June 20, 1999 |
The age of chivalry is dead. Many of us thrilled to tales of knighthood and valor as children. Too much of the idealism of chivalry has faded. Where would we be if God did not balance his justice with mercy? What would happen should God suddenly be unwilling to love without having love returned? Who could defend us as champion other than the Lord? But the Lord is with me like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph. (1) Fear need not touch us. Those who can threaten our bodies cannot threaten our lives. Not a single sparrow falls to the ground without your Father's consent. (3) Perhaps the age of chivalry really died with Adam (2). Perhaps, like us, it can live again in Christ.
This Sunday's Gospel begins with the exhortation "Fear no one" and ends with affirmation "So do not be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows..." (Mt. 10:26-33). The Gospel call to "Fear Not" is one of the most repeated exhortations in Scripture and similar words of encouragement to overcome fear are frequently expressions in Pope John Paul's homilies. In today's first reading and Gospel, Jeremiah and Matthew join together in reminding the gathered assembly of the courage that is needed to live a life of committed faith. According to the dictionary, fear is "a state or condition of alarm and agitation caused by the expectation or realization of danger." No doubt all of us have experienced the stranglehold of fear in our life. For example, who among us has not kept silent for fear of humiliation or rejection when courage would have called for us to speak out boldly our convictions. The crippling influence of fear is overcome through the power of the Holy Spirit, especially the activation within of the gifts of the Spirit, e.g. the gift of fortitude. The following observation seems also an appropriate insight to the working of the Spirit. "As each of us knows, Christianity is not for the gutless. How can one be cured of this crippling malady? What can cause fear to yield to courage? In his book, The Passionate State of Mind (1954), longshoreman and self-educated philosopher, Eric Hoffer, suggested that fear is rooted in uncertainty. "When we are absolutely certain, whether of our worth or worthlessness, we are almost impervious to fear." It would appear, given the assurances he offered to his disciples that Jesus would have agreed with Hoffer. In today's gospel Jesus reminds his followers (both then and now) of the certainty of God's love for them and of their worth in God's eyes."
This Sunday is Father's Day and we might connect this focus with the Jubilee Year of the Father and the Gospel call to overcome fear, especially here fear of realizing a closer and more personal, intimate relationship with God the Father. In the letter to the Romans we are given the heart of salvation, namely that through Jesus Christ we are empowered to approach God the Father with confidence. "For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, "Abba, Father!" The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." (Romans 8:14-16) And from Year Three: God the Father, Tertio Millennio Adveniente by Pope John Paul II: 1999, the third and final year of preparation, will be aimed at broadening the horizons of believers, so that they will see things in the perspective of Christ: in the perspective of the "Father who is in heaven" (cf. Mt 5:45), from whom the Lord was sent and to whom he has returned (cf. Jn 16:28). "This is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (Jn 17:3). The whole of the Christian life is like a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father, whose unconditional love for every human creature, and in particular for the "prodigal son" (cf. Lk 15:11-32), we discover anew each day. This pilgrimage takes place in the heart of each person, extends to the believing community and then reaches to the whole of humanity.
This Sunday's Gospel is a continuation of the Mission of the Twelve Apostles from last Sunday. The Gospel was written at the time when the early Church had undergone its first great persecution by Nero, and the city of Jerusalem had been leveled by Titus and Vespasian. Taken together with the prophet Jeremiah, the readings are a reminder that Christians' discipleship was never intended to be easy. It is especially a sign of contradiction in today's world of immediate gratification and seeking of pleasure. If we truly are disciples of Christ, then we will have to stand out and stand apart from the rest. That is what the martyrs of the early Church (and every age in fact) did. Yet, they like Jeremiah, did not flinch from the task of witnessing to the truth in the face of opposition, derision, and scorn. We need to heed the words of the Gospel which say, Do not be afraid of anything. The CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH teaches that The transmission of the Christian faith consists primarily in proclaiming Jesus Christ in order to lead others to faith in him. From the beginning, the first disciples burned with the desire to proclaim Christ: We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. And, they invite people of every era to enter into the joy of their communion with Christ.
