Homily for the Third Sunday of Lent

Exodus 20:1-17

1 Corinthians 1:22-25

John 2:13-25

Our Gospel today comes very early in St. John's Gospel and shares with us John's account of something that the other Gospels tell us happened during (or very near to) Holy Week-Jesus' righteous anger at the money changers in the temple and his overturning of their tables of business. It is important to ask, then, what were the money changers doing at the Jerusalem Temple, the place where any observant first century Jew understood was the dwelling place of Almighty God on this Earth. The one place where legitimate sacrifices to the Lord could take place, and they did- on a daily basis.

Prayer and sacrifice took place in the Jerusalem Temple in those days every day. Just as in our day all clergy in the Church celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass each day, public prayers, usually centered around the Psalms of David, occurred daily in the Temple. Daily sacrifices took place there too, of various kinds. The priests who had their rotation in the Temple had to offer sacrifices to God as part of their daily and Sabbath worship. And if anyone came to the Temple to offer a sacrifice, whether for the circumcision and dedication of a child, in prayer for or in Thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest, for one of the feast days, or simply as a grateful act of worship, the Law required that people should bring their best to God, sacrifices without blemish. There was also another kind of sacrifice that took place at the Temple, it was called the todah, or sacrifice of Thanksgiving. This sacrifice was an offering of special sacrificial bread, often called the showbread, and the very best wine from the vineyards of God's people.

Because the temple was the only place where the fullness of the worship of God could occur, when many people went there to worship, they came from a long way and often they couldn't carry their sacrifices with them, they had to find animals or other sacrificial materials the closer they got to Jerusalem. Eventually the scribes and major priests of the temple figured out that it might be a good idea to allow those selling such wares to do so right on the temple grounds, right outside the building. What this eventually became in the time of Jesus was a lucrative racket, people would have to pay a premium for the best sacrificial animals, that they were then going to buy with Temple coinage which they would get when they exchange their Roman currency on the temple grounds… because Caesar's money couldn't officially be used at the temple.

Jesus saw this currency racket and crony capitalism for what it was, and he saw that the Temple authorities were taking advantage of the people, or they were openly allowing others to do so right under their noses. In the very House of God, in the place where God dwelt in the world and where sacrifices to God were offered, the clergy who ministered in the Holy of Holies were filled with corruption, and what Jesus would call in his famous discourse in Matthew 23, "dead men's bones." He said that these people appeared outwardly to be Holy, but he saw that this wasn't Holiness at all, this wasn't fulfilling the law of God. Jesus, we read, turned over the tables of the money changers and the userers and those who were selling sacrifice to the Almighty. 

There is a great lesson to be learned by what Jesus did in the Gospel. We live in an age when the statistics tell us that many people right across the country and the world are leaving the Church, at least they are saying that they are. If you talk to anyone who has left the church, the most common complaint, other than the general hypocrisy of people, (which will always occur in any group of people because of our humanity), is the corruption and sin of so many of our clergy, and the apparent toleration of such corruption and sin by our leaders. There was all kinds of corruption going on, both spoken of in the scriptures and not spoken of, when Jesus showed up at the Temple in Jerusalem. The holy men of Israel had become corrupted to the point where they did not even recognize the Anointed of God. The Lord, in his righteous anger, had enough and turned over the tables, and reminded them that the House of God was to be a House of Prayer and not a den of thieves-or worse! (cf. Luke 19:46)

God sees our frustration and anger with the sins and evil and hypocrisy which occur in the church even in our own time. He sees these things to a degree which we cannot. He shares our frustration and our righteous anger at wrongdoing or wrong action, but he doesn't invite us to leave God's house. Jesus overturning the tables of the money changers is a reminder to all of us, and should especially serve as a warning to any of us who have received the gift of Holy Orders at any level, that wrongdoing may go unseen by others, but it does not go unseen by the Lord, and your sins will find you out. The Gospel serves as a reminder to anyone who might have been wronged, abused, or scandalized by someone using an office of the Church that the Lord sees the Injustice that was done to them, and that the wheels of God's justice may slowly turn, but they do turn and grind fine. The Lord sees injustice, and if no one in this world will remedy that injustice, the Lord is keeping a tally. And when it comes time for judgment of injustices and wrongs and evils, the Scriptures are clear that judgment begins at the House of the Lord.

If you're discouraged by things that you might see or hear about what's going on in the Church today, rest assured that God sees wrongs and injustices also, and the day will come when all is brought to light and the truth will set us free, just as the uncomfortable truth set a lot of people free the day Jesus turned over those tables. The Church needs people who will worship in spirit and in truth and believe in Jesus Christ and his Word today more than ever before, so stand fast in Jesus Christ and his Church and the day will come when he makes all things new.

And that Thanksgiving sacrifice, the todah… Some of the ancient rabbis just happened to predict that in the time of the Messiah, all sacrifices would cease… except for the todah, the sacrifice of Thanksgiving. It is said that this sacrifice will go on until the end of time.

