As I mentioned in an earlier post, I actually took about 1,200 photos when we were in Rome. This, of course, wouldn't have happened ten years ago, before the advent of the digital camera. But now, armed with my trusty Canon Digital Rebel SLR and a few extra lenses, I can take hundreds of photos without worrying about the cost of film. I can take multiple exposures of the same subject and simply select the best later; and I can even improve on the original photo thanks to the powerful software on my PC. All in all a wonderful innovation. Unfortunately, because I took so many photos, it's taking me a while to go through them all and select some of the more interesting ones for inclusion on the blog. I hope to post some later this week. I might even add a few photos retroactively to some of the postings from Rome. We'll see...
No time to write much today. One of our sons is visiting and requires entertaining and I have a Bible Study and liturgy course to prepare. Busy week...
Just remember to take a moment to thank God for creating you.
Praise God.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Elections and Disintegration
The above is a strange title but it's just the outcome of a some equally strange thoughts that bubbled up in my brain earlier today as I thought about our upcoming presidential election. It really started a few evenings ago when I was thinking about what took place in Greece -- specifically in Athens -- about 2,500 years ago.
Athens, for a good three or four hundred years, was a pretty marvelous place. Ordinary citizens were given a major role in the political life of Athenian society. The creative genius of the people flourished in this open atmosphere, a creativity from which we still benefit today. But something went wrong, as something always goes wrong with every society. Athens, faced with overcrowding and subsistence farming, expanded overseas through colonization. And then there was the remarkable victory over the Persians. With these events came a marked change in societal attitudes, a change driven by pride and greed. Moral leadership cannot exist once pride and greed take hold. And so the still seemingly great Athens found itself facing the revolt of its neighbors led by Sparta. During the Peloponnesian Wars hatred and injustice and barbarity led to a steady loss of freedom and creativity. Ultimately, the old Athens disappeared, becoming just one more nation that crumbled into nothingness as a result of war and violence.
Not a pleasant story but it got me thinking about our own nation. Internally we have lost any sense of morality and with it the moral leadership our nation once exerted. The best example, of course, is how we murder our unborn babies at a horrific rate, discarding their tiny torn bodies in the garbage. And there is virtually no outrage over this. Oh, some politicians call themselves pro-life and wring their hands publicly -- particularly at election time -- over the "issue" but do absolutely nothing.
Sadly, the Catholic Church in America is in pretty much the same state. Yes, some bishops write pastoral letters and occasional editorials in their diocesan newspapers on the evils of abortion, but that's about it. Most still schmooze with the pro-abortion politicians (especially the Catholic ones) and talk a lot about "conscience" and "seamless garments" and "a multitude of critical issues." But in their moral cowardice they seem far more concerned about capital campaigns and maintaining their tax-exempt status than they are about the modern slaughter of the innocents going on right under their noses.
I wonder what a bishop thinks when he realizes that his Catholic flock votes for pro-abortion politicians at virtually the same rate as the rest of the population. Does this bother him? Does he think that perhaps he's not doing what Christ commanded him to do? Or does he just write it off as another symptom of societal change over which he really has little control? And how about Massachusetts, a state that I believe is at least 50% Catholic, voting for homosexual marriage? The bishops of Massachusetts should be embarrassed and ashamed. Of course, when bishops turn a blind eye to blatant homosexuality among some of their priests, I suspect the average layperson won't care much about a radical redefinition of the sacred bond of marriage.
And greed? Oh, my, do we have greed. Indeed, it seems that our economy now runs and thrives on greed. No return is high enough. No profit big enough. No lottery payoff great enough. No government program or handout expansive enough. Yes, as greed eventually pervades every level of society it destroys a nation just as effectively as a devastating war. Indeed, national collective greed usually leads to war because of the hatred it engenders in others. And to think that some people don't believe in original sin.
No society can long survive this massive loss of moral direction. When the good is redefined as that which is most useful and when justice becomes that which serves the current special interest -- when these things happen, the society is in serious decline.
That's why this election will be so critical and so interesting. I don't know whether our nation will or can restore itself to what it once was, or remake itself into something else, something different but good. I suspect not. I'm neither smart enough nor prescient enough to call that one. But it would appear we're at a crossroads of sorts, because the choice facing us as Americans is a real choice. It's not a perfect choice, because no choice between two human beings is ever perfect, but it is nevertheless a real choice between a culture of life and a culture of death. I believe that the Lord of History is giving us an opportunity to redeem ourselves as a nation, to do as Moses commanded God's chosen people: to choose life.
I hope we make that choice. Pray for our nation, for those we have elected to office, for our judges. And pray for our bishops that they have the courage to be true shepherds.
Now that I've criticized those bishops who have avoided criticizing our anti-life politicians, I should thank the bishops of Florida for their election year statement reminding us that we may not in good conscience vote for candidates who consistently support intrinsic evils like abortion. I'm also pleased to note that the bishops of Kansas City published a similar joint pastoral letter on the upcoming election. Click here for the EWTN news story. Let's hope that the pastors of Florida's parishes, along with those of the archdiocese of Kansas City and the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, listen to and preach the bishops' words from the pulpit. Click here for the complete pastoral letter. And we should also thank our US bishops for their public corrections of the grossly inaccurate comments of two pro-abortion politicians, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden. Sadly, correction seems to have no impact on those who place politics above all else, even the lives of innocents and their own salvation. One more piece of good news is the talk Bishop Jaime Soto gave to the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries. Read the story here.
I don't mean to sound pessimistic, because I'm not. Despite all these worldly concerns -- and the rise and fall of governments and nations are truly worldly concerns -- we can look to the future with hope, because we have a loving God who is always in charge, a God who is true to His promises. Yes, being here in the world today is a good thing. Give God thanks for the fact of your being.
Oh, yes...one more thing: Check out the website CatholicVote.com. It's worth a visit.
Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.
Athens, for a good three or four hundred years, was a pretty marvelous place. Ordinary citizens were given a major role in the political life of Athenian society. The creative genius of the people flourished in this open atmosphere, a creativity from which we still benefit today. But something went wrong, as something always goes wrong with every society. Athens, faced with overcrowding and subsistence farming, expanded overseas through colonization. And then there was the remarkable victory over the Persians. With these events came a marked change in societal attitudes, a change driven by pride and greed. Moral leadership cannot exist once pride and greed take hold. And so the still seemingly great Athens found itself facing the revolt of its neighbors led by Sparta. During the Peloponnesian Wars hatred and injustice and barbarity led to a steady loss of freedom and creativity. Ultimately, the old Athens disappeared, becoming just one more nation that crumbled into nothingness as a result of war and violence.
Not a pleasant story but it got me thinking about our own nation. Internally we have lost any sense of morality and with it the moral leadership our nation once exerted. The best example, of course, is how we murder our unborn babies at a horrific rate, discarding their tiny torn bodies in the garbage. And there is virtually no outrage over this. Oh, some politicians call themselves pro-life and wring their hands publicly -- particularly at election time -- over the "issue" but do absolutely nothing.
Sadly, the Catholic Church in America is in pretty much the same state. Yes, some bishops write pastoral letters and occasional editorials in their diocesan newspapers on the evils of abortion, but that's about it. Most still schmooze with the pro-abortion politicians (especially the Catholic ones) and talk a lot about "conscience" and "seamless garments" and "a multitude of critical issues." But in their moral cowardice they seem far more concerned about capital campaigns and maintaining their tax-exempt status than they are about the modern slaughter of the innocents going on right under their noses.
I wonder what a bishop thinks when he realizes that his Catholic flock votes for pro-abortion politicians at virtually the same rate as the rest of the population. Does this bother him? Does he think that perhaps he's not doing what Christ commanded him to do? Or does he just write it off as another symptom of societal change over which he really has little control? And how about Massachusetts, a state that I believe is at least 50% Catholic, voting for homosexual marriage? The bishops of Massachusetts should be embarrassed and ashamed. Of course, when bishops turn a blind eye to blatant homosexuality among some of their priests, I suspect the average layperson won't care much about a radical redefinition of the sacred bond of marriage.
And greed? Oh, my, do we have greed. Indeed, it seems that our economy now runs and thrives on greed. No return is high enough. No profit big enough. No lottery payoff great enough. No government program or handout expansive enough. Yes, as greed eventually pervades every level of society it destroys a nation just as effectively as a devastating war. Indeed, national collective greed usually leads to war because of the hatred it engenders in others. And to think that some people don't believe in original sin.
No society can long survive this massive loss of moral direction. When the good is redefined as that which is most useful and when justice becomes that which serves the current special interest -- when these things happen, the society is in serious decline.
That's why this election will be so critical and so interesting. I don't know whether our nation will or can restore itself to what it once was, or remake itself into something else, something different but good. I suspect not. I'm neither smart enough nor prescient enough to call that one. But it would appear we're at a crossroads of sorts, because the choice facing us as Americans is a real choice. It's not a perfect choice, because no choice between two human beings is ever perfect, but it is nevertheless a real choice between a culture of life and a culture of death. I believe that the Lord of History is giving us an opportunity to redeem ourselves as a nation, to do as Moses commanded God's chosen people: to choose life.
I hope we make that choice. Pray for our nation, for those we have elected to office, for our judges. And pray for our bishops that they have the courage to be true shepherds.
Now that I've criticized those bishops who have avoided criticizing our anti-life politicians, I should thank the bishops of Florida for their election year statement reminding us that we may not in good conscience vote for candidates who consistently support intrinsic evils like abortion. I'm also pleased to note that the bishops of Kansas City published a similar joint pastoral letter on the upcoming election. Click here for the EWTN news story. Let's hope that the pastors of Florida's parishes, along with those of the archdiocese of Kansas City and the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, listen to and preach the bishops' words from the pulpit. Click here for the complete pastoral letter. And we should also thank our US bishops for their public corrections of the grossly inaccurate comments of two pro-abortion politicians, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden. Sadly, correction seems to have no impact on those who place politics above all else, even the lives of innocents and their own salvation. One more piece of good news is the talk Bishop Jaime Soto gave to the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries. Read the story here.
I don't mean to sound pessimistic, because I'm not. Despite all these worldly concerns -- and the rise and fall of governments and nations are truly worldly concerns -- we can look to the future with hope, because we have a loving God who is always in charge, a God who is true to His promises. Yes, being here in the world today is a good thing. Give God thanks for the fact of your being.
Oh, yes...one more thing: Check out the website CatholicVote.com. It's worth a visit.
Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Back Home Again...
Although we've been home for several days, it's taken us that long to fully recover from the jet lag and the fact that we really took no downtime after our trip. Trying to hit the ground running the day after one's return from a trip abroad is not something I would recommend...especially at my age.
In any event, before I delve into deeper subjects, I thought it would be well to describe our last day in Rome. So here goes...
One church I badly wanted to visit was St. Cecilia in Trastevere. On our last visit to Rome in 2005 we tried to see the church, but it was closed for renovations and all we could do was view its exterior. So this time we did our homework and made sure the church was open for visitors.
First we took our trusty tourist bus to its first stop, Santa Maria in Trastevere, one of Rome's oldest churches. We stopped by for a brief look, and once inside wished we had more time. Like many Roman churches it's been rebuilt several times, and if I remember correctly, the existing Romanesque church was built in the 12th century. Of particular interest are the beautiful 13th century mosaics by Cavallini. One could spend hours enjoying them and the other marvels hidden in this wonderful church...but time (and the fact that rain threatened) didn't permit more than a brief visit. As you can see in the photo, Diane did have time to light a candle and offer prayers for special intentions.
And so we walked on through the winding, narrow streets of Trastevere (aided by my TomTom handheld GPS) and made our way to St. Cecilia. What a treat this was!
One of the most moving works of art in the church is the sculpture of St. Cecilia displayed under the
main altar just over her tomb. The sculpture, by Stefano Maderno, shows Cecilia's incorrupt body positioned just as it was when it was exhumed from her grave in the 16th century. Cecilia, of course, is the patron saint of music. Given the state of music in the Church today, perhaps we should send some intercessory prayers her way.
We also visited the crypt where the saint is buried as well as the adjacent excavations beneath the church. The church was built over a 2nd century Roman home (thought to be the home of Cecilia and her husband, Valerian) and the home has been remarkably well restored by the archaeologists responsible for the excavations. It is truly worth a visit.
As we left the church we stopped by the neighboring convent where (for a small fee) we went upstairs and were able to view Cavallini's "Last Judgment" -- a remarkable medieval painting on a wall of the convent. This is another "must-see" in Trastevere. The photo is of the Church of St. Cecilia.
By this time our feet were getting tired and it had started to rain. Our thoughts were also beginning to turn to food and so we decided to search for a restaurant. The one we settled on was a nice, little restaurant that obviously caters to the locals but still warmly welcomes tourists like us. The meal was good, as was the wine. It's name is Hostaria Dar Buttero and it's located at Via della Lungaretta, 156. I recommend it.
Earlier we had thought about spending the afternoon at the Forum, but the increasingly heavy rain convinced us to shelve that idea and save it for a later trip. We took the bus back to St. Peter's and from there walked in the rain to our hotel where we enjoyed a nice afternoon nap. The evening was spent packing, enjoying a last dinner at our favorite local restaurant, and then to bed in preparation for our 4:30 a.m. wake-up.
The trip home, like every long, non-first class flight was semi-miserable, although British Air did their best to make it as endurable as possible.
I am still going through the 1,200 photos I took and will post a few on the blog in the coming days.
All in all, dear Diane and I had a wonderful trip, but it is, as always, good to be back home in the USA.
God love you...
In any event, before I delve into deeper subjects, I thought it would be well to describe our last day in Rome. So here goes...
One church I badly wanted to visit was St. Cecilia in Trastevere. On our last visit to Rome in 2005 we tried to see the church, but it was closed for renovations and all we could do was view its exterior. So this time we did our homework and made sure the church was open for visitors.
