FRIDAY POTPOURRI: HIDDEN CHAPELS

In many rectories the bishop has given permission for chapels to be erected for adoration, prayer, and private Mass. It may seem odd to some that this is done being that rectories are often so closely connected to parish churches but no priest would think it odd. Assuming that you can find time that the church is not in use it almost never happens that you can go there and be unmolested by people who just happen to need to talk to you at that moment or a maintenance problem for which your advice is sought or that you feel you have to be well dressed in case someone is there. So you (read: I) stop going. You are not going to be able to pray or meditate in your homily anyway.

But the poverty of praying the Liturgy of the Hours or preparing a homily without the presence of the Lord is deemed by many priests (myself included) sad. So recently I petitioned the bishop to establish a chapel in the St. Sebastian Rectory.

In order to give permission for such a thing a bishop needs to visit the location. So one day Bishop Lennon and his liturgist stopped by the parish for a visit. They toured the possible rooms for use, the bishop listened to some ideas from his aid and then decreed that a chapel could indeed be established for the priests of the parish in the parish house. Until the bishop gave his permission, the room was used as an office. It was originally a guest suite that had been converted to an office and had a desk, chair, computer, bookcase, and all the other necessary items one finds in an office.
This is the decree signed by Bishop Lennon giving permission for the establishment of the chapel. Note that because of the limited space he does not give permission for Mass to be said there.

I think the space is wonderful and the best part about it is it cost next to nothing. Many of the items were stored away in the parish and simply brought out for use. All the material was on sale for next to nothing. The paint on the walls was left over paint from other projects around the parish. We use the space regularly for prayer, praying the Breviary together, or contemplating homilies. As you can see from the tail and the bone, the dog likes to pray in there with us.

Though it is not permissible to have the Blessed Sacrament in reserve it is not a bad idea to establish a prayer room, a prayer corner, or even a prayer shelf in your home or apartment as a place to help focus your prayers, be a visual reminder, a place to keep prayer intentions, or just be a witness to others.

BISHOP SHOPPING

What do you do when you do not like your bishop?

When still a seminarian there was a student/friend of mine who left to go to another diocese where there was a bishop that he liked more. He was there for a while and then as things go they changed bishops and he was once again unhappy.

Liking or disliking a bishop is more than just having a preference for a boss or even a politician. Bishops are more to us than that. We all belong (hopefully) to a parish and the parish is just part of a larger entity known as the local Church of which our bishop is the head. This is not a company with a CEO, it is more like a large family with a patriarch. And it is a hard job. Terribly hard. Especially in this difficult times.

Did you know that it is difficult even to find priests willing to become bishop? I think no sane man would do it unless he was an upper level saint. As one person once said, “Anybody who wants to be a bishop deserves to be one.” The glory days are way over.

And so we have a consecrated man as our see, a combination of administrator, politician, father, teacher, chief priest, healer, and at times, because it is necessary, CEO. Is there any other job requiring so many hats? And he is expected to be good at all of them plus be a saint if possible.

“It’s lonely at the top” is an understatement. A bishop makes decisions and they are wildly popular with some (these people remain quiet) and condemned as damnable by others (and these are quite vocal.) This past week I made a decision on socks for our uniforms in the school. You would have thought that I required each student to be flogged. I can’t imagine making decisions on whether a school or parish remains open.

Hopefully you like your bishop. But perhaps you do not. It may be that your bishop, in your eyes, is making terrible mistakes. You don’t have to like him but love him. Pray for him. Or this whole thing falls apart. I know some are facing terrible things in their lives because of how a decision of a bishop is effecting them but do not let hate enter your soul – do not become what you hate – do not, in trying to “save the Church” lose your soul.

WEATHERVANES

It is a curious thing how people have such strong emotional attachments concerning what they believe about global warming. There are very angry debates about it. Yet I have not met one person who has ever done any personal research. The most research I have ever done was sticking my head out the window and seeing what the weather is like. In a very hot August I completely buy global warming. In this cold winter with more snow than average not so much.

But you have to believe somebody if we do not do the research ourselves right? So who has researched the scientist they choose to stand by? Do we let the newspapers or a blog or a man in a suit research them for us and tell us who to believe more? How does one decide?

I remember my dad stopping smoking when I was very young. “There is no conclusive proof that there is a direct link between smoking and cancer” was the slogan at the time. But people knew. We did our own experiments then by way of seeing relatives and friends die terrible deaths. Some chose to live the fantasy because they wanted to keep smoking. Now everybody knows that smoking is bad for everyone. Except that it is not. Well, it is for most people. There are those, a very, very small percentage, who can smoke like chimneys and never know cancer. But who wants to risk it? But some people want to believe.

