Get thee to Penance

Homily for Third Sunday in Advent - B
Theme: Get thee to the Penance Service!

In a reflection written by Fr. Cantalamessa for Pope Benedict this Advent, he states, "the Christian novelty consists in this… Every religious proposal begins by telling men what they must do to save themselves or to obtain 'illumination.' Christianity does not begin by telling men what they must do, but what God has done for them in Jesus Christ. Christianity is a religion of Grace." There are points in this quote worth noting. One is that Jesus came down here to work on our behalf, to offer us salvation. The second one is that we profess a Religion of Grace.

The first readings in Advent all deal with the Israelites waiting for God to come into the world. They wanted Him to come and fix the world. They were a bit confused; it was not the world that needed fixed, it was themselves. We brought sin into the world and the consequence of living in sin is death. So God came into the world, on that first Christmas, not to fix the world, but to heal you and I. Jesus left behind the Holy Spirit and the Church to continue His work of offering us healing. The Israelites missed Jesus because they were expecting the world to be healed instead of themselves. We can make the same mistake if we look for God someplace else rather than His Church.

There are two important points to remember about Grace. One is that it is a free and undeserved help that God gives us to live a life of holiness. The second point is that while it is a free gift it demands a response from you and I. God offers you and I a supernatural gift of grace, but we have to want to accept it and part of this acceptance is showing up where God is dispensing this gift, that is in the Church through the Sacraments.

On Sunday and Monday evening we will be have the Sacrament of Penance here at St. Brigid. It is an opportunity for us to come and have an encounter with Jesus and receive the gift of healing. It is an opportunity for us to replenish the gift of Grace. Just in case it has been awhile, since we have thought about this sacrament I have a list of questions that we can use to examine our conscience:

Do I pray everyday?
Have I taken God's name in vain?
Have I missed Mass on Sunday and/or Holy Days of obligation?
Have I dishonored my parents?
Have I gotten angry?
Have I hurt others with my words?
Have I made fun of others?
Have I had an abortion or helped with one?
Have I had impure thoughts/actions?
If you are not married, Have I fornicated? or engaged in promiscuous behavior?
If you are married, Have I committed adultery? Have I used birth control?
Have I looked at pornography?
Have I lied?
Have I cheated?
Have I been jealous?
Have I been drunk?
Have I used illegal drugs?
Have I been judgmental?
Have I been proud?

Can we be found guilty by any of these questions? I know I can. If we can be found guilty then we have a responsibility to confess them.

A number of people missed Jesus being born into the world because they were busy with their lives. A number of people heard Jesus, but decided not follow Him. If we want to encounter and follow Jesus then we must respond. It takes a decision to cooperate with His Grace. You and I probably have many reasons why it would be inconvenient to come to Church again on a Sunday evening, but we recall that Jesus left the splendor of heaven to be with us. Certainly we can rearrange our schedule to have an encounter Jesus and receive the Gift of Grace. To let an earthly excuse be the reason for missing our Messiah, would be as incomprehensible as rejecting a loving Christmas gift from our best friend.

Get thee to Penance

Homily for Third Sunday in Advent - B
Theme: Get thee to the Penance Service!

In a reflection written by Fr. Cantalamessa for Pope Benedict this Advent, he states, "the Christian novelty consists in this… Every religious proposal begins by telling men what they must do to save themselves or to obtain 'illumination.' Christianity does not begin by telling men what they must do, but what God has done for them in Jesus Christ. Christianity is a religion of Grace." There are points in this quote worth noting. One is that Jesus came down here to work on our behalf, to offer us salvation. The second one is that we profess a Religion of Grace.

The first readings in Advent all deal with the Israelites waiting for God to come into the world. They wanted Him to come and fix the world. They were a bit confused; it was not the world that needed fixed, it was themselves. We brought sin into the world and the consequence of living in sin is death. So God came into the world, on that first Christmas, not to fix the world, but to heal you and I. Jesus left behind the Holy Spirit and the Church to continue His work of offering us healing. The Israelites missed Jesus because they were expecting the world to be healed instead of themselves. We can make the same mistake if we look for God someplace else rather than His Church.

There are two important points to remember about Grace. One is that it is a free and undeserved help that God gives us to live a life of holiness. The second point is that while it is a free gift it demands a response from you and I. God offers you and I a supernatural gift of grace, but we have to want to accept it and part of this acceptance is showing up where God is dispensing this gift, that is in the Church through the Sacraments.

On Sunday and Monday evening we will be have the Sacrament of Penance here at St. Brigid. It is an opportunity for us to come and have an encounter with Jesus and receive the gift of healing. It is an opportunity for us to replenish the gift of Grace. Just in case it has been awhile, since we have thought about this sacrament I have a list of questions that we can use to examine our conscience:

Do I pray everyday?
Have I taken God's name in vain?
Have I missed Mass on Sunday and/or Holy Days of obligation?
Have I dishonored my parents?
Have I gotten angry?
Have I hurt others with my words?
Have I made fun of others?
Have I had an abortion or helped with one?
Have I had impure thoughts/actions?
If you are not married, Have I fornicated? or engaged in promiscuous behavior?
If you are married, Have I committed adultery? Have I used birth control?
Have I looked at pornography?
Have I lied?
Have I cheated?
Have I been jealous?
Have I been drunk?
Have I used illegal drugs?
Have I been judgmental?
Have I been proud?

