The New Missal (Book of Mass Prayers): why we should look forward to it

The prayers of the Mass, although we usually pray them in English, are originally in Latin, and have to be translated carefully. They were last translated in 1970, and that was—all involved admit—a rush job that produced an inferior translation that doesn’t do justice to the Mass.

For some time, the bishops of English-speaking countries have been working on it—it’s a big job that needs to be done carefully. The process is nearing its end—at least so the bishops and Rome say. Within a couple of years, we will finally have a revised, updated, and well-done translation of the Mass into English.

When the new translation is put into use, it will be a bit of a surprise to many Catholics—because the differences between the old translation and the new will make crystal-clear just how inferior the prior translation was. In many prayers, such as the Gloria and the Eucharistic Prayers, whole phrases are left out and key elements of the meaning were lost. Now that will be restored. Much of the language is explicitly biblical, but that was obscured—now that will become clear again.

But of course this will involve transition and there will be bumps along the way.

Last October, Bishop Arthur Serratelli, chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, gave a talk on the new Missal. What follows is my summary based on his talk, that should help to explain the situation and show ways the new translation is something to look forward to. Thanks to The Adoremus Bulletin, published by Adoremus, the Society for the Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy, which published this address in its June-July, 2009 edition.

Who is doing the work, when did it begin, and how was it carried out?

Early in 2002, the work began after the third edition of the Roman Missal [i.e., the book containing readings and prayers for the Mass, as well as some of the music texts] was published in Rome.

The International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) is made up of 11 English-speaking bishops, but consulted scholars from many English-speaking countries.

The goal was a text that would be usable in all English-speaking countries; even though different countries use the same language differently, the goal was to have a more unified experience of the Mass, not too much variation from country to country.

Once ICEL agreed on a text, it was sent to individual countries’ bishops for comment, involving back and forth over several years between all the English-speaking bishops and Rome. By October, 2008, a series of texts were prepared for final approval by the various bishops, and then to be forwarded to Rome for final approval as well. This final process is underway.

Bishop Sarratelli observed, while awaiting the new translation, “this is a good occasion to understand more deeply” the “particular style and language” of the Roman Rite. “Liturgical language is important for the life of the Church. Lex orandi, lex credendi. I.e., “how we pray is how we believe.”

Sarratelli added, “in the liturgy, the words addressed to God and the words spoken to the people voice the Faith of the Church. They are not simply the expressions of one individual in one particular place at one time in history. The words used in liturgy also pass on the faith of the Church from one generation to the next.”

Not only that, “the liturgy is the source of the divine life given through the Church as the sacrament of salvation. As Pope Paul VI once said, it is also ‘the first school of the spiritual life…’

“Wisely, therefore, the Church does not leave the words used in the liturgy to…any individual celebrant.”

Sarratelli adds, “the new translations have a great respect for the style of the Roman Rite. Certainly some sentences could be more easily translated to mimic our common speech. But they are not. And with reason. Let me now briefly comment on seven characteristics of the Latin prayers in the Roman Missal and their translation.”

Seven characteristics of the Latin Missal and how they carry through the English translation:

1. “Latin orations…tend to conclude strongly with a teleological or eschatological point.” Teleology refers to the fundamental meaning of people, things, or life in general; eschatology refers to the ultimate realities that give meaning to this world, and which are our final destiny. So Saratelli is saying the prayers strongly emphasize our ultimate purpose and destiny in this life, leading to eternal life. This is something that gets lost if not translated well—thus the new English prayers will seek to convey this same emphasis.

2. Biblical References will be made clear. In the translation now in use, many of the phrases—in Latin—use explicitly Biblical language that was lost in translation. The new translation makes a great effort to restore this Biblical language—either so those praying may recognize the words of Scripture, or else seek them out to discover the source of a particular image.

For example, Saratelli explains, “in Eucharistic Prayer III, we will no longer say: ‘From east to west, a perfect offering is made to the glory of your name.’ Instead we pray the words of Malachi 1:11: ‘…from the rising of the sun to its setting.’”—which was not so well translated in our current version. Now it is both more faithful, and more poetic, without loss of meaning.

The words we speak together currently as the priest shows us the Eucharist before communion are a weak translation of Matthew 8:8, which will be restored as follows: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word…”

3. “The new translations are careful to keep the allusions from patristic writings,” Saratelli explains—that is, those major figures of the Church’s early centuries, such as Augustine, Ambrose, John Chrysostom, Basil and others, who were so important in teaching and transmitting the Apostolic Faith.

In several places, the original Latin prayers include phrases and images that come from these great saints, but again, they were lost in translation. Now they are put back.

4. The new translation will respect the “rich vocabulary of the Roman Rite. The post-communion prayers employ a variety of words such as nourished,fed, recreated and made new….The many different words of the Latin text are not monotonously translated with the same words,” Saratelli observes. “Thus, by being faithful to the Latin text, the new translations enrich the use of our liturgical language in English.”

5. The Latin text uses many concrete images and parallel expressions. It also uses anthropomorphic expressions—i.e., human images of God—that “add a certain poetry to the prayers. “And so,” Saratelli explains, “while it is perfectly good English to say: in your pity hear our prayers, the translation respects the poetry of the text and, in the blessing of ashes, says: in your pity give ear to our prayers.”

6. Exactness and style befitting the liturgy. Care is taken to ensure the prayers teach about the Faith with clarity, as they are intended to do with the underlying Latin text which uses exact language as well.

“The Latin prayers are concise and noble in tone,” Saratelli observes; “When we frame our prayers in liturgy, the language of the street is not appropriate.”

What are the next steps?

Between now and November, the U.S. bishops will vote on the final texts, and with their approval, they will be forwarded to Rome for final approval. Sometime in 2010 or 2011, we should begin learning more about the texts and then begin using them.

The weekend thus far...

For those who like to read my homilies, I will have some notes below. I regret I did not have time for as much preparation as I like for my homilies.

This weekend, one parish celebrated a special day: the anniversary of the dedication of the church. I suspect few parishes celebrate this, and yet, the anniversary of a parish's dedication is a solemnity for that parish; "solemnity" meaning it's one of the highest ranking celebrations of the year, outranked only by certain other days.

Liturgical law allows for some solemnities to be transferred to a nearby Sunday, for the benefit of the faithful, as long as there is no higher-ranking feast. Thus I do for the anniversaries of each parish's dedication: St. Mary was last dedicated in June, 1979; St. Boniface, in October. So, we celebrated this special day at all Masses at St. Mary.

But that means different readings, and so I had two homilies.

At St. Boniface, I spoke a little about Father's Day, and I talked about the important role a father can play, especially his spiritual leadership. I said (or at least I meant to say) that the most important task a father has is to introduce his children to Jesus Christ, and I talked about how my father did that and how that surely played a role in my becoming a priest. I cannot say just how I did it, but I connected that to Jesus being in the boat, and he is the source of calm and power.

I should explain my homily was supposed to be a little shorter, because at the end of Mass, we had a representative of Radio Maria giving a short word about his apostolate.

At St. Mary, we used a reading from Isaiah, about the foreigners coming to worship the Lord, and a passage from Hebrews contrasting the fearful experience at Sinai to what those to whom the letter was addressed experience: the heavenly Jerusalem, with angels in festal gathering, and a new covenant in blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel. The Gospel was the passage from John, in which Our Lord cleansed the temple.

I mainly worked from the Hebrews passage, explaining the background, and talking about how we are the ones who are not terrified by such manifestations as at Sinai, and yet we do approach something far more awesome--of course, the Sacrifice of the Mass. Only in the Mass is that passage fulfilled: only in the Mass does Heaven come down to earth.

This feast celebrates the establishment of a house of God for this to happen, here in Piqua. I mentioned D-day, and the beachhead those brave men formed on the beaches of Normandy. Why? Because of a terrible darkness that had to be driven back; they formed a beachhead. We are the beachhead of heaven in our world that otherwise would be in darkness; this church (i.e., each Catholic church) is such a beachhead.

I also talked about the importance of our church being--in Isaiah's words--a "house of prayer for all people." Our empty seats are our mission--draw them in! Our sharing in the Eucharist makes us bearers of the same light to further penetrate the world around us with Christ.

In case you wonder why a priest doesn't have plenty of time to prepare his homily(ies) more fully, here's what else I was up to this weekend. Saturday morning we had a crew of volunteers working on groundskeeping; I joined with them. I had a wedding at 1:30 pm, so when not shoveling mulch, I was opening up the school for the bride and her ladies, then making sure the lights were on in church, and the a/c was running. Then the wedding; then a break before confessions, then Mass.