This is not an article on whether global warming is true or not or if I should be able to enjoy my once a week pipe, just interesting how we come to throw our hats into certain, “I believe THIS” rings.

Last week I met with a young lady who was thinking about leaving the Church. (BTW – Good for her for doing some research and taking the bold step of going to see a priest.) When asked why she said that she had problems with certain teachings. “Which ones?” I of course asked. At the top of the list was confession. “What about it?”

“I don’t believe that you should go to a man (priest) and tell him your sins so that God can forgive you.”

For once I kept my big mouth shut. I was too curious to see why she believed as she did. So rather than beginning with a defense of Church teaching I simply asked, “Why?” It was more of an emotional response than anything; a vague notion of it not “seeming right. So we explored some passages in Scripture upon which the Catholic teaching is based. I asked her to interpret them in a way that would support her belief which was unfair somewhat since she was not presented with enough time in advance to work things out.

But such is the case with so many people who disagree with the Church. A lone preacher, a friend with a Bible, an anti-Catholic blog, a television show, or even a feeling will trump 2000+ years of consistent Catholic teaching from Christ to the Apostles, to your local Catholic pulpit with little in depth analysis. This is why it is so important for you to be well versed in your faith. If someone comes to you and says, “I don’t believe that you should go to a priest to confess your sins,” so you have a response? Do you have at least a vague understanding about where it comes from in Scripture? Will you be able to say how that is a break with the first 1,500 years of Christianity or even a break with the pattern going back to Genesis? Do you know that Luther himself practiced confession? Can you say that both Freud and Jung have said that Catholics do not need their services because they have the sacrament of confession? If we do not know our stuff, people will throw their hat into anyone’s ring that sounds plausible and that is better suited to the way in which they wish to live their lives rather than search for truth.

There are a couple of opportunities for us here in the Cleveland Diocese to equip ourselves with knowledge. On March 22nd at 7PM in Zwisler Hall here at St. Sebastian the Emmaus Round Table will be presenting a “Reasons for Belief” study. If it is successful we will have more so please come.

The Diocese of Cleveland Right to Life will be hosting a fantastic conference to help us in matters of the dignity of all life. The lineup of speakers is tremendous. Consider coming – even if from out of state!

“BRINGING AMERICA BACK TO LIFE”
March 8th & 9th 2010. Renaissance Hotel, Cleveland.
Tickets: 216 661 3000 x24
See The Full Program : http://www.clevelandrighttolife.org/
25% Ticket Discounts for Church & School groups
Bring Your Friends & Parish Groups! Our Speakers include…

Archbishop Chaput: Inspiring words on Faith, Life Issues & Speaking Catholic Truth in the Public Square.( Introduced by Bishop Richard Lennon.)



Raymond Arroyo: EWTN News Director & Author. How the media promotes the Catholic Faith, from the author of Mother Angelica’s biography.



Immaculee Ilibagiza: A Catholic Woman’s life and faith survive genocide in Africa. How she came to forgive those who killed her family in Rwanda.



Dinesh D’Souza: Former White House Policy Adviser and author of ‘What’s so Great about Christianity’ is heralded as ‘ the CS Lewis of the 21st Century.’ He talks on Faith ,Public Policy and American Values.



Paul Wright, MD: An Ohio cardiologist worked with Mother Teresa for many years. He tells how her ‘prescription’ of faith, love and service can add extra strength and meaning to our daily lives, and reinforce our Catholic Faith.



Call 216 661 3000 x.24. Be involved in‘Bringing America Back to Life’

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK: CLXIV

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND: “If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – Hat tip to CK for the quote.

QUOTE II: “In an age before technology, where there were no cameras, photographs, or camcorders, the way in which events were remembered and passed on were through the celebration of ritualized reminders that formed the history, frame of reference, and calendar for a people, in this case, God’s people.” Archbishop Donald Wuerl

IN OTHER NEWS:

CK sent this site in. Catholic Edition is where she prefers to get her Catholic news.

Fr. B. sent this site in. It is Musica Sacra. It is not strictly Catholic but heavily so. It is a good read. Thanks.

From that site is a link to HERE where they have images for use in liturgical programs.

The Congregation for the Clergy has come out with this set of 10 minute videos. Thanks to Fr. K and W. for calling them to our attention:




The full DVD set can be purchased here.

The Diocese of Cleveland Enewsletter asks, "Did you know, the National Catholic College Admission Association is a non-profit organization of Catholic colleges and universities committed to promoting the value of Catholic higher education and serving students in the transition to college?" More here.

