Tuesday, November 30, 2004

November 30, 2004

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the
road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that ooked like Mother of Pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold.

He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man
at a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out, "Excuse me, where are we?"

"This is Heaven, sir," the man answered.

"Wow! Would you happen to have some water?" the man asked.

"Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up." The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

"Can my friend," gesturing toward his dog, "come in, too?" the traveler asked.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets."

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a
dirt road which led through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been
closed. There was no fence.

As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and
reading a book.

"Excuse me!" he called to the reader."Do you have any water?"

"Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there."

The man pointed to a place that couldn't be seen from outside the gate.
"Come on in."

"How about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to the dog.

"There should be a bowl by the pump."

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old fashioned
hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveler filled the bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was
standing by the tree waiting for them.

"What do you call this place?" the traveler asked.

"This is Heaven," he answered.

"Well, that's confusing," the traveler said. "The man down the road said that was Heaven, too."

"Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's
Hell."

"Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?"

"No. I can see how you might think so, but we're just happy that they screen
out the folks who'll leave their best friends behind."

Today is the feast day of St. Andrew, the Apostle. Andrew, the brother of Peter.

In the Gospel today, Jesus calls Andrew and Peter to follow Him, much like he calls each of us in our own way.

As we begin the season of Advent, it's a good time to reflect on exactly what He's calling each of us to do. We're all called in a different way, but we all have the same goal, eternal life.

Like the man in the story, we have no idea what's waiting for us when we get to heaven, but we do know that God has a mansion prepared for every one of us. Advent is the season of preparation. We're getting ready for the birth of the Son of God. As Deacon Mike said on Sunday, for the next few weeks we're going to be bombarded with materialism. But as they say, Jesus is the reason for the season.

During the next four weeks there will be a lot of things competing for your attention. But the only thing that really matters is that little baby, born in a manger, a long, long time ago.



American Quality Management Mall

It's rare that something comes along that fits into a business blog and a religious blog, but this one fits. What in the world has happened to us? It's almost unimaginable that these statistics would be true, but they're from a reliable source. Read it and weep.

Laurie Jaramillo, President of Teamspringboard writes for the American Quality Mall:


"Recent surveys show the continued decline in ethics and workplace readiness of our graduating teens and young adults. Results of ethics surveys conducted at the high school level clearly indicate that an overwhelming majority of students lie, cheat and steal.

"Retailers who consistently utilize a young adult workforce, attribute an alarming 46% of their yearly losses to the unethical practices of their employees. Why are these young adults seemingly responsible for such large profit losses? Let’s look at some possible reasons. In a recent survey which included 25,000 employed high school students, 67% percent said they had cheated on exams, 27% admitted to stealing from their employer within the last 12 months and 40% said they would lie to be promoted or get a better job. They are confused and seem to have a misplaced notion that ethics have no place in the working world. Some honestly believe that if they lie, cheat and break the rules, they are more likely to succeed.

"Surprisingly, these students still believe they have good ethics. When asked to rate their character, the majority gave high appraisals of themselves, and rated their character higher than their peers."

So, what's the solution? According to Jaramillo, it's training. Specifically, it's ethics and workplace skills development. She says that increased job training can boost productivity as much as 22%. And, a focused approach that includes jobs skills, ethics, and behavior management, followed by on-going coaching, can increase productivity by nearly 90%.

What about the cost? "Keeping your employees honest, productive and living the company vision has dramatic effects on your bottom-line. The money spent on training is returned three fold with increased sales through productivity, decreased employee fraud, reduced absenteeism, improved communications and less employee turnover."

Read the entire article at: American Quality Management Mall

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Thanksgiving, 2004

In November, 1863, Abraham Lincoln wrote:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty


No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.

The Civil War was raging. Our new nation was in grave danger. Yet, President Lincoln made this proclamation to set aside a day for everyone to give thanks to God. In the midst of a terrible crisis, he thanked God for fruitful fields and healthful skies.

But, that wasn’t the first Thanksgiving. In 1789, the year of the signing of our Constitution, President Washington wrote:



Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor--and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be--That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.
and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions--to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness onto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Of course, this wasn’t the first Thanksgiving either. You probably think you have to go back to the 1500’s and the Plymouth colony for that one. That would be the first Thanksgiving celebrated on our continent. But to find the first one, you have to go back a lot farther than that, all the way back to Matthew’s Gospel.

On the night he was betrayed, he took bread and gave you thanks and praise. He broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:
“Take this, all of you, and eat it:
This is my body which will be given up for you.”

When supper was ended, he took the cup. Again he gave you thanks and praise,
Gave the cup to his disciples and said:
“Take this, all of you, and drink from it:
This is the cup of my blood.”

The word “Eucharist” is from the Greek Eucharisto, which means thanksgiving. Christ celebrated the first Thanksgiving in the upper room, the night before he suffered and died. Less than 24 hours before he would endure terrible pain and suffering, what did he do? He gave his Father thanks and praise. Later on, in the garden, he would ask God to take this cup from him, but “not my will, but thy will be done.”

That was the first Thanksgiving, and we celebrate it every time we gather around this altar to receive Christ’s Body and Blood in the Eucharist.

