Month: December 2022

It is reported that Benedict XVI died today. There will follow prayers and Masses required by the Vatican on those in the Catholic Church for the repose of his soul. That is all right and proper. It is important to hold the dead up in prayer and honor their memory.

While what follows is critical of Ratzinger/Benedict, I do so acknowledging that the flaws and faults I possess are far greater than that of Ratzinger/Benedict. However, my flaws and faults however have not impacted the Catholic faith in the same manner as that of Ratzinger/Benedict. I also acknowledge that he sincerely lived the faith in which he believed, in spite of the damage I believe he has done to the faith.

Ratzinger/Benedict’s Legacy

However, in many ways, Joseph Ratzinger as the head of the Doctrine of the Faith and later as Pope Benedict XVI, did, in my opinion, a lot of damage to the Catholic Church. He, along with John Paul II, tried to dismantle the very needed reforms of Vatican II.

Political and Theological Legacy

His politics and traditionalism coupled with that of John Paul II was a detriment to the Catholicism in the Latin America, with them often supporting the bloody reign of many Latin American autocrats and dictators over the advancement of people’s rights in many Latin American nations. Their utter condemnation and persecution of bishops like Oscar Romero, who was later declared a martyr for the faith and made a saint by Pope Francis I, is a scandal to our faith. Their utter condemnation of Liberation Theology, which Pope Francis has praised as an important contribution to the Catholic faith, is also a black mark against them.

Liturgical Legacy/Damage

Benedict/Ratzinger was a Traditionalist whose Motu Propio allowing priests to celebrate the Latin Trindentine Mass, has done such great harm to the liturgy of the Catholic Church, that Pope Francis issued his own Motu Propio condemning the celebration of that form of Mass. Note, many American bishops have ignored Pope Francis’ order to end the celebration of this Mass and continue to allow it as sign of defiance toward Pope Francis. Priests celebrating this Mass, willy nilly, continues to divide and prompt Catholics to seek either other Catholic parishes or leave the Catholic Church altogether.

Dominus Jesu and the End of Ecumenism

As head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger/Benedict issued a declaration named “Dominus Jesu”. In my opinion, this declaration of his ended the ecumenism of Vatican II. In this declaration, Ratzinger/Benedict stated that salvation is only through the Catholic Church. I am no great theologian, but I consider this statement as heretical. Salvation is ONLY through Jesus Christ and not isolated to very flawed religious institutions. This statement written by Ratzinger and approved by John Paul II is a back slide to the days in which was popularly taught that everyone not Catholic would not be saved.

Male Exclusiveness and Church Exclusiveness

Ratzinger/Benedict also ended the use of inclusive language in Church documents and liturgies. As Pope he preached and wished for a very exclusive Church that was smaller and more faithful (in contrast to the inclusiveness of Jesus in his earthly ministry modeled by Pope Francis).

Response to Criminal Sexual Abuse by Clergy

He did try to get John Paul II to do something about the criminal sexual abuse committed by Catholic clergy and religious. However, John Paul II was too influenced by the conservative politics and money that these religious orders and institutions had to do anything to end the damage done by the clergy in these organizations.

Ratzinger/Benedict as Administrator

As Pope Benedict, Ratzinger proved himself to be a poor administrator, and incapable of stopping the corruption that was rampant in the Roman Curia. It has been through the efforts of Pope Francis that the Vatican Bank is no longer laundering money for the Mafia, financial theft etc by high ranking Cardinals in the Curia, and many of those guilty of sexual crimes to innocent and vulnerable children and adults,have been held accountable and thrown out of the Church.

Conclusion

While I believe that Ratzinger/Benedict has been a millstone around the neck of Pope Francis who is trying to reestablish the teachings and liturgical practices of Vatican II, Pope Francis has been very gracious toward Ratzinger/Benedict.

As much as I have dislike what Ratzinger/Benedict has done to the Catholic Church in his capacity as head of the Doctrine of the Faith, and as Pope, I pray that he rests in peace and is experiencing the abundant mercy and love God will extend to me when I die.

Given the politics of making saints in the Catholic Church, with the exception of historical saints established centuries ago, I am pretty picky as to whose feast days of people I actually will acknowledge as legitimate saints. and also acknowledge that God is far more forgiving and merciful than I. So, I have put together my own calendar of saints that will never have the political clout nor the money to push them through the canonization process. People I know to have been saintly in their lives, who strived to live Jesus’ commandment to love by welcoming the stranger, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving drink to those who are thirsty, caring for the sick, and, visiting those imprisoned.

Two such saints are Deacon Frank Asenbrenner and Barb Ciresi, whose feast days are today.

