FRIDAY POTPOURRI: AANotes: LUMEN FIDEI: KNOCK OFF PAGANS

In general I am opposed to CliffsNotes versions of things that we are “supposed” to read.  But it is also understandable that after a day at work, home chores and responsibilities, and with the one hour you have to relax, you probably are not going to cozy up with a Church encyclical for some satiating reading.  So for the next few weeks on Friday Potpourri we will have the AANotes on Lumen Fidei, our Popes encyclical addressed to all the faithful, so that you will at least have a decent idea on what our pontiff wishes to know though the fullness of what is being said can only be grasped by reading it.

 

Here is the main gist of the entire preface: 

 

The faith is a light for all of humanity to help us understand who we are, how we are supposed to live, to give us worth, dignity, direction, and hope for the future.  G. K. Chesterton talks about the pagan world (so does Francis here though he doesn’t mention my buddy G. K.) and how it gave way to the Christian world.  It lacked that ultimate light for which it strove.  Nobody “has ever died for his faith in the sun” wrote St. Justin Martyr.  Still, true paganism (unlike today’s knock off brand of it) had a very strict moral code, grave ideas of honor and respect and sacrifice, but it could not carry the weight, need, and the divine spark of the human person.  That is why it passed when Christianity came on the scene.  That is why to return to paganism is not a cure especially when used by those who employ it with the grave misunderstanding that it provides a framework for engaging in any human endeavor the particular individual wants license to engage in.  That was NOT the paganism of old.

 

We know that Western culture is enamored with itself.  Like so many past generations it is self impressed with its technological advances, it growing collection of facts, and its television reruns, and so has figured it has now arrived, can work out life on its own, and can relinquish faith.  In fact, as it has so many times in the past, it now sees faith as darkness, a step backward, full of emotionalism and superstition.

 

But the experiment has once again failed.  Lost as society is, it has even lost its nerve to say anything is true.  The idea of the dignity and worth of man is in free fall and the ability to say for sure what is good and what is evil is escaping us. 

 

Because of this there is a great need for the light of faith to help inform us who we are, and, in knowing who we are, how we are to live in order to be most fully and healthily human and what is our ultimate end and how can we get there.  We are aware that faith can be a fragile thing and that we once again must nourish and promote it like a grape vine lest it be overcome by weeds and fail to produce fruit.

 

That’s the set up largely in my own words.  We just went through two and half pages of small, single spaced document.  We’ll start the first chapter next week.

MONDAY DIARY: OH THE PEOPLE YOU'LL SEE!

A good number of years ago on this blog I had a series titled, "Oh the Places You'll Go!" stolen from the Dr. Suess book of the same title.  In it I wrote about how sometimes being a priest opened doors (literally) and lets you see places that most may never have the opportunity to see.  One of those places visited recently I wrote to you about already is St. Paul Shrine were the Poor Clares who are cloistered live.  Almost nobody is allowed back in the cloister but Mother Mary Thomas and I have been working on some projects (on which I play an incredibly small part) and so I had the great privilege of being able to go back into the cloister of this beautiful building.

 

Here is a picture of Mother and me from last week at which time she revealed the finished painting of St. Sebastian.

Another good series might be, "Oh the People You'll Meet!" but it would be a lot like name dropping wouldn't it?  BUT it is very cool the people you get to meet because you are priest so with the aim of promoting vocations I will only do it once and limit myself to just a couple.

 

Of course meeting Mother Mary Thomas who is also a fantastic artist was a treasure.  Below was meeting Pope John Paul II (soon to be a saint!) after having celebrated Mass with him in his private chapel in the papal apartments.  I wish I could say I was very eloquent but after his greeting all I could muster was, "Ablagammagoogoo."  The reason the picture looks weird is because it is a picture I took of a picture.  You might be able to see me with the camera in the reflection.  Gosh, I had a lot more hair then!

Going to Rome more recently with the parish choir, after singing for the Mass we were invited back into the sacristy (bigger than my parish church) in order to meet Angelo Cardinal Comastri, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter.  People were freaking out.  "No choir ever gets invited back here!"  But we were.  Then he took us on a little tour through part of the Vatican.  What a great day that was.

On the same day of the visit to Mother Mary Thomas noted above, a friend named Sharon and I met with Bishop Gries and wonderful couple recently engaged (congratulations and prayers) John and Cortney hoping that they would be on the board of the Poor Clares which they agreed to do.  THANK YOU.  That was great enough but . . .