Can we be found guilty by any of these questions? I know I can. If we can be found guilty then we have a responsibility to confess them.

A number of people missed Jesus being born into the world because they were busy with their lives. A number of people heard Jesus, but decided not follow Him. If we want to encounter and follow Jesus then we must respond. It takes a decision to cooperate with His Grace. You and I probably have many reasons why it would be inconvenient to come to Church again on a Sunday evening, but we recall that Jesus left the splendor of heaven to be with us. Certainly we can rearrange our schedule to have an encounter Jesus and receive the Gift of Grace. To let an earthly excuse be the reason for missing our Messiah, would be as incomprehensible as rejecting a loving Christmas gift from our best friend.

A novena inspired from Pope John Paul II - Day Nine

Day Nine

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
from the XXXXII World Day of Prayer for Vocations

“Duc in altum!” The command of Christ is particularly relevant in our time, when there is a widespread mentality which, in the face of difficulties, favors personal non-commitment. The first condition for “putting into the deep” is to cultivate a deep spirit of prayer nourished by a daily listening to the Word of God. The authenticity of the Christian life is measured by the depth of one’s prayer, an art that must be humbly learnt “from the lips of the Divine Master,” almost imploring “like the first disciples: ‘Lord, teach us to pray!’(Lk11:1). In prayer, a conversation with Christ develops and it makes us His intimate friends: ‘Abide in Me and I in you’(Jn15:4)”(Novo millennio ineunte, 32).
Dear adolescents and young people, it is you in a particular way that I renew the invitation of Christ to “put out into the deep.” You find yourselves having to make important decisions for your future. I still hold in my heart the memory of the many opportunities I have had over the years to meet with young people, who have now become adults, some of them your own parents perhaps, or priests or religious, your teachers in the faith. I saw them, happy as young people should be, but also thoughtful, because they were conscious of a desire to give full ‘meaning’ to their lives. I came to recognize more and more how strong is the attraction in young people to the values of the spirit, and how sincere is their desire for holiness. Young people need Christ, but they also know that Christ chose to be in need of them.
Dear young men and women! Trust Christ: listen attentively to His teachings, fix your eyes on His face, persevere in listening to His Word. Allow Him to focus your search and your aspirations, all your ideals and the desires of your heart.

We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

Pause for a moment to ask for Pope John Paul’s intercession.

Please pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be.

Prayer
Jesus, Son of God,
in whom the fullness of the Divinity dwells,
You call all baptized to “put out into the deep,”
taking the path that leads to holiness.
Waken in the hearts of young people the desire
to be witnesses in the world today
to the power of Your love.
Fill them with Your Spirit of fortitude and prudence,
so that they maybe able to discover the full truth
about themselves and their own vocation. Amen

A novena inspired from Pope John Paul II - Day Eight

Day Eight

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
from the XXXXI World Day of Prayer for Vocations

May all Christian communities become “authentic schools of prayer”, where one prays that laborers may not be lacking in the vast field of apostolic work. It then becomes necessary that the Church accompany with constant spiritual attention those whom God has called and who “follow the Lamb wherever He goes”(Rv14:4): I refer to priests, religious, hermits, consecrated virgins, members of secular institutes - in short, all those who have received the gift of vocation and carry “this treasure in earthen vessels(IICor4:7). In the Mystical Body of Christ there is a wide variety of ministries and charisms, all of them meant for the sanctification of the Christian people. In the reciprocal attention for holiness, which must animate every member of the Church, it is necessary to pray so that those “called” remain faithful to their vocation and reach the highest possible degree of evangelical perfection.

We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

Pause for a moment to ask for Pope John Paul’s intercession.

Please pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be.

Prayer
We pray to You, Jesus,
for our brothers and sisters who have
answered “yes” to Your call to the priesthood,
to the consecrated life and to the missions.
May their lives be renewed each day by
day, to become a living Gospel.
Merciful and holy Lord,
continue to send new laborers
into the harvest of Your Kingdom!
Assist those whom You call
to follow You in our day;
contemplating Your face,
may they respond with joy
to the wondrous mission
that You entrust to them
for the good of Your People
and of all men and women.
You who are God and live and reign
with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
for ever and ever. Amen.

A novena inspired from Pope John Paul II - Day Seven

Day Seven

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
from the XXXX World Day of Prayer for Vocations

“...even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve”(Mt 20:28). In truth, Jesus is the perfect model of the “servant” of whom Scripture speaks. He is the one who radically emptied Himself to take on “the form of a servant”(Phil 2:7) and to dedicate Himself totally to the things of the Father, as the beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased. Jesus did not come to be served, “but to serve, and to give His life as ransom for many”(Mt 20:28). He washed the feet of His disciples and obeyed the plan of the Father even unto death, death on a cross. Therefore, the Father Himself has exalted Him, giving Him a new name and making Him Lord of heaven and of earth. How can one not read in the story of the “servant Jesus” the story of every vocation: the story that the Creator has planned for every human being, the story that inevitably passes through the call to serve and culminates in the discovery of the new name, designed by God for each individual? In these “names,” people can grasp their own identity, directing themselves to that self-fulfillment which makes them free and happy. In particular, how can one not read in the parable of the Son, Servant and Lord, the vocational story of the person who is called by Jesus to follow Him more closely: that is, to be servant in the priestly ministry or in religious consecration? In fact, the priestly vocation or the religious vocation are always, by their very nature, vocations to the generous service of God and neighbor.

