October 31, 1999 |
The readings for this the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time on October 31st (interesting coincidence), are very challenging to all of us, not only the priests who preach on them. In the first reading from the Book of Malachi, we are reminded that we all share in the priesthood of Christ (through Baptism) and therefore have the responsibility for good worship, for teaching God's word to others, and for bringing healing.
In the Gospel, we are told by the scripture scholars that this passage should not be seen as a blanket condemnation of Pharisees but as a challenge to hypocrisy and status seeking. These issues affect every generation including our own. We are to accept this Word because we are the Pharisees of our time - we who seek to live our faith sincerely but at times fall into the temptations of hypocrisy and the desires for honor. Like the Scribes and Pharisees, we are to take care that our lives match our words and that we maintain a suitable humility in our dealings with God and with all our brothers and sisters in Christ.
And, this Monday is November 1st - ALL SAINTS DAY, a day of celebration perfectly suited to autumn. As we draw toward the end of the agricultural year, we celebrate God's great harvest of all people throughout history who have shown love, joy and service to others. That's why ALL SAINTS and its holy eve, Halloween, are made bright with autumn fruits, vegetables and flowers. And, that's one reason why All Saints Day is begun with a night of trick-or-treating. People give and receive hospitality, the hallmark of virtue of the saints! So let's rejoice in the communion of saints - we are part of this communion! We can look forward to the day of resurrection, the final day, when creation will be transformed and we all will experience the fullness of God's kingdom.
And, Tuesday, November 2 - ALL SOULS DAY! This is the day we set aside to pray for all the dead who have gone before us. Our love, prayers and work on earth can be a blessing to those who have died, just as their love and prayers are a blessing for the living. All Souls Day reminds us that it is also good to speak about the dead and to remember them in various ways. Let us continue to remember the dead throughout the month of November as the Church encourages us to remember and celebrate not only those who have died this past year but all who have passed on before us.
Sister JoAn Schullian
It is interesting to note the origins of some of our traditional ways of celebrating Halloween. The name comes from a contraction of All Hallows Eve which refers to the Christian celebration of All Saints celebrated on November First. However the traditional ways of celebrating this night have nothing to with any Christian tradition. The Celts in the corner of northwestern Europe celebrated New Year's Day on the first of November. A festival was held the evening before to honor their lord of death. They believed that the souls of the dead were allowed to return to their homes during this night and that sinful souls who were imprisoned in the bodies of animals could be freed through gifts and sacrifices. Also that the only way to be safe was to bribe them with treats or to pass as one of them by dressing and acting like them. For a time after Europe became Christian there was an attempt to transfer this custom to the Eve of All Souls day. Costumed and masked children would go from door to door to pray for departed loved ones in return for a treat. The practices of Halloween have a checkered past.
Confessions are on my mind. This week, as part of the Jubilee Call to Conversion, the Archdiocese is sponsoring a Reconciliation Weekend. On Friday evening, November 5th, from 7pm until 9pm, and all day Saturday, November 6th, from 9am until 4pm, the Sacrament of Reconciliation will be available in designated Churches throughout the Archdiocese. Seven Holy Founders is one of the Host Churches. By now you should have received a personally addressed packet with the specifics of this event. I would like to share some reflections with you. The Sacrament of Reconciliation or as it is more commonly called, Confession, suffered greatly in the aftermath of Vatican II. For me the change from Confession or Penance to Sacrament of Reconciliation is very significant. It is more than just a name change or new terminology. When I was ordained, I was taught that I was a judge and had to weigh the seriousness of what the penitent said. Now, I don't see myself as judge, but rather as healer, helping the person to deal with the real issues of life. For me, the penitent is in charge. I am a listener, asking only questions that help me understand. The individual names the areas of life that give concern, anxiousness, or pain. The method is psychologically sound. The individual names the sin. To pretend that there is no sin is dishonest. It interests me that counselors and psychologists have adapted this methodology. They depend on their clients to tell them what is on their mind. However, the rituals of sacramental reconciliation predate by centuries the development of the behavioral sciences. Actually, we find their foundation in the scriptural commission to Peter, Whatsover you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatsoever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Forgiveness and renewal are the dominant themes of millennium jubilee celebrations and have been from the earliest days of the Hebrew scripture. God is forgiving, but can we forgive ourselves and put to rest the boogeyman of past sins? Come to me all you who find life weary and burdensome, ask forgiveness, and find the pardon and peace of our Fatherly God. Be the child come home to the Father.