Unfortunately, our national day of Thanksgiving has lost a lot of its meaning. Many of us will spend the day eating, watching television, and making plans that rival the D-Day invasion in their complexity, deciding which store to go to first tomorrow morning. It will be a day of checking the ads to see who opens at 3:00 am, or 4:00 am, and who has the best bargains for the first 100 people through the door.

But no matter what our plans are for the rest of the day, we have this time to spend in thanks and praise to the one who gives us everything. Like President Lincoln, we can be thankful for all the good things in our lives, even if they aren’t exactly what we’d like them to be. Maybe our health could be better. But, hey, it could also be worse. Maybe we’ve had some financial reverses this year, but we’re definitely better off than a lot of others. And, we made it through another year. And in just a few minutes, we’ll share the real Thanksgiving Meal.

Thanks be to God.



Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Separation of Church and State and Other Fiction

While researching a homily for this Thursday, I came across George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation from 1789. It begins " Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits...."

This doesn't sound to me like someone who thought God should be completely removed from our vocabulary and from every public space. The Constitution prohibits the establishment of a "state religion" such as the Church of England, which the founders left behind when they came to the New World. It says nothing about "separation of church and state" because that's not what they had in mind. It's pretty clear that they understood that God can't be separated from anything since He created it all. You can read Washington's proclamation here.

Abraham Lincoln, in his 1863 Proclamation bagan with a discussion of all the blessings the nation had received in that year and said, " No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People. "

Read it here.

Monday, November 22, 2004

The Real Presense November 23, 2004

Has anyone ever heard of the town of Lanciano? Lanciano is a small town on the Adriatic Sea in Italy. It’s the site of the first recorded Eucharistic miracle.

In the year 700, a Basilian monk (that's Basilian, not Brazilian. There was no Brazil in 700) was having a crisis of faith. He had doubts about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. As time went on, his doubts grew and his priesthood faltered. In celebrating mass, he spoke the words of the consecration, but he was really just going through the motions. Fortunately, the words themselves perform the sacrament, not the priest’s attitude.

One morning, after saying the words, he was astonished to look down at the altar and see that the bread and wine had been transformed into actual flesh and blood. We believe that the bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ, but that they retain the appearance of bread and wine. Not this time. They were actual flesh and actual blood.

The monk began to weep. He called the members of the congregation to gather around the altar to witness what had happened. He told them that God had revealed Himself to them in order to cure the monk’s unbelief. As you can imagine, those present got very excited.

The blood coagulated into five individual globules, each of a different size. The archbishop sent a scale to weigh them, and it turned out that each one weighed the same as the others, in spite of the difference in their size. Every possible combination of two or more also weighed the same and the combined weight of all five was also the same. Church authorities authenticated the miracle.

The flesh and the blood were put into special containers but the containers weren’t sealed. Even so, they have not changed in over 1,300 years. In 1574, the church again permitted the weighing of the five globules of blood in the presence of witnesses. The results were the same as they had been in 700.

In 1970, Pope Paul VI permitted a series of scientific studies to be done on the relics. The studies were repeated in 1981 with newer, more advanced technology. Scientists concluded that the flesh is authentic, and that it is human heart tissue. The blood is also human, type AB, the same as the heart and the same as the blood found on the Shroud of Turin. The doctors concluded that no one living in the 8th century could have collected such a sample with the technology that existed at that time. Remember that these specimens have been unprotected from the elements since the year 700, and yet remain intact. There is no scientific explanation for any of this.

In a few minutes we’ll receive the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. Once again, we will have the opportunity to take the Body and Soul, Blood and Divinity of our Lord into our own bodies.

Obviously what happened at Lanciano was a miracle. But it was nowhere near the miracle that Christ performs every day in changing the bread and wine into His own Body and Blood. And you and I have the privilege of partaking in this heavenly food from this altar. Christ literally becomes part of us. That’s what He told us He would do and that’s what we, as Catholics, believe.

I think it’s ironic that so many people, including many Catholics don’t believe that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist. “How could he change himself into bread and wine? It’s impossible. He was just speaking figuratively at the last supper.”

These are the same people who believe that He changed water into wine at Cana. They believe that he fed the multitudes with a few fish and loaves of bread. They believe He healed the sick, made the blind see, and raised Lazurus from the dead. He calmed the wind and walked on water. HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD!

But, He can’t make himself present on the altar, in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. To me, that’s blasphemy. To think that there’s anything God can’t do is just too silly for words. He’s God! He created the universe! He can break any rule He wants to. He made the rules.

When we finish our service this morning, we will expose this Blessed Sacrament on the altar for Eucharistic Adoration. We will have an opportunity to spend as much time as we’d like in His Presence, meditating, praying, or just sitting here, absorbing the spiritual energy that comes from the Real Presence of Christ. This is something that our ancestors fought for and even died for. Please don’t take it for granted.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

St. Elizabeth of Hungary

November 17, 2004

Today we remember St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Elizabeth had an interesting, if short life. She was born in Hungary (hence the name) in 1207 and died just 24 years later. Her father was King Andrew II. Her brother would succeed his father, becoming King Bela IV.

In 1211, an embassy from Thuringia, which was part of present-day Germany, came to Hungary to arrange a marriage for Elizabeth and Herman, who was the heir to the Thuringian throne. Elizabeth was four years old. A short time later she was taken to Thuringia to be brought up with her future husband.