Homily for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Leviticus 13:1-2

1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1

Mark 1:40-45

"If you wish, you can make me clean." That's what the leper said to Jesus at the beginning of the Gospel today. Some translations render it-I think more accurately- "if you will it, you can make me clean." In this singular moment the leper approached Jesus and completely submitted himself to the will of God, seeming to understand that Jesus could just as well have told him no. We can even see that Jesus had every reason to decide not to heal the man, after all he asked the fellow not to say anything to anyone about what Jesus had done but to show himself to the priest as Moses had prescribed. Of course this man didn't bother to listen to Jesus on that score, the Gospel tells us that he went out and publicized the whole matter.

It's important to remember that by the standards of that day, what Jesus did was remarkable, and not merely because he healed the leper. As we heard in the first reading today from the book of Leviticus, the law as given to Moses was very clear that any person who came down with leprosy-or what we might know today as Hansen's disease- was to be considered unclean, and separated out from the people of God as a whole. 

This seems like a punishment and it seems very harsh, but there was a reason for it. The biblical injunction to separate someone with leprosy away from the children of Israel was a kind of quarantine. In ancient times, they didn't have the more advanced knowledge of germ theory or how disease was transmitted, but they did figure out that it was possible for more people to get leprosy if there was a person with leprosy among them. They were not wrong, because leprosy is a bacterial infection and it can spread from person to person, although we know today that you're more likely to catch leprosy from another leper if you have extensive close contact with them. The ancients were simply aware that this could spread from person to person and they did understand how dangerous that it was. You might remember the story of Saint Damian of Molokai, who was called to care for the lepers in Hawaii and eventually caught the disease himself…

Jesus, however, let it be seen that he touched a leper and healed him. Jesus showed that it is his will to make people whole. Oftentimes this does not necessarily mean physical healing, although it can. More often than not, Jesus seeks to make our souls whole. Sin, along with the emotional scars and daily wear and tear of life in this world can cause our hearts- our souls- to be infected with a kind of spiritual leprosy. In the sight of God- and even sometimes in the sight of the people around us- we are unclean, and if no one else knows it, we do. Just like healing the leper in the Gospel, Jesus wills us to be made clean and he's willing to make it happen if we are willing to come to him.

These preceding months that we have all lived through have helped me understand this story in a way in which we might perhaps not otherwise be able to. We are living in a time when we are told that so many of our neighbors could be unclean and that we need to distance ourselves from them, just as lepers had to do in our Old Testament reading. We can better imagine how the leper who Jesus healed must have felt because now he was free and he was clean and he could be a part of the community again, and the community could embrace him. 

God gives us opportunity to be healed of our spiritual leprosy as well. The first way to do this is to present ourselves for the Sacrament of Confession or Reconciliation. The second way that we can do this is to begin to examine our lives and find out where our weaknesses are, what are the problems in our spiritual immune system that leave us weak and susceptible to the diseases that are sin and spiritual sloth? We can do a daily such examination, and we could commit ourselves to greater prayer, such as time for the Rosary, or the Angelus, or the Liturgy of the Hours. I can speak from both personal experience and the experience of working with others to help them in their faith… If we constantly commit ourselves to improving our prayer life and our personal devotion, these things are the ultimate weapons against sin and sloth, for idle time is the playhouse of the Devil. Rather than have idle time, give it to God. We can all stand to turn off the television or the smartphone and take time to call on the Lord.

Some of us have very busy daily schedules, sometimes things come up that we don't expect and weren't planning on. There are many days when we set aside time for prayer, but things don't work out the way we had planned, and we might think to ourselves "what am I supposed to do?" Even in the most dire and time squeezed-circumstances, most of us can usually make time for the Angelus (or the Regina Caeli in the Easter season), and if all else fails and we're so pressed for time that we can't even take 3 minutes for the Angelus, perhaps we can at least say that beautiful Jesus Prayer every day that is a part of Eastern tradition. "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

Father Patrick, Father Andres, and I and the other deacons are somewhat fortunate in that we are made to go on a retreat every year. This is often a time to rest, but it's also a time to take stock of where our relationship with Christ is in our life and how we can improve it. I know it is that way for me. Not everyone can afford to drop what they're doing and go on retreat, so every year the Church brings the retreat to us. The Holy Season of Lent begins this coming Wednesday. The principles of this great season are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Those three principles should apply to our lives all the time, not just for around 40 days every year. However, there is likely not a single one of us who is perfectly living out those pillars of Christian example, so each year the Church gives us an opportunity to step back and be reminded of how we are supposed to live, and ultimately that we are supposed to live for others. We will begin on Ash Wednesday and journey with the Lord to Calvary during that time. The discipline of Lent should be a reminder to us that there is no reward of Heaven without the Cross, and that our sufferings are a part of the life we live for God.

Lent is also an opportunity for us to do as the leper did in the Gospel today, it is a chance for us to stretch out our hands to the Lord Jesus and to request of him "Lord, if you will, make me clean." The difference is that now Jesus won't ask us to keep it a secret, he wants us to tell the whole world so that they will ask him to do the same for 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."

Thoughts on Pope Francis

I knew the moment that Pope Francis stepped out on the loggia that there was something I really liked about him. I was first struck by the way he appeared on the balcony, and asked that before he imposed the Apostolic Blessing, the people should pray for him. He led people in an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be for him and for Benedict XVI. For awhile he bowed his head in silent prayer-the massive rain-soaked crowd was silent. His entire first appearance to the world was centered on prayer.