We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

Pause for a moment to ask for Pope John Paul’s intercession.

Please pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be.

Prayer
Mary, humble servant of God Most High,
the Son to whom you gave birth
has made you the servant of humanity.
Your life was a humble and generous service.
You were servant of the Word when the angel
announced to you the divine plan of salvation.
You were servant of the Son, giving Him life
and remaining open to the mystery.
You were servant of Redemption,
standing courageously at the foot of the Cross,
close to the Suffering Servant and Lamb,
who was sacrificing Himself for love of us.
You were servant of the Church on the day of Pentecost
and with your intercession
you continue to generate Her in every believer,
even in our difficult and troubled times.
Let young people of the third millennium
look to you, young daughter of Israel,
who have known the agitation of a young heart
when faced with the plan of the Eternal God.
Make them able to accept the invitation of Your Son
to give their lives wholly for the glory of God.
Make them understand that to serve God satisfies the heart,
and that only in service of God and of His kingdom
do we realize ourselves in accordance with the divine plan,
and life becomes a hymn of glory to the most Holy Trinity. Amen.

A novena inspired from Pope John Paul II - Day Six

Day Six

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
from the XXXIX World Day of Prayer for Vocations

The Church is the “home of holiness” and the charity of Christ, poured out by the Holy Spirit, is her soul. In her, all Christians help one another to discover and fulfil their own vocation by listening to the Word of God, in prayer, by assiduously participating in the Sacraments and incessantly seeking the face of Christ in every brother and sister. In this way each person, according to each one’s gifts, advances along the path of faith, keeping hope alive and acting through charity, while the Church “reveals and experiences anew the infinite richness of the mystery of Jesus Christ”(Christifideles laici, 55) and assures that the holiness of God is manifested within each state and situation of life, so that all Christian may become laborers in the vineyard of the Lord and build up the Body of Christ. Every vocation in the Church is at the service of holiness. Some however, such as the vocations to ordained ministry and consecrated life, are at the service of holiness in a thoroughly unique manner. It is these vocations that I invite everyone to pay particular attention today, by intensifying their prayers for them.

We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

Pause for a moment to ask for Pope John Paul’s intercession.

Please pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be.

Prayer
Holy Father, look upon this humanity of ours,
that is taking its first steps along
the path of the Third Millennium.
Its life is still deeply marked by
hatred, violence, and oppression,
but the thirst for justice, truth and grace
still finds a space in the hearts of many people,
who are waiting for someone to bring salvation,
enacted by You through Your Son Jesus.
There is the need for courageous heralds of the Gospel,
for generous servants of suffering humanity.
Send holy priests to Your Church, we pray,
who may sanctify Your people
with tools of Your grace.
Send numerous consecrated men and women,
that they may show Your holiness in the midst of the world.
Send holy laborers into Your vineyard,
that they may labor with the fervor of charity
and, moved by Your Holy Spirit,
may bring the salvation of Christ
to the farthest ends of the earth. Amen

A novena inspired from Pope John Paul II - Day Five

Day Five

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
from the XXXVIII World Day of Prayer for Vocations

In their encounter with the Eucharist, some men discover that they are called to become ministers of the Altar, other people, that they are called to contemplate the beauty and depth of this mystery, others that they are called to pour out again its impelling force of love on the poor and weak, and others again that they are called to grasp its transforming power in the realities and gestures of everyday life. Each believer finds in the Eucharist not only the interpretative key of his or her own existence, but the courage to actualize it, indeed to build up, in the diversity of charisms and vocations, the Body of Christ in history. In the account of the disciples of Emmaus(Lk 24,13-35), Saint Luke lets us glimpse what happens in the life of the person who lives in the Eucharist. When “in the breaking of the bread,” done by the “stranger,” the eyes of the disciples are opened, they realize that their hearts were burning in their breasts while they were listening to Him explaining the Scriptures. In those hearts that burn we can see history and the discovery of every vocation, which is not a transient emotion, but an ever more certain and strong recognition that the Eucharist and Passover of the Son must become ever more the Eucharist and Passover of His disciples.

We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

Pause for a moment to ask for Pope John Paul’s intercession.

Please pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be.

Prayer
Holy Mary, Mother of all who are called,
make all believers have the strength
to answer the divine call with generous courage,
and let them be joyful witnesses of love toward God
and their neighbor.
Young daughter of Zion, Star of the morning,
who guides the steps of humanity
through the Great Jubilee toward the future,
direct the young people of the new millennium
toward Him who is “the true light
which enlightens all men.”(Jn1,9) Amen.

A novena inspired from Pope John Paul II - Day Four

Day Four

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
from the XXXVI World Day of Prayer for Vocations

The vocation to be “holy, as he is holy”(Lev.11,44) is brought about when God is given the place which is His due. In our time, which is secularized yet also fascinated by the search for the sacred, there is a particular need of saints who, by living intensely the primacy of God in their lives, make visible His loving and provident presence. Holiness, a gift to be constantly requested, constitutes the most precious and effective response to the modern world’s hunger for hope and life. Humanity needs holy priests and consecrated souls who live out daily the total gift of self to God and neighbor; of fathers and mothers who can give witness within the home to the grace of the sacrament of matrimony, reawakening in all those with whom they come into contact the wish to carry out the Creator’s plan for the family; of young people who have personally discovered Christ and have been so attracted by Him as to move their contemporaries to the cause of the Gospel.

We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

Pause for a moment to ask for Pope John Paul’s intercession.

