Happy Birthday Your Holiness

I would just like to publically wish Benedict a Happy Birthday and ensure him of my prayers this year and espeacially during his trip to the US.

Speaking of which,I just listened to the Pope's remarks on MSNBC, I thought it was very fine, espeacially his reminder that with freedom comes responsibility. You will find his remarks below:




Here is the entire text of the pontiff's speech:

Mr. President,

Thank you for your gracious words of welcome on behalf of the people of the United States of America. I deeply appreciate your invitation to visit this great country. My visit coincides with an important moment in the life of the Catholic community in America: the celebration of the two-hundredth anniversary of the elevation of the country's first Diocese – Baltimore – to a metropolitan Archdiocese, and the establishment of the Sees of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Louisville. Yet I am happy to be here as a guest of all Americans. I come as a friend, a preacher of the Gospel and one with great respect for this vast pluralistic society. America's Catholics have made, and continue to make, an excellent contribution to the life of their country. As I begin my visit, I trust that my presence will be a source of renewal and hope for the Church in the United States, and strengthen the resolve of Catholics to contribute ever more responsibly to the life of this nation, of which they are proud to be citizens.

From the dawn of the Republic, America's quest for freedom has been guided by the conviction that the principles governing political and social life are intimately linked to a moral order based on the dominion of God the Creator. The framers of this nation's founding documents drew upon this conviction when they proclaimed the "self-evident truth" that all men are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights grounded in the laws of nature and of nature's God. The course of American history demonstrates the difficulties, the struggles, and the great intellectual and moral resolve which were demanded to shape a society which faithfully embodied these noble principles. In that process, which forged the soul of the nation, religious beliefs were a constant inspiration and driving force, as for example in the struggle against slavery and in the civil rights movement. In our time too, particularly in moments of crisis, Americans continue to find their strength in a commitment to this patrimony of shared ideals and aspirations.

In the next few days, I look forward to meeting not only with America's Catholic community, but with other Christian communities and representatives of the many religious traditions present in this country. Historically, not only Catholics, but all believers have found here the freedom to worship God in accordance with the dictates of their conscience, while at the same time being accepted as part of a commonwealth in which each individual and group can make its voice heard. As the nation faces the increasingly complex political and ethical issues of our time, I am confident that the American people will find in their religious beliefs a precious source of insight and an inspiration to pursue reasoned, responsible and respectful dialogue in the effort to build a more humane and free society.

Freedom is not only a gift, but also a summons to personal responsibility. Americans know this from experience – almost every town in this country has its monuments honoring those who sacrificed their lives in defense of freedom, both at home and abroad. The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate. It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one's deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate. In a word, freedom is ever new. It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over for the cause of good (cf. Spe Salvi, 24). Few have understood this as clearly as the late Pope John Paul II. In reflecting on the spiritual victory of freedom over totalitarianism in his native Poland and in eastern Europe, he reminded us that history shows, time and again, that "in a world without truth, freedom loses its foundation", and a democracy without values can lose its very soul (cf. Centesimus Annus, 46). Those prophetic words in some sense echo the conviction of President Washington, expressed in his Farewell Address, that religion and morality represent "indispensable supports" of political prosperity.

The Church, for her part, wishes to contribute to building a world ever more worthy of the human person, created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26-27). She is convinced that faith sheds new light on all things, and that the Gospel reveals the noble vocation and sublime destiny of every man and woman (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 10). Faith also gives us the strength to respond to our high calling, and the hope that inspires us to work for an ever more just and fraternal society. Democracy can only flourish, as your founding fathers realized, when political leaders and those whom they represent are guided by truth and bring the wisdom born of firm moral principle to decisions affecting the life and future of the nation.

For well over a century, the United States of America has played an important role in the international community. On Friday, God willing, I will have the honor of addressing the United Nations Organization, where I hope to encourage the efforts under way to make that institution an ever more effective voice for the legitimate aspirations of all the world's peoples. On this, the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the need for global solidarity is as urgent as ever, if all people are to live in a way worthy of their dignity – as brothers and sisters dwelling in the same house and around that table which God's bounty has set for all his children. America has traditionally shown herself generous in meeting immediate human needs, fostering development and offering relief to the victims of natural catastrophes. I am confident that this concern for the greater human family will continue to find expression in support for the patient efforts of international diplomacy to resolve conflicts and promote progress. In this way, coming generations will be able to live in a world where truth, freedom and justice can flourish – a world where the God-given dignity and rights of every man, woman and child are cherished, protected and effectively advanced.

Mr. President, dear friends: as I begin my visit to the United States, I express once more my gratitude for your invitation, my joy to be in your midst, and my fervent prayers that Almighty God will confirm this nation and its people in the ways of justice, prosperity and peace. God bless America!

Homily for House Mass April 12, 2008

Fr. Paul Murray, a professor of Spiritual theology at the Angelicum, who was for a long time Mother Theresa’s spiritual director tells the story of how on one occasion, in the sacristy before Mass Mother came up to him with a radiant look on her face and said: “You know Fr. Paul, God is love!” What was remarkable was the manner in which she said these often used and overused words.

These words which can sometimes seem banal to us who hear them so frequently
and do not take the needed time to explore the fathomless depths of their meaning—came to life!