Since his election yesterday, I've learned quite a lot about Pope Francis. I've learned that as Archbishop of Buenos Aries, he was offered a permanent post in the Roman Curia by Blessed John Paul II, but he politely and respectfully turned it down. Instead, he remained Archbishop of the Argentine capital, and eschewed the well-appointed episcopal residence for a sparse apartment. He turned down the car and driver which the Archdiocese provided for him and took the bus and the subway instead. One person from Buenos Aries said in a news interview that if you wanted to have an audience with Cardinal Brogolio, you just needed to know which train or bus he was taking. Oh, and in addition to his ecclesiastical duties, he apparently cared for a fellow Jesuit priest with a disability who stayed with him at his little apartment. I identify with the Holy Father, because when I was a single man, I lived in the city and I took the bus everywhere-I had to because of my own disability (the Holy Father obviously identifies with disabled people since he was close friends with and cared for a disabled person).


He apparently turned down his official Vatican car and decided instead to take the bus with the cardinals back to Casa Santa Martha. He took the Vatican's equivalent of a taxi to the Basilica of St. Mary Major this morning, and celebrated the Mass to close the conclave at the Sistine Chapel where he said in his homily “we can build so many things but if we don’t confess Jesus Christ, then something is wrong. We will become a pitiful NGO [non-governmental organization], but not the Church, spouse of Christ.”


In formation, we are taught about the meaning of diakonia, from which we get the word "deacon." That word, in the Greek, means "servant" or "slave." One of the most obvious uses of the word is to be found in Philippians 2:7-8, where we are told that Jesus "emptied himself, taking the form of a servant [diakonia], being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross."


In his homily today, Pope Francis talked a lot about the cross and the need for believers to take it up. In fact, he said that to claim Christ but be unwilling to take up his cross doesn't make us believers at all. It has struck me that we talk a lot about diakonia and servanthood, and with good reason, because that is part of the calling of a deacon. In Pope Francis, it seems that we have a living example to the whole world of what diakonia is really all about.

Smokewatch 2013 Live!

When I saw that Vatican Television is live streaming the scene in St. Peter's Square, I couldn't help but think that I should insert that here.





Thank you CTV/Vatican Television for providing such an incredibly useful and historic service.

UPDATE: (2:17pm) If you are watching this, you know that HABEMUS PAPAM! We're waiting on the Holy Father's name to be announced.

Conclave first ballot-Non habemus papam

Keep those prayer vigils, rosaries, and holy hours going folks. I don't think anyone realistically expected a new pope on the first ballot.

A special time of prayer for the conclave

As I am writing this, the cardinal-electors are processing from the Pauline Chapel into the Sistine Chapel, and Conclave 2013 is about to begin-they are chanting the Litany of the Saints as they move from one place to the other. The cardinals take their individual oaths to be faithful to the deposit of faith if elected and to keep the secrecy of the Sacred Conclave.

As those in the Diocese of Knoxville may know, Bishop Richard Stika has called for a time of praying the rosary and a period of exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in our parishes today. A lot of parishes, including my own, are having these services of prayer, reflection, and adoration during the day today, and a lot of folks are working today or have other secular business that keeps them away from God's House during this important time for the Church.

This isn't a parish, but a blog. Nonetheless, to allow for those who can't be in a parish for a rosary and holy hour today, we're going to have virtual prayer for the conclave as it begins. Let's begin by invoking the Holy Spirit on the cardinal-electors just like they did for themselves. Right now they are hearing a reflection on the importance of the responsibility God has placed in front of them before they cast that first ballot.




This version of the Veni Sancte Spiritus is from the Taize Community, and it is one of my favorites.


Next, let's pray the rosary for our needs and intentions, those of our families and friends, the intentions of the Church, and for the conclave now sitting behind those chapel doors. I've chosen the Glorious Mysteries since the third Glorious Mystery is the coming of the Holy Spirit on the apostles at the beginning of the Church at Pentecost. We should pray that our new Pontiff might help usher in another Pentecost.


Finally, we'll end with Eucharistic Benediction and devotions. This happens to be the recording of the benediction from this past Sunday at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.  The Litany of the Sacred Heart and the prayers have a special focus on the conclave.

A journey through Paul

In deaconate formation, we've had a number of very special instructors who are holy people and who have a heart for the Church, and many of these people have had a deep influence on me personally and on my spiritual growth. I feel it would be wrong to say that I have a favorite, since I believe that each such person has a special gift that they bring to help us in our formation. This month, however, I was moved by a very special instructor and his devotion to the Scriptures, especially to St. Paul.

Father Andreas Hoeck is the Dean of Faculty at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in the Archdiocese of Denver. His plane was late in arriving because of the weather, which initially turned out to be good for us since members of the formation class had a long-overdue discussion about where we all are in terms of discerning our call. I later told Father Andreas that his uncontrollable tardiness had a purpose for us, and without it we could not have had a much needed time of sharing.