Please pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be.

Prayer
Holy Father,
You call us to be holy
as You are holy.
We pray You, never allow Your Church
to lack holy ministers and apostles
who, with the Word and the Sacraments,
may open the way to the encounter with You.
Merciful Father,
give to lost humanity
men and women who,
through the witness of a life transfigured
to the image of Your Son,
may walk joyfully
with their other brothers and sisters
towards our heavenly homeland. Amen.

A novena inspired from Pope John Paul II - Day Three

Day Three

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
from the XXXV World Day of Prayer for Vocations

While they are necessary in every age, these vocations are more necessary today, in a world marked by great contradictions and the temptation to relegate God to the margins in the fundamental choices of life. The words of the Gospel come to mind: “the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest!”(Mt. 9,37-38). The Church welcomes every day this command of the Lord and, with faithful hope, raises up her invocations to the “Lord of the harvest”, recognizing that only He can call and send His labourers. My wish is that the annual celebration of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations raise up in the hearts of the faithful a more intense prayer to obtain new vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life and reawaken the responsibility of all, especially parents and those who educate in the faith, to promote vocations.

We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

Pause for a moment to ask for Pope John Paul’s intercession.

Please pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be.

Prayer
Spirit of eternal Love, who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
we thank You for all the vocations of apostles and saints which have enriched the Church.
Continue, we pray, this work of Yours.
You descended on the Apostles gathered together in prayer with Mary, the mother of Jesus,
and look upon Your Church which today has particular need of holy priests,
of faithful and authoritative witnesses of Your grace;
she needs consecrated men and women,
who show the joy of those who live only for the Father,
who make their own the mission and offering of Christ,
who build up in charity the new world.
Open the hearts and minds of young men and women,
so that a new flowering of holy vocations
may show forth the fidelity of Your love,
and all may know Christ,
the true light come into the world
to offer every human being
the sure hope of eternal life. Amen.

A novena inspired from Pope John Paul II - Day Two

Day Two
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
from the XXXIII World Day of Prayer for Vocations

The Christian vocation a gift of God is the heritage of all. Whether married or ordained, priests or religious, all are chosen by God to proclaim the Gospel and to communicate salvation; not alone, however, but in the Church and with the Church. “The work of evangelization is not an individual activity; it is essentially ecclesial”(Evangelii nuntiandi, n. 60). Along with God’s universal call to live and witness to the proclamation of salvation there are particular vocations with specific responsibilities within the Church; these are the fruit of a special grace and require an additional moral and spiritual commitment. They are the vocations to the priesthood, the religious life, to work of the missions and to the contemplative life.

We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

Pause for a moment to ask for Pope John Paul’s intercession.

Please pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be.

Prayer
Look, O Lord, upon the whole human family
and show Your mercy to the men and women who
in prayer and righteous living seek You without
yet having encountered You:
show Yourself to them as the way
which leads to the Father, as the truth which makes us free,
as the life which has no end.
Grant us, Lord, to live in Your Church
in a spirit of faithful service and total gift,
so that our witness will be credible and bear fruit. Amen!

A novena inspired from Pope John Paul II - Day One

A Novena for Consecrated Life and Priesthood through the Intercession of Pope John Paul II

created for www.seekholiness.com in 2005

St. John Damascene defined prayer as “the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God(Catechism, 2559).” We are encouraged to be people of prayer, people who converse with God. While He knows our desires before we ask, He still has great concern for us and encourages us to state our needs. One prayer form that has developed by the faithful of the Church over the centuries is the novena.

The Church views a period of eights days, the octave, as a period of celebration, a time to rejoice. The Church sees nine days as a time to “of hopeful mourning, of yearning, of prayer(Catholic Encyclopedia, Novena).” A novena is a prayer that has developed over the centuries to ask God for special assistance, ultimately for grace.

This is a new novena. Pope John Paul II started his pontificate by stating “Do not be afraid!” He preached to the youth of the Church and the world to seek holiness. He told them to listen to God call out to them, to accept God’s grace. He encouraged us to rise above our humanity and accept and live in divinity.

It is the hope that all who pray this novena have as their intention an increase in consecrated life and priesthood.

Day One
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
from the XXXII World Day of Prayer for Vocations

It is in following Jesus that youth display all the riches of it potentiality and acquires its full meaning. It is in following Jesus that the young discover the sense of a life lived as a gift of self, and experience the beauty and truth of growing in love. It is in following Jesus that they feel themselves called to communion with Him as living members of a single body, which is the Church. It is in following Jesus that it will be possible for them to understand the personal call to love: in matrimony, in the consecrated life, in the ordained ministry, in the mission ad gentes. That dialogue shows however that Jesus’ care and tenderness can remain unanswered. And it is sad in the inheritance of life choices which distance us from Him. How many motives, even today, hold adolescents and young people from living the truth of their age in generous adherence to Christ. How many still do not know of whom to ask that question the “rich young man” put to Jesus! How many people’s young days are at risk of losing out on an authentic growth!

We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

Pause for a moment to ask for Pope John Paul’s intercession.

Please pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be.

Prayer
O Mother of Jesus,
in your free and joyful “yes”
and in your active faith so many generations
have found inspiration and strength
for welcoming the Word of God
and for fulfilling His will.
O Teacher of life,
teach young people to pronounce “yes”
that gives meaning to existence
and brings them to discover the hidden “name” of God
in the heart of every person. Amen.

