What Recompense can I give to the Lord?
Ordination to the Diaconate
Monday, March 23, 2009
St. Joseph: Icon of true Fatherhood
Homily for the Solemnity of St. Joseph
Celebrated at the Station Church
Ss. Cosmas and Daminan in Rome
Thursday, March 19th 2009
This summer I was visiting a Catholic Grammar school in my diocese to speak with the 7th and 8th grade boys about priestly vocations.
Speaking about the complementary need for both male and female parents I made what I thought was a common sense claim: we all have fathers
The boldness of my claim was pointed out by a seventh grade boy who retorted, “not everyone has a father.”
In response I said rather flippantly: if I remember my biology class right--we all have fathers!!!
However in retrospect the young man was right, biological paternity was a far cry from true fatherhood.
This young man’s claim is a sad commentary on the reality of the situation in the world we live in. More devastating than the Economic Crisis and possibly at the root of the crisis in morality and culture is the crisis in Fatherhood—how can we know God the Father if we only have a negative or nonexistent experience of fathers? And yet this is the case for so many people today.
In the example of St. Joseph we see the reality that for rational human beings true fatherhood is so much more than paternity. This is an important message for all men to hear, not just priests, because all men are called in some way to show others the image of God the Father.
In Joseph we see a icon of human fatherhood, which in turn is an icon of Divine Fatherhood. Though scripture is relatively silent about the manthat Jesus called abba before he taught us to call His heavenly Father Abba. Through what we do learn of Joseph we see the sketch of the vocation of the Father.
Joseph was first and foremost a man open to the will of God; both in his just yet merciful treatment of Mary according to the Mosaic Law and in his willingness to forego the law and endure the shame associated with taking Mary into his house at the message of the angel. True Fathers, Joseph teaches us, are men of prayer who teach and communicate the will of God to their families
In the mercy he shows to Mary, in seeking to divorce her quietly we also see that true fathers always defend and protect their spouse, even when they feel hurt or betrayed by her
In the trust he placed in God, when forced to take his very pregnant wife on the long journey to Bethlehem, we see that real Fathers, though men of action, must always put their trust in the providential plan of God.
And in his silent life of work, providing for Mary and Jesus--we learn that true fathers always do everything for the other never seeking personal gain or glorification, but rather always building up their wives and Children.
Thus today as we celebrate the Feast of the foster-father of Our Lord lets pray and ask God:
That following the example of Joseph more men embrace their vocation to fatherhood generously offering themselves as icons of the Father even to children not physically their own.
And that women, fulfill their vocation to be helpers to men by encouraging their husbands, brothers, and sons, and all the men they know to take up the exalted title: Father and live this vocation faithfully.
St. Joseph, pray for us.
Celebrated at the Station Church
Ss. Cosmas and Daminan in Rome
Thursday, March 19th 2009
This summer I was visiting a Catholic Grammar school in my diocese to speak with the 7th and 8th grade boys about priestly vocations.
Speaking about the complementary need for both male and female parents I made what I thought was a common sense claim: we all have fathers
The boldness of my claim was pointed out by a seventh grade boy who retorted, “not everyone has a father.”
In response I said rather flippantly: if I remember my biology class right--we all have fathers!!!
However in retrospect the young man was right, biological paternity was a far cry from true fatherhood.
This young man’s claim is a sad commentary on the reality of the situation in the world we live in. More devastating than the Economic Crisis and possibly at the root of the crisis in morality and culture is the crisis in Fatherhood—how can we know God the Father if we only have a negative or nonexistent experience of fathers? And yet this is the case for so many people today.
In the example of St. Joseph we see the reality that for rational human beings true fatherhood is so much more than paternity. This is an important message for all men to hear, not just priests, because all men are called in some way to show others the image of God the Father.
In Joseph we see a icon of human fatherhood, which in turn is an icon of Divine Fatherhood. Though scripture is relatively silent about the manthat Jesus called abba before he taught us to call His heavenly Father Abba. Through what we do learn of Joseph we see the sketch of the vocation of the Father.
