Never the same again

The above video of the Diocese of Knoxville's Chrism Mass, which I wrote of from my own personal perspective on Holy Thursday, comes to us via the photographically talented and video-inclined Deacon Patrick Murphy-Racey. The perspective in this video is one that I appreciate in a special way, because it tells us what this annual reaffirmation of priestly promises and of the ministry of service means to men who are studying for the priesthood themselves, and many will soon be serving us in our parishes.


Even though the priesthood and the deaconate are different ministries that often require men with different charisms, there is no priest in the world who was not first and remains still a deacon. It was Bishop Joseph Martino, Emeritus of Scranton, who was our instructor in Church History, who reminded us that he is a deacon and will always be a deacon. Father Randy Stice also reminded us of that reality in our Liturgy section. With that in mind, when I listen to these seminarians I am also reminded of how my own discernment of a calling to the Sacrament of Holy Orders is impacting me and the way I see and view the Church and the People of God, even though my calling differs from the seminarians who reflect in the video. I identify with the seminarians in a very real way because my formation to the deaconate has changed how I see my faith and my relationship to God and my call to serve his people.

A person cannot experience this discernment and this call and ever be the same again, just as Moses was never the same again after he'd seen the burning bush or the Apostles were never the same again after Jesus called them.

Holy Thursday Chrism Mass reflection

Traditionally, the Mass of Chrism is held on the morning of Holy Thursday, although the liturgical rubrics now allow it to take place at another convenient time. The "convenient time" for the Diocese of Knoxville was Tuesday evening. I have to give thanks to my spiritual director Father Alex Waraksa, who was kind enough to give me a ride to the Mass. I actually didn't think I would be going, but Father Alex rang me at about twenty past two that afternoon to ask if I was still interested to go. Of course I was, and since I would be riding with Father and he was leaving "early," I had to get ready in a hurry...

As you can see, one thing I did not have time to do was shave! I do not think being unshaven becomes me in a picture. What's more, I'm sure you might be able to figure out that I had no idea that Scott Maentz was snapping my picture (he also got Deacon Pat Murphy-Racey, who was there unvested taking pictures of his own, and these photographs are Scott's). Nevertheless, I don't mind being photographed on such an occasion, because as far as I am concerned, the whole world can know I was at Sacred Heart Cathedral Tuesday night. Praising the Lord is certainly a prerequisite for Aspirancy to the deaconate, and I find I am at my happiest and most comfortable in the House of the Lord-there really isn't anywhere else in the world I would rather be.

That nice lady next to me had come all the way from Holy Spirit in Soddy Daisy to take pictures. I was pointing out to her the other photographers who I knew were there.

While the Mass was going on, there were several times when I nearly burst into tears, although not from sadness, but joy. The Chrism Mass is a wonderful expression of the unity of the Church, because every able priest in the diocese was there and a great many of the deacons were there. There were religious there, too-Dominican Sisters and Religious Sisters of Mercy. The music was exceptionally fine, and not only did all of the priests concelebrate with Bishop Stika, but it was the first time that I had ever had occasion to see Bishop Stika and his mentor Justin Cardinal Rigali concelebrate a Mass together (I'm not counting Bishop Stika's episcopal ordination, Nicole and I were at that event). Since coming to East Tennessee, Cardinal Rigali seems to have fit right into the pastoral life of the diocese. He seems so at home here that you'd never know that he was new, you'd think he was our retired bishop, not Philadelphia's. With due respect to Archbishop Chaput, who is also a great shepherd,  I think we got the better part of the deal when Cardinal Rigali retired and Chaput was appointed from Denver to replace him, since Cardinal Rigali fulfilled an apparently long-held promise that he would go wherever his friend Monsignor Stika was when he retired. Philadelphia got Chaput, and the State of Tennessee got the first Prince of the Church in its history. It is a silly thing, but if I could ask one favor of His Eminence, it might be to bless my personal Roman Missal.

