VINEGAR AND HONEY

Do you want to be happier? Do you want to feel better when you wake up in the morning? Do you want to have more energy during the day? Do you want to look better? Do you want to improve your marital relations? Do you want to look ten year younger?

Are you thinking, “Yes! Yes! Just tell me what to do!” or at least, “I know what I need to do, please give me a new way to do it that I will actually participate in.”

What if the opening paragraph read:

If you keep eating the food you like you will remain fat and listless. You feel sluggish because of the amount that you drink. You look older because of the cigarettes you keep smoking. You are feeling low because you keep filling yourself with mild poisons.

If you are like me you find some interest in the first paragraph and start shutting down or even skimming through the second. One invites people to be the best version of themselves that they can be and the second merely points out how terrible a person is as motivation to be better. (So the alternative is to be a negative person like you?) The first tends to work better than the second but far too many people use the second especially in matters of faith.

Rare it is that a person does not know what the Church stance is on something or what (at least they’ve heard) what Scriptures says about a given topic (through probably not why.) They care - but not enough. This is mostly because they know the teaching through the second type of teaching. This is true of premarital sex, cohabitation, same sex marriage, contraception, or even missing Mass on Sunday. Too often the thrust of presentation on these teachings is, “Here is what (God/Church) wants and those who are not doing it are sinning and sinning leads to unhealthy lives and unhealthy lives can put your immortal soul in jeopardy.” This is all true – but not very appetizing. If you teach the truth unappetizingly it does not matter much because people are not going to digest it.

Rather, start with the promise these teachings offer – even before the why of it. “You have tried everything else and they have not got you very far at least for very long. Do you want your marriage to be better? Do you want to love more deeply? Do you want to risk discovering something special between you and your spouse that you might never have seen before (or have lost touch with? Do you want to feel better about things? Do you want to risk finding a different kind of fulfillment? Then risk trying to live this teaching. It is unconventional by today’s standards but that doesn’t mean it won’t work. Why might it work? Let me offer you these reasons . . .”

Which would you rather hear or at least which would entice you to conversation? When you choose – then present the faith to others that way.

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK CXL

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND: “When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing - they believe in anything.” — G.K. Chesterton – h/t to Kay

QUOTE II: “If priests today so often feel overworked, tired, and frustrated, the blame lies with a strained pursuit of results.” Pope Benedict XVI

QUOTE III: “Ouch.” Fr. Valencheck

IN OTHER NEWS:

DON’T BELIEVE IT! I got an Email from a person I know that says that they were robbed in London and are at the embassy and need money to get home. It Email was sent from their Email address directly to my more private address. I fortunately could not send the desired amount as it was too late. While much of the request sounded legitimate there were a couple of missed cues. A quick phone call to a mutual acquaintance cleared everything up. This was a scam. Apparently this happened to another person on my staff. Even if you get an Email from a person’s email account requesting money and they seem to have the rudimentary information that they should, dig deeper! Ask questions of the person and their friends and family. You may be helping a friend in a dire situation but more likely you giving a generous gift to a con artist.

IN STILL OTHER NEWS:

Kay also sent in this video. It is 5 and a half minutes long - about twice as long as it need be but still interesting.

This came in from EWTN: "Don’t miss Helen Hull Hitchcock talk about The New Missal at 8 p.m. ET, Wed., Feb. 3 on “EWTN Live” with Father Mitch Pacwa. As editor of the “Adoremus Bulletin,” a monthly publication of Adoremus – Society for the Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy, of which she is co-founder, Ms. Hitchcock is uniquely qualified to speak a...bout The New Missal. She also happens to be founding director of Women for Faith & Family and editor of its quarterly journal, “Voices.”

Yellow Line Studios sent this in: "The wait is over! The newest episode of BUMP+, the interactive web series from Yellow Line Studio, is currently available to view online at http://www.bumptheshow.com/ The Party reveals more about Hailey, Katie, and Denise, and follows their individual stories as they struggle to make a decision about their unintended pregnancies. New episodes will follow every Monday and Thursday through March 15, 2010. And of course, the conversation between viewers continues around the clock."