I think I learned more about Paul and his writing this previous weekend then I have ever previously known or been taught, and St. Paul is one of my favorite figures from Scripture and Church history. Father Andreas pointed out, for example, that while we speak of Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus, Paul doesn't seem to speak of it that way. Paul would likely have thought of his experience on the road as a kind of correction from God, and his acceptance of and willingness to preach the Good News of Jesus as a continuation of his being a good Jew. After all if Jesus is the Messiah, Paul would be a poor Jew if he didn't accept that reality if he knew it to be true. Father Andreas also pointed out to us that Paul was very proud of his Israelite heritage-he spent a good part of Romans (Chapter 10 and part of 11) dealing with the issue of the salvation of Israel.

Without dwelling too much on the mystery of it, we also talked about Paul's discussion of the Man of Lawlessness, the Son of Perdition (2 Thess. 2:2-5), commonly called the Antichrist (CCC 675-677), which would have been very alarming to the Greco-Roman audience to which Paul was writing-a society where the law and its protections meant everything.

I think what impressed me most about Father Andreas was the humble and holy way in which he carries himself. He doesn't just teach the Scriptures, he has a real reverence for them and that shows in the way that he presents them. His love for Our Lord comes pouring out of every word of his mouth. His love for the Eucharist shines through when watching the way that celebrates Mass.

We increasingly hear bad news about the Church in the secular (and even sometimes the Catholic) press, but it is when I meet prayerful and zealous clergy like Father Andreas and others that I know that whatever happens, the Church will both survive and thrive because of the prayers and work of holy people who often do God's business in this world in an unassuming and relatively quiet way. Clergy like this not only preach the Good News, they are good news.

Sede vacante

Benedict XVI is now the Supreme Pontiff Emeritus. I just watched the closing of the doors and the changing of the guard at Castel Gandolfo as the clock struck eight in Rome. It is certainly a day of what I would call mixed emotions. I know he's "Pope Emeritus," I know that the College of Cardinals will elect a new Pontiff regnant, I know that this person will be the Vicar of Christ, and I know and believe that Holy Mother Church will go on and on. It is hard, however, not to call Benedict Holy Father. Maybe I'll just call him "Holy Father Benedict" or just "Papa Bene." I don't want to speak of Benedict in a way that appears to diminish the respect we all need to have for the new Holy Father, especially since Benedict already pledged his loyalty and support to that as-yet unnamed man earlier today.

Despite the personal feelings I might have with regard to Benedict's decision and today's events, it has become increasingly clear to me in recent days that what is happening is the Lord's will. This past Sunday, Papa Emeritus said that he felt that the Gospel passage on the Transfiguration was aimed directly at him, and he has talked this week about how he had asked the Lord to help him lighten his physical load. When I heard Holy Father Benedict speak of this, I could certainly identify in a very personal way with what he was saying. I am not sure what the nature of his conversation with God was like, but I believe that the Holy Spirit let him know that he has done all that has been required of him, and it was time for a new Supreme Pontiff.

Benedict has said that it is time for him to "climb the mountain" and be with God in a more intimate way in prayer more fully, as he able to devote the remainder of his earthly life to contemplation and prayer. I must admit to a kind of "holy envy" of this new status of Benedict, if there can possibly be such a thing. There are many times when I feel that my prayer time isn't quite good enough and I just want to  "climb the mountain" and spend a lot more time with God. However, I have responsibilities-and ministry-which keeps me from the fullness of such a contemplative life at this point (not to mention a wonderful wife who expects I will be around a good long time!). The Holy Spirit did not call me to a full time contemplative life, and I trust the Holy Spirit's wisdom in that regard, but there are times when I wish I had more time each day for a far more contemplative and prayer-filled existence. Yes, I pray every day...I want to pray even more, and I want to enter the presence of God in prayer even more-even as I grow close to him, I long to be even closer. Hence, for this reason I have a certain envy, because now Benedict will have all the time in the world to grow closer to Christ and to the Father before he leaves this passing world.

But the Lord also extracted from Joseph Ratzinger a very full life of service to his Church and his Kingdom before calling him to this new ministry of prayer, and I also remind myself of that, even as I pray for our Pontiff Emeritus, and for the Church in the days ahead.

Bless us one last time, Holy Father Benedict!

A thank you for Benedict and a prayer for the conclave

Do you remember when you heard the news that Benedict XVI had been elected?





I was actually watching everything streaming over the internet on EWTN at the time. I remember feeling a sense of great joy when it was clear that the smoke was white and there would be a new pope. I was relieved that the conclave had been so short, because I thought a long conclave might lead to the secular media having a speculation field day in ways that go beyond the normal. I was then, as I am now, ready to embrace whoever was ultimately chosen, but I did have a favorite at the time-someone who I felt led by the Holy Spirit to pray for especially. His name was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and he was the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. I was praying specifically for him-I had a feeling in the depth of my soul that he should be pope and that he would be pope.

When his name was announced I was ecstatic-I did not know whether to laugh or shout or cry with glee. I understood beyond the shadow of any doubt in my mind that God's will had been done that day, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit about the whole business, even though I was watching on a computer screen thousands of miles away from Rome. I still believe that today-Benedict has been a wonderful shepherd.