The court of Thuringia must have been quite a place. It was known for its magnificence. In spite of this, little Liz was a very religious child who liked to pray and make small acts of self-mortification. In 1213, when Elizabeth was only 6, her mother was murdered. In 1216, she was only 9 years old, her fiancé died. Imagine losing your fiancé when you’re in the 4th grade.

Not to worry, Hermann had a brother, Ludwig. She was betrothed to him. On the rebound at 9 years old.

Hermann and Ludwig’s father ran into some trouble and was excommunicated from the Church, lost his mind, and died in 1217. Elizabeth was still only ten. Things happened fast in the 13th century. Hermann took over his dad’s throne and in 1221, at age 14, Elizabeth became his wife. Ludwig was 21.

Ludwig was a good man and a good husband. The couple were devoted to one another. He gave his protection to her acts of charity, her penance, and her vigils. He was also a good ruler and soldier.

The couple had three children, a son Hermann, Jr, who died at age 19; a daughter Sophia; and a daughter Gertrude, who was born just weeks after her father’s death.

In the spring of 1226, floods, famine and pests were all over Thuringia. Hermann was in Italy at the Diet of Cremona. While he was gone, Elizabeth took over. Remember, she was still only 19. She distributed alms, even giving state robes and ornaments to the poor. She built a hospital under the castle with 28 beds and visited the patients daily. She helped 900 poor each day. When Ludwig came home, he confirmed everything that she had done.

The following year, Hermann went off on a crusade to Palestine. He died on September 11 from what the Catholic Encyclopedia calls “the pest”. The news didn’t make it back to Elizabeth until October, just after she had given birth to Gertrude. She cried out “The world with all its joys is now dead to me.”

I’m going to stop here for just a minute. I think most of you know my daughter, Megan. Actually, it’s Megan Elizabeth. She’ll be 19 in February, almost as old as St. Elizabeth at this point in the story. Megan is an incredibly strong little girl. (I know, she doesn’t think she’s a little girl, but I do). Anyway, she fought, and won a battle with a terrible illness when she was just 12 years old. It was a miracle. I know she had God’s help, and I have to think that St. Elizabeth must have had a hand it, too.

St. Elizabeth was a strong little girl, too. By age 20, she had given birth to three children and lost her mother and her husband. No wonder she thought the world and al its joys were dead to her.

In 1221, the Franciscans showed up in Germany for the first time. Brother Rodeger, one of the first Germans received into the Franciscan order was Elizabeth’s spiritual instructor. He taught her the ideals of St. Francis. With her help, Rodeger founded a monastery.

The Bishop of Bamberg, Elizabeth’s uncle, tried to arrange another marriage for Elizabeth but she and Hermann had made a vow that if one of them died, the other would not remarry. This all happened when she was just 20 years old. She received her inheritance from Hermann’s estate in 1228. She gave part of the money to the poor and on Good Friday of that year, she renounced the world. She joined the Third Order of St. Francis. That summer, she built a Franciscan hospital and dedicated herself entirely to the care of the sick, especially those suffering from the most loathsome diseases. Elizabeth ruined her own health and died at the age of 24.

I mentioned that I thought St. Elizabeth must have had a hand in the miracle of Megan’s recovery. Almost immediately after her death, miracles began to occur at Elizabeth’s gravesite, especially miracles of healing. At Pentacost in 1235, just 4 years after her death, she was canonized as “the greatest woman of the German middle ages” by Pope Gregory IX.

St. Elizabeth, Pray for us.

Secrets, Sins & Silence

Our local news(?)paper is currently running a series on the sex abuse scandal in the Church called Secrets, Sins & Silence. The series is getting national attention and has caused a lot of discussion on the Internet. One particular discussion which I have been involved in is located on another web log. I have been very surprised with the tone of the posts. There is little concern with helping the victims, but the main focus has been "nail the bishops".

There is a lot of anger, at least among this particular group. I have been making feeble attempts to stick up for the bishops, giving them at least the benefit of the doubt. Even if there were a few bad apples, there are people who want to tar and feather all of them, including the Pope. I made the comment that I believe, given the chance to do it all over again, that many people would have acted differently.

One member of the group replied that she didn't believe it. Following is my reply to her:

She wrote: "I like your optimism. I just don't share your opinion that if the church had the opportunity to do this over again that they would do things differently."

Why not? I assume that by "the church" you are referring to those bishops who allegedly acted improperly. Considering the nightmare this has become for all of us, I find it hard to believe that anyone from the Pope on down doesn't wish that all this had never happened. Considering the heat that all of the bishops are taking about this, I believe that with 20/20 hindsight, they would have acted differently. Think about it. They had nothing to gain by their actions, or lack thereof.

I find it hard to equate any of our bishops with cartoon bad guys. (She had said that the bishops remind her of the bad guys in a Scooby Doo cartoon. "We would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those darned kids." )I really don't think any of them thought they were "getting away with it." For whatever reason, misguided or not, I believe they thought they were doing the right thing, if not for the victim, then for the Church. Remember, I said "misguided or not". Some of them were misguided, either by trusted advisors or by their own consciences.

It's easy to be angry about all this. I'm as angry as anyone else. As I mentioned earlier, a member of my own parish committed suicide because he was abused by a priest who had dozens of victims.

