The Holy Innocents

Lullay, Thou little tiny Child, 
By, by, lully, lullay. Lullay, 
Thou little tiny Child. 
By, by, lully, lullay.


 O sisters, too, how may we do,
 For to preserve this day; 
This poor Youngling for whom we sing, 
By, by, lully, lullay. 


Herod the King, in his raging, 
Charged he hath this day; 
His men of might, in his own sight, 
All children young, to slay. 


Then woe is me, poor Child, for Thee,
 And ever mourn and say;
 For Thy parting, neither say nor sing, 
By, by, lully, lullay.


Today the Church remembers some of the most innocent blood ever shed, the blood of little babies who were killed by the order of King Herod the Great when he, on hearing of the birth of the Messiah, became fearful and jealous for his own power. Herod's reaction was to have every newborn boy in the vicinity of Bethlehem killed by his own soldiers, because to his reckoning any of those little boys could have been the Christ. Herod sacrificed the blood of innocent children in order that he might save his own political fortunes. In this way, Herod wasn't unlike some of our so-called "leaders" today who think it good political policy to allow for the massacre of the unborn in the name of "choice." Some of these same leaders then wonder why our society has become so prone-and in such a deadly way-to violence, especially violence aimed at children (sometimes coming, God help us, even from other children).


Some historians and archaeologists question the Scriptural account of the massacre of the Innocents, but the Roman historian and politician Macrobius records it in his Saturnalia, saying that Herod had ordered a massacre of Jews two years old and younger, and that Herod had also, as part of this order, ordered that one of his sons also be killed (apparently because he was a threat to Herod). Upon hearing this, Macrobius records that Octavian Augustus said that "it is better to be Herod's pig than his son."


It is especially apt today to pray for children who have died or who are suffering as victims of abortion, war, famine, abuse, or needless disease. Today is especially a memorial and a remembrance for them.

Matthew 2:13-18:


When the magi had departed, behold,
   the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
   “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
   and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
   and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
   that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
   Out of Egypt I called my son.

When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi,
   he became furious.
He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity
   two years old and under,
   in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.
Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet:

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





 This version of The Coventry Carol is sung by the choir of the Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, commonly called Westminster Cathedral, which is the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster in England.

The Feast of Stephen

It is no accident that the feast of the very first martyr for the faith falls on the day after we begin to celebrate the Lord's birth. For deacons-and for those of us who are Aspirants to the deaconate-it is a most significant feast because it celebrates the martyrdom of one of the first deacons-Stephen-who was stoned to death for preaching in Jesus' name.

Stephen was not afraid to meet death for the sake of the Holy Name, and the freedom to preach in Jesus' name. We live in a country where we have enjoyed that freedom for many decades and, by and large, been able to take it for granted. In other parts of the world, especially in places like the Khartoum region of Sudan, or in parts of Nigeria, or in Indonesia, or North Korea, churches are burned, Christians  are hunted down, many are forced underground, a great many are killed for the sake of Jesus' name. We read the account of Stephen's stoning-it is the first reading at Mass today, and the lengthier reading of the account can be found in the Office of Readings for today-and we laud the great martyrdom and heroism of Stephen and we might speak of his willingness to give everything for Christ, even his very life. The reality, though, is that we are called to the same spirit of sacrifice for the sake of Christ-even unto our life. We may never have to give our life, as Stephen did, but it is a legitimate question: Are we willing to, because Jesus himself said we might have to (cf. Matthew 24:9-10). On most days of the year, the Church commemorates a saint who died that day, and very often is this notation next to that person's name "____, martyr." The word martyr means "witness."

Stephen was a great witness for the faith in its earliest days. His witness causes me to ponder...am I a great witness, how can I be a better witness?

_________________________________________________

Nicole got me the most awesome Christmas present. It was the New Testament of the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible. The notes and commentaries in it are extensive and excellent-they are written by Dr. Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch. I find myself reading some passage of scripture and then getting some insight from the notes that then causes me to cross reference some other passage where I will then find more information. My only problem with it seems to be that I spend so much time buried in it that I have to remind myself to finish the assigned reading for formation this coming month!

Nativity of the Lord

When I celebrate Vespers in about two and a half hours from now, it will be the First Vespers of Christmas. Some parishes in our diocese and around the country will have their first Christmas Masses about a half an hour from the time I am writing this-some parishes around the Eastern part of the country have already had that first Christmas Mass. Most of us will go to Mass tonight for the traditional Mass at night on Christmas-I'm still getting used to this whole idea of having Midnight Mass at 10pm, even though it has become the new standard in many places for some years now. Yes, I know it is designed to insure that we can get to bed at a decent hour, and that nowadays even the Pope celebrates the Christmas Liturgy at 10pm-but I'm a traditionalist at heart. I think we've lost something-however small and insignificant-by moving the Liturgy heretofore known as the Midnight Mass to a time when no part of it is likely to be occurring at or near the Midnight hour. However, many years from now we are all likely to be used to the new custom and might find a Mass at Midnight very strange indeed.


I hope and pray that wherever you are, you've had a Blessed and a prayerful Advent, one to prepare you in a joyful spirit for celebrating the Lord's coming. It is a busy time, yes. It can be a time when it is very hard to reflect on the reason for celebration and festivity.


Remember that Mary and Joseph couldn't find a room at the inn for the Christ Child, and as the Holy Father has pointed out this evening in his Christmas homily, in a very real way we fail to make room for Christ when we find time for all of the other concerns and cares of this world, but fail to make time for God. God loved us so much that he sent his only-begotten Son into the world to live as one of us, and to be tempted, suffer, and to die. Yet, on the very day we commemorate this reality, many are so concerned with merriment, food, drink, gift getting and gift giving that they won't even darken the door of a church today. Still others may "go through the motions" of Christian worship on this Feast of the Nativity, but forget entirely those who have nothing to eat, let alone gifts or goodies. In this way, we also fail to leave room for Christ in the inn of our hearts.


This is not to say that our celebration, merry-making, gift exchanges, and joyful intake of food and spirits shouldn't happen-I'll enjoy those same things today, and I would encourage all of you to do the same. If the birth of the Messiah isn't a reason to get happy, I don't know what is! But we should have a joy that is worth sharing with others, especially those who have many reasons in their life not to be joyful. First and foremost, Christ has come for them, to proclaim liberty to captives of all kinds, and proclaim the "year of the Lord's favor."


Finally-and this one is for you Catholics (as well as those from other liturgical traditions)-we need to be careful that we do not let our Christmas celebrations end after tonight and tomorrow. When we engage in this kind of behavior, we have not only allowed for the Protestantization of our Christmas observance, we have done far worse, we're giving in to the secular spirit of this age. Christmas does not end at Midnight on December 25th/26th. The Christmas season really ends on January 13th, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Christmas is also celebrated as an Octave-an eight-day feast, from December 25th until January 1 (the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God). Why we've gotten it into our heads that we need to do everything that has to do with Christmas in a day and a half I have no clue, but this may be one reason why some folks aren't ever able to fully enjoy Christmas, they feel like they've got to hurry and rush around to see everyone, do everything, and give all gifts and participate in all appropriate celebrating by the end of the day December 25th-that's not Christmas as it is supposed to be celebrated! If you want to do Christmas right, try spreading your celebrations out to take in as much of the season of Christmas as you possibly can-you'll really feel like you've had a Merry Christmas!


Now as you celebrate tonight-and I hope all week-read afresh the reason for that festivity.

____________________________________________________________

Luke 2:1-19:

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirin'i-us was governor of Syria.  And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. 

 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered.  And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 

And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  And the angel said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 

And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!"When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."

And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.  And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. 

Long Ago Prophets Knew...

One of my favorite Advent hymns is actually a more modern composition, written by Fred P. Green in 1971, listed in many hymnals as Long Ago Prophets Knew.


Long ago, prophets knew Christ would come, born a Jew, Come to make all things new, Bear His people’s burden, Freely love and pardon.

Ring, bells, ring, ring, ring! Sing, choirs, sing, sing, sing! When He comes, when He comes, Who will make Him welcome?

God in time, God in man, This is God’s timeless plan: He will come, as a man, Born Himself of woman, God divinely human.

Mary, hail! Though afraid, She believed, she obeyed. In her womb, God is laid Til the time expected, Nurtured and protected.