N.B.: Please mark you calendars for the first meeting of the West Akron Chesterton Society. We will be meeting at 476 Mull Ave. (aka St Sebastian Parish Rectory) on February 15 at 6:30 PM. We will discuss general issues and future plans. We already of a blogsite thanks to my cohort in crime! Thanks M. The West Akron Chesterton Society.

Elena sent this video in. 4 minutes. Thanks for sending it in. I'm glad I'm not caught on tape doing this.

MONDAY DIARY: HUMILITY, HUMILITY, AND EVER MORE HUMILITY

If you were a reader last week you know that I was on retreat. Trinity Retreat House is one of the very few places that caters almost exclusively to priests. If you would like to take a peek at it plug in the address here: 1 Pryer Manor Road, Larchmont, New York. If you travel down the road north east a bit (toward the unsuspecting person out for a constitutional) and then look to your left you can see the old carriage house that has the retreat house offices and the living quarters of Fr. Benedict Groeschel. Very humble, very humble.

It was thoroughly reinvigorating. The daily schedule went like this:

8:15 Breakfast
9:15 Morning Prayer and Conference
11:30 Mass with Conference
12:30 Lunch
Break – (This is when I would go on a hike – pray and light a candle at St. Augustine, get a cup of coffee and read and then pop by the library to update the blog.
5:00 Evening Prayer and Conference
6:00 Dinner
7:00 Confessions
8:00 Holy Hour and Conference.
9:00 Recreation

Mind you, Fr. Groeschel is up in years, was hit by a car and brought back from the dead, recently had a stroke, and put on most of this retreat and did a darn good job it. Amazing. The only part he did not do was part of Wednesday when the other priest at Trinity, Fr. Gene Fulton (also amazing) took over because Fr. Groeschel had to go with his community to elect a new superior. (That was fun hearing how that took place and seeing SO MANY young men in habits and beards who are joining this quickly growing community.) But after a day of meetings came back and continued our retreat. Wow.

At one of the evening conferences, Fr. Benedict came in to the chapel, made his way to his chair slowly, settled himself in and began telling the story of some time he spent with Mother Theresa. Apparently they were having some communication difficulties and Father was begging off of a project. She told him to sit down, and as he said, “When Mother asks you to sit, you sit.” She asked him, “Do you know why you are priest?”

“I don’t know Mother. Is it because he has a sense of humor?”

“No,” she replied, “you are a priest because of God’s humility.”

The six priests gathered gave a collective gasp – sat back against our chair backs as if physically pushed. Not because Mother Theresa would dare say such a thing to Fr. Benedict but because we knew it to be true – for all of us. For a moment – spiritually – we were all naked. Every priest knows (or SHOULD know) that he was chosen to be a priest not because he was the smartest, cleverest, holiest, most obedient, handsomest, most loved, or even the most talented. He is a priest by sheer grace – because of the humility of God. It is completely gift. You are a priest only because God can work with you – and perhaps most of the time in spite of you. And it is simply a deepening of grace if one comes to know this, believe it, and simply be grateful that he has the honor – because of God’s humility - to a priest of Jesus Christ.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: PEEK A BOO - I SEE YOU

ON FRIDAY I WILL BE ON THE ROAD ALL DAY - HOPEFULLY GETTING HOME IN TIME FOR A YOUTH RETREAT. SO THIS IS POSTED EARLY. ENJOY. SEE YOU NEXT WEEK.

The priest is in the sacristy, the organist is in the choir loft, the bride is in the narthex, the servers are in the server’s sacristy, and the groomsmen are at the cross aisle. How do we get this show on the road?

Of course, there is that little bell. The voice of God! Ring it and everybody runs to their places and begins doing whatever it is they do to start the Mass. At other times there is someone with an astronomical watch that keeps an eye for the final nanosecond to blink by and sticks his index finger in the air in a “Let’s role” symbol causing the cantor to say, “Please stand now and greet our celebrant with, “Hail Holy Queen.” Let us pray that that never happens again.

