The Heart of the Matter

Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family (December 28, 2008)

Have you ever heard the alternative definition of the theory of relativity?  Not the theory proposed by Albert Einstein, but rather a theory that resonates with just about everyone.  Here’s this theory of relativity: time goes more slowly when spent with relatives!

            Ah yes, when we are with our extended families we remember the many lessons we learn from our families: we learn love, unconditional acceptance which comes from the fact that you can pick your friends but you can’t pick your relatives.  

            Who of us does not have some pesky relatives?  Who of us has not had to learn patience as we cope with our loved ones’ foibles?  Who of us has not noticed that our own foibles seem aggravated when we’re spending time with our relatives?

            Yes, everyone grows up in a family, but some families seem to have an easier time of it; and other families seem to endure a terrible cascade of difficulties.  But truth be told, every family has its skeletons in the closet.  Every family has some story that, if it were known, would make our own story seem less burdensome.

            What can we learn from the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph?  Here are the lessons I see from today’s Scriptures:

• The 4^th Commandment, which is explored by Ben Sirach in today’s first reading, bids us to honor our father and mother.  Sometimes this is rendered as “obey” but I think that “obey” cheapens the meaning of the commandment. 
  • We honor our parents in our youth by doing what they tell us to do.  That’s when “obey” is the right word.
  • As we move into adolescence we combine “obeying” with “honoring” our parents - by controlling our words and monitoring our unspoken sullenness.  A disrespectful teenager trashing his or her parents is exactly what that teenager will get from his or her own children years later.  What goes around comes around.   
  • And when we are adults we honor our parents by always being deferential, and never having an attitude of superiority with them, no matter how successful we become in life, by taking care of them when they grow old, by being patient with them when their minds fail, by embracing the care of elderly parents not as a chore and burden but as a costly, yes, costly, way to show our love for them as they showed their love for us when we were so ungrateful back when we were young.  
  • Remember that it was the Lord Jesus who, from the cross, made provision for his mother even as he was dying by telling John, “Behold your mother.”
• In our Gospel we are told that Mary and Joseph “fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord.” It was in that kind of environment of fidelity that “the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.”
  • This means, dear parents, that your own fidelity to the Lord and to the prescriptions of what the Lord calls you to are the groundwork upon which your children can build their own lives of increasing strength, wisdom and grace.
  • Parents, do not be cowered by the prevailing state of mind that diminishes parents in fulfilling your role of guiding your family members into becoming able to make good and right decisions.
  • Do not cave in to the pressure to call evil good and good evil.  If you take your hand from the rudder, where on earth will your children learn how to distinguish good from evil?  How will your children come to know wisdom if you abandon the fight to choose the right and avoid the wrong?  And finally:

Let’s not forget that we are all called to become strong Catholics, wise in the ways of the Lord, and confident in the knowledge that the favor of the Lord is resting upon us.

Christmas Homily 2008

Come with me into a mystical moment, leave your place here and enter with me into the Divine Presence.  Let us allow the angels to take us into heaven and to go back in time, to well before the first Christmas.  Let us behold the Most Holy Trinity: one God in Three Divine Persons. [Pause] ++++

            We are now before Almighty God.  We have been allowed in to see the Trinity in conference on what to do about wayward humanity.

            The Father says:  What shall we do about mankind?  Look at how they torment each other.  Look at how they take advantage of each other.  Look at the hurt they cause each other?  Look at how evil spreads by their denying that good is good and bad is bad.

            The Word says:  Well, after our last attempt to get them on board with the flood, back at the time of Noah, we promised we wouldn’t wipe them out again.  And we started promising them that we’d send a Savior.

            The Spirit says:  It’s time!  It’s time for the Messiah to save them from the mess they are making of the beauty we created them for.  It’s time!

            The Father says:  Instead of an ordinary man leading them, let’s show how much we love them.  Let’s us, one of us, become a human being to show them the way.

            The Word says:  I’ll do that!  Father, I’ll be Your presence among them.  I’ll be Your Word made flesh.  I’ll teach them how to live; I’ll show them the way.  And even more, I will save them by proving the divine will of love by allowing Myself to be treated as badly as they treat each other, even to the point of dying for them as proof that at the very heart of God is an eternal love, forgiving them even for their out-and-out rebellion.

