Month: November 2018

Advent: A Time of Anticipation and Remembering

Advent is a time of anticipation and a time of remembering. The scriptural readings for the first two Sundays in Advent point to the second coming of Jesus.  The final two Sundays in Advent, recall the long wait of Israel for the promised Messiah. During Advent, we, as Christians, ironically find ourselves in the posture of Israel, awaiting the first coming of the Messiah. This is implied in much of the liturgical music for Advent. As we sing, “O come, O come Emanuel”, or, “O Come Divine Messiah”, or, “People Look East”, it is not the first coming of Jesus about which we sing. What we express in our Advent chants and hymns is our longing for Jesus to come to us again, just as Jesus came to the people of Israel over 2000 years ago.

The key word is the word “longing”. Do we really long for Jesus to come again? How is our longing expressed in what we say, and what we do in our preparation for Christmas? Longing for Jesus is more than just dazzling light displays set up around our homes, the smell of Christmas cookies and other treats baking in the oven, and an LED lit tree set up somewhere in our home. Longing for Jesus is more than just Christmas parties at work and within families. Looking around our Christmas decorated homes, what is in the greatest place of prominence? Is the Christmas Creche in that place of prominence or is it hidden under the boughs of the Christmas tree?

“The Word become flesh and dwelt among us” is the best definition of the word, Incarnation. Jesus, the one through whom all was created, took on our mortal form and became one with us. May we, in turn, incarnate the presence of Christ  in what we say, in our relationships with others, and in those moments of silent prayer when we speak and listen to Jesus dwelling within us.

Reflection on the Solemnity of Christ the King

We are in our final week of this liturgical year. As Advent nears, how do we respond to the title of this feast, Jesus Christ, King and Lord of the Universe? As we celebrate this last week of Ordinary Time, how does Jesus fit in with what it means to be a King and a hero in light of human history and a media filled with images and stories of “super heroes”? The following is my bulletin reflection on this important feast.

When my kids were young, they would come home from school and turn on the television to watch the cartoon show, He-Man. He-Man, a creation of Mattel, the toy manufacturer, was depicted as a tall, blonde, behemoth on a massive amount of steroids, who fought to keep Eternia from the clutches of the evil Skeletor. Throughout human history we have elevated similar figures to herodom, some real and some fictional, in our folklore, in poetry and literature, and in our entertainment. Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, King Richard the Lionhearted, William Wallace (Braveheart), George Washington, Davy Crockett, Lawrence of Arabia, Rambo, to name just a few, capture the human imagination with their exploits, some based on truth, and much, on very elaborated fiction.

On this Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, one would think that with our human fixation on “heroes” such as those listed, we might see Jesus as some Marvel hero, dressed in a spandex super hero suit, packing six-pack abs, rippling muscles, square jaw, and a big JC emblazoned on his chest. However, Jesus was the complete antithesis of what human imagination depicts as a King and hero. With the exception of his own blood, Jesus ushered into our world a bloodless revolution that utterly changed our world. He was not a commander of vast armies. His name had none of the appellations we like to attach to the names of our heroes, like Lionhearted, the Great, or, the Terrible. Rather, the only appellation we attach to Jesus’ name is, “the Christ.”

If we want an image of a true hero, I encourage us to meditate upon the image of Jesus on the cross of San Damiano. We see the crucified Jesus, not dead, but alive. The witnesses of his crucifixion to the right and left of the cross. The angels on the crossbeam marveling in awe at the crucified Lord. At the top of the cross is the victorious Jesus rising from the dead in the company of ten angels. Jesus was born so that he would destroy our death by his own death, and with his resurrection from the dead raise us to eternal life. He used no guns, no swords, nor explosives. His only weapon was love, namely his love for God, his Father, and his love for us. Now that is a true hero!

 

Christmas Songs for the Refugee Christ: Psalm Offerings Opus 11

I am nearing the completion of a Christmas set of Psalm Offerings. Most of the music originated as four part choral psalm settings and motets I composed for my choirs and cantors to sing during the Season of Advent and Christmas over 40 years ago at St Hubert Catholic Community in Chanhassen. In this collection of 10 songs, 9 of them have been “reimagined” exclusively as piano music. One song is newly composed.

This collection of music is dedicated to the Holy Family present in the migrant and refugee families not only on my nation’s southern border but throughout the entire world.

The song I present here is Psalm Offering 8, Opus 11: In The Beginning Was The Word. I based this on the Prologue of the Gospel of John.

