Fr. Ron's weekly letter to his parish 2002

The book, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers by Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton, was reviewed by Carol Lytch in the Christian Century Magazine.

The reviewer claims that this is the most comprehensive and reliable research ever done on youth and religion (in the USA ). What do they say? Will our worst fears be confirmed?

“We have known for years that parents are key influences on teens’ religious lives. Despite the tendency of parents to say they are helpless in this area, three out of four religious teens consider their own beliefs somewhat or very similar to those of their parents (they re more similar to their mothers’ beliefs than to their fathers’).

Teens surround themselves (with friends and) people who reinforce the shaping influence of their parents. The messages here?

1) Peers may be important to teens, but parents are still primary when it comes to religion.

2) “teenagers…are not a people apart, an alien race about whom adults can only shake their heads and look forward to their growing up.

We’ve heard about generation gaps such as those that supposedly exist Generation X and Generation Y. But they said “Any generation gap that exists between teens and adults today is superficial compared with and far outweighed by the generational commonalities (sic).”

We always thought that religious participation correlates with good social outcomes. Now it is documented! “…religiously active teens fare better than religiously disengaged teens when it comes to smoking, drinking, drug use, school attendance, television and movie viewing, sexual behavior, body image, depression, relationships with adults and peers, moral reasoning, honesty, compassion and community participation.” Whew and wow!

The vast majority of youths identified themselves as Christian – either Protestant or Catholic – or as Jewish or Mormon. Half the teens said that faith is very or extremely important in their lives and only about 8% said faith was not important at all.

A most striking finding is that teens are traditional! “Contrary to popular opinion they are not spiritual seekers or questers of the type often described by journalists and some scholars, but are instead mostly oriented toward and engaged in conventional religious traditions and communities”. “Spiritual but not religious does not describe how teens view themselves.”

The study found some negatives along the way. Some say, in regard to religion, that this is “just how I was raised,” that it is “not worth fighting about,” that it is simply “good to be of marginal importance and are inarticulate about the content of their faith.

Nota bene: “Religious traditions understand themselves as presenting a truth revealed by a holy and almighty God who calls human beings from a self-centered focus to a life of serving God and neighbor. Adherents are understood to be reared or inducted into a historically rooted matrix of identity, practices and ethics that define selfhood, loyalties and commitments. But according to Smith and Denton , teens understand religion not to be something quite different: religion helps and them make good life choices and helps them to feel happy. ‘The de facto dominant religion among contemporary U.S. teenagers,’ the authors explain, ‘is what we might well call “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.” More about that next week.

September 24th, 25th, 2005

The following is a severely –edited letter sent to Ershel Redd (a parishioner who came up from Texas ) from his son Skip. I thought you would appreciate reading it:

I went over to the Astrodome today to volunteer to help with the displaced people of New Orleans that are being housed there. I wish there was a way to properly describe what it is like but there is no way to properly do it justice. The images you see on TV, the stories you hear and read about do not paint a true picture of what it is like.- When I finally got in my car to leave, I sat in it and cried for 30 minutes unable to move or even think.

When I parked my car and began walking to sign up at the volunteer center, reality began to set in as I saw so many people walking around the grounds with complete despair written across their faces and you begin to realize that this is now their new home.The home that they have known for probably most of their life, if not all, is gone along with all of their possessions. It is a very sobering and humbling sight to see.

There were people with cots and all of their remaining belongings everywhere:on the Dome floor, in the concourses, on the ramps and walkways, all trying to carve out a little piece of space that they could call home. You had little kids running around the stadium, through the aisles, throwing a ball around just doing what all little kids like to do. People were sleeping on their cots or playing cards or reading or just sitting there with a blank stare on their face as if to say I do not know where to go or what to do.It is a hopeless feeling to see these people. I saw people putting up signs all over the Dome trying to locate or find relatives; relatives they do not even know survived the storm. The people will come up to you and ask a million questions and it is so hard to tell them that you do not have the answers but to be patient and they will get them answered eventually.

There is one story I want to relay to you: When I was heading to my car to leave and drive to the drop-off center where I was to drop off some Lego's and movies that my goddaughter Lexi and her brother Chance gave me in Colorado this weekend to give to the children at the Astrodome, I saw a 60 year old man, pushing a shopping cart with his 4-year old nephew in it. I asked how he was doing and he said they were doing great and that they were having a great day because they found out that his brother (whose son he had), his mom, his son, and his 4 sisters were all alive and on their way to Houston. He told me that his family saw him on a Dateline interview and that is how they were able to connect. His name was Bobby and his nephew's name was Willie and he thought for sure they had all died because they were swept away by the floods from the rooftop of their house. Bobby and Willie survived on the roof for three days before a national guard boat came by and rescued them. He was not bitter but grateful to be alive and could not have been more positive about starting his new life in Houston .

I know it is easy to sit here and say we should be so fortunate for what we have in our lives but it has new meaning for me after today. Be thankful for all that you have: your home, your belongings, your car, your health but above all the love of friends and family and take that feeling to help these people. So, take the time to tell your friends and family how much they mean to you and how much you love them. I promise you that we will keep doing all that we can down here to help and ask that you continue to keep these people in your prayers and to continue to find ways to help no matter how small or insignificant you may think it is. Trust me, everything is important and everything is appreciated! Love, Skip

“Yesterday I received a separate report that Fr. Louis Lohan was safe. He was seen sitting next to the ruins of St. Thomas Church weeping. Less than a year ago they had dedicated a new parish center. Today the church, school, parish center and rectory are no more!” (a report from the Diocese of Biloxi, MS).

Last Sunday, perhaps the ‘slowest’ weekend of the year, you gave over $12,000 to Catholic Charities toward relief for our brothers and sisters in Mississippi & Louisiana . We are not done yet.

Out of 9/11/01 came thousands of stories that tore open the hearts of the people of this nation. Now tens or hundreds of thousands of stories will come forth from this disaster that struck Mississippi & Louisiana . Both disasters are far beyond economic impact – we seem to be a people that are quite resilient and can deal with such things. But these were of qualitatively different nature. Looting, fires and some anarchy are hardly new nor are they long-lasting effects of such disasters. The light and the cameras showed the face of the poor (mostly black), and the old – and we saw how frail they are and how they live on the edge of life each day of their lives. They did not flee the hurricane because they could not flee from it – and now where can they go or what can they do?

We can imagine a dike breaking open, we can imagine terrible flooding (we’ve seen it before) – but to imagine a city of 480,000 being closed down is ’off the charts’. The best guess is that the waters in N.O. won’t be gone for three months and another three months for it to dry out. For those three to six months the USA will have a small nomad nation in its midst: people who have no central point of reference. Simple things like sending their children off to school each morning, providing a safe haven for them at night, a place to go shopping or to do banking, or to see familiar faces with whom they can discuss the affairs of the day… they will be momentous tasks. (How sweet is the “ordinary life”!

