Sunday, November 15, 2009
It Did Not Take Long . . .
On Friday November 13th I posted a short piece on the two oldest U.S. bishops. Indiana has only one now -- Bishop Higi, as D'Arcy's successor was announced the very next day, Saturday November 14. http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2009/11/bishop_rhoades_to_leave_the_ha.html
Friday, November 13, 2009
Encountering the Numinous
The first attribute, which he calls "numinous awe," is a certain dread, fear or awe which follows on the heels of being aware that the universe is made up not only of the material, that is, the things that we can know by our five senses, but also of something supernatural which of course is God.
The second attribute is a sense that right and wrong are intuitively known and not taught. We have an innate sense of what we ought and what we ought not do.
The third attribute is an awakening that the first two attributes are somehow connected. We know what we ought to do because we reason that God has willed it to be that way.
The fourth attribute is unique to Christianity and will be discussed in a later post. Stay tuned.
The Two Oldest U.S. Bishops
According to the site, http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/, there are something like 320 active U.S. bishops and, interestingly, Indiana has the two oldest of the entire group and they are in geographically adjacent dioceses to boot: bishop John D'Arcy (South Bend-Fort Wayne) at 77 and bishop William Higi (Lafayette in Indiana) at 76. Last night, Catholic News Agency (http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/) posted an article quoting D'Arcy as saying that "his successor is not too far away." So some changes are coming, but precisely when we know not. 75 is the mandatory age for bishops to tender their retirement request to the Holy Father, but it can take awhile for the request to be granted.
Earlier this Spring, D'Arcy spoke out (fort wayne's, wane.com) against the scandal caused by Notre Dame's decision to bestow an honorary law degree on President Obama at the university's commencement ceremonies. D'Arcy handled the matter with an appropriate balance of charity and admonition. I have been privileged to see him celebrate Mass on a few occasions while watching my kids play soccer in Fort Wayne. He is widely loved and his leadership as bishop will be missed by many when he retires, although I suspect he will remain active in retirement. Given the Notre Dame issues and Benedict XVI's recent appointments of bishops (conservative, orthodox, young), it will be interesting to see who succeeds D'Arcy and Higi.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Giving Glory to the "One"
Sunday's game between the Colts and the Texans was, according to the sports writers, "anyone's game." It was indeed a close and exciting game to watch. It was decided by a field goal and on the front page of Monday's Indianapolis Star was this picture of John Matthew Stover after he scored one of his two of the game. I just had to chuckle at the Star writer's caption below the photo: "Matt Stover reacts after scoring a field goal." I'm not sure that "reacts" quite captures it. You see, he is giving thanks and glory to God. Could it be any more obvious? I mean LOOK at the photo, LOOK at his eyes and LOOK at his index fingers. He is not JUST making the field goal signal folks. Thank you Matt for letting us know what you know: That this game belonged, at least in your mind, to the ONE.
I don't know much about Matt Stover except that he has been in pro football for 20 seasons and has really given the Colts a boost this year filling in for injured kicker Adam Vinatieri. I don't really know anything about his faith either except what this photo says about it. I like how his name includes two of the four Gospel writers and, for his courage to witness, I am especially glad that the Colts signed him. After last Sunday's game, I gotta believe that Tony Dungy, a man not afraid to publicly proclaim the Gospel, is pretty pleased too. Keep giving it up Matt.
Monday, November 9, 2009
The New "Anglican Rite" in the Catholic Church
The Vatican has posted the new constitution, Anglicanorum Coetibus on its website. This paves the way for disaffected Anglicans, so inclined, to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. It remains to be seen just how many will come. God willing, it will be many. In any event, the canonical structure is now in place for it to happen. This is a big deal and shows, again, just how important the goal of Christian unity is to Benedict XVI. He is a good and faithful shepherd.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
You Don't Always Get What You Want. . .
Fr. Mel Bennett gave the homily at my parish today. He talked about the first reading (1 Kings 17:10-16) which tells the story about the faithful widow woman who only had flour and oil to make her daily meal. Because of her faith, God kept her flour jar and oil jug miraculously full during the coming year. Fr. Mel said that God answers our prayers. He pointed to the widow woman and noted that she probably wanted more variety in her meal: fruit, meat, etc. He then nearly quoted a Rolling Stones song saying: "you don't always get what you want, but if you pray, you get what you need." And she did.