First we took our trusty tourist bus to its first stop, Santa Maria in Trastevere, one of Rome's oldest churches. We stopped by for a brief look, and once inside wished we had more time. Like many Roman churches it's been rebuilt several times, and if I remember correctly, the existing Romanesque church was built in the 12th century. Of particular interest are the beautiful 13th century mosaics by Cavallini. One could spend hours enjoying them and the other marvels hidden in this wonderful church...but time (and the fact that rain threatened) didn't permit more than a brief visit. As you can see in the photo, Diane did have time to light a candle and offer prayers for special intentions.
And so we walked on through the winding, narrow streets of Trastevere (aided by my TomTom handheld GPS) and made our way to St. Cecilia. What a treat this was!
One of the most moving works of art in the church is the sculpture of St. Cecilia displayed under the
main altar just over her tomb. The sculpture, by Stefano Maderno, shows Cecilia's incorrupt body positioned just as it was when it was exhumed from her grave in the 16th century. Cecilia, of course, is the patron saint of music. Given the state of music in the Church today, perhaps we should send some intercessory prayers her way.We also visited the crypt where the saint is buried as well as the adjacent excavations beneath the church. The church was built over a 2nd century Roman home (thought to be the home of Cecilia and her husband, Valerian) and the home has been remarkably well restored by the archaeologists responsible for the excavations. It is truly worth a visit.
As we left the church we stopped by the neighboring convent where (for a small fee) we went upstairs and were able to view Cavallini's "Last Judgment" -- a remarkable medieval painting on a wall of the convent. This is another "must-see" in Trastevere. The photo is of the Church of St. Cecilia.
By this time our feet were getting tired and it had started to rain. Our thoughts were also beginning to turn to food and so we decided to search for a restaurant. The one we settled on was a nice, little restaurant that obviously caters to the locals but still warmly welcomes tourists like us. The meal was good, as was the wine. It's name is Hostaria Dar Buttero and it's located at Via della Lungaretta, 156. I recommend it.Earlier we had thought about spending the afternoon at the Forum, but the increasingly heavy rain convinced us to shelve that idea and save it for a later trip. We took the bus back to St. Peter's and from there walked in the rain to our hotel where we enjoyed a nice afternoon nap. The evening was spent packing, enjoying a last dinner at our favorite local restaurant, and then to bed in preparation for our 4:30 a.m. wake-up.
The trip home, like every long, non-first class flight was semi-miserable, although British Air did their best to make it as endurable as possible.
I am still going through the 1,200 photos I took and will post a few on the blog in the coming days.
All in all, dear Diane and I had a wonderful trip, but it is, as always, good to be back home in the USA.
God love you...
Friday, September 19, 2008
More catching up; final post from Rome
As you can all attest, I haven't been a very reliable a blogger on this trip. We have, though, been busy and this touristy stuff is a full-time job. I will try to fill you in on the events of the past few days...
It's 5:30 pm on Friday and I'm sitting up in bed with Diane napping beside me. The sound of the rain (it's been raining all day) outside the window is almost enough to put me to sleep, but I'm fighting it.
Wednesday morning began with the papal audience. It was held indoors in the huge audience hall, so that was a new experience for us. The two previous audiences we attended were both held in St. Peter's Square. We were advised to arrive early at 8:30, although the audience doesn't begin until 10:30. We had to wait about 30 minutes outside, then pass through security before entering the audience hall. Thanks to Sister Maria at the North American College we had "special" tickets which allowed us to sit in the front section. Our 90-minute wait wasn't at all unpleasant. The seats were comfortable and we enjoyed wonderful conversation with our neighbors from West Virginia and the UK.
The folks from the UK included another permanent deacon and his wife who were celebrating their 50th anniversary. We had a nice long chat, comparing notes on the state of the diaconate in our respective countries.
Pope Benedict was received joyously by the large international crowd. Once again, Diane and I were thrilled by the numbers of enthusiastic young people in attendance. A large group of teens -- probably 50 or more -- from Argentina sat directly in front of us and the hall was filled with similar groups from all over the world. What a blessing for the future of Christ's Church. Pray for these young people. It's hard to strive for holiness in today's world.
Pope Benedict spoke of his recent visit to Lourdes to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady. He also addressed the young people in particular, telling them that he consigned to them "two treasures of Christian faith: the Holy Spirit and the Cross. The Spirit opens human intelligence to horizons larger than itself, and brings it to understand the beauty and the truth of God's love revealed on the Cross." It was a wonderful reflection. The Pope then imparted his blessing on all of us and on our families and blessed the religious articles we had brought with us -- two large bags full!
Wednesday afternoon we had another perfect Roman lunch and then took our tourist bus out to the Basilica of St. Mary Major where we spent a good two hours checking out all the nooks and crannies and marveling at the beauty of this lovely, old church. After spending more money at the basilica's gift shop, we once again climbed aboard our tourist bus and headed for St. Peter's. From there we wandered back to our hotel window shopping along the way.
Thursday was a bit of an adventure, one that included a lot of walking. We left our hotel, crossed over the Tiber via Ponte Margherita and entered Piazza del Popolo. Once there we stopped by the church of Santa Maria del Popolo and enjoyed being amazed by the artwork of the grand masters that decorated the church's side altars. We stayed for Mass, celebrated by the pastor, and then continued our exploration of the Piazza. We briefly considered making the walk up to the Pincio to take in what is described as a remarkable view of Rome, but decided that the walk was more vertical than horizontal and completely unsuited for our tired, old legs. We can look at the pictures in the guide book instead.
After an espresso in a nice, overpriced sidewalk cafe we began the trek to Via Veneto where we hoped to visit the Cappuchin church, Santa Maria della Concezione. We had hoped to visit the church on our last visit in 2005, but simply never had the time, so yesterday we were hopeful..until we arrived and discovered that the church is closed only one day a week, on Thursday! And so the famous crypt will have to wait until our next visit to Rome. To ease our disappointment we walked across the street and had a nice lunch at one of the local restaurants.
After lunch we continued our trek, making our way to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. The Pantheon is always surprising, always wonderful, always awesome...and always crowded, just as it was yesterday. I took lots of photos and we walked the few blocks to Piazza Navona where we examined all the bad art for sale and decided that another coffee would be a fine thing. We then searched out a small print shop where we had purchased a print eight years before. We found it easily and were impressed when the proprietor remarked that he remembered us from our earlier visit, so impressed that we purchased another print, this one from the 18th century.
From there we just wandered back across the Tiber over Ponte Sant'Angelo, took lots more photos, and collapsed in our hotel room. It was a tiring, but very enjoyable day.
More soon, but it's time for dinner...
It's 5:30 pm on Friday and I'm sitting up in bed with Diane napping beside me. The sound of the rain (it's been raining all day) outside the window is almost enough to put me to sleep, but I'm fighting it.
Wednesday morning began with the papal audience. It was held indoors in the huge audience hall, so that was a new experience for us. The two previous audiences we attended were both held in St. Peter's Square. We were advised to arrive early at 8:30, although the audience doesn't begin until 10:30. We had to wait about 30 minutes outside, then pass through security before entering the audience hall. Thanks to Sister Maria at the North American College we had "special" tickets which allowed us to sit in the front section. Our 90-minute wait wasn't at all unpleasant. The seats were comfortable and we enjoyed wonderful conversation with our neighbors from West Virginia and the UK.The folks from the UK included another permanent deacon and his wife who were celebrating their 50th anniversary. We had a nice long chat, comparing notes on the state of the diaconate in our respective countries.
Pope Benedict was received joyously by the large international crowd. Once again, Diane and I were thrilled by the numbers of enthusiastic young people in attendance. A large group of teens -- probably 50 or more -- from Argentina sat directly in front of us and the hall was filled with similar groups from all over the world. What a blessing for the future of Christ's Church. Pray for these young people. It's hard to strive for holiness in today's world.
Pope Benedict spoke of his recent visit to Lourdes to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady. He also addressed the young people in particular, telling them that he consigned to them "two treasures of Christian faith: the Holy Spirit and the Cross. The Spirit opens human intelligence to horizons larger than itself, and brings it to understand the beauty and the truth of God's love revealed on the Cross." It was a wonderful reflection. The Pope then imparted his blessing on all of us and on our families and blessed the religious articles we had brought with us -- two large bags full!
Wednesday afternoon we had another perfect Roman lunch and then took our tourist bus out to the Basilica of St. Mary Major where we spent a good two hours checking out all the nooks and crannies and marveling at the beauty of this lovely, old church. After spending more money at the basilica's gift shop, we once again climbed aboard our tourist bus and headed for St. Peter's. From there we wandered back to our hotel window shopping along the way.
Thursday was a bit of an adventure, one that included a lot of walking. We left our hotel, crossed over the Tiber via Ponte Margherita and entered Piazza del Popolo. Once there we stopped by the church of Santa Maria del Popolo and enjoyed being amazed by the artwork of the grand masters that decorated the church's side altars. We stayed for Mass, celebrated by the pastor, and then continued our exploration of the Piazza. We briefly considered making the walk up to the Pincio to take in what is described as a remarkable view of Rome, but decided that the walk was more vertical than horizontal and completely unsuited for our tired, old legs. We can look at the pictures in the guide book instead.
After an espresso in a nice, overpriced sidewalk cafe we began the trek to Via Veneto where we hoped to visit the Cappuchin church, Santa Maria della Concezione. We had hoped to visit the church on our last visit in 2005, but simply never had the time, so yesterday we were hopeful..until we arrived and discovered that the church is closed only one day a week, on Thursday! And so the famous crypt will have to wait until our next visit to Rome. To ease our disappointment we walked across the street and had a nice lunch at one of the local restaurants.
After lunch we continued our trek, making our way to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. The Pantheon is always surprising, always wonderful, always awesome...and always crowded, just as it was yesterday. I took lots of photos and we walked the few blocks to Piazza Navona where we examined all the bad art for sale and decided that another coffee would be a fine thing. We then searched out a small print shop where we had purchased a print eight years before. We found it easily and were impressed when the proprietor remarked that he remembered us from our earlier visit, so impressed that we purchased another print, this one from the 18th century.
From there we just wandered back across the Tiber over Ponte Sant'Angelo, took lots more photos, and collapsed in our hotel room. It was a tiring, but very enjoyable day.
More soon, but it's time for dinner...
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Three-day catch-up: Basilicas, Gardens, Audience, Food...
Monday was such a busy day that I simply had no time to post anything. We also returned to the hotel so tired that even the rock-hard bed was inviting.
Our main event on Monday was a visit to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. It's quite a distance -- too far for us senior citizens to walk -- so we took cab and spent a small fortune. It was worth it, though. We were surprised that so few people were there, especially since it is the key spot for pilgrimages during this Pauline Holy Year. But the lack of crowds was fine with us since it meant that we had plenty of room to roam around at our leisure. It's truly a beautiful basilica, a majestic church in the classical revival style. We visited St. Paul's tomb, located under the main altar and spent a few moments there in prayer thanking God for this wonderful opportunity to again visit these holy places. After taking in all of the Basilica and the adjacent cloisters, we stopped by the gift shop and ended up buying some lovely gifts for family members. The shop is staffed by two Franciscan nuns from Chile who speak no English but nevertheless kept us entertained with their comedy routine. All in all a lovely visit.
As we left we found ourselves faced with the same problem we encountered the last time we visited this particular basilica: there's no taxi stand anywhere nearby and we have no idea how to navigate the Roman bus system. So I prayed briefly to St. Paul (after all, he's the one that drew us there) and a tour bus pulled up. When I asked if they went anywhere near St. John Lateran, the driver explained that they followed a set route that included all the basilicas plus a dozen or more popular tourist stops. The catch? One had to purchase a one- or three-day ticket. As it turned out a three-day ticket costs less than the cab ride we had just paid for. The ticket is also good on Rome's public buses and subway, plus you can get off and on at any of the stops and the tour buses run every 15 minutes. Such a deal!! We grabbed it and have been riding around in their open-air buses ever since.
Our next stop was St. John Lateran where we did more roaming and took in all the side chapels, the beautiful main (papal) altar and the cloisters. I especially enjoyed the cloisters where they have nicely displayed many, many fragments from the earlier basilica as well as fragments of early Christian cemetery inscriptions and statuary. Very neat stuff.
That evening we went to a local restaurant and had a wonderful steak dinner. We were very much in need of beef after all the pasta and pizza we'd been consuming, Too tired to party and too old to remember how, we wandered back to the hotel and turned in for the night.
I'll add more later, but now it's time for Wednesday's dinner. Off to the local pizza joint with the cute waitress...
...OK we've returned from dinner at our local pizzeria. The cute waitress was apparently off this evening and was replaced by a nice young man that reminded Diane of our younger son. Anyway, it's a great little pizza place named Pizzeria L'Archetto and located at Via Germanico 105 in Rome's Prati district. They have about 10 sidewalk tables which are perfect this time of year. The food and the wine are excellent and reasonably priced. We recommend it.
Now back to our tourist stuff...
Tuesday we began the day -- after the normal hotel breakfast -- with a guided tour of the Vatican Gardens. This is a tour everyone should take at least once in their lives. For two hours you roam through these beautiful gardens and get to experience Vatican City up close and personal. It is truly amazing. Our guide (sorry, I forgot her name) was wonderful and provided all sorts of interesting insights.
In the afternoon we went to the North American College (NAC) to pick up our tickets for the Wednesday general audience with Pope Benedict XVI. Sister Maria kindly gave us "special" tickets which allowed us to sit up front, close to the Pontiff. We spent a little time in the NAC's beautiful chapel, then walked over to the nearby Trevi Fountain, fought the crowds, sampled some of Rome's famous Gelato (ice cream), then wandered aimlessly looking for my favorite vestment shop, D'Ritis. We finally found it and I purchased a new alb to replace the one I bought there 3 years ago. From there it was a short cab ride back to the hotel, dinner at the pizza joint, and bed.
...more to follow.