After Saturday Mass, I had a baptism. I really enjoy baptisms! I try to involve the older children, by having them help me set up, and hold things for me such as the book and a towel. After the baptism, I was talking to the older brother, 14; I asked his name, and he said "John"; "Father John, doesn't that have a nice sound to it? He grinned and said it did; I said, "hey, look how great this is--I get to make saints! How cool is that?"(referring to my baptism homily, where I explain why we sing a Litany of the Saints--in baptism, this child becomes a saint; the "trick" is to stay a saint through life, and arrive in heaven, which is why the parents and godparents have such a great responsibility). Then I joined two classmates for dinner in Urbana.

This morning I had the 7 am Mass, then 9 am Mass back at St. Mary. Now I'm taking a break; I will go down to Troy this afternoon to take part in a priest's 50th Anniversary Mass, then the seminarians are taking the vicar and me out to dinner for Father's Day! Isn't that nice of them to do?

Online Marriage Prep Course

Do you know anything about this?

I gave it a brief look, and it looks promising. I'd really like to hear from anyone who has taken the course, or at least can tell me more about it. Please share any praise or critiques freely.

Biretta tip to Rich Leonardi for this.

Part Time Development Director Opening

Our K-8 school, located in the heart of Piqua, OH, and serving our community for many decades, has an immediate opening for a part-time Development Director. Qualified candidates will possess a college degree or equivalent experience in Marketing and/or Public Relations.

The position demands excellent communication, project management and organizational skills as well as a genuine desire to interact with people and build relationships. Creativity and a strong work ethic required.

The Development Director serves as the primary public relations agent for our Piqua Catholic community. Responsibilities include marketing (communications/public relations/advertising), retention and recruitment, parish/alumni/community relations, fundraising and development.

The Development Director works in collaboration with the Pastor, Principal and School Board to implement our school’s vision and mission. Candidates should be a practicing Catholic in good standing and be prepared to support and present Catholic practice and belief in its entirety.

We offer a competitive compensation package and flexible work schedule. For resume submission or additional information, please contact:

Sister Mary Alice Haithcoat or Father Martin Fox
Piqua Catholic School
503 W. North Street
Piqua, OH 45356
(937) 773-1564
pastor@piquaparishes.org

What's going on...

Well, it's been busy.

For several weeks, we've had three seminarians staying in the parish. Every year we do this; they stay the summer, work around the parishes, mostly doing maintenance or odd jobs that just wouldn't get done otherwise, but also go on communion calls, assist at Mass, provide leadership at more complicated liturgies, and along the way, we hope have a good experience of parish life and priestly fraternity.

Last weekend we celebrated Corpus Christi, with 40 Hours all weekend, and then a Corpus Christi Procession from St. Mary to St. Boniface. Two of our seminarians were a great help, providing leadership: one as master of ceremonies for the procession, the other as a thurifer (i.e., the holder of censer with the incense).

Last night, we began our celebration of the Sacred Heart. On Fridays, we normally have one Mass, at St. Mary; but for a solemnity, I think we should--if a priest is available--have a Mass at the other parish. Since Friday evening is not so popular an evening for a Mass, and I have a wedding rehearsal, I had a vigil Mass last night.

The way I look at it, when I have such a Mass--for a non-obligatory solemnity, not otherwise scheduled--then if I use more Latin and incense, no one has reason to complain. Also, some members of the Schola Cantorum enjoy the opportunity to try out some things, such as a Latin Gloria, which we haven't used at a Sunday Mass. And the seminarians and the priest get a chance to refine our ars celebrandi--our manner of celebrating or participating in the liturgy. One tries, but--this can be remarkably hard to do in Sunday Mass.

So, last night, I fixed dinner for the house--we had pork roast, mashed potatoes, salad, some wine (Pinot Grigiot and Merlot, although we didn't even drink one full bottle between five of us); for dessert, we had a cheesecake one of the seminarians put together, with some strawberries. Then we headed over to St. Boniface for Mass. I thought about ad orientem, but decided against it. I may do that when we do this again, on Monday, June 29, 7 pm -- again at St. Boniface -- to mark the solemnity of Ss. Peter and Paul; a day of obligation in the rest of the world, but not here.

As far as Latin goes, all we used was the Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei, as well as the opening hymn. Someone heard I was doing it all in Latin; well, maybe more on Peter and Paul. I personally don't consider what I just described as "all in Latin," but really just a mix, which is clearly what Vatican II envisioned where the vernacular was chosen--i.e., it seems indisputable that Vatican II never intended the vernacular option to mean, no Latin at all.

We had a turnout of about 12 people, but that's okay; I didn't beat the drums. Our seminarian Andrew, who is from Russia (that's a village northwest of here, oddly pronounced RUE-she), did a great job making smoke, and I smoked up the altar, the cross, and the image of the Sacred Heart. He and Brian (from Cincinnati) did a great job incensing during the elevations, and Eric (from Versailles, a village nearby) was on the spot as the "tintinnabulator" (my name for the one who rings the bells).

Meanwhile, the business of the parish continues. We have a position available, details of which I'll post shortly, but it's for a part-time development director. Feel free to send an email to pastor@piquaparishes.org if you want to apply. My meetings are winding down; last night, after the Mass, I drove up to Sidney for the Lehman board meeting, arriving for the second half of a three hour meeting. But that represents the last of my heavy-duty meetings till August, I hope!

There's certainly more that is happening, but that's all I can think of, or which seems fit for publication.

'What must our response be?' (Corpus Christi homily)

In the first reading, Moses reveals to God’s People
the word of God—the commands of God.
They hadn’t received God himself, but his words.
Notice their response: awe and trembling and a need to offer sacrifice.

When God comes near, it is natural and right to tremble with awe.

When the 8th graders are confirmed,
they learn about the gifts of the Holy Spirit,
one of which used to be called “fear of the Lord”;
in modern parlance, we say, “awe and wonder.”

And I explain that this way:
Everyone, every human being,
naturally feels awe and fear and trembling and being overwhelmed.
It’s not something bad—it’s something very necessary.

But what’s sad is that some people
have had this awe wrung out of them.
They go to Paris to see the Mona Lisa;
They stand before the Pieta by Michaelangelo…*yawn*!

A man walks on the moon—saw it in a video!

You step up to the precipice of the Grand Canyon—
okay, what’s next?


Whittaker Chambers, who played a small role in the Cold War
and wrote a book about it called Witness,
describes the moment he was converted
from being a communist and an atheist,
into the terrifying realization that God exists.

He was holding his baby daughter in his arms,
looking down at her ear.

He felt awe and wonder—you parents know what he felt.

How sad it would be…
What a poverty—what a cruel parody of “life” it would be—
never to feel that!

But you and I live in a very busy and cynical age.
We rush and hurry and never see the beauty around us.
We are so up-to-date, we see through everything.

C.S. Lewis pointed out
the danger of the one who sees through everything
is that he actually sees nothing at all.

I said a moment ago God’s People trembled
to receive the Word of God—
Yet what have we received?
A greater and more perfect covenant,
Ratified not in the blood of goats and calves,
But the Blood of the Son of God,
our God who became our brother!

God’s People fell on the ground to hear the Word of God—
What must our response be?
Our church is made sacred, not by the blood of goats,
But the Blood of Christ, of God himself, poured out on that altar.
Do we always treat this place, and our time here,
with the awe and wonder it deserves?

At 47, and with a few extra pounds,
I recognize not all can genuflect or kneel.
But for those of us who can, why is this an issue?
Why would anyone say, “oh, that’s asking too much?”

I am puzzled that some object
to approaching the Mass as it truly is:
a profound mystery that goes way beyond our understanding,
and so the Mass is not ours to refashion as it suits us,
and yes, the Mass is challenging, and not always “user-friendly.”

Here’s what Pope Benedict said the other day:
“There is always a strong temptation
to reduce prayer to superficial and hurried moments,
allowing ourselves to be overcome
by earthly activities and concerns.”

I would add—there is sometimes an insistence:
“Don’t make it too hard.”

Where did we get the idea that worshipping the Creator,
in all his mystery and power,
his justice and purity and mercy,
should not be something extraordinarily demanding?

Sometimes we don’t understand what’s happening—
that’s a challenge to make an effort to discover.

Sometimes the prayers are in our own language,
Or the language of our forebears in faith—in Latin,
Or in the language of the New Testament—in Greek,
Or the language of new immigrants—such as Spanish.

God is…
Kadosh (Hebrew)! Hagios (Greek)!
Sanctus (Latin)! Holy!