While we were there we also ran in to Larry Holmes and Hanford Dixon who were EXTREMELY kind to be bothered to have their picture taken with some anonymous priest.  God bless you gentlemen.

God is sooooooo very cool.  He is constantly blessing it seems.  I honestly do not know why more guys do not want to be priests.  It is good life if you're cut out for it.  (Just like any life I suppose.) 

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON

There is a legend that Pope John XXIII (soon to be saint it seems) was asked the question, "How many people work at the Vatican," and he replied, "About half."  Whether the stuff of legend or not, might it not shed some light on a current comment by our current pontiff? 

 

My sister was somewhat upset that Pope Francis was going to do away with the "court" aspect of the Vatican.  I think she interpreted that to mean that he is doing away with all that is dignified about the Vatican and indeed the pope does seem to tend toward the more simple yet elegant.  But I don't think that is that to which this current statement refers.  It seems to lean toward those who hang around the Vatican like courtiers of a king or queen who seem to make do by their association with "the court" rather than actually doing anything beneficial.  I picture Pope Francis with a broom and taking it to the backside of some idle flatterer drinking his espresso in the papal palace (where the pope himself has refused to sleep) and saying, "Get out there!  DO something!  This is about the people, particularly those in need!  Not hanging around the house drinking my coffee and sleeping in until all hours!"  (This, I hope, is a grave hyperbole, but you get my point.)

All sorts of popes have reforms; reforms of the clergy, reforms of the liturgy, and now we will have a reform of Vatican life particularly the bank!  The problem is that we do not exactly know what is changing or why and that can be scary. 

 

I recently was in a beautiful church in Ontario and there was scaffolding up in the nave.  "What's going on here?" I asked what turned out to be the maintenance man.

 

"Oh, they're redoing the church."

 

"Are the renovating or restoring?"

 

He thought about it a little bit and then said, "I think renovating."

 

What does that mean?  Are they painting and fixing up or are they replacing the pews with prayer mats and hanging lava lamps from ceiling?  I have no idea and if it were my parish, I would be nervous about not knowing.

 

So if you read something about the pope that makes you nervous (and there are plenty of nervous - and some excited,)  PLEASE do not take what you are reading in the paper is the truth, the WHOLE truth, and nothing but the truth.  There are so many places to look on line to find the complete statement and in context. 

HOLY SMOKES

It is almost 9AM on Wednesday (my day away) here in Akron, OH and black smoke is still coming out of the famed chimney at the Vatican telling us that we are still without pope.  To that end here are a couple more thoughts on items that have been circulating in the news recently.

 

This pose should relate better to today’s Catholics.  I would challenge that position.  I think it wiser to say that today’s Catholic should become more in touch with today’s Church.  We look in the mirror and think, “Here is the Church.”  We are surrounded by people just like us, perhaps with similar issues and we think, “The pope should pay more attention to us!  We are the Church!  These are our issues.  If he wants to be effective and (forgive me) relevant he needs take action on these items.

 

But today’s Catholic is more than a suburban, minivan driving, smart phone owning, T.V. watching westerner.  As a matter of fact, we make up a much smaller portion of the Church than one might think. 

 

A popular topic bandied around is women’s ordination.  Many think the Church will fall apart unless the new pope addresses this issue.  It is not as big an issue in the overall Church as one might think.  One time I was privileged to travel to Zimbabwe and talk with Catholics there.  We brought up western issues and were mostly met with blank and puzzled stares.  “Women priests?  You are worried about women priests when we are worried about food, equality, safety, AIDS, freedom, sanitary conditions, oppressive governments . . .”  We were quite laughed at.

 

Now we might say the pope needs to pay more attention to first world Catholics and I would agree.  There is a lot of work to be done here.  But whenever one speaks of today’s Catholic, keep in mind the family living in a mud hut with a thatch roof, who goes to Mass on Sunday, has only one change of clothes, and who, when he sees a car, thinks it a novelty is just as much a Catholic and deserving just as much attention.

 

I am shocked to my core that there are politics involved with the election of the pope.  Well, of course there is.  Just like those pushing an agenda for “today’s Catholics,” there are those electing a pontiff who have strong beliefs concerning what type if pope is needed to run “today’s Church.”  Of course they are going to talk about it, lobby for it, ask and bargain for a vote.  I think some people imagine the cardinals sitting quietly in a room until the Holy Spirit descends upon them with the name of the guy for whom they are supposed to vote.

