St. John of Naples

Posted on January 29, 2009 by Deacon Bob

St. John of Naples wrote about the light of Christ, and the confidence it gives us.  One of his sermons fits so nicely with my New Year’s resolve to live without fear and in confidence with the Lord and with those around me.

He said, (my translation from the Italian):

” ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation, of whom shall I fear?’ (Psalm 27, 1) A great salvation is this, my brothers.  Salvation that does not fear failings, that does not fear fatigue, that voluntarily faces suffering…..It is He who enlightens, it is He who saves.  Of whom shall I be afraid?  Surely the darkness of trials will come; the Lord is my light.  They may come, but they will not overwhelm me; they may assail my heart, but they will not conquer it….He gives Himself to us and we give ourselves to Him.  Let us run with haste to the physician while we have time…” (St. John of Naples, Disc. 7)

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Benedict XVI and SSPX

Posted on January 28, 2009 by Deacon Bob

You may have been following the news of Pope Benedict lifting the excommunications of the four bishops illicitly ordained by Archbishop Marcel Lefebrve back in the late 1980s.  Lefebrve, now deceased, was the founder of the schismatic Society of St. Pius X.  He and his following believe the Second Vatican Council was illegitimate.  They see their mission as preserving the true faith from the heresy of modernism.

In what is seen as an attempt by the Pope to reach out to this group and reconcile them to the Church, he lifted the excommunications of four bishops that were automatically imposed when they were ordained twenty years without papal permission. 

Benedict a number of months ago also loosened the rules about celebrating the Tridentine Mass.  Again,  it would seem in an effort to bring these schismatics back into the fold.

One of these bishops, Bishop Williamson, on Swedish television, recently said that he did not think six million Jews were sent to the gas chambers by Hitler’s regime during the Second World War.  This speaks either to his significant ignorance of history, or to an anti-semitism lurking in his world view.  His interview has resulted in a backlash of protests from the Jewish community and others, protests directed toward Williamson and toward the Pope.

The Pope has strongly affirmed his solidariety with all of the Jewish faith.  Even the SSPX has criticized the comments of Williamson.

Perhaps it is time for the Society of St. Pius X to make their own sincere gestures of reconciliation toward the Church.  Perhaps it is time for them to take a good look at their theology, their practices, and reflect on the virtue of obedience to the voice of Jesus.  One cannot be a true Christian and be anti-semitic.  One cannot develop an ecclesiology or a sacramental theology without an accurate understanding of Church and world history.

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St. Basil’s Fear

Posted on January 27, 2009 by Deacon Bob

St. Basil the Great, after reflecting on the great gifts of God given to us in Jesus his Son, said:

“When I think of all this, I am left terrorized and swallowed up with fear that, because of fickleness of heart or preoccupation with things of no importance, I may weaken in my love of God and even become a reason of shame or disorder for Christ.”

I thought that a remarkable concern on his part.  I am trying to live out my new year’s resolution of living without fear and trusting more, and here I have a great saint saying he was “terrorized” by the fear his love would weaken for God and he may be a cause of shame for Jesus.

Holy fear?  

The incomprehensible generosity of God in his gift of his Son in reparation for our sin stimulates in us, hopefully, gratitude.  This gratitude is expressed most completely in our celebrations of the Eucharist.  St. Basil seems to remind us that gratitude can be accompanied by a holy fear.

Your thoughts?

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Poverty of Spirit and Diaconal Service

Posted on January 24, 2009 by Deacon Bob

A wonderful little book, Poverty of Spirit by Johannes Metz is jam-packed with theological wonders.  I have read it many times in the last 24 years, and will read it many times in the future. I would encourage all of you to do so also.  Published by Paulist Press.  The original is in German, but the English translation is quite readable.  Only 53 pages.

It begins with beautiful treatise on becoming human.  (Pardon the older use of the masculine pronoun “he” and the generic “man”. I am remaining true to the translated text as given to me.)