The good news is that there are thousands and thousands of people stepping forth to ease the burdens of the suffering. A depth of hidden generosity has seen the light of day – such organizations as Red Cross, Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, etc have had more ‘hits’ on their web sites than ever before from so many who want to help.

Many will ask (how can a Christian not ask?) where the hand of God might be in all of this. Some will see it as a work, a voice of God, calling us back to a new purity of faith and religion. But why them? Are they any worse than any of us? (Jesus reminded his listeners that repentance is needed from all – and because you did not suffer the same fate as the others does not mean you are better.)

Others will see the work of God in those who step forward to assist the suffering in any way they possibly can. Like Mother Teresa they see Christ in those who suffer… period… and they must attend to Christ (Matt 25:31ff).

A follower of Christ indeed must have a spiritual life… a personal relationship with Christ. But it is the religious person who also sees the need and benefits of being linked to others in their faith, spirituality and in their need (as Jesus did). They can hold each other accountable to do the right thing and they can find strength in each other to do it. They truly live the life of the Trinity - relationships in vibrant love.

Alternatives to the Death Penalty: Imagine (this is 1974) that you are a male who has been arrested and accused of rape. The victim has picked you out of a line up – even though you do not have all the physical characteristics that were described by the victim to the police. You feel safe though, because you have an (honest) alibi. You were at work at the time the crime occurred: the punch clock confirms that and so do your fellow workers. Though DNA testing was not yet available you think that a simple blood test might prove your innocence – but that would not take place before the trial.

The trial is held and you are given a life sentence plus fifty years. You were “lucky” because it could have been the death penalty.

Eleven years later a blood test is finally approved and taken. The one who raped the woman had type B blood – yours is type A.

In telling the above story I had you as the victim – but luckily is wasn’t you. The story was not fiction – it is true – and stories like that abound to this day. (A side note, contrary to our thinking, line-ups are not as reliable as we may believe they are. In fact, they are much less reliable than we would like to think.)

The system neither brought about justice nor did it correct the injustice. Thanks to a small group named Centurion Ministries who followed up on a plea by you (who, of course, protested your innocence throughout all of this) - they arranged to have the blood test taken and to work through the courts for your release.

Most first-world countries have abolished the death penalty – the USA is not in that number. One of the proposals to the death penalty is life imprisonment and no parole. In the play Joan of Arc there is a scene where Joan, while in prison, confesses and recants her claim that she hear the call, the voice, of God. After she does this she is informed that she will spend the rest of her life in prison nonetheless. She grabs back her confession and rips it up. Not to walk in her beautiful homeland, or to ride horses again, and so forth is a fate worse than death.

It is possible to demonstrate that executing a prisoner in NJ ends up being more costly than life imprisonment. It is very easy to demonstrate that a number of innocent men have been executed (a good number were saved from death by results of DNA testing). It remains that if an innocent person is executed then justice, as it is perceived, is not served because the murderer is still free. It is almost obvious that those who have wealth will be treated differently from the poor – justice is not distributed equally. Worse of all, we do to the guilty the very thing we abhor in them – then, are we not like them? I must admit, when I read or know of heinous crimes that are committed my feelings go very much towards the ultimate punishment. It tears me apart when I think of the suffering of the innocent and their friends/family. That is not an easy, if possible, bridge to cross. But I also believe I must “cross that bridge”.

You can contact your NJ legislator today and send a simple message: “I oppose the death penalty.” For more information you can go on the computer and contact NJADP at cfitzgerald@njadp.org.
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The television brings a number of styles of preaching into our homes: Sr. Angelica, Revs. Caroppi, Roberts, Joel Olsteen, Robert Schuller and others. (The names listed above are only meant to illustrative and in no way meant to be judgmental.)

In the novel Gilead, the Rev. John Ames notes that 40 years of careful, literate, theologically sound preaching could be undone in a 20-minute sermon by a radio preacher.

John Buchanan, of Christian Century magazine, writes that he was often dismayed by the shallowness and lack of biblical study of some radio and TV preachers – and it was evident in their preaching. The “easy” (or “soft”) theology and the promise that God will reward you with a good life now seemed to fly in the face of the harder realities of life… especially in the light of the crucified Christ.

He now has a different opinion. Some radio and TV preachers write books – and their theology is indeed “light”. That is not to say, however, that they are useless. He writes: “Thousands upon thousands of people first considered the possibility that they mattered to God, that whatever suffering or unhappiness they might be experiencing was not caused by God, that God’s will for them was a joyful life.” – emphasis is mine. (Remember Jesus telling his followers that he has come to bring us life to the full!).

He goes on to write: “The other day I heard from a young parishioner, recently married, who had just received devastating news from her doctor. She was asking me to pray for her. She added: ‘I’ve been reading a book by Joel Osteen, Your Best Life Now. I have slowly begun to realize that I am in God’s favor.”

“Any theology that promises success as a reward for faithfulness and fervent prayer is misleading at best, and it deserves a forceful critique. At the same time I’ve learned not to dismiss ministries, however different from mine, that can lead people to their vocation or to a new sense of God’s love.” (Christian Century, July 26, 2005)

In my years of priesthood (actually, even before that – in my seminary years) I have been humbled more that a few times by others by their faith in God and their love for God. I do not emphasize a quality of humiliation when I say “humbled” but rather a truth, as it were, about my own faith and how I live it. Those little moments of revelation are blessings – not curses.

St. Paul believed that the good things God has in store for us has not even yet entered into our minds and hearts. If they did then they could not adequately be described. The writings of the mystics are more poetic than prosaic. They simply cannot put into words what their encounter with the Lord was like. They end up exhorting us to try to get to God and to try with all our being.

We’ve used a number of powerful images to portray what heaven, i.e. what it means to be in the presence of God, is like: a wedding banquet, paradise, Eden , a golden city, etc. I take heart in a passage from St. Paul (imprisoned at the time he wrote it) that can be found at Romans 14: 17 – 19. It does speak of a reward that can be had now, in our present living.

“The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking, but of justice, peace, and the joy that is given by the Holy Spirit. Whoever serves Christ in this way pleases God and wins the esteem of men. Let us, then, make our aim to work for peace and to strengthen one another.”

As often is the case, when a sports team has distinguished itself by winning a championship of sorts (e.g. such as World Soccer or World Swimming competition, etc) they are honored by being invited to the White House to meet with the president and presented with medals, etc.