Joseph was first and foremost a man open to the will of God; both in his just yet merciful treatment of Mary according to the Mosaic Law and in his willingness to forego the law and endure the shame associated with taking Mary into his house at the message of the angel. True Fathers, Joseph teaches us, are men of prayer who teach and communicate the will of God to their families
In the mercy he shows to Mary, in seeking to divorce her quietly we also see that true fathers always defend and protect their spouse, even when they feel hurt or betrayed by her
In the trust he placed in God, when forced to take his very pregnant wife on the long journey to Bethlehem, we see that real Fathers, though men of action, must always put their trust in the providential plan of God.
And in his silent life of work, providing for Mary and Jesus--we learn that true fathers always do everything for the other never seeking personal gain or glorification, but rather always building up their wives and Children.
Thus today as we celebrate the Feast of the foster-father of Our Lord lets pray and ask God:
That following the example of Joseph more men embrace their vocation to fatherhood generously offering themselves as icons of the Father even to children not physically their own.
And that women, fulfill their vocation to be helpers to men by encouraging their husbands, brothers, and sons, and all the men they know to take up the exalted title: Father and live this vocation faithfully.
St. Joseph, pray for us.
Charismatic Liturgy?
One final problematic that I had, and have, with the Charismatic retreat and the movement in general will come as no surprise to those who know me—it is liturgical.
The Spirit working in our hearts will of course influence everything we do; including the Mass, but that does not mean that we have to celebrate Mass like “Charismatics” do. Remember God doesn’t force us, and in this case I think God doesn’t desire us to “act up,” because the Mass isn’t about me but we and the Three (the Trinity)! The Charisms are manifestations of God within us that we are meant to take into the world, and one authentic manifestation of the Spirit is art. The music that has come to be associated with the Charismatic movement is thus I think an authentic representation of this art, just as the medieval mystery plays, renaissances poems, Baroque operas were. However in every age the Church has fought to keep these secular forms out of the Churches public liturgy, because no matter how religiously themed they are, they are not religious art. Just like during that last week in Jerusalem the Apostles kept wanting to call the shots determining how the Lord would do things, this temptation exists in all ages of the Church.
“No lord you won’t die;” “No you can’t wash my feet;” “I don’t understand, its bread and wine, why is He calling it his body and blood(?);” “Lord I will never forsake you(!);” “surely you don’t me me (Judas)…
What the Apostles failed to realize, as we do today is that the Mass is God’s way of acting, it is God’s work. We can’t change the nature and tone of it, no matter how hard we try, because the Mass is meant to conform us to Him, not Him to us. The Mass is not praise and worship, its Jesus’ sacrifice of Love, and while there is clearly room for human genius to decorate the Mass, we are meant to decorate the elements that Jesus put in place not to create new elements and themes. This is why in all the Magisterial documents on Music in the Liturgy Gregorian Chant is proposed as prototypical, and all other music that is allowed is to be judged on its closeness to Gregorian Chant. Having experienced almost a dozen of the Oriental rites of the Catholic Church it is amazing how they all have the same elements, and how their traditional music is so similar, though often quite different from Gregorian Chant. Chant is the music of prayer-and nothing else. While secular people might listen to it to relax or meditate it by default puts you in a prayerful mood—some other music can do this, including some praise and worship—but no other genre does this in the same way. That’s why all 22 legitimate manifestations of the liturgy contain types of Chant. Anyway, I think it’s a mistake to use any music to the exclusion of Gregorian chant and it’s a mistake to disconnect the Liturgy from the tradition—I think Benedict supports me in these views. So while I might have grown in my openness to the Spirit this weekend I will just have to settle for being a sign of contradiction: a Traditional Charismatic Catholic Priests. What’s in a label anyway?
The Spirit working in our hearts will of course influence everything we do; including the Mass, but that does not mean that we have to celebrate Mass like “Charismatics” do. Remember God doesn’t force us, and in this case I think God doesn’t desire us to “act up,” because the Mass isn’t about me but we and the Three (the Trinity)! The Charisms are manifestations of God within us that we are meant to take into the world, and one authentic manifestation of the Spirit is art. The music that has come to be associated with the Charismatic movement is thus I think an authentic representation of this art, just as the medieval mystery plays, renaissances poems, Baroque operas were. However in every age the Church has fought to keep these secular forms out of the Churches public liturgy, because no matter how religiously themed they are, they are not religious art. Just like during that last week in Jerusalem the Apostles kept wanting to call the shots determining how the Lord would do things, this temptation exists in all ages of the Church.
