Month: June 2018

While Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Rejoice and Be Glad was not written to address the effect of trumpism in our nation (though trump’s enormous ego might like to think it), Pope Francis is calling us to be holy as Jesus is holy.

In light of the immigration horror that trump has instituted in our nation since his inauguration, starting first with his ban on immigrants from certain Middle East nations, his labeling of some 3rd world nations as “shithole” nations from whom no one is welcome, and his recent ordering of migrant children to be separated from their parents and placed into prison, Rejoice and Be Glad is MUST READING FOR ALL WHO CALL THEMSELVES ROMAN CATHOLICS!!!

The following is a summation of the third chapter from Rejoice and Be Glad that I wrote for the local Knights of Columbus newsletter. I urge all to read in its entirety the whole of that chapter. Lest one think that reading church documents is akin to the mind numbing exercise of reading insurance forms (It is true that some church documents are cures for insomnia), in the case of Rejoice and Be Glad, this is far from the truth.

Here is the article I composed for the Knights SEE SEE newsletter for July.

“In the 3^rd chapter of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, “Rejoice and Be Glad”, he uses the Beatitudes Jesus preached in the Gospel of Matthew (5:3-12) as the road map to holiness. He writes that Jesus’ words in the Beatitudes are meant to unsettle us, challenge us, and demand a change in the way we are living. To receive the most benefit from this chapter, it is best for you to read the entire chapter and reflect on it. However, here are some highlights from the chapter.

1. Being poor of heart: that is holiness.
2. Reacting with meekness and humility: that is holiness.
3. Knowing how to mourn with others: that is holiness.
4. Hungering and thirsting for righteousness: that is holiness.
5. Seeing and acting with mercy: that is holiness.
6. Keeping a heart free of all that tarnishes love: that is holiness.
7. Sowing peace all around us: that is holiness.

Pope Francis states that the great criterion for holiness is found in Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 25:31-46. This is the scene of the Last Judgment in which Jesus will ask each of us as to whether we fed the hungry, gave drink to those who were thirsty, clothed the naked, took care of the sick, visited the imprisoned, and welcome the stranger. It is upon our response to the person of Jesus present in all those most in need that our eternal  salvation is based. Pope Francis writes, “In this call to recognize him in the poor and the suffering, we see revealed the very heart of Christ, his deepest feelings and choices, which every saint seeks to imitate.” It is not only in our prayer and worship, or following a set of ethical norms in which we give glory to God.  The true test of the authenticity of our prayer and worship is seen in the way we respond to the needs of the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned and the immigrant. “107. Those who really wish to give glory to God by their lives, who truly long to grow in holiness, are called to be single-minded and tenacious in their practice of the works of mercy.”

As disciples of Jesus, we are called to be a prophetic people. We received this call at our baptism when,  anointed with holy chrism, we were anointed priest, prophet , and king.  We come from a long line of prophets: Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekial, Daniel, Hosea, Malachi, to name just a few.

The life of a prophet is not an easy one. There is no place for complacency in the life of a prophet. Prophets are called by God to leave their “zones of comfort and safety” and to go into places of uncertainty and distress and give witness to those who are in need of the Good News of Jesus. Prophets are called to be the conscience of peoples and nations. Prophets are called by God to challenge the unjust practices and policies of those who hold power. Prophets are called by God to be agents of change and to transform the systemic injustice of cultures and societies. As a result, prophets are often singled out by those in power as trouble makers and are often persecuted, imprisoned, and, at times, martyred. Numbered among  Biblical prophets who suffered and died are our present day prophets like Blessed Archbishop Oscar Romero, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King Jr, and, even non-Christians like Mahatma Ghandi.

On this feast of the birth of John the Baptist, we are reminded that, like John the Baptist, we must prophesy to our present time and place, as prophets have done from of old. Our places to prophesy are not limited to only those mighty halls of government, but in our neighborhoods, our communities, and in our own homes. The graces that flow from the Mass into our lives provides us with the courage and the fortitude to bravely go forth and be heralds of Jesus Christ  not only in word, but more importantly, in action.

I am coming off 5 days of vacation. I don’t know about you, but it takes me at least 2 days to shake off the work mode and begin to relax. I really needed this time away from ministry, this year. It has been a very long and gruelling 9 months of ministry. The root of the word “recreation” is the word “recreate”. We all need some to time to “recreate” ourselves. I was certainly in need of some “re-creation.”

Doing ministry in the Church truly requires one to take a break. It matters not if one is ordained or if one is laity, working in the Church takes its toll. The burn-out rate is high in ministry. Being on call to the needs of people who are often in places of desperation requires a lot of spiritual, emotional, and physical energy. I have found that to go for long periods of time without “getting away” or taking some “time out” is detrimental to ministry. It is absolutely necessary to take time off in order to do good ministry in the Church.

I am reflecting on this because I know that 5 days ago, my energy levels were very depleted. Could I still respond if called upon to minister to someone? Of course, but it would have been done with some internal resentment and anger … not a good way to approach someone who is in need of love and care.

The gospels tell us that Jesus was very aware of his own need to “get away” and restore his energy to minister to people. He would go off to some isolated mountain top to pray, often times, not telling his disciples where he was going. He would just “get lost.” Not knowing where he took off to, the disciples would have to go out and search for him.