Let me bore you with my experience. I was abused as an adolescent, not by a priest, but by another trusted adult. Over the years, I did what most victims do, which is to supress the memory. I really didn't give it much thought until just recently. The memories were triggered by the current situation. It was only then, after reading about the affect that abuse can have on a person that I realized that a lot of my own personality traits (the bad ones, not the good ones) can be attributed to the abuse. I've missed a lot in my life because I would never allow myself to trust anyone.

The point is that I, as a victim, had no idea how much damage had been done. It seems reasonable to me that someone who hasn't been abused, really has no clue. It doesn't surprise me that some bishops didn't understand the seriousness of what was happening on their watch. Remember, I'm not saying that they were right, just that they were misinformed.

As usual, this post is probably too long, but LW, let me just ask a question. When your 7 year old jumps off the couch, do you think he really intends to hurt his brother? Probably not. When he finds out that he has hurt his brother, do you think he's sorry? He is. Hopefully he's sorry because he loves his brother, not because he got caught and is going to be punished.

Child sexual abuse is a huge problem, not just in our church, but in society in general. We need a strong Church to lead the way in dealing with it. For your sake, and mine, I'd just like to see us deal with it as disciples of Christ, not as an angry mob.

We have to trust that the Holy Spirit will guide our leaders. I think there's a better chance of that happening if we pray for them, rather than condemning them.

Sunday, November 14, 2004

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Do you remember Iben Browning? In 1990, Iben Browning predicted that Southeast Missouri would be hit by a catastrophic earthquake. Not one other creditable scientist agreed with Browning’s prediction, but everybody within 500 miles of the New Madrid Fault went running to the store to buy flashlights and canned goods and bottled water.

I remember going to a meeting at Oakville High School. They gym was packed. Some emergency preparedness expert told us how we should bolt the hot water heater to the floor and that we could drink the water out of the back of the toilet in an emergency. Of course, nothing happened, except that the stores sold a lot of earthquake related “stuff.”

State Farm Insurance reported that they normally handled 50 applications per day for earthquake insurance, but that in the days leading up to the December prediction they were receiving 2,000 per day. On the other hand, the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, which is normally packed in December, was only 15% full in December, 1990. Depending on your business, the earthquake scare was either a good thing or a bad thing. By the way, Iben Browning was a PhD……in zoology.

December 10 came and went. Eventually we ate the canned goods and drank the water and put the flashlights away in a drawer somewhere.

The earthquake scare was a local thing. It involved just the midwestern states. Then there wasY2K. That was going to be a disaster of worldwide proportions. It was predicted that at midnight on December 23, 1999, airplanes would fall from the sky and cruise ships would run aground., Power plants were going to shut down and at least 20 states would be completely without power. Wal-Mart and K-Mart were going to have to close because their cash registers would be useless.

Some “experts” said that on January 2 the Dow would fall to 5,000 and that all government activity would come to a stop. There was supposed to be a run on the banks. There were rumors that the government was going to draft computer programmers. Stockpiling would lead to shortages of food, generators, camping supplies, canning supplies and food dehydrators.

There was supposed to be a severe shortage of paper because the government was going to be creating paper backups of all their computer files. It was said that all long-distance telephone service would break down and that the army would have to be called out because of food riots.

And, a lot of fundamentalist religious groups were sure that it was going to be the end of the world, the end time, the second coming.

Again, we went out and bought more canned goods and more bottled water. We bought more flashlights because we couldn’t find the ones we had bought nine years earlier.

Just like the earthquake scare ten years earlier, nothing happened. A lot of companies and consumers and the government spent a lot of money. Anybody who had anything to do with computers probably worked New Years Eve and New Years Day.

In today’s Gospel, the Apostles ask Jesus when the end of the world will be.
He answers,
"See that you not be deceived,
for many will come in my name, saying,
'I am he,' and 'The time has come.'
Do not follow them!
When you hear of wars and insurrections,
do not be terrified; for such things must happen first,
but it will not immediately be the end."

Nobody knows exactly when the end will come. Some think that wars, earthquakes, and hurricanes might be signs. They point to the strange weather we’ve had this year, the terrorist attacks, and the war in the Middle East. But, Jesus tells us in the Gospel that wars and insurrections must happen first, but not immediately before the end.

All we know is that we should be prepared. But are we? During the year, we get warnings all the time. Like today’s Gospel, Jesus warns us that the end will come at a time we least suspect it, like a thief in the night. How do we respond? Is our reaction the same as it was in 1990 and again in 2000? Do we get ourselves ready, maybe go to confession, and then as time passes, we just kind of forget the whole thing? Do we spiritually eat the canned goods and drink the bottled water and forget where we put the flashlight?

If Jesus were to walk into this church today and announce that the time had come, would we rush to get in line or would we try to sneak out the side door? We each have to answer that question for ourselves. Are we ready to meet Jesus, right now, today?

Each of us will meet Jesus face to face one day. For some of us it will be sooner rather than later. During the month of November we remember our loved ones who have died. We display the book of the dead on the altar. It contains the names of our brothers and sisters in the parish who have gone home to meet Jesus. We look forward to the day when we will join them. We pray that they were ready when the time came.

I imagine you heard the story of the four people who were killed on the M L King bridge Friday morning on their way to work. They didn’t know that that was going to be their day. I imagine they were looking forward to the weekend. I’m sure they had plans. But God had another plan. We pray that they were ready.