            The Spirit says:  And then I’ll pour myself out upon them so that down through the ages they will never forget this indescribable act of divine love.  I will be in their midst.  I will gather them together and strengthen them to embrace this Word of life, this Word of utter self-giving so that they too in time may become like us.

            The Word says:  Whenever they read My holy Word, I will be with them.  Whenever they gather for my Supper, I will be with them.  And slowly I will reach the heart of each and every one of them to know this love of God and then they will, in time, want to live this love and spread this love to others.

            The Spirit says:  Yes, in time this love, embraced by more and more of the human race, this love will conquer all unkindness, all sin, all hatred, all war, all famine, all disease, all injustice, and everything that is against the Father’s will.

            The Father says:  Let’s start this off by asking a humble 15 year old virgin to give herself completely to this most important plan of ours.  Let’s ask her to be a virgin mother, a pure vessel for the Word of God, a humble young woman who will embrace this plan without understanding it; an obedient maiden who will truly say “yes” to the most important event of all of human history. 

            The Spirit says:  Let’s send for the Archangel Gabriel to announce this wonderful mystery. And we will agree to allow her free will answer to indicate if this is when we go ahead with our plan.

++++++++

The Word says:  Mary said yes!  “Behold the handmaid of the Lord,” she said, “let it be done to me according to your word.”

            The Father says:  Prepare Yourself, My Son.  They will reject You, hate You, and be ungrateful for what You are doing for them.  They will be full of fervor on one day and shout “Crucify Him” on another day.  Our act of self-giving must be without reservation.   We must win them over by our faithful love, not by fear, not by force, not by manipulation, not by threats.  They must come to freely choose the good and reject the wrong.  They must arrive at the freedom of choosing You, My Son, unconditionally.

            The Word says:  Father, into Your hands I commend My Spirit.

            The Spirit says:  It’s time!  Now the time has come!  It will be a marriage between God and man. The time has come!

It's contagious!

This blog thing is contagious!  Our sometime, in-residence Paulist priest, Father Terry Ryan, now has his own blog.  It's to be found at www.frterrysspiritualstuff.blogspot.com

Being a Paulist, his congregation's main push is to reach people with the Gospel through teaching and preaching.  You'll more than likely meet Paulists at university campuses.  In fact, Father Terry spent years of his life in university parishes here in Colorado and in Tennesee.

Check out his blog for his homilies and his spiritual "stuff."  Oh, by the way, he really gets a bang out of his new cell phone!

Homily for Sunday, December 21, 2008 (4th Sunday of Advent)

On this 4^th Sunday of Advent, just days before Christmas, today’s Gospel is the source of the 1^st Joyful Mystery, the Annunciation.  So, what I’d like to do is to do a meditative preparation for Christmas by speaking and praying along the way through the 1^st Joyful Mystery.  Let’s imagine ourselves in the room as Mary encounters the angel Gabriel.  Let me pray the first half of the prayers and you the second half:

 

Our Father . . .

O Mary, you have just heard that you will conceive and bear a son; and you heard that this will not be by man but by the Holy Spirit.  The angel awaits an answer.  It is time for him to return to God who sent him.  We, too, o Mary, are waiting upon your answer.

Hail Mary . . .

O Mary, the gift of our salvation is offered to you, and by your “yes” will be offered to all of us.  We will be set free at once if you give your consent.  By God’s Word we all came to exist; and at His Word we die.  In your brief response we are to be remade into a new Adam, a new humanity that will live forever.

Hail Mary . . .

O Mary, tearful Adam with his sorrowing family in their exile from Eden begs you to say “yes”.  Abraham begs it.  Moses begs it.  David begs it.  All the other holy patriarchs, your ancestors, ask it of you as they dwell in Sheol, the shadowy country of death.  Give your consent, O Virgin Mary.

Hail Mary . . .

O Mary, Virgin most pure, the whole earth, prostrate at your feet, wait for your “yes”.  

Hail Mary . . .