“In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God,
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be 4through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
A man named John was sent from God.
He came for testimony, to testify to the light,
so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world,
and the world came to be through him,
but the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own,
but his own people did not accept him.
But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.
And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.”
(John 1: 1-14, NAB)

With this Prologue as my guide, I composed the following music for piano. Note that it is in 7/4 time. The number seven is a very special, in the Jewish and Christian traditions signifying Divine perfection. Jesus used the phrase 7 times 77 for the number of times we are to forgive one another. In numerology the name Jesus Christ Savior adds up to 777. When one is in 7th heaven, one has reached the pinnacle of heaven. Hence, I decided to compose this piano music with seven beats to a measure, a quarter note getting one beat. For those who are musically inclined, the time signature is 3/4+2/4+2/4, so that the beats in each measure are subdivided to be 123-45-67, with the 1st, 4th, and 6th beats receiving the accents.

Here is the music.

Psalm Offering 8 Opus 11: In The Beginning Was The Word (c) 2018, Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.

 

Have our lives been fruitful or fruitless? A homily for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

This weekend, in all three church sites of the New Prague Area Catholic Community, we are celebrating the harvest during Mass. This coincides with the readings of this Sunday being the most eschatological/ the End of the World readings. I am preaching at two of the Masses and the following is the homily I will be giving.

HOMILY FOR THE 33RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B

I want to first express my great gratitude for all the hard work and sacrifice you do to provide myself, my family, and all of the world with the food we need in order to live. I personally know about farming through relationship, that is in having the great honor and privilege of courting and marrying a farmer’s daughter. Needless to say, I have had my share of bailing hay and stacking hay bales in the barn. I often thought her dad tied our visits to the farm to correspond with the cutting and bailing of alfalfa. I will be the first to admit that all of you can speak far more eloquently about the tremendous amount of work and skill it takes to plant and to harvest crops, and to care for livestock.

As a city slicker, I have observed that the two busiest and most important times in the year are the times of planting and harvesting. Prior to planting, great care is taken to prepare the soil, fertilizing the soil, and, then, planting the seeds. The time in between planting and harvesting is spent in caring for livestock, and handing over control of the crops planted to God. Much prayer is offered for the correct amount of rain, sunshine, humidity, and the absence of storms that can destroy a crop. This is a time best thought of as God’s time. St James, in chapter 5 of his apostolic letter, writes, “See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.” And, following comes the time we have just completed the harvest. An equal amount of care goes into preparing and repairing the machinery that will be used for the harvest, prayer offered up for dry weather, prayer that all will remain safe during the long hours of the harvest, that machinery will not break down, that the crop can be stored safely in bins and silos, and that a good price may be had for the crop. Scripture calls the time between planting and harvesting as the time that belongs especially to God. Once all that has been done, then we can give thanks to God and relax.

The scriptures today, also talk about harvest. The theological word used to describe God’s harvest is the word, “Eschaton”. It means the “end times” or the “end of the world.” Truth be told, we have been living in the end times, harvest time, from the moment Jesus ascended into heaven. While there will be one, final great harvest, the harvest has been going on from the moment we were born. In the Divine Harvest, it is you and I who are the crop. Our lives are the seed that God has planted. God planted us in the soil of this world the moment we were born. The soil in which we are planted is the soil of our family, and the soil of our community. Our lives are fertilized by the knowledge we acquire in school, in the skills we have learned, the life experiences and events that occur in our lives, and the choices we make in our lives. God waters us with the life of his Son, Jesus and with the sacraments, and then, like all farmers, patiently watches us grow, hoping that our lives will bear great fruit. ”What kind of fruit will our lives bear?”  We have the choice of either bearing great fruit or no fruit at all. And then, after a lifetime of growing in the soil of this world, you and I will be harvested by God.