When I heard the news that he would abdicate the Chair of Peter this Thursday early in the morning on Monday, February 11th, I had the inevitable reaction of shock, sadness, and a degree of disappointment. I love the Holy Father. I love his writings, and I have a deep appreciation for what his work has meant for the Church over many, many years of faithful service. His theological opus has reached people of all faiths and has won many converts to the Church, most of whom never met him. Then I listened to and read his statement, and the words he has spoken about his decision since that day, and I believe that as the Holy Spirit brought him to the See of Peter, the Holy Spirit has let him know that the time is right for another to take his place.

This time around, there are two or three of the cardinals who I think might make a fine Pontiff, but now it is purely a matter of personal opinion on my part. I don't have the strong feeling and the leading from the Holy Spirit that I felt preceding the last conclave that one of the men ought to and would likely be elected, and Cardinal N. is that person-now I simply feel a need to pray for all of the cardinal-electors with some fervor.

One thing that seems to be occurring at a very unhealthy level is that there seems to be more media pressure and speculation than there was last time and-if some Catholic sources are to be believed-perhaps more than has ever been. The amount of speculative media frenzy has become so ridiculous that even the Vatican has openly condemned it as disgraceful. We are all entitled as Catholics to our own opinions of who we might like to see elected or not (that is human nature to a degree), but we all have to respect that not only is the conclave to be kept secret (and should forever be), but it is to be kept secret in order to preserve the integrity and the legitimacy of the papal election itself. Furthermore, whoever is elected deserves our respect, affection, support, and will have great need of our prayers.

As for Holy Father Benedict, I am thankful for his ministry, and I believe the Church and the cause of the Gospel are better served today because Joseph Ratzinger devoted his life to the service of the Church and we have been blessed to have him in the Chair of St. Peter. Let us pray for him as he prays for us.

________________________________

Let us also pray for the Cardinals who will vote in this upcoming conclave. I have a little prayer I came up with for them-it isn't much, just the thoughts of my heart, and I invite you to pray with me or to pray a prayer for them from your own heart.

Almighty Ever-living God, may your guiding hand and the power of your holy presence be among the Cardinal-electors, as they gather at the threshold of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul to choose a new successor to fill the shoes of the Fisherman. May they be so disposed to choose a man after your own heart, who delights in your laws and meditates upon you day and night. 

Through the intercession of Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church, may he pilot the barque of your Church through the stormy spiritual seas of our skeptical age, that we may reach in triumph the glory of your everlasting Kingdom.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

Self-denial and solidarity in a place of abundance.

As part of our Lenten discipline, Nicole and I began a new diet on Ash Wednesday, something that we both know lots of people do for Lent. However, this plan is different in that it doesn't require us to starve (i.e. when I eat, I feel like I have eaten), but it does require us to eat better food, and by that I don't mean light this or fat free that, I mean better quality food. We're in the first phases now, which means that some things I'll be able to integrate into my diet later I can't yet have, even though if we keep to the plan after Lent (and we're going to) some of those things will be allowed again. The basic principle of the plan (there are variants and some are stricter than others) is that if something is a natural food, you may either eat it or you will be able to eat it eventually, but if something has been refined or processed in an unnatural way, or if it has had unnatural colors or preservatives added to it, it is forbidden. This requires some skill at label-reading and knowing what strange sounding ingredients are really some acceptable natural derivative and which are something artificial and forbidden.


Leading up to Lent, we eased our way into the plan by occasionally eating meals filled with foods that either would be allowed on the diet in the initial phases, or would be eventually allowed. (Refined sugar is totally prohibited at any time, so those of you who know of my love for cookies, I beg of you not to tempt me with them, especially since I have done well to avoid sugar thus far). We also went on a couple of good shopping trips to make sure that our fridge and pantry is filled with good food that we can eat. There isn't anything special about most of this food, but it is natural food. The biggest obvious "newfangled" foods we have to buy are salts that are rich in minerals (and thus have color), as opposed to the refined table salt we are all used to. This experience has led me to what may be a new kind of solidarity with the poor, and not because of food deprivation as you might expect.


Preparing our pantry and home as we need to in order that we might eat right and eat well is not an easy task, but it isn't because the foods we need are not available-they are. Rather, it is because good food is expensive. We have seen a marked increase in our grocery bill, and were it not for the fact that we raise goats and chickens and have access to clean meat and will have fresh milk (from which to make our own cheese, yogurt, and even sometimes butter) in the middle spring, I don't know if we could even afford to do this the way it should be done. America is one of the few countries in the world where obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and related illnesses are especially problems among the very poor, and that is especially the case in Appalachia. Many of our poor are well-fed, but they are truly malnourished. It has struck me during the process of preparing for this new lifestyle change that a big reason for that may be that the food that is the cheapest, that which the very poor can afford may fill their bellies in this country, but that food is killing them-filled as it is with additives, preservatives, and artificial things to make it "go further," so that it is cheaper to make and process and can yield the most profit, and cheaper for the consumer to afford.