Metz makes these comments:

“He must fully become what he is –a human being. To become man through the exercise of his freedom–that is the law of his Being…..the free process of becoming a human being unfolds as a process of service. In biblical terms it is ‘obedience’ (cf. Phil. 2,8) and faithfulness to the humanity entrusted to us…By its very nature this process is a trial; imbedded in it is the danger of going awry…he is always a potential rebel….assent to God starts in…sincere assent to himself, just as sinful flight from God starts in man’s flight from himself.”

Attention all deacons!  Note Metz’s reference to service as the process by which we become fully human. Diaconal service has it roots in being faithful and obedient to the humanity entrusted to us, both in our own personal life and in the lives of those we serve.  I think this could be an area of diaconal spirituality well worth praying over and writing about.  Is the vocation of a deacon to render service to others so as to help them embrace more fully their humanity, and in doing so, our own?

The book later discusses the many forms of poverty of spirit that human beings experience:  poverty of the commonplace; poverty of misery and neediness; poverty of uniqueness and superiority; poverty of provisionality; poverty of finiteness; the poverty of death.  Each of these point to areas of human existence in need of diakonia and the sacramental presence of the Church.

Deacons, what are your thoughts about this?

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President Obama OKs Federal Aid for Abortion Providers

Posted on January 23, 2009 by Deacon Bob

As expected, President Obama signed an executive order late today, almost secretly with as little fanfare as possible, that reversed the Mexico City policy.  In doing so, he cleared the way for the federal government to provide aid to programs that promote or provide abortions overseas, largely in third world countries, many of which do not want abortion.  I believe this will exploit women in developing countries for political ends.  The terrible injustice done to the unborn will be obvious.

As my readers are aware from my previous posts, it saddens and angers me terribly to see this happen.  

I ask my many brothers and sisters of the Catholic faith who voted for Obama,”How do you justify having been even remotely supportive of this?  What harm have these women and unborn children done to you, that even tacit indirect support of this violation of their dignity would warrant?”

May God help us all…and let us pray for these women and children.

Let us pray, too, for President Obama’s conversion of heart.

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Quote of the Day

Posted on January 23, 2009 by Deacon Bob

“Understand that poverty is a choice way of salvation; the fruit it bears is manifold, and rare are they who know it well.”  — St. Francis of Assissi

As we know,  there are many poverties which lead us to salvation.  Diadochus of Photike wrote of one such poverty in his “Chapters on Spiritual Perfection”:  the poverty of loving God alone, which requires a certain self-forgetfulness.  He said that to love God one must seek God’s glory and not one’s own (the poverty).  He also talked about how in doing so, one is greatly loved by God (salvation).  To quote him, translating from the Italian:

“Being preoccupied in loving God, one doesn’t think of one’s own dignity, and keeps one’s own glory hidden in the deep love one has for God…..He who loves God in the depths of his heart is known by God.  To the extent one loves Him, one is able to receive the love of God.”

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Inauguration or Canonization?

Posted on January 22, 2009 by Deacon Bob

A friend of mine put the question to me and others yesterday, when talking about Tuesday’s festivities in honor of our new president and vice-president: 

“Was it an inauguration or a canonization?”

Good question.  For the sake of the country and President Obama, I hope we know the difference.

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National Day of Penance and Prayer

Posted on January 22, 2009 by Deacon Bob

Today is a day set aside by the American bishops for all Catholics to do penance and prayer in reparation for the crimes committed against the unborn in our country.

Let us really pray today for the conversion of all men and women in our land who for whatever reason support the injustice of abortion. 

As I have said in previous posts, abortion continues to be legal in our country because too many of us are silent.  Too many of us may be “personally opposed” to abortion, but do not speak out or exercise our civic obligations in light of the reality of millions of abortions each year in the United States.

Abortion and its consequences (the euthansia movement, for example) are the civil rights challenges of our generation. 

Today is a day to speak out, to pray hard for change of hearts and minds, and to beg God to work strongly in the lives of our government leaders.  Today is a day for all to look honestly at their reasons and rationalizations for remaining silent in defense of the unborn, and to change.