MONDAY DIARY: SO LONG GOOD MAN

It is an interesting thing to die as a priest. This past weekend we had the reading where Abraham was asked to look up into the sky and count the number of the stars if he can and this would be the number of his descendants. Elsewhere in the Gospel we are told that nobody gives up wife and family for the sake of the kingdom without it being returned hundreds of times over. Both seem to be the lot of the priest. Even if the priest was just your typical guy, not over talented or good looking, or even particularly liked, he is still respected as a priest and his spiritual family turns out for him.

The Rev. James Schleicher (ordination class of 1954) was buried today. The three priests from Saint Sebastian arrived at St. Francis about forty minutes early and snagged one of the few remaining parking places. In general priests haul their own gear with them and so need a place to prepare themselves. We were ushered to the school refectory where we dumped all of our winter coverings and put on our albs and stoles. As we were ready we walked across the parking lot in bunches to the church albs and stoles blowing in the wind. One of the nice things about being a priest in this situation is that you have a seat saved for you. We were directed first down the aisle to view Father Schleicher, say a prayer for him, and then over to the designated area for priests.

A priest is generally buried in full dress for Mass. It used to be a tradition that a priest would come to help vest at the funeral home but I think today that is usually just handled by the funeral people. I’ll have to find out from classmate what was the case in this situation. The casket in which he was laid is known in some circles as the priest casket. The lid opens full length and is removable for calling hours.



The Mass was beautiful and it is our tradition that the priests sing for their deceased brother. At the end of the Mass we sing, “In Paradisum.” It galvanizes us together and the rafters ring with the sound of priests voices singing at full volume. We then are the first out in procession but we line the way like a victory tunnel from the church to the hearse. After our brother is safely in the vehicle we break ranks to talk, tell stories, and catch up heading back over to the school to change and perhaps have a little something to eat.

It may be true that a priest dies alone but he is waked by his large family.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI - AVE MARIA

While I was a away recently I had the particular joy of visiting the oratory at Ave Maria University. Its location itself is quite a thing to experience. One drives for quite awhile past nothing but tomato farms before coming across a grand stone sign with a water fall about it that proclaims in an astonishing new and clean sign, "Ave Maria University."

But the drive is not done yet. One crosses a bridge and drives a bit down fine streets with manicured flora before hitting the first bit of real town life sprouting up out of the tomato fields. Like any town first you hit fine modest homes, then passing out of strictly neighborhoods one starts to see the university buildings and then a lively but small downtown. At the heart of all of it is the Ave Maria Oratory. It stands majestic and proudly surrounded by what some day is hoped to be a thriving metropolis.

Long time readers no I have little tolerance for so called modern architecture which accomplishes little but making our churches look like airport terminals or modern art museums on the outside and living rooms on the inside. Every once in a while though something new and interesting will appear on the Catholic radar screen however.

Ave Maria takes the best elements of traditional church architecture and combines them with new ideas and materials. One of the most exciting, I believe, is the use of steel beams something that I always have thought of doing. Instead of hiding them they are displayed in an artistic way - they are celebrated! They are not used simply to support a building that is had a thin facade of another style of architecture.

Amazingly there are no stained glass windows and one does not miss them. The oratory is lit by somewhat obscured windows that allow light to filter in and give a warm glow to the structure. Because the building is supported by exterior beams (another idea I always had a dream of trying) there are no pillars to obstruct the view (and I like pillars but this is cool.)

Much of the ornamentation is not yet completed. The apse looks striking bare behind the ornately carved crucifix. Future plans are to greatly enhance this area. There are other elements still missing such as the rose window, the pipe organ, the carving over the front doors and various other projects for which they are currently collecting donations.

The time afforded to be spent looking around the building was short so many advantages and disadvantages of the architecture were probably overlooked. If I were to offer any critique the first would probably be the lack of any real space in the narthax. Then again, the building is in Naples Florida and not north east Ohio and it does have a generous plaza area. Here one approaches the building across a vast paved area the accentuates the building and presents it like a piece of art making it inviting to enter (another thing I find lacking in many "new" churches.) And while the pews are stunningly beautiful, the artwork on the ends are art for art sake rather than having any liturgical decoration. An argument could be made that not every piece of art and architecture needs be religious in a church - it is just my opinion.

The great thing about the building is that it works for where it is. The sunny weather in Naples allows for much light coming in through the slim windows, the warm weather allowing for an outdoor gathering space, and the massive use of steel will contrast well with the landscaping planned. For all of these reasons it probably would not work well in the north where we are cold and lightless much of the year. And the great use of exterior steel in an over developed part of town would not be unique and interesting but an addition to the coldness and drabness of the area.