Journey ends! Where afar Bethlehem shines, like a star, stable door stands ajar. unborn Son of Mary, Savior, do not tarry!




This particular version is by the Choir of Lichfield Cathedral (the Cathedral of St. Chad and St. Mary, as it was known before Henry VIII) in England, and was part of the British hymns program Songs of Praise. Considering the religious climate in Britain, it is amazing the show is still on air, but it has been going for 50 years and more. In our bustle to prepare for Christmas and to get those last-minute gifts bought and even work out our schedules for Monday and Tuesday (who shall be visited when, when shall we eat, and what, and where) we have forgotten that we don't do these things because we have just declared that we need to mill about at our families' houses all day Monday and Tuesday...whether people realize it or not (and yes, many do not) is because this is a set-aside or sacred time of year. Our culture is moving away from that recognition, preferring "Happy Holidays" to "Merry Christmas," and as we have heretofore discussed, totally ignoring the Advent season.


Remember why we anticipate and celebrate this season of the year, this is not merely an excuse for family gatherings, an extra day or two off, or a schedule adjustment. When we realize those things without having to be reminded periodically of them, you have figured out what Advent is about...you've truly observed Advent, and you are ready for the coming of the Lord.

The choices people make

The question comes all the time from honest people, but especially after a terrible tragedy like the school mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut yesterday, is this: "How can a just and a loving God allow for such a terrible thing to happen?" If you are a family member of one of the slain children or adults, you might ask: "How could God let this happen to my baby?"


It would be disingenuous to say that there is an easy answer to these questions, because their isn't, but Scripture does give us an incredible piece of insight into God's way of dealing with human nature in giving us the free will choice between right and wrong (Deuteronomy 30:15-20):

"See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you this day, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you this day, that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess."

I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them." 

This passage is a warning by the Lord (which the Deuteronomist tells us was given though Moses) to the children of Israel to obey his commandments or face the harsh consequences of their own disobedience. God was warning the Israelites not that he was going to "kill them off" if they went their own way, but that they would bring about their own destruction in view of their own bad choices. What this important Old Testament passage is telling us today is something similar but far more simple-God has given humanity the free will to choose right and wrong, good and evil. God has shown us what good is, having done so sending his Son, the Word Incarnate into the world. Jesus Christ came into the world to redeem humanity, but he didn't come to force anyone to follow him or force people to do good or right. That choice is ours alone, and the choice we make has consequences.


Knowing this helps us understand that people have the power to make choices, even the most terrible choices. We believe that people will be held to account for their choice to rebel against the laws of God and his command to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We believe that God loves the humanity that he created so much that he sent his Son into the world-the second person of the Trinity and the Incarnate Word-to redeem us from our own sins, our decision to make choices that lead to what the Scripture passage above calls "death and evil," to give us the ability through the redemption of the Cross to reclaim for ourselves the side of "life and good." It is this desire on the part of God from the very beginning to be reconciled with mankind which he made in his image and likeness that is what Advent and Christmas (and, for that matter, Lent, Holy Week, and Easter) are really all about.

In Newtown, Connecticut yesterday, for reasons we do not know and have no power or authority to judge, a young man chose death and evil over life and good. As public figures on all sides begin a disgraceful attempt to politicize the massacre, virtually no one is blaming the root cause that brings about all such violence in our age: A Culture of Death in Western society which not only says that the unborn and the aged and the infirm and the helpless have only the value that we as individuals assign to them, but one which glorifies violence, demeans and objectifies the human person, and perverts liberty itself. Our present culture is saturated with the glorification of sin and the public promotion and encouragement-and even promotion by the state-of the worst forms of social and human depravity, and we wonder how someone could get it into their mind to do such a thing.


When society chooses "death and evil," it is telling individuals that death and evil and all of the sins that go with them are also an acceptable personal choice. We will not see peace in our culture until we begin to choose life and good anew.


Pray for the families and the people of Newtown, Connecticut.


Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual Light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the Faithful Departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

I'm not in formation to play dress-up

After our extended thoughts yesterday in defense of the Order of the Diaconate as a permanent order of the Church in response to a post of an e-mail by Deacon Greg Kandra from a priest in the Diocese of Lincoln about said priest's rather negative feelings about the diaconate, I got to exploring some deacon-related posts on Deacon Greg's blog as well as the highly potent thoughts of Father John Zuhlsdorf from some two years ago on the idea of permanent deacons sporting the Roman collar since-by virtue of their ordination-deacons are and will forever be clergy.  Some, like Deacon Greg and, it would seem, Father Z., have come to the conclusion that it is alright to do so. In a very raw and literal sense, I also have reached the notion that there is nothing illicit about deacons wearing the collar since deacons are clergy. In many dioceses, it is allowed for deacons to wear the collar, and in some it is not because the bishop does not want to confuse deacons and priests. Father Zuhlsdorf thinks such bishops may be acting silly, since un-ordained seminarians are encouraged and often expected to wear clerical dress, but a fully ordained and functioning deacon can't wear the collar...

I get and respect this point. If I am-by God's grace-ordained-I'll probably keep a set of clericals around should the bishop permit it. I think they are appropriate for certain special occasions. However, just because someone has been given the privilege and authority of wearing a Roman collar by virtue of their ordination or station in the Church doesn't mean that it is either always or normally appropriate, either. After seeing some of these posts and some of the comments about collar-wearing, I am actually quite disturbed by the militancy of some of these folks-I'll call them "collar people"-about deacons wearing a Roman collar. It made me wonder if some of these folks went through formation just so they can go around and say "look, I'm married, and I get to wear a Roman collar!" I didn't enter formation to wear collars, let alone to concern myself with whether the bishop would allow me to wear one. If a blacksuit and collar are your big obsession (One commenter even said deacons could/should be able to wear black biretta-I like birettas, I think they are really cool actually, but seriously...this is how some of you see your ministry?) It begs the question whether you entered formation for the diaconate for the right reasons in the first place.

After reading some of these various posts, I put the question of appropriateness of the collar to my spiritual director, I wanted his input from experience. He said that he had an issue in seminary with the seminarians wearing cassocks and collars because Joe Catholic on the street sees collar and says "priest!" I shared with him that I hung out for a few drinks with seminarians from time to time when I lived in Cincinnati as part of my role in the K of C in those days, and in that heavily Catholic area, priests do get stopped on the street and asked to hear confessions-I've stopped priests begging for Reconciliation myself. It puts a deacon in a very awkward situation to have to explain that he can't do that-better to avoid the problem altogether when possible.

The militancy of some of the collar people put me in mind of this post in which an Aspirant in formation somewhere complains that he is "bored to tears" because he knows more than most of the class, and he writes this bombshell:

I am currently in formation for the permanent diaconate.  I have often thought in the back of my mind that, at some point in the not-so-distant future, the door will open wider for a married priesthood in the Latin Rite, with permanent deacons an obvious source of potential candidates.  This post made me realize that I’m probably wrong.

[Note: He was referring to a different post he'd seen]


So this fellow thought that somehow Rome was going to allow married priests wholesale, and he wants in on the action? Talk about a wrong reason for being in formation...This is likely the kind of person who has scandalized that priest in Lincoln I talked about from Deacon Greg Kendra's blog yesterday.

I'm not sure this fellow gets it. Even I don't completely "get it" yet, that is what formation is for...discernment. It is all about understanding God's call to ministry, and the Holy Spirit's call for your life. It is not about what you know or don't know, it is about letting the Holy Spirit take you to school. It isn't about putting on a Roman collar or not, it is about putting on the whole armor of God. It is not about "will I get to preach or not," but it is being able to help when that child or that layperson comes to you as they did to Christ and says "teach us how to pray." It isn't about you...it is about the people God is sending you to.

