meditations that night, with the tension of war being palpable, I wondered before the Lord why Jerusalem was the epicenter for so much hostility over the centuries.  I was in the very spot where Jesus was crucified, died, was buried and rose from the dead.  In that spot the ways of God met the ways of man, and crucifixion and resurrection were the result.  Let us pray this year that the values of the Kingdom of God, which are so very contrary to the values of this world, will produce a favorable answer to the psalmist's command to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem."

Conversation over dinner

I had dinner last night with 2 priests who come from other countries but are now serving here in the United States.  They have told me before of the common reaction of Latino priests who find that the Church in the United States is too heavily tilted for their taste in the direction of Church as business.

Here in the U.S. there is a constant expectation that priests be preoccupied with matters that pertain more to an accountant, like ensuring proper documentation for just about everything that happens in a parish; like being aware of and implementing an ever increasing set of policies and procedures for every aspect of parish life; like knowing who has had the safe environment training among all employees and volunteers, and who has not; like making sure that verification of their training is secured in two locations (if a parish has a school); like chasing away from the parish property any skateboarders (a requirement from insurance companies); like checking all the canceled checks to see if someone slipped something through, and on and on. 

So over dinner one of the foreign born priests said, "The Church isn't like this anywhere else in the world.  Here no one asks if the people are being properly evangelized, or if religious education of the young is effective.  Instead in the USA the questions are: did you initial every invoice, sign every check, and get background checks on all your volunteers?  It's an American phenomenon."

There's an old story told about the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, whose empire covered many nations in Europe.  He is said to have described the languages of his empire in this fashion:  "If I want to talk to my generals, I speak to them in German.  If I want to talk to people in business, I speak to them in English.  If I want to talk to children, I speak to them in Italian.  If I want to women I love, I speak in French.  But when I want to talk to God, I speak in Spanish."

Our American culture sprang from our English roots as a nation.  We inherited many fine qualities that have led to our country having the most unparalleled wealth, leisure, and luxury, and ingenuity and hard work and great creativity - because our culture encourages and expects good business practices.  Even the President of France envies our nation's penchant for industriousness.

But the "business-ification" of the Church is a huge learning curve for your ordinary parish priests.  And my Latino friends want more emphasis on speaking to and about God.  Who says we don't have a lot to learn from our immigrants?

Thoughts on the pre-Christmas buying season

           One of my better friends in Boulder is a Presbyterian pastor, Rich Bledsoe, who sends out very thought provoking ideas, questions, and reflections to his friends. In one of his recent reflections he deals with the question of suffering and asks this question:

           "Modern Western man is now strangely living in an age of psychic misery, neurosis, and alienation, all the while living in the midst of unparalleled wealth, leisure, and luxury. It is by now becoming an ordinary experience, with the ease of travel in the Western world, that many Westerners are traveling to and amongst the very poor in what is now termed 'The Third World'. The disquieting discovery, that is now becoming commonplace, is that often the poorest of the poor have a radiance and joy about them that is quite unknown in the wealthy West. How can this be?"

           And yet they pour into our country wanting the material wellbeing we have.  Who wouldn't?  Still, the disturbing truth is that happiness eludes many, many people who seek after passing material things without seeking after the things that have enduring value. 

           I invite you to respond back with your own ideas on how to answer Rich's question.  How can it be that the poorest of the poor have a radiance and joy about them that is quite unknown in the wealthy West?

Solemnity of Christ the King

                What relevance does a celebration, a Solemnity yet, of “Christ the King” mean to us today, for whom kings are mostly a thing of history books?  We could look at how in the Old Testament God wanted to be the King of the people of Israel , and how only after giving in to their often repeated desire to be like other nations did He allow them to have a king.  We could also look at how early on in the monarchy of Israel came a prophecy about an upcoming king, an Anointed One, a Messiah, a Christ, would come and his reign would endure forever.  And we could then look at how God reclaimed His desire to be the King of Israel by God’s becoming flesh, and in the flesh of Jesus would God become not only the King of Israel but indeed the King of the Universe.

            However, I want rather to use another term that captures the meaning of this Solemnity of the Christ the King.  Let’s say that this is the Solemnity of Christ the Power, or Christ the Power at the Source of the Universe.

            Though we may not relate too well to the word, kings, we all relate very well to the word, and the meaning of the word, “power.”

            Everyone of us is a person of power.  From the first day of our lives we start learning the power to draw affection by our smile, and draw attention by our cries.  Is it not true that a baby has power to change lives?

                As we grow up we learn to use power in ways that are good and in ways that are bad.  Are not our lives brightened by a person who brings joy into our lives?  Do we not all recognize the power of gossip to destroy a reputation, or the power of kindness to thaw a frozen heart?  Do we not all wince at the power of someone who is in a foul mood?  Think of the power employers have over employees, or parents over their children, or the power that friends can have over each other – for good or for ill. 