Not only do you need a good building you need it in the right place. In Akron we have a couple of examples of great architecture in the wrong place. E. J. Thomas Hall is a stunning building (though lacking a grand entrance that is actually used.) But it and its environs are built entirely of cement. It in turn is surrounded by railroad tracks and industrial like buildings and parking lots (though its lot has more recently improved) and instead of rising like the monument it should it gives a cold (or in the summer hot) continuation of the drabness around it. The new museum is the same. It is a great building made entirely of glass. But inside what do you have to look at? A parking deck.

I hope you get the chance to see this building - but nobody will accidentally find themselves there. Unless you purposefully decide to go to Ave Maria there is little chance you might inadvertantly stumble upon it some day. But if you are looking for a school or happen to be in Naples for some reason (or if you are planning on building a church) pop by.

HARD KNOCKS

There are few things on the minds of pastors of parishes with schools like the state of Catholic education. Increasing costs, dramatic cuts in state funding coupled with (ever) increasing mandated services by the same state, the demand for increasing technology and parents resources becoming tighter has us all tense to say the least.

In the United States 1,429 Catholics schools closed since 2000 (increasing the cost to educate the children by the state dramatically.) The good news is that 405 new schools opened.

The population of the United States grew 9% last year but the population in the eight counties of the Diocese of Cleveland dropped 2.1%. This means that there are also fewer children in need of education.

Saint Sebastian School is fortunate in that it, for one reason or another, is in a situation that allows it to remain stronger than most of our other Catholic schools. But in these times that edge must be nurtured and protected vigilantly.

The Diocese of Cleveland is the 6th largest Catholic school system in the nation though the diocese itself is the 11th largest diocese. There are 131 schools, 109 of them being elementary schools and 22 being high schools. Enrollment for this year is 50,681. This marks a 4.2% drop from the previous year. In the entire Great Lakes region there has been a 27% drop in enrollment over the past 10 years. Because of this the diocese has closed 41 schools and opened 9 new ones. Some of the new schools are merged schools or schools that have opened where young Catholics are moving.

Gone are the days when you opened your doors and people flocked to your school. We have to work harder, wiser, and not be afraid (or negligent) in promoting ourselves and that is what we are doing. These are rough times and rough times require a strong, creative, and bold response. May the case be that in 50 years people will look back upon these days and wonder at our fortitude and innovation in difficult times which saved Catholic education and preserved it for their children.

THE MEAT OF THE MATTER

In my hometown are the best hamburgers in the world. Hodge’s serves the biggest, tastiest, sloppiest burgers I have every had the pleasure of consuming. Yet we make sure that we only go there occasionally. They are so good we do not want to become too used to them. We want them to remain a treat. So about once every other month when we our bodies are jonesing (sp?) for the delicious taste of a miracle burger we make the trip down to the neighborhood tavern and sink our teeth into a slice of heaven between hamburger buns no matter what the special might be.

They are also big enough to feed a small village in a third world county.

Now suppose you were invited along. I have been telling you about these hamburgers and you were eagerly looking forward to it. But when we got there they said, “Sorry, we are out of meat. But don’t worry, we still have all of the other fixings!” Would you still want one? There is still the fresh bun, the secret sauce, fresh tomatoes, thick onions, spunky pickles, and the cool toothpicks with the curly cues on the top!

Not interested? Neither am I.

But let’s suppose that we went but they were out of lettuce or tomatoes, or onions. Well, that would be perfectly fine. I doubt that I would notice much after the first bite. In fact I know many people who eat their hamburgers sans buns, which one would suppose is an essential element of a hamburger. But without meat there just is no point.

Meat is the center of most of our diets unless you are a vegetarian. Have you ever tried to not eat meat going out to eat? Especially if you do not like fish there is something like two items on every menu that you can eat and most of the time it is a salad please hold the pepperoni. Drill the meat out of our diet it is like taking the meat out of the hamburger – wait – it is taking the meat out of the hamburger.

It’s like taking the cars out of Nascar. There is still the stadium, the crowd, the vending food, the track, the RVs, everything but the cars. Some of the zing is taken out of it.

Okay, now THAT is why the Church asks us to practice a common discipline, a common penance, during lent. NOT because the fish union went to a pope and said that they needed help getting people to eat their slimy offerings. “Please make Catholics not eat meat on Fridays so that we can improve our bottom line!” If that were the case the pope would have said, “Eat fish on Fridays!”

We do not eat fish on Fridays. We abstain from meat. The reason so many Catholics eat fish on Fridays is that when we feast we feast, and when we fast we cheat. “They didn’t say we couldn’t eat fish so let’s eat that!” And Holy Mother Church rolls her eyes and says, “Fine, eat fish instead.”

