October 17, 1999 |
So great is the confusion at times that for many people the difference between good and evil is determined by the opinion of the majority, and even the time-honored havens of human life - the family, the law and medicine are sometimes made to serve the culture of death. At such a time, Christians must act. (Pope John Paul II)
Driving back and forth from my home to work has always been wondrous to me especially in the fall. The changing colors speak loudly of the forms and changes of life. The vast array of colors in the fall picture for me life at it's fullness: the variety of colors, the speed of the changes, the tenacity of leaves before letting go and how quickly they all disappear into the earth. I am reminded of the scripture that all creation shows forth the glory of God and again, out of dust you came and unto dust you shall return. Fall reminds me that God is in charge.
by Pam Casagrande.
I hope you read the Respect Life insert in the bulletin this week. I would add the words of Sr. Paula Vandegaer, Executive Director of International Life Services and editor of Living Word magazine.
"Project Rachel began over fifteen years ago as an outreach of the Catholic Church to women, men and families who have been affected by abortion. The Church is a place of healing. It speaks the truth about abortion to men and women contemplating this action. 'Don't do it! It is wrong and it will hurt you and the baby,' but it also speaks the full truth. 'If you have had an abortion, God's mercy is great enough to forgive that, too.' Jesus offers forgiveness and healing. He offers the hope and promise of resurrection and reunion with the child who is waiting for his parents in heaven. People who call Project Rachel are offered referrals to professinal counselors or to priests specially trained for spiritual guidance and the Sacrament of Reconciliation...the Church has Project Rachel ministry as a way of healing."
Baby Hope was a patient in our emergency department, a perfectly formed newborn, entering the world too soon through no choice of her own. She had no voice to tell us that she needed our help that early morning, because others had decided for her that she was worthless and removed her from the ultimate and perfect life support equipment-her mother's womb, stated the nurse who held this victim of a partial-birth abortion attempt until she died.
One of the most important things we teach and model for our children as parents is respect for all of God's creation-animals as well as people. St. Francis, patron of animals, is a wonderful model of that love and respect. Francis, who was a wealthy young man, decided to give away all that he had and to live as simply as the animals in the field and the birds of the air. Francis had a deep love for all living things. He saw the animals and birds as his brothers and sisters sharing God's world and all that was in it.
As we share stories of Francis's gentleness and respect for life, we teach our children to be good protectors of God's creation. Since St. Francis's feast day is October 4, it can be a good month to focus your family discussion and prayer on the wonderful birds and animals given us by God. Francis lived on this earth nearly 800 years ago, but after all this time he is one of the most beloved of all the saints. People of many different faiths-and even some who are members of no religion at all-know and admire him.
A FAMILY PRAYER
St. Francis, gentle man and servant of God,
You have taught us to be kind and caring to all of God's creation.
Help us to look at all life around us with love and respect.
Intercede for us as we ask for God's blessing on...
The birds of the air
The pets of our neighborhood-dogs, cats, mice and hamsters,
Fish and reptiles-all pets.
Working animals around us-Seeing-Eye dogs, police dogs, and horses pulling carts or being ridden by the police.
The beautiful and unusual animals, fishes, and birds
In our zoos, aquariums, and museums.
Farm animals and all wild animals that share this world with us.
We ask God's blessing on our sister Robin and brother Cardinal.
We ask blessing on our brother/sister
_____________________(name family and/or
neighborhood pets) and we ask that St. Francis be our model
for kindness and respect for all creatures-great and small.
AMEN
The word "Halloween" actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. All Hallows Day, or All Saint's Day, November 1, is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain, the Celtic New Year. One story says that, on that day, the disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife. The Celts believed all laws of space and time were suspended during this time, allowing the spirit world to intermingle with the living.
Naturally, the still living did not want to be possessed. So on the night of October 31, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes to make them cold and undesirable. They would then dress up in all manner of ghoulish costumes and noisily paraded around the neighborhood, being as destructive as possible in order to frighten away spirits looking for bodies to possess.