So just what does it mean to bear great fruit? It is quite simple. Our fruit will be determined by how we have we loved throughout our lives. Two weeks ago, Jesus gave us the definition of what it means to bear great fruit. It is to love God with all our heart, strength, and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are to love as Jesus loved, completely and unequivocally, just like the story of the widow from the gospel last week, who gave all she had to God. How do we love God with all our heart, our strength, and our mind? What role does prayer play in our daily lives? Do we spend time in the morning, the afternoon, and the evening giving thanks to God for the blessings of our day? Do we spend time reading Holy Scripture? Do we faithfully spend time with God on Sunday, at this great celebration of thanksgiving we call the Mass? Prayer and celebrating the sacraments are all big ways in which our lives bear great fruit. However, that is not enough. If our prayer and celebration of the sacraments are bearing great fruit in our lives, it will show in how we love the presence of God in our neighbor. In Matthew’s Gospel, the Last Judgment is all about how people have loved the presence of God in others. Jesus asks those being judged, “Have you fed the hungry? Have you given drink to the thirsty? Have you clothed the naked? Have you cared for the sick? Have you visited those in prison? Have you welcomed the stranger, the immigrant?” Jesus tells us that if we have done all these acts of love for others, our lives have borne great fruit and we will have eternal life. If we have not done so, then we will be condemned for eternity. Jesus reminds us that just as the farmer separates the wheat from the chaff, so God will separate those who love from those who do not love. In John’s Gospel, Jesus describes this in terms of him being the vine and we being the branches. Those branches that bear great fruit are saved. The branches that bear no fruit at all are cut off and thrown into the fire.

The sole purpose of planting seeds, watching them grow, and then harvesting them, is to provide life and sustenance for all. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The sole goal of our lives is to learn how to love as Jesus loved, and then love as Jesus loved. Jesus said it quite simply and accurately, “Love one another as I have loved you.”  If we do this, then we bring Christ’s life to our world. This weekend is a good time to pause from the busyness of our lives and reflect on the fruit our lives have produced.  Have we produced great fruit, our have our lives been fruitless?

The Great Commandment of Jesus – A Reflection for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

Many years ago, I ministered alongside Fr Barry Schneider, a Franciscan Friar and the pastor of St Hubert in Chanhassen. One day, Barry asked me, “Bob, why does the Church complicate things so much?” I asked him for clarification. He replied, “The Pharisees were criticized for burdening the Jewish people with Mosaic Law, yet, the Catholic Church has over 3000 Canon laws governing the Church. Jesus gave us only two laws to follow, ‘Love God with all you heart, your mind and your strength. Love your neighbor as yourself.’ This is all the law that we need. Why have we (the Church) complicated things so much?” His question remained unanswered. Barry fervently believed in the Great Commandment of Jesus, which we hear in the Gospel today. For much of his priestly life, Barry ministered to the Black Community on the South Side of Chicago. He marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr through the streets of Cicero, Chicago, enduring cursing and objects thrown at him and his fellow marchers by those along the street, many of whom he recognized as Catholic parishioners from the white suburban Catholic parishes at which he helped celebrate Mass on the weekends.

After all these years, I believe the question that Barry meant to ask was, “Why haven’t Catholics believed and lived Jesus’ Great Commandment of loving God and neighbor?” Mahatma Ghandi, a Hindu, studied the Bible and believed the message of Jesus in the Gospels. He once remarked to a Christian, that if Christians actually lived what Jesus commanded, Christianity would be the most powerful force in the world. Sadly, Ghandi observed, Christians have not done so. Ghandi’s words were so prophetic.

Over the past week there has been horrific violence in the United States. Two Black Americans senselessly gunned down in a Louisville grocery store as they bought food for their families. Eleven Jewish people slaughtered by gunfire as they worshipped in their Pittsburgh synagogue. Fourteen pipe bombs mailed to prominent American citizens, among them, two former presidents. Hateful rhetoric in political ads, speeches, and rallies.The separation and jailing of migrant children from their parents. Using the Great Commandment of Jesus as a template, it is clear that America is far from being the “Christian” nation about which some like to boast. How about you and me? How “Christian” are we? Do we believe and live Jesus’ Great Commandment?

THE ESCHATON (The End of the World). A reflection for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

The Eschaton (pronounced ES-ka-ton) is a fancy way to say “THE END OF THE WORLD.” As a kid, I was horribly afraid of the end of the world. All the dark images we hear in the scriptures (Daniel 12:1-3; Mark 13: 24-32) were highlighted and expanded upon by the nuns to frighten us kids into heaven. Sr. Angeline made it a point to tell my second grade class that ten of us were going to hell. (Of course, we knew who they were.) However, I wondered frighteningly, “Was my name in the book of the saved or the book of the damned?”

The images of the Gospel, sun and moon darkened, stars falling from the heaven, Jesus coming at the end of time to judge me and everyone, didn’t produce much hope for salvation. Allow me to illustrate this in an adaptation of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. “You better watch out! You better not cry! You better be good, I’m telling you why! Jesus Christ is coming to town! (And he is VERY mad!).” At that time, we didn’t run to Jesus to intercede for us. We were too afraid of him (read the English translation of the Dies Irae, sung at all Requiem Masses, funeral Masses at that time, to find out why.). Rather, we fled to Mary, so that she could soften Jesus up a bit so that he would not damn us. The END OF THE WORLD, as taught by the Church at that time, was a thing of nightmares. W.C. Field once stated, “The good old days, may they never return.” I completely concur with him!