Our main event on Monday was a visit to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. It's quite a distance -- too far for us senior citizens to walk -- so we took cab and spent a small fortune. It was worth it, though. We were surprised that so few people were there, especially since it is the key spot for pilgrimages during this Pauline Holy Year. But the lack of crowds was fine with us since it meant that we had plenty of room to roam around at our leisure. It's truly a beautiful basilica, a majestic church in the classical revival style. We visited St. Paul's tomb, located under the main altar and spent a few moments there in prayer thanking God for this wonderful opportunity to again visit these holy places. After taking in all of the Basilica and the adjacent cloisters, we stopped by the gift shop and ended up buying some lovely gifts for family members. The shop is staffed by two Franciscan nuns from Chile who speak no English but nevertheless kept us entertained with their comedy routine. All in all a lovely visit.
As we left we found ourselves faced with the same problem we encountered the last time we visited this particular basilica: there's no taxi stand anywhere nearby and we have no idea how to navigate the Roman bus system. So I prayed briefly to St. Paul (after all, he's the one that drew us there) and a tour bus pulled up. When I asked if they went anywhere near St. John Lateran, the driver explained that they followed a set route that included all the basilicas plus a dozen or more popular tourist stops. The catch? One had to purchase a one- or three-day ticket. As it turned out a three-day ticket costs less than the cab ride we had just paid for. The ticket is also good on Rome's public buses and subway, plus you can get off and on at any of the stops and the tour buses run every 15 minutes. Such a deal!! We grabbed it and have been riding around in their open-air buses ever since.
Our next stop was St. John Lateran where we did more roaming and took in all the side chapels, the beautiful main (papal) altar and the cloisters. I especially enjoyed the cloisters where they have nicely displayed many, many fragments from the earlier basilica as well as fragments of early Christian cemetery inscriptions and statuary. Very neat stuff.
That evening we went to a local restaurant and had a wonderful steak dinner. We were very much in need of beef after all the pasta and pizza we'd been consuming, Too tired to party and too old to remember how, we wandered back to the hotel and turned in for the night.
I'll add more later, but now it's time for Wednesday's dinner. Off to the local pizza joint with the cute waitress...
...OK we've returned from dinner at our local pizzeria. The cute waitress was apparently off this evening and was replaced by a nice young man that reminded Diane of our younger son. Anyway, it's a great little pizza place named Pizzeria L'Archetto and located at Via Germanico 105 in Rome's Prati district. They have about 10 sidewalk tables which are perfect this time of year. The food and the wine are excellent and reasonably priced. We recommend it.
Now back to our tourist stuff...
Tuesday we began the day -- after the normal hotel breakfast -- with a guided tour of the Vatican Gardens. This is a tour everyone should take at least once in their lives. For two hours you roam through these beautiful gardens and get to experience Vatican City up close and personal. It is truly amazing. Our guide (sorry, I forgot her name) was wonderful and provided all sorts of interesting insights.
In the afternoon we went to the North American College (NAC) to pick up our tickets for the Wednesday general audience with Pope Benedict XVI. Sister Maria kindly gave us "special" tickets which allowed us to sit up front, close to the Pontiff. We spent a little time in the NAC's beautiful chapel, then walked over to the nearby Trevi Fountain, fought the crowds, sampled some of Rome's famous Gelato (ice cream), then wandered aimlessly looking for my favorite vestment shop, D'Ritis. We finally found it and I purchased a new alb to replace the one I bought there 3 years ago. From there it was a short cab ride back to the hotel, dinner at the pizza joint, and bed.
...more to follow.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Roma: Sunday
Today began with a quick breakfast at the hotel followed by a brisk walk to St. Peters for 9 a.m. Mass. Among the sad commentaries on modern life is the fact that one must pass through security before attending Mass at St. Peter's. The security folks, however, found us to be inoffensive and permitted us to pass without having to undergo a full-body strip search.
The Mass, of course, was celebrated in Italian and so we understood perhaps 10% of what was said. The celebrant gave an animated and, I am sure, interesting homily on the Exaltation of the Cross. He was joined at the altar by four con-celebrants but no deacons. I was hoping to see a deacon or two if only to ask what is was like to serve as a deacon assigned to the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome. It's just one of the many unanswered questions constantly roaming around my overtaxed and under-utilized brain. (Or is it under-taxed and over-utilized?)
After Mass we made our way back to the hotel and changed rooms. Our new room is somewhat larger although the shower looks to be about the same size. We'll manage. Then we changed into our tourist clothes, and went to lunch at one of the many little restaurants on Borgo Pio, a touristy, pedestrian only street near the Vatican. The meal was OK, but not worth a return trip. We then walked a few blocks to Castel Sant'Angelo, paid the entrance fee, and climbed (to the point of near exhaustion) to the terrace at the top of the Castel to take in one of Rome's more breathtaking views. I took lots of photos which I will include on a slide show on the blog once we return home. The Castel was originally built as the Emperor Hadrian's tomb back in the 2nd century. Later it became a fortress for popes under siege...but you can read all about its history from far more authoritative sources elsewhere. Just be sure to include a visit to the Castel when you're in Rome. It's worth the climb.
We enjoyed yesterday evening's meal so much we decided to return to the same restaurant for dinner this evening. Except tonight we splurged and ordered two of their finest steaks. What a treat, and what a marvelous meal! The restaurant is new, only a month old, and the head waiter is the owner. I'll include the restaurant's name and address in tomorrow's posting -- too tired to look for it tonight.
Tomorrow is another day. We plan to visit the other major basilicas of Rome: St. Paul Outside the Walls, St. John Lateran, and St. Mary Major. I'd also like to squeeze in a visit to St. Cecilia in Trastevere if we have time. On our last visit to Rome we went there only to find the church closed for renovations. Anyway, all of this should occupy most of the day.
Blessings from Rome...
The Mass, of course, was celebrated in Italian and so we understood perhaps 10% of what was said. The celebrant gave an animated and, I am sure, interesting homily on the Exaltation of the Cross. He was joined at the altar by four con-celebrants but no deacons. I was hoping to see a deacon or two if only to ask what is was like to serve as a deacon assigned to the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome. It's just one of the many unanswered questions constantly roaming around my overtaxed and under-utilized brain. (Or is it under-taxed and over-utilized?)
After Mass we made our way back to the hotel and changed rooms. Our new room is somewhat larger although the shower looks to be about the same size. We'll manage. Then we changed into our tourist clothes, and went to lunch at one of the many little restaurants on Borgo Pio, a touristy, pedestrian only street near the Vatican. The meal was OK, but not worth a return trip. We then walked a few blocks to Castel Sant'Angelo, paid the entrance fee, and climbed (to the point of near exhaustion) to the terrace at the top of the Castel to take in one of Rome's more breathtaking views. I took lots of photos which I will include on a slide show on the blog once we return home. The Castel was originally built as the Emperor Hadrian's tomb back in the 2nd century. Later it became a fortress for popes under siege...but you can read all about its history from far more authoritative sources elsewhere. Just be sure to include a visit to the Castel when you're in Rome. It's worth the climb.
We enjoyed yesterday evening's meal so much we decided to return to the same restaurant for dinner this evening. Except tonight we splurged and ordered two of their finest steaks. What a treat, and what a marvelous meal! The restaurant is new, only a month old, and the head waiter is the owner. I'll include the restaurant's name and address in tomorrow's posting -- too tired to look for it tonight.
Tomorrow is another day. We plan to visit the other major basilicas of Rome: St. Paul Outside the Walls, St. John Lateran, and St. Mary Major. I'd also like to squeeze in a visit to St. Cecilia in Trastevere if we have time. On our last visit to Rome we went there only to find the church closed for renovations. Anyway, all of this should occupy most of the day.
Blessings from Rome...
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Rome: Day 2 and a half
Diane and I were apparently more tired than we thought. We went to bed at 11 last night and awoke 11 hours later at 10 this morning. The only negative was missing the nice breakfast provided by the hotel. But at least we're now rested and functioning at or near 100%.
Today is my birthday (64), so we spent it doing some very birthday-like things. We made the obligatory visits to a few of the shops that sell religious articles and books. I, of course, bought some books for myself, enough that we'll probably need to buy another suitcase. We then enjoyed a wonderful lunch at a restaurant we had visited some years ago. Our Polish priest friend, Fr. Adam Domanski, took us there for lunch during our Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome in November 2000. At the time, Fr. Adam was studying in Rome. He eventually earned his doctorate in Sacred Scripture and now teaches at a seminary in Poland. Anyway, the food was wonderful and I enjoyed some of their local white wine. (By the way, that day with Fr. Adam was the day I met and accosted Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger on the street. The future Pope Benedict XVI was very understanding and actually spent a few minutes chatting with us and posing for a photo with me,)
After lunch Diane and I made our leisurely way back to St. Peter's and spent an hour roaming around the Basilica, once again awed by size and the almost overwhelming beauty of the place. We had to leave because we had reservations for a guided tour of the excavations and ancient necropolis beneath the Basilica. Only a week ago I finished re-reading "The Bones of St. Peter," a wonderful book -- now sadly out of print -- about these excavations that began in 1939 and ended with the uncovering of St. Peter's simple tomb. Our tour guide was a lovely and very knowledgeable young woman -- a historian and wife of a Swiss Guard. She brought us back to the time of Peter, the time of Constantine, and the time of the secret excavations during the years of World War II. It was a remarkable experience, one that we will never forget.
Then, after a brief rest back at the hotel, we enjoyed a marvelous dinner at one of the local restaurants. And because it was my birthday, we thought it OK to sample a few of the house desserts. What a wonderful, if mildly sinful, decision!
Tomorrow we plan to attend 9 a.m Mass at St. Peter's and then pay a visit to Castel Sant'Angelo which is just a few blocks from our hotel. The weather may cause a change in plans, however, since they're predicting rain showers. We'll just play it by ear, as usual.
A fun day for an old guy and his much younger wife.
Blessings and God's Peace...
Today is my birthday (64), so we spent it doing some very birthday-like things. We made the obligatory visits to a few of the shops that sell religious articles and books. I, of course, bought some books for myself, enough that we'll probably need to buy another suitcase. We then enjoyed a wonderful lunch at a restaurant we had visited some years ago. Our Polish priest friend, Fr. Adam Domanski, took us there for lunch during our Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome in November 2000. At the time, Fr. Adam was studying in Rome. He eventually earned his doctorate in Sacred Scripture and now teaches at a seminary in Poland. Anyway, the food was wonderful and I enjoyed some of their local white wine. (By the way, that day with Fr. Adam was the day I met and accosted Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger on the street. The future Pope Benedict XVI was very understanding and actually spent a few minutes chatting with us and posing for a photo with me,)
After lunch Diane and I made our leisurely way back to St. Peter's and spent an hour roaming around the Basilica, once again awed by size and the almost overwhelming beauty of the place. We had to leave because we had reservations for a guided tour of the excavations and ancient necropolis beneath the Basilica. Only a week ago I finished re-reading "The Bones of St. Peter," a wonderful book -- now sadly out of print -- about these excavations that began in 1939 and ended with the uncovering of St. Peter's simple tomb. Our tour guide was a lovely and very knowledgeable young woman -- a historian and wife of a Swiss Guard. She brought us back to the time of Peter, the time of Constantine, and the time of the secret excavations during the years of World War II. It was a remarkable experience, one that we will never forget.
Then, after a brief rest back at the hotel, we enjoyed a marvelous dinner at one of the local restaurants. And because it was my birthday, we thought it OK to sample a few of the house desserts. What a wonderful, if mildly sinful, decision!
Tomorrow we plan to attend 9 a.m Mass at St. Peter's and then pay a visit to Castel Sant'Angelo which is just a few blocks from our hotel. The weather may cause a change in plans, however, since they're predicting rain showers. We'll just play it by ear, as usual.
A fun day for an old guy and his much younger wife.
Blessings and God's Peace...
Friday, September 12, 2008
Roma!
We made it to Rome. It seemed to take forever since we flew first from Orlando to London (Gatwick) and then spent six not so interesting hours waiting there for our flight to Rome. We finally arrived at our lovely little hotel yesterday evening (Thursday), almost 18 hours after leaving Orlando.
I think I managed about two hours of sleep during the two flights (poor Diane couldn't sleep at all), so after passing through Italian customs, we were extremely happy to see our driver waiting for us. Now, I have no idea how many airport transfer drivers there are in Rome, but it seems to be a thriving business so I would guess there are several thousand. And I would also assume most carry out their responsibilities at some reasonable level of competence. These responsibilities should include such basic things as NOT RUNNING OUT OF GAS on a major highway.
That's right. Our driver ran out of gas about five miles from the airport. After a few minutes of rapid fire Italian curses, he got on his cellphone and called for help. In the meantime we're parked on the shoulder (barely) in a construction zone of a major highway at rush hour. Before our help arrived a good Samaritan stopped and apparently offered to take our driver to a service station. It would seem this transaction demanded a certain amount of negotiation on the part of both men because it took another ten minutes for them to leave. And so Diane and I spent probably another 20 to 30 minutes sitting alone in this Mercedes minivan as cars and trucks roared by us at 7o+ mph. This was scarier than it sounds because our driver had rolled to a stop on the extreme left edge of the shoulder, and these speeding vehicles were mere inches from us as they passed.
Oh, yes, to make matters a wee bit worse, there was some sort of controlled fire in a nearby field and so smoke was blowing across the highway right in front of the cars who were bearing down on us at high speed.And to top it all off, it was getting dark.
Eventually Signore No-Benzina returned with an odd little plastic bag containing a few liters of gas and we were on our way. Of course we had to stop and fill up at the service area a mile or so down the road, but that didn't take too long. All in all we spent about two hours in that van.
I will say one positive thing about our driver. I had decided to pay him up front, when we first got in the car at the airport, and had included a substantial tip under the (now obviously mistaken) belief that this would encourage our driver to get us to our hotel quickly and safely. But after he filled the tank, he tried to return the tip I had given him. I refused to accept it because he had provided us with a wonderful story that I'll be able to tell and embellish for years to come. It was well worth all those extra Euros. Anyway, the poor man probably has a family to feed and if he does this very often they'll starve.