Spe Salvi as a discernment tool, part 9

We have finally arrived at Judgment as a setting for learning and practicing hope. This section varies from Pope Benedict’s normal structure; instead of leading off with a statement, he starts in on the topic of the final judgment. He states historically, “the prospect of the Judgement has influenced Christians in their daily living as a criterion by which to order their present life (#41).” Pope Benedict postulates that final judgment now “has faded into the background(#42).” This is because we are concerned with our self and not with those around us. We see ourselves disconnected with the community and with God. In fact, Pope Benedict suggests that we see God as disconnected from world events, so that we must act on our own to right the world. The result is “a world without hope has to create its own justice is a world without hope(#42).” This disconnectedness allows sin to reign in our hearts and minds and we think that God is not present in the world and not working in the world. Being disconnected then allows our imagination to leap to ideas that are unrealistic but real in our own mind. We have the audacity to think we have to provide the answer our self. We act out of our self instead of acting by God’s grace.

Pope Benedict reminds us that we have to build our life “upon a common foundation: Jesus Christ(#46).” Building our foundation on Jesus means allowing Jesus to influence and guide our lives. Often though our fear of God creates this desire to want to be unnoticed, that is we fear God seeing us. Pope Benedict states, “His gaze, the touch of His Heart heals through an undeniably painful transformation ‘as through fire.’ But it is a blessed pain, in which the holy power of His love sears through us like a flame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of God(#47).” We have to allow God’s grace to motivate us beyond our passions. If our foundation is our fear, ultimately our own knowledge will then be selfish and we will collapse in death. If grace animates us beyond our fear, then we share in God’s wisdom, we are selfless and we are actually fully our self. Keeping the thought of the Final Judgment before God in our mind helps us to understand the reason why need to be animated by God’s grace and not by our fears. If our foundation is Jesus, then facing God after death might give us anxiety, but Grace will ultimately conquer the anxiety. If our foundation is our self, then our anxieties will conquer us and we will be alone. We must want to be with others, to be part of a community. We must want to be inspired and dependent upon others, ultimately Jesus.

This is why the Pope ends with a section on Mary. He states, “Certainly, Jesus Christ is the true light,… But to reach Him we also need lights close by-people who shine with His light and so guide us along our way(#50).” Pope Benedict points out that we should have Mary be an active part of our life. But we also need holy people in our daily life that help us to remember to be animated in God’s grace.

Spe Salvi as a discernment tool, part 8

Part II of Prayer for the encyclical is entitled Action and Suffering as Setting for Learning Hope. This is yet another thick section by Pope Benedict. His writing style is to start off with a short rather beautifully simple statement that gets built into an idea that has a sense of beauty but also a burden of complexity, that takes time to ponder. His statement this time is, “all serious and upright human conduct is hope in action (35).” This means that the practical jokes that I participate in are not hope in action. The times that I lead liturgies and preach should be instances of Hope. Pope Benedict gets to the point quickly in that even if we perceive ourselves to be in desperate situations that the love of God allows us to have the “kind of hope [that can] give the courage to act and persevere (#35).” He returns to a point that was made at the very beginning of the letter and that “salvation is not simply a given (#1).” He states, “Heaven far exceeds what we can merit, it will always be true that our behavior is not indifferent before God and therefore is not indifferent for the unfolding of history (#35).” This makes the point of action in the title of this section. He outlines two reasons that our actions are important. The first is that “our actions engender hope for us and for others (#35).” The second “is the great hope based upon God’s promises that give us courage and directs our action in good times and bad (#35).” The point here is that love of God should inspire us to act out of love with the reassurance that love will redeem us. We should not act out of what we think we deserve or should have because Heaven is not offered to us on our actions. We have access to Heaven because of God’s generous love. Our actions should imitate this; our actions should not be cause and effect, but acting on a self-sacrificing love.

The next part of this section deals with the subject of suffering. Pope Benedict states, “Suffering stems partly from our finitude, and partly from the mass of sin which has accumulated over the course of history, and continues to grow abated today (#36).” Pope Benedict points out that we cannot “shake off our finitude (#36)” or “eliminating the power of evil (#36)” that suffering will always be with us while we are on earth in this life. We can limit suffering, but we will never be able to be rid of it this side of heaven. There is a challenge in this section that we as humanity show ourselves best when we recognize truth, justice and love as “enormously weighty realities (#39)” and “not simply ideals (#39).” Realities that must be safeguarded and adopted and not as ideals which occupy the imagination, but never exist in the world. This means that we have to be self-sacrificing for that which is great than ourselves. This is again a connection to the first paragraph of the letter, in which the Pope states, “the present, even if it is arduous, can be lived and accepted if it leads toward a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey (#1).”

Pope Benedict is stating in a letter what Pope John Paul II stated with his life. Much of life is mundane, that is tasks that need to be done. Yet, we are created in God’s image and likeness and redeemed by God’s love, so our actions cannot reside simply in this world. We must cooperate with God’s grace and act as He has given us the ability. That action entails a “painful renunciation of [oneself] (#39)” so that love can exist. Our challenge is to cooperate with God and luckily God has given us the ability. It is up to us act.

Spe Salvi as a discernment tool, part 7

I think most people would like to be known as being a person of prayer. Though I think most people see it as something unattainable. A life of prayer is done by others, but not by some like myself. We allow ourselves to be disillusioned into thinking something is not possible before we even give ourselves an actual opportunity to start. This is why the next section Prayer as school of hope is so important.

