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AMERICA Magazine
A balanced Catholic weekly magazine published by the jesuits of the United States for an intelligent Catholic readership. Go online to subscribe.

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.

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

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A National Network of self-help support groups for people abused by clergy or religious.

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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

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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.

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

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Daily Scripture

+ 7th Week of Easter

We are to be consecrated in truth.

Readings: Acts 20:28-38 Psalm 88:29-30, 33-36 John 17:11b-19

Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they may also be consecrated in truth. [John 17:18-19]

Read the Gospel very slowly and if possible, out loud and if necessary, three times! Although John’s literary style is quite complex, the farewell prayer of Jesus is as powerful as is Paul’s farewell message in Acts.

It is not likely that these passages are the actual words of Paul and Jesus. They are compositions that Luke and John or whoever wrote in their name and are based on the oral tradition of the sayings of Jesus and the preaching of Paul. They were written in the style of farewell addresses of prominent leaders of their times in order to win the attention of early believers to whom the message of truth was entrusted.

The ‘truth’ that is being proclaimed is not from a catechism nor is it a defined doctrine or dogma. It is the core truth about the God who spoke through the prophets and then through Jesus about the universality of God’s love.

During this time of immediate preparation for Pentecost, we are invited to think about our own responsibility to pass on the ‘truth’ of God’s goodness entrusted to us in Christ and how we are to live that truth in our daily lives, each in our own unique way. No one of us can do this alone and so we much join hands literally and figuratively within the community of believers everywhere.

To live the ‘truth’ is to live in the Spirit of Jesus Christ the fruits of which are charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, moderation, self-control, reverence, etc. I’m sure you memorized these ‘fruits of the Holy Spirit.’

These are the true ‘marks’ of our authenticity as believers.

Feast of the Assumption of Mary

Sunday August 15, 2010

She made it! So can we!

It’s a happy coincidence that the patronal feast for our parish falls on a Sunday this year. It is also significant because in recent years Mary seems to have attracted the attention of many Catholic scholars as well as ordinary worshippers such as you and me. I suppose that puts Mary right in the center of the parish and in the center of the Church where she ought to be, as one commentator referred to her, “mother, mentor and mensch.” [Patricia Sanchez, ‘Celebration’, a homiletic resource, NCR Publishing Co., Kansas City, Mo., 2010] After Mass this morning, one of our ushers reminded me that Mary is also known as mediator. But more about these titles later.

The feast is not about the technology of her passage into heaven but about the completion of her mission on earth. According to Catholic traditional teaching, it was Mary’s destiny from the very first moment of her conception to partner with God in the birth of Christ and to live with God forever in heaven. Her acceptance of that call to mother the Christ and to adopt humanity as a spiritual mother was her unique vocation. She embraced her calling with dignity and without hesitation or equivocation. According to the midrashic tradition recorded by Luke, Mary replied to the angel Gabriel, “Let it be done to me according to your word.”

As mother, she allowed the seed of divinity to be impregnated in her very being so that she herself could bring forth the living Word allowing God’s saving grace to become incarnate in Christ. As mentor, she epitomized the wisdom of the Old Testament wisdom described as ‘sophia,’ the feminine attribute of God. As mensch, she became the woman of integrity and honor. Mensch is a Yiddish word meaning person of fortitude and firmness of purpose. As mediator, she enjoys a special relationship to her son as priest. It is curious, then, why women would be considered incapable of being ordained as priests. In fact, not many years ago, Mary was referred to as ‘co-redemptrix’ with Jesus in the economy of salvation by many mariologists including, I believe, Pope Pius XII.

Mary’s destiny is our destiny too. Although never as exalted as her call, we too were destined from the very first moment of our conception to become partners with God—to allow the seed of God’s Word to take root in our hearts in Christ. In that sense, we all ‘mother’ Christ into our world through our words and works of justice and charity. That’s what discipleship is all about. In another sense, as spiritual daughters and sons of Mary, we became in baptism, adopted sons and daughters of God, sisters and brothers of Christ. Of course this is a spiritual reality that has a solid foundation in traditional Catholic theology. It is our destiny to live with God in Christ forever. We also mentor our children with the qualities of Christian discipleship. As mensches, we stand up in the marketplace for justice for the oppressed. As mediators, we participate in the priesthood of Christ offering our sacrificial love for the salvation of all humanity.

This is not to suggest in any way that although our call is our destiny, it is an entitlement in the strict sense or that we will ever be able to achieve our destiny on our own. In truth life is a precious gift. Nothing we can achieve on our own is accomplished without grace. We are no different from Mary in this regard.

The other insight that came to me as I reflected on the feast is the fact that as Christians, we are totally absorbed—mind, body and spirit—into the life of Christ. We are spiritual but not spiritualists. The arena of sports and the world dance amply demonstrate for me the magnificent blend of body and spirit. Watch the PGA golf pros as they pitch and put their way to the 18th hole or gymnastics or ballet dancers as they dance their way to the gold. In fact, the human body exalts the soul of God as much as it does humanity.

Mary’s response to her cousin Elizabeth in the ‘Magnificat’ celebrates the enfleshment of the divine Spirit: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” In this very poetic prayer of praise, Mary’s qualities are beautifully phrased as mother, mentor, mensch and mediator. Mary was no sweet wimp!

In the light of current events at home and abroad and in the face of attempts to distort or destroy what God has created as good, we do well to celebrate the gift of our humanity and the beauty of human life. As Christians we are challenged to give witness to human potential as empowered by divine grace. It’s a good combination and brings to mind once more the sentiments of the Late Cardinal Bernardin in his now classic pastoral letter on life, “The Seamless Garment.”

In his deep respect for human life, he challenged not only Catholics in his own Archdiocese of Chicago, but believers everywhere to put an end to the culture of death that stifles human hope and accept instead the empowering gift of God’s ennobling spirit which energizes our human potential for good.

As partners with God, children of Mary, brothers and sisters in Christ, we are committed to life in all its forms—in the womb and on death row; the quality of life in ghettoes and back streets of our cities or in poverty pockets in Appalachia; on the battle front among warring nations and in the care of the environment and ecosystems that constitute our legacy to our children and grandchildren.

The greatest testimony we can give to one another and to our world it the testimony of a life lived in complete harmony with the human spirit at one with God so that Mary’s prayer can become our prayer. “My soul programs the greatness of the Lord and my spirit finds joy in God my savior.”