We truly live in a land of great plenty and abundance, and as such it seems so wrong that the worst food that can be consumed is often the cheapest, meaning that those without means who are just trying to get by will be inclined to eat what they can most afford, rather than the best quality food which is more expensive. The poor aren't the only ones with that problem of course, since a lot of us have bought things to eat without really knowing what is in them. However, what I think to be most disturbing is the amount of good quality nutritious food that is thrown away in our country every day. I'm not talking about the leftovers we might leave on our dinner plates, I'm talking about the perfectly edible food that grocery stores, restaurants, food service providers, and other entities throw away every day, and they do this while there are people who can barely find the money to buy food, and while there are children in America who go to bed hungry.


In no way to I propose that we should regulate food prices in law-the Soviet Union tried that and it was a bitter failure, and our farmers and ranchers are entitled to make a good living for the hard work of their hands. What I have come to believe is that we have perverted the free-market system by divorcing it from the underlying principles of Christianity that built Western culture and ultimately insured that freedom of agriculture and commerce. We have become a society where the making of profit or the having of things is more important than the keeping of morals or the protection of principle, and that extends to all aspects of our daily life-including how we feed ourselves and feed the poor.


Jesus said "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me...Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?'...And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’" (cf. Matt. 25:35-40)

A brief reflection on...reflection

As you may have noticed, I have removed the clock in the left sidebar-at least for now. I have done this in part after reflecting for awhile on the words of a commenter to this blog that they felt distracted by the presence of the clock and the words above it-"Time Is Short." This person said that they loved this site, but that they come here for the "warmth and security" of the Lord's presence that they feel when they are here. I am truly humbled that there are those of you who see this blog as a place of reflection, and I want to be as good a pastoral influence as I can-no one who truly loves the Church as I do wants to lead people away from the things of God.

I still haven't given up the idea of a clock somewhere on the blog at some point in the future, however, but If one does return, I'd like it to look something like the clock on Father Martin Fox's blog. I think Father Martin still utilizes blogger's old HTML coding, which made it relatively easy to put a clock or anything else anywhere you wanted if you knew anything about the code-I'd love to find a more unobtrusive place if possible. However, this blog is one of Blogger's newer designs, and to be honest-I can't figure out the coding on it! I initially decided to try a widget that I could easily "figure out." Clearly, this may have been "easy" for me, but perhaps it resulted in a lack of good pastoral judgment on my part. If I may shamelessly quote the Holy Father, I beg you to please "forgive my defects."


Since some of you are using your visits here as a time to read and have spiritual reflection (something for which I am most unworthy compared to some others), I thought I might share a hymn with you for your prayer and meditation. If you are one of the few who have read this blog from the beginning you might recall that I posted a tribute on All Saints of 2011 to the late Father Chris Rohmiller, who helped guide me into the Church years ago. As I said in that post, Father Chris introduced me to a great many things that continue to inform my spirituality today, and a few things that filled my stomach that probably shouldn't have, like the fettuccine at Mamma DiSalvo's and at Giovanni's. Good for the soul if not for the bodily health!


One of the things Father Chris introduced me to in the time that he was a part of my spiritual life was the music of the Taize Community, which I still love today. This is my favorite Taize prayer hymn-"In the Lord I'll Be Ever Thankful."

Be not afraid

Yesterday was one of those days when I needed the readings that were presented, and I believe the Holy Spirit spoke to me through them in a special way. As you might have figured out by reading my posts, there have times when I have struggled with my own worthiness to be in formation. I have questioned, as I am sure many men have on the road to the deaconate, my own worthiness to be there. There are times when I have thought "I am not as holy as others, Lord, why choose me," or even (in honesty) "I am a cripple, Lord, what can I do to minister to others in your name that brings the Church to them." I have struggled with this at times with a full understanding that no small part of this comes from the devil, who delights at bringing discouragement to us. Even knowing that, however, it helps to be reminded that God's ways are not our ways, and that he doesn't work in the same way that we do, not even remotely-though he often uses human agents to do his work.

I thought of those times I have been discouraged about my own ministry when I heard the readings yesterday, and the thought of God's goodness overwhelmed me nearly to the point of tears as I listened to the vision of the Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 6:6-8:

Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it, and said, “See, now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” “Here I am,” I said; “send me!”

The real a-ha moment came in the second reading, when St. Paul described his own unworthiness to exercise his special calling as an apostle when, unlike the other apostles, he didn't walk and talk with the Lord when he was personally present, and he persecuted the Church in his zeal, but he told the Corinthians in 1st Corinthians 15:8-11 that God put him in his office entirely because of his mercy and grace:

Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me. Therefore, whether it be I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

At this point, I felt like the Lord was hitting me over the head with a proverbial frying pan, as if to say: "Is this clear enough for you?" He was telling me that his concept of worthiness and mine might be quite different, even as I struggle with whether I am humble enough to be a deacon-but Paul struggled with humility too, and he was an apostle-far more important than I ever want to be. Then there was the Gospel, and the part that struck me was Peter and the Lord's words to him in Luke 5:5-11:

“Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.” When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.

In Peter's words I could hear myself saying that very thing to Jesus "depart from me, for I am a sinful man." I could also hear Jesus' words in reply back to me "do not be afraid..." That may have been the most important thing Jesus said to Peter...it might have been the most important thing I heard in the readings yesterday, something that the Lord knew I needed to hear.