As is usual for Pope Benedict, he states the simple truth that the, “first essential setting for hope is prayer (#32).” As we reflect on the statement we discover that the “how” becomes complicated. First we are reminded that prayer is never an escape from our life or this world. Prayer should not be something that we do because we want to flee our lives or present situation. Prayer is a purification process that allows us to be better present to God and others. When we pray we need to set aside our needs and ideas. I gave up soda for Lent, which has helped me to realize that some times I incorrectly think that if I just have a Diet Coke everything will be fixed. It is a momentary need that some times seems to trump many moments. This is an example of the perceived needs we have, that can be strong in the moment, but seen as being stupid in the long run. Prayer means moving beyond these momentary needs to the need of the Infinite. The problem is that these momentary needs are very active in our minds. We can be easily deceived that they these momentary needs are worthy of our time and thought. These momentary needs can be the near occasion of sin, so we must be able to admit to sin. This is why Pope Benedict states, “Failure to recognize my guilt, the illusion of my innocence, does not justify me and does not save me, because I am culpable for the numbness of my conscience and my incapacity to recognize evil in me for what it is (#33).” He quickly adds, “Yet my encounter with God awakens my conscience in such a way that it no longer aims at self-justification, and is no longer a mere reflection of me and those contemporaries who shape my thinking, but becomes a capacity for listening to the Good itself (#33).” We need to be able to resist our momentary needs, so that we can hear God.

The next point that Pope Benedict makes about prayer is the twofold nature of prayer. Prayer must have personal component and a public component. Pope Benedict states, “Praying must always involve this intermingling of public and personal prayer (#34).” We must use the forms of prayer that have and continue to exist in the Church, such as Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, rosary, novenas, etc. as well as have our own prayer forms. God speaks to us through the Church and to us as individuals, but we can only be sure of Divine revelation, when It is communicated through both forms. Pope Benedict has argued extensively that being Catholic is not an individual issue, but is a communal activity. If we do this the Pope Benedict states, “we undergo those purifications by which we become open to God and are prepared for the service of our fellow human beings. We become capable of great hope, and thus we become ministers of hope for others (#34).” This is an important statement. We can know that we are cooperating with God’s grace when we can see how God is working in us and motivating us to work with others. Sometimes I think we do not know how to assess if we are cooperating with God. The assessment is are we giving to God and working with others.

This is an important point in discernment. The answer to the question of whether I am called to the priesthood is not arrived at by one’s own volition. Both the man and the community arrive at the answer. This is why the seminary is so important. The man entering the seminary needs to be able to ask the question “am I called to the priesthood?” The answer needs to be recognized by himself and the community.

Spe Salvi as a discernment tool, part 6

One of my mother’s comments was never prayer for patience because God has already given it to you, so you will be given circumstances to help you discover what you have. I don’t know if this is true, but it sounds good. We are finally arriving at the heart of the encyclical and learning what hope is about. If you have stuck with me so far, don’t pray for patience because I will slow down further, but pray for God to push me along.

In the section The true shape of Christian Hope, we finally arrive at what has only been hinted at so far. We are shown the difference between the material and moral realm. Pope Benedict writes that the material realm offers us continuous progress as generations continue to build upon the previous generations discoveries and knowledge, but every generation must renew itself in morality because morality does not progress. We can hand the advancements of science and technology on to students who becomes professors. Morality must be rediscovered by each generation, the knowledge of morality can be passed along, but each succeeding generation has the ability and freedom to accept or reject it. We might argue that we can hand on structures that keep morality, but putting people in a structure destroys their freedom and becomes a prison. Pope Benedict states, “this means that every generation has the task of engaging in the arduous search for the right way to order human affairs; this task is never completed (#25).”

Pope Benedict next states rather simply “man is redeemed by love (#26).” While the statement is simple the argument that explains the statement is complex. He states, “When someone has the experience of a great love in his life, this is a moment of ‘redemption’, which gives new meaning to his life (#26).” How many of us can remember a moment where we knew we were loved and knew that we were needed, and this knowledge of a need satisfied generated a renewed desire to live better? When we take these many moments we probably discover them as fleetingly happiness, but when we look at the absolute love of God, we can then begin to know how love is redemptive. This is the love that allows us to hope and desire eternal life. Yet, this is not a moment of solitude, but we will discover that this life “is about relationship (#27).” This love will motivate us to be with others; this is the realization of being created in the image and likeness of God. Pope Benedict explains about being in relationship with God, “who is Life itself and Love itself, then we are in life. Then we ‘live’ (#28).” When we are in communion with Jesus we have established a relationship with God (#28). But being in relationship with Jesus demands that we are in relationship with others. Pope Benedict states, “Love of God leads to participation in the justice and generosity of God towards others. Loving God requires an interior freedom from all possessions and all material goods: the love of God is revealed in responsibility for others (#28).” An obvious example of St. Augustine is used to illustrate the above. Pope Benedict recounts the story of Augustine encountering God and wanting to retreat to a contemplative life, but is called to be a Bishop and lead the community of Hippo.