O Mary, upon your word depends comfort for the wretched, ransom for the captive, freedom for the condemned, indeed salvation for all the descendants of Adam and Eve.

Hail Mary . . .

Answer quickly, O Virgin.  Reply in haste to the angel, or rather through the angel to the Lord.  Answer with a word, and receive the Word of God.  Speak your own word, and conceive the divine Word.  Breathe a passing word, and embrace the eternal Word.

Hail Mary . . .

O Mary, why do you delay?  Why are you afraid?  Believe, and conceive!  Give praise, and receive!

Hail Mary . . .

O Mary, let humility be bold; let modesty be confident.  This is no time for virginal simplicity to forget prudence.  In this matter alone, O prudent Virgin, do not fear to be audacious.  Though self-effacing silence is pleasing, dutiful speech is now more necessary.

Hail Mary . . .

O blessed Virgin, open your heart to faith, your lips to praise, your womb to the Creator.  See, the desired of all nations is at your door, knocking to enter.

Hail Mary . . .

O Mary, if He should pass by because of your delay, in sorrow would you begin to seek Him Whom your heart loves.  Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving.

Hail Mary . . .

“Behold, the handmaid of the Lord,” she says, “let it be done to me according to your word.”

Glory be . . .

[Adapted from a Homily in Praise of the Virgin Mother by St. Bernard, Abbot]

Introducing our principal search committee

As most of our parents, parishioners and staff know, we have been managing a great deal of change at our school and parish over the past year.  A few weeks ago, I gave an update on our parish operations and finances.  This posting serves to update you on our progress of finding the right principal for our school.

Last June, Jan Altevogt our school principal of 5 years, resigned unexpectedly for medical reasons.  Due to the timing of her departure, we were not able to conduct a thorough search to find a new principal.  We were blessed to have our school’s religious director of 13 years, Pam Jackimiec, step into the principal’s role for the 2008/2009 school year on short notice.  She is executing her role very well and has offered a calming and steadfast hand of support during a time of uncertainty. For this I want to thank Pam for her many loyal years of service.

As we enter the New Year, we begin the formal process of searching for our new principal. I use the word “formal” because the Archdiocese of Denver directs and oversees the process.  They set the method of selection, train individuals involved in the selection process, validate prospective candidates and ultimately certify that the individual selected by the committee is appropriate for the role.  While this process takes months to execute, it ensures that we end up with the best possible candidate.

I have also assembled a Principal Search Committee in accordance with Archdiocese guidelines. The members of the Search Committee consist of school parents, parish and school board members.  Their names are listed at the end of this letter.  Please feel free to contact them directly with questions or thoughts. 

Below is the sequence of events that will happen over the next few months:

·         By December 31, 2008, existing school principals within the Archdiocese of Denver may request to be placed on the list of potential candidates for other parochial schools that need a principal. Candidates from outside the Archdiocese must submit their application to the Office of Catholic Schools (OCS) for consideration.

·         In January 2009, the OCS will evaluate the candidates.  The SHJ Search Committee will be trained by the OCS on the selection process.

·         In late January or early February the Search Committee will solicit feedback from the school community so they can build a profile of the ideal principal candidate and outline realistic goals for the coming years.

·         The OCS will match candidates using the profile and goals outlined by the Search Committee.  At this point, the top candidates will meet and interview with the Search Committee.

·         The Search Committee will evaluate the candidates and make their final recommendation.  We hope to identify a new principal before the Easter break.

I know there is much concern over the selection of our new principal as this person plays a vital role in the faith formation and education of our children.  This is a very important and serious process and we want to conduct it with as much openness and insight as possible to understand the needs and desires of our school.

I will be sending periodical updates throughout our process.  In the meantime you can help in two distinct ways.  First, write your thoughts down on what you think are the top attributes of a school principal and what goals you think we should pursue for our school (we or the School Advisory Council will be asking for them in the coming months).  Second, if you know any Catholic principal that may have an interest in serving us, please encourage them to submit their resume to the Archdiocese of Denver, Office of Catholic Schools.

Thank you for you understanding and patience.