The hotel (the Vatican Garden Inn) is a lovely little place in the Prati district of Rome, just a few blocks northeast of the Vatican. Our room is a bit small for two, but the manager offered to move us to a larger room on Sunday. We accepted the offer, mainly because the bathroom is so tiny. Indeed, the shower is the only argument one needs for going on a diet. (A dropped bar of soap is gone forever because it's impossible to bend over to pick it up.)
This morning, after our nice continental breakfast in the hotel's garden, we walked over to St. Peter's Square, took a few photos, and then made our way to the Vatican Museum in time for our guided tour of the museum and Sistine Chapel. The tour was wonderful, two hours of interesting commentary by our tour guide, Gabriella.
The weather today was hot, humid and overcast, followed by a real boomer of a thunderstorm this evening. Oops! The power just went out. I'll finish this tomorrow morning.
Blessings from beautiful Roma. Ciao!
I think I managed about two hours of sleep during the two flights (poor Diane couldn't sleep at all), so after passing through Italian customs, we were extremely happy to see our driver waiting for us. Now, I have no idea how many airport transfer drivers there are in Rome, but it seems to be a thriving business so I would guess there are several thousand. And I would also assume most carry out their responsibilities at some reasonable level of competence. These responsibilities should include such basic things as NOT RUNNING OUT OF GAS on a major highway.
That's right. Our driver ran out of gas about five miles from the airport. After a few minutes of rapid fire Italian curses, he got on his cellphone and called for help. In the meantime we're parked on the shoulder (barely) in a construction zone of a major highway at rush hour. Before our help arrived a good Samaritan stopped and apparently offered to take our driver to a service station. It would seem this transaction demanded a certain amount of negotiation on the part of both men because it took another ten minutes for them to leave. And so Diane and I spent probably another 20 to 30 minutes sitting alone in this Mercedes minivan as cars and trucks roared by us at 7o+ mph. This was scarier than it sounds because our driver had rolled to a stop on the extreme left edge of the shoulder, and these speeding vehicles were mere inches from us as they passed.
Oh, yes, to make matters a wee bit worse, there was some sort of controlled fire in a nearby field and so smoke was blowing across the highway right in front of the cars who were bearing down on us at high speed.And to top it all off, it was getting dark.
Eventually Signore No-Benzina returned with an odd little plastic bag containing a few liters of gas and we were on our way. Of course we had to stop and fill up at the service area a mile or so down the road, but that didn't take too long. All in all we spent about two hours in that van.
I will say one positive thing about our driver. I had decided to pay him up front, when we first got in the car at the airport, and had included a substantial tip under the (now obviously mistaken) belief that this would encourage our driver to get us to our hotel quickly and safely. But after he filled the tank, he tried to return the tip I had given him. I refused to accept it because he had provided us with a wonderful story that I'll be able to tell and embellish for years to come. It was well worth all those extra Euros. Anyway, the poor man probably has a family to feed and if he does this very often they'll starve.
The hotel (the Vatican Garden Inn) is a lovely little place in the Prati district of Rome, just a few blocks northeast of the Vatican. Our room is a bit small for two, but the manager offered to move us to a larger room on Sunday. We accepted the offer, mainly because the bathroom is so tiny. Indeed, the shower is the only argument one needs for going on a diet. (A dropped bar of soap is gone forever because it's impossible to bend over to pick it up.)
This morning, after our nice continental breakfast in the hotel's garden, we walked over to St. Peter's Square, took a few photos, and then made our way to the Vatican Museum in time for our guided tour of the museum and Sistine Chapel. The tour was wonderful, two hours of interesting commentary by our tour guide, Gabriella.
The weather today was hot, humid and overcast, followed by a real boomer of a thunderstorm this evening. Oops! The power just went out. I'll finish this tomorrow morning.
Blessings from beautiful Roma. Ciao!
Friday, September 5, 2008
The Priesthood and Women: the Last Word?
This morning, while browsing an online news site from Massachusetts, I came across an article about a woman who claims to have been ordained a Catholic priest. She and her husband now preside at a small chapel located behind the Harwich Port B&B they operate. (Even though I moved to Florida after 25 years in Harwich Port, I do not know the woman personally.) The article dates from 2005, shortly before her invalid ordination by a woman "bishop" in Canada. Her words, as reported on Boston.com the news website of the Boston Globe):
It just doesn't go away, this idea that the Catholic Church will eventually permit the ordination of women to the priesthood. This idea persists despite the Church's constant reiteration of its unchanging teaching on the subject. I suppose this persistence stems from today's concept of "progress," the idea that society must move relentlessly toward enlightenment, part of which includes a sort of ambiguous, non-judgmental, universal acceptance. To this way of thinking, then, the Catholic Church is simply another element of society and is, therefore, not exempt from this movement.
That's the big picture view; but there's also a little picture involved: the belief on the part of some women that they have a God-sent vocation to the priesthood. For them it's personal and this desire colors and distorts virtually every aspect of their lives, even their Christian faith itself. Here's another example from a story in the secular press (Lexington Kentucky Herald Leader):
[Marie] David, who opposes mandatory celibacy for priests and is married to a former priest, shrugs off the possibility of being excommunicated by the church, saying ''there would be a sadness, but I refuse to recognize their authority to tell me that."
Then, later in the same article, she's quoted as saying, ''It's not accepted by Rome today, but that doesn't mean it will not always be accepted. The only way Rome will allow women to be ordained is we do it. It has to start someplace."
It just doesn't go away, this idea that the Catholic Church will eventually permit the ordination of women to the priesthood. This idea persists despite the Church's constant reiteration of its unchanging teaching on the subject. I suppose this persistence stems from today's concept of "progress," the idea that society must move relentlessly toward enlightenment, part of which includes a sort of ambiguous, non-judgmental, universal acceptance. To this way of thinking, then, the Catholic Church is simply another element of society and is, therefore, not exempt from this movement. That's the big picture view; but there's also a little picture involved: the belief on the part of some women that they have a God-sent vocation to the priesthood. For them it's personal and this desire colors and distorts virtually every aspect of their lives, even their Christian faith itself. Here's another example from a story in the secular press (Lexington Kentucky Herald Leader):
As a young girl growing up in Milwaukee, Janice Sevre-Duszynska often fantasized about becoming a priest while helping clean the sanctuary of the church her family attended.
“I’d sit in the priest’s chair, go to the pulpit, make believe I was preaching and giving communion,” she said. “I thought, ‘Why couldn't I be up here?’”
Now, 50 years later, she will get her wish, but it could come with a price — excommunication from the Roman Catholic church. On Aug. 9, in defiance of the church’s 2,000-year ban on women in the priesthood, she will be ordained by Roman Catholic Womenpriests, an activist group that has protested the ban since 2002.
And so, sadly, her attempt to realize a childhood fantasy will lead only to her excommunication. Was this self-proclaimed childhood fantasy one in which she sought to serve God's Church and His people, or was it one in which she hoped to satisfy her own personal wants, to serve herself? I'll let you re-read her words and decide.
Of course, the article, like most coverage of the Catholic Church in the secular press, is in error. It states that the realization of her wish "could" result in her excommunication. The fact is, as a result of her "ordination" she incurs automatic excommunication. Neither the pope nor her bishop need do anything. She, in effect, excommunicates herself.
Both the big and little picture motivations behind this call for the ordination of women ignore one important fact: the Catholic Church will never permit the ordination of women. This is not my personal opinion, but reflects the consistent teaching of the Church for 2,000 years. It is a teaching stated perhaps most clearly by Pope John Paul II in his apostolic letter, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (May 22, 1994). In his letter the Pope, after outlining the Church's teaching on ordination, states unequivocally, "I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful." In other words, this teaching is not something the Church can ever change because it is based on God's law not man's law.
This certainly won't deter those who are uncomfortable with the very idea of absolute truth and divine law, particularly when the truth conflicts with either their ideology or their personal desires. I am reminded of Pontius Pilate's sneering question of Jesus: "What is truth?" And so, even though Pope John Paul II has, from the Church's perspective, put the matter to rest, I expect we will continue to hear these strident cries for a change the Church can never and will never make. Another, more detailed document on the subject is the Declaration on the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood (Inter Insigniores), issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on October 15, 1976.
When I visited the websites of some of the organizations to which these women belong, I was struck by the gnostic, new-age themes that seem to run through most of them. It's also apparent that in rejecting the Church's teaching authority on ordination they also reject its authority on many moral issues, including abortion and homosexuality. This isn't surprising. Once a person rejects the authority of the Church on one issue, it's no great leap to reject its authority on any issue. This, of course, leads one to question why, if they reject the Church, are they so intent on calling themselves Catholic? Pray for them.
As Catholics we are bound to accept the definitive teachings of the Church; and so if you find yourself at odds with the Church on this subject, I suggest that you not only read the relevant documents, but also pray that the Holy Spirit will guide you to accept this teaching that comes to us from Jesus Himself.
Rome Update. Watching hurricane Ike move slowly toward Florida has not been particularly pleasant. Not only is it a major hurricane (now category 3) and likely to cause much damage as it makes its way to the Northwest, but the latest reports predict its arrival sometime next Wednesday. Unfortunately, we are scheduled to fly out of Orlando on our way to Rome Wednesday evening. Our prayer is that Ike veers out to sea, far away from Florida, and causes no damage or loss of life.
God's peace...
Monday, September 1, 2008
Persecution? Pauline Year
When I awoke early this morning and turned on the news to check the latest hurricane update, I caught the tail end of a news story about how the Catholic Church in Canada is under attack by the Canadian Human Rights Commission for its stance on moral issues, particularly homosexuality. This isn't anything new and has been going on in Canada for some time now. But it's still disturbing to learn that the Catholic Church, merely by stating its unchanging moral teachings, can be considered a criminal entity by the government of a Western "democracy."
After thinking about it, I suspect that we're really not all that far behind in the good ol' USA. Certainly the city leadership of San Francisco, if they could somehow circumvent that pesky old U.S. Constitution, would try to force the Church to follow their radically immoral agenda. Failing that, they would probably just try to evict the Catholic Church from the city. And while San Francisco is thankfully not typical, it is the home of the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, a woman whose public remarks and voting record place her right there in the same hive along with the local S.F. pols. And if our bishops should ever develop some collective intestinal fortitude and actually take on the scandal of all those self-proclaimed Catholic politicians publicly supporting abortion and other anti-life abominations, I suspect things will get very hot indeed for us Catholics. In a world where quoting Scripture can be considered "hate speech," the excommunication of politicians might just be turned into a capital offence. But maybe a little persecution is just what the Church needs.
One of the things that's drawing us to Rome at this particular time is the special jubilee year of St.
Paul declared by Pope Benedict to celebrate the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of the Apostle. We look forward to spending some time at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls while we're in Rome. Diane and I have visited the basilica several times in the past, but only briefly. This time we hope to explore it more thoroughly. I realize that many people -- especially church architects -- don't particularly like the basilica's rather heavy, nineteenth century style, but for reasons that I cannot articulate, I'm always very comfortable there. Something about it just feels right and very Pauline. If you're interested, you might want to visit the basilica's nicely updated website. It's quite thorough and full of interesting information on St. Paul, the Basilica, and the Pauline Year. Click here to visit the English language version of the site. (I took the photo above on a chilly November day in 2005.)
Pray for our nation and those who would lead it...
God's peace.
After thinking about it, I suspect that we're really not all that far behind in the good ol' USA. Certainly the city leadership of San Francisco, if they could somehow circumvent that pesky old U.S. Constitution, would try to force the Church to follow their radically immoral agenda. Failing that, they would probably just try to evict the Catholic Church from the city. And while San Francisco is thankfully not typical, it is the home of the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, a woman whose public remarks and voting record place her right there in the same hive along with the local S.F. pols. And if our bishops should ever develop some collective intestinal fortitude and actually take on the scandal of all those self-proclaimed Catholic politicians publicly supporting abortion and other anti-life abominations, I suspect things will get very hot indeed for us Catholics. In a world where quoting Scripture can be considered "hate speech," the excommunication of politicians might just be turned into a capital offence. But maybe a little persecution is just what the Church needs.
One of the things that's drawing us to Rome at this particular time is the special jubilee year of St.
Paul declared by Pope Benedict to celebrate the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of the Apostle. We look forward to spending some time at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls while we're in Rome. Diane and I have visited the basilica several times in the past, but only briefly. This time we hope to explore it more thoroughly. I realize that many people -- especially church architects -- don't particularly like the basilica's rather heavy, nineteenth century style, but for reasons that I cannot articulate, I'm always very comfortable there. Something about it just feels right and very Pauline. If you're interested, you might want to visit the basilica's nicely updated website. It's quite thorough and full of interesting information on St. Paul, the Basilica, and the Pauline Year. Click here to visit the English language version of the site. (I took the photo above on a chilly November day in 2005.)Pray for our nation and those who would lead it...
God's peace.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Storms, Grandchildren, Politics
It's been over a week since I posted anything on the blog, and it will likely be another week before I do so again. With four little grandchildren in the house and large storms on either side of our "sunshine" state, I've been a wee bit preoccupied. Our daughter and the little ones fly back to New England on Wednesday which will give Diane and me a week to prepare for our trip to Rome.
Our hope is that neither Gustav nor Hannah will cause any more damage or loss of life. I've been through many hurricanes in my life (indeed, I was born in the middle of one), and I really don't want to go through another. Pray for those who are in the paths of these violent storms.
One political note (and politics is something I won't often address on this blog): I'm pleased to see that John McCain chose a strong pro-life woman as his running mate. I suspect that his choice of Governor Palin may well result in abortion becoming the major "issue" in the upcoming election. Although I've always believed that we will not eliminate the plague of abortion by political means, and that it will require a collective change of heart by the American people, politics can certainly be an effective way to ensure abortion isn't swept under the national rug.