Recently there was a little flack because four young women so honored (I do not recall what sport they played) came to the White House in flip-flops (the almost-standard footwear for many during the summer months) for the ceremony and meeting with the president of the USA. Flip-flops are not generally recognized as formal wear. One of the girl’s brother e-mailed her and asked if she was ‘out of her mind’ when she did this. I’m sure that this can lead to an interesting discussion.

However, if the occasion is formal, the setting is the White House, and you are meeting with the President of the USA then this is no ordinary event. How do we show respect, and in some cases – reverence, to such things in our times? In the military the salute and addressing an officer as "Sir" is a sign of respect. Standing for the national anthem (with hats off) is more than a sign of respect – it is a sign of reverence as well. Observing a moment of silence for the deceased is an act of reverence and respect.

As has been written in every age throughout human history, there are lamentations about the states of respect and reverence and how they seem to have gone "down the tubes’. I would opine that respect is earned and people today seem to demand more in earning a person’s respect. Reverence seems to be a quality that is instinctual. It seems more intuitive and as an understanding that is ‘felt’ or ‘sensed’. We want to see such expressions of respect and reverence because they speak of noble work, noble ideals, noble persons, noble offices, and most importantly, noble and eternal values. We need to give such expressions of respect and reverence because such beauty or greatness needs to be acknowledged. We cannot but applaud, or shout, or just be stunned into silence when we saw the heroism and sacrifice made by so many in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001.

In our Catholic faith the universal and local church leaders (i.e. our Pope and bishops) have called upon the faithful to express more outward signs of respect and reverence in our liturgies. They are well aware that we are bombarded with books, newspapers, movies, magazines and all the opportunities that computer-access afford to us. These things can challenge our faith and numb us to the great mysteries that we hold dearly. To genuflect when entering a church, to bow our heads and answering "amen" when receiving the Eucharist, or to bow at the words in the creed "…and the Word became flesh" are meant to enhance our attentiveness to the faith we live, the mysteries we celebrate and the love God has for us.

Ideally, the outward expressions of reverence and respect come from the heart. We do not live in an ideal world – but we strive for it. And oftentimes it does happen that after a long period of rote expressions of reverence and/or respect do hit home and we come to understand, perhaps for the first time or perhaps in a new way, what these expressions are all about… and our lives are enriched.

This is The Year of the Eucharist – a special time to center our thoughts on the Eucharist. This was at the encouragement of the late Pope John Paul II (PJII). Many adults and younger Catholics remain unaware of such things as Exposition of the Eucharist, Eucharistic processions, Benedictions, etc. That which follows is from a booklet the bishops of the US recently put out. The following comes from that booklet.

JPII called the worship of the Most Holy Eucharist outside of Mass “an important daily practice (that) becomes an inexhaustible source of holiness” and a practice “of inestimable value for the life of the Church.”

Of course, the Mass (celebration of the Eucharist) is the greatest prayer of the Catholic Church. Eucharistic adoration prepares us to participate more fully in the celebration of the Eucharistic mystery and it extends Holy Communion in a lasting way.

JPII, in one of his letters, reflected that: “It is pleasant to spend time with him, to lie close to his breast like the Beloved Disciple (cf Jn 13:25) and to feel the infinite love present in his heat. If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the ‘art of prayer’, how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual converse, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament? How often, dear brothers and sisters, have I experienced this, and drawn from it strength, consolation an support!”

The tabernacle: it was first intended for the reservation of the Eucharist in a worthy place so that it could be brought to the sick and those absent, outside of Mass. As a faith in the real presence deepened the Church became conscious of the meaning of silent adoration of the Lord present under the Eucharistic species of bread. The tabernacle must be solid and unbreakable. It must be at least opaque and the Eucharist is not be kept in a clear or glass tabernacle. PJII writes that the presence of the Eucharist in the tabernacle is a powerful reminder that God has not forgotten us. “He is in the midst of us day and night; He dwells in us with the fullness of grace and of truth. He raises the level of morals, fosters virtue, comforts the sorrowful, strengthens the weak and stirs up all those who draw near to Him to imitate Him, so that they may learn from his example to be meek and humble of heart, and to seek not their own interests but those of God.”

Eucharistic adoration and Eucharistic exposition: Eucharistic adoration is prayer before the Blessed Sacrament housed within the tabernacle. Eucharistic exposition is the ritual by which the Blessed Sacrament is displayed outside the tabernacle in a monstrance or ciborium for public veneration by the faithful. It is a public celebration that enables the faithful to perceive more clearly the relationship between the reserved Sacrament and the “sacrifice of the Mass”. (The monstrance is a specially designed object to display the Eucharistic bread. The ciborium most often looks like a cup and holds the hosts within the tabernacle.)

What distinguishes the reverence given to the exposed Sacrament from adoration before the tabernacle is the communal nature of reverence to the exposed Blessed Sacrament. In Eucharistic exposition, the Blessed Sacrament is reverenced by the common prayer of the people in silence, song and meditation, by incensation, and by other liturgical acts, including genuflection. “A single genuflection (and on one knee) is made in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, whether preserved in the tabernacle or exposed for public adoration.

About Eucharist adoration the bishops write: “The Blessed Sacrament may never be left exposed when no one is present for prayer or adoration. ‘Every effort should be made to ensure that there should be at least two people present. There must absolutely never be periods when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed and there is no one present for adoration…”

The booklet does go into more detail but these noted above, apparently, were the questions that many people were bringing to their priests and bishops.

One of the many facets of Christianity throughout the ages is the happy happenstance when men and women enter a monastic life in search of and in service to God. Unfortunately, most of our young believers only get to see images and satirical portrayals of monks and nuns.

Often, if one went off by him or herself to live a disciplined life he or she could end up as a very strange person indeed. St. Benedict was the genius in getting men or women together to devote their lives to prayer and work under a common rule. St. Benedict knew that Christianity meant community. He knew that several people working toward a common goal in community would be strengthened by the others in their spiritual quest. Since we are probably the least objective in evaluating ourselves the “other” can be a better mirror to our spirit. That doesn’t mean we are always wrong but we also know that we do, at times, need someone to set us straight.

Now, all that being said I came across this article The National Catholic Reporter, 6/3/2006.

“For its latest reality TV offering, “The Monastery,” the British Broadcasting Corp. selected five men from hundreds of applicants and sequestered them for 40 days and 40 nights in Worth Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Crawley , England . The show followed the five, none of whom were Catholic, as they tried to adapt to the Benedictine way of life.

The men prayed with the monks six times a day, and were asked to observe the Benedictine rules of silence, obedience and humility.