Saint Sebastian has a button to press that sounds a buzzer in what in the old days was called the boy’s sacristy. It meant, “Hurry up and get over here! We’re about to start!” There was also an in-house phone system now defunct. It had four buttons on it. One could ring the sacristy, choir loft, rectory, and if there were more locations they have long disappeared. This went a long way in coordinating efforts (and asking last minute questions.) Some parishes have replaced this with walky-talkies. Now that everyone carries every kind of communicative device in their person at all times it seems that even this is unnecessary.

Saint Bernard’s has the equivalent of a rear view mirror just outside the sacristy door so that the priest can see if everyone is ready to go without sticking his head out like someone from an Our Gang epsode before the big show in the barn. Some places have more clever means. St. Ann in Cleveland Hts. has a peep hole built into the intricate grill work in the sanctuary. One goes into a small closet and peeks out at the congregation through a small and inconspicuous hole. One parish I was at had one way glass that almost worked. I wish I could remember where it was but there was a place that had a little door in the sacristy door about eye height. You opened it ala Wizard of Oz (Who rang that bell?) but it was hardly subtle.

Saint Francis in Akron probably has the most practical idea but because it works so well and makes so much sense it is almost uninteresting enough not to mention it. They simply have a peep hole in the door like one finds in a hotel door with the funny magnifying glass in it. It works. Blah. Now if only the door opened the other way . . .

SOMETIMES IT IS ABOUT ME

This guy asked me for money and I didn’t want to give it to him. I went to talk to my spiritual director. We had some discussion about giving versus not giving to every Tom, Dick, and Harriet that asks you for a few dollars. “Sometimes it isn’t always about money going to the right person,” he told me, “Sometimes it is that you need to be the type of person who can give it freely away.”

I think of that every now and then. It is not much different from our stand on life. We as Catholics defend life even to opposing the death penalty in, if not all, most situations. (John Paul allowed for the possibility that it might be employed in some unusual situation I believe.) Everybody knows of some seemingly unredeemable person that makes being anti-death penalty a very difficult position to hold. We have one in Cleveland at the moment. A man lured women to his home, had his way with them and then murdered them one after the other and buried them around his property.

How could one defend the life of such a person who snuffed the life out of so many other people? Does he appear redeemable? Will he ever be able to be set free again? Does he have any use to society? Is there any chance that he will have a major conversion and save his soul? It is quite possible that the answer to all of these questions is no. Even if he should live for a hundred more years. And the amount of money and time that he will use up – my money and yours – as he drones through the years is astronomical. Is it worth the off change that something – anything good might come from this?

Yes. Because it isn’t always about the “bad guy” earning redemption. Sometimes it is about us being the type of people who offer a chance for it.

YOU SAY TO-MAE-TOE AND I SAY TO-MAH-TOE

STILL ON RETREAT - STILL THINKING TOO MUCH

When one is on retreat you have a lot of time to think. Sometimes I think and analyze too much. Just the same this is though that came to me and I throw it out to you just to see what you think. It might be bunk but I like to think not – not because it means I might be actually right about something but because it would mean that there is much more hope in the world than meets the eye.

In his encyclical “Caritas In Veritate” Pope Benedict reminds us that Christ teaches that God is love. Love then is the center of the Church’s social doctrine. Because love is at the “heart” of what we are about, his encyclical then is addressed not just to Catholics or even to Christians, but to the whole world because love is a universal. It takes a particularly bitter person to not have any kind of faith in love.

The love about which he speaks is not sappy, sentimental stuff such as of what Hallmark cards are made. True love, he reminds us, bears truth. Truth and love has order. Christ’s whole mission is bringing all people into unity. Evil divides, grace unites. After Babel all the inhabitants were sent their own way speaking different languages. Christ was constantly calling people to unity – a unity in which we call God our Father. The people who are in ordained, sacramental leadership positions in the Church are said to be in “orders.”

Is it not interesting that left to its own nature tends toward disunity – toward chaos. When something dies it decomposes – falls apart. Left completely on its own all of its components will dissolve, pass, and never return to life again.

Life requires order. God creates. We co-create. God is the source of life – and he continues creating with our cooperation whether it be a baby or a skyscraper. Truth and order.

So we come to people who say they do not believe in God. In effect they say they do not believe in love –in truth nor order. Yet outside of a brooding teenager’s bedroom there is little evidence that there is anybody who does not see some use – does not believe in love and truth and order.