Praise God, love God, and love His people...,
Our hope is that neither Gustav nor Hannah will cause any more damage or loss of life. I've been through many hurricanes in my life (indeed, I was born in the middle of one), and I really don't want to go through another. Pray for those who are in the paths of these violent storms.
One political note (and politics is something I won't often address on this blog): I'm pleased to see that John McCain chose a strong pro-life woman as his running mate. I suspect that his choice of Governor Palin may well result in abortion becoming the major "issue" in the upcoming election. Although I've always believed that we will not eliminate the plague of abortion by political means, and that it will require a collective change of heart by the American people, politics can certainly be an effective way to ensure abortion isn't swept under the national rug.
Praise God, love God, and love His people...,
Friday, August 22, 2008
Rain & Rain, Children & Grandchildren
If Florida has learned one thing these past few days, it's that you can have too much rain, even after a draught. Maybe another lesson is: be careful what you pray for.
Tropical storm Fay apparently decided it liked our state so much that it intends to hang out here for an extended period of time. Here in The Villages it hasn't been too bad, but some communities over on the east coast have been inundated with over two feet of rainfall. As you might imagine, flooding has been a major problem and driven many from their homes. Pray for them.
Our household suffers from only a minor problem: the fact the our four grandchildren have been cooped up in the house for almost their entire visit. For little ones, seven and under, this isn't an easy thing (and, trust me, it's no picnic for the adults either). We've managed to get them to the neighborhood pool one day, and have made several excursions to the local Walmart, but that's been about it. And so we're hopeful that the remaining 11 days of their visit will include at least a few sunny days so we can venture out to see the alligators and manatees.
Tropical storm Fay apparently decided it liked our state so much that it intends to hang out here for an extended period of time. Here in The Villages it hasn't been too bad, but some communities over on the east coast have been inundated with over two feet of rainfall. As you might imagine, flooding has been a major problem and driven many from their homes. Pray for them.
Our household suffers from only a minor problem: the fact the our four grandchildren have been cooped up in the house for almost their entire visit. For little ones, seven and under, this isn't an easy thing (and, trust me, it's no picnic for the adults either). We've managed to get them to the neighborhood pool one day, and have made several excursions to the local Walmart, but that's been about it. And so we're hopeful that the remaining 11 days of their visit will include at least a few sunny days so we can venture out to see the alligators and manatees.
The Census Bureau recently released a not so sunny report claiming that an increasing number of women in their 40s are childless and that in general women are having fewer children. This, of course, should not be a surprise to anyone who has been following the demographic trends in Western Europe. It would seem that, as a people, we in the West, who once proudly called our civilization, "Christendom," are now committing a form of slow suicide.
The report, based on a 2006 American Community Survey, includes another interesting but depressing statistic. It seems that 28 percent of children born in 2005 were born to mothers who had never been married. And so not only are we gradually wiping out what's left of our civilization by not having a sufficient number of children to replace those who die, but a growing number of us apparently believe marriage and the traditional family are irrelevant. If you'd like to view the entire report (PDF file), click here. Like most statistical reports spewed out by government agencies, it's tedious and chock full of numbers that can lead to all sorts of erroneous conclusions...so have fun.
Today Pope Benedict did something particularly moving. He spoke publicly about his older brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, during a ceremony at which he presented his brother with the honorary citizenship to Castel Gandolfo, the town of the Pope's summer residence. "He has always shown me the path to take, also in difficult situations," the Pope said. "My brother has mentioned the fact that we have arrived at the last stage of our life, old age. The days of life are reduced progressively...But also in this stage my brother helps me to accept with serenity, humility and courage the burden of each day. I thank him."
This brief address at this little ceremony, an event that will probably be ignored by the secular press, offers real insight into Pope Benedict's naturally humble nature. In Benedict we have a Pope with the courage to accept the awesome mantle of papal responsibility, but with the humility to know that no man is worthy of the honor of being Christ's Vicar in earth. And in his humility he credits his older brother as one who guided him throughout his life: "From the beginning of my life," the Pope said, "my brother has always been not only a companion to me but also a guide worthy of trust."
It was this humility that so impressed me when I had my brief encounter with the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger back in 2000. That he would stop and chat with me, a semi-crazed American deacon, for five minutes on a Roman street was remarkable. But that he actually seemed interested in what I had to say and even posed for a photograph with me is further evidence of the kindness of this man. Then, a month later, when I sent him a copy of the photograph which had appeared in an article in our diocesan newspaper, he responded with a lovely personal letter that I cherish to this day.
And so, Pope Benedict teaches us even through life's simple events. He teaches us that the family matters, that every man, no matter his position, owes much to others who have helped and guided him along the way. It has caused me to recall those who helped and guided me throughout my life. I think tomorrow I'll send those who are still alive notes of thanks.
Oh, yes, and like the Holy Father, I'll thank our loving and merciful God who has given us everything.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
On Death Camps, Hope and Love
Last week, at his general audience at Castel Gandolfo, Pope Benedict focused on two 20th 
Century martyrs, St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein) and St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, who both suffered martyrdom at the hands of the Nazis in Auschwitz, Poland. I was particularly struck by one the Holy Father's comments: "It would seem that their existence could be regarded as a defeat, but it is precisely in their martyrdom that the brilliance of Love shines which conquers the darkness of egoism and hatred. Attributed to St. Maximilian Kolbe are the following words which it is said he pronounced at the height of the Nazi persecution: 'Hatred is not a creative force: Love alone is.'"
His comments had special meaning to me because of an experience I had back in 1951, when I was just a lad of seven. My father, an Army Reserve officer, was recalled to active duty and sent to Germany. My mom, my older brother and I joined him soon afterwards in Heidelberg where we lived "on the economy" in a fourth-floor, walk-up, cold-water flat on a little street called Schlosserestrasse -- quite a change from our nice, suburban home in Larchmont, NY. It was an interesting experience. I attended school in a tiny one-room schoolhouse run by Frau Scharmer, a lovely young teacher. As I recall there were about a dozen students, and I was one of two Americans. The other was a girl of eight -- an older woman. I avoided her.
This was in 1951-52, so the war was by no means a distant memory. Germany, along with much of the rest of Europe, was still digging out from under the rubble and, with the help of the Marshall Plan, was rebuilding its devastated infrastructure and at the same time building a new nation.
My father, who believed that a person learned as well from experience as from formal education, took us on frequent short trips to help us experience the country and its people. On one trip to Munich, he decided we should visit Dachau, one of the notorious concentration camps where so many perished. Some might think it cruel and abusive to take young children to such a place with its crematoria and mass graves and bleak barracks, but believe me I have often thanked my dad for the experience. Although many of my childhood memories are vague and indistinct, I can recall those few hours at Dachau with remarkable clarity. And if I learned anything from that day in Dachau it was the same lesson stressed by Pope Benedict: that hatred only destroys, and that God's love is the only true creative force.
It seems odd to me that Auschwitz and Dachau and the Gulags and 911 and the myriad other examples of man's capacity for hatred and cruelty lead so many people to question the existence of a loving God. To me these are instead proofs of it. Left to our own devices we would have destroyed ourselves long ago. It is only through the love and mercy of God that we are able to survive and overcome the effects of original sin . And such martyrs as Teresa and Maximilian and the countless others who preceded and followed them are beacons of hope to the world, outward manifestations of God's love and its power to transform us all...if only we let it.
Storm update: It would seem that Fay has wimped out...thanks be to God. We will likely get lots of needed rainfall, accompanied perhaps by some moderate winds -- just enough bad weather to intensify the grandchildren's cabin fever, but mild enough to keep us all safe and sound. Life is good. Being is good.
Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever...
Century martyrs, St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein) and St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, who both suffered martyrdom at the hands of the Nazis in Auschwitz, Poland. I was particularly struck by one the Holy Father's comments: "It would seem that their existence could be regarded as a defeat, but it is precisely in their martyrdom that the brilliance of Love shines which conquers the darkness of egoism and hatred. Attributed to St. Maximilian Kolbe are the following words which it is said he pronounced at the height of the Nazi persecution: 'Hatred is not a creative force: Love alone is.'"His comments had special meaning to me because of an experience I had back in 1951, when I was just a lad of seven. My father, an Army Reserve officer, was recalled to active duty and sent to Germany. My mom, my older brother and I joined him soon afterwards in Heidelberg where we lived "on the economy" in a fourth-floor, walk-up, cold-water flat on a little street called Schlosserestrasse -- quite a change from our nice, suburban home in Larchmont, NY. It was an interesting experience. I attended school in a tiny one-room schoolhouse run by Frau Scharmer, a lovely young teacher. As I recall there were about a dozen students, and I was one of two Americans. The other was a girl of eight -- an older woman. I avoided her.
This was in 1951-52, so the war was by no means a distant memory. Germany, along with much of the rest of Europe, was still digging out from under the rubble and, with the help of the Marshall Plan, was rebuilding its devastated infrastructure and at the same time building a new nation.
My father, who believed that a person learned as well from experience as from formal education, took us on frequent short trips to help us experience the country and its people. On one trip to Munich, he decided we should visit Dachau, one of the notorious concentration camps where so many perished. Some might think it cruel and abusive to take young children to such a place with its crematoria and mass graves and bleak barracks, but believe me I have often thanked my dad for the experience. Although many of my childhood memories are vague and indistinct, I can recall those few hours at Dachau with remarkable clarity. And if I learned anything from that day in Dachau it was the same lesson stressed by Pope Benedict: that hatred only destroys, and that God's love is the only true creative force.
It seems odd to me that Auschwitz and Dachau and the Gulags and 911 and the myriad other examples of man's capacity for hatred and cruelty lead so many people to question the existence of a loving God. To me these are instead proofs of it. Left to our own devices we would have destroyed ourselves long ago. It is only through the love and mercy of God that we are able to survive and overcome the effects of original sin . And such martyrs as Teresa and Maximilian and the countless others who preceded and followed them are beacons of hope to the world, outward manifestations of God's love and its power to transform us all...if only we let it.Storm update: It would seem that Fay has wimped out...thanks be to God. We will likely get lots of needed rainfall, accompanied perhaps by some moderate winds -- just enough bad weather to intensify the grandchildren's cabin fever, but mild enough to keep us all safe and sound. Life is good. Being is good.
Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever...
Monday, August 18, 2008
Storms, Papal Fur...
Imagine being stuck in a relatively modest retirement home with four grandchildren aged 1 to 7 awaiting the arrival of a tropical storm (and possible hurricane). Well, that's exactly the position I'm in. The youngest (Eduardo) is taking a nap while the other three watch some strange cartoon DVD. Mom and Grandma are out shopping for the staples needed to replenish the larder before the storm arrives. And I'm sitting in my comfortable overstuffed chair typing away while listening to Handel on my noise-canceling headphones. Somehow I can't picture our ancestors doing anything sim
ilar with a storm bearing down on them. Of course our ancestors wouldn't have known a storm was approaching until it was almost upon them. Which is worse, suffering through the week-long Weather Channel hype as the forecasters salivate over the possibility of reporting on another destructive storm, or being blindsided by a hurricane that seemingly comes out of the blue? Obviously the latter, but all the TV hype still irritates. And naturally we hope and pray that Fay changes course and either blows harmlessly out to sea or just peters out and simply provides our southern states with some needed rainfall. The photo shows the four little ones, obviously very nervous about the upcoming storm, gathered in that same comfortable, overstuffed chair.
Here's an interesting one that just reinforces the conviction that insanity reigns among a vocal if insignificant portion of the population. The animal "rights" folks in Italy petitioned Pope Benedict asking him to stop wearing any of the traditional papal fur-lined garments. Doing so would, they believe, be a sign of "love and peace to give a strong signal towards the protection of animals and the environment through a small but very significant personal sacrifice." (See CNS story.) But the best part is a response by Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo (Apostolic Nuncio Emeritus to Italy) : "There are human beings who merit more urgent assistance that no one is taking care of. And if we eat animals, we can wear them." Well said, Eminence.
Brief post today. Grandchildren call and hatches must be battened down.
Love the Lord and pray for His people.
ilar with a storm bearing down on them. Of course our ancestors wouldn't have known a storm was approaching until it was almost upon them. Which is worse, suffering through the week-long Weather Channel hype as the forecasters salivate over the possibility of reporting on another destructive storm, or being blindsided by a hurricane that seemingly comes out of the blue? Obviously the latter, but all the TV hype still irritates. And naturally we hope and pray that Fay changes course and either blows harmlessly out to sea or just peters out and simply provides our southern states with some needed rainfall. The photo shows the four little ones, obviously very nervous about the upcoming storm, gathered in that same comfortable, overstuffed chair.Here's an interesting one that just reinforces the conviction that insanity reigns among a vocal if insignificant portion of the population. The animal "rights" folks in Italy petitioned Pope Benedict asking him to stop wearing any of the traditional papal fur-lined garments. Doing so would, they believe, be a sign of "love and peace to give a strong signal towards the protection of animals and the environment through a small but very significant personal sacrifice." (See CNS story.) But the best part is a response by Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo (Apostolic Nuncio Emeritus to Italy) : "There are human beings who merit more urgent assistance that no one is taking care of. And if we eat animals, we can wear them." Well said, Eminence.
Brief post today. Grandchildren call and hatches must be battened down.
Love the Lord and pray for His people.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Grandchildren...and Interesting Things
Once again it's early morning, probably the only truly quiet time in our home...at least for a few weeks. You see, one of our daughters and four of our grandchildren are visiting us here in Florida and this makes for a more lively environment than Diane and I are used to. But we love every minute of it.