“No lord you won’t die;” “No you can’t wash my feet;” “I don’t understand, its bread and wine, why is He calling it his body and blood(?);” “Lord I will never forsake you(!);” “surely you don’t me me (Judas)…
What the Apostles failed to realize, as we do today is that the Mass is God’s way of acting, it is God’s work. We can’t change the nature and tone of it, no matter how hard we try, because the Mass is meant to conform us to Him, not Him to us. The Mass is not praise and worship, its Jesus’ sacrifice of Love, and while there is clearly room for human genius to decorate the Mass, we are meant to decorate the elements that Jesus put in place not to create new elements and themes. This is why in all the Magisterial documents on Music in the Liturgy Gregorian Chant is proposed as prototypical, and all other music that is allowed is to be judged on its closeness to Gregorian Chant. Having experienced almost a dozen of the Oriental rites of the Catholic Church it is amazing how they all have the same elements, and how their traditional music is so similar, though often quite different from Gregorian Chant. Chant is the music of prayer-and nothing else. While secular people might listen to it to relax or meditate it by default puts you in a prayerful mood—some other music can do this, including some praise and worship—but no other genre does this in the same way. That’s why all 22 legitimate manifestations of the liturgy contain types of Chant. Anyway, I think it’s a mistake to use any music to the exclusion of Gregorian chant and it’s a mistake to disconnect the Liturgy from the tradition—I think Benedict supports me in these views. So while I might have grown in my openness to the Spirit this weekend I will just have to settle for being a sign of contradiction: a Traditional Charismatic Catholic Priests. What’s in a label anyway?
Charismatic Retreat
Ok, so anyone who knows me knows that I am a pretty traditional sort of guy. In college my friends and I used to refer to ourselves at the 80 year olds trapped in 20 year old bodies.
However, despite this persona and my proclivity for traditional liturgy, conservative politics, and playfully elegant antique dress, I have enjoyed praise and worship music for a long time. I enjoy country, folk, and rock & roll so why shouldn’t I enjoy these same genres when they speak about Christian themes? This being said I have always thought that praise and worship was secular music with religious themes, something I still believe. As a secular music form it has its uses promoting thoughts about God and even prayer—as Msgr. Luigi Giussani used to say all music comes from the heart and thus conceals the search for God that is in our hearts—praise and worship does this overtly. Back in the states I had experienced the attempt to impose praise and worship onto the liturgy and was not impressed with the results. However, It wasn’t until I got here to NAC that I had my first experience of Praise and Worship combined with a distinctly charismatic renewal element. I wasn’t too impressed by it—quite frankly I was turned off!
So why would a traditional priest go on a charismatic praise and worship Retreat? For two reasons: first because among faithful Catholics it seems to me that there are two main groups, traditionalists and charismatics, and in my diocese there are probably more charismatics, so if I am to be able to shepherd these people I must understand where they are coming from. More importantly, however, is the fact that I am a traditional priest—I believe in angels and demons, miracles and prophecy, healings and even spiritual warfare—intellectually at least, and so if the Spirit is still working in the Church in these ways, as I believe He is, then maybe the Charismatics are on to something. We have lost something of our practical belief in the unseen realities in the Church, I believe as a result of rationalism and modernism. The Church doesn’t want to be seen as primitive or cultic, it doesn’t want to be seen as superstitious, but its not superstition if its real and the Scriptures reveal to us several aspects of the unseen reality that De Fide we must believe.
Anyway, I went on the retreat to understand and to be touched by the Spirit. I went with an open heart and open eyes so that I could see what I needed to, and I must say that it was awesome—I really did feel God working in my life. As I told some people, it is my firm belief that it was God’s will for me to be on that retreat because he used it to heal some real wounds in my heart and to call me to conversion—and also to help me understand my brothers in Christ who pray and worship in this way.
One of the first things I realized was that the subject plays a big role in how the Charisms of the spirit manifest. As I mentioned during the Q&A at the end of retreat its dangerous to say that the gifts of the spirit are limited to the particular manifestation of the Charismatic renewal. Twenty centuries of Catholic Tradition have shown these gifts manifested in many ways that I would be more comfortable with, that are just as authentically Charismatic—so its important not to claim a monopoly on the gifts! Frs. Francis and John Mark of the Intercessors of the Lamb, did well to acknowledge and highlight this fact. As Fr. Francis did say, however, the gifts of the Spirit are non-negotiable. It makes no sense to call yourself a Catholic and be closed to the Spirit of Jesus with which we were sealed at our Baptism and Confirmation. Amen to that!