I woke up this morning to the news that the Holy Father will resign, effective February 28th. Perhaps that is one of the many reasons why I needed to hear "be not afraid" yesterday, because today my first thought after hearing the news was "Lord, what are we going to do now?" Yes, I know the canonical procedure quite well, I know we'll have a conclave and a new Pope, and the Church will role on. It doesn't make the situation any easier for those of us who love and appreciate Pope Benedict XVI, but I am open to the reality that the Holy Spirit may be doing something new. The Holy Father has, I believe, acted under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and we should continue to pray that the Holy Spirit guides the Church through this time and that the College of Cardinals meets with the power of the Holy Spirit very active among them under the protection and intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church.


Finally, I have a request for those of you who are regular readers of this blog. As you may be able to see, I've placed a clock on the left hand sidebar of this blog. I'll have more to say about the clock and why it is there in a special entry I am composing for Ash Wednesday, but the clock used in the widget is not my first choice of a clock. There are a couple of other clock widgets I would prefer (one is from Clocklink), and I could insert one of them by incerting the HTML code in the proper place-but blogger has changed its HTML code since I have worked with it, and I can't figure out where in the code the sidebar is located! I need a hand with this. Feel free to e-mail me if you can be of assistance.

Reflection on the Baptism of the Lord

Luke 3:15-16, 21-22:

  The people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah. John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

 After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”






Recently, I had the special pleasure of writing a piece for the Diocese of Knoxville's 25th Anniversary Jubilee website on the triple meaning of the Feast of the Epiphany. I'll leave you to visit the site and read for yourself to find out more (the link is in the text above), but the short version was that the Feast of the Epiphany had originally celebrated three important manifestations of God and of Christ's divinity. One was the Incarnation and Nativity of Our Lord, one was the Baptism of the Lord, and one was the Wedding Feast at Cana, where Jesus performed his first miracle of changing water into wine. Many Eastern Christians believe that the Baptism of the Lord was the real beginning of Christ's passion, because it was the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, and it was from that point that the entire trajectory of Jesus' life began to move slowly toward the Cross. It may be with this reality in mind that the Church both ends the Christmas season on this feast and begins what we call Ordinary Time-the majority of the Church year where we are really celebrating the teachings of Jesus in our worship, just as we reflect on the unique mysteries of his life that we celebrate at Christmas, Lent, Holy Week, and Easter time. Note that this year, there are exactly 30 days of Ordinary Time before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.


Jesus' baptism was both an example for us as well as the beginning of his ministry. As Catholic Christians, it is our belief that Jesus Christ is both fully human and fully divine-completely God and completely man. That's not a mystery that I can begin to explain with due justice, but I will say that I believe that like all of us, Jesus in his human nature received a call from God at some point in his life. Some folks think this was when he was 12 years old and told his parents when they ran back to Jerusalem looking for him and found him in the Temple: "Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (cf. Luke 2:49) There are also some people who think that the real beginning of his call happened on the day of his baptism when the Father's voice said "this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." (cf. Luke 3:22) That wouldn't be too different from the rest of us, because whether we were old enough to understand it or not, our call into the family of God began at our baptism. Since I was baptized as an adult, it wouldn't be unfair to say that if the Lord calls me to ordination, that that call-though known to God and intended by God before the foundation of the world-began when I first said yes to God, and when I asked the Church to baptize me. The call comes from God, but the choice to respond to that call rests with us-God is never going to force himself on us, because that would not be an act of love, and God is Love. We know that Jesus was tempted like us, but unlike us, he never sinned-he always chose the better part.


I have shared with you here in recent days that I have prayed and continue to pray that the Lord would give me a great increase in humility. I feel the call to the deaconate even stronger now than felt when I began formation, even as I understand that for me, this entire journey is one based on trust in God, because just as when I began formation, I know not what tomorrow shall bring. I learned that firsthand today. Nicole and I are experiencing some sudden car trouble. Thankfully, we'll be able to have the car fixed without much difficulty (it is an issue with the power steering), but it looks as though I may miss our deanery formation workshop as a result, since Saturday is the one day that we can take the car in to have the issue fixed that wouldn't wreak havoc on our regular daily schedule. When I first heard this, I was distraught-I have never missed a formation weekend or a workshop. I look forward to them with eagerness, and Nicole also expressed to me how disappointed she was that she wouldn't be able to attend-I miss my brother Aspirants when we are not learning together. As much as I was upset at this, nearly to the point of anger, I then stopped to reflect that I had been praying for an increase in humility, and that God often increases our humility through trials and sudden unforeseen difficulties, and I just felt led to say "thank you Lord." Even when things get rough, I have to learn to be thankful.

Church History and real support

I'm really excited about this month's deaconate formation. It will focus on a topic that has always been a personal favorite and a fascination of mine-Church history.

Our instructor is His Excellency Bishop Joseph Martino, the Bishop Emeritus of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Since I learned last month that we would have a retired bishop come to instruct us, I've read up a bit on His Excellency. If any of the things I've read are even remotely true, then this man of God strikes me as a man of great zeal for the Church, as as a soldier of the Truth. I am eager to sit under his instruction, and I am wondering if this is going to be one of those classes where two months of this won't be enough to do anything but whet my appetite and I am going to be begging for more.