God bless you all,

Father

Bill Breslin

Search Committee members

·         Tommy Lorden, a school dad, heads us our Social Justice Committee and serves on Pastoral Council (tlorden@gmail.com)

·         Brenda Pearson, a school mom, serves on School Advisory Council (BM_Pearson@yahoo.com)

·         Paul Berberian, a non-school dad, served on TAG and now heads the Communications Committee (paul@berberian.com)

·         Andy Bush, a non-parishioner school dad, serves on School Advisory Council (Andy@morgancreekventures.com)

·         Scott Whitehill, a school dad, serves on Finance Council and is council’s liaison to the school (swhitehi@ball.com)

·         Colette Cribari, a school mom, served on the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council (ccribari@bouldercounty.org)

Please feel free to contact anyone on the search committee – your comments will be shared with the rest of the committee but will be kept confidential amongst the committee members.

Guadete Sunday, Homily for December 14, 2008

A parish business manager has to be a very special person: someone skilled in accounting, in human resources, in the unique world of the Catholic Church, in the need to adjust one’s computer worldview to a system that is created for a unique culture of church terminology.  Most importantly, a parish business manager must be ethical, competent, controlling expenses, able to work with the finance council, and possess a dedication to Christ and His Church and a reverence for the people of the parish. 

Our business manager, Joan Fiore, possessed these qualities in spades.  Early Wednesday morning in the wee hours Joan woke her husband to say she was feeling terrible.  By the time he got to the other side of the bed she was having seizures and cardiac arrest.  He did CPR, attended to their 2 small children, called 911, and called a neighbor to take the children to their home while the ambulance took Joan and Tom to the hospital.  Over the next 2 days the wonderful doctors, nurses and staff at the hospital (Boulder Community Hospital) went to heroic lengths to save her from the effects of a pulmonary embolism, but very early Saturday morning Joan was removed from life support and as she underwent her last cardiac arrest, her healthy kidneys became a gift of life to others who would have died without such transplants.

I am grief stricken.  I am brokenhearted.  I’ve worked with Joan for 7 years as the business manager of my other parish.  Joan was the main reason I’ve had such confidence that all would be well at St. Rita’s; and we were so blessed when she was selected to be our business manager here. 

In preparation for this homily, all week long I was aware of the theme of joy and the texts that speak of joy:

• The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. . . He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor.
• I rejoice heartily in the Lord; in my God is the joy of my soul.
• “My soul rejoices in my God,” we sang in our psalm response.
• Brothers and sisters: rejoice always.

Yet, if I feel brokenhearted, especially for those 8 and 10 year old girls, how can I speak of joy and glad tidings? 

Well, there’s a clue in Paul’s words: “Pray without ceasing.  In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”

Have you ever noticed the hints of suffering that exist in the most joyful readings of the Bible, namely the Christmas story?  In the 3^rd Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, Joseph and Mary take the brand new baby to the Temple for the customary offering after the birth of a first-born son; and while there an old man, Simeon, prophesies that the heart of Mary will be pierced with a sword, a prophecy about her witnessing 33 years later the heart of Jesus pierced with a sword upon Calvary Hill.

And remember too the tragedy of the Massacre of the Holy Innocents by a tyrannical Herod who was out to destroy the newborn King of the Jews. 

And finally, in Advent is not John the Baptist writ large in our minds not only as the one preparing the way of the Lord, but also as the one who was beheaded for his witness to the truth?

So, yes, in all circumstances pray without ceasing and give thanks.  Learning to pray teaches us that no matter what we face, we have reason to abide in hope.  No matter what our fears may be about our jobs, our savings, indeed our very life itself, we have reason to abide in hope.  And hope begets joy.

Joan’s death has been especially poignant to me not only because she such a wonderful human being, such a strong Catholic, and not only because I have relied on her so much, but mostly because I deeply identify with those young children, for I was but a tad older when my mother died; and I know how dreadful a mother’s death is for the children.

Yet in all circumstances, pray and give thanks.  Have you noticed that for people who have had to face terrible suffering one of two things happens: they either become sour human beings, or they find God in the suffering and they become compassionate and are a cause of great joy for others?  That’s my prayer for Joan’s family.