Thinking about the workings of the spirit within us it seems to me that the gifts of the Spirit are always being poured out into our spirit, we have only to access these gifts. Two things said over and over again on the retreat, that I think are key, were that God doesn’t force himself on us, ever, and that the purpose for this retreat was to unlock the gifts that we already have that are bound up and chained within us because of sin, fear, and unawareness. God’s Spirit is in us, if we truly believe what the Church teaches about baptism and confirmation—how few of us act like be really do believe this. I think many of us think that we have the Spirit in us like a tenant who will do what he wants when he wants without our cooperation or consent. This is the insight of the charismatic renewal movement—the realization that God’s Spirit will not act in us without us. The subject plays a big role in the manifestations of God’s charisms because the Grace of the Spirit within us is completely on the invisible level, beyond sense perception just as God is beyond this realm. Rather by willing to use, that is cooperate with, the Spirit that because of Faith we know we have our Faith influences our intellect which in turn influences our bodies (sensibly, emotionally, and even mechanically).
For me one of the most interesting conversations was about the gift of tongues—a gift which Paul himself says is one of the least of the gifts and yet EWTNs Fr. Corapi says is one of the most powerful. Tongues for me was one of the things that I was most critical of, but as the Intercessors explained they are simply a gift of humble prayer. Praying in tongues is praying in a language you don’t know, because as St. Paul says, we know not how to pray! When praying for an individual there is no question who knows better what the person really needs: God or us. And so praying in tongues is a way to call up our loving desire for the good of the other without wordiness, providing the basis of language, without provide the content, which we believe will be provided by the spirit. This can take the form, I think provided by us, of groaning, sighing, pure sound, or language like sounds. One of the reasons this appealed to me was that it reminded me of something St. Augustine said about the Christians of Milan—he notes that they sang with such joy that the words became lost in pure joy. “Make a joyful noise to the lord.” While I still may have a problem with, as one deacon called it, the “gibberish,” I see the intrinsic value of this idea and its roots in the apophatic theological tradition.
Fundamentally the Charismatic idea is that we trust God wants to and will work through us when we ask him to share the Spirit in us with others. This isn’t magic, trying to command and control God, but a willingness to be his cooperator and instrument. I think it is important to anchor this idea in the Tradition and Doctrine of the Church, which provides an invaluable too for discerning spirits. If Doctrine is an icon of the face of God revealed to man in Sacred Scriptures then it should also be a good indicator of how he will continue to act in the world. I was slightly concerned at a suggested anti-intellectualism that seems to me not to be intrinsic to the idea.
However, despite this persona and my proclivity for traditional liturgy, conservative politics, and playfully elegant antique dress, I have enjoyed praise and worship music for a long time. I enjoy country, folk, and rock & roll so why shouldn’t I enjoy these same genres when they speak about Christian themes? This being said I have always thought that praise and worship was secular music with religious themes, something I still believe. As a secular music form it has its uses promoting thoughts about God and even prayer—as Msgr. Luigi Giussani used to say all music comes from the heart and thus conceals the search for God that is in our hearts—praise and worship does this overtly. Back in the states I had experienced the attempt to impose praise and worship onto the liturgy and was not impressed with the results. However, It wasn’t until I got here to NAC that I had my first experience of Praise and Worship combined with a distinctly charismatic renewal element. I wasn’t too impressed by it—quite frankly I was turned off!
So why would a traditional priest go on a charismatic praise and worship Retreat? For two reasons: first because among faithful Catholics it seems to me that there are two main groups, traditionalists and charismatics, and in my diocese there are probably more charismatics, so if I am to be able to shepherd these people I must understand where they are coming from. More importantly, however, is the fact that I am a traditional priest—I believe in angels and demons, miracles and prophecy, healings and even spiritual warfare—intellectually at least, and so if the Spirit is still working in the Church in these ways, as I believe He is, then maybe the Charismatics are on to something. We have lost something of our practical belief in the unseen realities in the Church, I believe as a result of rationalism and modernism. The Church doesn’t want to be seen as primitive or cultic, it doesn’t want to be seen as superstitious, but its not superstition if its real and the Scriptures reveal to us several aspects of the unseen reality that De Fide we must believe.