 

God gave us brains and bodies.  We are to use them for His glory and for our benefit.  Names arise, talents debated, factions rise and fall and not all of it altruistic but all accompanied by prayer.  In the end one name arises and one of two things we pray is the case: that this was indeed the man the Holy Spirit wished to be picked from out of all that human activity or that this is a man that God can work with.

 

In the mean time – lobby away.

HOW TO ELECT A POPE

I received a phone call yesterday from a local psator who is also a classmate.  “Are you going to get gold and yellow bunting for the new pope to put on the outside of your church?”  I’d completely forgotten about this tradition.  When John Paul II was elected pope I was in junior high school.  I remember I was at St. Ambrose when he died and we were instructed, in those parishes that were willing and able, to hang black bunting up.  It was a windy day and I got a ladder out to hang some from our roof.  A mighty gust blew the ladder down and I was suck up there until a friendly jogger happened by.

 

Anyway, I remember that I purchased a little pamphlet entitled “When a Pope Dies” by Christopher Bellitto Ph.D. those many years ago.  And by small I mean tiny.  I’d carried it from assignment to assignment (just in case) and always threw it somewhere behind books on the bookshelf.  Well, last night I remembered that I even had the book and started pulling shelves of books out looking for it and . . . IT WAS FOUND.  I can’t believe it!  Such things are usually lost until one week after they were needed.

 

When looking at the election of a new pope it is interesting that books tend to assume that the previous pope had expired, not simply given up the papacy for lent.  There are elaborate descriptions on how the cardinals oversee the destruction of his ring and seal and how he is to be buried with them along with them along with copies of his most important works.  (I imaging it was crowded in there with John Paul.)

 

So we are moving in to a new election without celebrating a funeral.  At the end of the month there will a period of interregnum between Benedict’s retirement and the newly elected pope.  Our current method of electing pope is relatively new – only about 1,000 years old.  It came about with the election of Gregory X.  There was such rivalry and fighting about who should be the next pope that the Church went almost three years without one.  Finally the town, tired of the whole thing (and probably tired of feeding and housing these guys) locked the cardinals in a building, ripped off the roof exposing them to the elements, and threatened to feed them only bread and water.  Quickly Gregory X was elected.

 

Since then it has been pretty much the same.  Every day the cardinals are will be driven from their simple accommodations to the Sistine Chapel and locked in with no access to news from the outside world.  They will meet twice a day and each session is can have two votes.  A man must have two thirds of the votes to be elected.  (Interestingly, if the number is such that they cannot be divided into three equal groups, the man must receive two thirds plus one.)

 

At the end of each vote a tally is made and a needle is inserted through the ballot so that it may not be counted again.  If no man is elected, the ballots are burned and black smoke tells the waiting crowd that there is still no pope.  If a two thirds majority is given to one man, he is approached and asked, “Do you accept your canonical election as Supreme Pontiff?”  If he says yes he is asked by what name he wishes to be known.  When he answers, he is then pope.  The ballots are not burned but sealed and put in the Vatican archives and chemicals are added to the fire to let people in the outside world know that it has a pope once again.

 

The man is taken to the sacristy and dresses.  He first receives the cardinals and then is taken to the balcony in St. Peter Basilica and the crowd hears, “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum.  Habemus papam!”  “I announce to you with great joy.  We have a pope!”  Then parishes throughout the world hang up their gold and white bunting.

 

Interestingly enough, the minimum requirement for becoming pope is that you be a Catholic, baptized male.  We have more requirements than that for becoming the milk lady in the parish school cafeteria. 

 

There is much more to the story.  If you found this the least bit interesting I assure you there is much more to know and plenty of places to find it.

MONDAY DIARY: RATHER WOWWED

Well . . .

 

I’ll admit this is NOT what I thought I’d be posting today.  I’m rather stunned.

 

I walked into the sacristy today and greeting our deacon who said, “Good morning.  Did you hear the pope is retiring?”

 

No.  I hadn’t.

 

I was told it was all over the news so upon return to the rectory I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down with our newspapers.  Not so much as a hint that anything was going on.

 

A phone call came in from a radio station wanting a comment.  I had no idea what to say.  (What do you say?)  Finally I got to my computer and read up on the whole thing (with as much information as is available.)  READ THE POPE’S OWN WORDS HERE.