Except for me. Pass the cheese and bean burritos please.

Here is a decent article on meatless Fridays.

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK CXLIII

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND: “Everything that men make can also be undone again by others. Everything that has its origin in human likes can be disliked by others. Everything that one majority decides upon can be revoked by another majority. A church based on human resolutions becomes a merely human church.” from Pope Benedict’s “Called to Communion”

QUOTE II: “You can go to confession and not put any money in a box and you don’t have to buy the holy water.” Fr. Benedict Groeschel

IN OTHER NEWS:

Here are some Catholic News Sites on line:

Catholic Universe Bulletin Online / Diocese of Cleveland: http://www.catholicuniversebulletin.org/

Zenit: The World Seen from Rome http://www.zenit.org/

Catholic News Service: http://www.catholicnews.com/

Catholic World News: http://www.cwnews.com/

IN STILL OTHER NEWS:

The Diocese of Cleveland Enewsletter warns us that it is actually going to happen so prepare youself! The new version of the Missal is on the way. "WASHINGTON - A series of workshops slated from April 15-16 to November 4-5 will be offered around the nation to prepare priests and diocesan leaders for implementation of the revised Roman Missal.

The seminars are sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Divine Worship and the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions as part of educational efforts for introducing the latest version of the Roman Missal, which incorporates the most significant changes in the Liturgy since 1974. Other associates in planning include the National Organization for Continuing Education of Roman Catholic Clergy (NOCERCC) and the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM)." Read more here.

From the same source: "Did you know, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official overseas relief and development agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops?" Read more here.

Frank sent this in. I think I posted it a long time ago but this short video (less than 2 min.) is a pretty good watch.



Not much else to report today! Happy lent.

MONDAY DIARY - OH, LIKE YOUR LIFE ISN'T LIKE THIS

When I was in kindergarten we were asked what we wanted to do when we grew up. Amidst the doctors, firefighters, and presidents I wanted to drive a bus. When asked why I said that I wanted to meet people and be with them through the day. My mother and I occasionally took the Metro to downtown Akron to go shopping at O’Neil’s or Polski’s department stores and the driver was always kind and talkative.

The only problem was that I wanted to be able to drive my bus anywhere I wanted. I did not want to drive down the same streets over and over every day.

Well, things kind of turned out that way. There is no sitting behind the wheel of a city bus, but there is the constant meeting of people and being with them. There is also definitely the change up of activities every day. Not only are prescheduled days different from the next, what is going to happen on even scheduled days may change from moment to moment.

So it is the beginning of Lent and there are certainly plenty of obligations marked off on the calendar. Sometimes I think to myself, “That’s it! The calendar is full! No more appointments!” But God likes a challenge and finds a way to let you know there is definitely more room on your calendar for Him. There may very well be school confessions on Monday, but you found out that a relative has died and so different plans must be made. Instead of sitting in the confessional for two hours you go to another parish and celebrate a Mass of Christian Burial. On Sunday you are finally going to kick back and rest after a long week and (joyfully) a young couple shows up at the door wanting to register in the parish.

There is a story about a rabbi in a country under Nazi occupation and he was observed crossing the town square everyday at noon. One day a soldier stopped him and asked him where he was going. “I don’t know,” he replied.

“Yes you do!” the soldier said. “You cross this square everyday at the same time! You certainly know where you are going. Arrest this man!”

“See,” replied the rabbi, “I TOLD you I didn’t know where I was going.”

It is getting on in the evening and the parochial vicar and I are finally done for the day and for once it is early enough to consider watching a movie. We change out of our formal clothes and the emergency phone rings. Someone needs the anointing of the sick. It’s his birthday so I go. Communion calls are a lot like giving blood. You may complain going but being there and coming home you are have a certain joy and are thankful for the opportunity.

So ask me where I am going to be today.

I might be able to lay odds on my calendar (confessions, benediction, spiritual direction, stations, meetings, going stag to the Father/daughter dance) but in the end – I don’t know. And I like it like that.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI - NO LONGER A MYSTERY?

It is an incredibly busy day so there is only time for a short post.

As it turns out there may be an answer to last week’s puzzling architecture mystery. After consulting original blue prints and upon receiving an Email from the architect (thank you) here is what I was able to surmise:

According to the architect the unusually low holy water font is in no way original to the building even though it is built into the brick. The only ones original to the building are the black free standing ones that are still there. So here is what we think happened – at some point the side door was converted into a handicap accessible entrance. A ramp was constructed and the marble holy water font was put in to be more convenient for those who would find reaching the height of the original fonts awkward.