The reason I nearly wept at the Mass was that I found myself in awe and gratitude at what the Holy Spirit is doing in this diocese. I'm sure that people in every diocese in the world feel blessed, but we have reason to thank God every day. Other places have severe shortages of priests and are forced to close parishes that cannot sustain themselves, but we have enough priests for every parish, and many parishes have more than one priest. We currently have 19 men in priestly formation. I have personally been blessed by the Holy Spirit to be in deaconal formation with some of the finest men I have ever had the pleasure to know. Bishop Stika announced that soon, an order of cloistered Sisters will be coming here. I looked at all of our priests and deacons and religious and the people of God who literally filled our humble but beautiful cathedral and said to the Lord in thanksgiving "thank you Jesus-what a wonderful thing is your Church." I was happy to see all of our priests, but on a personal level I was happy to see Monsignor Xavier Mankel, OP, who was quick to ask me if I was behaving myself in my old age!

The Mass of Chrism, where the bishop blesses the sacred oils (Chrism, the Oil of the Infirm, and the Oil of Catechumens) used to anoint people sacramentally throughout the year  is tied in an intimate way to tonight's Mass of the Lord's Supper, because the Eucharist, the sacred priesthood, and the apostolic ministry of the episcopacy all had their beginnings on that first Holy Thursday. Bishop Stika said in his homily that more than anything else, the Eucharist is what draws new people into the Church. What he said sounded a lot like the lesson on the Eucharist I gave for our parish's RCIA class when I explained to them that we are a people of the Eucharist, and that without the Eucharist, there is no Church, no conclave, no Bishop Stika, no Pope Benedict, no new Pope (Francis had not been elected yet), no RCIA, and no reason for them to be there. Since I know that at least one of our RCIA candidates was at the Mass, I was pleased that the bishop said what he did about the Eucharist-thank you Holy Spirit.


Holy Thursday is, more than anything, all about the Body of Christ. It is about his Body and Blood that he gave us for the first time that Thursday night in an Upper Room, and the sacrifice of his Body for the sake of our salvation, and the reality that he gives us his Body that we may become the Body of Christ which we receive. So tonight at Mass, take some time to adore Our Lord's Body. It is also about service, as we learn to humble ourselves and wash feet as Jesus washed his disciples' feet.


As we ready ourselves to commemorate Our Lord's last night before his crucifuxion, it might be good to meditate on one of my favorite Eucharistic hymns, Pange lingua gloriosi. If you don't know what the words mean, I have put a rough translation below the video.





Sing, my tongue, the Savior's glory,
of His flesh the mystery sing; 
of the Blood, all price exceeding, 
shed by our immortal King, 
destined, for the world's redemption, 
from a noble womb to spring.

Of a pure and spotless Virgin 
born for us on earth below, 
He, as Man, with man conversing, 
stayed, the seeds of truth to sow; 
then He closed in solemn order 
wondrously His life of woe.

On the night of that Last Supper, 
seated with His chosen band, 
He the Pascal victim eating, 
first fulfills the Law's command; 
then as Food to His Apostles 
gives Himself with His own hand.

Word-made-Flesh, the bread of nature
 by His word to Flesh He turns; 
wine into His Blood He changes; 
what though sense no change discerns? 
Only be the heart in earnest, 
faith her lesson quickly learns.

Down in adoration falling,
 This great Sacrament we hail, 
Over ancient forms of worship 
Newer rites of grace prevail; 
Faith will tell us Christ is present, 
When our human senses fail.

To the everlasting Father, 
And the Son who made us free 
And the Spirit, God proceeding 
From them Each eternally, 
Be salvation, honor, blessing, 
Might and endless majesty.

Amen.

New Catholics will need hellos and examples of holiness

Those of you who celebrated Morning Lauds this morning sang or chanted the 42nd Psalm as the first chant, a psalm which has opening words in verses one and two that may be familiar to many Catholics, and certainly set me in a Holy Week mindset. The Grail translation, which is generally what is used in the English-speaking world for the psalter in the Liturgy of the Hours, renders Psalm 42:1-2 in this way:

Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God.

My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life; when can I enter and see the face of God?

Although this psalm repeats in the four-week psalter at various times throughout the year, it is always to be found at Lauds on Monday morning of Holy Week. Another time you might hear these words is at the Easter Vigil Mass during baptisms of catechumens or on Easter Sunday morning if anyone is baptized at that time. Reciting these words this morning reminded me in a very real way that while the entire Church is invited to join Christ in ascending the mount of Calvary this week and in waiting and celebrating at the Empty Tomb, catechumens and candidates for full communion with the Holy Catholic Church are waiting with anticipation for the opportunity to receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Throughout Lent, we've prayed for catechumens and candidates, and I've had the opportunity-as I do each year-to assist in the formation of catechumens who will be baptized and candidates for full communion-I know how much they are looking forward to becoming a part of the Church at the weekend.