 

Now, it is not so much that someone is retiring from the office that kind of made me step back for a moment, but that a pope has resigned (for the first time in centuries.)  When I was in the seminary there was discussion as to whether a pope could resign.  (Are you pope for life?  Or is it merely an office?  What if, after you retire, you change your mind?  Well, if it is merely an office, too bad for you.  If you are pope for life who voluntarily steps down, can you step back up?  Does it annul the office of the other pope?  Do we have two popes?  Even if we don’t, each thinking that he is the one who will save the Church from utter destruction, each takes those loyal to him and causes a schism?  THAT’s why we waist valuable time in the seminary thinking about such things.)

 

From the time that I was in junior high school (public school – the Catholic kids were allowed out of class to watch the election – can’t see that happening today) I’d only known Pope John Paul.  It was rather difficult, in my priesthood, to become accustomed to saying, “and Benedict our pope” at the Mass.

 

Now that I have thought about it a little bit, good for the pope to put the good of the Church ahead of holding an office.  But one of the things that I appreciated about John Paul was that even in his infirmities, he held on to the office.  It was a great message: we find all humans valuable even if they are not up to doing what they once could.”  But I understand that I don’t know what goes on behind papal palace walls or how physically and mentally difficult it must be to have attained his age and wake up each morning knowing that you are the pope.  That could be a strain beyond comprehension. 

 

So here is a note to arm-chair historians and teachers:  This is an historic moment.  Popes don’t retire every day.  It happens so rarely that there was question as to whether he could do it at one point.  So pay attention.  This is one for the history books and you get to live it.

JOHN ALLEN'S CATHOLIC STORIES TO WATCH IN 2013

Happy octave of Christmas!  As the clock clicks away toward the beginning of a New Year (and since the latest prediction of the end of the world was yet again so disappointing) we might as well start looking ahead.  The following three topics are “Catholic stories to watch in the 2013” according to John Allen.

 

BEING DIPLOMATIC:  What will be the metal of the person sent to the Vatican as our diplomatic representative by President Obama?  Whoever it is that is picked will be very telling as to how seriously the Obama regime values a relationship with this city-state.  On the one hand it could be handed as a reward to a Catholic that helped get Obama re-elected – someone with little power and no real agenda.  Or it could be a heavy hitter that shows that the United States is serious about working with this small but powerful entity to bring about good in the world.  Only a deeper trek into 2013 will tell where this story will go.

 

FREEDOM:  Religious freedom will be heavy on the minds of Catholics this year.  We might have our feathers in a ruffle because we cannot have manger scenes or where crucifixes but that is not what is raising eyebrows at the Vatican.  Granted, these are sad things but we miss (in our little bubble as we tend to be in the United States) that in many places people are afraid of losing their lives over their faith, not just a paycheck. 

 

According to the International Study on Human Rights, 80% of all violations of religious freedom are against Christians.  (Not something you hear in the news, huh?)  The PEW Foundation reports that 137 nations report religious harassment, and Aid to the Church in the World, a Catholic Charity under the direction of the Holy See, reports that 150,000 people are killed each year for their faith or for carrying out charitable acts in the name of faith.  This will be on the mind of the Vatican this year.

 

GET YOU PROGRAMS HERE:  One of the things that drove me nuts during the papacy of Blessed John Paul II was the decade’s long reports on how frail and near death he was.  We should all be so blessed to have been able to work as hard as he did in our good health as he did in his poor health.  He was like a candle you couldn’t blow out.

 

Well, the same reports are starting to circulate around about our current pontiff.  Names are already surfacing about who might be the next pope. 

 

It was difficult for me to think of having a new pope when JP II died.  After all, he was elected pope when I was in junior high school and continued to be pope well into my priesthood.  It seems like Benedict is just getting started in comparison.  None-the-less, names are already surfacing.  Who will be the next Vicar of Christ – who are the shining stars that are put forth?  Chances are we haven’t the slightest clue who it will be but that doesn’t stop people from having fun giving a go at predicting.

TOP CATHOLIC STORIES OF 2012: SYRIASLY

The last in John Allen’s top four Catholic stories of 2013 is the situation in Syria.  10% of the population there is Christian and the state of affairs for them there is greatly deteriorating.  It is increasingly difficult for them to survive as Christians and those who are able flee.  This whole region of the globe is an area where Christians are systematically being outlawed and rooted out.  The country is in general upheaval but it is the Christian community that are singled out and made the primary victims.

 

Over the past year the Vatican has made this country its top diplomatic concern.  The primary objective is to protect the Christian community there (Catholic and non-Catholic Christian alike) lest this country become “the new Iraq.”  This geopolitical concern will carry forth into the next year.