The little guys, three boys and one girl who range in age from 1 1/2 to 7, are a true joy and full of wonderful surprises. And what surprises me most are their differences. These four, tiny human beings, raised and nurtured by the same parents and spoiled by the same grandparents, have four completely different personalities. This can be only the outcome of an act of God, a God who revels in the variety of His creation. And they are such angelic little people that I sometimes find myself just staring at them in wonder and marveling at the simple fact of their existence. This, in itself, is proof enough for me that we are created by God and are not the products of some cosmic lottery, that we didn't evolve from some primordial slime. No, these beautiful children are not the mere accidents of an unthinking "nature"; rather they can be only the result of the conscious creation of a loving God. And for this we thank Him and praise Him.
And when these four little ones return home to Cape Cod, Diane and I will await the arrival of our other two equally beautiful grandchildren...soon, we hope.
A few more interesting things...
I facilitate a parish Bible study and in the course of it always seem to be apologizing for the arrogance expressed by some of our Catholic scriptural scholars who, blinded by their academic arrogance, seem to believe that they are so much smarter than St. Paul or St. Peter or the early Church Fathers. But some apparently believe they are even smarter than Jesus. Here's something I can across the other evening while browsing on Catholic World News:
The little guys, three boys and one girl who range in age from 1 1/2 to 7, are a true joy and full of wonderful surprises. And what surprises me most are their differences. These four, tiny human beings, raised and nurtured by the same parents and spoiled by the same grandparents, have four completely different personalities. This can be only the outcome of an act of God, a God who revels in the variety of His creation. And they are such angelic little people that I sometimes find myself just staring at them in wonder and marveling at the simple fact of their existence. This, in itself, is proof enough for me that we are created by God and are not the products of some cosmic lottery, that we didn't evolve from some primordial slime. No, these beautiful children are not the mere accidents of an unthinking "nature"; rather they can be only the result of the conscious creation of a loving God. And for this we thank Him and praise Him.
And when these four little ones return home to Cape Cod, Diane and I will await the arrival of our other two equally beautiful grandchildren...soon, we hope.
A few more interesting things...
I facilitate a parish Bible study and in the course of it always seem to be apologizing for the arrogance expressed by some of our Catholic scriptural scholars who, blinded by their academic arrogance, seem to believe that they are so much smarter than St. Paul or St. Peter or the early Church Fathers. But some apparently believe they are even smarter than Jesus. Here's something I can across the other evening while browsing on Catholic World News:
The Liturgical Press of Collegeville, Minnesota, whose lectionary commentaries are used across the USA, has this comment on the Gospel for June 21: "First-century Christians lived a simpler life....Jesus, however, could hardly imagine the pressures of a twenty-first century world."
You can almost hear the subtext struggling to break free from this ridiculous comment: Yes, if only Jesus could have appreciated the oh so difficult challenges we 21st century Christians face, I'm sure he wouldn't have been so unyielding in his teachings, so narrow in his views of morality. But Jesus was really just a simple country boy from Galilee so how can we expect him to have understood the subtle complexities of our more sophisticated lives today?
Such thinking will naturally lead to the rationalizing of...well, anything. We need only say that Jesus simply didn't understand, and that if He were alive today He would surely support __________ (fill in the blank). Of course, what this says about their belief in the eternal divinity of Jesus Christ is an entirely other matter.
Fortunately, we have a truly scholarly Pope who is unafraid to take on these so-called scholars. Pray for him.
Another interesting liturgical item is the latest directive from the Congregation for Divine Worship ruling that the Name of God, commonly rendered as "Yahweh," should not be pronounced in the Catholic liturgy. The new directive reminds bishops that in the Hebrew tradition, which the early Christians adopted, the faithful avoided pronouncing the Name of God., which "as an expression of the infinite greatness and majesty of God, it was held to be unpronounceable."
The directive states that authorized Catholic translations of the Bible reflect the Hebrew tradition and that liturgical language should adhere carefully to the Scriptural texts, so that the Word of God is "conserved and transmitted in an integral and faithful manner."
The ruling requires no changes in the language of liturgy, since the Name of God is not spelled out in any authorized translation of the Roman Missal; however some hymns will obviously be inappropriate for liturgical use. Let's hope our liturgists and music directors can cope.
It is, of course, a wonderful ruling if only because it reminds the faithful of the majesty of our God, the Creator of all existence. Praise Him.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Olympics, translations, good Knights, Roman birthdays...
I've become one of those people who greets the Olympic games with a yawn. I wasn't always that way. I can recall being glued to the TV screen, fascinated by the enthusiasm and spirit of the amateur athletes who once competed in these games. In those days -- 30 or more years ago -- they all seemed happy just to be there. I hope it's still that way for most of today's Olympic athletes, but I somehow doubt it. Something has happened along the way. The Olympics have become as professional as the NFL and NBA. With the exception of those who compete in the few obscure sports that lack the following needed for sponsors and media attention, many Olympic athletes are now paid professionals and many of these are very highly paid indeed. The members of our basketball, tennis, hockey, and volleyball teams are all professionals, as are many of our track and field athletes. Somehow I find it difficult to cheer wildly for a team of millionaires as they compete against some third-world team that had to scrape together the money for their airfare.
Remember the Jamaican bobsled team? How could anyone root against those guys? And what about the "miracle on ice," the remarkable victories of the United States ice hockey team over the Soviet Union and Finland in 1980? Although some members on that team went on to play in the NHL, they were just college kids at the time, playing for the love of the sport. I'm afraid those days are gone forever. Of course we do have Lopez Lomong, the US flag bearer from the Sudan, Michael Phelps, Dara Torres, and the other swimmers...
The other thing that bothers me about the Olympics are the accompanying ceremonies that
increasingly resemble pagan or new age religious rites. One can only pray that one day the entire world will have as much respect for the Eucharist as it seems to have for the Olympic torch.
Enough grumbling, or I'll risk turning into a curmudgeon. Anyway, I won't have time to watch much of this year's summer Olympics since our elder daughter and four of our grandchildren arrive Wednesday. I'll have better, un-curmudgeonlike things to do.
And speaking of better things, I'm pleased to see that the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship has approved the new English translation of the Order of the Mass. From what I've read so far, it corrects many of the mistranslations found in the current Ordo Missae. It's also refreshing to read that Cardinal Arinze, the Prefect of the Congregation, does not want the changes made immediately, but explained that time is needed "for the pastoral preparation of priests, deacons and for appropriate catechesis of the lay faithful. It will likewise facilitate the devising of musical settings for parts of the Mass.” A nice change from the approach taken back in the 60s and 70s when major liturgical changes were introduced almost overnight with little or no catechesis. Some bishops and liturgists are, of course, upset about the revisions, even though their purpose is simply to ensure the English accurately reflects the Latin of the Roman Missal on which all translations are supposedly based. Read more about it here.
It is also good to see that some Catholic organizations still have the courage to support publicly the Catholic Church's teaching on so-called "controversial" issues. The Knights of Columbus, at their supreme convention in Quebec City, approved resolutions calling for the legal protection of marriage and asking Catholics holding elected office to “be true” to their faith by acting “bravely and publicly in defense of life.” How sad that the Knights had to do this. How sad that so many Catholic politicians, judges and government policy makers reject Church teaching out of hand. And it's especially sad that we have regressed so far morally that such issues as the protection of innocent lives and Christian marriage have become "controversial." Click here for more on the Knights' convention.
But any sadness I feel is outweighed by joy because organizations like the Knights are willing to stand up publicly and tell our society to "Stop!" This is something we can all do. These life issues are not as complicated as some would have us believe. One need not be a physician or biologist to know that abortion is the wrongful taking of a human life. One need not be a sociologist or psychologist to know that same-sex marriage is simply not marriage. And one need not be a Christian to know these things. You and I and every human being knows them in our hearts because God has blessed us with Natural Law, the law that enables us to discern right from wrong, the law that governs our human nature. And so, don't fall prey to the obfuscations of the "experts" or the rationalizations of the politicians. Listen instead to your Church, a Church guided today, as it has always been, by the Holy Spirit. And pray for those who obstinately refuse to listen to and follow the Church's consistent and inerrant teachings on faith and morals.
Note on our upcoming trip to Rome: The mad planner (that is I) has struck again. In addition to the papal audience and the tour of the excavations under St. Peter Basilica, I have also booked a tour of the Vatican Gardens and a combined tour of the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.
We visited the Museum and Sistine Chapel back in 2000, but it's all far too much to take in on a single visit. But even with all these planned events, we'll still have time for good food, good wine, and good times.
I'll celebrate my sixty-fourth birthday while we're in Rome (September 13 - St. John Chrysostom) and in anticipation of this minor milestone could not help but recall the old Beatles' song. Remember the lyrics? "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm sixty-four?" When I posed this question to Diane today, she nodded, although a bit reluctantly it seemed to me. And so, I guess this means I'm good for another year. One more reason to praise God.
God's peace...
Remember the Jamaican bobsled team? How could anyone root against those guys? And what about the "miracle on ice," the remarkable victories of the United States ice hockey team over the Soviet Union and Finland in 1980? Although some members on that team went on to play in the NHL, they were just college kids at the time, playing for the love of the sport. I'm afraid those days are gone forever. Of course we do have Lopez Lomong, the US flag bearer from the Sudan, Michael Phelps, Dara Torres, and the other swimmers...The other thing that bothers me about the Olympics are the accompanying ceremonies that
increasingly resemble pagan or new age religious rites. One can only pray that one day the entire world will have as much respect for the Eucharist as it seems to have for the Olympic torch.Enough grumbling, or I'll risk turning into a curmudgeon. Anyway, I won't have time to watch much of this year's summer Olympics since our elder daughter and four of our grandchildren arrive Wednesday. I'll have better, un-curmudgeonlike things to do.
And speaking of better things, I'm pleased to see that the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship has approved the new English translation of the Order of the Mass. From what I've read so far, it corrects many of the mistranslations found in the current Ordo Missae. It's also refreshing to read that Cardinal Arinze, the Prefect of the Congregation, does not want the changes made immediately, but explained that time is needed "for the pastoral preparation of priests, deacons and for appropriate catechesis of the lay faithful. It will likewise facilitate the devising of musical settings for parts of the Mass.” A nice change from the approach taken back in the 60s and 70s when major liturgical changes were introduced almost overnight with little or no catechesis. Some bishops and liturgists are, of course, upset about the revisions, even though their purpose is simply to ensure the English accurately reflects the Latin of the Roman Missal on which all translations are supposedly based. Read more about it here.
It is also good to see that some Catholic organizations still have the courage to support publicly the Catholic Church's teaching on so-called "controversial" issues. The Knights of Columbus, at their supreme convention in Quebec City, approved resolutions calling for the legal protection of marriage and asking Catholics holding elected office to “be true” to their faith by acting “bravely and publicly in defense of life.” How sad that the Knights had to do this. How sad that so many Catholic politicians, judges and government policy makers reject Church teaching out of hand. And it's especially sad that we have regressed so far morally that such issues as the protection of innocent lives and Christian marriage have become "controversial." Click here for more on the Knights' convention.
But any sadness I feel is outweighed by joy because organizations like the Knights are willing to stand up publicly and tell our society to "Stop!" This is something we can all do. These life issues are not as complicated as some would have us believe. One need not be a physician or biologist to know that abortion is the wrongful taking of a human life. One need not be a sociologist or psychologist to know that same-sex marriage is simply not marriage. And one need not be a Christian to know these things. You and I and every human being knows them in our hearts because God has blessed us with Natural Law, the law that enables us to discern right from wrong, the law that governs our human nature. And so, don't fall prey to the obfuscations of the "experts" or the rationalizations of the politicians. Listen instead to your Church, a Church guided today, as it has always been, by the Holy Spirit. And pray for those who obstinately refuse to listen to and follow the Church's consistent and inerrant teachings on faith and morals.
Note on our upcoming trip to Rome: The mad planner (that is I) has struck again. In addition to the papal audience and the tour of the excavations under St. Peter Basilica, I have also booked a tour of the Vatican Gardens and a combined tour of the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.
We visited the Museum and Sistine Chapel back in 2000, but it's all far too much to take in on a single visit. But even with all these planned events, we'll still have time for good food, good wine, and good times.I'll celebrate my sixty-fourth birthday while we're in Rome (September 13 - St. John Chrysostom) and in anticipation of this minor milestone could not help but recall the old Beatles' song. Remember the lyrics? "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm sixty-four?" When I posed this question to Diane today, she nodded, although a bit reluctantly it seemed to me. And so, I guess this means I'm good for another year. One more reason to praise God.
God's peace...
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Temporal Bias
A few months ago, while conducting a brief, overview course on the history of the Catholic Church for catechists and Catholic school teachers, I asked the general question: "Is the world a better place today than it was in earlier times?" The responses from the class were -- at least to me -- somewhat surprising. Virtually everyone answered, "Yes." (As I recall, among the 20 plus participants there was only one dissenting voice.) When I probed more deeply, it became evident that, for some, their answers were largely influenced by humanity's tremendous technological progress during the past century. But an equal number based their responses on the idea that today we are wiser, more knowledgeable, more compassionate, even more intelligent than those who preceded us.
I will accept that the question as I phrased it was somewhat ambiguous, but I assumed that the setting -- a class on Church history -- would have some influence on their thinking. Apparently not. When I asked for specifics to support their beliefs, I received only generalities in reply. One person, however, did call upon the Second Vatican Council as evidence that the modern world is a wiser and more enlightened world. She believed that the Council fathers had displayed a degree of compassion, tolerance, and wisdom absent from the Church's previous general councils. "Unlike the other councils, they didn't get all wrapped up in heresy and hierarchy," she added.
At that point I reminded her that Pope John XXIII and the Council fathers had explicitly declared their acceptance of the decisions of all previous councils, that in Pope John's words, "...it is necessary first of all that the Church should never depart from the sacred patrimony of truth received from the Fathers." I then reminded her that Vatican II was both a call to holiness -- a renewal of the Church's inner life -- and a call to engage in a dynamic dialog with a world that had become increasingly secular, irreligious and violent. Neither comment solicited much more than a raised eyebrow. Eventually I had to pull out my copy of the Documents of Vatican II and read a few relevant passages to her. She later admitted that she had never actually read any of the Council's documents. (The Vatican's website has all 16 documents online - click here.)