Tony Burke, 29, an agnostic who once filmed trailers for a sex chat line was the first to crack. In the first episode he was filmed leaving the abbey with Gary McCormick, a 36-year old painter and former member of a Protestant paramilitary unit from Northern Ireland, in search of “virgins and cigarettes” in a nearby village.

The pair returned with bags of cigarettes, potato chips, chocolates and soda. And got caught. Abbot Christopher Jamison sat down with them to explain that true freedom rests in being able to choose to resist the urges of the body.

“We saw in this project an opportunity to discover what our way of life offers to people today who do not share our beliefs,” Jamison said in a statement. “For the participants, we hoped that they would discover hidden depths in their lives and in those hidden depths encounter God. This hope was fulfilled to an extent that took us all by surprise," he said.

Burke underwent a religious conversion, came to believe in God, quit his job – and never looked back. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” he said.

Nick Buxton, 37, a student of Buddhism at Cambridge University , has returned to his Anglican roots and regularly attends his church. He took an intellectual approach to the challenge but struggled with the “part of me that doesn’t believe.”

McCormick, who when the show began said he “couldn’t stay out of jail,” was one of the first to find what he was looking for – the strength to come to terms with his past and the ensuing inner peace.

“There are 22 monks in here, and every one of them loves you and accepts you,” he said. “I have never been made so welcome in a place in all my life.”

Monastic life takes many forms and, as can be imagined, the discipline varies in each community… ranging from total silence to going out into communities to serve them. Among the many, we know them as Franciscans, Agustinians, Carmelites, Dominicans (men and women), Carthusians, Benedictines (men and women), Trappists, and many more.

If you are able, get to know them not as people of curiosity, but as people who serve God primarily through their strong prayer. Look over their rule, see why they chose this life and not another, and why the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience (and in some instances: stability) are foundations upon which they direct their lives.

Robert Kiely is a professor of English and American literature at Harvard. He has been teaching the classics of Christian literature for seven years and in a recent issue of America magazine he pens some interesting observations.

Instead of sorting out the literature chronologically or by theological thought he begins with autobiographies: Augustine, Teresa of Avila, Martin Luther, etc. Then he goes on to the letters of early Christians and moves on from there (e.g. to great sermons, stories, etc). His course has a sprinkling of atheists and Muslims – but mostly Catholics and Protestants. He notes that what Christians don’t know about each other is huge. “What Christians don’t know about their own heritage is huger (sic).”

Presbyterians are often shocked by the severity of Calvin. Methodists are disarmed by Wesley’s tolerance. Those who are graduates of Franciscan or Augustinian colleges know almost nothing about those orders or their founders.

He once was invited to an evangelical group on campus and decided to talk about denominational diversity not as a sign of conflict but also as an indication of the rich variety of Christian experience. The meeting began with song (with a country music swing) and spontaneous prayer and witnessing. He said, “I prayed with you. Would you like to pray with me?” They agreed and he suggested they recite the office of Compline. (That’s the “official” evening prayer of the Church – if you subscribe to Magnificat magazine you are familiar with it.) Well there were about 50 Protestant undergraduates who loved this prayer. He thought to himself – “why not?” he wasn’t trying to convert them – only sharing the riches of Christian worship with them.

St. Augustine with his passionate idealism and thirst for knowledge resonate with their spirit. “The women in class tend to respond with real compassion to the plight of medieval women and their tendency to eroticize their relationship with Jesus.” They come to understand that there have always been reformers throughout the history of the church.

Of course, there are the doctrinal differences. He thought such reformers as Francis, Catherine, Teresa, Luther, Martin Luther King Jr. would have their differences, especially in regard to church organization: “but all that aside, all of them yearned for a poorer, simpler, more loving, more Christ-like Christianity.”

He concludes: “Not all discussions go so well. Varying attitudes toward obedience, humility, visions, miracles and even faith versus work still can cause tension and uncertainty. But in a world in which religion is often a source of prejudice, division and conflict, it is very good to see young Christians and non-Christians, Catholics and Protestants, believers and nonbelievers take such earnest and respectful pleasure in some of the great texts of our tradition and in the distinctive, intelligent and heartfelt response to one another.”

Millions upon millions of Christians have never read these writings or even heard of them. Yet, they have led most honorable and Christ-like lives. But to read them is to enrich one’s faith. It is blessing to know that you are not the only one who posed similar questions or felt “rebellious reform”. It is blessing to know that a passionate love for your faith can take you down some scary paths as is has for others.

“To read is to meditate with thoughts of another.” Since we don’t know it all (do we?) how blessed it is possibly to hear God speak in unique ways and from believers who came before us.

From the Christian Century magazine come some quite different recommendations for summer reading.

You are twice divorced, 50+ yrs. old, have 7 children (grown) and can live comfortably in Beverly Hills . What do you do? This woman (Mary Clarke) became a nun. She is known as Mother Antonia and lives in one of Mexico ’s most notorious prisons, where she befriends and aids prisoners and guards alike… and their families. You can “read all about it” in the book, The Prison Angel.

1968: The Year that Rocked the World by Mark Murlansky. It is an evocative chronicle and he describes it as a time “when people all at once, all over the globe, refused to be silent about many things that were wrong with the world.”

Blue Blood by Edward Conlon. He is 4^th-generation NYC cop who glimpses lie from the perspective of drug snitches and politicians, hard-luck cases and just plain hardened criminals. “We find traces of an Augustinian worldview in Conlon’s steely-eyed awareness of human degradation, and also fragments of hope born of his Irish-Catholic upbringing.”

I will be away for two weeks on vacation and then off to a short conference in Chicago . I will be available on August 5^th. Fr Ron.

Fr. Vijaya Joji Babu Valle (Fr. Joji) will be in residence at St. James Church and helping out. He will arrive on July 14^th and remain with us until September 20^th. This will allow me to take some vacation and conference times (July 18 to Aug. 3^rd). It will also allow him to do some work on his studies and papers. Fr, Joji is currently a student at the university in Louvain , Belgium . He worked in another parish in our diocese last summer and the pastor there (who now has a new associate) highly recommended him. Fr. Joji – we welcome you!

Fr. Francis Kelly Scheets, O.S.C. writes in The Priest magazines about young men and the vocations. He writes of three phases in the past fifty years.

Phase I: There was the “Priest, doctor, lawyer” period after WWII. During this period our brightest and best young men and women were encouraged to serve God as a religious or a priest. In 1950 one out of every 10 young Catholic men who graduated college was studying theology to become a priest.

