• 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

+ 4th Week in Lent

Shoot the messenger!

Readings: Wisdom 2:1, 12-22 Psalm 34:17-23 John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

The godless say to themselves, with their misguided reasoning: “Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys us and opposes our way of life.” [Wisdom 2:1]

It is not unusual for good people to get under our skin. Put another way, it isn’t easy to live with a saint! Whenever I make that observation in a homily, I always get a smile from the congregation. From the side of my eye, I might even see a wife or husband poke each other.

The reason for our ‘resentment’ is that good people appear to be too good to be true and they probably are. So, in our egalitarian drive to equalize or balance the relationship, we search for their area of vulnerability – their fault line, as it were, to prove that we are not so bad after all.

I have observed more than once that things are rarely as bad as we sometimes make them appear. On the other hand, things are rarely as good as we make them appear. We are all prone to exaggeration in both directions.

Jesus, however, was the exception that proves the rule and that’s why they wanted to do away with them. The author of the Book of Wisdom was ahead of his time and had unwittingly put his figure on the pulse of the critics of Jesus long before Jesus appeared on the scene.

Even to this day, we are still tempted to do away with people who are too good to be true because “they get under our skin.” No, we don’t kill them but we isolate them and / or dismiss then as irrelevant.

We see this once again as the clergy sex abuse scandal reaches global proportions. Notice the attempt on the part of high church MEN to explain away any responsibility for a possible cover-up. In the United States, it was the anti-Catholic press and the sexual revolution that was indicted by Rome as the cause of the scandal. Shoot the messenger!

Jesus was an itinerant preacher sent to bring goodness to this world. He was ‘Godness’ in human form. His vocation became our vocation through baptism. So I suppose it is our call to be ‘too good to be true’ too.

There can be no healing, peace and reconciliation until there is justice. There can be no justice until there is truth. And there will be no truth until there is full accountability from top to botton. Period.

Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran

Sunday November 9, 2008

All Are Welcome!

The opening hymn for all meetings of VOTF – Voice of the Faithful is “All Are Welcome.” It may be found in the World Library Hymnal, ‘We Celebrate,’ at number 870. It’s a thoughtful and thought-provoking hymn and opens with the words, “Let us build a house where love can dwell … ” and goes on to extol God’s all embracing love for humanity without condition or reservation.

The Basilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral church for the Diocese of Rome. The original church was constructed in the fourth century on a parcel of land adjacent to the Laterani palace which at some point had come into the hands of Constantine. The land for the Church was donated by Constantine’s wife, Fausta. The basilica was originally named as the Church of the Savior. Its official name today is “The Patriarchal Basilica of the Most Holy Savior and St. John the Baptist at the Lateran” and is considered to be the world’s oldest standing Christian basilica and the mother church of all the churches in Catholic Christendom.

Known more for its historic rather than aesthetic value, the basilica was the setting for four major church councils between the fourth and thirteenth centuries.

The palace of St. John Lateran was used as the pope’s residence from the dedication of the basilica until the transfer of the papacy to Avignon in 1370. The basilica is still the ‘Pope’s church.’ Elected as the Bishop of Rome, he becomes pope and head of the college of bishops and shepherd of the universal Church. He is the center of unity for the Church. However, only on rare occasions is the basilica used for papal ceremonies. I was a student in Rome when JFK was assassinated and stood near the apse of the basilica during a special memorial Mass concelebrated by the American cardinals at the basilica two days later.

We celebrate this feast annually but only every six years or so does the feast occur on a Sunday. We do so as a reminder that we celebrate the presence of Christ in every church, as a particular group of believers with our own needs and concerns but always in communion with the universal Church.

The readings selected for this weekend provide a frame of reference not only for the feast but more importantly for what it means to be ‘church’ as the People of God, temples of the Holy Spirit, a people centered in and consecrated to God with Christ as our true shepherd.