Love of God and love of neighbor are two points that are important in discernment for everyone. In a family, it is the parent’s responsibility to teach their children in the matters of faith, but as the child grows up, it is the responsibility of the child to discover and accept the gift of faith and freely cooperate with God’s grace. Parents need to understand that it is their responsibility to educate and encourage the child to grow in faith, but it is the responsibility of the child to discover and accept the gift of faith. The second point, love of neighbor, is important for discernment in that it helps us to discover concretely if we are living in hope. Love of God impels us to want to live for others. The main point for reflection is this: are we are more concerned with our belongings and ourselves than cooperating with God? This does not mean that material objects are evil, but if we are more inspired to accumulate and protect rather than to share and give, then we should ask ourselves how well are we cooperating with God’s grace. Are we really experiencing redemptive love and allowing God to work through us and responding generously to others?

Spe Salvi as a discernment tool, part 5

When I was a little kid, I used to go with my grandfather to visit his mother. Time with my grandfather was always a time of wisdom and happiness. I remember one time looking at my grandfather and stating, “I am concerned that by the time I grow up everything will have been invented.” His reply at first was laughter and then he reassured that there would always be a need for new things. He stated that we will always be making advances in technology, but he stated that human nature always remains the same. I did not understand what he meant by that until I studied philosophy in the seminary.

Pope Benedict writes that the modern age has brought about the idea that science can explain nature, which has elevated science. Which is an attempt on the part of humanity to assert dominion over creation that we had lost by being expelled from the Garden of Eden. We are now tempting to find answers in science instead of looking to God. We have fallen back to the idea that we can redeem ourselves. That given enough studies we will find the answer. Pope Benedict points to two historical events that have helped to show how this thought has taken root in the world. The first is the French Revolution, which started the process of placing freedom and reason in the political reality. The second was Karl Marx, who thought that politics would free man, so that man could share everything equally because politics would create a situation where man would “want the best” for each equally.

Pope Benedict points out the reasons why both of the historical events failed. There was no plan for after the revolution. It was as if is man would naturally want the best for each without any structures helping this to occur. And “man always remains man (#21)”, which Pope Benedict means that just as we have the ability for good we also have the ability for evil. Marx thought that economics would free man, when materialism corrupts a person. A culture in search of progress has the potential to arrive at the good and also at the evil.

Pope Benedict reminds us that, “man needs God, otherwise he remains with hope (#23).” We are reminded that God does enter into the world and engage us in conversation. So we need to know that our reason needs faith, a divine Substance, to be complete. Faith and reason need to be dependent upon each other.

This should be a valuable lessen for those who are discerning God’s call. Young men need to know that discerning is not dependent upon their own ability to reason what God needs of them, but that they need their reason inspired by faith to be able to truly hear what God has to say. That if we are not reliant upon faith in our discernment, we risk not being where God needs us to be and where we will discover the most joy.

Spe Salvi as a discernment tool, part 4

It is taking longer to move through this than I thought. I do thank you for your patience and I hope this exercise is beneficial. I know it has been for me because it has helped me to really understand what Pope Benedict is stating about the Church and the world. I remember often as I read this document what Bishop Campbell said to a Mass full of college students, he told them to remember that they were pursuing truth and for us truth is a Person.

When we begin to talk about heaven, the information that we have is known from the negative means of arguing, that is what we know about heaven is from what we know it will not be. This has historically led to a perception of an idealized life in this world. In order to attain heaven we must abandon everything of this world and live life alone. In order to be saved one has to abandon life and cut one self off. This is the perception, and yet is the perception correct?

Pope Benedict uses to people of authority to demonstrate the error in this perception. Henri de Lubac, a Jesuit priest of the last century, cites several references in the Letter to the Hebrews that show salvation is a communional action. He even showed that sin was understood by the early “Fathers as the destruction of the unity of the human race” and that salvation “appears as the reestablishment of unity.”(#14) Today we often see sin as a very private matter that should have no reflection upon the community, so we can see how this perceived reality does actually exist. The other person that the Pope uses is Bernard of Clairaux, a French Abbot and reformer of Cistercian monasteries. Many men were have perceived to flock to the monastery to escape life; but Bernard believed that the monastery “perform[ed] a task for the whole Church and hence also for the world.”(#15) Bernard considered manual labor an effective means of cultivating the soul. Manual labor allowed for the soul, so that the substance of faith that God gives us can flourish. That “no positive world order can prosper where souls are overgrown.”(#15)

Pope Benedict outlines two reasons for a man who is considering the priesthood to be in the seminary. The Church is a community and so we must realize that to hear God’s call, then we need to be a community. The seminary is not a place to escape and become a priest, but it is to be a place where a man who is called to the priesthood is to have soul properly prepared for service in God’s Church. We can probably state a number of reasons for why we should do what we want, but we should see this as disunity and potentially sinful. We should realize that listening to God unifies us with others and allows God’s grace to maximize unity.

Spe Salvi as a discernment tool, part 3

Pope Benedict asks the tough question, one that certainly needs to be asked of anyone seriously discerning God’s call. He wants to know “is the Christian faith also for us today a life changing and life sustaining hope?” Certainly the answer needs to be yes for those who are seeking out God’s call and truly want to follow it. He returns to the performative or informative idea. Does the gospel influence our actions or is simply more information that can be pushed aside by newer information.

