May 2, 1999 |
The liturgy of this Sunday begins to prepare us for Pentecost, by recounting for us the earliest days of the Church, and for proclaiming portions of the farewell discourse of Jesus to His disciples from St. John's Gospel. In these words of the Gospel, Jesus reminds us that he speaks for God the Father, thus proclaiming the Church's constant belief in the divinity of Christ and His oneness with the Father. He also urges the apostles to courage and fearlessness, as He begins to prepare them for His final days on earth. This was a time of change and transition for the Apostles.
May is often a time of transition for individuals with graduations, confirmations, First Communions. May we pray for our students during this month, and all who are undergoing a major career or status change in their lives. May is also a time to rededicate and renew our commitment to the Rosary. Not only is it a truly Scriptural meditation on the life of Christ through Mary's eyes, it is also one of the most powerful of our prayers. The month of May, like October, is dedicated to Mary as the Mother of Jesus, and therefore, the Mother of God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church notes:
All generations will call me blessed. The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship. The church rightly honors the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of Mother of God to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs...This very special devotion...differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the Incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration. The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, and epitome of the whole Gospel, express this devotion to the Virgin Mary.
In the wake of what is happening in Kosovo and, even closer to home, what happened in Littleton, Colorado, at Columbine High School, I believe it would be good for all of us to re-read the 1994 Pastoral Message of the U.S. Catholic bishops, "Confronting a Culture of Violence." We re-print here the "Introduction" to that message, in the hope that it will help us in our prayer and reflection on Thursday, May 6.
CONFRONTING A CULTURE OF VIOLENCE
(Introduction)
Our families are torn by violence. Our communities are destroyed by violence. Our faith is tested by violence. We have an obligation to respond.
Violence--in our homes, our schools and streets, our nation and world--is destroying the lives, dignity, and hopes of millions of our sisters and brothers. Fear of violence is paralyzing and polarizing our communities. The celebration of violence in much of our media, music, and even video games is poisoning our children.
Beyond the violence in our streets is the violence in our hearts. Hostility, hatred, despair, and indifference are at the heart of a growing culture of violence. Verbal violence in our families, communications, and talk shows contributes to this culture of violence. Pornography assaults the dignity of women and contributes to violence against them. Our social fabric is being torn apart by a culture of violence that leaves children dead on our streets and families afraid in our homes. Our society seems to be growing numb to human loss and suffering. A nation born in a commitment to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" is haunted by death, imprisoned by fear, and caught up in the elusive pursuit of protection rather than happiness. A world moving beyond the Cold War is caught up in bloody ethnic, tribal, and political conflict.
It doesn't have to be this way. It wasn't always this way. We can turn away from violence; we can build communities of greater peace. It begins with a clear conviction: respect for life. Respect for life is not just a slogan or a program; it is a fundamental moral principle flowing from our teaching on the dignity of the human person. It is an approach to life that values people over things. Respect for life must guide the choices we make as individuals and as a society: what we do and won't do, what we value and consume, whom we admire and whose example we follow, what we support and what we oppose. Respect for human life is the starting point for confronting a culture of violence.
The Catholic community cannot ignore the moral and human costs of so much violence in our midst. These brief reflections are a call to conversion and a framework for action. They propose neither a sweeping plan nor specific programs. They recognize the impressive efforts already underway in dioceses, parishes and schools. They offer a word of support and gratitude for those already engaged in these efforts. We believe the Catholic community brings strong convictions and vital experience which can enrich the national dialogue on how best to overcome the violence that is tearing our nation apart.
We hear in the Gospel today: Do not let your hearts be troubled. Have faith in God and faith in me (Jn 14:1). Here we are invited to put our trust in the person of Jesus. He is the One who is able to lead us to the truth. This means that we need to take the time to know Him. It's not so much that we have information about Him but that we listen to Him as the One who is able to help us make sense out of life.
This is only possible when we take the time to open our minds and hearts to His words in the Scriptures. He says, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me (Jn 14:6). He has come from the Father to lead us to the Father. Jesus came with a mission; He came to share with us the divine life. In this we can put our trust because God has an ultimate purpose for us - eternal life.
No matter what may have transpired in our individual lives when we turn to the Lord we discover that there is a purpose to life: ultimate meaning in the life of the triune God.
Fr. Ron
Do you remember the political slogan a few years ago: "It's about the economy, stupid!"? Well, as I reflect on the tragedy in Colorado, I can't help thinking, "It's about morality, stupid!" As a society, how can we believe that if we have no moral compass other than our own selfish desires, judgement day isn't going to come? How can we believe that a lack of family values (including not valuing being together as a family and not having Christ as the moral compass of the family) isn't going to produce kids with a chip on their shoulders and guns in their hands? To paraphrase Shakespeare badly: "The answer isn't in the stars, Horatio, it's in our hearts."