As it turns out its current placement was itself awkward. It is in a difficult spot to maneuver a wheelchair and so was abandoned. Then the shelves and bulletin boards were designed and were simply built around the font and obscured it apparently with little loss on anybody’s part.

There you have it. Everything you wanted to know and more! (Until this theory is proven incorrect.)

WHEN IS FAST NOT FAST ENOUGH?

Fasting is anything but fast. In fact it just drags on and on. Yesterday was a day of fast and abstinence and all I could think about all day long was breakfast on Thursday and how wonderful it was going to be even if it were just butter toast.

When I went to the University of Akron a few friends of mine and I used to fast during lent for three days on nothing but water and juice. What made it particularly challenging was that the Wonder Bread factory is located just off the campus and the smell of baking bread would often waft across the campus. That alone should have knocked some quality time off of purgatory.

Yesterday if you truly fasted you realized how much of our lives revolved around food. All day long I was presented with food that was sitting out. Even for things that I don’t like my body kept crying out, “There! That! You could eat THAT!” And what do you do in place of dinner time? Well, we played Scrabble. I won.

There are only two days on which we fast as a people: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Wow. Two days of simple portions out of the whole year. The minimum for the fast is one full meal, a small breakfast and one collation or light meal if you are between the ages of 16 and haven’t yet celebrated your 59th birthday. That’s not a fast! That’s eating sensibly! I WISH I ate like that all the time then I wouldn’t be looking at my waist line thinking “Golly, I better start doing something about that.” . . . “Someday.”

If you want to pray, we are told, give alms. If you want your alms giving to mean anything, fast. If you fast, make sure that you pray. These are all interconnected and essential for great growth in the spiritual life. Discipline is directly related joy. It is directly related to joy because it is directly related to freedom. “Are we truly free or are we slaves to our desires?” is what our

And fasting can be done anytime. Skip that cafasting is asking of us. Can we say no? If we want to say no to the big things we must practice in the little things. If we want to say no to the little things we must occasionally challenge ourselves in the big things. ndy bar. Have water instead of pop. Do something constructive instead of watching T.V. or goofing around on the computer. Learn to fast and learn to live in freedom.

ONCE, TWICE, THREE TIMES A POSTING

Here are three short posts pieced together into one. Hopefully you will find something among them of interest to you!

FIRST: Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Don’t forget that we get to fast and abstain as a Church community today and so with the help of those around us begin our path to greater discipline which is so deeply connected to joy.

For some Lenten reflections look here and here and here.

SECOND: It is official! We had an organization meeting for the new Chesterton Society. First on the agenda we were going to call it the West Akron Chesterton Society but were afraid people would ask, “What are those WACS up to now?” So we decided to change the name to "The St. Sebastian Chesterton & Friends Society". W. said, “If we do it in Latin "Societatis Chesternonii amicique Ecclesiae Sancti Sebastiani" we could use the acronym "SCAESS," but I don't know where that gets us, but it's easier than pronouncing "’SSCFS.’"

The structure of the meeting which is intended to last an hour at least officially is:
Prayer
Recap anything that may have come up as a result of the last meeting.
The presenter read an interesting passage from the reading.
Discussion
Choose next presenter – meeting time etc.
Prayer.

Of course unmentioned here is eats and libations.
April 5 at 6:30 as the date of the next meeting.
If you are interested please send me and Email for more information at JAVALENCHECK@AOL.COM. Also, visit the blog here for information and to read what we will be discussing.

THIRD: Last week we had a Mass for the healthcare workers of our parish. I was asked to publish the homily so here it is:

I got my undergraduate degree at the University of Akron in theater arts. I was mostly involved in design, construction, direction, lights and such. I became involved in theater because I truly believed in the power of it. When someone comes to a production they are presented with a view of life. At that point they must either reaffirm their personal beliefs or be moved to change.

The only problem with this was that if I wanted to eat (make a living at it) I would have to quite often put forth a message with which I disagreed with as much professionalism as I did one with which I did agree. This was something that I was not willing to do for the rest of my life and is one of the reasons I became a priest. I believe in what the Catholic Church believes. Here was a message I could feel good about putting forth. I could proudly stand behind what was presented each week.

I imagine that if you are in a healing profession you have similar reasons for choosing it. In this path you have chosen more than a profession. It is a vocation. Not everybody gets to live their loves doing something so close to Christ’s mission as you do.

Here is what Jesus came to do. 1. To announce the kingdom. 2. To forgive sins. And 3. To heal the sick.

Remember what we heard in the Gospel today. Christ, the Divine Physician taking a man aside who had a malady and brought him to wellness – to wholeness. That is part of Christ’s overall plan.