It is true that we will be held accountable by God when we enter eternal life at our death. It is important that our lives must be ones that love God with all our mind, heart and strength, and, equally, love our neighbor as ourselves. Let us meditate upon and focus our lives instead on these words of St Paul, “What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?  No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Everything indeed is for you! A reflection for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

There is a beautiful verse from St Paul’s 2nd letter to the Corinthians in which he writes, “Everything indeed is for you!” For those of us who are parents, this phrase expresses how we feel toward our children. We want our children to be happy and we are willing to do everything within our power for them to experience true happiness. God is the quintessential parent. God wants all that he has created to experience the fullness of happiness. We hear this expressed in John’s Gospel, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NAB) If God’s will is to do everything for us so that we might find eternal happiness, are we willing to give fully of ourselves in return to God?

We are confronted with this question in today’s Gospel. Jesus and his disciples sit opposite the Temple treasury and observe the people contributing money to the treasury. Jesus points us that the rich, though contributing a lot of money, give from their surplus. In contrast, the widow gift, small in amount as it is, is her livelihood, the very funds upon which she feeds and houses herself. The rich hold back what they could truly give, while the widow gives totally of herself. Jesus’ observation forces us to examine our generosity of self to God. It is not just about what we place in the contribution basket on the weekend.  Rather, are we willing to give totally of ourselves back to God, or, do we like the Pharisees and the rich of Jesus’ time, hold back, and, only give a small portion of ourselves to God?

Are we willing, like the widow, to completely detach ourselves from not only material possessions, but detach ourselves from the pride and pretentiousness of our lives, and depend entirely and solely on God? If we truly wish to experience the full blessedness and joy of God we must live lives in which everything indeed is for God.

Psalm Offering 6 Opus 11 – Most Wondrous Mystery

Mary Ruth, Dad, and Mom around 1990.

On this All Soul’s Day, I am remembering my sister, Mary Ruth, my Dad and my Mom. Mary died on August 10, 1997. Dad died on November 13, 2004, and Mom died on June 30, 2018.

“Most Wondrous Mystery” is a Christmas motet I composed for them the Christmas of 1990. During my collegiate days in the Chorale of the College of St. Catherine’s, under the direction of Dr. Maurice A. Jones, I was introduced to the wonderful Christmas Motets composed by the French composer, Francois Poulenc. “Most Wondrous Mystery” was my attempt to recapture the power of those motets, specifically, Poulenc’s “O Magnum Mysterium.”

This is the text I wrote for my motet.

Most wondrous mystery, Word of God Incarnate,
In your humanity, you raise us up to heaven.
Sweet sacrifice of our redemption,
within your infant form
lay the source of our creation.

Most wondrous act of love
from the heart of God’s great love,
in your small hands contain
freedom from our from our sin and pain.
Sweet child nestled on your mother’s breast,
within your heart so small
dwells our source of all hope, peace, and rest.
(c) 1990, Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.

This Christmas, I am releasing piano creations of all the Advent and Christmas music I composed when I was the music/liturgy director at St Hubert Catholic Church in Chanhassen, Minnesota. Psalm Offering 6 Opus 11, Most Wondrous Mystery, is one of the piano new creations of this music. It is classified as variations on a theme.

The choral motet is stated first as the theme. Following the theme are six variations, ending with a recapitulation of the original theme, though this restatement is in itself, a variation on the original theme.

If you know Poulenc’s music, the original theme utilizes much of the harmonic structure of his music. For the variations, I fell back on my experience of learning Felix Mendelssohn’s “17 Variations On A Theme”, 30 pages of piano virtuosity, frustration, hard practice, a small dent in the plaster wall of my parent’s home (the result of pounding my head in the wall), and night sweats leading up to my graduation recital. It was the concluding music in my 90 minute program (unlike other instruments, all piano recitals must have all music memorized) … I had a mental block on the 17th variation and just let finger memory carry me through to where I could see the score again in my head.

Here is the new piano recreation of the Christmas Motet, “Most Wondrous Mystery.”

Psalm Offering 6 Opus 11, Most Wondrous Mystery. (c) 2018, Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.