I wonder what Mick Jagger was thinking when he wrote the song with a similar title? The lyrics are close: "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you might find, you get what you need." Huh. Funny how the Gospel crashes through our pop culture sometimes.
I wonder what Mick Jagger was thinking when he wrote the song with a similar title? The lyrics are close: "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you might find, you get what you need." Huh. Funny how the Gospel crashes through our pop culture sometimes.
Don't Be Afraid
Archbishop Chaput recently wrote an article in First Things about what a gift Down Syndrome children are to their families and communities (see article). The article is extremely well done. What resonated most for me though was what he said in the last paragraph: "[D]on’t be afraid. Fear is beneath your dignity as sons and daughters of the God of life." Today's Mass readings reminded me of this quote.
The Gospel reading today (http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/110809.shtml) is the story of the poor widow who put a few coins worth a few cents into the treasury in contrast to the rich people who deposited large sums. Jesus teaches: "This poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood." I like what this story says about stewardship, but even more about what it says about faith. Single women in Jesus' time lived precarious, even dangerous lives, so being a widow, and a poor one at that, would be cause for much fear in her life. But not so for her. We moderns naturally equate money with security and security can mitigate fear right? But we are told that "she gave out of her poverty" all that she had -- seemingly all of her security. The beauty of the story is that she placed her trust in God entirely having faith that God would provide for her. The story does not tell us what happened to her later. How did she manage? How did she eat?
However, we know what happened to her. We find out, not by going forward in time, but by going back to the Old Testament Book of Kings and today's first reading. In that story, a poor widow has just enough flour and oil to make a final meal for her and her son to eat and she tells Elijah that after they eat it, they will die. Elijah tells her not to fear, but to take what she has and make a Elijah a little cake to eat. In faith she does as she is told and we see that her faith saved her and her son: "She left and did as Elijah had said. She was able to eat for a year. . .the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry." The widow was literally at the point of death by starvation, but instead of eating (who would not ignore Elijah and eat?!), she gave all that she had. Faith in Christ conquers our fear, for fear is beneath our dignity as sons and daughters of the God of life.
So, I am sitting there in Mass this morning, reflecting on the scripture readings and convicting myself for not having anything close to the faith of the widow women and I pray that God will give me the grace to trust, to have more faith and not to fear. When I do this, I feel something come over me and I believe it must be the Holy Spirit and so I am thankful and joy-filled.
Periodically on Saturdays I meet with this small group of men and we share our "most aware of Christ's presence" moment from the last week. It's only Sunday, but I have mine.
The Gospel reading today (http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/110809.shtml) is the story of the poor widow who put a few coins worth a few cents into the treasury in contrast to the rich people who deposited large sums. Jesus teaches: "This poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood." I like what this story says about stewardship, but even more about what it says about faith. Single women in Jesus' time lived precarious, even dangerous lives, so being a widow, and a poor one at that, would be cause for much fear in her life. But not so for her. We moderns naturally equate money with security and security can mitigate fear right? But we are told that "she gave out of her poverty" all that she had -- seemingly all of her security. The beauty of the story is that she placed her trust in God entirely having faith that God would provide for her. The story does not tell us what happened to her later. How did she manage? How did she eat?
However, we know what happened to her. We find out, not by going forward in time, but by going back to the Old Testament Book of Kings and today's first reading. In that story, a poor widow has just enough flour and oil to make a final meal for her and her son to eat and she tells Elijah that after they eat it, they will die. Elijah tells her not to fear, but to take what she has and make a Elijah a little cake to eat. In faith she does as she is told and we see that her faith saved her and her son: "She left and did as Elijah had said. She was able to eat for a year. . .the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry." The widow was literally at the point of death by starvation, but instead of eating (who would not ignore Elijah and eat?!), she gave all that she had. Faith in Christ conquers our fear, for fear is beneath our dignity as sons and daughters of the God of life.
So, I am sitting there in Mass this morning, reflecting on the scripture readings and convicting myself for not having anything close to the faith of the widow women and I pray that God will give me the grace to trust, to have more faith and not to fear. When I do this, I feel something come over me and I believe it must be the Holy Spirit and so I am thankful and joy-filled.
Periodically on Saturdays I meet with this small group of men and we share our "most aware of Christ's presence" moment from the last week. It's only Sunday, but I have mine.
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