                Jesus dealt with issues of power all His life.  He used His own power to attract others to His vision of God’s Kingdom.  He used His power to teach and to heal.  In the desert, He fought and overcame the temptation to use power for personal gain and control over others.  Jesus shared power with His disciples and rejoiced in their success of using His power when they went out 2 by 2 to heal the sick and drive out demons.  He also knew the misuse of other people's power, and He suffered the powerlessness of rejection and condemnation.  At the same time He dismissed the authority wielded against Him.  Through His actions and words, Jesus rejects not the use of power but its abuse.

                Power itself is neutral; it may be used in redemptive or destructive ways to achieve positive or negative results ways.  If we think we have no power then we are deceiving ourselves and we will misuse our power even while we think we have no power.  We have power over our reactions to events; it's called self-control.  We have power over our choice of words; it called prudence.  We have power over our choices, our decisions, and our refusal to be emotionally or physically abused, or to let it continue.  We have power over our network of friends and relatives and co-workers by being either a joy to be around or a drain on the energy in the room.

                On this Solemnity of Christ the Power, Christ the Source of Power, Christ the Model of Power, Christ the King, let us acknowledge, as Jesus did, power’s darker potential, not just in theory, but in our personal spheres of influence. 

                In Jesus we have the most extraordinary witness of the power of God’s love.  Not the power of control, or force or muscle or manipulation, but the attractive, unbeatable influence of crucified love, forgiving love, enduring love.

                Every one of us is a person of power.  As followers of Jesus, we can use this volatile gift to be leaders in our communities, or we can be lords of our own little worlds.  The choice is ours.

Ouch! Now I understand

Every now and then an older parishioner will tell me how awful the loud music sounds.  I've been listening to the same music: piano, organ, voice, etc. and I think, it must be a matter of taste.  An occasional off note can't be the problem; and it hasn't seemed to be too loud to me.  Then, just recently, a sinus infection went into an ear infection and resulted in a ruptured ear drum.  After the pain was over and while putting ear drops in every day for two weeks, I have (temporarily, I hope) lost most of my hearing in my left ear.  What I am experiencing now is a slightly delayed shrill echo to every note I hear.  Singing and music is cacophonous and sounds simply dreadful - and somehow loud!  Even usually pleasing music.  Now I understand!  Now I understand that hearing deficiencies can make something very pleasant sound like something Bela Bartok composed. 

Happy Thanksgiving

May this Thanksgiving lead us to an ever greater sense of Who it is that is the source of all our blessings.  Happy Thanksgiving.  Enjoy your family and your feast.

A Thanksgiving Reflection: "Development is the new name for peace"

As we prepare our Thanksgiving Day Dinners and think about our abundant blessings, let's turn our minds to those who are not so blessed. 

40 years ago Pope Paul VI appealed to all people of good will to hear the cries of the world's poor and suffering people, not to feel bad about our blessings but to do what each one can, and especially what governments can do, to assist those who live in misery to move towards "the possession of necessities, the acquisition of culture, cooperation for the common good, the acknowledgment by man of supreme values, and of God, their source and finality." 

Pope Paul wrote about the immense challenge before the human race in his first encyclical after the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, which taught that the Church must serve the world and share in "the joys and hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ."

In this encyclical, The Development of Peoples, he predicted that the inequality in the world between the rich and the poor would lead to, well, would lead to terrorism and more and more war.  He taught that the root cause of world conflicts is poverty; and he advocated doing whatever individuals and nations can do to encourage development for the developing countries of the world where the poor are concentrated.  In his words, "development is the new name for peace."

We might ask, "What can I do?  One thing we all can do is to think more globally, and think more compassionately, especially when we prepare in the months ahead to make our choices in next year's election.  There is an ever growing chasm between rich and poor nations; and those who are involved in global businesses must see that inequity with their own eyes.  Pope Paul VI taught 40 years ago that this growing disparity tempts the poor to violence and revolution as possible solutions.

On this Thanksgiving let us rejoice and be grateful for our blessings, but let us also ask the Lord to bring us to a conversion of heart, especially in our willingness to share any superfluous wealth we may have.  As Paul VI taught about the rich:  "Otherwise their continued greed will certainly call down upon them the judgment of God and the wrath of the poor, with consequences no one can foretell."

A faith healer in Boulder: it's all about Jesus

Some time ago a faith healer came to town and spent an evening at our church.  Her name is Lorraine Louvat.  What was so compelling to me was that our church was filled with people of all faiths and people of no faith.  Lorraine is a Catholic woman who at the age of 4 was told by God she would have a strong gift of healing but would use it later in life. Until the early 90s Lorraine was pretty much a prayer hermit. She is not a religious sister. In 1963 she met with a someone by the name of Padre Pio, who himself was blessed with incredible gifts and was canonized as a saint in 2003. Padre Pio had very extraordinary gifts, including the stigmata and the ability to "read hearts" and foresee things in the future.  Long before Pope John Paul II was elected as Pope in 1979, Padre Pio had told him that one day he would be Pope.  At the time of their meeting, Lorraine knew nothing about Padre Pio but when she went to confession to him he provided her spiritual direction confirming her divine gift of healing. 