Did you ever wonder why God calls certain actions sin? Sin is that which always brings harm into the world even when we do not perceive it. It brings harm to you physically, mentally, or spiritually, or to someone else, or it messes up our relationship with God. But Jesus is always calling us to unity and to healing. That is what virtuous acts are; healing spiritually, mentally, and physically.

As person in the healthcare professions whether directly or indirectly you play an important role in that healing, in establishing unity.

The healing of the young man who was deaf and had a speech impediment was not able to hear and speak well. Now he was able to communicate. He was able to connect better with the community. There was healing – there was a move toward greater unity. That is what you are called to in your vocation.

And as in all true vocations you are not alone. Because of the hours and demands you need the support of those who love you in order to be fully effective. So family and friends, this Mass is for you too.

It is a noble life and I do not envy it. If you are Catholic you are under attack morally. Who would have thought that being one who brings healing could be so controversial? From pharmacists, to caregivers, to nurses, to doctors, to researchers, to every aspect of the field, it is going to continue to be more and more difficult to stay true to your beliefs and maintain your vocation.

You are more on the front line than I am. People see my collar and they expect me to maintain a 2000 year moral tradition. You are not so lucky. You are thrown on the front line
often without detailed moral teaching
often without a lot of back up
often without the support of your peers
sometimes with fears of repercussions: Your job or your faith.

I do not envy you
I admire you
I pray for you
I fear for you
I respect you
I hope you are strong
I hope you are protected
I hope you persevere

And we pray this Mass today that you may one day receive the abundant rewards in heaving to the good that you did in doing your best to maintain the mission of Christ here on earth.

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK CXLII

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND: It might be said to priests who remark that the Divine Office is not personally nourishing, ‘perhaps the grace of the Liturgy of the Hours is not primarily for you.’” from the Rev. Msgr. Stephen J. Rossetti’s “Born of the Eucharist”

QUOTE II: “Joy is not a substitute for sex, but sex is often a substitute for joy.” Fr. Gene Fulton.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Russ sent in this video from the March for Life in Washington D.C. Thanks Russ!

The Diocese of Cleveland Enewsletter letter asks, "Did you know, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has made "strengthening marriage" as one of its five priority goals through 2011?" Here are more details.

Frank sent this in: "Someone sent me the link below which is a virtual wall of all those lost during the Viet Nam war with the names, bio's and other information on our lost comrades. It is a very interesting link, and those who served in that timeframe and lost friends or family can look them up on this site. Pass it on to other veterans who you think would like this." It is ineresting. Here is the site. Thanks Frank.

Adam's Ale's correspondant in New York sent this new Catholic blog in to share. Here is how the contributers describe it: "To those who have enjoyed A CONTINUAL FEAST: I have invited several of my children--Anna, Jessica, Rebecca, and Peter--and Peter's wife, Ann--to join me in continuing the cookbook on-line. We plan to post lots of new things--recipes, information, quotations, and prayers. We look forward to your responses and suggestions." Here is the site. Thank you Father K.

Kevin sent this in: "Please excuse the mass email, but I am just now gearing up to do publicity on The Faithful Traveler, our soon-to-be-airing Catholic travel TV show, and I have about a bazillion emails to send out. Not to mention the fact that I'm still. not. finished. editing....

The time has finally come! The Faithful Traveler is finally going to be on TV, and I wanted you all to be the first to know--well, ok, I already told all my Facebook and Twitter people, but most of you are on that, too. Here are the details:

Debut: March 4th on EWTN. The show will air on Thursday mornings at 10:30 am EST and will repeat on Sundays at 5:00 pm EST. The final episode list (it has changed) is as follows:

Episode 1: National Shrine of St Rita of Cascia, Philadelphia
Episode 2: National Shrine of St Katharine Drexel, Philadelphia
Episode 3: Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish and St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, New York, NY
Episode 4: National Blue Army Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, New Jersey
Episode 5: St. Mary’s Spiritual Center & Historic Site on Paca Street in Baltimore and the National Shrine of St Elizabeth Ann Seton, Emmitsburg
Episode 6: Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Philadelphia
Episode 7: Old St Patrick’s Cathedral, New York
Episode 8: Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, Baltimore
Episode 9: St Alphonsus Church, Baltimore
Episode 10: National Shrine of St John Neumann, Philadelphia
Episode 11: Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Newark
Episode 12: St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York
Episode 13: St Patrick’s Cathedral, New York

If you want more information on our show, please check out our website at http://www.thefaithfultraveler.com/. Soon, we'll have more clips, more photos, more resources... just as soon as I deliver these derned shows to the network, I can start cracking on that, too! Pray for us!!