Love your money! There is an interesting little book, Secular Sanctity, by Edward Hayes that contains some interesting thoughts on a spirituality of money. These reflections are lighthearted, yet profound. Saint Augustine is often quoted as saying "love God and do what you want." The gist of this expression is in what you mean by love. How does "love your money" sound? Edward Hayes thinks that we should love our money and take pride in it. It is what he means by "love" that puts the expression into perspective. Let me share some of the thoughts I've gleaned from this little gem. Every paycheck is a pat on the back and having truly earned it, it should make us proud. We can say this is "me" for it represents sweat and toil. We should use it to nourish our bodies. Part of our income goes for food, clothing, shelter, entertainment, and fun. This is good and holy. The dollar bills represents the community to which we belong. They are used to support that community by the taxes we pay. We help build the highways, pay the teachers' salaries, and even patch the potholes in front of our homes. This is a gift of ourselves to our country, our state, our town--to those with whom we live. Some money goes to Social Security and puts food on the plate of some aged man or woman or helps shelter an elderly person. It helps someone in need. Some money we give away. We gift others with it. We see ourselves giving toil and sweat, giving a piece of ourselves, and really that is what the gift is. So we give to those we love, to friends, to organizations and activities we believe in and trust with a piece of self, like our Church. This is a beginning effort to bring out the idea that there is spirituality to the use of money. I hope it will trigger some thought in you on how you use your money as prayer. A closing humorous thought: Richard Arthur once said "that money talks, I'll not deny; I heard it once and it said 'Good-bye'." What do you think?
Father Michael Doyle, OSM
The Society of the Precious Blood celebrates the feast of their founder, St. Gaspar del Bufalo, on Thursday, October 21. St. Gaspar was born on January 6, 1786 in Rome. He was ordained a priest for the diocese of Rome in 1808 and less than two years later was arrested and imprisoned for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to Napoleon. After three years in prison and exile, he was released, and on August 15, 1815, he founded the Society of the Precious Blood at the Abbey of San Felice in Giano, Italy. For twenty-two years, he renewed the Church by preaching the Word and proclaiming the saving power of the Precious Blood. He died December 28, 1837. Besides St. Charles Parish, Precious Blood priests and brothers staff eight other parishes in the diocese. In addition to the Society's United States provinces, it serves in sixteen other countries. The charism or gift which the Precious Blood community brings to the Church is found in its ministries of renewal, evangelization and reconciliation. In the past several years numerous men and women have become associated with the Precious Blood Society as Lay Companions.
Paige Byrne Shortal
"The Pharisees (along with the Herodians) went off and plotted how they might entrap Jesus." St. Matthew goes on to explain that they tried to trap him with the question about paying taxes to Caesar. Jesus, "knowing their malice," calls them hypocrites and makes his now-famous response: "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's."
The next verses describe a further attempt to trap Jesus with a question about marriage in heaven. And next Sunday we will hear yet another test about the greatest commandment.
What is going on here? Why are "they" trying to trap Jesus and who are "they?" Too often we imagine that the conflict in the Gospels was between "The Jews" and a Good Christian Man named Jesus. Recently a young woman, whose religious education was a bit sparse, asked me if it's true that Jesus was a Jew. She had heard this from her Baptist friend and was quite shocked when I verified it.
Except for the Roman occupiers and a few pagans, everyone in the Gospels was Jewish, including Jesus. The conflict that led to the death of Jesus was between the religious leaders, political leaders and the wealthy on one side, and the Anawim on the other. Who are the Anawim? They are those with Gospel Privileges: the poor, the orphans, women, the disenfranchised, the disabled, the public sinners, the failures, all those whose lives must be protected.
The Pharisees are threatened by Jesus because he upsets the social order by his preaching. Jesus refuses to stone the woman who is caught in adultery. He heals on the sabbath day. He witnesses to a God that is for all, not just for those who had the leisure and the privilege of following the law down to the last jot and tittle. He calls the poor "blest." And this was why the crowds followed him. This is why the lowly wanted just to touch the hem of his garment. And this is why he was killed.
If we continue to imagine that the conflict was about "them"--the Jews and the Romans and those people who lived long ago--we conveniently excuse ourselves from hearing an important part of the Gospel message.
As we hear these Gospel passages, perhaps we should consider who the Herods and Pharisees are in our day. Who are the religious leaders who "bind up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people's shoulders, and do not lift a finger to move them?" Who are they who "take the places of honor at banquets and exalt themselves over others?"
Jesus did not want to suffer an excruciating and humiliating death. (Read his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemani, Matthew 26.) But he chose to tell the truth, knowing that for telling that truth he would be set up, framed, and executed. If we make Jesus' death into a private act of piety, we lose sight of his real purpose: to witness to the truth of a loving God even at the cost of his life.