Love and order is the basis of life. Without it nothing can exist. So does belief in Love – an adherence to order and truth - not constitute the rudiments of belief in something which law abiding atheists say do not exists? They may deny that the Love they honor is what we say God is – but if we both believe that which is the fundamental force in the world is truth and order and love – is the only difference the fact that we prefer to name it God and they don’t? (This is not to deny that beyond this very simple formula there lies a great gulf of ideas and beliefs that are no where near reconciled.)

Even belief in the Darwinian Theory, while not containing the fullness of truth, may be a first step in belief in a God otherwise denied. After all what is stated in the Darwinian theory? In a chaotic universe there came order, consciousness ex nihilo (from unconsciousness), there is life and love and order. A total denial of God would have to include denial that there is truth, order, and love.

A supposed atheist may argue that they can love perfectly well without God thank you very much. It could be argued that this is the same thing as saying, “I never use chick peas! I use garbanzo beans!” In other words it is the atheist’s job to argue that, “I believe in order in the universe, but I denies that there is something that allows for order in the universe.” I find this a more difficult position to hold than that there is no God.

Love, truth and order – this are basic attribute of God. To acknowledge their existence is the first kernel of belief in God as He has revealed Himself to us.

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK CXXXIX

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND: “Trust in God does not mean that everything is going to be Okay.” Fr. Benedict Groeschel

QUOTE II: “It is very fine and pleasant to think of ourselves as the most put upon folk in history – but then everyone has though that from the beginning. It makes a grand excuse for all manner of laziness.” From Tobias Wolff’s “Old School”

IN OTHER NEWS:

I am on retreat at Trinity Retreat House in Larchmont, New York. It is a retreat house for priests run by the diocese. It is my luck that Fr. Benedict Groeschel is the retreat master.

Today, as had been my custom during the afternoon break, I took a pilgrimage to St. Augustine Parish – a nice little hoof from the retreat house, said some prayers and lit a candle for you.

Several of you were kind enough to send in links to Pope Benedict’s call for priests to blog among other things. Image in that – me – cutting edge. To know me is to know how ridiculous that thought is.

For those of you who may have been waiting we are finally getting ready to launch what might possibly be the only Chesterton Society in the Diocese of Cleveland. (Let me know if I am wrong.) Watch this blog for details.

John sent this in. You might find it interesting. "Dear Friends, I would like to invite all of you on my mailing list who are interested in Church developments to sign up to receive the Dispatch From Rome Newsletters from my pal Bob Moynihan, the dean of Vatican Journalists and editor and publisher of Inside the Vatican magazine. His dispatches are also posted to his Blog The Moynihan Report here: http://www.TheMoynihanReport.com/ There is a subscription link there. Also visit the Inside the Vatican Website here: http://insidethevatican.com/

VERY INTERESTING: This came in from Yellow Line Cinema: SAN DIEGO, CA - 1/21/2010- In 1973, The U.S. Supreme Court gave women a choice. Thirty-seven years later, we're giving them a voice.

Yellow Line Studio announces the premiere of BUMP+, a web series that follows three women facing crisis pregnancies. The pilot is scheduled to launch on Friday, January 22, 2010. Thirteen episodes will follow in February and March; and the final cliffhanger is so unpredictable, even the writers and producers don't know how the series will end.

From Juno and Bella to Glee and Desperate Housewives, a woman's right to choose has been explored across the media landscape. What makes BUMP+ different? We're letting the viewers decide how our characters' stories will end. We've opened the official website to comments and invited people to share their personal stories. Our team will craft the final episodes, including the ultimate decision about each pregnancy, based on audience feedback. This isn't a moral or political statement - it's an experiment to see if story can succeed where nearly four decades of angry rhetoric and political posturing have failed.

That experiment is already underway at our website. A trailer for the pilot has attracted several comments and personal stories from viewers; and the YouTube, Facebook and Twitter following is growing quickly; and as someone with a strong commitment to quality, thought provoking entertainment, we'd like to invite you and your audience to be part of it. For more information, or to schedule an interview with members of the BUMP+ creative team, please contact me personally using the email address or phone number below, or visit our website.