Sunday after next is the First Sunday of Advent, We’re at the end of the Church year. How will we prepare for Christ’s coming during the season of Advent? Jan pointed out to me the other morning that it’s time for me to put up the Christmas lights at home. That’s something that HAS TO be done. We HAVE TO put up a Christmas tree. We HAVE TO shop. There are parties that we HAVE go to.

We spend a lot of time planning and preparing for the holiday, but how much time do we spend getting ready for the actual event, the reason for the season? A week from this Tuesday is our monthly Eucharistic Adoration. It’s the last Tuesday before the beginning of Advent. It would be a good time to spend an hour in Christ’s presence, meditating on why He came to earth; why he suffered and why He died.

Spending one hour a month, quietly sitting in the Presence of Christ, would be a wonderful way to get ready for the start of Advent.

We also have the great gift of the sacrament of reconciliation. God knows that we’re sinners. He knows that we’re going to make mistakes. He doesn’t need for us to tell Him what we’ve done. He knows. But, out of His unconditional love, he has given us a way to confess our sins and start over with a clean slate. How great is that!? God gives us a do-over. Not just once, but as often as we want to take advantage of it so we can be ready when His Son comes.

If you haven’t been for a while, the season of Advent is the perfect time. It’s really not difficult to be ready to meet the Son of God. We don’t have to do anything spectacular, all we have to do is stay on course. He tells us today, “By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Veteran's Day

November 11, 2004

This is the story of an 18 year old boy from Philadelphia and a 15 year old girl from North Carolina. The events that took place on June 6, 1944 would eventually bring them together.

On D-Day plus 50 days in late July, the young man, in the 90th Infantry Division, 359th Infantry Regiment, came under heavy fire on a hillside near St. Lo, just southeast of the D-Day beaches.

When enemy machine guns pinned down his platoon and killed its lieutenant
Joe charged out and, despite several wounds, kept firing and tossing grenades.
''He was then shot in the foot, the leg and the lower back, yet managed to keep running ... (and) single-handedly killed every last German soldier who manned those emplacements and in so doing saved his entire platoon.''

He was left for dead but was found a couple of days later, unconscious.
He awoke ''four months later in an Army hospital bed in St. Lo with a Silver Star and a Purple Heart with two oak leaf clusters pinned to his pillow.''

He returned to the United States for recuperation, re-enlisted and was sent to a military hospital at Mitchel Field in Hempstead, Long Island, N.Y.

That’s where he met a young WAC, the girl from North Carolina. They fell in love and married on April 2, 1946.
They later moved to Philadelphia, had two children, Joey and a younger daughter, Nancy, and tried to build a postwar life.

But the war would never end for the couple. He continued to have nightmares about the war and at the age of 39 he suffered a stroke that left him unable to speak.

Joe’s son tells of the time, when he was very young, when he woke to see his father running down the upstairs hall, banging into the wall, and falling to the floor as if he was firing a machine gun. He remembers, ''My mother was chasing behind him and at the very top of the steps on the second floor going down, I peeked out of my room and my mother was holding him in her arms and rocking him.

Joe died Jan. 27, 2001. Lillie died nine months later on Oct. 23. After 55 years of marriage, their torment was finally over. At the end, Lilly had diabetes and could barely see, but still she cared for Joe.

This story is from a book called “GI Joe and Lilly” written by their son, Joe Bonsall of the Oak Ridge Boys. He also wrote a song of the same name. It ends:

SOMEDAY THEY'LL REST IN ARLINGTON
NEATH' THE RED, THE WHITE AND BLUE
SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS
WHEN THEIR JOURNEY HERE IS THROUGH
AN AMERICAN LOVE STORY
NOT UNLIKE A LOT OF OTHERS
EXCEPT THAT G.I. JOE & LILLIE
IS MY FATHER AND MY MOTHER

Today, Joe and Lilly Bonsall do rest at Arlington Cemetery like so many other veterans. Thousands more lie at rest just behind us at Jefferson Barracks. But Veterans’ Day isn’t just about those who made the supreme sacrifice. It’s a day to remember and thank the living veterans who have done so much to keep our land free.

There are over 4 million WWII veterans alive today, more than 8 million who served in Viet Nam, nearly 6 million veterans of the Korean War, and over 2 million from Desert Storm/Desert Shield and the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are also almost a million men and women who still serve in those two countries.

Originally Veterans Day was called Armistice Day and was set aside to commemorate the end of WWI on November 11, 1908. Over the years it has changed its name and its purpose. For a while the date was changed to give people a three day weekend, but has since been moved back to the original date.

In the original act, approved May 13, 1938, the Senate wrote:

“WHERAS it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations…”

How about that! The Senate, with the agreement of the House of Representatives, set aside a day for prayer. Today is that day.


Some information from "Oak Ridge Boy tells parents' story of suffering, sacrifice after WWII, by Lark Borden, Gannett News Services

Monday, November 08, 2004

Church? What church? November 8, 2004

What, exactly does the word “church” mean? Many people hear the word and think about a building. Many of us would think of this building. It’s our church.

We have three readings today that talk about church. The first reading and the Gospel talk about the temple, which was the name in biblical times for the building that we call “church.” So, “church” does mean a building.

But, in the second reading, Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, and also in the Gospel, “church” means a person, or a group of people. Paul says “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of rebuilding the temple in three days. He wasn’t talking about piling up bricks and mortar, He was talking about His own resurrection. So we’re the church, you and me……. and Jesus.