It's sad that here we are over 40 years after the Council and very few of the faithful have read any of these wonderful texts. Pope John Paul, commenting on the Council, wrote, "Through the whole experience of the Council we have contracted a debt toward the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ who speaks to the churches." It is apparently a debt that has largely gone unpaid through our ignorance of what the Council actually taught. I can recall one commentator (I've forgotten who) comparing this to the Gospel passage describing the talents being buried (Mt 25:18).
But back to my original concern: the apparent popularity of the idea that we've built a better world than that of our predecessors. Now, it seems to me (and if you want to argue this conclusion of mine, I'd love to hear from you), that we are by no means better off than those who lived in earlier times. Of course, one's view of this will depend on one's concept of what it means to be "better off." If the sole criterion is material or physical well-being, then perhaps you can make a case for the present; but even then I'd argue that much of the world's population benefits little, if at all, from most of our technological advances. And then there's the pesky presence of all those modern wars, not to mention the ideologically based oppression of hundreds of millions by totalitarian regimes.
Indeed, it's pretty much agreed that more people died as a direct result of war and oppression during the past century than in all previous recorded history. That doesn't sound too compassionate to me. And then there's the loss of religious faith and a corresponding decrease in religious practice. In most European nations church attendance is near 10% or less and religion has been almost completely removed from the public square. Unfortunately, the United States isn't far behind. What Max Picard in 1934 called The Flight from God has become a reality. Christendom is gone and has taken Christian morality with it. We now murder our unwanted, unborn children by the tens of millions, and consider "physician assisted suicide" a merciful act.
How can we as a people be better off when a growing number of us have turned our backs on God and His commandments? If we Christians believe "better off" means being closer to salvation, then it would seem, in one sense at least, that we live in the worst of times, not the best. I've come to believe that the basic cause of this belief that we are somehow better off (and smarter, kinder, and gentler) than those who went before us is a form of temporal bias that assumes a constant evolution on the part of humanity in all aspects of our lives; that is, all is "progress." Many have come to believe that, despite the evidence to the contrary, just as we have progressed technologically, we have also progressed in every other way. Of course such beliefs ignore the truths of history.
But don't be discouraged, because this is really good news. That's right, the good news is that you and I live in these challenging times, that God wants us in the here and now so we can take His Good News to our needy, confused world. Do you see how blessed we are to be given this mission? We are, in a sense, more like the Apostles than our immediate predecessors in that we must introduce (and in some instances, re-introduce) Jesus Christ to a pagan, materialistic world.
And let's never forget that Jesus Christ the King is in charge, so we need never fear. In the words of the Mexican Jesuit priest, Blessed Miguel Pro, as he faced death as a 20th Century martyr, "Viva Cristo Rey" -- Long live Christ the King. The above photo shows Fr. Pro just moments before he was shot by a firing squad.
God's peace...
I will accept that the question as I phrased it was somewhat ambiguous, but I assumed that the setting -- a class on Church history -- would have some influence on their thinking. Apparently not. When I asked for specifics to support their beliefs, I received only generalities in reply. One person, however, did call upon the Second Vatican Council as evidence that the modern world is a wiser and more enlightened world. She believed that the Council fathers had displayed a degree of compassion, tolerance, and wisdom absent from the Church's previous general councils. "Unlike the other councils, they didn't get all wrapped up in heresy and hierarchy," she added.
At that point I reminded her that Pope John XXIII and the Council fathers had explicitly declared their acceptance of the decisions of all previous councils, that in Pope John's words, "...it is necessary first of all that the Church should never depart from the sacred patrimony of truth received from the Fathers." I then reminded her that Vatican II was both a call to holiness -- a renewal of the Church's inner life -- and a call to engage in a dynamic dialog with a world that had become increasingly secular, irreligious and violent. Neither comment solicited much more than a raised eyebrow. Eventually I had to pull out my copy of the Documents of Vatican II and read a few relevant passages to her. She later admitted that she had never actually read any of the Council's documents. (The Vatican's website has all 16 documents online - click here.)It's sad that here we are over 40 years after the Council and very few of the faithful have read any of these wonderful texts. Pope John Paul, commenting on the Council, wrote, "Through the whole experience of the Council we have contracted a debt toward the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ who speaks to the churches." It is apparently a debt that has largely gone unpaid through our ignorance of what the Council actually taught. I can recall one commentator (I've forgotten who) comparing this to the Gospel passage describing the talents being buried (Mt 25:18).
But back to my original concern: the apparent popularity of the idea that we've built a better world than that of our predecessors. Now, it seems to me (and if you want to argue this conclusion of mine, I'd love to hear from you), that we are by no means better off than those who lived in earlier times. Of course, one's view of this will depend on one's concept of what it means to be "better off." If the sole criterion is material or physical well-being, then perhaps you can make a case for the present; but even then I'd argue that much of the world's population benefits little, if at all, from most of our technological advances. And then there's the pesky presence of all those modern wars, not to mention the ideologically based oppression of hundreds of millions by totalitarian regimes.
Indeed, it's pretty much agreed that more people died as a direct result of war and oppression during the past century than in all previous recorded history. That doesn't sound too compassionate to me. And then there's the loss of religious faith and a corresponding decrease in religious practice. In most European nations church attendance is near 10% or less and religion has been almost completely removed from the public square. Unfortunately, the United States isn't far behind. What Max Picard in 1934 called The Flight from God has become a reality. Christendom is gone and has taken Christian morality with it. We now murder our unwanted, unborn children by the tens of millions, and consider "physician assisted suicide" a merciful act.
How can we as a people be better off when a growing number of us have turned our backs on God and His commandments? If we Christians believe "better off" means being closer to salvation, then it would seem, in one sense at least, that we live in the worst of times, not the best. I've come to believe that the basic cause of this belief that we are somehow better off (and smarter, kinder, and gentler) than those who went before us is a form of temporal bias that assumes a constant evolution on the part of humanity in all aspects of our lives; that is, all is "progress." Many have come to believe that, despite the evidence to the contrary, just as we have progressed technologically, we have also progressed in every other way. Of course such beliefs ignore the truths of history.
But don't be discouraged, because this is really good news. That's right, the good news is that you and I live in these challenging times, that God wants us in the here and now so we can take His Good News to our needy, confused world. Do you see how blessed we are to be given this mission? We are, in a sense, more like the Apostles than our immediate predecessors in that we must introduce (and in some instances, re-introduce) Jesus Christ to a pagan, materialistic world.And let's never forget that Jesus Christ the King is in charge, so we need never fear. In the words of the Mexican Jesuit priest, Blessed Miguel Pro, as he faced death as a 20th Century martyr, "Viva Cristo Rey" -- Long live Christ the King. The above photo shows Fr. Pro just moments before he was shot by a firing squad.
God's peace...
Friday, August 8, 2008
Going to Rome!
Diane (my beautiful and wonderful wife of 40 years) and I have decided to make another pilgrimage to Rome. We'll spend ten days in the eternal city next month. This wasn't something we had planned, but was (for us, at least) somewhat of a snap decision.
It all began a few days ago when I received an email from British Air touting some remarkably low airfares to Europe. The catch? To take advantage of the sale I had only 48 hours to book the flights. We gave it a few seconds of serious consideration and then closed the deal. Of course when one adds up all the additional expenses -- hotel, meals, local transportation, shopping and the rest -- and factors in the weak dollar, the overall cost of the trip well exceeds what we can afford. But we're not getting any younger...
On our last visit to Rome, back in 2005, Diane and I stayed at the Hotel Nazionale, a nice hotel next door to the Italian Parliament building in Piazza Montecitorio, and only a short walk from the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. It was a great location for doing all the touristy stuff one needs to do at least once in Rome. And we sure did it! The only drawback was its distance from the Vatican, a bit of a hike for this aging deacon and his bride. And so we usually took one of Rome's expensive cabs whose drivers must be certified as suicidal before they are issued a license.
Hoping to survive our upcoming trip, we decided to stay somewhere closer to St. Peter's. I had considered trying to book a room in one of the religious guest houses that surround the Vatican, but found that those with the highest recommendations were already fully booked. So we nosed around and made a reservation at a small hotel not far (less than a half-mile) from St. Peter's Square. It has the enticing name of The Vatican Garden Inn and seems to be the kind of place we like. It's located in what appears to be a reasonably quiet, residential neighborhood on via Germanico. We'll see. You can expect an online review shortly after our arrival. One nice amenity is free wireless internet throughout the hotel, so I should be able to blog daily.
Since Diane and I have never visited the excavations and the tomb of St. Peter beneath the basilica, I emailed the Vatican Excavations Office and made reservations for a tour. I also emailed the visitors office at the North American College and got tickets for the Wednesday general papal audience. On our last visit we were fortunate to be seated up on the steps only a few yards from Pope Benedict. I hope we'll be equally fortunate this time around. I'd also like to visit the Vatican Gardens and the Vatican Museum-Sistine Chapel, so I'd better get busy and line up the tours.
On our first visit to Rome in 2000, while on a Jubilee Year pilgrimage with hundreds of other deacons and their wives, Diane and I had the unexpected pleasure of encountering the then Cardinal Jo
seph Ratzinger on the streets of Rome. We were walking back to the Vatican after a pleasant lunch with our Polish friend, Father Adam Domanski, when Father Adam, in his usual understated way, glanced up and said, "Now there's a rather important man in the Church." I recognized his Eminence immediately and, as probably the ugliest of "ugly Americans," I simply accosted him right there on the street. Being a man of extraordinary kindness, he stopped and spent several minutes with us. I thanked him for his books and he thanked me for my ministry as a deacon. We spoke briefly about our son, who was then still a seminarian, and Diane's work as a teacher in a Catholic elementary school. And then I asked Fr. Adam to take our picture. You can observe the result. Anyway, I don't suppose it's very likely that we'll run into him again, at least not on the street.
As you can no doubt tell, we're looking forward to our trip. Being an unrepentant planner, I have lots to do before we board that plane at Orlando International. How wonderful that we can make such a trip so easily today. And how my grandparents would have marveled at the very idea of flying to Rome in just a few hours. Yes, being is good! And being alive today is especially good; for today is where God has placed us. Praise Him!
It all began a few days ago when I received an email from British Air touting some remarkably low airfares to Europe. The catch? To take advantage of the sale I had only 48 hours to book the flights. We gave it a few seconds of serious consideration and then closed the deal. Of course when one adds up all the additional expenses -- hotel, meals, local transportation, shopping and the rest -- and factors in the weak dollar, the overall cost of the trip well exceeds what we can afford. But we're not getting any younger...
On our last visit to Rome, back in 2005, Diane and I stayed at the Hotel Nazionale, a nice hotel next door to the Italian Parliament building in Piazza Montecitorio, and only a short walk from the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. It was a great location for doing all the touristy stuff one needs to do at least once in Rome. And we sure did it! The only drawback was its distance from the Vatican, a bit of a hike for this aging deacon and his bride. And so we usually took one of Rome's expensive cabs whose drivers must be certified as suicidal before they are issued a license.
Hoping to survive our upcoming trip, we decided to stay somewhere closer to St. Peter's. I had considered trying to book a room in one of the religious guest houses that surround the Vatican, but found that those with the highest recommendations were already fully booked. So we nosed around and made a reservation at a small hotel not far (less than a half-mile) from St. Peter's Square. It has the enticing name of The Vatican Garden Inn and seems to be the kind of place we like. It's located in what appears to be a reasonably quiet, residential neighborhood on via Germanico. We'll see. You can expect an online review shortly after our arrival. One nice amenity is free wireless internet throughout the hotel, so I should be able to blog daily.
Since Diane and I have never visited the excavations and the tomb of St. Peter beneath the basilica, I emailed the Vatican Excavations Office and made reservations for a tour. I also emailed the visitors office at the North American College and got tickets for the Wednesday general papal audience. On our last visit we were fortunate to be seated up on the steps only a few yards from Pope Benedict. I hope we'll be equally fortunate this time around. I'd also like to visit the Vatican Gardens and the Vatican Museum-Sistine Chapel, so I'd better get busy and line up the tours.
On our first visit to Rome in 2000, while on a Jubilee Year pilgrimage with hundreds of other deacons and their wives, Diane and I had the unexpected pleasure of encountering the then Cardinal Jo
seph Ratzinger on the streets of Rome. We were walking back to the Vatican after a pleasant lunch with our Polish friend, Father Adam Domanski, when Father Adam, in his usual understated way, glanced up and said, "Now there's a rather important man in the Church." I recognized his Eminence immediately and, as probably the ugliest of "ugly Americans," I simply accosted him right there on the street. Being a man of extraordinary kindness, he stopped and spent several minutes with us. I thanked him for his books and he thanked me for my ministry as a deacon. We spoke briefly about our son, who was then still a seminarian, and Diane's work as a teacher in a Catholic elementary school. And then I asked Fr. Adam to take our picture. You can observe the result. Anyway, I don't suppose it's very likely that we'll run into him again, at least not on the street.As you can no doubt tell, we're looking forward to our trip. Being an unrepentant planner, I have lots to do before we board that plane at Orlando International. How wonderful that we can make such a trip so easily today. And how my grandparents would have marveled at the very idea of flying to Rome in just a few hours. Yes, being is good! And being alive today is especially good; for today is where God has placed us. Praise Him!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Thanks be to God: A Beautiful Morning; A Wonderful Pope
It's another beautiful morning...I think. It's 5 a.m. and still quite dark outside, but here in central Florida most days are beautiful so I'll just assume today will be as well.