A moderate defense of the permanent Order of Deacon

My friend and fellow deaconate Aspirant Scott Maentz has disseminated a post from Deacon Greg Kandra's blog The Deacon's Bench. Deacon Greg ministers in the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, and is a former media personality. Frequently, Deacon Greg will answer e-mails that he receives on his blog, and he got one from a priest of the diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska who is not at all hot on the permanent diaconate. This priest writes:

Now, priests aren’t sure what exactly to do with deacons, much of the time. The liturgy doesn’t require them, necessarily. It is obvious from a cursory glance at the rubrics that the Holy See anticipates a deacon serving at Mass, but it is not required as it was for the Solemn High Mass. On the other hand, the diaconate was suddenly made unique, and somewhat separated from the priesthood. The dalmatic under the chasuble was eliminated and priests cannot vest as a deacon at Mass in the Ordinary Form.  Some dioceses see deacons as suitable for parish administration; others see them as suitable for chaplaincy at prisons and hospitals, among other tasks. Yet others simply assign them to parishes with their job left up to the pastor. The law seems to be quite silent on this, even though it’s quite specific on most other clerical assignments.

I think the issue of deacons preaching at Mass shows why the permanent diaconate was not thought out well. Bishops aren’t always clear on the faculties given, and each bishop rules differently (as is their right, but it causes confusion nonetheless). Quite honestly, the deacon should not preach at Mass. This was never a function of deacons, and is the job of priests.

 Firstly, let me say that I have great respect for Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln. His reputation for orthodoxy and fidelity to the Holy Father precedes him, and he is a shepherd who I have admired without even knowing. For those of you who have been impacted by the lay ministry of Dr. Scott Hahn, it was then-Monsignor Bruskewitz who helped bring Dr. Hahn into the Church. I have to believe that Bishop Bruskewitz has done what he believes is best for the Diocese of Lincoln, and I fully respect that. I pray that perhaps his successor might have a change of heart about deacons, but I really hope he has a change of heart about not much else, to be honest.

The thoughts that Deacon Greg brought from the priest in Lincoln saddened me a great deal, firstly because I really think that Father has a right spirit in his zeal for the Church, but I'm not so sure he isn't aiming it in the wrong direction. Most importantly, I must say with the deepest respect I can give to this holy priest and his many more years of learning than I have that I am not so sure that he isn't missing the point of the permanent deaconate theologically. He's right that His Holiness Pope Paul VI issued the current norms under which deacons may be ordained in 1967, but the impetus for the restoration of the permanent deaconate in the modern era came well before that. There was a very distinct recognition of the deaconate as a separate and distinct order from priests even at the Council of Trent, but there was not yet a move to restore the order to its permanency. That came with the Second Vatican Council and Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution On the Church (29):

At a lower level of the hierarchy are deacons, upon whom hands are imposed "not unto the priesthood, but unto a ministry of service." For strengthened by sacramental grace, in communion with the bishop and his group of priests they serve in the diaconate of the liturgy, of the word, and of charity to the people of God. It is the duty of the deacon, according as it shall have been assigned to him by competent authority, to administer baptism solemnly, to be custodian and dispenser of the Eucharist, to assist at and bless marriages in the name of the Church, to bring Viaticum to the dying, to read the Sacred Scripture to the faithful, to instruct and exhort the people, to preside over the worship and prayer of the faithful, to administer sacramentals, to officiate at funeral and burial services. Dedicated to duties of charity and of administration, let deacons be mindful of the admonition of Blessed Polycarp: "Be merciful, diligent, walking according to the truth of the Lord, who became the servant of all."

Since these duties, so very necessary to the life of the Church, can be fulfilled only with difficulty in many regions in accordance with the discipline of the Latin Church as it exists today, the diaconate can in the future be restored as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy. It pertains to the competent territorial bodies of bishops, of one kind or another, with the approval of the Supreme Pontiff, to decide whether and where it is opportune for such deacons to be established for the care of souls. With the consent of the Roman Pontiff, this diaconate can, in the future, be conferred upon men of more mature age, even upon those living in the married state. It may also be conferred upon suitable young men, for whom the law of celibacy must remain intact.

Lumen Gentium is clear that the Holy Father may choose to allow for the restoration of the deaconate as a permanent order of the clergy, and the urge to do so is right in the document with the words "proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy." I think the very reason that so many dioceses use deacons in so many different ways is precisely because each deacon's gifts are different, and so are the needs of each diocese and each bishop, and not only do bishops and good deacons understand that, the Holy Spirit understands it first and foremost, which is why we have deacons today.

In charity, I don't understand Father's argument that "priests aren't sure what to do with deacons most of the time." Perhaps he is not, but my own parish has a pastor and an associate-two priests. Yet, we have only one deacon at present and he is absolutely overloaded with work (although he does not seem to mind this). I don't think we have a "what to do with Deacon Jim" problem at St. Pat's-he has plenty to do and so do our priests, and we don't really have a priest shortage here in the Diocese of Knoxville. Father complains that:

 I think the issue of deacons preaching at Mass shows why the permanent diaconate was not thought out well. Bishops aren’t always clear on the faculties given, and each bishop rules differently (as is their right, but it causes confusion nonetheless). Quite honestly, the deacon should not preach at Mass. This was never a function of deacons, and is the job of priests.

Seems to me that it wasn't St. Stephen distributing food to the poor that got him stoned to death, but his preaching (cf. Acts 7:1-54). St. Francis of Assisi was a deacon too-and we know he did plenty of preaching. What saddens me most is that this tone almost seems like a kind of "turf war" mentality, wherein Father seems to believe that those of us who are called to the deaconate are somehow going to try and "take the place" of priests. This holy and zealous priest isn't alone in his thinking. I know that there are plenty of other priests who genuinely believe that the permanent deaconate is some kind of "backdoor" for married men to weave their way into the priesthood. That certainly isn't how I view the deaconate and it isn't how I am seeing my own call. If the Holy Spirit had called me to the priesthood, I would have gone to the seminary. I do not desire to "take the place" of our precious priests, I merely desire to do God's will. I don't see my ministry as "taking the place" of a priest or anyone else. I am a tool in the hand of the Lord. Only a priest can consecrate the Holy Eucharist. Only a priest can hear confessions and absolve sins, and that is the way that I believe it should be.

Further, I know that there are some who think the permanent deaconate is just some kind of a gateway to a married priesthood as the norm in the Latin rite. Not only do I not view the permanent deaconate in this way  (such a view is a grave error), but ask those of my classmates about how Oatney feels about the idea of making married priesthood the norm. Those who have heard me speak of the matter at all outside of class-usually when the subject is brought up around the table will probably tell you "Oatney believes strongly in a celebate Latin priesthood." For those really interested, I will go into greater detail about my personal opinion on such matters in a later post (no, by the way, that DOES NOT MEAN that I think women have no role in the Church...that is horse hockey, and I am using mild verbiage there-some of the most influential people in my spiritual life have been women with strong roles in the Church/parish community). What if the standards changed in the Latin Rite, and there were greater latitude for married priests or even ordained women deacons? I'm just a servant of God...at the end of the day, my knee bows in obedience to whatever Holy Mother Church says about clerical norms.


Most importantly, the deaconate, or even the formation process itself is not about me at all. It is not about my opinions and it is not about what I think. Yes, we are entitled to those views to some degree, but the reality is that deacons are clergy, and if I am-by the Grace of God-ordained, I am bound to obedience to the bishop and his successors, and to the Magesterium.

I know not yet what my ministry will be, but I trust in God's grace, and that is really what the Sacrament is all about, as Deacon Greg and others have rightly said...grace. I am praying for this and for all of our priests to continue to grow in holiness.

My own prayer of Advent abandonment

Today is the last day of Ordinary Time, and Advent (and a new Year of Grace, the Church Year 2013) begins tonight at Vespers. This has been a busy year of change and reflection for both Nicole and myself. My studies in the permanent deaconate program for the Diocese of Knoxville are moving along, and I continue to pray and discern-and I continue to believe that the Holy Spirit is calling me to continued discernment. As time passes, I believe that the Lord is calling me to the deaconate. What I have yet to discern or discover is just what my ministry will be if-by God's grace and favor-the Church does call my name on ordination day. I'm sure I'll minister at the altar, and I am sure that the pastor I serve under-whether my current one or another-might even turn me loose to preach from time to time. I hope that if that does happen, my preaching might bring both blessing and conviction to those who need those things-that I would be able in preaching to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."


But the deaconate is not about-to quote our diocese's Assistant Director of Deacons "about being up at the altar and dressing up like the Infant of Prague." Sure, the ministry of the altar and the ministry of preaching and teaching that is a part of that is an extremely important part of being a deacon, but that isn't a deacon's exclusive function. Deacons were established initially both to proclaim the word as a prophetic function, but more importantly to care for widows, orphans, the very poor among the community (cf. Acts 6:1-8). I'm not sure what my ministry may be in the future if I am ordained, but my spiritual director has also told me not to worry so much about that-he said that there have been times in his priesthood when he didn't know what his ministry would be-it should be left ultimately to the Holy Spirit.