Father Murphy
One of the great challenges for Christians is as old as our faith, but it takes on special urgency today as we approach the Third Christian Millennium. How do we connect worship on Sunday to work on Monday? How is the Gospel proclaimed not only in the pulpits of our parishes, but also in the everyday lives of Catholic people? How does the Church gathered on the Sabbath act as the People of God scattered and active every day of the week? How can we best carry the values of our faith into family life, the market place and the public square? How do we love our neighbor, pursue peace and seek justice in everyday choices and commitments?
In these reflections, we highlight one essential dimension of the lay vocation which is sometimes overlooked or neglected: the social mission of Christians in the world. Every believer is called to serve "the least of these," to "hunger and thirst for justice," to be a "peacemaker." Catholics are called by God to protect human life, to promote human dignity, to defend the poor and to seek the common good. This social mission of the Church belongs to all of us. It is an essential part of what it is to be a believer.
This social mission is advanced in many ways -- by the prophetic teaching of our Holy Father; by the efforts of our bishops' Conference; and by many structures of charity and justice within our community of faith. But the most common and, in many ways, the most important Christian witness is often neither very visible nor highly structured. It is the sacrifice of parents trying to raise children with concern for others; the service and creativity of workers who do their best and reach out to those in need; the struggle of business owners trying to reconcile the bottom line and the needs of employees and customers; and the hard choices of public officials who seek to protect the weak and pursue the common good. The Church's social mission is advanced by teachers and scientists, by family farmers and bankers, by sales persons and entertainers. Excerpt from "Everyday Christianity: To Hunger and Thirst for Justice.
Paige Byrne Shortal
As the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected . . . .
The Acts of the Apostles is the story of the early church struggling to survive its infancy. Born on Pentecost, the church began to face problems not anticipated when Jesus was alive and with them. He left no blueprint, no plan or list of instructions about what to do when there were Greek members (the Hellenists) and Hebrew members who came from cultures so different that communication was painfully difficult. Greek meets Jew was as much of a clash of cultures as Missouri meets Mayan. But they were all believers, all on fire with the Spirit, all filled with that spark of joy and excitement that comes with creating something new, something right and just.
Jesus left no plan except for one: PRAY. DISCERN. ACT.
So the twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, `It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. Select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to the task . . . . And they presented these men to the Apostles who prayed and laid hands on them.
And so we see the first Deacons, from the Greek word Diakonos, meaning service. The very early church, realizing that one person could not be all things to all people, appointed these Deacons to look after the material needs of the community. For a while, the ministry of Deacon died out and it became only a rank or stopping place on the way to priesthood. We still have vestiges of this in the title Transitional Deacon. But Vatican II restored the Diaconate and those we call Permanent Deacons are what we have in Deacons Gilbert and Leon: men who are seen as good, solid citizens, trustworthy, fair, and fervent believers who are appointed to take care of those in need. Theirs is a ministry to the poor and the bereaved. They are not mini-priests, but men with their own call, their own charism or gifts.
As the Church grew and developed, it continued to discern its need for people with different gifts to minister to the community. While the Church was a small group of outlaws, worshipping in secret for fear of their lives, there wasn't much need for ministries like Lector, Catechist, Cantor, Minister of the Eucharist, Greeter or Usher. Nor were there Pastoral Councils or Commissions for Finance, Liturgy, Social Services, Education, and so on. These ministries all arose out of need as the church grew.
The Holy Spirit's inspiration did not stop with the birth of the Church or when the Apostles died or when the scriptures were complete. Just as a parent of a newborn child can never completely imagine the needs of the person their child will become in twenty or thirty or sixty years, the Spirit's work within the church continues, calling men and women to ministries never imagined in the infancy of the Church.
But the plan remains:
PRAY fervently! DISCERN carefully! ACT courageously!
By: Joseph F. Pearce, C.O.