Frank died on this day in 2014. He and his wife, Margaret, who preceded him in death, were married 52 years. They were parents to eight children. Frank’s primary job for many years was as a band director at Hill Murray High School. He later became principal of Hill Murray. I first met Frank at St Rose of Lima parish in Roseville, MN where he directed the church choir. Not only an accomplished band director and musician, Frank was also an accomplished performer on the accordion. The annual St Rose of Lima choir party often featured Frank playing polkas etc on his accordion. At my wedding dance, Frank joined the band on stage and jammed with them on accordion. I believe Frank was one among the first class of ordained deacons in the Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis. Ruthie and I attended Frank’s wake where we encountered the deacon couple of Jerry and Barb Ciresi.

Barb died on this day in 2018. Barb and her husband, Jerry, were members of my diaconal ordination class. At the time of her death, Jerry and Barb were married 54 years. Barb was a registered nurse by profession. She worked at various hospitals as a nurse in neo-natal, obgyn, and later as a hospice nurse. As a nurse she was not only professional in her care, but equally compassionate in her care. In addition to her vocation as a nurse, she and Jerry were parents to four children. She also raised and bred English Springer Spaniels and was often sought after for her professional expertise in the care of English Springer Spaniels. Jerry worshiped the ground upon which she walked. Like my wife, Ruthie, Barb worked night shifts. I remember Jerry telling one Valentine’s Day about greeting her return from work by making sure the driveway was shoveled clear of snow and placed rose petals on her pillow. He utterly adored her. Barb also had a sharp mind and could be incredibly critical of men in authority, not only those male doctors with whom she had to work, but also critical of male clergy in the Catholic Church. It was on more than one occasion that she mentioned that these authoritarian males could benefit by cutting of their hanging participles. Needless to say, Barb was a force to be reckoned with and a person to be respected. Barb later in life began to suffer from a gradual onset of dementia. It was very difficult for Jerry when Barb needed to be placed in memory care. I believe a big part of Jerry’s heart died when Barb passed away on this day. Jerry died on November 22, 2020, almost two years after Barb’s death.

Not that I suffer under the delusion that this blog is sought out in any wide way, one resolution for me this year is to post more on this blog. Every now and again, there is a problem with with Word Press. Thankfully, I got it cleared up. Wishing you all peace throughout the upcoming New Year!

Bob Wagner

When Ruthie and I first got married, we had to create our own Christmas season traditions. In my family, we usually set up the Christmas tree on the first Sunday of Advent, and the tree would stay up (mom or dad faithfully watering it everyday) until the feast of the Epiphany. In Ruth’s family, much more traditional, her dad and/or brothers would cut down one of the trees on the farm, and set up the tree on Christmas Eve. Since we got married on December 27th, our first Christmas together was almost a year after we got married. By that time, Andy was born and we were in a little town that time forgot on the southwestern Minnesota prairie called Jeffers. We waited until it was almost Christmas to buy our first tree. By that time, most tree lots were empty and what we got resembled the tree on the Charlie Brown Christmas special, with a good portion of the needles falling off the tree as we dragged it into the house we were renting. From that time forward, we decided to create our own Christmas tradition, with the Christmas tree and decorations being put up on Gaudete Sunday, Rejoice Sunday, in the Catholic liturgical calendar. We usually had a little Christmas decoration party as we put the lights on the tree, and decorated the house.

LATER TRADITIONS

Because I was the director of liturgy and music for Catholic parishes, much of my time, with planning beginning in July and August, and rehearsals beginning in September, during Advent was preparing for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. By this time, I became a member of Minnesota Public Radio (when there was only the Classical Station). I use to get a magazine called “Minnesota Monthly” which would publish all the programming that the stations would air. Because we were so poor, I could not afford to buy albums of music I loved, but I could buy a lot of blank cassette tapes which I could record music on the air. Especially at this time, Minnesota Public Radio would air a number of Christmas concerts. I would try as best as I could to record those concerts on cassette tapes so I could listen to them when I was not busy with rehearsals. Alas, many of those concerts would air while I was busy conducting rehearsals and I would have to rely on my kids (Ruthie was working nights as an RN so she was usually trying to catch 2 or 3 hours of sleep before she had to leave for work) to press the record button on the boom box to record the concerts. That was hit and miss at best. Sometimes, I was able to rerecord the concerts if they were aired on a Saturday afternoon.

One of the concerts I looked forward to every year was the Christmas concert put on by the Dale Warland Singers. This choir was exquisite! I think over the years, I was only able to record two full concerts … much to my chagrin. Later, they released a lot of their music on CDs, and I would buy them as soon as they would be released. The other concert/liturgy to which I looked forward was the Christmas Eve broadcast of the Kings Choir doing Advent lessons and carols, with a Christmas address by Queen Elizabeth. Of course, I rarely heard this on Christmas Eve because I was up to my neck in Christmas Eve Masses and generally wouldn’t get home until 1:30/2am Christmas Day (only to get up at 6 am to get ready to leave for the first Christmas Day Mass). MPR would replay the lessons and carols usually in the afternoon on Christmas Day and then I would record and listen to it.