That is how I have come to see my ministry. In whatever way and in whatever capacity God calls me to service, even if it seems small and insignificant, then if one soul is impacted with the Gospel as a result-and not even directly by me-then all of the obstacles and hardships and trials and questions of the discernment and formation process will have been worth it.


Every day I pray that God will give me the grace I need to abandon myself completely into His hands, and to die more fully to self. When I think I am making progress in that department, I will say or do something that reminds me that I still have a long way to go...that I'm not yet where God wants me to be, but I'm willing to be, and that if I let him take hold of me more completely, he'll get me there.


This Advent, I make anew a prayer of total abandonment to God-that as Christ abandoned his very Glory to become one of us, I might abandon my own desires in order that God's purposes might be achieved, and his Name and His Church be glorified afresh in me.

Slow down and listen to the voice of the Lord

Today is the feast of Christ the King-which means that it is the 34th and final Sunday of Ordinary Time, and the beginning of the last week of the liturgical year-one Year of Grace is coming to an end as another will begin next week with the first Vespers of Advent next Saturday night. As I posited here last year close to this time, the Scripture readings from the Lectionary each day during this time of the year take on a very different feeling than what we might hear the rest of the year, because many of the texts we hear at Mass and even during Matins (the Office of Readings) or that we might read in the texts for an extended vigil for Matins take on a heightened eschatological and apocalyptic character-they speak rather freely, it often seems, of the consummation of all things and of the End of Days. This apocalyptic theme seems to carry even into the first week of Advent-which is always a time of both hope and expectation, as we prepare to commemorate the first coming of the Messiah as a baby in a feeding trough for farm animals while awaiting the second and final coming of the Messiah in power and glory "and all his angels with him." (Matthew 25:31)

We have just passed Thanksgiving in the United States, and for us this is now the beginning of what I have come to call the "secular holiday season." I can't justifiably call it the Christmas season because we are, in fact, still over a month away from the Christmas season. This year, I can't say that we have come upon Advent because it is not yet Advent (in many years, the first Sunday of Advent often does fall the Sunday after Thanksgiving). What our so-called "holiday season" has become is just an excuse to engage in gross excess and-as my good friend from St. Albert the Great in Knoxville Stephanie Richer points out-a kind of crude Ba'al worship.


Nicole said I was being a bit of a Scrooge the other day because I launched what I believe is a perfectly valid complaint. Several of our area radio stations launch into constant Christmas music (some of them go even more secular and call it "holiday music." What holiday is this, Labor Day?) from Thanksgiving until Christmas, or even until the New Year. I found one the other day that had started playing this music even before Thanksgiving. I remarked that it didn't seem quite right to me to be singing of Christmas and chestnuts and sleigh rides or even the babe in the manger and the little drummer boy when we have not even really entered the season for that. It isn't that I have any trouble with Christmas music (I love Christmas and Christmas songs and carols have always been and remain some of my favorites-even the secular ones), but the rush to turn the remainder of the year into a holiday we haven't even reached and a feast we still have to prepare for in order that some people's profit margins might increase and we might gain some additional pleasure without preparing personally or spiritually for it. Yes, I expect that from our increasingly secularized culture, but when we see the people in our parishes falling into that trap it makes it all the more difficult to mark the passage of sacred time and to teach them what this time of year really means in its totality-the retelling again in sacred time of the Lord's coming-in memory of the First and anticipation of the Second Advent of the Lord.

As we mark the passage of one Year of Grace and the beginning of another, slow down. If you do, your Advent will likely be more Spirit-filled and your Christmas far more joyful and celebrated in a true spirit of charity and love.

Worshiping at the altar of materialism

Today is what has become known in modern colloquial usage as "Black Friday," the day after the Thanksgiving holiday when the American Christmas shopping season is supposed to officially begin. When I was growing up, stores might open a few hours early today-6AM was a popular opening time-and have sales that are only good today. It has traditionally been called "Black" Friday because if a store or business was behind in its margins for the year, today was traditionally the day its proprietors could look to as a day that brought enough intake to insure that on December 31st, that business would not end the year in deficit, or "in the red," but in profit or at least even-in "the black."


We have gone well beyond the original intent of today-a day to get in a few seasonal Christmas deals-and instead today has become a holiday in its own right-one that celebrates neither giving thanks nor the joy of the coming Prince of Peace, but instead pays homage to the real god of modern American society-materialism. The god of our things, and our ability to have more things and buy more things than our neighbor. Not only is today a day of honor for our God of the Material, but it is often a day where we as a culture spend our time and energy perpetually breaking the tenth and final commandment-thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods. Not only do we worship at the altar of the deity of materialism on this day, we insult the God of All Creation even further by breaking His Holy Law in a perpetual and cultural fashion.


Early this morning, I went with Nicole to Kohl's-she had been given a valuable coupon that helped her purchase some new clothing for her work at really rock-bottom prices, but since it was only good for today, she had to go early this morning just after midnight since she had to work on Friday itself. People were lined up outside the stores of the local mall like the needy at a soup kitchen-only these people didn't look like they needed much of anything, nor did many of them look like they couldn't afford to wait another few days to go shopping-especially sine most of the good sales aren't really going away after today. Some people could have done what my own mother used to do when I was growing up-she did most of her Christmas shopping through the summer months, so that by the time the rush came, she didn't have to visit the stores much.


I observed people coming and going-I didn't want to go in with Nicole and have to fight the crowd, and I think Nicole regretted it later. While I waited in the car, observing people behaving as though they had gone in and returned from some visitation with the divine, I had occasion to listen to the radio, and I happened upon Raymond Arroyo talking about his experience observing people waiting on this materialistic madness to begin. In addition to hosting The World Over on EWTN, Arroyo also occasionally sits in on a secular radio talk show that I happen to enjoy. I heard him talk about how he had passed by a local Target store on Thanksgiving morning and saw people camped out there, setting up what amounted to tent cities, waiting on the holiday sales to begin so that they could get in on some mythical deal. How many of those folks were running up credit they couldn't afford and will have to pay down later in the name of a deal today? Something seems terribly wrong with occupying places in line or in some overnight camp-out in front of a store when there are people who sleep out in front of malls and stores and on public benches and parks because they have nowhere else to sleep, while some of us camp out in front of Target or Belk or Walmart or Kohl's for our day of worship to the deus de materiali. With Black Friday rapidly becoming Black Thursday, Thanksgiving is becoming not a day for thanks to God, but just another shopping day, and Christmas is now just a day to eat and open presents so that we can all go to the store the next day for the big sale. The Christ Child? Who is that? What deal is this that's at the mall, the clearance rack is keeping? The Sale of Sales, good business brings, while customers' line is winding. This, This is Cash our King, while cashiers watch and  registers cling, haste, haste, to bring it laud, the jingle, the sound of profit.

Materialism has been the ultimate source of every wicked and evil ideology that has been formed in the mind of man, and it is the notion that only greater things can make us happy. Materialism brought us fascism, because only the State controlling the business you own can insure fairness-and while we're at it we'll go after those nasty Jews and other pesky people because they have more than us. Materialism gave us socialism and its child communism, because no one is allowed to earn more than their neighbor and if they have more it is always wrong, and it must be rectified-forcibly if necessary. Nevermind that we will kill all incentive to work or to achieve, and therefore to bless others as we have been blessed. Materialism also gives us a kind of crass capitalism that cares little for the individual or the dignity of the human person and only about the bottom line. Materialism is also the root of the sort of neo-socialism that we are seeing today that discourages thrift, because we want what we want now, even if someone else should pay for it.


None of this is to say that there is an inherent wrong in going Christmas shopping-there isn't. But our celebrations of Thanksgiving and Christmas have become about the creature more than the Creator, and we have made them more about the god of our making than the God who created us and who is using these special days as yet another way to call us all to Himself. When we prepare to give gifts to others, do we do it in the spirit of bringing Christ to others, or is it simply about the gifts-the things which, as St. Paul says, "passeth away?" (cf. I Corinthans 7:31)

Spiritual direction...