We’re kidding ourselves if we think we understand
what that means in any language.

Last Sunday was Trinity Sunday,
when we reflect—and are changed by our reflection—
on the fact that God is a Trinity of Persons.

God, in his own being and life, is a relationship.
Another way to put it: God, in himself, is communion.

What’s the connection?

God is relationship;
And the Eucharist and the Sacrifice of the Mass
is about bringing us into that relationship.

Communion.

Long ago, God’s people trembled to hear the Word of God.
Then God came himself, become one of us in our midst.
He said, “This is my Body”…
“this is my Blood…poured out for You.”


And then we discover this is not just for us
to witness with fear and trembling—
But—if we will be his disciples,
baptized and in union with his Body the Church,
we are bidden forth to share that life—communion.

To quote Pope Benedict once more:
“With the Eucharist, heaven comes down to earth,
God’s tomorrow descends into the present moment
and time is, as it were, embraced by divine eternity.”

Awe and wonder? Fear and trembling?
What must our response be?

What does a pastor do all day?

Today it was talking on the phone. Almost non-stop from 9 am till about 5 minutes ago.

Holy Trinity--how demanding!

We believe God is a Trinity.
But as practical people, we might wonder
what the practical application of this is.

The answer is, knowing more who God is,
helps us discover the truth about our world and ourselves.

To say that God is a relationship of Persons—
a “family” if you will—
means the same is true of all humanity.

So, first: this is where our Catholic social teaching—
our emphasis on the common good—comes from;
our concern for the poor, the weak, the unborn child.

But we can apply this closer to home.
Our parish, our school—are we a family?
Or are we a business?
We’re both; and balancing that is really hard.
It’s easy to go too far in the business mindset—
yet every family has bills to pay.

Your help in so many ways shows you get this.
But there are times
when some are fine with it being about “family”
when they want something,
but not so much, when the Family asks for help back.
For example: I’ve asked everyone to use Scrip
to help pay the Parish-Family bills.
Many of you do, and it is helping a lot.
But far too many simply don’t respond, and as a result,
our Family doesn’t have enough to go around.

Our own employees are not paid enough—
we pay below standard for the Archdiocese.
Our school doesn’t have enough.
We have families who want to send their children
to Piqua Catholic, or Lehman,
be we don’t have enough to help them.

Yet, if every member of the Parish Family—all of us—
would simply use Scrip for groceries,
we would have more than enough to cover our deficits,
to provide for our school, for our buildings,
for just wages for our own people…
and we could do so much more outreach to the needy.

A second point. When we say God is a relationship,
that opens up possibilities for the kind of relationship
we can have with God.


We talk about having a relationship with God—
but what kind of relationship?
What kind of relationship is even possible?
Well, think a moment about
some different sorts of relationships—
and these first examples
are going to sound kind of negative,
but they are a kind of relationship:

Ruler—and subject. Master—and slave.
Or, how about this: Owner—and pet?

But really, God is so far above us,
why do we expect God to care about us—at all?
When’s the last time you cared about the germs
that are on your hands?
So, under the circumstances,
being God’s “pet” sounds pretty good.
And if God were solitary, and not a Trinity,
that might be the best we could hope for.

It may sound funny, but—
I think some folks might prefer to be God’s pet:
You learn a few tricks to keep God happy,
he trains you so you don’t misbehave too much;
He provides us food and shelter,
and cleans up our messes, but otherwise,
He doesn’t expect too much from us!

But God’s idea of relationship with us
goes so much farther.
He talks about “Father and child”; “Friend to friend”;
and even, “Groom to bride.”

For everyone who asks why
Christianity demands so much from us,
this is why: because we’re not God’s pet—we’re his Bride.

Groom and bride—marriage with God!
Where and when was this marriage made?
First, in God becoming human—
and then, the Cross is the “marriage bed”—
the Groom gave everything with nothing held back;
and we received His life.

Can you see what the Eucharist really means?
We have intimate union—physical union—
with Christ the Bridegroom!

So, now, if you ever wondered why
the Church teaches what she does about sex—
now you understand why.
It’s the same as what we teach about the Eucharist.


We don’t treat the Eucharist as common;
we don’t share the Eucharist with just anyone;
there has to be a commitment first: marriage,
or belonging to the Church.
And if there’s a need for reconciliation—that is first.
People say we treat sex as something bad.
Does it look like we treat the Eucharist
as something bad?

And when we do share the Eucharist,
we don’t put conditions on God:
“Yes, God, I want to have union with you—
but don’t create new life through that union!
I don’t want you to expect too much from me!”

So…saying God is a relationship
means he enters into relationship with us—
and it is demanding.
God seeks a marriage with us. That demands our all.

But we might wonder how that can be possible—
God and us?
The only way it can happen is God bridges the gap.
Jesus comes over to us
to bring us back into a true relationship with God.
That becomes possible because
He pours the Holy Spirit into us.
We are no longer just a speck on his hands—
you and I are his beloved:
we are raised up to share His Life, to be one with Him!

D-day

Sometimes, at special moments in history, men come together and do something truly great and noble.

June 6, 1944 was one such day.

The proper response is to stand in awe...

and say thank you.

June 6 is a day to be proud to be an American.

And to be grateful to be free.

Sacred Heart on Sunday, yes or no?

The retired priest here made a suggestion that I am considering: why not celebrate the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart on the nearest Sunday?

He was, I think, prompted by my practice of transferring to Sunday the celebration of the patronal feast for St. Boniface (when not impeded by Holy Trinity or Corpus Christi, as happens this year), and the transfer to a nearby Sunday of the celebration of the dedication of our churches--which are solemnities for that parish.

So why not also for Sacred Heart? The retired priest argued for it because it's such a special devotion--and way of life--for so many and could be for so many more.

I discussed this over dinner last night with the parochial vicar, our dear Sisters of Charity, and one of the seminarians here for the summer. The first reaction, from the vicar, was, are you sure you can do that?

The answer is yes, according to the General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, paragraph 58:

For the pastoral advantage of the people, it is permissible to observe on the Sundays in Ordinary Time those celebrations that fall during the week and have special appeal to the devotion of the faithful, provided the celebrations take precedence over these Sundays in the Table of Liturgical Days. The Mass for such celebrations may be used at all the Masses at which a congregation is present (February 14, 1969, accessed at EWTN's online library.

Not that I remembered the exact citation, so we had some discussion about why this doesn't apply to Christmas; the answer being, this provision applies only during Ordinary Time. The question then arose, what about Assumption? It seems that, from this provision, that might be possible; but the counter offered by the vicar was that it's one thing to do this with a solemnity particular to a parish; another to do it for a solemnity celebrated universally. Also, he argued, Sacred Heart is particularly tied to Friday--the Church designed the calendar so that it always comes up on Friday after all.

Another of the seminarians staying here asked, wouldn't the diocesan bishop have to give permission? Good question.

Well, I'm putting this out for your consideration and comment. I'm interested in two things, somewhat different:

1) Do you have any authoritative source to offer in answering these questions about whether such things can be done, and if so, on whose authority? (pastor, bishop, conference, Holy See?)

2) Do you have an opinion on whether such an option--even if allowed--is desirable.

What do you say?

P.S. I also found this article online, by Father Edward McNamara, that touches on this somewhat. Scan down somewhat, as Father McNamara gives an addendum to his earlier answer.

Sorry it's been crazy busy

Last week was just crazy. Nothing extreme or scary, just a lot. A lot of normal stuff as the school winds down, as I got ready for a final Pastoral Council meeting (for one parish) before summer--meaning many more items to consider--and also a festival (for the other parish). I'm not complaining because it was just as crazy-busy for all the folks who organized and worked the festival. I'm always impressed and humbled by that.

My homily for Pentecost was simply some thoughts about the workings of the Holy Spirit:

> Water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit; you can have life in extreme cold or extreme heat, as long as there is water; but no water equals no life. We absolutely depend on the Holy Spirit.

> One of the works of the Holy Spirit is to bring forgiveness and reconciliation. How wonderful the sacrament of penance is--we're clean again, as in baptism, when we're made saints. The challenge is to stay a saint. If we charged for such a great gift as absolution, what would people pay? But it's free. In God's economy, the most valuable things are never in short supply; whereas in our economy, it's not so.

> Another work of the Holy Spirit is to "renew the face of the earth." In this bad economy, so much need; one way we might "renew the face of the earth" is to share our abundance with those in need. Many families want to send their children to our Catholic school but have no money with which to do it, and our funds to help them are limited.