A woman in Spokane, Washington by the name of Sonora Dodd spearheaded the custom of celebrating Father's Day in 1910, the same year that the nation had set forth the second Sunday of May as Mother's Day. While it is not a liturgical celebration, it is a good time for the entire family to come together at Mass to pray for fathers and grandfathers. After a family meal, the family might want to perform this simple prayer ceremony. The family gathers in a circle with the father in the center. He lays his hands on the head of each child and prays for them, then the entire family prays for him.
by Hans Christoffersen
"Have courage, do not be afraid!" These words have often popped into my head, especially before doing something that seemed threatening or ominous, such as preparing for an oral exam, getting into the dentist's chair, or contemplating a steep ski-slope.
The disciples of Jesus never had any of these particular experiences of fear, but they did face some towering obstacles in following the call of the Lord. They were not trained in rhetoric or public speaking, and what they were about went against the religious tradition and establishment of the time. They knew that any preaching, if it is worth its salt, is frightening, not only because what we say may make us unpopular with others, but also because it forces us to give witness (beyond words) to our convictions in public. We lay bare whether we ourselves have been convicted by the truth. It was no accident that St. Francis told his brothers, "Preach, and if necessary, use words!"
Jesus encourages the disciples and us to be truthful, because only in truth is confidence genuine and able to cast out fear. If sparrows, the cheapest edible meat at that time, still enjoy the providential care of God, how much more does God's providence extend to each and every human person? The dignity that comes with being truthful before others as well as before Jesus--the Way, the Truth, and the Life--will make us sharers not only in his ministry, but also in his destiny!
I've been thinking about
HOW WE SHARE THE GOOD NEWS
"Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father."
These words of Jesus from today's Gospel according to Matthew focus my attention on a truth of our faith:
We cannot get to heaven unless we make a conscious effort to share the Good News about our own experience of Jesus Christ with others. In other words, part of our ticket to enter the Kingdom of God is "evangelization," which means the process ("-ation") whereby we announce to others ("-angeliz-" [recognize the word "angel"?]) the Good News of salvation in and through Jesus Christ ("ev-" which is the Greek word meaning "good").
What does this imply for us here at St. Anthony's? First of all, you can't give what you don't have! The first step of this process is accepting Jesus before we can acknowledge him. It's the old story of letting Jesus into our hearts through worship and personal prayer, through surrender and conversion, through a moral life and a charitable outreach.
Then the presence of Jesus within our hearts we share with others in two ways: by good example (witness) and by planned efforts (apostolates).
When we carry Jesus in our hearts, it shows on the outside. We used to sing, "They know we are Christians by our love." Our kindness and courtesy become part of the characteristics of our behavior. These traits make the love and mercy of Jesus Christ known to others and invite others to accept him.
Besides these more instinctive and spontaneous means of evangelization, we also must make a conscious effort to discover and uncover the presence of God in the world we live in. We use our state in life (married or single, retired or employed, etc.) and our profession (clerk or laborer, salesman or secretary, banker or business-person) to advance the Christian message at home, at work, in the neighborhood, or among the parishioners.
You as laity are the most important evangelizers of the Church; there are more of you than there are of us, and you can take the Gospel to places we never go.
We are "an evangelizing faith community centered on the Eucharist." The more we consciously fulfill this part of our vision, the closer we get ourselves to the Kingdom of God.
--Father Benet OFM
It is true that, in itself, the Sunday Eucharist is no different from the Eucharist celebrated on other days, nor can it be separated from liturgical and sacramental life as a whole. By its very nature, the Eucharist is an epiphany of the Church; and this is most powerfully expressed when the diocesan community gathers in prayer with its pastor: "The Church appears with special clarity when the holy People of God, all of them, are actively and fully sharing in the same liturgical celebration -- especially when it is the same Eucharist -- share one prayer at one altar, at which the bishop is presiding, surrounded by his presbyters and his ministers" (Vatican II, Liturgy, 41). This relationship with the bishop and with the entire Church community is inherent in every Eucharistic celebration, even when the bishop does not preside, regardless of the day of the week on which it is celebrated. The mention of the bishop in the Eucharistic Prayer is the indication of this.