I'm about to set off for formation this month momentarily, but I want to thank everyone for their prayers. In my last post, I commented about my need for a spiritual director, and it seems that prayer has been answered. I've been able to meet with Father Alex Waraksa, who is the associate pastor at my parish. With the Director of Deacons' permission, he'll be serving as my spiritual director from now on.

More about this weekend when I return.

Spiritual direction

IN roughly an hour and a half from now, I leave for our September formation session which I have been looking forward to with great anticipation. I am a bit downcast because I enter this formation looking for a new spiritual director.


It has proven extremely difficult logistically for my spiritual director and I to meet regularly. This is partly due to logistical issues related to my disability, partly due to his schedule, and partly due to mine.

He recommends (rightly) that I should seek a new spiritual director with the consultation of our director of deacons. I certainly don't have a problem with doing that, but I also have no idea where to turn, or who I can turn to that has been approved by the diocese for this purpose who is close to me (I need someone relatively close-our diocese is very spread out).

The Lord has allowed me thus far to continue in my studies for the deaconate and has removed many obstacles miraculously that have been in my path. I can accept it if it is not the Lord's will for me to press on (although it would be a source of personal pain that I would have to endure), but I would like to believe that if he were going to send me that message, it wouldn't be through something-a logistical issue-like this.

There is one guideline that is a challenge for me logistically. Our spiritual director cannot be our pastor.


This is a problem that has to be solved for the benefit of my spiritual guidance, my formation, and my soul.

Pray for me, I do need it.

Deacon on the move

I got news on Tuesday that one of the two deacons at our parish, Deacon Bob Smearing, is about to move-he informed the Knights of Columbus of this Tuesday night. I'm sorry to see Deacon Bob go, although I have known that it would likely happen at some point for awhile now. Deacon Bob has been a quiet but moving example to me of the way that a good deacon ought to go about his ministry. Deacon Bob preaches with no small amount of force when he thinks it necessary, but outside of his duties at the altar he goes about his ministry in a humble and unassuming way-indeed I'd venture to say that few parishioners at St. Pat's even realize what he does away from Mass.

He has spent much of his time in ministry to the sick, the home-bound, and the very poor. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Ministerial Association Temporary Shelter-or MATS-and has gone about delivering Our Lord in the Eucharist to a great many people who otherwise can't make it to church on Sunday or on Days of Obligation. The quiet fashion in which he carries out his duties has been an example to me of how I ought to behave in my own ministry as the Lord allows, and I also appreciate that he has been there to give me advice and a cheerful smile when I have needed it thus far along my journey.


St. Albert the Great is getting an excellent addition to their ministry staff, while St. Pat's is left-at least for the time being-with two priests (one while our pastor Father Joseph Hammond is visiting his family and friends in Ghana), but only one very overworked deacon.

Dying to self

Nicole and I returned this past weekend from our Diocese of Knoxville retreat for Deaconate Aspirants greatly blessed and spiritually refreshed, even if we found ourselves physically quite tired by the end of the weekend. Nicole greatly enjoyed the retreat, as she and I haven't been on a full weekend retreat since we were married. The closest we had come was a Knights of Columbus day of reflection we both happened to attend shortly after our wedding. Robert Feduccia-who we will be seeing plenty more of over the next four years because he'll be giving the Aspirants instruction on several topics-gave a wonderful retreat. His talk on the Holy Eucharist, in which he declared that we should "leave our troubles at the altar  with Jesus" reminding us that the element of bread is but wheat and water and that we are like wheat ourselves. In the Eucharist becoming the Body and Blood of Christ, we see again Christ sharing in our humanity and ourselves getting "a share in the divinity of Christ" as the priest or deacon intones at every Mass.


One reality that I am being compelled to confront is the fact that if the Lord allows me to approach candidacy and ordination, I will have little choice but to significantly curtail my level of political involvement in the community. Those of you who know me well know that this presents a certain personal challenge because my degree is in political science and I have had at least some level of involvement in party politics for most of my adult life. Indeed, I write three op-ed columns, but the most popular one continues to be my op-ed Examiner column on State politics. The proceeds from that column help me to pay for some of the extemporaneous expenses involved in the process of deaconate formation. Yet, after listening closely to the bishop's words in his talk to Aspirant retreatants, it is clear to me that I may not be able to continue writing that column if I am ordained-His Excellency made it quite clear that while our choice of political support is our own, that public support of individual candidates while serving in ordained ministry may not be something that he wishes to see his deacons do. To people who are used to being involved in the political world, that can seem somewhat harsh, but there may be a larger reason for it. As any Catholic knows, the Church is under what I would call an increased threat of persecution, and not only because of the HHS mandate, but because of the increased secularization of Western culture. Where politics are concerned, the Church is in a critical position to impact society through issue-based advocacy on those matters where the people of God ought to take a keen interest, but the support by the Church of particular candidates in a public way isn't desirable because there is simply no candidate for high office that fully embraces the teachings of the Church. It is true that there may be a candidate that is more acceptable than another from a Catholic perspective, but the laity govern the civil sphere and it is up to them to make informed choices when voting based on Catholic teaching. This places a double responsibility on the clergy, however, to inform the laity of Catholic moral and social teaching, because failure to do so in the past has (as Cardinal Dolan of New York so adequately put it some weeks ago) led the Church to the current situation in which we find ourselves.

As a deacon, I will not any longer be a member of the laity, and therein lies the rub that a great many people may not understand. Being a deacon is a ministry of service for the Church, however small that ministry might happen to be. All deacons are ordained, which means that they have received the Sacrament of Holy Orders. As members of the clergy, deacons share with priests and bishops (who are also deacons by virtue of their own ordinations-no priest or bishop in the world is not first and always a deacon) a life of service to the faithful. Even though permanent deacons have a secular life or a secular calling, being a deacon is not what a man does, as his job, profession, or livelihood-it is who he is, a servant of the people of God first and foremost, and an agent to them of Christ's Church. The laity are called to oversee the civil power, but the ordained are called to oversee the ecclesiastical order.


It is with that realization that I have come to understand that my political involvement will be quite limited as a deacon. If I, by God's grace, should be ordained, then I may not write a political column as I do now, and I certainly won't have the level of political involvement that I have had in the past...that prospect does not bother me. I understand that for me, the choice is between the service of God and His Church or the advancement of my own self-interest.


The deaconate is-at its very heart-about dying to self.

Counting blessings

As all of you who live in East Tennessee may know that the weather has been hotter than blazes of late. The high in White Pine Saturday reached (according to the weather station at the Fire Hall) 107 degrees Fahrenheit. Nicole and I have been fortunate to find ways to keep cool and comfortable. We have learned that this isn't the case for all. I received word Sunday that my parents, brother, aunts and several cousins may be without power for nearly a week after some very nasty storms swept through the part of Central Ohio where they live and did enough damage to the power supply that Ohio Power is shipping in crews from out of State. My Dad told me yesterday that he and my mother happened to be out when these storms hit and that the wind nearly lifted their car off the ground and that they are lucky to be alive. I dutifully replied that we had hundred degree heat, but no power problems and that they were welcome here if they could make it.


My Dad helps manage a group home for mentally challenged men. He said "I have to take care of these guys, they don't have anyone else." He said that power was out all over town and that he had to drive the residents all the way to Zanesville (about 30 miles) in order that they might have something to eat in a cool place-all of their refrigerated food was rotting. Newspaper reports confirmed Dad's account, although it does appear that the situation has improved somewhat since he and I talked.

Like everyone else, I am prone to complain about the heat and the high light bill it seems destined to bring about-but we have had a cool house and cool places to go, good food to eat, and a refuge from the rising thermometer. I am reminded of those who do not have such a refuge, and that I am grateful that neither Nicole or myself were caught in those storms.


One thing that this summer is teaching me is to appreciate the things I have and to remember those who do not have, and to appreciate the opportunity and the calling that God has given and is giving to me.

Times of trial

I really must apologize to the readers of this blog for going so long without a post, but I think everyone should know that it has been a very trying time for our deaconate formation class, and we are all in need of your prayers. We have had one Brother Aspirant who lost a brother-in-law and his father within a couple of days of each other. Still another who has lost a son to a terrible accident. Further, my own house seems to be enduring some troubles of late (no, nothing serious or threatening, just another trial of sorts). We all need your prayers. We were warned that the Enemy of our Souls would place us in the cross hairs, and it certainly would certainly seem that he is giving it his best attempt-we shall not let him win.