Once when my boys were little, I was tediously lecturing them about making a holy response to racist remarks . . . something about how even in our own lives we should follow the examples of people like Bishop Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King, Ghandi. The youngest, who has a flair for citing the obvious to his sometimes dense mother, said, "Mom, those guys were all killed." True enough. The cost of telling the truth and loving one's enemies is crucifixion. Sometimes death and sometimes little crucifixions like losing one's job, or being forbidden to speak or publish, or just simple ostracism.
The difference between Jesus and all the other prophets and witnesses to the truth (martyr means "witness") is that Jesus was also the Son of God. And so by his death we are not only informed, we are transformed. Not only enlightened, but transfigured. By the death and resurrection of Jesus we are redeemed, saved, and made whole. And by his death and resurrection we are inspired to live like him and given the strength and grace to do so. God help us all.
A saint is a person who is open to God's grace and the power it gives to work toward holiness. With a small initial letter, "saint" describes any and all who live the pilgrim journey of faith, hope, and love. You? Me? All in the process to know, love and serve God in this life so that they can be with the Lord in the life to come are saints in the making.
With a capital initial letter, "Saint" describes a person whose journey in this life is complete. Saints are those who, through the process called canonization, are judged by the Church as having lived a life of exemplary virtue. The example of these individuals shows us how God's grace triumphs in experiences of daily life choices. Canonized saints are guides who encourage us by the witness of their living to make similar commitments to service of God and neighbor. We cannot live their life! Still, by their example, we are encouraged to know God's presence and power guiding and supporting choices we make each day.
Patron saints are designated to have a special care for particular works or details of living. We may have devotion to a particular saint because we identify in some way with her life; so we pray through her intercession. We may choose the name of a particular saint using his name at Baptism or Confirmation because we pray a particular connection between the life of that saint and the person who will now bear his name. A meaningful custom for Catholic communities is the designation of a saint as patron for a parish family with the effect of having a special intercessor for grace and blessing.
October 16 is the Feast Day for Saint Gerard Majella. It calls us to reflect on his example to guide our living. Certainly, as "The Mother's Saint," Saint Gerard's witness reminds us to pray for mothers, for unborn children, for couples hoping to have children, for life and for respect of life. These concerns should not be ignored.
Saint Gerard's example also teaches us how important is devotion to Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament. A constant desire to be in the Presence of the Lord led Saint Gerard to spend much time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. He describes his special joy that he could receive the Body and Blood of Jesus in Holy Eucharist.
All who take time to pray in our Adoration Chapel in the Presence of our Lord in the Holy Eucharist continue the practice of Saint Gerard Majella, our Patron. All who are attentive to what blessings the Lord shares in the gift of Holy Eucharist follow the example of Saint Gerard as well.
We are blessed as members of the Community of Saints. We are blessed as people who honor God in the witness of Saint Gerard Majella. Saint Gerard stands as our guide to know God's love. Hopefully, we choose a life in response to these blessings!
BRINGING THE JUBILEE PLEDGE TO LIFE: Reach across the boundaries. Build bridges across boundaries of religion, race, ethnicity, gender and disabling condition. In your parish, neighborhood, school, civic group and workplace, make a special effort to respect and to include those who are different from you. If you are in a decision-making position affecting others, examine whether you treat those who are different fairly. - Live justly. The most important opportunities to work for justice and peace do not come through special programs, but in the choices we make and the way we treat others every day. Seize opportunities to promote justice and peace at home, through your financial decisions, in your parish, at school, at work and in community activities. When you pay for services, tip adequately when tips are expected to supplement low incomes.
World Youth Day originated with the observances of the United Nations International Year of the Youth in 1985. The Holy Father invited young people from around the world to meet with him in Rome to celebrate their faith and join in fellowship. This became a yearly celebration, which in the United States is usually scheduled on the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary time, typically the last Sunday in October. World Youth Day is a time to acknowledge and affirm the gifts and talents of young people, and to welcome and appreciate their participation in our church. It is not just a celebration for youth, but an opportunity for the entire community to celebrate the church's youthfulness! Pope John Paul II, as part of World Youth Day 1993 reminded us that responding to the needs of young people is integral to our mission as Church when he shared the following. "As leaders in the field of the youth apostolate, your task will be to help your parishes, dioceses, associations, and movements to be truly open to the personal, social, and spiritual needs of young people. You will have to find ways of involving young people in projects and activities of formation, spirituality and service, giving them responsibility for themselves and their work, and taking care to avoid isolating them and their apostolate from the rest of the ecclesial community. They should also be able to see that their apostolate belongs fully to the church's mission in the world". World Youth Day is an opportunity to affirm both the gifts of young people and our commitment to "being church" with them as they continue their faith journey.