TODAY

Sadly, by the time I retired in 2019, Dale Warland retired and the choir disbanded, so there were no longer any of their concerts on air. I would like to say that I listened to the lessons and carols last year, but I had Covid and was awaiting surgery on my broken right foot … so I was not quite in the Christmas spirit. I have accumulated either by CD or downloaded from online much of the music I use to look forward to from 1977 to the present. I have created on my two tablets all this Christmas music to play and listen to from this Sunday through Epiphany.

I began listening this afternoon. Mind you, there is none of the commercial Christmas garbage that has been inundating most commercial retail outlets since the day after Halloween. There will be no chestnuts roasting on anything, and as far as “my momma kissing Santa Claus”, hell no! These are Advent and Christmas carols that have been around long before all the commercial Christmas jingles and Frosty the Snowman specials. These carols have a way of creating an aural space of contemplation and joy, and stir the human soul in an incredible way.

May these remaining weeks of Advent be one of contemplative joy leading to Christmas for you!

I begin this with three images because they all share the same feast day: 1) Deacon Tom Semlak; 2) Father Pat Griffin; and, 3) the Immaculate Conception of Mary. While it may sound a wee bit sacrilegious to say this, all three feasts are of equal importance to me. Why? Because each of these persons in their own particular way carried the presence of God and made God’s presence immanent in their own special way.

THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

For Catholics, the feast day of the Immaculate Conception highlights the Catholic doctrine that Mary was conceived without original sin. Granted, this doctrine is only about 120 years old and bitter battles between opposing theologians argued both for and against this doctrine for close to 2,000 years. Because Jesus died for ALL humanity which is born in sin, those against the doctrine argued that Mary could not be conceived without sin, something held by Protestant theologians and religious traditions. Those who argued for the doctrine stated that though Mary was conceived without original sin, it was only through the intercession of Jesus that Mary did not sin like for instance, Adam and Eve, who also were conceived without original sin. The argument that decided this basically stated that if God wanted Mary to be sinless, God could do it. Oddly enough, because the gospel reading for the feast is the conception of Jesus, many Catholics think the feast is about Jesus’ conception, not Mary’s. Hence, to this day, many Catholics remain confused as to what the feast is all about. As a kid going to Catholic school back in the 50’s and 60’s, what the feast meant to me was that even though I had to go to church on this feast, I had a day off from school.

DEACON TOM SEMLAK

Tom and Marge Semlak were classmates of Ruthie and I when we were in diaconal formation. Tom and I were ordained deacons at the Cathedral of St Paul on September 24, 1994. Deacons in the Catholic Church are meant to carry on the original charism of deacons from the time of the Acts of the Apostles, namely, to serve the needs of the poor, the disenfranchised, the powerless, and those who are abandoned. Along with this primary mission, we are also given the “faculties” to preach at Mass and other liturgies, to baptize, witness marriages, and preside at funerals and other liturgical services. Each and every one of the deacon couples in my class have been involved in some ministry to others. Though the Archbishop gave us the ability to wear clerics (clerical collars), the normal attire of a deacon is not to stand out from the people he serves, but to blend and be one with the people he serves. As such, the uniform of the deacon is often that of those he serves. Tom brought Jesus into many places in which priests are not usually welcome, and did so in his own unique and special way. Tom suffered from diabetes all of his life. This eventually contributed to his death on this day.

FATHER PATRICK GRIFFIN

Father Patrick Griffin was the pastor of St Stephen’s in South Minneapolis. He served the folks of St Stephen’s and those in the Whittaker neighborhood of Minneapolis for many years. Carrying on the great work of outreach to the poor started by Father Ed Flavin, St Stephen’s served many those who were disenfranchised both in society and in the Catholic Church. The outreach to the poor established St Stephen’s as the first parish to provide a homeless shelter to 44 men every night. Loaves and Fishes were a big part of St Stephen’s ministry to the poor. Under Patrick, St Stephen Human Services was created to help the poor find housing, jobs, provide assistance to those who were ex-offenders, provide services to many who live on the streets of St Paul and Minneapolis. As a parish, under both Ed Flavin and Patrick Griffin, all people found a place in which they were welcomed whether they were from the LGBTQ community, former Catholics, Catholics on the way out of the Church, former Catholic clergy and religious, and many from other religious traditions who felt disenfranchised. The parish took the teachings of Vatican II which empowered the laity and the baptismal call to priesthood to its fullest. I had the honor of following Patrick at St Stephen’s when he was reassigned to a parish in North Minneapolis. Filling the shoes of Patrick was both daunting, a great challenge and a great honor. What I experienced at St Stephen’s changed me and my faith forever. The vision and mission of both Ed Flavin and Patrick Griffin is carried on the work of Agate Housing and Services.

Whether one honors Mary, Mother of Jesus, Deacon Tom Semlak, or Father Patrick Griffin on this feast day, one will honor the memory and life of a person who brought the presence of Jesus to the world.