I can also speak with some experience about the excitement many of them feel knowing that their baptisms or reception into full Communion with the Church are now but days away, because some years ago, I was in their shoes. I wasn't baptized at Easter-because of scheduling issues, I had to wait until Pentecost Sunday-but I do remember how I couldn't wait to receive the Eucharist. The opening words of today's first psalm at Lauds are an apt description of how I felt, and I think is probably an apt description of how many catechumens feel around our diocese, and around the country and the world. They are eager, but there is a question that hangs over some of them.


After Easter, and after the formal mystagogia phase of their formation is over, what is to become of them? I know that we still have a few from years' past that I see at Mass, and that are active in the parish. I'm also sure that some move to other parishes and become active where they live. There is a third group, however, that I have always felt particularly burdened in prayer for, and that group are those people who come to Mass for a few months but then fall away. Often, they do this because no one other than the people on the RCIA team seem to them to display any friendship or interest in them. Indeed, I've heard that complaint from at least one former candidate that I know. I am certain that while those who say these things might be looking at things superficially from time to time, more often I think that it is not unreasonable for new Catholics who have willingly joined the Church of their own accord under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to expect that members of their parish community will befriend them and seek to include them, not merely to boost membership numbers in a parish group, but out of a real interest in that person's spiritual development.


I firmly believe that I took such a keen continued interest in the Church in my early days as a Catholic because some holy clergy and laypeople took an active interest in me and my spiritual development, and encouraged me to become involved with things in the Church that they saw I was interested in and good at, and encouraged me to develop a prayer life and a real relationship with both God and with the people around me. In short, I was very heavily encouraged to begin living out the faith into which I had been baptized and was willing to publicly profess. Because there were people around me at the time within the Church who encouraged me in this way, I believe that the spiritual road which the Holy Spirit put me on was leading me to where I am today in deaconate formation, though I couldn't have seen or understood it at that time in my life.


Obviously, not everyone who participates in the RCIA process is going to feel called to deaconal or priestly formation or to life as part of a vowed religious community. New Catholics are all called, however, to be a part of the most important priesthood of all, and that is the royal priesthood of all the baptized, a chosen nation, St. Peter tells us, who are called to "declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1 Pet. 2:9) There is what Blessed John Paul II rightly called a "universal call to holiness" which new Catholics (and all Catholics) are called to live out-being the Body of Christ present in a world that is often skeptical of that Body and hostile to it. It can be difficult for new Catholics to live out that call to holiness if they don't have holy people around them ready to help them in their faith.


If you have adults in your parish who are being baptized or received into the Church this coming weekend, watch closely to see who they are. Say hello to them. Invite them to prayer groups, adoration,  or Bible study. Seek them out just to introduce yourself, most of the time a friendly word just to know that the parish community still cares about them may mean the world to them and open their hearts to allowing the Holy Spirit to work even more deeply in their lives. In a few weeks, the formal part of their formation will be ended, but they need that continuing formation that we all need in order to make our faith the very center of our lives that God calls us to make it. Those who will come into the Church this weekend need our prayers and our support, so that they will always long after the Lord "like the deer that yearns for running streams."

A little prompting of the Holy Spirit

Not this past weekend, but the one prior (March 9th and 10th), I had an opportunity to attend a retreat at our parish called Christ Renews His Parish. Our parish's lone remaining deacon, Deacon Jim Fage, was also there for much of the time. The retreat was largely given to us by some wonderful members of St. Francis de Sales parish in Lebanon, Ohio. They came and gave of themselves for us that we might in return give a similar retreat to others in the near future (hopefully in about six months). It was a wonderful and spiritually enriching weekend for everyone. I was most heartened that the deacon from St. Francis, Deacon Jay Rettig, came to help with the retreat because we had a wonderful time of exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, at the beginning of which Deacon Jay preached a wonderful homily based on John 6. Deacon Jay also preached the Sunday homily for the 11:30 Mass, and was kind enough to pray Vespers with me Saturday night (because I was by that point finding it hard to keep my eyes open, finding a prayer partner was a real help).