Phase II: As “ghetto Catholics” we entered into the “embrace the world” period. During this period most high school seminaries closed and theology enrollment dropped by one-fifth. Two events in the early 1960’s opened windows on the world for young Catholic adults: the election of John F Kennedy as president and Vatican Council II. There were new ways for young Catholic adults to serve the Church and the make an imprint on the world. We would not return to the “priest, doctor and lawyer” model of thinking again. Now, one out of every 40 young men was studying theology for the priesthood. Then came a serious decline. Theology school enrollment in 2002 was below 3,300 (in the USA – down 60% from 1968). By 2004 one out of every 2,500 young men who had graduated from college was studying theology for the priesthood.

Phase III: this began with the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and the fall of Communism. We have walked into a global neighborhood with fax machines, advanced television, computers, 24-hour news programming, cell phones, etc… the world was opened and young Catholics were becoming concerned. A survey in 1990 found that, when asked what they wanted from their college degree, 41% of the woman and 34% of the men wanted “to influence social values.” That would mean 1.1 million young Catholics in the USA are concerned about social values.

Young Catholics are questioning the distribution of goods on this earth. Social-oriented and non-profit services increased from 6,500 to 45,000… most of which wrestle with issues of peace and justice. A study done in 200 by CARA found that, on average, 80% of four generations of Catholics noted that it is “very important to what it means to be Catholic to help those in need.” Fifty-four percent of young adult Catholics said they would be more likely to participate in parish life if there were opportunities to help the poor and needy.

Don’t think that celibacy is keeping young adults from the priesthood. The data suggests that there are 3.7 million single young Catholic adult men out there. Dean Hoge did a study and found that 94% of the priests are happy (taking all things together) and 86% would reenter the priesthood if they had to choose again. 70% would not marry if celibacy became optional. (A friend of mine who is a priest said that he wouldn’t want to marry the woman who would want him! lol)

: Among fireworks, picnics, sparklers, music, etc we may not place prayer as one of the traditional things we do on July 4^th. I doubt, too, if we spend much time discussing such things as the Declaration of Independence, or the risks and the sacrifices men and women of that time took upon themselves, or the hope that this country offered to immigrants past and present. Fr. Joseph Nolan, who was editor of Good News (no longer around), penned this prayer. (I made two small changes.) Perhaps the paterfamilias of the family or as a group you might consider using this prayer somewhere on July 4^th.

We thank you for the good things in our heritage and the chance to correct the bad.

In the old westerns, when the lawman confronts the desperado, one of them will say: “This town ain’t big enough for the two of us!” That’s true for faith and fear as well. Our hearts aren’t big enough for the two of them. If you’ve got enough faith, your fear will recede. Which one are you welcoming, nurturing and feeding? Jesus invites us to lay down our fears and find our true rest in him.

The average work week for most Americans is 46 hours, although 38% of respondents in a National Sleep Foundation study admitted they work more than 50 hours per week. North Americans work nearly nine full weeks more than their Western European counterparts, and working Americans average about two weeks of vacation per year, while the European worker average 5 to 6 weeks. Many working Americans receive no paid vacation at all.

Any way you look at it, laborers in the U.S. and Canada are suffering from time poverty and rest deprivation, which in turn is affecting their physical and spiritual health and contributing to a decrease in family socializing, community involvement, and care for the environment. People are just too tied to their jobs to do much of anything else.

There are some initiatives, such as Take Your Time Back, that want local and federal agencies to require employers to guarantee more time in leaves and vacations and reduce the amount of time for compulsory overtime an employer can impose. (Of course that comes at a price as well… sometimes the cost is survival. But time also goes one way only – forward – and is cannot be stored away for a future date.)

There is no one common theme running through these notes but there may be something here that will resonate with your spirit.

A good while back my sister and I went to see a movie… I am not sure which one it was. When we left the theater we both agreed it was a good movie but not particularly notable. We talked about the movie all the way home and then when we got home we spent another hour talking about it. It occurred to us at the same moment: this movie was pretty special and insightful and we never would have paid any attention to it had we not talked about it.

I wonder if you find that happening after you leave Mass on the weekends. Did ever the words of the scriptures and/or the homily seem to be not so special until you talked about it? The disciples on the road to Emmaus on the Easter morning talked to a man about the events that happened as they walked along. Later they realized they were pretty excited about their discussion. I believe that, because during that discussion their hearts “were on fire,” they were later able to recognize Jesus in the “breaking of the Bread” that same evening.

The liturgical changes that were introduced several months ago seem to be going along well. The downside is that some seem disappointed that they cannot dip the host into the cup, some are still working on their bows at Communion time so that it doesn’t seem too awkward, and (I’m not sure of this because I can’t observe it) I don’t think we have the hang of it as to the bowing at the words in the Creed: “. He was born of the Virgin Mary and became man…” On the upside of it the other changes (e.g.…. standing before the celebrant invites you to pray at the preparation of the gifts) seems quite natural to the congregation now.

Music: Scientists are in a frantic search to find the one law of physics that determines how this universe acts and holds together the way it does. Know that law and you can predict what would happen and maybe even control what happens. To find that law they want to know what is the ultimate ‘building block’ or make up of the universe? We once thought it was the atom. They are investigating something called the String Theory. There are actually several string theories on the board at the present time. In a very, very rough and crude way of describing it, these theories hold that the universe is made up of infinitesimally small “strings” that are continually vibrating (1/1,000,000,000^th of a meter would not adequately describe the size of these strings).

Music rocks! (uh, that is to say, it vibrates). Music seems so natural and we take to it so well perhaps it is because it puts us in touch with the very basic building material of the universe. We touch the universe when we make music!?

Now this is a pretty convoluted way to say thank you to our musicians, cantors, the technicians, and members of our various choirs: Folk group, CRASH Plus choir, Occasional Choir, Children’s Choir and Adult Choir (9:45 a.m.) for leading us in sung praise to our God… the God “of all things visible and invisible…”

During the summer months they will be taking a well-deserved rest (we will still have music). I ask you to consider becoming a member of one of the choirs. You can do that by connecting with Deacon Moore Hank and he will connect you to the right people. And for those of you who do not make it to the 11:30 Children’s choir Mass, we’d like you to know that Mary Ann LeGall stepped in to help with the children’s choir twenty-one years ago. This year she is stepping back. Of course shell will be missed for nothing can compensate for her sheer presence and her unique gifts. We have lots of people who are alike in their dedication to God and music and we all benefit from their ministry to St. James Church. God bless you and we thank you!

Father’s Day was first celebrated 95 years ago in Spokane , WA , on June 19, 1910. A daughter honored her father for his courage, selflessness and love.

I love to travel (never got a chance to do it until I was twenty-six). Somewhere off the coast of Italy I visited a small island and on the island was a church that was a gem. But it was a church that had not seen a Mass celebrated within its walls for more than a hundred years… perhaps a special celebration here and there was the exception. In my reading I have come to know that this is not an unusual situation.