When Mother Theresa said to Fr. Paul, GOD IS LOVE, she meant it, and as Fr. Paul tells the story, she said it as one who has seen the depths of God’s Love and realize what it meant to say: GOD IS LOVE. God only knows how many miracles and great works Mother Theresa merited by her prayerful trust in these words.

Today Peter too discovers the power contained within the Word of God. Like the definition, God is Love, I think that because we hear and read the 6th chapter of John so often that these words can sometime seem lifeless. They loose their radical newness, and power, BUT WHAT WE MUST REMEMBER IS, as Peter tells us: these are the Words of Eternal Life.

All words have power, but these aren’t just words, rather these sacred words are The Word reveal, the revelation of the LOGOS, the Son of God, which have the power of life and death within them. My brothers we live in such a de-mythologizing age, that we can forget or start to doubt the power of God’s Word—but the deposit of faith is clear. God’s word has power, whether it be the Hoc Est Enim Corpus Meum, of the Mass or the simple prayer: Jesus Christ heals you; rise up.

Just as it isn’t superstition to believe in the real presence, it isn’t superstition to believe and pray that God heals the sick. This isn’t the stuff of Harry Potter “witchcraft!” By mumbling a few words in an ancient tongue we don’t seek to control God, but rather we humbly beg Him to do now what He in His loving mercy has done for us before. And because GOD IS LOVE, he often does.

My brothers do not allow the scriptures which we read to become ordinary, don’t take them for granted, because in these words are Spirit and Truth, and through them we can accomplish anything that is God’s will, whether it be curing the cripple or waking those who have fallen asleep in death.

Therefore through this Mass let us give thanks to God for His Revelation of Himself and never take for granted the power of these sacred words, which like the Eucharist we are about to receive, feed us.

Homily on John 6 delivered at NAC 04-09-08

I am always struck by the sixth Chapter of John’ Gospel, and not just by its clear and beautiful Eucharistic theology, but by the fact that in it Jesus offers his audience everything. In the Gospel today Jesus offers us the solution to our hunger and thirst, which of course is an analogy for our souls deepest needs. Maybe in our day and age, in which extreme hunger is rare, at least in the US and certainly in seminary(!), this analogy with physical hunger fails to move us, but in Jesus’ day people knew what it was to hunger. And so Jesus offers them the bread of life the answer to man’s anxiety over his impending doom and the answer to our hunger for life without end.

So, what is the crowds response? In just a few verses we will hear it: they start to grumble and then they leave Jesus en masse, and they don’t just leave him, some even start plotting to kill him.

Ok sure, maybe they didn’t understand his words, but offering them his flesh and his blood, Jesus was offering them his very self in toto, and yet they refused it. Its not that he hadn’t earned a little bit of credibility, up to this point in His ministry Jesus had: changed 6 barrels of water to wine; cured a child at the point of death; restored strength to those born lame
and at the beginning of this sixth chapter John tells us; that He even fed the very same multitude who soon thereafter will reject him. We will have to wait another few chapters in John’s Gospel before Jesus restores Lazarus to life and its not until the end of John’s Gospel that Jesus performs his most miraculous miracle, The Resurrection, but even without these confirmations of His authority it seems that Jesus had made a good case for himself, and for his ability to deliever on his promises.

And so when today he promises: I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst, I question, how could the crowds,
who had just eaten the miraculous feast, not take him seriously, and at least give him a chance? I wonder why they so quickly rejected him?

Jesus offers the crowds hope. If only they had a little Faith in Him, He could offer them hope for eternal happiness, which begets life changing LOVE. Maybe it’s because precisely because of this, because Jesus threatened to stir things up and to change things.

People were miserable, they were hungry, they wanted more, their hearts cried out for fulfillment, as they still do today, and yet in Jesus’ day, just as today people were accustomed to things the way they were to our falleness, to the seeming unobtainability of happiness. By proposing a way to happiness Jesus is offering us our hearts desire, but with it the requirement of change. In seeing the way, they were afraid to take it and in not taking it, they feel regret and guilt. As is written in the book of Wisdom, they said: Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings… merely to see him is a hardship for us,

When everyone abandons Jesus—Jesus turns to His Apostles and asks, will you leave me too? They would not; Lord to whom would we go, you have the words of eternal life. Peter confesses not understanding, but faith in Jesus, faith in the truth of His words and more importantly faith in His person. It is this faith, combined with the witness of the resurrection, that prompts the first Christians to continue preaching Jesus’ message. The result is the same: at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem. Time and time again Jesus will be persecuted for offering people their heart’s desire, and we too, the body of Christ, will be persecuted with him. As Jesus says: the servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you

In spite of this persecution, in fact by means of it, we must continue to preach Christ, and Christ Crucified. We must preach the message of absolute love, we who have received everything from God, must now give everything, AND expect some people to reject us for it. We can do this because of our Hope: I am the bread of Life Whosoever eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, will have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. This is the faith, the Gospel, that we preach, and the faith by which we preach it.

Consecration of my Chalice

IMAG0868, originally uploaded by Ron Floyd.

My former spiritual director Msgr. William Callahan consecrates my chalice with Sacred Chrism at the altar of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Strangely enough both of my former spiritual fathers who are now bishops were in town this week, it was nice to be able to say hello to Msgr. Dan Thomas and also to have Mass with Msgr. Callahan at the altar of Mary the Mother of God and S. Gregory Nazianzus on the feast of the Annunciation.