Father Michael Doyle, OSM
...from Fr. Charles
BEING CATHOLIC
Last week, in a newspaper called "Crux" (it's a synopsis of major news items in the Catholic Church and is published weekly), there were two items that caught my attenton and made me realize that we can all use a series like the one we are offering on Wednesday nights. The first news item was about some statements made by Cardinal Carlo Martini, the Archbishop of Milan in Italy, who is considered by many to be one of the front runners (if there are such) to replace John Paul II. He called for what could be a Vatican III. Cardinal Martini was speaking at a gathering of European bishops. He noted that since the time of the apostles, Church leaders have gathered at various times in history "to loosen doctrinal and disciplinary knots which reappear periodically as sore points in the church." He stated that he foresaw "the possibility of new and broad experiences of collegiality in view of facing together with all the bishops those problems which modern life puts before us." He listed a number of "problems" that the church must face and discuss: the shortage of priests; the role of women in church and society; the role of laity in the church; the discipline of marriage, including the question of remarriage after divorce; relations with the Orthodox churches; the relationship between moral values on the one hand and democracy and civil laws on the other.
The other item that caught my attention is happening here in our own country. Bishop John McGann issued new guidelines for his own diocese of Rockville Center for circumstances in which non-Catholics can receive communion in the Catholic Church. His diocesan newspaper notes that, in the Diocese of Rockville Center, beginning in Advent, a non-Catholic Christian being married at a Catholic Mass may receive communion. Also people who are confined to a hospital, nursing home or prison may receive. And close family members who are Christian but not Catholic may receive communion at a funeral. These norms go beyond the usual guidelines that most dioceses (including ours) are following.
So in reading these and lots of other issues that seem to be cropping up all over, I am sure that some of us might respond: "The Catholic Church is becoming non-Catholic." And others of us would respond: "At last the Catholic Church is becoming Catholic." Where do you stand?
The Church continues to be the people of God, the body of Christ. It continues to live the mystery of being the people of God and the body of Christ in a world that is redeemed but still on its pilgrim way to the promised land. The Church continues to be the source of truth and life for her children. But we struggle to understand it's mystery and to be submissive to it. Like St. Peter, when Jesus asked the
St. Charles Borromeo died in 1584. He had all the qualities of a person who upset the leaders of the Reformation. He had an uncle who was a pope. His uncle, the pope, appointed him at a very young age to a large and wealthy benefice (diocese). Yet with "humility" as his motto, Charles set about translating the documents of Trent into a way of personal and ecclesial life. He is credited with beginning the seminary system for training of priests. For us who live in the generation following Vatican II, his love for the council of his day (Trent) -- for its liturgiacal reforms, its ecclesial reforms and its call to personal holiness -- provides us with a good example.
Several times over the past few weeks I have found myself saying to someone: "I really don't want to answer that question. Why don't you think about it for a while?"
The older I get, the fewer the questions I answer. Am I getting more stubborn as I age - if that is possible?? No, it all started many years ago when a mother used to drag her little boy to me every Sunday and say: "Father, Leroy, has a question for you?" Eventually I wised up and took the mother aside and said: "It doesn't do Leroy much good for ME to be answering his questions. YOU, mom, must provide the answers."
The same situation arises when a young man brings a young lady into the office and says: "Father, we want to get married. But first Eileen has some questions she wants answered and I can't answer them." I feel like saying to the young man: "YOU can't answer them but you MUST answer them for them to have any real meaning. How impressed your fiance would be, if YOU could be such a witness to your faith."
By the time we reach adulthood - and even long before - we SHOULD be able to field questions about our faith. We SHOULD be able to answer questions. We should NOT need to be spoon fed.
For almost five years now I have written The Teacher as an aid to understanding the Sunday Scriptures. Should I do this? Yes and no. Yes, for those who are infants in the faith. No, for those who should be responsible enough to read the scriptures and sit down alone or with a group and ponder the meaning of those words in their own lives.
It is amazing how men - and many women too - can sit down and discuss sports and sports' statistics for hours, but seem speechless when it comes to the Word of God. It is amazing how often women - and many men too - can sit down and discuss fashions or school or their kids, but seem not to be able to cope with the Word of God.
St Paul reminds us that when we were children we were fed as children, but now that we are adults we must receive the food of adults. Have we advanced from being spoon fed, as children are, and are we capable of digesting God's Word so that we can make it alive for ourselves and for others?
In a sense this is a denunciation of The Teacher. You shouldn't need it for the most part. But with it or without it are you ready for the challenge of being adult catholics?