Anyway, I went on the retreat to understand and to be touched by the Spirit. I went with an open heart and open eyes so that I could see what I needed to, and I must say that it was awesome—I really did feel God working in my life. As I told some people, it is my firm belief that it was God’s will for me to be on that retreat because he used it to heal some real wounds in my heart and to call me to conversion—and also to help me understand my brothers in Christ who pray and worship in this way.
One of the first things I realized was that the subject plays a big role in how the Charisms of the spirit manifest. As I mentioned during the Q&A at the end of retreat its dangerous to say that the gifts of the spirit are limited to the particular manifestation of the Charismatic renewal. Twenty centuries of Catholic Tradition have shown these gifts manifested in many ways that I would be more comfortable with, that are just as authentically Charismatic—so its important not to claim a monopoly on the gifts! Frs. Francis and John Mark of the Intercessors of the Lamb, did well to acknowledge and highlight this fact. As Fr. Francis did say, however, the gifts of the Spirit are non-negotiable. It makes no sense to call yourself a Catholic and be closed to the Spirit of Jesus with which we were sealed at our Baptism and Confirmation. Amen to that!
Thinking about the workings of the spirit within us it seems to me that the gifts of the Spirit are always being poured out into our spirit, we have only to access these gifts. Two things said over and over again on the retreat, that I think are key, were that God doesn’t force himself on us, ever, and that the purpose for this retreat was to unlock the gifts that we already have that are bound up and chained within us because of sin, fear, and unawareness. God’s Spirit is in us, if we truly believe what the Church teaches about baptism and confirmation—how few of us act like be really do believe this. I think many of us think that we have the Spirit in us like a tenant who will do what he wants when he wants without our cooperation or consent. This is the insight of the charismatic renewal movement—the realization that God’s Spirit will not act in us without us. The subject plays a big role in the manifestations of God’s charisms because the Grace of the Spirit within us is completely on the invisible level, beyond sense perception just as God is beyond this realm. Rather by willing to use, that is cooperate with, the Spirit that because of Faith we know we have our Faith influences our intellect which in turn influences our bodies (sensibly, emotionally, and even mechanically).
For me one of the most interesting conversations was about the gift of tongues—a gift which Paul himself says is one of the least of the gifts and yet EWTNs Fr. Corapi says is one of the most powerful. Tongues for me was one of the things that I was most critical of, but as the Intercessors explained they are simply a gift of humble prayer. Praying in tongues is praying in a language you don’t know, because as St. Paul says, we know not how to pray! When praying for an individual there is no question who knows better what the person really needs: God or us. And so praying in tongues is a way to call up our loving desire for the good of the other without wordiness, providing the basis of language, without provide the content, which we believe will be provided by the spirit. This can take the form, I think provided by us, of groaning, sighing, pure sound, or language like sounds. One of the reasons this appealed to me was that it reminded me of something St. Augustine said about the Christians of Milan—he notes that they sang with such joy that the words became lost in pure joy. “Make a joyful noise to the lord.” While I still may have a problem with, as one deacon called it, the “gibberish,” I see the intrinsic value of this idea and its roots in the apophatic theological tradition.
Fundamentally the Charismatic idea is that we trust God wants to and will work through us when we ask him to share the Spirit in us with others. This isn’t magic, trying to command and control God, but a willingness to be his cooperator and instrument. I think it is important to anchor this idea in the Tradition and Doctrine of the Church, which provides an invaluable too for discerning spirits. If Doctrine is an icon of the face of God revealed to man in Sacred Scriptures then it should also be a good indicator of how he will continue to act in the world. I was slightly concerned at a suggested anti-intellectualism that seems to me not to be intrinsic to the idea.
Friday, March 20, 2009
I am on retreat and shouldn't be blogging...
I am taking a two day Charismatic mini retreat. Yeah, I know you wouldn't think someone like me would be involved with something like this.
Hopefully when I am done I will have a few moments to share some thoughts about the retreat.
More coming soon...
Hopefully when I am done I will have a few moments to share some thoughts about the retreat.
More coming soon...
Update
The first drafts of mt introduction and first Chapter of my Tesina (Thesis) are done! And the second Chapter is in the works. Soon and very soon I am going to see the King!
Amen.
Thanks for all your prayers, please keep them coming.
Amen.
Thanks for all your prayers, please keep them coming.
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