MONDAY DIARY: RETREAT!

Greetings! I am on retreat this week and so posts may be late or sporatic! Sorry for the inconvenience. Say prayer for me as I say one for all of Adam's Ale readers. (I'll light a candle for you too!)

I’m on the road today. After the last Mass on Sunday, the last walk of Sebastian (at this point he started to suspect something,) and before evaporating out the door going over notes with my ever vigilant parochial vicar, I slipped in behind the wheel of my car, set the GPS, (I’m beginning the slippery slope toward high tech dependence saint preserve me) and stepped on the gas pedal to my yearly retreat. It was time to go. I was starting to get snarky and was taking things too personally. These being major signs that it was time for this priest to charge his spiritual batteries and reboot.

This is the first time that I am going to the retreat house on my own. I usually buddy up with at least one other priest but schedules were so conflicted and convoluted this year it was easiest just to make the seven hour trip on my own. A whole program of entertainment was in place to keep me interested in driving. The first hour was listening to “Wait, Wait! Don’t Tell Me” an NPR news quiz. When the signal was lost there were various CDs (and my rosary) to keep my company. There was a book on tape – a book that I read about ten years ago and enjoyed thoroughly and now was listening to again on CD, “Pillars of the Earth.” There was also “Nick Danger, Third Eye” which I can recite line for line. “What’s all this brouhaha? Brouhaha? Ha ha ha!”

The rest of the time was taken from CDs more in keeping with the purpose of my trip. One was entitled, “The Year of the Priest.” I listened to it with what I’ll admit was a bit of embarrassment. It went on at length about the great sacrifices priests make. And we do. But . . .

Now, there is no denying that there are priests who make extraordinary sacrifices: leaving family behind, working in terrible conditions, suffering poverty, way overworked, being accused unjustly of all sorts of things, and in some parts of the world facing severe opposition and almost monthly a priest meets with martyrdom. But you know what? If you are called to the priesthood, it is a far grander sacrifice not to be ordained. I have met these men in the confessional. They did what they were “supposed” to do – pressured by family or peers to do what everyone else was doing – wife, kids, job - and now quietly sacrificing something within themselves in order to fulfill the life they vowed to live.

Everybody makes sacrifices. You cannot begin to build anything until you sacrifice something. One must say no to many things in order to start creating something great out of the idea you are willing to say yes to. The sacrifices I make in order to be a priest I gladly do. My priest friends and I, when we get together, talk about how fortunate we are and are in wonder that more men do not choose this life. We know the sacrifices that others make and are in wonder at them. At the breakfast shop on our day away we see a mother and father struggling with a young child in the throes of a tantrum or a young couple obviously in a fight with their arms crossed, or we perhaps we’ve talked with family who may have to pull their children from the school because of a monetary set back and think we are lucky for the life we are privileged to live. “How do they do that?” Yet we also know that if that is the life to which God is calling them, anything else would seem a trial.

The escapism book that I am reading told a story about an honor that the main character is receiving. (I hesitate to recommend this book before I finish though I am quite enjoying it. It happened once that I recommended a book when half way through that was just delightful but turned rather lurid to the point that I was embarrassed even to have it on my bookshelf!) When the character was told of his honor it was so well written that I felt his thrill. I started to wonder what honor I could receive that would give me the same thrill. To be quite honest I can’t think of anything that would be more of an honor than of being the pastor of my parish. Become bishop? No. Win an award? No.

The richest man in the world is the one who is happy with what he has. Sure there are things I would like to change (one of which is wishing the Sebastian was on this trip with me.) But they are minor in comparison to the benefits that being a priest is to me.

Sometimes I worry about the future. Will there be a day that I am sorry that I do not have (grand)children? Will I feel loss for not having a family and a home? I was told to expect that when I turned 40 (and am well past that now.) But I realize there has not been a day that I have regretted (maybe a couple of incidents however) and that I am happy today and there is no reason to suspect that I will be unhappy, at least overall, tomorrow.

I hope you have said yes to something. I pray that your yes is bringing you closer to God and joy. But to those of you who are really facing sacrifices whether you be a priest, a married person, a deacon, a religious, or a single person, thank you. Thank you for saying yes and doing your best to build something greater than yourself for the benefit of your brothers and sisters and for the glory of God.