A little while ago I heard the garbage truck pass by as it collected our trash and that of our neighbors from the curbside. Every day these men awake long before dawn and spend the early morning hours carting off the refuse of our lives. It's not only a messy, dirty job, but it's also a thankless job. Oh, they get paid for their work, but unlike others who help us function in this rather complex society we've created, trash collectors are rarely thanked by those they serve. I know I've never thanked one personally. I've never stood outside in the darkness and waited for their truck so I could tell them how much I appreciate them for doing their so necessary work. Maybe I'll do just that one of these Tuesday or Friday mornings...but in the meantime, I'll say a prayer of thanks for all those who, like our trash collectors, take care of our daily needs.
The director of my home diocese's permanent diaconate office sent each deacon a copy of a booklet (Origins published by the Catholic News Service and the US Bishops) containing all of Pope Benedict's addresses and homilies during his recent visit to the US. Although I had already listened to or read most of them, I began to reread them this morning. How blessed we are that the Holy Spirit chose Benedict to be our Holy Father!
The first address listed, Pope Benedict's address to the US Bishops at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on April 16, is filled with wisdom, and we can only hope and pray that our bishops listened well.
Benedict began by praising the Church in the United States, thanking us for our generosity and remarking on the deep faith and religious spirit exhibited by so many American Catholics. But then he issued some warnings related to the growing but "subtle influence of secularism" that leads people to compartmentalize their religious and secular lives. "Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted," Benedict warned, "Only when their faith permeates every aspect of their lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming power of the Gospel."
Oh, yes, it's good to be reminded of this from time to time. If I ask myself, "Does my faith permeate every aspect of my life?" I can only answer, "No." And I suspect I'm not much different from anyone else who might be reading this.
The Holy Father then cautioned the bishops about the dangers of materialism and its impact on our society. "It is easy," he told them, "to be entranced by the almost unlimited possibilities that science and technology place before us; it is easy to make the mistake of thinking we can obtain by our own efforts the fulfillment of our deepest needs. This is an illusion. Without God, who alone bestows upon us what we by ourselves cannot attain, our lives are ultimately empty." And there are certainly many empty lives out there today, lives that are (in the words of the popular song) "looking for love in all the wrong places."
Benedict then encouraged his brother bishops to take the lead in reminding the people of God to "cultivate a relationship with him who came that we might have life in abundance." At this point in his address he added something that I believe every priest, every deacon, every catechist must be reminded of: "The goal of all our pastoral and catechetical work, the object of our preaching and the focus of our sacramental ministry should be to help people establish and nurture that living relationship with Christ Jesus, our hope." Once again, I am chastised and humbled by Benedict as he reminds me of the many times I have not done this. One of my ministries down here is conducting courses for the diocesan certification of catechists and Catholic school teachers. In the future I will be sure to emphasize this goal as articulated by our Holy Father.
He went on to issue another warning, this one aimed at those who have fallen prey to the individualism we encounter in both our Church and the society as a whole. "...it is easy to lose sight," Benedict said, "of our dependence on others as well as the responsibilities we bear toward them." As president (and flunky) of a local soup kitchen I see evidence of this almost daily. Perhaps we Christians should begin each day by reading Matthew 25:31-46, the only place in Scripture where the last judgment is described in any detail. It's especially interesting to note how Jesus will judge us (and what he doesn't mention). If we truly believed these words of Jesus, would we lead our lives any differently?
Then, addressing the impact of individualism in the Church, the Pope noted how it is "...giving rise to a form of piety which sometimes emphasizes our private relationship with God at the expense of our calling to be members of a redeemed community...We were created as social beings who find fulfillment only in love -- for God and for our neighbor."
That's enough for now. I'll try to include more of my thoughts on Pope Benedict's address to the U. S. Bishops in the next post. Click here for his complete address which I recommend reading.
Oh, yes, one more thing. Our elder daughter took her four little ones to a Boston Pops concert in the park this past weekend. It was a hot summer evening, and as the kids listened to the music and ate popcorn a photographer for the local newspaper snapped a photo of the three eldest (left to right: ages 5, 7 and 4). I love the picture so much it's this week's wallpaper on my PC. Indeed, it's just one more reason to say "Being is Good" -- Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.
A little while ago I heard the garbage truck pass by as it collected our trash and that of our neighbors from the curbside. Every day these men awake long before dawn and spend the early morning hours carting off the refuse of our lives. It's not only a messy, dirty job, but it's also a thankless job. Oh, they get paid for their work, but unlike others who help us function in this rather complex society we've created, trash collectors are rarely thanked by those they serve. I know I've never thanked one personally. I've never stood outside in the darkness and waited for their truck so I could tell them how much I appreciate them for doing their so necessary work. Maybe I'll do just that one of these Tuesday or Friday mornings...but in the meantime, I'll say a prayer of thanks for all those who, like our trash collectors, take care of our daily needs.
The director of my home diocese's permanent diaconate office sent each deacon a copy of a booklet (Origins published by the Catholic News Service and the US Bishops) containing all of Pope Benedict's addresses and homilies during his recent visit to the US. Although I had already listened to or read most of them, I began to reread them this morning. How blessed we are that the Holy Spirit chose Benedict to be our Holy Father!The first address listed, Pope Benedict's address to the US Bishops at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on April 16, is filled with wisdom, and we can only hope and pray that our bishops listened well.
Benedict began by praising the Church in the United States, thanking us for our generosity and remarking on the deep faith and religious spirit exhibited by so many American Catholics. But then he issued some warnings related to the growing but "subtle influence of secularism" that leads people to compartmentalize their religious and secular lives. "Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted," Benedict warned, "Only when their faith permeates every aspect of their lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming power of the Gospel."
Oh, yes, it's good to be reminded of this from time to time. If I ask myself, "Does my faith permeate every aspect of my life?" I can only answer, "No." And I suspect I'm not much different from anyone else who might be reading this.
The Holy Father then cautioned the bishops about the dangers of materialism and its impact on our society. "It is easy," he told them, "to be entranced by the almost unlimited possibilities that science and technology place before us; it is easy to make the mistake of thinking we can obtain by our own efforts the fulfillment of our deepest needs. This is an illusion. Without God, who alone bestows upon us what we by ourselves cannot attain, our lives are ultimately empty." And there are certainly many empty lives out there today, lives that are (in the words of the popular song) "looking for love in all the wrong places."
Benedict then encouraged his brother bishops to take the lead in reminding the people of God to "cultivate a relationship with him who came that we might have life in abundance." At this point in his address he added something that I believe every priest, every deacon, every catechist must be reminded of: "The goal of all our pastoral and catechetical work, the object of our preaching and the focus of our sacramental ministry should be to help people establish and nurture that living relationship with Christ Jesus, our hope." Once again, I am chastised and humbled by Benedict as he reminds me of the many times I have not done this. One of my ministries down here is conducting courses for the diocesan certification of catechists and Catholic school teachers. In the future I will be sure to emphasize this goal as articulated by our Holy Father.
He went on to issue another warning, this one aimed at those who have fallen prey to the individualism we encounter in both our Church and the society as a whole. "...it is easy to lose sight," Benedict said, "of our dependence on others as well as the responsibilities we bear toward them." As president (and flunky) of a local soup kitchen I see evidence of this almost daily. Perhaps we Christians should begin each day by reading Matthew 25:31-46, the only place in Scripture where the last judgment is described in any detail. It's especially interesting to note how Jesus will judge us (and what he doesn't mention). If we truly believed these words of Jesus, would we lead our lives any differently?
Then, addressing the impact of individualism in the Church, the Pope noted how it is "...giving rise to a form of piety which sometimes emphasizes our private relationship with God at the expense of our calling to be members of a redeemed community...We were created as social beings who find fulfillment only in love -- for God and for our neighbor."
That's enough for now. I'll try to include more of my thoughts on Pope Benedict's address to the U. S. Bishops in the next post. Click here for his complete address which I recommend reading.
Oh, yes, one more thing. Our elder daughter took her four little ones to a Boston Pops concert in the park this past weekend. It was a hot summer evening, and as the kids listened to the music and ate popcorn a photographer for the local newspaper snapped a photo of the three eldest (left to right: ages 5, 7 and 4). I love the picture so much it's this week's wallpaper on my PC. Indeed, it's just one more reason to say "Being is Good" -- Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Welcome to "Being Is Good"
Well, now... here I am doing something I swore I'd never do: start my own blog. It's not like I don't have enough to do without the added pressure of regularly posting my thoughts on a website for all to see, assuming "all" (or a tiny percentage thereof) are actually interested. But then something happened...a catalyst of sorts. Let me explain.
I live in a Florida retirement community...a very large one. And, like me, most of our parishioners are also retired. Demographically, then, our parishioners are older and relatively affluent. Anyway, this past Sunday, as I was chatting with a parishioner after Mass, he said something symptomatic of what I believe to be today's most common spiritual error. He claimed that retirement had been very difficult for him. He'd had an "important executive position with a major corporation" and it was hard for him to adjust to doing "almost nothing."
I asked if he'd spent any time thinking deeply about this apparent problem of his, and if so, had he drawn any conclusions. He replied that he didn't need to think about it; the problem was clear: "I used to be important, but now I'm not. I used to do important things but now I don't." He then added, "It's OK. I'll get used to it."
Now the usual response to such comments is to encourage the person to volunteer one or two days a week...you know, "Get involved in parish ministry! Become and usher, a catechist, a minister to the sick. Help out at the soup kitchen or the food pantry or hospice...but do something! Channel all that unused energy into something that will help you and help others."
This certainly isn't bad advice, but it really doesn't address the core problem. Although these ministries and volunteer activities are valuable, I can assure you that, at least in the mind of this parishioner, they will never match the importance of his pre-retirement job. They will always pale in comparison.
The reason is simple; and it relates to that most common spiritual error I alluded to above. This is the error of believing that our work -- and by this I mean our human work -- defines us, that the things we do to earn a living here on earth are the most important things we do.
How common is it? So common that it's a real challenge to find someone who doesn't believe it. And, sadly, this includes most Christians. Do you want proof? Just ask a parent, any parent, about his hopes for his children. The answer will likely relate to their worldly happiness and success: that they'll do well in school, or get into a good college, or marry "well", or enter a prestigious profession, or achieve fame, or simply make lots of money. The problem with centering one's life on such hopes is that, even in their realization, they never satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart. And as my parishioner friend has discovered in his retirement discontent, at some point worldly achievements become nothing more than memories. But more importantly, a life focused on worldly success cannot focus on its true end, the end for which that life was created. Man cannot serve two masters.
God didn't create us to achieve worldly success in this short earthly existence; he created us for a life of eternal happiness with Him. This doesn't mean we shouldn't enjoy this life. On the contrary. Life is meant to be savored and enjoyed in all its diverse abundance. Because life is good! Being is good!
This was brought home to me some years ago while attending a reception aimed at establishing ties between a Catholic college and the local business community. As I mingled self-consciously, I overheard a professor of English ask a nearby businessman, "And what do you do?" Without a moment's hesitation, the businessman replied, "I enjoy being." What a marvelous answer! I only wish I had heard the professor's response. But based on those three words, I suspect that if I had asked that businessman to relate his hopes for his children, he would have answered, "My hope for my children is that they get to heaven."
And so, that's what I'll be writing about...enjoying the gift of being (except when I write about something else) and helping God help us achieve salvation.
God's peace...
I live in a Florida retirement community...a very large one. And, like me, most of our parishioners are also retired. Demographically, then, our parishioners are older and relatively affluent. Anyway, this past Sunday, as I was chatting with a parishioner after Mass, he said something symptomatic of what I believe to be today's most common spiritual error. He claimed that retirement had been very difficult for him. He'd had an "important executive position with a major corporation" and it was hard for him to adjust to doing "almost nothing."
I asked if he'd spent any time thinking deeply about this apparent problem of his, and if so, had he drawn any conclusions. He replied that he didn't need to think about it; the problem was clear: "I used to be important, but now I'm not. I used to do important things but now I don't." He then added, "It's OK. I'll get used to it."
Now the usual response to such comments is to encourage the person to volunteer one or two days a week...you know, "Get involved in parish ministry! Become and usher, a catechist, a minister to the sick. Help out at the soup kitchen or the food pantry or hospice...but do something! Channel all that unused energy into something that will help you and help others."
This certainly isn't bad advice, but it really doesn't address the core problem. Although these ministries and volunteer activities are valuable, I can assure you that, at least in the mind of this parishioner, they will never match the importance of his pre-retirement job. They will always pale in comparison.
The reason is simple; and it relates to that most common spiritual error I alluded to above. This is the error of believing that our work -- and by this I mean our human work -- defines us, that the things we do to earn a living here on earth are the most important things we do.
How common is it? So common that it's a real challenge to find someone who doesn't believe it. And, sadly, this includes most Christians. Do you want proof? Just ask a parent, any parent, about his hopes for his children. The answer will likely relate to their worldly happiness and success: that they'll do well in school, or get into a good college, or marry "well", or enter a prestigious profession, or achieve fame, or simply make lots of money. The problem with centering one's life on such hopes is that, even in their realization, they never satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart. And as my parishioner friend has discovered in his retirement discontent, at some point worldly achievements become nothing more than memories. But more importantly, a life focused on worldly success cannot focus on its true end, the end for which that life was created. Man cannot serve two masters.
God didn't create us to achieve worldly success in this short earthly existence; he created us for a life of eternal happiness with Him. This doesn't mean we shouldn't enjoy this life. On the contrary. Life is meant to be savored and enjoyed in all its diverse abundance. Because life is good! Being is good!
This was brought home to me some years ago while attending a reception aimed at establishing ties between a Catholic college and the local business community. As I mingled self-consciously, I overheard a professor of English ask a nearby businessman, "And what do you do?" Without a moment's hesitation, the businessman replied, "I enjoy being." What a marvelous answer! I only wish I had heard the professor's response. But based on those three words, I suspect that if I had asked that businessman to relate his hopes for his children, he would have answered, "My hope for my children is that they get to heaven."
And so, that's what I'll be writing about...enjoying the gift of being (except when I write about something else) and helping God help us achieve salvation.
God's peace...
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