We had our last workshop of the year in mid-May, and Deacon Bob Smearing, who helps lead the ministry to the sick and homebound of our parish, attended. I was thrilled to have him there, and it seems that in recent weeks he and I have been communicating more, a reality with which I am particularly happy and which I hope continues. I sat next to Deacon Bob during last week's Knights of Columbus meeting and First Degree. Deacon Bob said he may be able to get an Ordo for me at the paraclete, but I haven't been able to pick it up yet (I forgot to check for it Sunday last). Deacon Bob and I are communicating more, so it is good to have a Deacon in my own parish that I can learn from on a regular basis even as classes are over for the summer.

A glipse of the life of the deacon

It is hard to believe that this weekend was our final formation weekend of the academic year. We won't quite be done just yet even after this weekend, as we'll still have our May deanery workshops to attend. I'm still actively hunting something that would serve as an acceptable summer assignment, but it is possible I might have at least successfully baited the hook in that regard. As it turns out, our parish Director of Religious Education is no longer going to be exercising that ministry as of the end of this month (she has done it for many years), and Deacon Jim Fage, who is not only our RCIA Director at St. Pat's, but also serves as the deanery youth coordinator. Now, Deacon Jim is about to become the new Director of Religious Education in addition to his other pastoral and liturgical duties, and he'll need a whole new slate of volunteers, since our previous DRE and her husband did nearly all the work.

Deacon Do-It-All needs a hand, and he needs it soon. I've already been told that I may be tapped (Nicole and I used to teach religious education in Cincinnati). Deacon Jim has to organize volunteers, decide who will teach what, and he may have to make some curriculum and text decisions, and I know that over the summer he will probably need help putting this together. I volunteered to assist him with anything at all that I can do to help meet a need as he takes the helm of parish religious education.

This weekend was sullied somewhat by the notable absence of our Brother Aspirant (and my friend) Steve Helmbrecht. Not only did Steve and his wife, Genae have to go to Genae's brother's funeral, but when they arrived, Steve received a call from his brother that his Dad, who was 92 years young, had passed away. Pray for the repose of the soul of Bobby Bohm and Hank Helmbrecht, and for the Bohm and Helmbrecht families, and for Genae and Steve-Steve has been an indispensable help to me and a wonderful friend thus far on our amazing journey together.

This past weekend may turn out to be equally indispensable to teaching and showing us what our ministry as a deacon just might be like. Deacon Joe Stackhouse from Immaculate Conception in Knoxville shared his thoughts about homilies and how terrified he was when he delivered his first one-and he is a professor at the University of Tennessee. Deacon Tim Elliott, who is our Director of Deacons in the Diocese of Knoxville, and who is overseeing our formation, talked about some of the faculties and canonical authority that a deacon has-and what he isn't empowered to do. Deacon Patrick Murphy-Racey, who is my spiritual director, talked about how being a deacon impacts his every day life as a professional photographer, and how he's been able to reach out in love to bring the Church's message of the healing, hope, and truth of Christ in some form to such varied people as his own Mom-a civil rights attorney-to Vince McMahon of WWE (yes, that Mr. McMahon). Deacon Mike Duncan from St. Albert the Great in Halls discussed how being a deacon has impacted both his family life and his role in his parish. I also learned that he has personal experience with the annulment process which could prove to be such a vital part of our ministry for so many individuals.

Deacon Tim further elaborated on the faculties we will receive if we are ordained, and some of the items we'll need that might make good ordination presents-we were encouraged to keep a list as we get closer to that time. He also told us to remember that our first responsibility-before our ministry as deacons-is to our wives and families. As a result, he said, we should not be afraid of the use of the word "NO." While we can't really say no to the bishop, it is also pretty clear that the bishop won't ask more from us than we can handle. The bishop, he told us, will give us his expectations for how much time our ministry is expected to take each month when we are ordained. However, our pastors and others who need us to serve them may ask for substantially more than the bishop does in his assignment. If that starts interfering with our ability to put family first, we can say "NO" to a certain degree in order to preserve that delegate balance between ordained ministry and family life.

Deacon Jim Lawson talked about his ministry as a chaplain for the Knoxville Police Department and the Knox County Sheriff's Office. He discussed how he's been able to reach not only Catholics but so many others because he has often had to be the person both the department and-by extension-to the many people of all denominations and faiths and none to whom he had to deliver unfortunate news about the fate of their loved ones, and do it in a way that somehow brings the comfort and the grace of Jesus into that situation.

This weekend was our first real look at the daily ministry of the deacon that will, if God wills it, become our own. Now we move from the introductory phase of formation into the spiritual meat and potatoes we'll need in the years to come.

Thoughts on the call to obedience

It is an unfortunate reality that we live in a skeptical age that is skeptical of God and of His Holy Church. Indeed, even though nearly 90% of Americans say that they believe in a Higher Power, nearly half of those people don't attend Church regularly. Some surveys have suggested that among the younger generation, the number of people skeptical or even in denial of the existence of God is much higher, and certainly the devil-may-care attitude reflected in modern popular culture reflects what Walter Cardinal Kasper has called "cultural atheism." In other words, our culture behaves as though God does not exist whether we say to ourselves or to others that He exists or does not.

Many people are rationalizing that because the Church has been rocked in the past decade by the priest sex abuse scandal and other singular abuses, that the Church somehow does not have the authority to command obedience to morality in the name of Jesus Christ. Truth does not change merely because some of those who have proclaimed it in the past have fallen into sin. It does not change even if the whole of those who have proclaimed it give themselves over to sin and the wiles of the devil. If such faulty theological logic had any merit, the Church would never have survived the first week after Our Lord was crucified. After all, with the exception of the Apostle St. John, all of the original 12 abandoned Jesus, one even openly denied him and did so three times. Yet it was the weak one who denied Christ three times who was chosen to lead the Church after Our Lord ascended to the Father. One of the remaining Eleven after our Lord rose again even refused to believe, yet Christ allowed that one to see as well as believe, he didn't reject him or tell him that he had no authority. Christ instead breathed the Holy Spirit on these imperfect men and told them to go forth and proclaim the Good News. Christ promised that the gates of Hell would not prevail against the Church, but He certainly never promised that the Church would be composed of perfect people or that some of its leaders would not ever fall into serious sin or scandal themselves.

Catholic readers will recall, I am sure, the case of Father John Corapi, who stood accused of having an affair with a woman who worked with him, and was even accused (not, apparently, without some cause) of having multiple affairs with multiple women. Corapi left the priesthood, at first saying that without doing so, he would be unable to prove his innocence in a legitimate fashion. His religious community said that he was not fit for public ministry, but they didn't ever say "Father Corapi isn't welcome to return." Indeed, he was invited to come live in community with the rest of priests and brothers of his religious order, the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT). It was when he openly refused to obey this order which was given in accordance with his religious vow to obey those placed in religious authority over him that SOLT said that Father Corapi was "unfit for public ministry" as a priest.

Many good Catholics were and remain rightly scandalized by the case of Father Corapi. This is because so many people were brought into a deeper relationship with Christ and with Our Blessed Mother through Father Corapi's powerful witness, teaching, and preaching, and two of those people included Nicole and myself. We didn't just watch Father Corapi's programs on EWTN, in 2005, we attended a day of reflection with Father Corapi in Kentucky. I was deeply moved by his powerful witness of fidelity to the Church and his own conversion story. He was keenly aware of his own past, however-he returned to the Faith from a world of drug addiction, worldliness, pleasure, and, to hear his own description, the worst forms of sin and vice imaginable in our modern secularist culture, and he said "if you ever pick up a newspaper and read that Father John Corapi was found dead in a crack house somewhere, it might very well be the truth, because the devil is always at work, and don't you think the devil doesn't know my addictions and weaknesses." I remembered Father Corapi saying this, but it didn't make his decision to leave the priesthood sting any less. His disobedience to and disregard for the authority of the very Church which he had preached for 20 years
that the rest of us should obey spoke volumes about the unfortunate path that he seemed to have chosen.