But, there’s another “church.” The “church” teaches that abortion is a sin. The church says that we should fast on Ash Wednesday. The church says Sunday is a day of obligation. What church is that? That’s the official church, the Magisterium, the hierarchy, the Pope and the bishops. So, are they the church?

Obviously the answer is D, all the above. Christ is the Church. You and I are the church. Pope John Paul II and his bishops are the church. This building is the church.

We’re Catholics. Every Sunday we go to church in this church because the church says we should. Three different “churches”.

It’s ironic that we have these readings in a week when the church has made news because it’s planning to close some churches. This is where things get fuzzy. Ask most people to describe “church” and they’ll probably say it’s a building with a steeple where people worship. That’s what people think of as “church”. But is that true? The merger plan has nothing to do with "church." It's about real estate and the best use of resources. We're all called to make the best use of our time, talent and treasure; even the church. We don't have an endless supply of money and we don't have enough priests to operate all the buildings that are in use today. Something has to give.

It’s no secret that this “church” is on the bubble. It has been for a long time. We’re small. We’re within walking distance of at least two other churches, more if you’re really into walking. Hopefully, St. Bernadette will be here for a long, long time. Remember the previous Archbishop called us “vibrant.”

But, what if they do decide to close this parish sometime in the future? Would we all stop being Catholics? I don’t think so. As much as most of us love his place, it’s not what makes us who we are. I saw a great example of that this past weekend.

I was in Kansas City for a wedding. The groom grew up in our parish and attended our parish school. Today he’s in his early twenties. There were three young people there who also grew up in our parish and attended our parish school. One lives in California and two live in St. Louis. All four of these kids had been members of RAVE, our parish youth group.

They’ve gone on to high school and then to college, they live in three different cities, yet they’re still friends, willing to travel a long way to attend the wedding of one of the group.

What do they have in common? They belong to the same “church.” I’m pretty sure that has nothing at all to do with the building.

Hopefully the people who are affected by the recent announcement of possible closings will remember that the church they belong to is a lot more than just a building. We would certainly welcome them here, because we’re all part of the same church.

Where Have All the Catholics Gone?

In Monday's edition of USA Today, Cathy Lynn Grossman and Anthony DeBarros offer their take on the declining number of Catholics attending Mass in the United States. It's not a great article, but it is interesting in that it gives us an idea of what others are thinking about our Church.

In what may surprise some Catholic-bashers, they point out that the clergy child abuse scandal hasn't been much of a factor. Their conclusions?

• Catholics are moving from cities in the Northeast and Midwest to the suburbs, South and Southwest.

• For decades, so few men have become priests that one in five dioceses now can't put a priest in every parish.

• Mass attendance has fallen as each generation has become less religiously observant.

• Bishops — trained to bless, not to budget — lack the managerial skills to govern multimillion-dollar institutions.


It's just my opinion but I doubt that any of these is the root cause. Point three, that each generation has become less religiously observant is probably closest to the truth, but I think that's a symptom, not a cause.

I'm currently reading a book by Tim Russert called Big Russ and Me. It's the story of Russert's growing up in the '50s and his recollections of his father. He describes a time when kids called adults "Mr" or "Mrs", when young boys were taught how to shake hands, and when you were taught to take responsibility. (Long ago in a galaxy far away.)

One story Russert tells is of the time when he broke a neighbor's window with a baseball. Big Russ told Little Russ that he would go to the neighbor, confess to breaking the window and tell him that he would pay for the repair from his allowance money. And he did. Today, under the same circumstances, what would happen?

First, kids don't play baseball in the street anymore, at least, not in my part of the world. To play baseball, you need uniforms, a lighted field with stands, adult coaches and umpires, and an organization. You have to have fundraisers to pay for all of it. In a lot of cases you have to have security on hand to make sure parents don't assault one another.

Second, if a baseball does happen to break a window, it's certainly not the poor kid's fault. That window shouldn't have been there. Now the poor child is traumatized by mis-placed guilt. He'll have to have therapy and be put on Prozac. The parents are advised to sue the homeowner and the manufacturer of the ball and the bat.

Far fetched? Maybe, but only a little.

Close on the heels of the announcement that approximately eight Catholic elementary schools will be closing in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, we have a story in Saturday's Post Dispatch about teachers. It seems that the local Catholic grade school teachers group has delivered thousands of signatures to the Archbishop's office, with copies sent to the Vatican. They want to form a union.

Now, don't get me wrong. I have four kids who each attended twelve years of Catholic school. I have friends who teach in the system. I believe we should pay them as much as we possibly can. They deserve it.

However, in a less-than-perfect world, the money just isn't there right now. It's vital that the Church and the teachers come to a peaceful agreement or all of the schools may close with the exception of those in wealthy suburbs. But, that's not what concerns me agout the article in Saturday's paper. The president of the teachers' group refers to the Vatican as "the boys' club."

Do you wonder why we're losing Catholic? This woman is teaching in one of our schools. She disparages the Magesterium of the church in an interview with the local daily newspaper. What is she teaching our kids?

And, remember, she was elected president of the teachers' group. Obviously there are a lot of teachers who like what she has to say.