> The Holy Spirit makes sacraments what they are. Without the Holy Spirit, I am not a priest, and the tabernacle is filled with mere bread. We could not be present at the Creation, but through the Holy Spirit's power, we are present at the New Creation (I explained this more), through the Mass. Being present for Jesus' saving death and resurrection would be enough; and yet we are also united to this and to him through the Eucharist. Through the Eucharist, we are transformed. We might ask the Holy Spirit to help us realize how wonderful this is, and to transform us, so we renew the face of the earth.

Sotomayor

I'm not worried, I explain why down below (in an older post).

'We're in heaven' (Sunday homily)

(This homily was from notes, and I've tried to recreate more or less what I said, although it was somewhat different each time.)
One of the sayings from the early Church Fathers goes like this:
"What is not assumed, is not redeemed."*

What does that mean?

It refers to the Incarnation--God becoming man--
and it means that everything God took to himself in becoming human, was redeemed.
The Son of God, in becoming man, not only took on our same human nature,
he also took on the suffering and pain that is part of our experience,
and he even embraced death.

These things too are redeemed--
meaning, they are no longer of no value, but of infinite value.

So, it isn't just our souls that are saved; our bodies are part of salvation as well.
This means our bodies matter; this is why we care for them.
The choices we make, with our bodies, are bound up with our eternal destiny for good or ill.
And our goal isn't to "escape" our bodies once they wear out.

This leads to something else, and it may startle you, but it's true:
Heaven is not our final destiny!

Heaven is where our souls go--if saved--
while we await the "new creation"
which we heard mentioned in the opening prayer:
a new heavens and a new earth.
We will wait for the Resurrection, when we get our bodies back, new and improved.

We might wonder, what is this new creation? What will it be like? What will we be like?

We don't know. But we do have a glimpse: Jesus rose from the dead in his human body.
He still has his body; it lives forever.
He ate and drank food with the disciples; they could touch him.
His body had remarkable qualities, such as his ability to pass through walls--
and he didn't look exactly the same.

Also: he still had his wounds.
Which I take to mean that what trials we face in this life,
will not be left out of the new creation, forgotten, as if they didn't happen;
rather, they will be transformed.
I find that comforting; because if something has been a part of our lives here on earth,
would we like to be told, when we arrive in heaven, none of that has any meaning anymore?
Instead, they will be transformed--redeemed--
and turned into something beautiful, like the Cross.

In view of all that, we are, on this feast, looking up to heaven with the Apostles
as the Lord ascends to his throne. But we're not saying goodbye.

Remember, what is assumed, is redeemed!
Our humanity ascends to heaven--it's the same humanity, his and ours, Saint Augustine said.
We are one with him: he is the head, and we are the body.
Not only that, Saint Augustine said, we are in heaven! We are already in heaven!

Does that mean we're already saved? It's all done?
No--we still have to wake up to this reality and that's not certain.

Let me give you an example.

Some years back, before I was a priest, I went on a vacation
with my sister and my brother and my sister's daughters.
We were at the beach, and one night we went out to a restaurant,
one of those places with a band that plays Jimmy Buffet tunes.

Well, my niece was in sixth grade--she's a grown woman now--
and she was at that age when--anything unusual adults do is infinitely embarrassing!
So, when we went to dance, and my niece buried her face in her arms on the table.
"Kara, do you want to dance?" "No!"
"Kara, the food is here" "Leave me alone!"

She stayed like that the entire time we were there!
So, we danced and ate and had a good time.
An hour and a half later or so, she finally looked up. "What's going on?"
"I'm sorry, honey--we're going home!"

She'd missed the entire party!

So: you and I still have to wake up to the reality of heaven around us.

Are we awake to it?

I'm going to say something here, it may get me in trouble, but...

We have something of a tug-of-war about the Mass.

If Mass goes five minutes too long, "Father, what's wrong with you?"
If we try to add something to make Mass more special--
if I sing the prayers, or if we use incense--
"Father, why are you making such a big thing about it?"

We're in heaven!
This--the Mass--is the most important thing we will do;
it's the most important thing that happens, in Piqua, in the universe!
And I confess this "tug of war" is frustrating to me.

Let me show you something that we do in the Mass that expresses this reality.
In a moment, the servers will bring me the chalice, I'll pour wine in it,
and then I'll add a drop of water. And I'll say this prayer silently:
"By the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ,
who humbled himself to share in our humanity."

The wine represents Christ's divinity; the water, our humanity.
When the water joins the wine, the wine does not become water;
symbolically, the water becomes wine!
That's our destiny: to be joined to God!

What an awesome thing to say! Words fail me at the thought of it!

This is why the martyrs die!
This is why Saint Isaac Jogues, who went to preach to the Huron Indians,
and they** sawed off two of his fingers, and after he went back to France to recuperate,
went back to those same Indians to continue sharing the Gospel!
This is why, in so many places around the world, they don't drive to Mass, they walk;
and they don't walk a few blocks, they walk many miles, to get to Mass!

Are we awake to this reality--what we have?

If it seems I'm reproaching you--I'm reproaching myself.
Please pray for me that I will never go through the motions,
or see the Mass as just part of my job! It's the easiest thing to do!

Later on, as we receive communion--or if we make a spiritual communion--
maybe we can offer our communion for each other:
That we'll wake up to the reality that we are in heaven.

* Saint Gregory of Nazianzus; when I jotted down my notes in the confessional, I didn't remember who said it.
** It was actually a rival tribe of Mohawks, not the Hurons.

The Archbishop visits

Today, a very special thing happened in Piqua: the Archbishop came to offer Mass, and to administer the sacrament of confirmation.

As you might imagine, lots of people had lots to do to get ready: to prepare the young people, to have a rehearsal for them, for the servers (I did that), to set up a reception for all concerned, and to coordinate so many elements.

I confess I was very absorbed with making sure everything went well. Some priests who have been ordained awhile may feel differently, but for me--both personally and as a pastor--I think it's a big deal with the Archbishop comes. He ordained me a priest; I have only offered the Mass a handful of times with the Archbishop; and my priesthood is only complete in the archbishop. I told him, several times, we were glad to have him and it was very special that he came.

Well, thanks to lots of folks, everything came off very nicely. The music was good, the servers were diligent and showed up and did well, the church was packed, and everything unfolded well. Archbishop Pilarczyk gave a good homily about the qualities of being a good Christian, which the grace of confirmation strengthens, using Olympian athletes as an extended example.

After the Mass, and after a reception, at which the Archbishop greeted the families and the newly confirmed, the other priests and I took him to dinner at a restaurant in Troy. We enjoyed a drink and some bread and some good food and company. This may seem rather ordinary, but--I don't have this opportunity very often, to visit with the Archbishop--who has the fullness of the priesthood, is the visible expression of unity in our diocese, and succeeds the Apostles--so...yes, it's special. We enjoyed some stories and jokes and good company, and at last, Archbishop Pilarczyk--who had a long ride to Cincinnati with the deacon who accompanies him--took his leave, and headed home.

Oh yes--I know a lot of folks are talking about President Obama visiting the University of Notre Dame. I'm not saying that's not important, but--I had no time to pay any attention to that. I had the joy of paying attention to a special day for our eight graders. (And I thanked the Archbishop for speaking out about the situation at Notre Dame.)

Live in Love (Sunday homily)

Last week at this Mass, we heard about the great things
happening at Lehman Catholic High School.

And you heard about the needs Lehman has.
This week—and I ask the ushers to come forward
with the response cards at this time—they look like this.

This week, you have an opportunity to help continue the great work
of our Catholic high school.

I ask that if you can make some sort of pledge or gift,
please fill it out completely…
please write in the amount of your gift or pledge,
and please sign it, here…

Now, while you do that, some details:
The campaign aims to raise $3.5 million,
and it has reached over $2 million—so we’re closing in.

This will help replace a 50-year-old boiler;
Make major improvements in technology used in the classroom—
we have to keep up;
Provide an endowment to improve teacher salaries—
our great teachers get about 2/3rds
of what public school teachers get.
It’s a matter of justice
but also a matter of keeping the best people.

Just so you know—helping Lehman is a great investment.
Not to your own, personal finances,
But to the most valuable resource we have:
Our children and our future.

They get an excellent education—
Our Lehman students score high across the board,
And they are awarded large amounts
of scholarship money year in, year out—
which show colleges know how well-prepared they are.

Last year’s graduating class
got an average of $30,000 in such help—per student!

But it’s not just a quality education;
It’s Catholic education.

Now, I realize you might need a bit more time.
So let me go on to say something about the readings.
I’m going to pose a heavy question—are you ready?

Do fish know they’re wet?

A fish lives in water—does it know what that means?