Another priest sent in this three minute video. I found it humorous but some might not. I won't print the name of the priest that sent it if you find it in poor taste. I admit to laughing. It is posted here in the hopes that you might laugh also.

MONDAY DIARY: THE HOMELESS AND THE HOMEFULL

In the days of knights and knaves a herald was a pretty privileged fellow. His task was to travel from area to area and record the heraldry or coats of arms of all he could find. This made him indispensible in time of war as there tended not to be very large armies all in the same uniform but bunches of small armies – kings with their knights for example – fighting together. Who could tell who from whom? Who knew how to identify the dead? The herald.

Because of this he was allowed to travel freely. He could even go into enemy camps and it was assumed that whatever he saw was under the seal (presumably) and so traveled unmolested. He saw more in his day than most people in his world.

Priesthood can be something a kin to that. You are privileged to see a lot. You might be in a religious order that travels the world. Or you might be a diocesan priest (such as myself) and see more of your corner of the world than most people. Some of it great, some of it – shall we say – educational.

I had a study in stark contrast this past week. As you know Akron is under a lot of snow and it is pretty cold out. One night found me sitting in my car, engine running and the defrost keeping the windows clear, in a part of town I had not been in yet. It is a bit difficult to get to. You would not accidently end up here. It was not until later that I realized that I was still in the parish boundaries. (Note to self: Drive this area when the weather is better.) The man who had been sitting next to me in this modest residential area had just received a coat that was brought out to him and so wanted to take the coat he was wearing and give it back to the man from whom he borrowed it.

The roads here had not been well cleared of snow and cars slid around on the hill on which we were parked and I asked my guardian angel to consider protecting us from crunching bumpers.

Just a couple of days before I had been where the sun was shining, the evidence of which could be seen in the slightest tan on my arms. It was too cold to go swimming in the ocean. But I discovered by accident that the pool at the house where I was standing was heated! I stuck my toe in and it was like bath water.

“Are you going swimming?” my host asked.

“Your pool is heated!?”

“Sure!”

So I put on my swim suit and jumped in the water and swam laps for a while feeling the sun on my back and looked at the blurry figure of palm trees through streams of water when I would raise my head to take a breath.

The man came back into the car. We were waiting for the police to escort us into the house from which he was banned so that he might pick up his things. They said that they would be right there, but the driving conditions were poor and who knows how many accidents and other problems with which they had to deal. I am sure we were pretty low on the priority list and we sat there for quite some time. We had made a number of phone calls and my phone was almost dead. A call was made to the parochial vicar to warn my next meeting that I would be late.

We called the person from whom we were trying to retrieve his belongings and the person agreed to let a third party bring the things out to the end of the driveway so that I could pick them up. She was being very kind considering.

After my swim I walked into the main house. The walk to the rooms in which I had been installed was quite a distance but at least I was no longer getting lost on my walk there. My hosts are so very kind and accommodating. I am not lacking for anything. I take a shower and then go out on the screened in porch and stretch out and contemplate the reading for the Mass later in the day. I drift off in the plush of the lounger hearing the gentle breeze of rustling the leaves.

The trunk and the back seat are full. “Where are we taking this?”

“Father, I don’t know.”

“I asked you to have a plan when I came out here and you told me that you did. I have to get back to the parish. I have a bunch of people waiting on me and I am already going to be late.”

“What do you want me to say? I’m homeless now.”

What DO I want him to say? What should I say? As it is the parish is full to overflowing. I am already holding the life possessions of someone in need in storage and that person is crying out for more space which just doesn’t exist. Every inch of the place is in use and we could easily use a whole other building just to house what is going on now. “Do you have a place to stay tonight?”

“Yes.”

“I will drop you off there and then I’ll take your things to the parish.”

“I’ll come by and sort through the things tomorrow.”

“Alright.”

We have Mass in the dining room. There are a good number of guests seated around the large table. The homily is about sin and virtue and have a good discussion about it afterwards. Then we move to the living room. It only takes the slightest of exaggerations to say that this room is about the size of the house in which I grew up. Someone plays the piano while we have earnest discussions about fasting and praying. These people get it. They know that they are privileged and empowered and that this comes with responsibility. I don’t have to hope. I know that each of the people gathered will try to do something tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow to try to relieve the hardships of this world. And I admit that I enjoyed talking about it under a cathedral ceiling.

I drop the man off at a corner by his request. I zip as quickly as possible back to the rectory. The people I am to meet are already arriving. The bags of clothes will have to wait in my car until later. We gather in the “club room” of the rectory. Old fashioned wood paneling on the walls, a large fireplace, and worn, but serviceable furniture pulled into a circle for the purposes of the evening. The meeting is how to perform their ministry better.