It's a Catch-22, people. To maintain and grow the church, we need an increase in faith. That begins at home and in the schools. An increase in faith is the only way to put an end to church and school closings. In fact, we will be in need of more churches and schools, which means, among other things, more jobs for teachers.

An increase in faith will also lead to an increase in vocations, creating the priests we will need for all those schools. It will take time. It takes nearly a decade of study to become a priest.

Thursday, November 04, 2004

November 4, 2004

We believe in one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church.

The word “catholic” means universal. So what we’re saying in the Creed is that we believe in a universal church, established by Jesus Christ and handed on through the Apostles.

In today’s first reading, Paul, the Apostle is writing to the Philippians about a problem that was causing a lot of controversy in the early church. One school of thought was that if you wanted to become a Christian, you first had to become a Jew. The other side of the argument was that anyone could become a Christian. Judaism wasn’t part of the deal. It was a very divisive issue, not unlike some of the issues that divide the church today.

It was an especially big deal for men because one of the requirements of Judaism was circumcision. Most of you know that I was an adult convert. I have to tell you that baptism was one thing, but if being circumcised at twenty years old had been part of the deal, I’m not sure I’d have been so quick to sign up.

Surprisingly enough, Paul was on the side that thought it wasn’t necessary to become a Jew first, even though he was Jewish himself. He writes that “if anyone else thinks he can be confident in flesh, all the more can I. Circumcised on the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrew parentage, in observance of the law a Pharisee, in zeal I persecuted the Church, in righteousness based on the law I was blameless.”

Paul was a good Jew. Had been since he was a child. He had been a Pharisee, so zealous that he had been a persecutor of Christians. From a Jewish perspective, no one could have lived a better life. But he has come to realize that his background, his qualifications, his achievements mean nothing. All that matters now is that he knows Christ.

The controversy got so out of hand that the Apostles gathered in Jerusalem to work something out. The arguments would probably be familiar to us today. “Nobody can tell me what to do with my body.” “ Who are these Apostles to tell me what to do? “ “I don’t need the church. God is everywhere. I don’t need to go to a building to worship Him.”

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Fortunately, the original Apostles were wise men, guided by the Holy Spirit. They reached an agreement. It would not be necessary to become Jewish before becoming Christian. They didn’t leave it up to the local churches. It wasn’t up to individual Bishops. A decision was made. It was universal, and it was Apostolic.

And the decision remains in force even today. Just like all the decisions of the early church. That’s what sets our church apart from our Protestant brothers and sisters. Once something is decided, it stays decided. Imagine if some bishop, somewhere, was to decide that Catholic men needed to be circumcised after all. Imagine the problems that would cause. But it can’t happen. The things our church teaches don’t change. It’s one thing in this world that we can count on. Thanks are to God.

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

The Morning After

Not a homily, just my personal rant on the morning after the election.

Here we are, November 3, 2004. It looks like the pro-abortion candidate for president has been defeated, little thanks to the Catholic "faithful". According to the exit poll data, Catholic voters chose President Bush in roughly the same percentages as the population at large.

In spite of Mr. Kerry's very public claims to be a Catholic while denouncing Church teaching on the sanctity of life, nearly half of us said, "that's ok, John." We believe "Thou shalt not kill", but prescription drug prices are more important. We believe in family values, but it's ok if a family is two men or two women.

We Catholics passed up an opportunity to show the politicians that we are a potent voting block. We could have made a statement. In fact, we did make a statement. We told the world that we really don't believe what we profess. We don't believe in "One holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church." What we believe is that our personal issues are more important than loving our neighbor.

We have two years until the next election. How will we spend those 104 weeks? Will church leaders bite the bullet and work for change, or will they continue to pander to the special interest groups, making Christ's Church just another social club?

Will we get back to the principles that Christ taught us or will we change Church Doctrine to reflect the latest opinion polls? Maybe we should scrap the centuries-old process of selecting the Pope and open it up to free elections. Since it doesn't look like Mr. Kerry is going to be President, maybe he can run for John Paul's job. After all, he was an altar boy.

It seems to me that this is about a lot more than just elections. What are we doing to our Church? Clearly child abuse is a great scandal. But, when historians look back on the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, what will be the greater shame? That individual priests were sinners, or that the entire US church turned it's back on our core values? That hundreds of children were abused or that millions of children were killed while half of us looked the other way, putting our own interests first?

I'm sad for our church, but hopeful that we can turn this mess around. Those of us who have an opportunity to speak from the pulpit have a great responsibilty to speak the truth. We have to be willing to tell the truth, not necessarily what people want to hear. There IS a hell and some people are going to go there. Jesus told us how to gain paradise. In John's Gospel He tells us "You are my friends if you do what I tell you." Was He kidding? I don't think so and I have a responsibility to say so.

All of us should demand that our bishops, priests, and deacons speak the truth. Instead of saying "he can't tell me how to vote", we should be insisting that the clergy tell us how to vote. Not their own opinions, but what Christ told us.

I'm glad that the majority voted to keep the present administration in office for the next four years. We dodged a bullet this time. But, what's going to happen in four years if we don't act?

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

Wedding Homily

The story is told of an elderly couple. They’ve been married 50 years and they’re very much in love. They’re watching television one evening and the husband (we’ll call him Robert) gets up and says “I’m going to have some ice cream. Would you like some?” And his wife (we’ll call her Elizabeth) says, “Why, yes. I’d love some ice cream. Thank you for asking.” Robert says, “You’re welcome.”