Our readings keep saying, “live in love.”
Do we know what that means?

In the Gospel, the Lord says, “Remain in me, live in me.”
Last week, he said, “I’m the Vine, you’re the branches”—
and what flows between us is the Life of God.

Whether we know it or not,
genuine love is a participation in God’s own love.

That means there is no such thing as
a merely human love!
Whether we know it or not, you and I are destined
to be drawn up into the Life of God.

As a fish is made to live in water
and must have water to live,
so, you and I exist, we live and move, in God’s love—
and we cannot live without it.

To answer my opening question,
I have no idea if a fish can ever “wake up” to its reality.
But the reason God became man, in Jesus,
was to wake us up to our true identity!

Either we wake up, and we respond, or, we tune it out.
In the end, it’s heaven or hell.

You see, many think of hell as a place without God,
or his love—but that’s not true.
Hell is actually full of God’s love—same as heaven.
The problem is, those in hell want nothing to do with God.
And that is the torment.

Heaven, on the other hand—whatever it may be like—
Is that state of being entirely happy to be with God—
to live in love.

Fish may not wake up to their reality;
But Christ came to wake us up to a great destiny—
to be Sons and Daughters of God.

This is why we are so grateful for our Faith.
We are not left here in this world, to fumble in darkness.

Rather, we are given light to show us the way;
We are given life in the sacraments;
We are given a voice of truth—in the Holy Spirit,
Alive in our hearts, and at work in the Church.

So if someone says, “what’s the payoff—
why should I care about the Christian faith?
Why should I change my life?”

Why should we share our faith?
Why do we emphasize Catholic education for example?


This is why.
Practicing and living our Faith is how we wake up
to the grace that surrounds us—
and how we open ourselves to receiving it—
that it might transform us.

And then we are not just recipients—but bearers.
One fish says to the other—“I’ve got good news!
Do you realize what this is we’re swimming in?
It’s God’s love, God’s life—it can change us!
Drink it up!”

Two thoughts about the pending Supreme Court vacancy...

Some prolifers have made the point, see this is why McCain would have been better than Obama. Well, of course only God can really know what would have been. But I point out to you that had McCain won, and he was faced with a heavy Democratic majority in the Senate, just who do you suppose he would be looking to nominate right now? In that alternate reality, I think we'd be very lucky to get someone as good as Justice Kennedy--i.e., someone who votes right on some things, but who, yes, upheld the Partial Birth Abortion ban, but who voted to uphold Roe in 1993.

You may say, oh, but McCain said he'd offer better nominees. Yes, he said that; but you're kidding yourself if you think McCain--in this present situation, with Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, the economy tanking, etc.--would go ahead with a nominee who would face long odds of confirmation unless McCain made a huge fight of it. Also: while I believe that that would be worth doing, even if the nominee got defeated, I think it's foolish to assume McCain and his folks, in the White House, would have beleved that.

Rather, I think President McCain would want to get someone who would be "acceptable" to the right, but also who would be confirmed and he would have a win and he could move onto other pressing matters. And his folks would surely go out and work the circuit, ahead of time, to convince the right that the pending nominee would really be better than it might seem, and anyway, the "best we can get in this situation," andanyway, everyone needs to be a team player.

If that sounds vaguely familiar, it is pretty much what John Sununu, chief of staff for the first President Bush, said and did when the White House chose David Souter. The situation was similar, except the Democrats did not, I believe, have as large a majority in the Senate as now--something a McCain White House would cite endlessly to explain why they didn't offer anyone better: "get us a GOP Senate in 2010, and then we'll put up better nominees.

As you may have noticed, the chatter--while everyone waits to see who the President will pick--has included, "will he go mainstream or go for an ideologue," or some variation. Some are talking about this as if it matters. I think it doesn't much matter; or, rather, it matters, but there are benefits either way so don't worry about it.

Start with the supposed worst-case: he picks some really wild, out-there leftie, but who also has all the right ethnic, gender and other "qualifications" that make the Senate and the media swoon.

Yes, they'll all gush over the "youthful" Hispanic, female judge, who grew up in the South Bronx amid gunfire every day--thus she suffered the injury that leaves her in a wheelchair to this day, (cue boos to the gun lobby and those who oppose embryonic stem-cell research), and went to Harvard, Yale and Oxford thanks to Pell grants and loans, graduating summa cum laude, and who--when she isn't empathically dispensing justice for all and sundry, lives with her gay partner--oh, did we mention she's gay?--in an ecologically sustainable ashram in whatever state is deemed most valuable to get or keep in the 2012 election. And then she'll come before the cameras, and she'll be beautiful, brilliant, and funny, and the Republicans will all fall at her feet as though dead.

Well..maybe. Rather, I think it is more likely that, apart from the preferred narrative of the White House and the big media (which I just gave you), is that it won't be long before someone finds all the whacko things she ruled in favor of, and it won't be much longer before someone--either inside the Senate or outside--makes a big stink of it and a political fight.

"But she'll still get confirmed!" Probably; maybe; but suppose she does? Do you really think this new justice is going to take control of the Court because the New York Times thinks she's the new Oliver Wendell Holmes? This supposed nominee would be to the left of everyone now on the Court--she's going to win over Kennedy, and keep Breyer and Stevens, for every flaky thing she wants? Sorry, it's a bit far-fetched. These folks on the High Court did not arrive where they are so they can simply be empty receptacles for someone else's "brilliance." They will offer their own "brilliance," with which they are, of course, intimately familiar. Haven't you ever noticed how frequently the Court's decisions come down in fragmented decisions--not just a majority and minority view, but partial assents and dissents?

Meanwhile, what do you suppose will be the impact on the political fortunes of those Senators, in competitive states, in their next re-election, of a vote to confirm this justice? Every whacko thing decision and vote, before and after, will be tied around their necks. And that of President Obama.

Maybe the White House and the Senate majority are fine with that; but I suspect cooler heads will prevail.

Perhaps you say, no, the worst-case scenario is not this, but a "stealth" candidate. You mean another Breyer or Souter? My point is, (a) these guys are occasionally reasonable and (b), why is a new Souter for an old Souter such a terrible peril? Who knows? The new "stealth" candidate may occasionally be good on something, a marginal improvement.

The choice for the White House remains: either pick someone "reasonable" and "moderate" and go with a quicker confirmation battle--that means status quo--or else go for the ideological home-run, go with a "game-changer," and then we have valuable, useful political fight that will do three things: (a) mobilize prolifers and other good folks to get involved and make a difference; (b) create problems for any Senators who vote for such a polarizing figure and (c) bring front-and-center to national attention the problem of judges who invent law, rather than interpret it.

And, I maintain, even if such a Justice Granola gets confirmed, it still won't change the outcomes of the Supreme Court much, if at all. Because if Justice Kennedy is really that wobbly, then we never "had" him to begin with, and this doesn't really change anything. It's like saying, the problem in the crumbling door isn't the termites, but that you pushed against it.

Oh, and one other benefit, which I've mentioned before: all the time and energy spent on confirming the left's essential fourth vote on the Court is time and energy not spent on a host of other things President Obama, and his allies in Congress, want: government takeover of health care, carbon taxes, Big Labor power grabs, and so forth. And that's true even with a "consensus" choice, because it will still take some time; and even more true with a extremist nominee. Since I believe we are better off to the extent Congress is busy with trivialities, a huge fight over a Supreme Court justice could be a really good diversion for the next six months or so.

Sunday's homily notes

Sorry folks, I've been kind of tired lately. Just a lot going on and this time of year, at least for me, could best be represented by a battery running down. Some have said, oh, didn't things slow down after Easter? Nope. It stays just as frenetic right until school lets out; although as that nears, it is slowing down a bit.

One result of all that is I have had less time and energy for composing homilies. Last Sunday, I composed my homily notes in the confessional, and took my wad of little slips of paper to the pulpit with me. What follows is my reconstruction of my homily based on that--although it varied each time.

The word "disciple" showed up in the first reading and the Gospel--we might want to reflect a moment on just what that word means.

A disciple is one who is taught. Not exactly the same thing as saying, one who is learning--because one can learn without a teacher; to be a disciple means one has a teacher.

So if we call ourselves disciples--then we have to have a teacher. Who is that for us? Are we seeking someone to teach us?

Someone is influencing us all the time--we might want to pause and reflect on who that might be. Of course, the teacher we need is Christ. And also the Church. The Latin word "magister" means teacher--and from that comes the word "magisterium," or the teaching office of the Church. The Church teaches us through the pope, the bishops and priests, and others who work with them.