--Pope John Paul II, Dies Domini, 34
Almighty God,
You have given us the wonderful gift of a
father after Your example.
Down through the ages fathers have cared
for their children
and most of them have given themselves
unstintingly for their families.
I thank You for my father:
even though he may not agree completely
with my outlook and way of life,
I know that he is genuinely concerned
about me.
Keep him well in body and soul
and if he has already come to You
grant him eternal happiness.
Dear Lord,
inspire all fathers to some of the virtues
toward their children
that You have toward us.
May all fathers watch over their children,
show kindness in their failings,
illumine their ignorance,
and encourage them in their just concerns,
thus leading them to a true Christian
adulthood.
A person normally comes into the world within a family, and can be said to owe to the family the very fact of his existing as an individual. When he has no family, the person coming into the worlddevelops an anguished sense of pain and loss, one which will subsequently burden his whole life.
The Church draws near with loving concern to all who experience situations such as these, for she knows well the fundamental role which the family is called upon to play. Furthermore, she knows that a person goes forth from thefamily in order to realize in a new family unit his particular vocation in life. Even if someone chooses to remain single, the family continues to be, as it were, his existential horizon, that fundamental community in which the wholenetwork of social relations is grounded, from the closest and most immediate to the most distant...
Every effort should be made so that the family will be recognized as the primordial and, in a certain sense, sovereign society. The sovereignty of the family is essential for the good of society. A truly sovereign andspiritually vigorous nation is always made up of strong families who are aware of their vocation and mission in history. [TPS 39/4, 1994, 208, 232]
With this series of historical vignettes we review the history of the parish and archdiocese.
The first priest recording sacramental activities in the "parish records" was Father Sebastian Meurin. Father Meurin was a former Jesuit who elected to stay in the Mississippi valley when the Jesuits were expelled by the French. And among the conditions attached to the permit allowing for Meurin's return to the upper Louisiana territories were his agreement to accept the New Orleans Capuchins as his religious superiors, and that he accept no direction from any other ecclesiastical superior. He agreed to this, with the stipulation that the upper Louisiana territory was no longer attached to the diocese of Quebec.
The expulsion of the French Jesuits wrought untold hardships of Father Meurin. The trek to the villages around Kaskaskia was tiring, and the long journey to Cahokia and St. Louis could not be made frequently enough. Meurin committed a serious tactical error by appealing to Quebec for missionary help. Bishop Briand of Quebec responded not with a contingent of missionaries, but with the appointment of Meurin as Vicar General of the Illinois country, including New Orleans, an honor which Meurin decidedly did not need. The news of the appointment reached New Orleans, where this was viewed as rank insubordination by the "Spanish" clergy in New Orleans, and as downright treasonous by the Spanish governmental authorities. Fortunately, Meurin was warned, and went into hiding in the British territory on the east side of the Mississippi sometime in 1768. However this left the parish at St. Louis without the ministry of a priest.
Bishop Briand of Quebec sometime in late 1768 responded in more positive fashion to the appeal of the 61-year-old Meurin, and sent Father Pierre Gibault to the Illinois country. Gibault, then 31, took over in Kaskaskia, and quite regularly visited the French Catholics in St. Louis. In all probability, it was Gibault who blessed the first church in 1770. The young priest evidently was a dynamo. He moved constantly: from Kaskaskia to Ste. Genevieve to Cahokia to St. Louis to Prairie du Rocher, even to Post Vincennes, 145 miles due east of St. Louis on the Wabash River. It was a difficult trip, across swamps with danger on every side. He wrote: "I am always armed with my gun and a pair of pistols against any possible attack."
The great respect the French held for Gibault and his familiarity with the country, were to pay off handsomely in just a few years in the cause of the American Revolution.