Now, stay with me here, when a priest is named an “auxiliary bishop” he has to be named as the “head bishop” of someplace… and since the diocese to which he is assigned already has a “head bishop” that diocese cannot be his. So he is named as “titular bishop” of one of these abandoned islands. Though he may not know where it is and may never go there – that is his diocese. The diocese is in name only and so is the bishop. I don’t know why that is but it is – and I am sure there is good reason for it.

I imagine that at some time, when that church on the island saw her priest leave and none was to take his place because most of the people moved off the island, it was painful for those who remained. They did not, and could not, see their church as shrinking and disappearing. They celebrated too many baptisms, weddings, funerals, confirmations, etc there – it was their life - and they were not dead.

In the city of Trenton there are no longer any Catholic schools where once there were fourteen. There are parishes (such as my own Blessed Sacrament) that once would fill up the church several times over each Sunday with prayerful people. No longer is that the case. Now, two parishes will be closed, four will be joined to another parish (each with one pastor) and two new parishes created from five churches.

A great number of city Catholics are now suburban Catholics with vibrant communities – but now left behind are islands of churches within the city where a great number of the faithful once thrived. Two of the new parishes will be named Queen of Angels or Queen of Mercy and names such as Holy Cross, Ss. Peter and Paul, St. Joachim, etc will be references to the past. Those of us who were raised in Trenton will feel some sort of void as we see history repeating itself in our place and time. So some things change and some stay the same. Faith thrives and grows in many ways still, in Trenton – and it may be a new springtime for the church. But for us, and for what we knew and experienced there is a slight voice that says “…there once was a Camelot”.

This past week the parish of St. James Church - Pennington, NJ was the recipient of $10,000 from the estate of William Schmidt. Bill experienced his preparation and acceptance into the Catholic Church through our RCIA process. We were grateful that he was joined to this community… and a little more grateful from the gift he bequeathed to the parish.
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The comedic Smothers Brothers had an ongoing joke in their performances. You could be sure that, somewhere in their skit, you would hear one brother say to the other: “Mom always liked you best!”

In the wonderful book Gilead , the author (Marylynne Robinson) has her narrator, who is an old minister, write about a man who is waiting and anxious to see his son. “He has some fine children, yet it always seemed this was the one on whom he truly set his heart. The lost sheep, the lost coin. The prodigal son, not to put too fine a point on it. I have said at least once a week my whole adult life that there is an absolute disjunction between our Father’s love and our deserving. Still, when I see this same disjunction between human parents and children, it always irritates me a little…

We can extend that observation… we generally don’t like anyone getting more than we think they deserve (unless it is us, of course… then again, most often we think we deserve it). God’s love for us is all out of proportion of our love for God. We are happy with that. We depend on it. We, no doubt, need it.

On this earth, in this time - let a serious harm be experienced and vengeance, not mercy, is demanded. It seems to be the very nature of evil that justice cannot be rendered. An eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth is not justice. Taking the life of one who has taken a life of another does not ‘even things out’. Vengeance may be had – but never justice.

The religious people, the religious experts, of Jesus time confronted Jesus with his practices of hanging around sinners and those who are not PLU (“People Like Us”). He rebukes them and speaks in a tone of voice that can bring us up short. He tells them (commands them): “Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’…” (Mt. 9:13) “I desire mercy, not sacrifice…” pops up several times in the scriptures before Jesus comes on the scene. It’s easier to offer sacrifice, isn’t it?

I think that, as a whole, people can handle the small stuff… at least for a while. Being slighted, or ignored, or insulted or victimized in other small ways it is possible for us to put them aside. (However, remember they are still there and unless we get to the “heart of the matter” they will always be there and ready to come back with a vengeance when the right opportunity presents itself.)

Real mercy and forgiveness is nothing short of the divine. Ultimately I think we need the help of God and God’s grace here. This is perhaps why Jesus told the Pharisees (and, in turn, us) to “Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘It is mercy I desire, not sacrifice…’”

I am sure we can come up with a number of practical reasons why we ought to be merciful but the only one that seems to hold weight for the believer is: I am merciful because God is merciful. I don’t have to understand why that is or how that is – I only need to know that that’s the way it is. It is of the very nature of God – and that is the very nature of which I wish to be part of.

So, while a disjunctive love seems so unfair it is also something we very much seek for ourselves from our God. It is quite likely we need it and count on it from those whom we most love and those of whom we most want to love us. If we can push that out to include our brothers and sisters, our family and friends, and all the way out to our enemies… well, maybe there will be a new fire, a new spirit, in our midst. It will be so powerful that we will consider it greater than the discovery of fire.

Often I heard people who had gone to Rome in the past few years and had a chance to meet with JPII declare that this pope did not lose any clarity of thought.

On January 10, 2005 he spoke to the members of the church’s diplomatic corps and identified four great challenges facing humanity today. These were causes to which he dedicated his life.

1) “Life is the first gift which God has given us, it is the first resource which man (sic) can enjoy. The Church is called to proclaim ‘the Gospel of Life.’”

2) The challenge of food: He cited the dramatic statistics of millions of children dying from hunger and called for a “radical commitment to justice and a more attentive and determined display of solidarity. This is the good which can overcome the evil of hunger and unjust poverty.”

3) The challenge of peace, decrying the wars and armed conflicts around the world and the countless innocent victims they claim. “I have spoken out countless times… and I shall continue to do so, pointing out the paths to peace and urging that they be followed with courage and patience. The arrogance of power must be countered with reason, force with dialogue, pointed weapons with outstretched hands, evil with good.” (emphasis it mine)

4) The challenge of freedom: “Freedom is a great good because only by freedom can human beings find fulfillment in a manner befitting their nature. Freedom is like light: it enables one to choose responsibly his (sic) proper goals and the right means of achieving them.”

The scriptures warn us that if the people do not have a vision, they will die. PJII gave a vision to the modern world. Though JPII, like Jesus, commanded no great army, and had only the love of God and the “Word” - the Church of Christ is not without its ‘weapons”.

“…draw your strength from the Lord and his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil… You must put on the armor of God if you are to resist on the evil day; do all that your duty requires, and hold your ground. Stand fast, with the truth as the belt around your waist, justice as your breastplate, and zeal to propagate the gospel of peace as your footgear. In all circumstances hold faith up before you as your shield; it will help you extinguish the fiery darts of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, the Word of God.

At every opportunity pray in the Spirit, using prayers and petitions of every sort. Pray constantly and attentively for all in the holy company…” Ephesians 6: 10-11, 13-18

Followers of Christ who work for justice and peace will attest that that the words of St. Paul are not the words of one who is an inspirational speaker – they are the words of the Spirit and the only way to lasting peace.