Contrary to popular belief, “99.99%” of pro-lifers are not “radicals”….we are men and women committed to protecting the defenseless, those who lack a voice of their own, or means of protecting their own right to life.

God helps us in this effort…..

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Prayer for our new President

Posted on January 21, 2009 by Deacon Bob

May our new president be given all that is  needed to carry out his many responsibilities.  May the country support him in his efforts to inspire and lead us to peace and security.  May God work powerfully in his life that he may experience new conversion of heart and work vigorously to protect the unborn from the dangers of abortion.

May President Obama have every success in reversing the trend in recent years of retribution, punishment, war and hard heartedness in our country and in the world.

“Where there is mercy and discernment, there is neither excess nor hardness of heart.”  — St. Francis of Assissi

Amen!

I think our country needs a stout dose of mercy toward others and wise discernment in our decisions.  We are learning directly the consequences of excess.  May our hearts be of flesh, and sensitized to the cries of the poor, marginalized, the condemned and the unborn in danger of death.  Let us pray President Obama leads us in these ways.

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Quote of the Day

Posted on January 19, 2009 by Deacon Bob

St. Ignatius of Antioch had this to say in his letter to the Ephesians: 

“It is better to be a Christian without saying so than to proclaim you are without living it. It is a good thing to teach, if you practice what you teach.”

Reminds me of what the bishop says to the newly ordained deacon:

“Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you now are. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.”

St. Ignatius also says that those who possess the word of Jesus in them are best able to understand Jesus in silence.  Jesus’ word works in the world; silence in our lives allows us to know him and his word.  

A reminder to all deacons to preach the Word so it does its work in the world, but also to take in silence so as to get to know the Word that is preached.

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Holy Father and World Day of the Migrant

Posted on January 18, 2009 by Deacon Bob

The Holy Father again has addressed the issue of immigration.  This is a topic I have posted on several times, and have brought up with the deacons of my diocese, as we have had a large influx of Hispanics coming to our state.  My friend from 30 years ago, Bishop Tony Taylor of the diocese of Little Rock issued his first pastoral letter to the people of Arkansas about this topic, and our local bishop has been very vocal about it also, especially after federal agents swept through a few cities in our diocese rounding up many and breaking up families in the process.

The Holy Father, in today’s Angelus message from St. Peter’s had this to say, in part, (my translation from the Italian original):

“Today is the World Day of the Refugee and Migrant.  Since we celebrate this year the Year of Paul…I have chosen the theme: ‘St. Paul the Migrant, Apostle of the Nations’. Saul…was born of a immigrant family from Tarsis…..Today I think especially of the migrants.  Their reality is unlike that of others.  In some cases, thanks to God, their situation is peaceful and well integrated; others, unfortunately is difficult, painful and with such drama….Yes, each of us, according to our own vocation, according to where we live and work, are called to give witness to the Gospel, with a great concern for those brothers and sisters from other countries, for various reasons have come and are living in our midst.  Thus, we need to value the phenomenon of migration as an occasion for civility…”

If you have been keeping up on Italian national news, you know that Italy has a huge influx of immigrants from various countries, and its Parliment has been debating the whole issue.  Reading their newspapers, I have seen how they are reporting an increase of serious crime, and often the headlines regarding this has a photograph or two of the alleged criminal, often someone born elsewhere than Italy.

Immigration is a global phenomenon, not just the United States.

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President George Bush – Sanctity of Human Life

Posted on January 18, 2009 by Deacon Bob

I would draw your attention to what may be President Bush’s final Presidential Proclamation.  He has declare today National Sanctity of Human Life Day.  This proclamation can be read on:

www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2009/01/20090115-1.html

Despite my complete opposition to torture, my near complete opposition to war in the present age, my opposition to the Patriot Act, and my hurting pocket book, this proclamation expresses the reason I have supported President Bush’s efforts in the area of human life.  I am fearful we will not hear our new president publicly support the sanctity of human life in this manner, nor appoint Supreme Court and other federal judges who know that Roe v. Wade was a judicial disaster and poorly reasoned.