Since that time, Corapi seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. Indeed, many people who used to follow the work of his former ministry now have no idea what has happened to him. Like some of them, I too pray that he has come to obedience and that he has repented, returning to his religious community. Wherever he is, if he has not repented, I pray that he does so.

However, Corapi's apparent lack of repentance and his scandalous behavior do not negate the work of the Holy Spirit or lessen the power of the truths he was previously teaching, for we all have concupiscence. The decision by many folks to declare the entire Church corrupt based on the public actions of some smacks as much of a desire to find an excuse not to obey the Church as it does of any genuine personal scandal someone might feel about the actions of many priests and others in the Church who, like Father Corapi, fell into serious sin and shame. The reality is that we live in a culture that does not like obedience, especially if the power commanding our obedience is ultimately of Divine origin, which the Church is. The reality is that many Catholics want to call themselves Catholic but not bear the mark-and sometimes bear the cross-of obedience to the authority of the Church upon earth.

As an Aspirant who feels called to the deaconate, I have willingly placed myself within the Church's Divine authority in a very direct way. Those who are in formation for a vocation to the deaconate, the priesthood, or the religious life do this knowing that none of us are perfect, and that even our bishop is not perfect, but that, through the authority of the Church, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, he may tell us when and where, or even whether ever we may minister to others in the Church's name. My willingness to obey the Church is reflected not only in my developing call to the deaconate, but in an understanding that while the Church, including her leaders, are imperfect human beings, her authority comes from Christ, who gave her all power in Heaven and on Earth. All of us who are Catholics, whether laypeople or ordained, are called to accept the Church's teaching authority on faith and morals-she is mater et magister.

Those who know to do so and refuse to remind me of of the famous verse of scripture describing the errant children of Israel who refuse to accept Divine authority in Judges 21:25: 

In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

April formation thoughts

I have to confess that I am going to miss His Excellency Bishop Joseph Martino. Admittedly, this is partly due to the reality that he has dealt largely in a subject that I love (history) and in a subset of that subject which could prove invaluable to any future teaching ministry I may have as a deacon-Church History. I have thoroughly enjoyed the last two months, and I have soaked it all up like a sponge. I left wanting more, and was pleased to learn that when the time comes for our teaching set on Ecumenism, that Bishop Martino will return to instruct us further.

We were also told quite a bit more about what next year's schedule would be like. Sister Mary Timothea Elliott, RSM will return-this time for what I am certain will be a spiritual extravaganza in two parts on the Old Testament. If Sister Timothea's teaching on the Old Testament is anything like her incredible knowledge and devotion to the Psalms, I won't want that to end, either, like I didn't want Sister's teachings on the Psalms and the Liturgy of the Hours to end-I left that weekend hungry and wanting more in a big way.

If there was one thing that I could say that I found disappointing about this past formation weekend, it was learning the news that after a great deal of anticipation, we won't be required to do pastoral work over the summer after all. This is because Deacon Tim Elliott, our Director of Deacons, was not able to land firm assignments for everyone. Initially, this news was greeted with the typical alleluias one would expect by virtually the entire class. However, almost immediately after hearing the announcement and even saying an alleluia or two myself, I became quite disappointed as I began to reflect on the fact that I wouldn't have a summer assignment. I spent some time in advance of class reflecting on what my assignment might be and how I would carry that assignment out with a mixture of excitement and what I might call "holy concern." In the end, not having a firm assignment left me feeling something of a void.

I was pleased that we are being given something of a summer option: If we can come up with appropriate pastoral work by means of our own initiative, perform that work 10-15 hours per month, and then be able to write a short description of the work we did, we will still receive credit for that pastoral work. If we are able to take this option, we are also free to take a future formation summer off of our choosing. I'm going to try and coordinate with the deacons, lay ministers, and pastor of my parish to see if there is any pastoral work that I might be able to undertake this summer (other than attempting to learn some passable Spanish, which seems to be an increasing necessity both in our parish and our diocese).

The first full weekend of May will be our final formation weekend of this academic year, and it will be taught by several of the current active Deacons of the Diocese of Knoxville, including my Spiritual Director Deacon Patrick Murphy-Racey. The topic: The Ministry of the Deacon.

Formation Weekend

Today I depart for Lenoir City for another weekend of formation, this one the final of two with His Excellency Bishop Joseph Martino, Emeritus of Scranton. It is regrettable, because if this month is anything like last month, I will greatly miss Bishop Martino and find myself hungering for more of his teaching on Church History. I really admire the holy commitment of this man to orthodoxy, and a willingness to stand up for, promote, and advocate for orthodoxy and for what we might call the Church's "big T" Traditional teachings.

Thanks to Scott Maentz for this great picture of Bishop Martino.

My allergies are really going haywire this week, so I really hope I can get to feeling a bit better through the weekend.



I am told that we may learn some more this weekend about what our summer service assignments will be. I am looking forward to mine, whatever it is, but I am a little nervous. I have no idea what it will be and I hope that whatever it is, the logistics work out. Then again, so far on this journey, the Lord has provided a way every time, and I know He will yet again.

The Lord Is Truly Risen, Alleluia!

Genesis 1:1-2:2:

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth,
the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss,
while a mighty wind swept over the waters.

Then God said,
"Let there be light," and there was light.
God saw how good the light was.
God then separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night."
Thus evening came, and morning followed-the first day.

Then God said,
"Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters,
to separate one body of water from the other."
And so it happened:
God made the dome,
and it separated the water above the dome from the water below it.
God called the dome "the sky."
Evening came, and morning followed-the second day.

Then God said,
"Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin,
so that the dry land may appear."
And so it happened:
the water under the sky was gathered into its basin,
and the dry land appeared.
God called the dry land "the earth, "
and the basin of the water he called "the sea."
God saw how good it was.
Then God said,
"Let the earth bring forth vegetation:
every kind of plant that bears seed
and every kind of fruit tree on earth
that bears fruit with its seed in it."
And so it happened:
the earth brought forth every kind of plant that bears seed
and every kind of fruit tree on earth
that bears fruit with its seed in it.
God saw how good it was.
Evening came, and morning followed-the third day.

Then God said:
"Let there be lights in the dome of the sky,
to separate day from night.
Let them mark the fixed times, the days and the years,
and serve as luminaries in the dome of the sky,
to shed light upon the earth."
And so it happened:
God made the two great lights,
the greater one to govern the day,
and the lesser one to govern the night;
and he made the stars.
God set them in the dome of the sky,
to shed light upon the earth,
to govern the day and the night,
and to separate the light from the darkness.
God saw how good it was.
Evening came, and morning followed-the fourth day.

Then God said,
"Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures,
and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky."
And so it happened:
God created the great sea monsters
and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems,
and all kinds of winged birds.
God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying,
"Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas;
and let the birds multiply on the earth."
Evening came, and morning followed-the fifth day.

Then God said,
"Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures:
cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds."
And so it happened:
God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle,
and all kinds of creeping things of the earth.
God saw how good it was.
Then God said:
"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
the birds of the air, and the cattle,
and over all the wild animals
and all the creatures that crawl on the ground."
God created man in his image;
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them, saying:
"Be fertile and multiply;
fill the earth and subdue it.
Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air,
and all the living things that move on the earth."
God also said:
"See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth
and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food;
and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air,
and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground,
I give all the green plants for food."
And so it happened.
God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.
Evening came, and morning followed-the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.
Since on the seventh day God was finished
with the work he had been doing,
he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.





Genesis 22:1-18:

God put Abraham to the test.
He called to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am, " he replied.
Then God said:
"Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love,
and go to the land of Moriah.
There you shall offer him up as a holocaust
on a height that I will point out to you."
Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey,
took with him his son Isaac and two of his servants as well,
and with the wood that he had cut for the holocaust,
set out for the place of which God had told him.

On the third day Abraham got sight of the place from afar.
Then he said to his servants:
"Both of you stay here with the donkey,
while the boy and I go on over yonder.
We will worship and then come back to you."
Thereupon Abraham took the wood for the holocaust
and laid it on his son Isaac's shoulders,
while he himself carried the fire and the knife.
As the two walked on together, Isaac spoke to his father Abraham:
"Father!" Isaac said.
"Yes, son, " he replied.
Isaac continued, "Here are the fire and the wood,
but where is the sheep for the holocaust?"
"Son," Abraham answered,
"God himself will provide the sheep for the holocaust."
Then the two continued going forward.
When they came to the place of which God had told him,
Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it.
Next he tied up his son Isaac,
and put him on top of the wood on the altar.
Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.
But the LORD's messenger called to him from heaven,
"Abraham, Abraham!"
"Here I am!" he answered.
"Do not lay your hand on the boy," said the messenger.
"Do not do the least thing to him.
I know now how devoted you are to God,
since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son."
As Abraham looked about,
he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket.
So he went and took the ram
and offered it up as a holocaust in place of his son.
Abraham named the site Yahweh-yireh;
hence people now say, "On the mountain the LORD will see."