At baptism we hear the church proclaim that the parents are the first and the best of teachers (of the faith) to the children. To complement their instruction are programs the parish offers such as home education or formal classes. Unless a child goes to a Catholic school there is, for practical purpose, no other religious education that to which a child is exposed. Since this is the truth and the lived experience then there are no people more important in religious education that the teachers (and their aides). I ask you to offer a prayer of thanksgiving for the teachers in our parish and a prayer on their behalf. It is much more than an hour- plus a week that goes into the classroom. It is a genuine concern for the children and the commitment to be there each week for over half the year.

Pray, too, for our DRE (Deacon Palsir) and the secretaries (Betty and Jean) who care for too many details to note here.

To caring parents – thank you for bringing your children to the classes.

Legatus

This is an international organization of Catholic CEO’s and spouses committed to studying, living, and spreading the Faith.

The Princeton Chapter is holding a Chapter Event on May 25^th at St. Paul ’s Church, Princeton . Mass is 6:30 p.m. to be followed by a 7:15 p.m. reception and dinner program at the Hyatt Regency (chicken or fish). 9:30 p.m. Adjournment. Business attire. You and your spouse are invited! The guest speaker is Lou DiCerbo, CLU, ChFC, TFC Vice Chairman and CEO of PCP Benefit Plans.

irst order of business is to pray for our Pope - Benedict XVI. His task is certainly overwhelming. His burdens will certainly be many. He will be (like every other pope) unable to satisfy everyone… a cynic may say ‘no one’. He may be asking himself “How did I get into this?” - but I am only guessing on that one.

People generally do not know the names of the cardinals of the church… maybe one or two from their own country who make the news now and then. But if they knew the name of just one cardinal in Rome over the past ten or fifteen years you can be sure that it was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. The cardinals have elected as pope a priest has who drawn lightning to himself – and has thrown a few bolts himself. The name he has chosen to be known as (Benedict – “well-spoken” or “to speak well of”) signifies beneficence and good will. The cardinals will speak only highest praise for him but some have already been about the work of softening his image.

At the time of Vatican Council II he was known as being progressive and worked hard for the reforms. As head of the Congregation of the Faith he was the source and power of a number of writings that were issued in the name of John Paul II. A significant number of American Catholics believed many of those writings were regressive and not open to new ways the Holy Spirit was leading us… a retrenchment to the past that no longer speak to the lives of the believer in this age. Many American Catholics were more than pleased with the clarity and force of his writings.

The American Church and “Rome” have long lived with tension. Sometimes the tension was creative – at other times it was scary. Cardinal John Carol of Baltimore (many years ago) had to go to Rome to speak on behalf of labor and labor unions in this country and deter Rome from making a statement that was neither insightful nor truthful. He won the day for the workers and the Church in the US was held in great respect.

In the USA our milieu is of openness, dialogue, accountability and choosing (electing). Rome often speaks of “obedience” and the power of the Holy Spirit in making decisions. (Do not take “obedience” as a negative. The military could not survive without it. A parent could not raise healthy child without it. And Jesus himself was obedient to the Father.) In the USA we are wary of power – as we reflect it in the phase “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. In Rome to have power is to be able to do good. The American Church believes that, within our sense of democracy, we have something to offer to Rome and the universal Church. In like manner Rome would have something to offer us. But there is a sense of mistrustfulness between the two. More than once the American bishops (who have a great love for the papacy) were chastised by Rome and dealt with as of little account. Ironically, Rome put great trust in the bishops of the USA to deal with and resolve the greatest challenge to the church in the USA: that is the matter of child sexual abuse among some of the clergy.

Over the past few weeks the world has come to know and perhaps better understand how strong is our belief and conviction that the one who ascends to the office of the papacy is the successor to Peter. Peter, who walked with Christ, whose name was changed by the Lord, who abandoned him, came back and died for his Lord in proclaiming his word and works. Today, that successor is named Benedict XVI.
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A number of years ago a young Irish priest was on his first visit to Vatican City and was touring through the beautiful St. Peter’s Basilica. A priest was the tour guide and he noted that this place, this Vatican City , was the center of Catholicism. The young priest was taken back a little and told the tour guide that he thought his parish back home was the center of Catholicism! There is more than a touch of truth in both.

For the centuries before instant communication most of goings-on within the Vatican City were unknown. People would not know a “Papal Bull” (an authenticated letter from the Pope – nothing to do with the animal) from an Encyclical (usually a document from the pope sent out to or circulated among archbishops and bishops). In truth, most of Catholic experiences and living out the Catholic faith is done on a local or parish level. The Vatican keeps us focused on the understanding that the church is indeed “Catholic”… that is, universal. G. K. Chesterson once noted that to “be Catholic means “here comes everyone!”

If you have been attentive to the news over the past week you probably learned more about Pope John Paul II than you ever expected to know or wanted to know. However, the depth of the impact of the man and the office was demonstrated most dramatically by the events in Rome this past week. We shall not see the likes of him again.

Now begins the process of selecting the next pope and awaiting the words “Habemus Papam!” (“We have a pope!”) I noted in a past bulleting that one of the clues we have in understanding our next pope is to be attentive to the name he chooses. The odds are very high that he will not be in the mold of Pope JPII. The odds are that too much will be expected of him. The odds are that he will not measure up to all the expectations from people around the world. The odds are very high that he will be a person of integrity and with a great love for the church. So we pray to the Holy Spirit to send us the best there is.

We are into the fifty days of celebrating the Easter mysteries – ending with the feast of Pentecost. Our Easter celebrations were carried out so effectively because of the work of so many people. The hours of rehearsals by our musicians and choirs, the ushers, servers, environmental people (decorations), servers at the altar, the RCIA team and sponsors, the deacons and the parish staff and a host of other volunteers came together in a prayerful harmony with all who came to the church to be at prayer and in prayer with others of faith. We grateful hearts we say “thank you” from the depth of our hearts.

To our newly-baptized and returning members we thank God you’re your presence in our midst. You may hear people, in anger, state that they do not want the church to stand between them and Christ. We are to remember that the Church is Christ – it is his Body as St. Paul speaks of it in I Corinthians 12: 27: “You, then, are the body of Christ. Every one of you is a member of it.” Speak of your faith to one another… it will increase your knowledge and your understanding. The more you come to know the Lord the greater you love will be. If you should experience disappointment it is because we do not always live up to our commitment – but we try again and again. Share you faith and your stories of faith… it will encourage others and give them strength. Even speak your doubts – so that they may come out of the darkness and into the light of faith and trust. Be at prayer with the community… when you want to be and when you do not. Both bring blessing.