MONDAY DIARY: RETREAT!

I’m on the road today. After the last Mass on Sunday, the last walk of Sebastian (at this point he started to suspect something,) and before evaporating out the door going over notes with my ever vigilant parochial vicar, I slipped in behind the wheel of my car, set the GPS, (I’m beginning the slippery slope toward high tech dependence saint preserve me) and stepped on the gas pedal to my yearly retreat. It was time to go. I was starting to get snarky and was taking things too personally. These being major signs that it was time for this priest to charge his spiritual batteries and reboot.

This is the first time that I am going to the retreat house on my own. I usually buddy up with at least one other priest but schedules were so conflicted and convoluted this year it was easiest just to make the seven hour trip on my own. A whole program of entertainment was in place to keep me interested in driving. The first hour was listening to “Wait, Wait! Don’t Tell Me” an NPR news quiz. When the signal was lost there were various CDs (and my rosary) to keep my company. There was a book on tape – a book that I read about ten years ago and enjoyed thoroughly and now was listening to again on CD, “Pillars of the Earth.” There was also “Nick Danger, Third Eye” which I can recite line for line. “What’s all this brouhaha? Brouhaha? Ha ha ha!”

The rest of the time was taken from CDs more in keeping with the purpose of my trip. One was entitled, “The Year of the Priest.” I listened to it with what I’ll admit was a bit of embarrassment. It went on at length about the great sacrifices priests make. And we do. But . . .

Now, there is no denying that there are priests who make extraordinary sacrifices: leaving family behind, working in terrible conditions, suffering poverty, way overworked, being accused unjustly of all sorts of things, and in some parts of the world facing severe opposition and almost monthly a priest meets with martyrdom. But you know what? If you are called to the priesthood, it is a far grander sacrifice not to be ordained. I have met these men in the confessional. They did what they were “supposed” to do – pressured by family or peers to do what everyone else was doing – wife, kids, job - and now quietly sacrificing something within themselves in order to fulfill the life they vowed to live.

Everybody makes sacrifices. You cannot begin to build anything until you sacrifice something. One must say no to many things in order to start creating something great out of the idea you are willing to say yes to. The sacrifices I make in order to be a priest I gladly do. My priest friends and I, when we get together, talk about how fortunate we are and are in wonder that more men do not choose this life. We know the sacrifices that others make and are in wonder at them. At the breakfast shop on our day away we see a mother and father struggling with a young child in the throes of a tantrum or a young couple obviously in a fight with their arms crossed, or we perhaps we’ve talked with family who may have to pull their children from the school because of a monetary set back and think we are lucky for the life we are privileged to live. “How do they do that?” Yet we also know that if that is the life to which God is calling them, anything else would seem a trial.

The escapism book that I am reading told a story about an honor that the main character is receiving. (I hesitate to recommend this book before I finish though I am quite enjoying it. It happened once that I recommended a book when half way through that was just delightful but turned rather lurid to the point that I was embarrassed even to have it on my bookshelf!) When the character was told of his honor it was so well written that I felt his thrill. I started to wonder what honor I could receive that would give me the same thrill. To be quite honest I can’t think of anything that would be more of an honor than of being the pastor of my parish. Become bishop? No. Win an award? No.

The richest man in the world is the one who is happy with what he has. Sure there are things I would like to change (one of which is wishing the Sebastian was on this trip with me.) But they are minor in comparison to the benefits that being a priest is to me.

Sometimes I worry about the future. Will there be a day that I am sorry that I do not have (grand)children? Will I feel loss for not having a family and a home? I was told to expect that when I turned 40 (and am well past that now.) But I realize there has not been a day that I have regretted (maybe a couple of incidents however) and that I am happy today and there is no reason to suspect that I will be unhappy, at least overall, tomorrow.