Again the LORD's messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said:
"I swear by myself, declares the LORD,
that because you acted as you did
in not withholding from me your beloved son,
I will bless you abundantly
and make your descendants as countless
as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore;
your descendants shall take possession
of the gates of their enemies,
and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing—
all this because you obeyed my command."

Exodus 14:15-15:1:

The LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me?
Tell the Israelites to go forward.
And you, lift up your staff and, with hand outstretched over the sea,
split the sea in two,
that the Israelites may pass through it on dry land.
But I will make the Egyptians so obstinate
that they will go in after them.
Then I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army,
his chariots and charioteers.
The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD,
when I receive glory through Pharaoh
and his chariots and charioteers."

The angel of God, who had been leading Israel's camp,
now moved and went around behind them.
The column of cloud also, leaving the front,
took up its place behind them,
so that it came between the camp of the Egyptians
and that of Israel.
But the cloud now became dark, and thus the night passed
without the rival camps coming any closer together
all night long.
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,
and the LORD swept the sea
with a strong east wind throughout the night
and so turned it into dry land.
When the water was thus divided,
the Israelites marched into the midst of the sea on dry land,
with the water like a wall to their right and to their left.

The Egyptians followed in pursuit;
all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and charioteers went after them
right into the midst of the sea.
In the night watch just before dawn
the LORD cast through the column of the fiery cloud
upon the Egyptian force a glance that threw it into a panic;
and he so clogged their chariot wheels
that they could hardly drive.
With that the Egyptians sounded the retreat before Israel,
because the LORD was fighting for them against the Egyptians.

Then the LORD told Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea,
that the water may flow back upon the Egyptians,
upon their chariots and their charioteers."
So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,
and at dawn the sea flowed back to its normal depth.
The Egyptians were fleeing head on toward the sea,
when the LORD hurled them into its midst.
As the water flowed back,
it covered the chariots and the charioteers of Pharaoh's whole army
which had followed the Israelites into the sea.
Not a single one of them escaped.
But the Israelites had marched on dry land
through the midst of the sea,
with the water like a wall to their right and to their left.
Thus the LORD saved Israel on that day
from the power of the Egyptians.
When Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore
and beheld the great power that the LORD
had shown against the Egyptians,
they feared the LORD and believed in him and in his servant Moses.

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD:
I will sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant;
horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.


Isaiah 54:5-14:

The One who has become your husband is your Maker;
his name is the LORD of hosts;
your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
called God of all the earth.
The LORD calls you back,
like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
a wife married in youth and then cast off,
says your God.
For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with great tenderness I will take you back.
In an outburst of wrath, for a moment
I hid my face from you;
but with enduring love I take pity on you,
says the LORD, your redeemer.
This is for me like the days of Noah,
when I swore that the waters of Noah
should never again deluge the earth;
so I have sworn not to be angry with you,
or to rebuke you.
Though the mountains leave their place
and the hills be shaken,
my love shall never leave you
nor my covenant of peace be shaken,
says the LORD, who has mercy on you.
O afflicted one, storm-battered and unconsoled,
I lay your pavements in carnelians,
and your foundations in sapphires;
I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of carbuncles,
and all your walls of precious stones.
All your children shall be taught by the LORD,
and great shall be the peace of your children.
In justice shall you be established,
far from the fear of oppression,
where destruction cannot come near you.


Isaiah 55:1-11:

 Thus says the LORD:
All you who are thirsty,
come to the water!
You who have no money,
come, receive grain and eat;
come, without paying and without cost,
drink wine and milk!
Why spend your money for what is not bread,
your wages for what fails to satisfy?
Heed me, and you shall eat well,
you shall delight in rich fare.
Come to me heedfully,
listen, that you may have life.
I will renew with you the everlasting covenant,
the benefits assured to David.
As I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander of nations,
so shall you summon a nation you knew not,
and nations that knew you not shall run to you,
because of the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, who has glorified you.

Seek the LORD while he may be found,
call him while he is near.
Let the scoundrel forsake his way,
and the wicked man his thoughts;
let him turn to the LORD for mercy;
to our God, who is generous in forgiving.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
As high as the heavens are above the earth,
so high are my ways above your ways
and my thoughts above your thoughts.

For just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
and do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
so shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
my word shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.


Baruch 3:9-15, 32-4:4:

Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life:
listen, and know prudence!
How is it, Israel,
that you are in the land of your foes,
grown old in a foreign land,
defiled with the dead,
accounted with those destined for the netherworld?
You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom!
Had you walked in the way of God,
you would have dwelt in enduring peace.
Learn where prudence is,
where strength, where understanding;
that you may know also
where are length of days, and life,
where light of the eyes, and peace.
Who has found the place of wisdom,
who has entered into her treasuries?

The One who knows all things knows her;
he has probed her by his knowledge—
The One who established the earth for all time,
and filled it with four-footed beasts;
he who dismisses the light, and it departs,
calls it, and it obeys him trembling;
before whom the stars at their posts
shine and rejoice;
when he calls them, they answer, "Here we are!"
shining with joy for their Maker.
Such is our God;
no other is to be compared to him:
He has traced out the whole way of understanding,
and has given her to Jacob, his servant,
to Israel, his beloved son.

Since then she has appeared on earth,
and moved among people.
She is the book of the precepts of God,
the law that endures forever;
all who cling to her will live,
but those will die who forsake her.
Turn, O Jacob, and receive her:
walk by her light toward splendor.
Give not your glory to another,
your privileges to an alien race.
Blessed are we, O Israel;
for what pleases God is known to us!


Ezekiel 36:16 (17a)-28:

The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their land,
they defiled it by their conduct and deeds.
Therefore I poured out my fury upon them
because of the blood that they poured out on the ground,
and because they defiled it with idols.
I scattered them among the nations,
dispersing them over foreign lands;
according to their conduct and deeds I judged them.
But when they came among the nations wherever they came,
they served to profane my holy name,
because it was said of them: "These are the people of the LORD,
yet they had to leave their land."
So I have relented because of my holy name
which the house of Israel profaned
among the nations where they came.
Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord GOD:
Not for your sakes do I act, house of Israel,
but for the sake of my holy name,
which you profaned among the nations to which you came.
I will prove the holiness of my great name, profaned among the nations,
in whose midst you have profaned it.
Thus the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD,
when in their sight I prove my holiness through you.
For I will take you away from among the nations,
gather you from all the foreign lands,
and bring you back to your own land.
I will sprinkle clean water upon you
to cleanse you from all your impurities,
and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you,
taking from your bodies your stony hearts
and giving you natural hearts.
I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes,
careful to observe my decrees.
You shall live in the land I gave your fathers;
you shall be my people, and I will be your God.


Romans 6:3-11:

Brothers and sisters:
Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death?
We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death,
so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father,
we too might live in newness of life.

For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his,
we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.
We know that our old self was crucified with him,
so that our sinful body might be done away with,
that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.
For a dead person has been absolved from sin.
If, then, we have died with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him.
We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more;
death no longer has power over him.
As to his death, he died to sin once and for all;
as to his life, he lives for God.
Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as being dead to sin
and living for God in Christ Jesus.


Mark 16:1-7:

When the sabbath was over,
Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome
bought spices so that they might go and anoint him.
Very early when the sun had risen,
on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb.
They were saying to one another,
"Who will roll back the stone for us
from the entrance to the tomb?"
When they looked up,
they saw that the stone had been rolled back;
it was very large.
On entering the tomb they saw a young man
sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe,
and they were utterly amazed.
He said to them, "Do not be amazed!
You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified.
He has been raised; he is not here.
Behold the place where they laid him.
But go and tell his disciples and Peter,
'He is going before you to Galilee;
there you will see him, as he told you.'"