Easter Sunday

As a priest I am very much involved in ritual – time and again. It is a part of me and so I get a jolt of “reality” on Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Maybe you have felt it yourself at times. Throughout the years, after the Good Friday Liturgy and before the Easter Vigil I sense a palpable emptiness - a spiritual void. It is a strange, mysterious and a silent time. It has no liturgy, the tabernacle is empty, and the day seem drained of any meaning – even some of the sacramentals (such as holy water) are not to be had. During this time the virtue of Hope is put to the test.

When we gather for the Easter Vigil all the stories of God acting in our world (creation, the Exodus, etc.) are read to us again and the void begins to disappear. When the gospel of Christ’s resurrection is finally and exultantly proclaimed, something inside me says, “thank God there is life here” – and on the outside I join with the others as we sing the “Alleluias” and proclaim “Christ is risen.”

For those who are not sure that Christ is risen (you may have some doubts) – go back to the resurrection stories and you will find that there is plenty doubt to go around – and this is from the disciples of Christ! You would think that if they saw the Risen Christ they would speak only of that, and hide their doubts. But nooo… right there in the scriptures we have apostles and disciples expressing their doubts, reluctant to believe, and running to the tomb to see for themselves if it is empty. And when they see it empty they do not profess belief – they want to think about it. Is this any way to write a gospel? But they experience Christ alive and in their midst. (Some would claim that this happened when they were in some sort of trance, etc – a claim that has been made throughout the ages. But read the scriptures – they meet the risen Christ not while at prayer, or while meditating. They meet him in the ordinary and everyday human activities – and they were not pre-disposed or ready to meet him.) When all is said and done - in the end, Christ is risen. The apostles will go to their deaths proclaiming that truth!

Fr. James Brown writes in Celebration that we may believe in immortality rather than resurrection. There is a world of difference between immortality and resurrection. Immortality is about the soul; resurrection is about the body. Immortality is a pagan theory; resurrection is an article of faith. Plato wrote a book on immortality; Jesus rose from the dead.

“To be human is to be an enfleshed spirit, a spiritualized body. These are not two separate components welded together to make a unit. We are an organic unit, indivisible… Unless the body is an expression, an extension of the soul, we simply could not relate to each other or the world at large….”

The scriptures speak of a “glorified body”. Fr. Smith goes on to write: “This new body is not just any body. It is the body that holds in its transformed cells every good experience you ever had on earth. You are finally the complete, perfect you, now dealing directly with God. In whom you experience perfect beauty, goodness and love. In the company of all of your friends, who are also God’s friends. Knowing this, who would ever settle for immortality of the soul?

Palm Sunday

Pastor’s notes: Next Saturday evening we begin our Easter Vigil at 7:30 p.m. (there is no 5:00 p.m. Mass that day). It will start, weather permitting, in the small parking lot alongside the “link”. Be aware that this Liturgy will be approximately two hours.

Daylight Savings Time begins next weekend (the clocks ahead one hour – so you won’t be late for Mass on Easter Morning!).

On April 7^th I am planning to have a special meeting for those who are planning to get married within the next five years. The purpose of the meeting is inform the couples of some of the arrangements they need to make with the church and in turn they would be able to ask me some questions. You must register for this program by April 1^st. If you should know someone to whom this invitation would apply please inform them and have them call us.

A lesson I learned from Madonna (not

I was surfing the TV one night and for some reason I stopped at a program that was talking about various Hollywood stars and how handsome or beautiful they looked. In their chatter they discussed what these stars did to keep in shape and they said that Madonna was in really great shape. They talked about her exercise and the diets and deprivations she adhered to in order to keep in shape. And though I’ve heard such chatter dozens of times, for some reason this time it caught my attention. Madonna would have no wheat, no sugar, no caffeine, only vitamins for lunch, etc. I found myself saying: “Self! Her discipline and self-control makes you look like an amateur – a wimp.” She does this because ‘looking great’ is part of her business. Tom Hanks lost a lot of pounds to star in a movie… Renee Zeilwig put on weight, lost weight, and put it back on to stay and star in several movies.

My lesson was not so much that they may be much more disciplined than me, but their motivation for doing it was part vanity (not always bad), in part to uphold their image, and for the need to meet the demands of their art.

My discipline, so I thought, was taken up so that I would draw nearer to God through the experiences of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. What could be more important in my life than that – to draw close to God?

From another angle, my health is certainly much more important to me than seeing a movie in which they star. If they go through all that to make a movie, why can I not do it for the sake of my own health (certainly more important to me than their movie)? In short, they shamed me. Either my priorities or my attention to my priorities are not all I thought them ‘cracked up to be’ or I missed a turn somewhere along the way. My dedication seems to have waned – and I may not have become aware of this were it not for Madonna’s eating habits. (Go figure!)

This week marks the last days of Lent and the celebration of the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter). When we gaze upon Jesus’ glorious entrance into Jerusalem, or of his arrest, trial and death on the cross it may be that an ‘instruction’ or a lesson, will come across to us… such as how powerful and tempting are the passing glories of this life. How great the opportunity to see and feel anew to what extent the Son of God would go to so as to expiate our sins and bring us a new life.

Enter into the flow of this week and see where it takes you. Enter into the glow of Resurrection, Easter, and celebrate what you have come to believe of your Savior: He is Life. He is Light. He is Love. There is a bonus here. You do not have to endure all sorts of disciplines to draw near. Let your church and your Lord carry you along. Go with the flow.

The gospel story of Lazarus’ being raised to life again by Jesus gets mixed reactions by those who hear it. We know it was not resurrection – it was resuscitation. On one hand it is cause for celebration. On the other hand it is eerie (how does one feel and act in the presence of a person who had been dead for several days?). On the other hand – we know that Lazarus would face death again. Those who have had positive near-death experiences (yes, there are some bad ones) are not afraid to die nor do they seem particularly anxious to rush back into the experience. Lazarus went beyond the “near” death experience. Would Lazarus have felt that way? On the other hand – we look beyond the miraculous event and reflect on the instruction Jesus gives us regarding resurrection, faith and life

Since no one escapes death we can’t call it an intrusion – so, we need to face it directly. It would help if we stop seeing it as a single event at the end of life. The great theologian, Fr. Karl Rahner mused: “There are so many little deaths along the way, it doesn’t matter which one is the last one.”

The Lord Jesus chose death – though in the Garden of Gethsemane he prayed to be released from what was to happen. Anxious to follow the Father’s will before his own – he chose to keep faithful to his life, to his calling and to his teaching - even if it meant death. (And what a big surprise it would yield!)

Emily Dickinson’s little poem would be understood by the person who endures a long life and/or long and painful illness.

	St. James Parish
Fr. Ron Bacovin