 

This leads us to the topics for next week:  There will be a post on John Allen’s predictions for the top 3 Catholic stories to keep an eye out for in 2013.

TOP CATHOLIC STORIES OF 2012: VATILEAKS

Continuing our countdown to the New Year using John Allen’s talk at the Akron First Friday Club concerning the top Catholic stories of 2012 we hit #3 of 4: Vatileaks!  This is the story of how the Pope Benedict’s personal secretary removed documentation from the Vatican and sold it to the press.  This was an early Christmas present for the world that loves a good story.  It was full of all the right details: The mysterious Vatican, high ranking officials in the Church, an insider giving the public sneak peeks at the inner workings (and some inglorious ones at that) of this rather unique city-state, and best of all:  THE BUTLER DID IT.

 

Be that as it may there were some interesting and somewhat controversial results of this incident.  The pope opened up the books of the Vatican bank in order to be more transparent to the world – to try to establish trust again in the Vatican.  What is so controversial about this you might ask?  Think of how vulnerable the Vatican is.  Rome has been sacked more times than bread in a grocery store.  We have fought “with blood” to keep this small patch of land sovereign.  Is the Vatican in any way compromised because it allowed “outsiders” to come in and examine its books?  In any event, this is completely unprecedented.  And, as John Allen made mention, when you are talking about a 2,000+ year organization that has gone through what the Catholic Church has gone through, saying that something of this nature is unprecedented is saying something.

IT'S A NUN ISSUE

Are you properly angry at the Vatican for badgering our nuns?  Have you the proper moral outrage?  Are you disgusted? 

Why do you feel that way?  Are you confident that you have all the facts of the case?  Are you sure that the way information is coming to you is balanced and complete? 

The Cleveland Plain Dealer ran a salacious article concerning these matters written by Maureen Dowd.  Here are some quotes from her column entitled “Misguided Vatican takes on sisters” dated 30 April 2012:

“Who thinks it’s cool to bully nuns?”

“Yet the nuns must be yanked into line by the crepuscular, medieval men who run the Catholic Church.”

“How can the church hierarchy be more offended by the nuns’ impassioned advocacy for the poor than by priests’ sordid pedophilia?”

“Instead of looking deep into its own soul, the church is going after the women who are the heart and soul of parishes, schools and hospitals.”

“The stunned sisters are debating how to respond to the Vatican’s scorching reprimand.”

 “. . . it scares the church hierarchy to have ‘educated women form thoughtful opinions and engage in dialogue.’”

If this was all that knew about the situation I would be embarrassed, humiliated, and ashamed of the Catholic Church.  Indeed there is no local paper willing or brave enough to give a broader perspective and so the cultivation of animosity toward the Catholic Church continues to be planted and nurtured.

But what if there is more to the story?  Take these quotes from Elizabeth Scalia’s article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, “The Vatican’s Corrective to Liberal Catholics” dated 27 April 2012:

“The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s first duty is to assure that the doctrines of the church are being accurately reflected and communicated to the church body by those canonically representing the faith.”

“. . . Sister Laurie Brink (the then president of the Leadership Conference) had acknowledged that while many sisters walked unevenly with Rome, some had moved, ‘beyond the church, even beyond Jesus.’”

“But concern is not the same as condescension and there is an unmistakable pastoral tone permeating the entire assessment.”

“Yet the corrections and reforms prescribed to the Leadership Conference are few in number and not extraordinary.  They include liturgical prayer, Eucharistic focus, putting away “other” minds in order to form more closely to Christ’s and – a genuine challenge for all Christians – obedience to primary church teachings that remain unchanged even after Vatican II.”

Interesting.

One might wonder if Dowd and Scalia were talking about the same situation – the same country – the same century.  If one or the other was your primary source of information on this news item, it would greatly sway your position.

What I offer is this: be very careful about forming an opinion from single source or similarly biased news sources.  Always wonder if there is more to the story than is being told.

MAY YOU LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMES

Though it sounds nice enough, this is actually known as the “Chinese curse.” “Interesting” has no value. It simply means that someting draws your attention. So St. Maxamilion Kolbe’s life was very interesting, but I would not want to live it. Patty Hirsh’s life was interesting but . . .