So that raises the question, are we seeking to be life-long disciples? We know that sometimes, young people taking part in religious education will drop out after 8th grade or 12th grade, as if they are finished. But if we are still disciples, we still need to be taught.

This is the purpose of our Adult Faith Formation group, which works hard to put together opportunities for us all to grow in faith. Please take part. And if you've thought, "If they offered _____, I would go"--then please let us know! We want to help.

Also, let me plug the Wednesday evening Bible study I have, every week, 7 pm, at the Caserta Center. We're looking at Acts; and don't worry about just showing up, we'll help you feel at home even if you've not been there for the earlier stuff.

So we need to have a teacher--and we need to be teachable. That is, we need to be open--and that comes as a result of the Holy Spirit at work in us. Just as rain softens hard ground, so the Holy Spirit softens us to receive the seed of faith.

We might notice how our culture sends contrary messages: "I can do it myself" or, "No one is going to tell me what to do!"

The older I get, the more I recognize how slow I am to learn. I'm 47, and I realize I wasn't as smart 20 years ago as I thought I was--and no doubt when I'm 97, I'll see how dumb I am now! My mother had a pithier way to say it: "too soon old, too late smart." My mother had a lot of wisdom, as our parents always do. I thought my parents didn't know what was going on when I was a kid; and somewhere in my 20s, I had the embarrassing realization that they were wise to all my tricks the whole time.

Today is Mother's Day--and of course you knew that, even if you didn't say anything about your plans for mom; of course, you didn't forget, you were just going to surprise her, right? How about some nice roses [here I was referring to the live roses being sold after Mass by the pro-life group]? When you're with mom today, it would be a good time to thank her for being a good teacher.

Now, there was a curious thing in the Gospel just now--did you notice? Our Lord said, we were to "bear much fruit"--and then he said, we would "become his disciples." Maybe you would have expected it the other way round? I think I would have expected that: we become disciples, and then we bear much fruit. But that's not what he said.

I think he's referring to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. That's the life of the Vine, shared with the branches. And as we increase in the life of the Spirit, we will bear fruit. And part of that fruitfulness will be being teachable--being open. [This was the point I wanted to make--but I am dubious I made it very clearly over the weekend.]

Now, another point I'll share with you. Father Tom mentioned something over lunch--a study in the paper about how much members of different religious groups pray. Catholics were right in the middle, in line with the national average: 58% of Catholics (and Americans) pray daily. Then Fr. Tom made the point that the groups that were higher than that, were also the groups you hear are growing; and those below, are often those not growing.

We often talk about wanting our parish to grow--this suggests that it may be as simple as focusing on how we are growing in the Holy Spirit; and also, that this is not just about our own, personal, growth, but our growth as a Catholic community.

As we continue to take part in the Mass, and our Lord is about to offer us life in his Body and Blood, we might ask his help to grow. That we might bear fruit.

Weekend report

Sorry not to post for several days. This post, also, will need to be brief.

> Friday afternoon: lovely May Crowning with the schoolchildren, "the best I remember" our venerable retired priest observed after taking part. Our faculty and students did all the work--I was happy to take part.

> Friday evening: wedding rehearsal, followed by dinner with a couple other priests and a seminarian visiting, who I hope will work this summer. He stayed overnight and we had some good conversations.

> Saturday: various things with the wedding, plus there was a funeral--I didn't have the Mass, but I was checking to make sure the luncheon was taken care of, and then we had a group of women making a canopy for the Corpus Christi procession. Then confessions and Mass.

> Sunday: 10:30 am Mass was with catechists and students in the religious education program.
Then we had a gathering for one parish that evening, with Mass at 6 pm and a series of presentations afterward on various matters of interest. Good comments and interest from those taking part.

> My three homilies this weekend varied, but I keyed on the gap I feel between the Good Shepherd and we mere pastors, and talked about the power of his grace that works through us, for baptisms, confession and the Mass. And that we are supplied this grace, through the Eucharist, so that we will lift up the Name of Jesus in our world. I said more, but that was the gist of it.

> After the gathering, I hooked up with three other priests around 9:30 pm for dinner and some fellowship.

> Monday: a day of rest, capped by a "blognic" in Columbus, meeting up with Jay Anderson, the Darwins and TS. I would enjoy writing something witty about it all, but I got back rather late last night, afterward, and today's a busy day. But it was a lively and fun conversation.

Souter's retirement: don't worry

A quick note about the news late last night that Justice David Souter is stepping down...

> He's been a reliable and utterly unremarkable member of the "liberal wing" of the Court. On the issues that matter most to prolifers and conservatives, he's been no help at all. So his replacement cannot make that any worse.

> In theory, President Obama could pick someone less of a cipher, and that could, perhaps, be a plus for the pro-abortion side, but it's hard to see how. The swing vote is Justice Kennedy, who seems to gravitate to other, brighter lights on the Court, but also tends to seek "balance." It's hard to see how a new pick makes any real change.

> All the angst from prolifers is that, oh no, we've lost our chance! Not really. It means we have to wait a bit longer for that seat to open up, and that's just as well, because what hope do we realistically have of anyone good taking it? Why assume the president elected in 2012 is going to be any good? It just doesn't matter for the time being. (On the other hand, losing one of our good justices would matter.)

> A lot of thinking on this is what a friend calls "trick play" thinking: we can trick our way into getting what we want. So, for example, we can get the President and the Senate to overturn Roe--by approving nominees--when they manifestly won't do it legislatively...which, contrary to what most think, can be done--but it's hard, hence the preference for the trick play. Well, guess what: it hasn't worked. I think if we stopped going for the trick play, and actually did the hard work on the legislative front, we'd make more, real progress. Prolifers have good support in Congress, not enough, but better than is realized, and when we mobilize prolife opinion and bring it to bear on Congress, we can make a real difference, particularly in gumming up the works enough to stop bad legislation.

> So I think this is not something to worry about; but there are opportunities. Prolifers will be very interested, and this will have the good effect of helping mobilize more of our folks to take an interest in these matters. That's good. Also, there will be a tug-of-war between those around the President who want someone more "mainstream" vs. the "true believers." Fine, whichever way that turns out, it's good. Either we get someone who votes better; or we get someone who makes no actual difference, yet serves to illustrate vividly the problem. Win-win.

> The downside is that Justice Souter, being minimally effective and a non-spokesman for his side, might be replaced by someone who actually is a litttle more interesting and useful. But that's a very marginal matter. The prolife cause has Scalia who even his worst critics concede is brilliant and eloquent--and we still haven't prevailed. In the end, it's who has the votes. They already have this vote, so maybe they'll get a marginally more interesting person to cast it.

> The real benefit of this I've saved to describe last: this will consume time and energy on the part of the White House and the Senate for several months. That's very good. The time and energy spent on this, the next few months, is time and energy not spent on other things, that actually could make things worse in the here-and-now. If it means action on other stuff gets delayed a few months, that could really be very useful in the long run.

'The Plan' (First Communion Homily)

Imagine this conversation,
between God and an angel, and a long, time ago.
God calls the angel over for a talk.

He says, "I’m putting together a plan to save the human race.
My Son is going to earth, to become one of them."

"Wow, that’s pretty impressive!"
you tell God.

"Wait, there’s more.
They’ll call him ‘Jesus’— and he will suffer and die — and rise from the dead!
That’s going to show everyone the true evil of sin,
and also show them there’s a way out of sin, back to life!

"Wow, that’s awesome," the angel says to God.

"Yes, we think this will give the human race a totally new focus.
They’ll know they can be forgiven; and that they can change!
And, they won’t have to be afraid of suffering and death,
they’ll know they can share the very life of God!

"That will give them hope!"

"That’s a really great plan," the angel says to God.

"Well, there’s more.
We think it won’t work, unless the human beings are part of it, not just spectators.

"See, a lot of folks will come long after Jesus’ dies and rises again—
and they need to be part of it, too!"
"Have you noticed," God says, "how the baby humans want to touch everything?
And, everything goes into their mouths!
They love to eat!"

"So, I’m thinking: food!
Food could really help the human race get deeper into what
Jesus is going to do for them."
"I’m thinking of using bread and wine."

But you ask, "God, how can bread and wine save them?"

"Well, it can’t!
Bread and wine are nothing if that’s all they are!"

"So, would it be, like, a symbol?
Like a picture on the wall?"

"No, a symbol can’t save them, either!
It has to be really BE Jesus, or else it’s nothing!

"What they need is to eat and drink the life, and love,
the suffering and dying, and rising, of Jesus!
Eat and drink it.
That’s how it’ll be real to them; that’s they’ll experience Him
being part of them, and they’ll become part of Jesus!