Then Elizabeth says, “I’d really like some chocolate sauce.” He says “sure, dear. Ice cream with chocolate sauce.” and she says, “You’d better write it down so you don’t forget.”

And, he says, “Don’t be ridiculous. I can remember. Ice cream with chocolate sauce. I don’t need to write it down.”
“You’d better write it down.”
“I don’t need to write it down. I’ll remember.”
Then she says, “I’d also like some nuts. You’d better write it down or you’ll forget.”
“I won’t forget. Ice cream, chocolate sauce, nuts. No problem. I won’t forget.”
Then Elizabeth says, “You know, I’d really like some whipped topping. Now you’d really write it down or you’ll never remember.”
“Ice cream, chocolate sauce, nuts, whipped topping. I’ve got it. I won’t forget.”
As he heads for the kitchen she mumbles under her breath, “I’ll bet he forgets. He should have written it down.”

He’s gone for quite a while and just when she’s thinking of going to the kitchen to see what’s taking so long, he comes back…..with a plate of bacon and eggs. She gives him the ‘look’. Robert, if you haven’t seen it already, you’ll learn about the ‘look’. It’s something that only a wife can give her husband. She gives him the look and says, “See, I told you you should write it down. I knew you’d mess it up.”

Robert says, “What do you mean I messed it up. I brought you bacon and eggs just like you asked for.” And, she says, “You forgot the toast!”

Elizabeth and Robert, I know everyone here joins me today in the prayer that you’re happily married long enough that you need to write things down when you go to the kitchen.

In our first reading, Tobias and his new bride pray on their wedding night that God will allow them to live together to a happy old age. This has been the prayer of newlyweds across the centuries, and it’s the prayer we offer for you today.

In the second reading St. Paul tells the Corinthians about love. For hundreds of years, writers and poets have tried to improve on Paul’s words but they haven’t been able to.

Love is patient. Love is kind. It is not jealous. It is not pompous. It is not inflated. Love is not rude. It does not seek its own interests. It is not quick tempered. It does not brood over injuries.

It doesn’t rejoice over wrongdoings, but rejoices with the truth.

Love bears all things. It believes all things. It hopes all things. It endures all things. And, believe it or not, with God’s help, the feelings you have for each other today will just grow stronger as the years go by.

I visit patients at xxx Hospital. I wish every young married couple would have the opportunity to meet some of the people I meet. Naturally, a lot of our patients are older people. So often, either the husband or the wife is very sick, and the spouse is at their side, holding their hand, stroking their forehead, or maybe just sitting there. And, that’s real married love. The kind of love that grows through trials and adversities. The kind of love that doesn’t fail when the going gets tough. Love never fails.

Finally, in the Gospel Jesus tells the disciples to love one another as he loves us. “As my Father loves me, so I love you.” Christ wants us to take the love he has for us, a love that mirrors the love the Father has for Him, and He wants us to share it with one another. And isn’t that what marriage is all about?

The Marriage rite has changed over the years. When my wife and I were married thirty five years ago next month, we really had no choices about the actual ceremony. Of course Jan and her mother picked out the dresses and the flowers and the tuxedos and all the other trappings. But the ceremony itself was pretty well set. The readings were standard and were read by the priest.

Today, the bride and groom choose the readings and most of the rest of the ceremony. They made excellent choices, but they had help. The Holy Spirit was with them as they chose the elements of the ceremony, just as He was with them when they chose each other. See, God established the marriage covenant way back in the Garden of Eden. And, for those of us called to married life, there is someone special just for us. Somehow, we seem to manage to find each other.

I heard some interesting numbers just this week. Each person has two parents, four grandparents, eight grandparents, and so on. If you go back just 500 years, 271,000 people had to meet, get married and have at least one child for any one of us to exist today. If just one person out of over a quarter of a million had gotten lost, or missed the bus, or decided to stay in bed just one time, we wouldn’t be here. This marriage has been in the works for a long, long time.

C and S, I haven’t known Elizabeth as long as I’ve known Robert. But, in the time I’ve been working with them on the wedding preparations, I’ve come to appreciate what an outstanding young woman she is. She will make Robert a wonderful wife. You should be very proud.
T and J, I’ve known you and all your kids for a long time. What a neat family you are. You’ve been through some difficult times and faced them with a strong faith in God. Robert is a bright young man with a world of potential. You should be proud, too.

Elizabeth and Robert, I would be lying to you if I said that marriage is easy. It’s not. In fact, I believe it’s impossible without some divine help. God created marriage when he created the first man and woman. Jesus performed his first miracle at the wedding feast in Cana. He spoke of marriage often. You have wonderful role models in your parents. Don’t be afraid to ask them for help when you need it. And, don’t forget to ask God for help, too.

C and S, T and J, be there for your kids. Give them the benefit of your experience. As the old saying goes, you’re not losing a daughter or son, you’re gaining one.

And, for all the married couples here today, in just a moment Elizabeth and Robert will pledge their love for one another. I would invite you to join hands and hearts, and follow along silently, as well. Take advantage to repeat to the person you love that you are even more in love today than you were when you said these, or similar words on your own wedding day.

Today is a great celebration. Two will become one with the blessing of God. I’d like to close with the words from an Irish wedding song.