This is an important lesson for all of us in ministry. When the needs of the people to whom we minister begin to mount up and overwhelm us, we need to do what Jesus did, and “get lost” for a little while. We need to do this so that we can be fully present to the people who rely on us and to serve them well.

On September 9th of this year, I will completed 41 years of ministry will begin my 42nd. year of full-time ministry in the church, the first 17 years as a lay church minister, and the remaining 24 years as an ordained deacon. After all these years, I still don’t take all 4 weeks of vacation to which I am entitled every year … I am lucky to take 2 weeks of vacation. However, I see an increasing need for some time to “get lost” as I age.

Of course, the method by which we “get lost” is important. “Getting lost” in abusing alcohol or other substances is not an option (though, after one of “those days” it sounds a wee bit alluring). I recommend doing what Ruthie and I did these past several days. Drive up to Duluth. Get a room at the Radisson. Spend a lot of time in the hotel hot tub and swimming pool letting the tensions gradually fall away. Go up to the JJ Astor restaurant overlooking Duluth and nurse a cocktail and eat a very fine, albeit expensive supper, as the restaurant revolves and you get a 365 degree view of Duluth. It may not be the mountain top to which Jesus use to escape, but it is still a mighty fine way to find “re-creation”.

Why there is evil in our world? Greek mythology blames Pandora for opening up “the box”. The Judeo-Christian tradition lays the blame on Adam and Eve. Flip Wilson’s comedic character, Geraldine, use to say, “The devil made me do it!” In the story of Adam and Eve, the serpent (personifying evil) didn’t make Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. The serpent told them that in eating the fruit, they would become Gods. Adam and Eve chose to eat the fruit, and, boy, did that plan backfire on them! We have within our own DNA, the genes of our first parents. We want to become Gods, and, as a result, we commit sin.

Breaking things down to their most elemental state, scripture tells us that all human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. Mixed within our DNA is not only that of our ancestors, but the DNA of God. God’s presence resides in all of us. The sins we commit against another person, we commit against God. When we tell someone a lie, we lie to God. If we cheat, or steal from another person, we cheat or steal from God. St Paul writes in the 2nd reading that as we get closer to death, we begin to see with our eyes that which is truly real and discover that everything we have seen up to that point has been not real. Imagine for a moment we are given the eyesight to see the presence of God in all human beings. How could we ever cheat or steal of even think of causing violence, much less kill another person, knowing and seeing God’s presence in that person?

To remedy the sinful flaw in our nature, Jesus appeals to God’s presence within us, telling us to “love one another as I have loved you.” “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?” “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.” “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me. We must appeal to God’s presence within us as we interact with the presence of God in others. The Divine DNA of God within us is the anecdote to the DNA of Adam and Eve within us. The more we see and react to God’s presence in others, AND the presence of God within us, the less sin we will commit, and the more peace we will know in our lives.

Trinity Sunday was a few weeks ago … but I have been busy. For whatever it is worth, here is my reflection on the Trinitarian nature of God. Ruthie went to the Saturday evening, 5 pm Mass on that weekend. If you recall, it was beastly hot, 100 degrees and the humidity was tropical. Fr George Grafsky was presiding that evening at St Wenceslaus and his homily was imply this. “Read Deacon Bob’s reflection in the bulletin. It is the best understanding of the Trinity I have read.” When Ruthie told me what Fr George had said, I was both flattered and a little shaken-up, simply because I don’t think I, along with most theologians alive or canonized have ever gotten an adequate grasp of this great Divine Mystery (though it is nice to stand in the shadows of most of these theologians). Here is the article I wrote:

Trinity Sunday, a day when many homilies border on heresy. We know more about the atmosphere on a faraway planet, like Mars or Jupiter, than that which we know about the Trinitarian nature of God.

In my grad school days at the St Paul Seminary, I had a number of classes taught by theologians. When they would speak, it was as if their minds were able to draw knowledge from spiritual dimensions in otherworldly planes of existence not generally accessible to most of us day to day people. I would ask them a question, and there would be a pause as they searched these other dimensions of knowledge before answering. I remember attempting to read the great Catholic theologian, Fr Karl Rahner’s definition on the “Economic Trinity.” Rahner was a German theologian and he wrote in the German language. It is true that what is expressed in one language is not always directly translatable in another. Case in point, what Rahner wrote in German about the Economic Trinity was very difficult to understand in English. I attempted many times to understand his definition of the Economic Trinity (Note: the Economic Trinity is not a Walmart special, 3 natures of God for the price of one) but to no avail.

So here is my, hopefully, non-heretical, non-understanding of the Trinitarian nature of God. In the Hebrew Testament, we hear about a one, powerful God who breathes upon the waters of the abyss and life was created. The Hebrew Testament writers call the breath of God, Ruah, that is, the Spirit of God. God’s voice speaks to and through the prophets to the people of Israel. The writers of the Hebrew Testament call God’s voice, the Logos or God’s Word. In the first chapter of John’s Gospel, the Word of God is identified as Jesus, God incarnate. Just as in our human body, our breath and our voice are inseparable and one with our body, so the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, and Jesus, the Word of God, are in separable and one in God. The bottom line is this. Jesus taught that God is a Trinity, one God and three natures: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If that is good enough for Jesus, it is good enough for us.