I hope you have said yes to something. I pray that your yes is bringing you closer to God and joy. But to those of you who are really facing sacrifices whether you be a priest, a married person, a deacon, a religious, or a single person, thank you. Thank you for saying yes and doing your best to build something greater than yourself for the benefit of your brothers and sisters and for the glory of God.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: LET ME MAKE THIS PERFECTLY CLERE

“Aint it a shame?” some people say from time to time, “those beautiful windows way up high in our church and nobody can see them!” These windows in the part of church architecture known as the clerestory (pronounced clear-story) is the upper part of a church building that rises above the lower level. It sits above the first roof line and is punctuated with windows. The purpose of it is to fill the building with space and light. The windows are high not to make them inaccessible but so as to give the space an airy and celestial feel.

With modern lighting and the movement to bring things down to our level if they are to mean anything and pragmatic concerns such as heating bills, the tendency to have clerestories have largely disappeared in modern architecture.

St. Sebastian, a building built in modern Romanesque style makes good use of the clerestory as shown here. Though well above the heads of the congregation the ample open space makes seeing the windows much easier and the artists and architects made good use of the windows to makes them catechisms in glass.

This is just my personal opinion so feel free to disagree nobody will have to go to confession for having an opinion on such things I dare say, but it seems to me that we have lost something in focusing too much on the human person in our church buildings. They no longer give us the feeling that we are participating in something much bigger than ourselves. When we gather for Mass we gather with the universal Church at the one Mass being offered around the world and throughout time. The whole Body of Christ is present. We represent the Church militant (which is why the sign of peace is supposed to be a symbolic gesture made to one person) but also present are the saints and angles (as we here every week in the preface) as well as God Himself. Often times modern church architecture is weak in expressing this – and any help we can get would in this regard is useful!

A ROSARY BY ANY OTHER NAME

The other day I was reaching into my medicine cabinet and saw the Mason jar I keep there. My mother who passed away a number of years ago gave it to me. When I was moving into the seminary she gave me a care package part of which was a Mason jar lined with cellophane (of course) and containing cotton swabs. Over the years they have been mostly used and replaced but I keep a few that she gave me (white sticks instead of the new blue) just as a remembrance.

This day for some reason I was particularly struck by it and took it off the shelf and just thought about the great love of a mother for her son that she would go through the trouble of something somewhat trivial but none-the-less helpful to extend her care to when I would be away. It was nice just to meditate on that for a little, to remember her, and to say a prayer.

That is kind of where I am with God on the rosary currently. If one wants to pray the Rosary well it means there must needs be some meditation to go along with it (the prayers being an aid and path to meditation.) Sometimes I simply think about the life of Christ during the particular mystery, sometimes I think about the mystery’s implication for the Church, sometimes I try to relate it to current living giving it a homiletic bent, but more recently (just my latest kick) I’ve been treating the mysteries like that glass Mason jar. I pull the mystery out and just look at it and try to concentrate on being thankful. “You bore Your Cross for me? Thank you.” “You resurrected for me? Thank you.” “You transfigured that I might believe? Thank you.”

There are many different ways to meditate on the rosary. You need to find your way. And like me it may change from time to time as you discover something new in God Who is more than our simple minds can ever mine.

HAPPY FEAST OF SAINT SEBASTIAN!

Today is our titular feast day. Actually we had it transferred to Sunday but most of the world is celebrating it today. Blessings to you from the Parish of Saint Sebastian!

More in depth information about our patron here.

An interesting time line of Saint Sebastian here.

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK CXXXVIII

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND: “We presume that there will be another breath to take . . .we could just as easily not be here . . . In Haiti one day seemed just like the last and then one day everything that seemed ordinary in their life was turned upside down.” Fr. Frank DeSiano

QUOTE II: “All other swindlers upon the earth are nothing to the self swindler.” Charles Dickens

IN OTHER NEWS:

Ellen from Paraclete Press calls our attention to this video. It is just under ten minutes long. It is particularly useful for those contemplating the priesthood.



I am not recommending this site - just seeing if anybody out there can give any insight - if it is a good organization or not. Personhood USA.

It was good to see that Catholic Relief Services (CRS - the people who bring you Operation Rice Bowl) are listed among the top groups bringing relief to Haiti. It is one of the stregths of the Catholic Church that we are so interconnected and can weild such a response. I fully endorse CRS and find it to be one of the finest charitable organization in the world. Here you can read about what they are doing in Haiti and make a donation. This coming weekend our parish will be taking up a collection for Haiti and the monies will be funneled through CRS. We are in there for the long haul. We were there before this disaster struck and we will be in there long after the cameras are gone and people have forgotten about the devistation.