So occasionally someone desiring to give a priest a compliment says, “Oh! You should be a bishop some day!” Every priest knows this is meant as a compliment but most know it is an ecclesiastical curse. And for those priests who don’t see it as a curse there is the adage, “He who wants to be a bishop deserves to be one,” also not meant in kindly terms.

If there were glory days for being a bishop they are over and have been for some time. We have occasional glimpses of what seems to be pretty swell lives but those moments are few and far between and not quite what they are cracked up to be. In fact there is a problem about getting priests to become bishops. There was, perhaps, at one time, a false modesty in which a man might refuse the office, “Oh, but I am not worthy,” as opposed to today when it appears that more and more priests say, “No thank you,” and pray they are not asked the second time (when it is much more difficult to say no.)

This post was on the docket today before the latest news broke out in the Diocese of Cleveland. If you missed it the Vatican reversed some of the closings of parishes in this diocese. Now if I do something for which I might be taken to task for by my parishioners it is just that – I have a group of parishioners mad at me. But if I go to the next parish over for dinner they most likely have no idea what I did to make a few people angry. If you are bishop and something like this happens, it is on the front page of the newspaper. As the song goes, “Nowhere to run to nowhere to hide. . .”

There are some bishops that I tend to agree with and those whose decisions on certain issues I might not, but I don’t believe there is one bishop who wakes up in the morning thinking, “How can I destroy the Catholic Church?” No matter what he might do, he thinks he is doing the best for his diocese – for the people he is charged to serve. I also fully believe that Christ founded a not just a religion but a Church, His Church, and that He left people in charge to assist us; namely the pope and bishops. Like St. Peter they are sometimes brilliant and sometimes not so much. But you know what, 2000 years later and having every other government on earth either defunct or changed dramatically the Catholic Church struggles on. And that God pulls this off using fallible human beings is just further evidence that it is the Holy Spirit holding things together.

So I guess this is a call to respect and honor the office of bishop (and by no means wish it on anybody.) By this I do not mean that everything a bishop does is correct and that concerns should not be brought to his attention (it is our right and duty to do so) but to bear in mind that he is our spiritual father of the local Church and to respect the office. And should things not seem quite right in the state of Denmark to pray all the more for your bishop. The best outcome is that either he or we convert to truth and that we can be united once again in Christ.

MONDAY DIARY: WHY DON'T MORE GUYS WANT TO DO THIS?

I don’t speak a lick of Italian. Like when you have a cold and you realize how much you enjoy breathing, when you cannot communicate with anyone you realize how much you enjoy being able to talk to others when it is necessary.

Take last week. I was in Italy with the parish choir. On our last night (Sunday) we went to Mass at the Vatican, the choir singing and I concelebrating the 5:30PM Mass with Cardinal Comastri. Our tour guide leading the choir to where they would be to sing dropped me off at the sacristy of the basilica of St. Peter. The sacristy, sometimes as small as a generous bathroom in some parishes, could probably fit the entirety of St. Sebastian in it.

Including the bell tower.

I was in there alone. Well, that is not exactly true. It just felt like I was in there alone. There was actually an older gentleman (I guessed him to be a sacristan of sorts) who spoke no English, and two young altar boys in cassock and surplus, one of which was able to speak and understand enough English to inform me that he didn’t speak English. The most communication we had was when one of the altar boys, being boys, started to do something that they shouldn’t, the sacristan would say something to him and then look at me and roll his eyes. I knew exactly what he meant.

The cardinal was praying the sung vespers out in the basilica and they started laying out his Mass vestments. One of the servers signaled me over to a cabinet and took my alb from me, unfolded it, and started helping me vest. Two other priests walked in at that point. One spoke only Italian and the other understood enough English for me to say, “Please tell me I won’t have to say anything.” “Justa you follow me. Do what I do. You be-a fine.”

Vespers, I gather, went long and they bundled up all of the cardinal’s things and escorted us to another sacristy closer to the altar at which we would be celebrating. The choir was taking their place in the choir box and the cardinal processed by, smiling and nodding, and slipped into the sacristy. The priest who spoke a bit of English pointed at the choir box and asked, “Your choir?” After affirming his assumption he smiled and said, “Fine, fine!”

I desperately wanted someone to come up to me and say, “Here’s how we are going to do it. I wanted to know how we entered. Where do I go? Where do I sit? Will anything be expected of me? Will I distribute communion? Where? Can I please not say anything! I don’t know Italian.” Well, that didn’t happen. The cardinal came out and next thing I know he is pointing to the procession which is leaving without me. I jumped into place. There were the two altar boys, the two other priests, myself, and the cardinal playing cleanup. The procession made its way past the choir box and I was able to hear the beautiful singing, and we made our way to the altar right behind the altar which you always see the pope celebrating from.