For me, there were several "a-ha" moments during the retreat, especially on Sunday. However, for me the most important thing that happened occurred outside of our retreat sessions. On Saturday night our lay retreat director, Scott Shafer, had organized a social hour after many of us had finished adoring the Eucharist and praying the rosary. I intended to go, as I had thought it would provide an opportunity for me to get to know some of the men from our parish who were on the retreat that I did not know as well. After all, I reasoned, if I am going to be ordained, I may be serving some of these men and their families. En route to the place of the social I stopped by the basement chapel where a group of men-some from St. Francis and some from St. Pat's-were praying for and over one another and each other's needs and intentions. I had prayer intentions as well, so I figured that I would go in and ask for prayer, and I did so. When my turn requesting and receiving the prayers of those assembled was finished, I thought that I would leave their presence and go to the social, indeed I headed for the door...


...But something...someone...stopped me, and I believe that someone was the Holy Spirit. I heard clearly.

"You will not go to the social and have a beer. You will not do so until you have stayed in this place and prayed for, with, and over every one of these men."


I did what I was told by the Holy Spirit, and I was glad that I did. I learned people's needs and intentions and added many to my personal prayer list. Most importantly, I gained a spiritual treasure by gaining the prayer partnership of some very wonderful human beings. As they helped me by their prayers, I pray that I was able to be of some comfort to them with mine, and that I continue to be.


By the time we were finished, I was exhausted, which is why it was so hard for me to stay awake for the Office, but after Deacon Jay and I prayed it I was ready to retire for the night.


A special thank you should be given to Father Joseph Hammond, who allowed me to use the episcopal apartment for the night that night. I didn't request this, it was volunteered. This apartment is part of the rectory and was added for those occasions when the bishop might visit our parish. When Monsignor Garrity was with us, and his late mother came to stay with our parish family, Ms. Sylvia lived in the bishop's quarters. It was comfortable and certainly spacious, although I had no time to enjoy that. I think I got four hours of sleep that night, if that...but it felt like holy deprivation!

Church History (Holy Thursday)

It has been awhile-over a month, since I have posted to this blog, and for that I apologize to those off you who are taking the time to read it. I've had a busy month, however, and with Holy Week (Holy Thursday) now having arrived, I think it prudent to share a little bit about what our formation weekend in March was like.

I was very much concerned when class began on Friday evening after we had originally been told that we might have a pop quiz, because Bishop Martino (by his own admission) talks quickly, but this isn't only a matter of habit-I think in his mind he had a good reason to move at a relatively brisk pace through the material. Not only was he being recorded, but he was also merciful enough to us to present us with two very good outlines-one for this past month and one for our session upcoming-of the material we would be covering. Deacon Tim Elliott, our Director of Deacons, told me not to worry about a pop quiz, but to listen to Bishop Martino...for this, I was much relieved.

Since I am admittedly a history nerd, I enjoyed the material greatly, and I just ate up getting a hold of new material that I hadn't previously been familiar with before (and getting a new spin on some things that I already knew. The most impressive and enjoyable thing about the entire weekends, however, was Bishop Martino himself. I was pleased to be able to sit near him (as were the rest of the fellas in the front row) during one of our breaks when His Excellency shared some of his experiences in ministry with us, including his belief-one that I share-that we need to do a better job keeping the interest of catechumens and potential candidates, as we often lose them in waiting for RCIA to begin as much as we might after the process is over. Of course the Obama Administration's ungodly HHS mandate on Catholic institutions was also a matter of discussion, with Bishop Martino saying that he believes we could be entering a time of persecution, or at least a time when it won't be a very popular thing to be a faithful Catholic.

The thing that most exuded from the way His Excellency carries himself is what I would call holiness in humility. He seems grateful that the Holy Spirit chose him for the ministry that he has, he blesses others by the exercise of that ministry, and is a good example of how someone who has been gifted with Holy Orders should be gift to others-in retirement, he is ministering to us in imparting knowledge as well as wisdom to us.

I really look forward to our next session with His Excellency this coming weekend.

I am praying for all of you who read, and all of my Brother Aspirants as I pray the Liturgy of the Hours each day. May you have a Blessed Paschal Triduum.