The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a 19th century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Soul Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes" made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite soul's passage to heaven. The Jack-o-lantern custom probably comes from Irish folklore. As the tale is told, a man named Jack, who was notorious as a drunkard and trickster, tricked Satan into climbing a tree. Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree's trunk, trapping the devil up the tree. Jack made a deal with the devil that, if he would never tempt him again, he would promise to let him down the tree. According to the folk tale, after Jack died, he was denied entrance to Heaven because of his evil ways, but he was also denied access to Hell because he had tricked the devil. Instead, the devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the frigid darkness. The ember was placed inside a hollowed out turnip to keep it glowing longer.
Boo! I once went to a Halloween party at my brother's house. Everyone was in costume. One guy who didn't know me came up and said, Great priest costume! Where did you get it?
All Saints Day (Monday) is not a holy day of obligation this year as it falls on a Monday. I would like, however, to offer the following poem for your reflection:
What is a saint? the youngster asked;
So his parents set out to explain.
By describing Saint Francis and Bernadette
They attempted to make it plain.
They told of Matthew, Mark and Luke,
And ended with John and Paul;
But the boy just couldn't relate to this
And didn't grasp it at all.
Then the parents went to their church and showed him
The stained glass windows there;
The faces of the elect shone out
As they preached or knelt in prayer.
The boy was asked if he understood,
And he said, I think I do;
With what I've seen, I'd say that a saint
Is a person the light shines through.
G. Frederick Stork
Father Murphy
I've just returned from a study pilgrimage of the Franciscan "holy places" in Italy: Assisi, LaVerna, Greccio, and Rome. We visited the various shrines and reflected at length on their meaning. At each place we looked at three things: the place, the event, and the spirituality.
In the end, time and time again, we saw St. Francis and St. Clare as fingers pointing to one single reality: Jesus Christ.
It is Jesus whom we know, love, and serve. It is Jesus whom we understand through Sacred Scripture, whom we encounter through the Sacraments and the sacramentals of daily living (even nature and technology), whom we identify with through the Church. It is Jesus who is the basis of our faith, the core of our decision- making, the model for our moral life. WWJD? What would Jesus do? WWJD! Walk with Jesus daily!
I am bombarded by this same message from all the promotion of the Holy Year, from the impact of the Renew 2000 groups, and from this weekend's readings from the Bible: "We were determined to share with you the gospel of God."
As we begin to close out this millennium and usher in a new one, we as a parish need to take up this call to a new way of living our faith: not as pious practices, not as religious obligations, not as comforting assurances, but as a lively and challenging relationship with Jesus Christ that gives focus for our everyday life.
Is Jesus really the way, the truth, and the life for you? In Him do you live and move and have your being? Is your life centered on Jesus?
--Father Benet OFM
The RENEW 2000 process brings people together to share spirituality and community in order to deepen our faith, hope, and love. The topic for the fifth week of study in RENEW 2000 is "Power of the Holy Spirit." This introduction sets the stage for the week's study:
Jesus promised that he would send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who would instruct us, remind us and lead us to the truth (John 14:26). The Spirit dwells within us and helps us to believe, to hope and to love (2 Timothy 1:14). The Spirit is the "power from on high" which Christ calls "the promise of my Father." It is that same Spirit which Jesus sends upon his apostles (Luke 24:44-49). Finally, St. Paul reminds us that "those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God." We are not to be afraid, because of the Father who loves us (Romans 8:14-17).
Since Sunday is the weekly Easter, recalling and making present the day upon which Christ rose from the dead, it is also the day which reveals the meaning of time. It has nothing in common with the cosmic cycles according to which natural religion and human culture tend to impose a structure on time, succumbing perhaps to the myth of eternal return. The Christian Sunday is wholly other! Springing from the resurrection, it cuts through human time, the months, the years, the centuries, like a directional arrow which points them toward their target: Christ's Second Coming. Sunday foreshadows the last day, the day of the Parousia, which is in a way already anticipated by Christ's glory in the event of the resurrection.
In fact, everything that will happen until the end of the world will be no more than an extension and unfolding of what happened on the day when the battered body of the crucified Lord was raised by the power of the Spirit and became in turn the wellspring of the Spirit for all humanity. Christians know that there is no need to wait for another time of salvation, since, however long the world may last, they are already living in the last times. Not only the Church, but the cosmos itself and history are ceaselessly ruled and governed by the glorified Christ. It is this life-force which propels creation, "groaning in birth-pangs until now" (Rom 8:22), toward the goal of its full redemption. Mankind can have only a faint intuition of this process, but Christians have the key and the certainty. Keeping Sunday holy is the important witness which they are called to bear, so that every stage of human history will be upheld by hope.
-- Pope John Paul II