Dignitas Personae - New Vatican Document on Bioethical Issues

On the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12, 2008 the Vatican issued a formal teaching on bioethical issues, including a restatement of, and rationale for, the Catholic Church's opposition to in vitro fertilization, human cloning, genetic testing on embryos before implantation and embryonic stem cell research.

For a concise description of the 32 page document, Dignitas Personae (The Dignity of the Person), read the article in the 12/13/08 edition of the New York Times.  To read the entire document, click here.

Here are some snippets from the NYT article:

[Dignitas Personae] bans the morning-after pill, the intrauterine device and the pill RU-486, saying these can result in what amount to abortions.

The Vatican document reiterates that the church is opposed to research on stem cells derived from embryos. But it does not oppose research on stem cells derived from adults; blood from umbilical cords; or fetuses “who have died of natural causes.”

The document does not prohibit the use of vaccines developed using “cell lines of illicit origin” if children’s health is at stake. But it says that “everyone has the duty” to inform health care providers of personal objections to such vaccines.

The church also objects to freezing embryos, arguing that doing so exposes them to potential damage and manipulation, and that it raises the problem of what to do with frozen embryos that are not implanted. There are at least 400,000 of these in the United States alone.

At 1:00 AM

At 1:00 AM Saturday morning, 12/13/08, our beloved Joan Fiore,our parish business manager, will be removed from life support systems and be allowed to die. 

When her heart stops, her healthy organs will become a gift of life for others who would die without such transplants. 

May the angels lead you into Paradise, Joan.

Please storm heaven for Joan Fiore

Our parish's business manager, Joan Fiore, had a pulmonary embolism the other night and is at the brink of life or death.  Please pray hard for her.  She is the mother of 2 children, a 4th grader and a 6th grader.

Joan is also the business manager of our parish's mission in the mountains, St. Rita's in Nederland.  Joan and her husband and children are parishioners at St. Rita's. 

It's time to go to confession!

Advent is a great time to go to confession.  It’s a perfect gift to give to the Lord; after all, He is the one who should be getting the gifts because, frankly, it’s His birthday we are celebrating.  Why not give Him the gift of a pure heart this Christmas?  

 

Just begin by saying, "Bless me Father, for I have sinned.  It's been [however long] since my last confession.  Here are my sins."  Then list them.

 

How should one prepare oneself for going to this sacrament?  By doing a little bit of self examination beforehand.  Here is a good set of things to think about ahead of time:

 

• What has most bothered my conscience since my last confession?  When have I acted in a way that embarrasses me even to this day?
• What might I have done that I really wanted to do, even though my mind said it was wrong, but my feelings overcame the right judgment of my mind, and I did it anyway?
• When have I failed to cooperate with God’s grace?  When did I allow a chance to act or speak out for righteousness to pass by?  What was the good that I could have done and did not do?  Have I fallen silent when others made disparaging comments about the Church?
• Would I say that my life has been exemplary in adhering to the teachings of the Church?  If not, in what specific ways have I not been a good example?
• What habit of sin have I embraced and accepted as the norm for me?  What compromises have I made in following the Lord?
• Have I always “thought with the Church” or have I thought that I know better on this topic or that, or have I thought that worldly opinion is more reliable than the Church?  (This would be a failure in humility and quite possibly complicity in the advance of evil.  Remember that Jesus said to the Church, “Whoever hears you, hears me.”)
• Have I taken a stance that I can criticize other people for their behaviors and attitudes and that I, I alone, am free from such evaluation?
• Have I allowed myself to have an idol in being busy, or in leisure, or in something else that minimizes the primacy of God in my worship, prayer, and devotion?
• Have I contributed to the wellbeing of the Church by my involvement, by my giving and by my thinking about my church as “us” rather than as “them”?
• In my family life, have I turned my back on my own?  Have I let go of injustices done to me?
• As an employer or as an employee, have I acted justly in my work ethics?
• Am I a hypocrite by professing noble things but acting sometimes in an ignoble way?
• Do I see myself accurately, or do I believe my own “PR”?  
• Have I given in to being overly harsh in regard to my view of myself; and has that harshness spread into my view of others?

I hope this helps. And if you just don’t what to say, just ask the priest to help you.  He will.