The slaughter of the unborn is a national disgrace and sin.  The only reason it continues with such ease is because the unborn cannot speak.  And too many of us are silent also.

Regardless of your feelings about our outgoing president, please read his proclamation.

I thank him for speaking out in what may be his last act as president and for the efforts he did make to protect unborn human life.

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Deacons?

Posted on January 18, 2009 by Deacon Bob

I have started a brief series of explanations for my local parish about Catholic deacons.  I find that almost everyone has little if any idea what a deacon is other than a man standing up at the altar with the priest, wearing a different stole and preaching the homily once a month or so. Most seem to think they are lay men with a special uniform.  Or mini-priests. Hardly any know they are clergy.  They seemed stunned that they receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders like priests and bishops. 

Here is my first parish bulletin installment about the diaconate.

“A deacon is a man, either married or single, who receives the Sacrament of Holy Orders and ordained to service in the Church. Because he receives Holy Orders, he is a cleric, like priests and bishops, but he almost always lives a secular lifestyle, with family and career. He is also given a ministry in the diocese, and this usually involves an assignment to a parish.  He ministers as much as his time and talent allows. He does not receive a salary for his work in the Church.  A deacon has a three-fold ministry. He is a minister of the Word, a minister of Liturgy, and a minister of Charity. In future installments, I will explain a bit about each of these. An important thing to remember about deacons is they are ordained not to priesthood, but to diakonia (service). Priests and bishops are ordained to resemble Jesus the High Priest. Deacons are ordained to resemble Jesus the Servant of all. The diaconate was restored as a permanent order by Pope Paul VI in 1968.”  

If you would like a little more information in a conversational style, log on to:  www.bustedhalo.com/features/what-is-a-deacon

An interview with a Catholic deacon from the New York City area is there and gives a snapshot of a deacon’s life.

More on this topic later

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Venerable Fr. Solanus Casey, OFM Cap.

Posted on January 16, 2009 by Deacon Bob

“God’s plans are always for the best, always wonderful.” — Venerable Solanus Casey, OFM Cap.

Solanus Casey was a Franciscan who died not so many years ago.  He was a very simple holy man.  He lived most of his younger years not far from my home, where he worked in the woods as a lumber jack.  He was deemed too limited intellectually to become a priest, but he persisted and was ordained.  Because his faculties were limited by his Ordinary, he wasn’t allowed to hear confessions;  essentially, he could only say Mass. He was given the simple duties of porter (doorman) of the local Franciscan community.  His wisdom became widely known and people came from great distances to speak to him.  There are many witnesses to the graces of God received through contact with this simple friar.   He is on the road to canonization.

If you get a chance, read his biography. You won’t be disappointed.

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St. Anthanasius and Creation

Posted on January 15, 2009 by Deacon Bob

The second reading from the Office of Readings today is taken from St. Anthansius’ “Discourse Against the Pagans”.  There are a couple of catching sentences.  I am translating from the Italian text:

“In fact, it is right that creation should be made thus, as it is, and that it is complete as we see it.  It is he (Jesus Christ) that has willed that everything should occur in this way and no one has any rational reason to deny it.  In fact, if the movement of created things were occuring without reason and the world were to blindly move about, one would not be able any more to believe what we have just said (about our Lord Jesus).  But if the world has been organized with wisdom and knowledge, and has been filled with beauty, then one must say that the creator and artisan is the Word of God.”

St. Anthansius, then, offers us a beautiful proof of God’s existence by pointing to creation, its beauty and order and movement.  St. Thomas Aquinas would centuries later take up the same argument.  I am reminded too, of my Dominican philosophy professor, Fr. Andrew Fabian, who many years ago said:  “Some ask me to prove that God exists, and I say:  ‘Look!'” as he pointed out the window at the sky, trees, and clouds.

God’s beauty truly is found in all of creation, especially in the life of every human being.  We dare not destroy it or them.

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