I copied the priests in front of me, genuflecting (I didn’t see a tabernacle) and then reverencing the altar. The priest I was following went to sit in the seating area at the side of the sanctuary and so I followed him. He wouldn’t let me in which I found strange so I tried to go around him. “No,” he said, “you go!” and he pointed up by the cardinal. “Whoa!” I thought. Slowly I made the walk up to the dais waiting for someone to say (in Italian) “not there!” But nobody did. And there I sat, next to the cardinal, underneath that famous window of the Holy Spirit, just beneath the chair of Peter, at the very end of that glorious St. Peter basilica, on a stump of a chair. It was another one of those “How on earth did I end up HERE” moments. Once again I wonder – why don’t more guys want to do this?

The readings were of course in Italian and after one of the other priests read the Gospel I was able to relax a bit knowing that there was nothing for me to do except sit there and pretend that I understood the homily. The offertory was a moment to pray and listen to the choir fill that glorious space up with their singing. Then it was time for the Liturgy of the Eucharist and we came down to stand next to the cardinal, I to his right.

I will admit to being a little distracted in hoping he wouldn’t turn to me and say in Italian, “You take this part.” The little altar boys appeared again and passed out concelebrant books. Drat. My savior, the priest who could speak a little English whispered, “Can you speaka ANY Italian?” “No!” was the response with suppressed desperation. “Then a trade-a me places.” We did. And sure enough the cardinal turned to his right for part of the Eucharistic prayer and my guardian priest snapped it up. As I read along in Italian I would think, “Ooooh. I would have slaughtered that word. Oh! And that one. And there’s another.” As best I could I approximated what was being said in my thoughts in English or Latin.

At communion I was handed a ciborium and left to my own devices. It suddenly occurred to me that I had no idea how to say, “Body of Christ” in Italian so they got it in Latin. Nobody seemed to mind.

Then there was the problem as to what to do when I was done. Everyone else was still distributing and I stood in the middle of the sanctuary trying my darndest to look like I was SUPPOSED to be standing there. Finally a gentleman far off behind a curtain started going, “Psssst! Pssst!” I handed off the ciborium and went back to my stump.

From this point on I was confident that there was nothing else for me to do so I was able to relax. Of course Mass was all but over. We stood for the final blessing and started the procession out down the aisle, past all of the tourists, visitors, and pilgrims further back down aisle and into the sacristy. It is here that I learned that after you tell a cardinal that you do not understand Italian and he keeps speaking to you in Italian, you smile, nod, and say thank you.

Gads that was fun and inspriring. I wish I could do it again now that I know what to expect.

THE GOLD AND SILVER TURNS GREEN

The Vatican is becoming the first city state to completely erase its carbon footprint. Here is a news story on this effort and here is a video clip.

To be quite frank this year has me a bit spooked – between the economy and the rising cost of fuels, what kind of beating are parish schools going to take and what kind of tuition will we need to charge next year to cover these costs? Of course if you charge more for tuition you get less students which means you need to charge more tuition but then you get less students which means . . .

Solar energy would be such a boon. Having that terrible burden off of our shoulders would aid the school tremendously. The vast expanse of roofline with a wonderful gunwale around it would allow our school to go green without ruining the architecture. This part of Ohio is rated “good” (on a scale that goes up to great) for solar energy.

My question is: Does anybody know if there is a way for a church/school to get in on this deal without having to have six million dollars to install???

Just something that I think about before falling asleep at night. Busy day so sorry for the short and uninteresting post.

FOR SALE: VATICAN. CHARMING VIEW OF TIBER FROM VATICAN HILL. ALL SERVICES INCLUDED.

In a store a man stopped me and asked, “Are you a Catholic priest?” I had my blacks on but had pulled out my tab collar. After receiving an affirmation he said, “I thought so,” and then launched in on vicious attack, most of which was unfounded, against the Catholic Church. Don’t think I was hurt or offended, I relish in such things.

His biggest complaint was the wealth of the Vatican. It was the reason he left the Church so long ago. Why this particular point should be the linchpin for his leaving I can’t figure out (I would think some perceived false teaching would be a much better reason, but that is just me).