I want to thank everyone for their continued prayers, and again put in a good word for my wife, who has not only been extraordinarily patient with me throughout the discernment process, but she is eager to help. She enjoys our deanery workshops greatly, and afterwords has a lot to say to me. Nicole is often known for her very quiet demeanor-she doesn't stand out much, and tends to speak only when she has something she thinks is greatly important to say (yes, Brother Aspirants, that makes her my polar opposite!), but just as I couldn't continue in the program without the support of Steve Helmbrecht and Don Griffith, my fellow Aspirants here in the Five Rivers Deanery who are from St. Mary's in Johnson City who have made sure I make it to class, I would be even less able to do this without my wife.

We all know we need our wives' permission to enter deaconate formation and to continue in it. I have come to understand why that is in spades over the last seven months. Thank you sweetheart for accepting God's call for me, and for believing in me.

Beware of foot-in-mouth disease

Over the weekend I managed to greatly offend and even hurt someone that I never intended to offend at all. I did so by recalling something that happened several years ago as what I thought would be a light-hearted and funny joke-a moment of levity. I didn't even necessarily think the original incident (as I remember it) was a bad thing at all. I remembered it as somewhat ironic and, yes, a bit funny-at least to me.

Well, as it turned out, the person to whom I addressed what I thought was a piece of old humor had different memories of the day in question (hence, my decision not to argue the point about what actually happened-I quickly made the call not to wake further sleeping dogs that may lay by the rivers of time), and was obviously greatly bothered by what I had said.

As is often the case when I screw up, it was Nicole who called my attention to the offense that I had created, and I might not have ever known had she not done so. I apologized to the person who I had so deeply offended, but I felt absolutely awful about it, and I take the blame entirely for what happened. I still feel terribly about it, but I also know that-short of the invention of time machines-I can't undo what I had done to begin with, I can only seek forgiveness for it. I am confident in the Lord's forgiveness, as I always am, but I also pray that the person who I hurt-whatever my intentions might have been at the time-will find it in their heart to forgive me.

Nicole pointed out to me: "I know you, and I know you were joking, and I understand your sense of humor [I appreciate irony and often find humor and see irony in things that others may not, a trait my wife appreciates], but [the person in question] does not. You have to apologize, you came across in a way you never intended, and the words were yours."

She was right, of course, and I knew it...

The whole incident caused me to once again take a very deep lesson in humility. It also reminded me of the words accredited to Solomon in Proverbs 23:21:

Those who guard mouth and tongue guard themselves from trouble.

I did not, as the writer would say, guard myself from trouble. I will not only let this serve as a kind of divine warning to me, but let it be a lesson to my brother Aspirants and all who are discerning a vocation: The world is watching us, and they see our successes and they mark our shortcomings. Our lips can serve to bless others, but also to harm them without intent...we all have to be careful, and like St. Paul, I will count myself as chief among sinners, especially in this regard.

Remember you are dust...

Of all of the readings from the Divine Office or from the Mass for Ash Wednesday, 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 has always been my favorite:

Brothers and sisters:
We are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Working together, then,
we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:

In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.

Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.

 Today we are reminded of our own mortality, that as we feel the ashes placed upon our foreheads we are either told "remember you are dust, and to the dust you shall return" or "turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel." We are always being called, whatever the season of the year, to do just that, but Lent reminds us that fidelity to the Gospel and to, dare we say, Gospel values, is our first call as disciples of Jesus Christ. It is a time each of us are asked by the Church to, through our actions and especially in a spirit of penance and with childlike faith, fast remembering those who cannot eat, deny ourselves some of our creature comforts remembering those who are deprived, to give of our time and treasure and talents in the best way that we can remembering that our Church, our community, and even people in other parts of the world need us. Perhaps most important of our Lenten disciplines ought to be an increased life of prayer. We are all sinners, but we are striving to be saints, and it is through prayer that we can truly orient our lives in God's direction and put God first in our personal life, our homes, our work and public life, and even our social life.

Many of our Protestant brothers and sisters speak of the need for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You won't find that phrase in scripture, of course, but we know there is something legitimate to it theologically. For some people, they have come to believe that they develop this personal relationship by responding to a call by a preacher or a minister to come forward, but a one-time shot isn't how that relationship is developed. The only way that a person can truly develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ-that is, to know him more intimately and fully as we would our friend or brother, is through a deepening life of prayer, and Lent may be the best time to make the changes we need to in order to make our prayer life a better one in order that we can deepen our relationship with Jesus. He certainly wants that, because we can't even begin to fathom the depth of His love for us or, as the old hymn tells us, the wideness of His mercy.

I can tell you that deaconate formation has certainly brought me into a deeper relationship with Christ, with His Mother, with the communion of saints than I have ever had before. I know that is part of the formation process, to bring us closer to Christ and into a deeper union with Him as we explore and discern our vocation, and whether we are being called to Sacrament of Holy Orders. Jesus and His Mother don't just want men on a journey of Aspirancy to the deaconate to come into a deeper relationship with them and a closer union with Christ, we are all called to that deep relationship, and as part of that, to a deeper unity as the Body of Christ.

Let us commit this Lent to a life of prayer for deeper unity of the Church and a deeper relationship with Christ through the Eucharist and through His Church.