"So," God says, "I want them to eat Jesus’ Body and Blood."

"But, God, that sounds kind of yucky…"

"Well, it is yucky," God says.
But Jesus is going to suffer and die—it is his Body and Blood that will save them!
They need to understand that.
But—so they won’t be afraid, we will use bread and wine!

"It will truly be Jesus—because only Jesus can save them;
but it will still look and tastelike bread and wine—
so it will be pleasing and attractive.

"This is how they will literally be united with Jesus!"

"Wow, God! That’s quite a plan!"

"Well, I’ve been working on it for all eternity," God says with a smile.

But you have another question.
"Gee, isn’t all that a lot for them to understand, all at once?"

"You’re right," God says. "That’s why they won’t do it just once.
They’ll need to receive Jesus over, and over, and over!"

"Even every day?"

"Yes, if they want to.
Certainly every Sunday; that’s the ‘maintenance plan’:
Mass every Sunday is how they’ll come to understand what Jesus did for them.

"Plus, Jesus will be present in their churches, in the Eucharist.
They’ll know how real he is!
They’ll be able to bring their friends, and say, ‘See? Jesus is here! Jesus is real!
We receive Jesus’ Body and Blood in the Eucharist!

"What’s more, sharing the Eucharist this way will show them a new way of living.

"When they come together at Mass, it’ll be everyone—
rich and poor, black and white, grownups and children,
healthy people, sick people—everyone!

"And they’ll realize that only in Jesus can the world be one!
And when they realize how much God forgave them,
they’ll be able to forgive one another."

So, finally, you ask: "Why are you telling me—just an angel—about this?"

"Because you’re going to be a guardian angel!

"Way in the future, in a place called Piqua,
someone will be born that you’ll be responsible for!

"You will help that child grow up, and grow into,
the life and love of Jesus Christ!
And the Eucharist will be absolutely central to that!

"Guardian angel, you will encourage that child:
to come to Jesus in the Eucharist;
not just one time, but week after week, even daily!

"I’m going to give that child a hunger for the Eucharist;
I want you to keep reminding that child:
‘Jesus is my Food; Jesus is my Life.’

"So, let’s practice that, guardian angel:
‘Jesus is my Food; Jesus is my Life.’

"Guardian angel, you whisper that into that child’s ear
every day of his or her life. Every day!
‘Jesus is my Food; Jesus is my Life.’

A day with a great end...

Today was a long slog at the office.

I had an important letter to circulate around to the Pastoral Council in advance of the next meeting; and then I had to get it out via email. Alas, we had some confusion, so I fielded a couple of calls and several emails. I had plenty of mail to open and lots of checks to sign. I had some meetings--I missed one I didn't have on my calendar--and I had some conversations about some other meetings coming up. I had something extremely delicate come up and I won't say anymore about it, but it took a fair amount of time and some emotional energy.

We had an important meeting tonight, something planned for some time. It's purpose was to brief all concerned about some ideas being considered to strengthen our Catholic school, and to get feedback. It's very delicate, because all manner of rumors circulate. Many of us involved were concerned that it wouldn't go well. I didn't know what to expect.

Well, as far as I can see, it went extremely well! A large crowd showed up--a great testimony to how much our folks care about our Catholic schools. The chairman of the committee laid out the facts very clearly, and laid out various options. Many people asked questions and offered comments--exactly what we wanted! A lot of folks have been anxious that decisions would be made without them, and God willing, tonight's meeting helped allay that concern.

I couldn't be happier! The committee did so well--the work that led to this was considerable, and the success is due to that. The chairman handled everything so well. Part of what I , personally, appreciate is that there are so many things to manage in the parishes, and having our good folks step up and do this...is so encouraging.

Of course, more work remains to be done. The next steps will depend on what we find in the written feedback. But I confess the great outcome of tonight's meeting is a relief and encouragement to me, and I have no doubt it is to the group that put it together.

When I got home, around 9:30, I had my dinner and am relaxing a little.

What love is and is not (Homily for Divine Mercy)

If there is a word and idea that is misused, it is “love.”

We have so many songs and stories:
a boy falls for a girl; a girl is broken-hearted over a guy.
Movies about all the dumb and funny things we do for love.

That’s all fun.
But I confess some of what our culture gives us
makes me angry—I know many of us feel the same way.

Here’s a typical story line:
A man and a woman meet—sparks fly—and they’re in bed.
They enjoy each other; they use each other.
But they do not love each other.

Now, let me explain what offends me.
It is not that it is explicit.
It’s the manipulation:
a lie wrapped up in beautiful packaging.

Part of the lie is that love is something that just happens;
an impulse that comes and goes.
No; love is a choice.

It is the most powerful thing that can happen.
It is more than romance;
Not everyone experiences epic romance;
but without exception, everyone
has the choice and the risk of love.

It is all that’s wonderful and awful: a package deal.
Just like the Cross.
“Jesus loves me”: and he shows us his hands and his side.

Another part of the lie is that we can have it all;
we can be individuals, do what we like, and find happiness.

In the first reading, it says, they loved one another.
The price wasn’t just that they shared their stuff.
That is relatively easy;
being accountable to one another.
That’s what is really hard.

The pitfall—the counterfeit that can fool us—
is that sometimes what we count as part of “love”
is really more about us—our needs—
then about the other who we claim to love.

It takes a lifetime to discover—let alone unravel—
this complexity of ourselves,
this tangled mixture of our own virtues and sins.

This is how frequent confession can do us so much good.

Let me give you a very current—and very delicate—example.
Someone says, I want a child. I have a right to a child.
A single person—a couple—mix or match.
A woman out west used treatments to have eight babies.
was that about the needs of the children—or her own?

This whole controversy about some “stem-cell research”:
it arises because of attempting conception in a laboratory
rather than in human acts of love as God designed.
What did the President say?
These embryos are “extra”—they’ll “go to waste”—
So why not “use” them for research?

Our hearts ache for those facing this dilemma.
But a child is a gift.
A rose so beautiful—yet so fragile,
we crush it if we grasp too tightly.

We are critical of our President on the stem-cell issue;
Let us praise him on another issue:
He made it clear
that human dignity demands we never torture.
Yes: love is hard—such as loving our enemies.
Some things we never do because God’s law—
not “national interest”—comes first.

This is Easter. The Feast of Divine Mercy.
What’s the connection?

If Easter is about anything, it’s about the power
that has come into this world through Jesus Christ,
poured into our lives in baptism;
and through us, to change the world.
That power is love—Divine Mercy is another name.

Jesus says: I want a heart, a mind, a set of hands, consecrated to me—
I will change you, and through you, the world!

Jesus shows us his hands and his side:
“This is love—will you take part?
Will you join me in saving the world?”
It is a challenge hard to say yes to; yet impossible to refuse.

It is, also, the Mass, the Eucharist.

Sometimes we approach the Mass
in terms of feelings or likes and dislikes.
I’m aware of it; I hear both the compliments and complaints.
I am not dismissive; but I find myself thinking,
how can I ever hope to give everyone what they like?
Is that even what love does?
Someone said, folks at Mass are like “customers.”
Maybe so; but I think love takes us a good deal further.

If our community of believers
is to be of one heart and one mind,
likes and preferences can never be ground for unity.

The Mass is, first and last, not about us or what we do;
it’s about what Jesus Christ does:
He shows us his hands and his side;
and we respond: “My Lord and my God.”

The Lord is Risen!

I think I'm getting a little better at the Vigil.

That may sound funny, but--a priest only gets one go at this each year, and it's a pretty complicated liturgy; a lot of moving parts.

Spent the day running around, over to St. Boniface, to make sure all was set for tomorrow (no Vigil Mass there); almost forgot to put out the new Easter Candle--gee, wouldn't that have been embarrassing? Got antsy about the Vigil before 8--didn't need to be there early, but I went early, and piddled around. Everything came together pretty well, forgot a few things, nothing essential; I'm pretty sure I did the sprinkling rite out of order. Hint: the Ritual for Christian Initiation is laid out in an unreliable fashion--it tricks you into thinking you are on the right page. And I forgot the final blessing and skipped to "The Mass is ended..."

We did all the readings, the vicar was especially moving as he sang the Exsultet, and the Gloria was...glorious. We sang the Litany of the Saints as we led the catechumens to the font, then I sung the blessing of the water. We used the Roman Canon, and everything was complete in 2-1/2 hours. After Mass, we passed out Easter candy to the kids, and gave the new members of the Church Easter baskets, which I blessed. Then, I took a Host to St. Clare Chapel, to resume perpetual exposition (no exposition during the Triduum). The retired priest, who has the early Mass, will take care of the holy water at that time. (These are some of the awkward things about having one Triduum liturgy between two parishes.)