He was convinced that if the Vatican would sell off everything that it had, that there would be an end to poverty in the world. But the Catholic Church was there simply to suck up money from the rest of the world so that it (I suppose the lucky few that “get to” live in the Vatican) can live in luxury.

So let us suppose for a moment that the Vatican were to sell all that it had. To what end? Suppose every one who was poor in the world got $1,000 and a meal. Then what? Would the institutions and practices of the world have changed? Would the causes of poverty be wiped out? What of future generations who now also no longer have their patrimony as Catholics available to them?

And is not part of the “mission statement” if you will of the Catholic Church to be an influence on culture? What is to be gained by destroying some of the greatest collections of art and knowledge in the world? At the Vatican these pieces belong to all the nations.

There is the mindset too that the poor need a meal and a place to sleep and we have done our job. Not so. This is crass. This pays not attention to the dignity and complexity of the human person. The poor need beauty too. A sensual being needs to be fed more than in his stomach to be truly fed. Besides, to make this statement is to miss the fact that the Catholic Church is of the greatest contributors to those in need in the world already.

Perhaps I lack the eloquence to state the argument convincingly, but Professor Thomas F. X. Noble of Notre Dame does give some insight in his Popes and the Papacy course from the Teaching Company:

“Let’s do say the Vatican is not rich. There is this notion that the Vatican is rich. Well, the Vatican bank controls three and a half billion in assets but none of that belongs to the Vatican it belongs to the depositors. We could say, ‘Oh, they have all that stuff.’ Fair enough. Are they going to sell St. Peter’s? Are they going to sell Michael Angelo’s pieta? Are they going to sell the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? How could one put a value on any of these things?

“It may amuse you to know that each of those things is on the Vatican books with the nominal value of one Euro. For what would the price be?”

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK - X

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND - "Love that is hopeless, that cannot end in marriage, does one of two things; either it degrades or it exalts. It leaves its mark always, but that mark need not be a stain." - Mary Roberts Rineheart

IN OTHER NEWS:

You may remember an earlier post about the young lady from Saint Clare who joined the Sisters of Life in New York this year and was interviewed for a show on MTV. Well, as of yet we still do not have an air date though word is that its production is finished. However another interesting tidbit of news has emerged from this episode. Apparently the two women who worked on the segment (did the interviewing and the filming) were so impressed that they decided to start volunteering with the order. Is that cool or what?

This link will take you to the Vatican website.

I was sitting in the loft of the church and noticed the reflection of the windows in the light fixtures. I just thought it was neat and wanted to share it with you. Pictured is Saint Mary and Saint Clare.

SUNDAY VIDEO ON TAP - UNSHAKABLE!

Today is Low Sunday, Dominicana In Albis, Quasi Modo Sunday, the Second Sunday of our Easter celebration, and of course, Divine Mercy Sunday. Here is a faith shot in the arm to help you celebrate!




IN OTHER NEWS:

R.B. has graciously begun the construction of the Adam’s Ale domain. (THANKS!) I’m excited. There is not much there yet but if you want to see it: http://www.adamsale.org/

The greatest secret the Church ever tried not to keep: it’s social justice teaching. Here is a site that I accidentally stumbled upon if this interests you.

This is too cool! Kaz from NY sent this site. It is a twenty four hour media stream of the Vatican. Wait! Is that Fr. O. I see? Shouldn’t he be studying?

http://mediastream.vatican.va/mpeg4lan.sdp

The Diocese of Cleveland E-newsletter sends this link for Catholic job hunters.

Finally:

On Friday night, a few priests, seminarians, and a bunch of friends went to go see “Into Great Silence” here in Cleveland. I recommend the following if you are going to go see it.

First, for anyone over six feet (as I am) be prepared. I went to go see the four-hour Hamlet a number of years ago. I was much better prepared. I brought pillows to be comfortable through it. Theater seats were not designed for us. Bring a pillow or two. It will make the event much more enjoyable.

We were in one of the smaller screening rooms and it was pretty much packed. When we left it was not only dark outside, the rest of the theater was dark and abandoned. We should have gone out and talked after but it was late and (some of us) were tired. But consider having time to discuss the movie afterwards. As I bump into people or hear from them by Email the big question is, "So what did you think?" It would have been great to be able to talk about what each of us took away from the experience that night.

Prepare yourself to see this film. Go intending to contemplate as if praying for it is a beautiful, contemplative film! But don’t go expecting to see “a movie” as such.

And be wary if you join this order and they hand you a blue habit.

I hope you enjoy!