Fr. F. sent this in about a new convent of Poor Clares out in California. If you need a shot in the arm concerning women's religious orders you might want to check out the video. Thanks friend.

MONDAY DIARY: MINDING YOUR Ps AND Qs AND Fs

Last week I discovered just how deeply we have invested in becoming a two priest parish instead of a one priest parish. Our ever vigilant, hard working parochial vicar went away on retreat leaving me to man the ship by myself. There was no fear in this. It was a one man ship when I got here.

Then he left.

Then our priest in residence got the flu.

Then the pastors emeritus also skipped town.

And then there was one.

Then somebody inadvertently said the magic curse. Theater has a similar problem. A play becomes cursed when someone utters a line from Macbeth. “Out darn spot!” A careful ritual is observed among the superstitious to remove the curse (as can be seen in “Shakespeare in Love” in order to remove the curse and save the show – and in turn save box office receipts.

The line in parish life that causes similar strife involves the “F” word. No, not that one – the other one. And it is usually couched in this innocent enough sentence: “Gee, we have not had a funeral in a long time.” As soon as it was uttered I knew I was doomed.

Two phone calls came in rapid succession. There would be two funerals on the first day the parochial vicar would be gone! A day later another one came in for my otherwise day away. Later another came on for the week’s end. Not as many as some parishes – more than we are used to – and a lot for when you are suddenly and completely alone (priestwise).

There is a reason that priests of our diocese are released from their obligation to pray the Office on the day they have a funeral. Every funeral means there is a homily to be written, at least one meeting with the family to be had, phone calls to be made, paperwork to be filled out, a visit to the funeral home with prayers, the Mass, the trip to the graveyard, and the time rescheduling appointments that had to be cancelled.

This is not a complaint. It is why we are ordained. Firemen don’t get upset because their day was interrupted by a fire. It is what they are there for. But I bet they secretly wish that all the fires weren’t during the same week that all their buddies were away. I wonder if they have a similar forbidden sentence. I can imagine a rookie fireman saying, “Why don’t we fire up some brats on the grill?” and his fellow fire fighters jumping up, shushing him and saying, “Don’t say the “f” word!”

“What? ‘Fire?’”

“Arg! He said it again! Get him!”

But fortunately just then the fire alarm rings and he gets away with some dirty glances and the lesson to watch is language.

FRIDAY PITPOURRI: DREAMS IN BLUE

This week Saint Sebastian Parish is celebrating its titular feast day. This year we are having an exhibit of some of the proposals for future development of the property from the early 30s. This first plan shows the original church and school but nothing else came of these ideas. In the lower left hand corner is a trail and grotto. A line of trees through the center marks the parish gardens. Next to that is the nun's private lawn. And way to the left is the rectory.

Here is a detail close-up of the rectory. Notice the rector's garden, pool, and summer house. If you tried to pull this off today you would be hung from the highest tree. Selfishly I wish Monsignor Zwisler would have pulled it off. "What do you expect? It was here!"

This was another idea. The original school and church are seen here as above but the rest of the grounds are much different. The convent is the small building at the top of the page and the rectory opposite. The church which today faces Mull Avenue and is built in a modern Romanesque style is shown here with an apse and large dome.

Now I am willing to admit these are quite grand designs and there could be great debate as to whether such grandeur is the business of local parishes. That is a debate for another day. But what is important here was that there was a grand scheme in mind. As too often happens a parish just happens and when they need a building they stick it in the next available place. That usually ends up with a mishmash of buildings oddly placed. It is not an ostentatious thing therefor to at least have an overall vision for the future (maybe without the pool) so that the end result may be please to the eye and pleasing to be in. There is no sin in that.

I have found in the archives of many older church are grand designs such as this. My home parish which was quite tiny had beautiful plans to build an English Gothic school attached to the little church. For various reasons however it was built down the street in 1950's utilitarian splendor.

So check your vaults! Your blue print files! Who knows what dreams you might find!