My homily? Well, I wish I had written it, but I never got around to it. I'll try to recall some details...

I began by talking about the scope of time represented by the readings: 4,000 years back to Abraham, untold millions of years back to the Creation. Although one could discern more than one progression in the readings, what I saw was God progressively getting closer to us--until we have God becoming one of us.

I talked about the Plan of Salvation, and how it makes clear the great concern God has for humanity. And we might be tempted to say, oh, isn't that convenient--someone came up with a religion that exalts man! But most religions don't do that; most religions see God as distant, and humanity as unable to attain heaven. The best we can do is appease God. (I had thought about saying something more on this, but I didn't.)

Well, I cannot recall just what I said next, but I touched on the added wonder that not only does God come to us, and enter our plane, but he then draws us up into his plane. Oh I remember--I talked about how the Story doesn't end with the readings; the next part of the liturgy is how God inserts us into the Story! That's what happens next, with baptism and confirmation. God became one of us; and God lifts us up into God--that is the meaning of baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist.

I talked about the new heart and new spirit mentioned in Ezekiel--and pointed out that we Christians the heart of the world--we are the ones bringing the Spirit into the world--until Christ is all in all. I said something like--if only our church could be 100 times brighter--that a geat beam of light would shoot up into space, and people would say, something is going on in Piqua--in Columbus--in Troy--in Cincinnati, Washington, Rome, and everywhere else! Until the whole world were engulfed in the light of Christ! That day will come. The story does have an end, when Christ is all in all; in the meantime, we are sent to bring that Light, to bring Christ to the world. That's also the meaning of baptism and confirmation, and I told the catechumens and candidates they were accepting a great responsibility. I ended with something like, "till the whole world knows Jesus Christ."

Well, I'm winding down with a beer; I have the 10:30 am Mass tomorrow. Thank God for the two holy priests who assist me!

The Triduum begins...

The day started with a phone call...where's the Eucharist?

Last night, I transferred the Blessed Sacrament from the tabernacle of St. Boniface, to the chapel, where we have perpetual exposition. The rubrics say to do it sometime before the evening Mass of Holy Thursday, so I do it following the Wednesday evening Mass, insofar as the people can take part if they wish--but we do it simply.

I got into the office, and dealt with matters there; I still had one more person to recruit to have his feet washed, and that was taken care of. Then I ran over to church, to get chairs set up, and get everything else in order. Then a quick run to the wine shop for beer and wine for dinner.

Every Holy Thursday, I invite priests from the area for prayer and dinner, and we had lamb, ham, potatoes, green beans Piqua-style, rolls, butter, salad and dessert. The parishioners who help me with this were wonderful; they took some leftovers home, including some bottles of wine.

The priests all have to leave around 5 of course, for their own Masses; so I got a little rest before heading back to St. Boniface to rehearse things with the servers. We had more experienced servers, so all went well. They handled all the special parts just fine. We had incense throughout, of course, including at the elevations.

Father Tom preached, so I was grateful for that; I focused on offering the Mass. I confess it is a little spine-tingling to offer this Mass, thinking of that evening so long ago, yet so fresh in our minds.

The procession went well, and many came along to pray in the chapel afterward. After stripping church, I headed home for a little rest.

Then--a phone call. It was the police! "There's are lights going on and off in your school, the police think someone may be in there." So I shot over there, and we went in...it was a just a bulb that was flickering, crisis averted! "Guess this won't make 'Cops!'" The officers said they wished their whole night could go like that. I seconded that wish for them.

So, now I'm back after that. Tomorrow is a busy day, confessions in the morning, then run over to St. Boniface to bring the Eucharist, consecrated tonight, for the Good Friday liturgy, then our version of the "tres ore," with stations, a talk on the Seven Last Words, then the solemn liturgy, then we begin the Divine Mercy Novena. Then I take the Holy Eucharist back to St. Boniface, for the evening liturgy there, which the vicar will lead. He, too, has confessions beforehand.

Sorry I haven't posted...

I wouldn't really take time to post now, except I'm waiting for a phone call back. What I really need to do right now is make calls; except I keep missing someone's call, so...I wait.

My homily for Palm Sunday was brief, which it always is that day. Most of the priests I know give very brief homilies. Of course, in a less time-conscious culture, it might be a great day to give a fuller homily...but there it is.

My homily made these points:

> This week is so important, please make time; pray for God to help you. Let us pray for each other in that regard.

> If you thought you missed a chance to go to confession, we'll have confessions Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and twice on Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

> I shared a passage from the Office of Readings for last Saturday, which invited us to think of ourselves as the Good Thief, or Joseph of Arimathea, etc.

As you might imagine, I'm busy these days. Not just Holy Week details.

Another thing a pastor does...

Today started with Mass at 8 am, mostly in Latin, as we do on the first Wednesday of the month. Attendance is good, and people are praying the Latin prayers better and better.

Then I picked up breakfast on the way to the office, here by 9 am.

A fair amount of paperwork (I have a vast supply in reserve); some phone calls and emails. But the major project today was to write a grant.

As you may know, since 2006, I've been working on a variety of projects for Saint Boniface Parish. When I arrived in 2005, the maintenance crew and many other parishioners made me aware of many urgent projects. I launched a "Rebuild Saint Boniface Fund" drive in 2006, with a goal of $580,000. It seemed so far out of reach, and yet, with prayer, a lot of events and hard work by many people, plus some big hitters, we've just about reached it. We still need to raise some funds for windows in the school; the rest of the projects are all funded.

Although the name of the project might lead you to think it's all for the church, in fact almost a third goes to the school: new windows, roof repairs, resurfacing parking/play area, and painting the gym. A chunk goes to the parish office (former rectory): interior and exterior repairs, plus improving electrical service so our computers don't trip our circuit breakers. The bulk of it goes to the church: the exterior stone-facing (a kind of stucco) needs significant attention, trim paint, the front vestibule roofs had major leaks we had to repair, thus the vestibule needed plaster and paint, the stained-glass windows needed restoration before they began to fall down in chunks, the pews need major attention (if we can save them; we may not be able to), and the like.

But there remained one element I didn't include--because it wasn't a critical need: repainting and beautifying the interior of the church. In addition, even though I anticipated a need for new flooring, should we replace the pews as may prove likely (fear not, they will have classic design; and when folks ask, "will they have kneelers," I say, "this is me!"), I didn't include the cost, because again, not a critical need as everything else was.

So, today, I was meeting with my director of maintenance to review costs, and prepare the proposal for a $75,000 grant to provide for new flooring, and most important, new painting. And not just a fresh coat of paint, but a real improvement in the interior decoration.

Some of you wonder--will the new flooring be carpet--or something harder?

Well, that depends on several factors. We priced carpet and tile. Carpet came in at around $6 a square yard, tile at $10; other options such as wood or stone, much higher. There are other options we are exploring, such as stained and polished concrete, that may give us most of the benefit of tile at a carpet price.

I'd very much like a hard surface if possible. The benefits would be beauty, far better acoustics for music--the carpet does such a good job at absorbing sound, people don't hear others singing, so they don't sing, unless church is very full--and permanence: we would not have to replace it for a very long time. The downsides are: added cost, higher maintenance cost, and greater risk of slipping in wet and icy weather. We can compensate for the latter to some degree; so if I can bring down the initial cost, the longer life-span may compensate for the increased maintenance cost.

Also, I have a dream that someday, somehow, we will get a real pipe organ back in Saint Boniface Church. A new one would be over $300,000; but if we made the right match with another church, we might be able to obtain one for the cost of moving it--still many thousands, but well worth that to have such beautiful music back. If we ever had a pipe organ, carpeting would be a very effective way to negate its power and beauty.

As I see it, re-adorning the interior of Saint Boniface is the crowning task for the church, so that other projects can be pursued. (Meanwhile, other projects are being pursued, for the benefit of the school--but it's too soon to talk about those.) I am blessed, as a pastor, that my predecessor--who also happens to be my parochial vicar--saw to a variety of needs at Saint Mary, and the people of Saint Mary helped me with several items, such that the school, church and rectory are all now in top shape. So as these projects come to fruition for Saint Boniface, we will have two beautiful and well-maintained churches in Piqua.

Anyway, I spent several hours on this grant application; my maintenance man is getting some visual aids put together, so God willing, we will submit it by week's end.

Please pray!

(And if you want to help--especially if you have a pipe organ--write me at frmartinfox@yahoo.com.)