• Bulletin Board, Announcements, Calendar
• Editorial - Op Ed
• Welcome and Website Protocol
• Article Archive

Print this page

Article Categories

• Book Reviews
• Open Letter
• Editorials
• Notes, Quotes & Comments
• Pastor's Study
• Project Millstones
• Sidebar Comments
• Weekly Message

Links

Liturgy
This link will keep 'parishioners-at-large' in touch with current creative liturgy sources and resources that respect a variety of 'traditions' within the Church.

COMMONWEAL Magazine
A 'lay' Catholic weekly publication with an accent on an intelligent analysis and commentary on curent issues, trends and concerns of interest to Catholics.

National Catholic Reporter
A national Catholic lay newspaper covering events not usually covered or presented with a clerical bias in the local diocesan press or but of concern and interest to Catholics.

Survivos' Network for those Abused by Priests or Religious
A National Network of self-help support groups for people abused by clergy or religious.

Bishop Accountability
Vital information about the disclosure of sexual abuse and related issues affecting Catholics in the pew and the manner in which Bishops continue to exempt themselves from accountability

Voice of the Faithful
A 'movement' of lay Catholics 'inspired' by the abuse scandal calling for greater accountability of bishops to 'Catholics in the Pew.'

Search

Daily Scripture

+ 20th Week in Ordinary Time

I’ll do it myself.

Readings: Ezekiel 34:1-11 Psalm 23:1-6 Matthew 20:1-16

Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: because my shepherds did not look after my sheep, but pastured themselves and did not pasture my sheep, I will claim my sheep from them and put a stop to their shepherding my sheep. I will save my sheep, that they may no longer be food for their mouths. [Ezekiel 34:10]

There is much talk about a vocation shortage—fewer young men entering the seminary and fewer still persevering to ordination. Not withstanding some notable exceptions this has resulted in the lowering of standards for ordination. Moreover, priests and candidates for the priesthood are being ‘imported’ from other countries whose needs are as urgent as ours.

The prevailing accent seems to be on the need to have a sufficient number of priests to ‘say Mass’ and provide for the sacramental needs of the faithful. But surely in the light of the Second Vatican Council, priests need to be more than presiders at Mass and providers of the sacraments, as important as are these roles.

The earliest experience of the Church can be instructive in this regard. The notion of presbyter provided the early church with presiders for worship and leaders for base communities. Celibacy was not an issue and there was no clerical caste. The gifts of the faithful were recognized in such a manner that men and women, married and single fulfilled the spiritual needs of the community including the sacramental needs.

Notwithstanding the inadequacy of the notion of shepherding people (sheeple?) the need remains for qualified men and women to minister to the needs of the community.

Ezekiel warned the priests and assured the people of Israel that God would find away to pasture his people.

Ezekiel’s words need to be taken to heart again and in fact we already see that God is indeed providing a way through the action of the Holy Spirit in the lives of men and women, married and single, who are tending to the needs of the faithful.

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'C'

Saturday August 4, 2007

Life is not a business trip.

Although many of us were born long after the infamous financial crash of 1929, I recall many stories about what life was like during the great depression. I remember tales related by my parents and grandparents about how carrots and beets cost two cents a bunch. My huge distaste for carrots and beets moved me to ask: “Wow! If everything was that cheap, how much candy could you buy for only two cents?” Mom was quick with her retort, “When you are making little or nothing a week, two cents is a lot of money!” I also remember how she chuckled when I asked as we walked past the Morristown Trust Company on South Street: “Where do we keep all our money?” She quickly responded: “In the piggy bank in the upstairs closet!” But we got by on a modest budget and, to my childlike chagrin, we always seemed to have enough for a bit of meat, potatoes, carrots, beets, and spinach!

In a more serious vein, I also remember the stories about financial entrepreneurs jumping off rooftops when the bottom fell out of the stock market. Life had lost meaning for those whose lives had become nothing more than a business trip.

Despite periodic recessions, the likelihood of a similar depression has diminished thanks to the ingenuity of economists and politicians and of course, the caution of wise investors and the prudence of consumers. However, this ingenuity, caution, and prudence have also had a downside resulting in downsizing, outsourcing and a loss of many jobs. For others it has created an extraordinary windfall and not a few gold parachutes. On top of all this, the complexity of a global economy has exacerbated the division between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots.’ News commentator Lou Dobbs reminds us nightly of the shrinking middleclass. Unfortunately the diverse economic philosophies of political parties tends to produce an either /or mentality—one assigning blame to the other for impending financial doom. The issues are indeed complex: protectionism versus a world-wide open door market; debt repayment versus debt reduction; legitimate utilization of natural resources versus legitimate concern for global ecology; personal health care plans versus national health insurance and on and on it goes, all without a raise in taxes.

Everyone has an opinion — economists, politicians, social scientists, human rights activists, preachers and even philanthropists. No one has come up with answers that satisfy everyone and it would be fool-hearty for me to attempt to suggest solutions based on a simplistic or fundamentalist application of the biblical texts.

That having been stated, we can draw to some conclusions about how these texts might impact on the conscience of believers in the Judeo-Christian ethic.

I think we can find some common ground in the conviction shared by true believers and even atheists that we do not own the earth’s resources. Whatever our cosmology or genealogy, we do not have ultimate control over the world and although we enjoy a partnership with God in the exploration of the earth’s resources, we do not have the right to exploit them for our inordinate personal gain or selfish interests but must use them conscious of the needs of the poor.

Increasingly, all religious traditions are challenging us to be mindful that there is an ultimate destiny for humanity that flows from the natural order and the laws that govern the exploration, and management of nature and the universe. Yes, nature will not tolerate misue of its rich resources.

At a very practical level, religion in general and our Christian tradition in particular call us to be mindful that there are moral imperatives that guide our day to day decisions about the investment of our energy, time, and money. We may not isolate ourselves from the plight of the poor and disenfranchised no matter where they live. It is blasphemy to suggest that prosperity is a sign of God’s favor as if to suggest that poverty is the result of laziness or of the unwillingness to work.

Qoheleth, the teacher, who speaks to us in the Book of Ecclesiastes was obviously having a bad day but his point is well taken about how vaporous and empty is a life ruled by the pursuit of fame and fortune as if there is not a higher value in the pursuit of virtue and integrity.

Jesus words are perhaps the most poignant. “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Life is a not business trip. The quality of our character is determine more by what we give away than by what we possess. We are in trouble when winning at work means losing at life. I once heard a young father say that the most important time of the day is not when he arrives at work but when he arrives home to be with his family. It is at his family table that he is most conscious of his connection to all of humanity and he is gratitude for the gift of life.

The Scriptures challenge us to a transformation of the will and a shift of the center from self to others and William James wrote: “The best use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts life.”