The vision of Ezekiel was of a temple that no longer existed. The Babylonians destroyed it as the Jews were transported into exile. Reminiscent of Psalm 46, he envisioned a metaphoric temple from which a river of fresh water flowed from the east gate toward the Dead Sea, symbolic of the barren life of the exiled Jews. The fresh waters would turn the lifeless salt sea into a sea of living waters teeming with all sorts of marine life. He envisioned a comparable renewal of the Jewish people on their return to Jerusalem and the construction of a new temple.

We in the Christian era see in this vision a symbol of baptism in which we are washed and reborn in the Spirit so that we may be a people from whom fresh waters flow throughout the parched earth bringing life and a new vision of what it means to live in the dominion of God.

In his letter first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul addressed the Christians as “God’s building,” a temple not made of stone but of believers with Christ as the cornerstone with the Spirit of God dwelling in them.

Abandoning the old definition of Vatican I (1870) as “a perfect juridical society, Vatican II radically redefined the Church as “the People of God,” a city on a mountaintop that gives light to the world.

And in the Gospel of John, Jesus describes himself as the temple that is beyond destruction. This episode prepares us for an even stronger criticism of Temple worship in the exchange between Jesus and the Samaritan woman: “the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem… true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” [John 4:21, 23-24]

The church building is a reminder of who we are and what we are called to be. It’s meaning is derived from the faith of those who assemble—a people centered in Christ.

This picturesque description of the cathedral contains a metaphor of meaning for the believer:

“The massive rose windows of the medieval cathedrals were not only marvels of engineering and artistry; they were also symbols of the well-ordered soul. The pilgrim coming to the cathedral for spiritual enlightenment would be encouraged to meditate upon the rose of light and color in order to be drawn in the mystical conformity with it. What would he or she see? At the center of every rose window is a depiction of Christ (even when Mary seems to be the focus, she is carrying the Christ child on her lap), and then wheeling around him in lyrical and harmonious patterns are the hundreds of medallions, each depicting a saint or a scene from scripture.” [Excerpt from “You’re holier than you know,” by Father Robert Barron, U.S. Catholic Magazine, October, 2008.]

We come to this building to refocus and recenter ourselves in Christ. We are defined as a people not by this building but by what we do at this table. The ancient temple was destroyed twice and never rebuilt. All the basilicas throughout the world will crumble one day and this church will not last forever but if we remain centered in Christ, our worship will continue as long as we have our faith stories to share and the bread and wine of the Eucharist to nourish us.

The way of Jesus leads to communion with all people. His enduring presence in the Church is the foundation of a profound community in the world just as God desires it.

The Church comes into being in the community where we live, not so much in its official structures and insistent rules and regulations as in its essential form of community and the vision of a new creation.

Remember then that our community must before all else be one and holy, catholic and apostolic. In this way we will live the mystery of the Church in the place where we are.

Love the Church as the Lord himself. Though it is burdened with the weakness and sinfulness of a long history it is still the instrument of God’s dominion, God’s work of salvation for the world.

Show solidarity with all your sisters and brothers in the faith. One baptism and the same Eucharist are the visible signs of our unity. Be especially mindful of those who are being persecuted for the sake of faith and righteousness.

Be attentive to others not in order to dominate or exploit but to work for their wholeness and happiness discreetly and effectively and to build them up in all the riches of faith and love. And accept from your companions the help you need.

Be thankful for the variety of gifts and difference of personality. When you put your own potential and insights at the serve of your community your unity will grow stronger and richer, and together you will create that spaciousness that finds room for everyone.

Make the effort of listening to others and of understanding them. Give your opinion when it is useful without false humility or assertiveness. Speak in such a way that you can still hear what the other is saying, Whether you speak or keep silent let it proceed from the peace of the Lord within you. [Adapted from the Rule for a New Brother, by H van der Looy, Templegate Publishers, Springfield, Illinois.]

“Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard and loved and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the word. Built of tears and cries and laughter, prayers of faith and songs of grace, let this house proclaim from floor to rafter: All are welcome, all are welcome in this place.” [‘We Celebrate,’ World Library Publications, J.S. Paluch Company, Franklin Park, Illinois.]