TRADITION!!! BIBLE!!! TRADITION!!! BIBLE!!! A tension exists in the Catholic Church over the role of these two powerful forces in our Liturgy and our understanding of God. Which rules over us and in turn over the other Tradition or Bible? Unlike some churches, the Catholic Church is not solely a Bible only church. Yet, tradition itself does not have the final word either. Instead the Catholic Church struggles to hold the two of them in equal balance. First, we must understand that the Catholic Church sees the Bible itself as part of Tradition, an oral tradition of the relationship between God and human beings which was written down and preserved by the faith believing community. Yet, the Bible is more than just tradition. It is made up of definite books which the Catholic Church believes were divinely inspired by God. It is the Word of God; it is unchangeable. This does not imply that our interpretation of the Word of God is unchangeable but the Word itself is unchangeable. Tradition on the other hand lacks this definite divine authorship. That is not to say that tradition cannot be divinely inspired. It is to say that not all tradition is divinely inspired. Tradition can also be considered unchangeable. We celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25. We cannot be sure it is the historic date of Christ's birth, but the tradition of it being so is so strong it will never be changed. What happens when the Bible and Tradition conflict? During Lent we celebrated the Stations of the Cross. It you attended more than one, you might have noticed that the stations sometimes changed. Why did this happen? Because one of the stations is based on a traditional Way of the Cross the other is based on a Biblical Way of the Cross. Should we ignore all traditions that are not found in the biblical accounts? No, we should not because some are integral to our understanding of whom God or Jesus is and our relationship with them. We must recall that some of our current practices and beliefs are not found in the bible as well but play an important role in our faith. The Sacrament of Marriage we believe to be divinely instituted, yet it would be hard to find a biblical passage that supports this idea. But tradition strongly proclaims it to be so. We need to be open to both tradition and the biblical accounts, being willing to learn from both as they teach us about faith and the great love of God for each of us.
According to a long-standing tradition of the Church, the month of May is dedicated to Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our Blessed Mother. Mary is the Mother of God and Mother of the Church. She is so important in our religious tradition because of her very special relationship to Our Lord. Mary was chosen by the Father to be the human instrument whereby the Son would enter into our world. Mary is the first among creatures and a very special creation of God.
Because of her intimate relationship with her Son, Mary is no doubt, our greatest intercessor. On the occasion of Our Lord's very first miracle, it was Mary who brought the needs of others to His attention. They have no wine, was her simple communication. She leaves it up to Him to answer the problem in His own way.
In our day, the prayer of intercession is just as important. We, the people of God, depend upon each other to bring our needs to the Lord. We say, Please pray for me or I will remember you in prayer. We believe that the prayers of others are an effective way of seeking God's blessing. If we can pray for one another, surely Mary who lives with her Son in glory is the most powerful intercessor of all.
If we, the Church, appreciate the power of intercession, let us appreciate Mary. If we appreciate Mary's singular relationship with Christ, her Son and the Son of God, we know of her special relationship with us, children of the Father and brothers and sisters of His Son. Mary is our spiritual Mother, too, the one who has our well-being at heart. Through her we can reach the Father. To pray through Mary is to ask her kind intercession.
During May, it is a beautiful gesture to turn to Mary often, asking her to bring our needs to God. To pray through Mary can be a very helpful human experience of prayer. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
The rosary will be prayed publicly each Saturday of this month after the 4:30 PM Mass. Your participation is encouraged.
Father V. Mank
We know the way that leads where the Lord goes - it is the way of service. We are chosen and consecrated (2) to proclaim the glorious works of the Lord. Each of us has a role to play in that proclamation. The order of the Church comes from the two great commandments - love of God and love of neighbor. The apostles associated deacons with themselves in the ministry of the Christian community (1). That association remains in force today. We are servants to all of our sisters and brothers in the world. Our use of time, talent and treasure is successful to the extent that we live lives of love of God demonstrated in our active care for each other.
Reflections on Jesus, The Holy Spirit, and the Father,
by Pope John Paul II.
The Triumph of Mercy...Jesus Christ was sent by the Father as the revelation of God's mercy (see John 3:16-18). Christ came not to condemn but to forgive, to show mercy (see Matthew 9:13). And the greatest mercy of all is found in His being in our midst and calling us to meet Him and to confess with Peter that He is the Son of the living God (Mt 16:16).
No human sin can erase the mercy of God, or prevent Him from unleashing all His triumphant power, if we only call upon Him. Indeed, sin itself makes even more radiant the love of the Father who, in order to ransom a slave, sacrificed His Son: His mercy toward us is redemption. This mercy reaches its fullness in the gift of the Spirit who bestows new life and demands that it be lived.
No matter how many and great the obstacles put in His way by human fraility and sin, the Spirit, who renews the face of the earth (see Psalms 104:30), makes possible the miracle of the perfect accomplishment of the good. This renewal, which gives the ability to do what is good, noble, beautiful, pleasing to God, and in conformity with His will, is in some way the flowering of the gift of mercy, which offers liberation from the slavery of evil and gives the strength to sin no more. Through the gift of new life, Jesus makes us sharers in His love and leads us to the Father in the Spirit.
[VS n. 118]