By the way, one of my parishioners told me that back in 1963 she was on line to go to confession to Padre Pio there in Italy when word came that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated.  It was just before she went into the confessional and she was sobbing over the death of the president.  Padre Pio told her not to worry because he had just gone to confession the day before!

Back to Lorraine.  She insisted that her ministry of healing was the work of Jesus. In fact, she wanted the Blessed Sacrament displayed in what we call Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.  And all through the service Lorraine kept referencing Jesus and His Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament and how He is the healer, not her.

My hope for Boulder is that what happened that evening will become the beacon of light I so want our parish to be for all the people of Boulder.  The Light of Christ shining in the dark, drawing people of all kinds into His love, symbolized by the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

This Sunday's Homily on Luke 21: 5-19

                 About 50 years ago at this time of year my family and I heard the Gospel we just heard about the end of the world and how “awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.”  That evening after dark, there was a full moon.  And my brother called me and my mother upstairs to look at the moon through the window of the upstairs back bedroom.  There was “a mighty sign.”  Somehow the light of the full moon came shining through the window making a striking sign of the cross with the moon as the center point of the cross. It was really quite remarkable.

                Surely the sign of the cross could be explained away but my mother took the occasion to reflect on the Gospel we heard earlier in the day.  She talked about the end of the world and how wonderful it would be if it would happen in our lifetime so that we would never have to be separated from each other.

                I was only about 9 years old and didn’t want to think about the end of the world, but the memory of that evening’s discussion has lived in my memory all these years, especially at this time of year when we hear a Gospel account of the end times.  It was clear that she loved me and my brother and did not want us to be separated from her.  It was also clear that she believed in Christ and His Second Coming.

                Little did I know that the end of my world as I knew it would soon enough happen with the death of my mother.  Thus began my seeing that the end of the world Gospel accounts are not only about what happens at the calamitous event of the literal end of the world.  No, I have seen for a very long time that the end of the world happens many times in life, especially as a loved one dies.  Life is different after the death of someone you love. 

                “Do not be terrified, for such things are bound to happen,” Jesus said.  When we go through such a time, it does indeed feel like "a blazing oven."  What would be the purpose for going through such a difficult time?  How are we to interpret such trials?  Well, first of all, such difficult times happen to everybody; therefore, don’t be so surprised when calamity overtakes you.  It’s bound to happen.  In other words, it’s the way things are.  There is a time for everything under heaven.  The book of Ecclesiastes phrases it this way: “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens.”

                Once we regain our balance in the face of calamity, though, there is something more that we are called to. 

                When earthquakes, famines, plagues, wars and persecution happen, the Gospel says, “It will lead to your giving testimony.”

                What does this mean?  It means that whatever comes along, even the worst stuff, you have an opportunity to explain why you have faith in a loving God – anyway. 

                One of the biggest challenges to people of faith is the old conundrum: why do the innocent have to suffer?  Well, I suffered as a child, but I did not lose my faith.  So, it is equally puzzling that moments of trial are moments where people are most likely to find God.  Remember the old axiom, “There are no atheists in foxholes”?

                God planted within us, deep in our inner being, in every human being, a sense of hope, that even in the most trying of times, there is still an urge within us to survive, to struggle to endure, to not give up.  This hope is fulfilled in Jesus Christ who is the Incarnation of God’s answer to the mysteries of life.

                You know the scriptures.  You may not know chapter and verse; you may not even know what book of the Bible a certain line comes from.  But you have been listening to the Bible for years every Sunday.  You are steeped in the Word of God.  It has saturated your inner being.  So, when some trial comes up, and a line from Scriptures, or a responsorial psalm refrain, goes through your mind, voice it.  If you're in the company of people who will think you're too religious, let me assure you: if your faith comes from deep within and simply explains why you have hope, then non-believers will not disrespect you for your words.  Indeed, the Word of God spoken through you, may touch hearts in a way that will astound you.

                I think back to that upstairs back bedroom where my mother, my brother and I saw the sign of the cross in the light of the moon.  My mother took the opportunity to make the connection between that sign and a core belief of our faith: that “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,” and wouldn’t it wonderful if we could all do that together, and not be separated from each other.

                So, my friends, let the Spirit move you when something scary happens, put yourself at the service of the Lord to bring His word into the difficult moment and trust Him for He said, “I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.”   

                As a parish let us all trust the Lord that He will give each of us the words we need to say at critical moments so that in an environment when faith is under attack, we will be given a wisdom to enlighten others as to why we believe as we do.