Pope Benedict illustrates the point in two ways. The first illustration is that of parents having their infant baptized. There is a dialogue that is part of the liturgy that takes place between the parents and the priest. The priest asks two questions after receiving the name of the child from the parents. The priest is attempting to have the parents answer faith to the first question and eternal life to the second question. The parents want the child baptized, they want their child to be part of the community of the Church, but ultimately the parents want the child to be in heaven. I remember often when I was growing up my mom used to say, “don’t do anything that would prevent you from seeing me in heaven.” That line has caused me to think about my behavior and keep it aligned with the gospel. Pope Benedict demonstrating here faith at work. Not only do parent’s want their child to be happy but also they know heaven is the place where that will occur. The second illustration though is the paradox that we as humans have. That is our desire to live forever, but our seeing eternal life as a curse and/or something to fear. St. Ambrose stated this, we don’t want to die, but we don’t want to live forever. These two illustrations seem to be odds with each other. The parents want for their children seem to have been forgotten in their own life.

The answer to these points is that in baptism we receive the gift of faith. We start the formal introduction to God. In baptism we are sealed by God and claimed by God. This seal and claim come from the substance that God gives and in this situation it is the gift of faith. God’s grace is driving us to desire heaven. What is causing us fear and despair is our own thoughts, which cannot comprehend heaven, and our sins. Pope Benedict ends this section with how we should view eternal life:

It would be like plunging into the ocean of infinite love, a moment in which time – the before and after – no longer exists. We can only attempt to grasp the idea that such a moment is life in the full sense, a plunging ever anew into the vastness of being, in which we are simply overwhelmed with joy. (#12)

This joy will be so complete time will not even be a thought. This is why Pope John Paul II proclaimed, “be not afraid” so loudly. It is why Pope Benedict said give everything to God because He gives back with more. Fear is part of being human, but we have been invited to heaven and we have been made ready by God’s grace given to us in the Church.

Spe Salvi as a discernment tool, part 2

Pope Benedict has a very readable style, but it is thick with thought. So it takes time and patience to move through the letter. In reading his letter you will be able to begin to appreciate his love for God and the Church.

Sometimes when we think about God we unconsciously think of God in human terms and concepts. So we might be tempted to see Jesus in light of a social revolution, in that, Jesus is going to teach us how to be a better society. But the encounter is SO MUCH more. When we encounter Christ, we encounter the Lord of Lords. In this encounter we are transformed, we are no longer simply human, but we have the ability to participate with the Divine. In this encounter we are made anew and so being in the community of the Church we now become brothers and sisters. While we might not share the same DNA or bloodlines, but we are one family in that we belong to God. Pope Benedict uses examples from St. Paul and St. Gregory of Nazianzen to illustrate the wonder of this encounter. St. Paul discusses the difference between life in God and life in the “elemental spirits of the universe” in Colossians 2:8. St. Gregory puts forth the idea that once the Magi followed the star to Christ, astrology ended because God was moving the star. Christ, not the laws of nature, governs the universe.

Pope Benedict then points out the image of Christ holding a staff and the Book of the Gospels that was very important to the early Christians and marked their tombs. Christ is the true philosopher and the shepherd. The philosopher was one that helped a person live authentically; they helped a person discern. The shepherd was perceived to have the simple and tranquil life. These symbols linked with Christ showed that He knew how to help us be authentic and that He knew the path through death to eternal life. As the philosopher and shepherd He is the truth and the path.

Pope Benedict then returns to the recurring theme of the link between faith and hope. In Hebrews 11:1, he points out that faith is a substance. Meaning that it is something real; we in the Catholic Church know it is a theological virtue. A theological virtue is supernatural and is infused in us by God, so faith is not something you and I can learn or gain possession by ourselves. Faith must come from God. And as Pope Benedict points out this supernatural gift gives us something of heaven now; it makes the future present in the now. Or as he writes, “the things of the future spill over into those of the present and those of the present into those of the future (#7).” He points out further in Hebrews 10:34 how we are to take security in the gift of this new substance that is faith. We might lose the information on our hard drive, we might lose our cell phone, we might be stripped of our possessions, but we cannot lose the supernatural gift of faith given by God.

Pope Benedict then points about the difference of endurance and shrinking in Hebrews 10: 36 and 39. Endurance is defined as the ability to wait patiently through activity and shrinking is defined as lacking courage. So we need to be people who have the ability to wait for the arrival of what we have already begun to share in and that is Heaven. This takes courage!

Spe Salvi as a discernment tool

If you have not read Spe Salvi, the latest encyclical, from Pope Benedict, then it would be good Lenten undertaking. Pope Benedict has a very readable style, though it might take several attempts in each section. Don’t be afraid of the struggle, it will make you work your prayer muscles. I intend to summarize the 11 sections of the encyclical with a bias towards discernment.

Pope Benedict starts the encyclical with the idea that salvation is not “a given.” We have to understand Heaven as a goal that we need to aspire. God has given us a challenge. And it is not an easy challenge; it requires labor and probably some suffering. But the end result is the Beatific Vision, which is a lofty goal that easily justifies the effort.

Pope Benedict next shows that words faith and hope are almost interchangeable for the early Christians. He sites as examples Hebrews 10:22 & 10:23 and 1 Peter 3:15. The early Christians were aware of the fact “trustworthy hope” was a gift that had received from Jesus. Benedict sites scripture to prove this point, they are Ephesians 2:12 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13. The Christians began to realize that they had a future and it was not death. Since they knew their future they were able to live fully in the present.

The Christian message is one of Good News. Pope Benedict points out that the news is both informative and performative. Meaning that the news makes Christ known and that the news “makes things happen and is life-changing (#2).” The Message is dynamic; the message is God at work. Grace takes hold of us and motivates us. This motivation allows us to live selflessly instead of selfishly, this but one example. We no longer have to be concerned about ourselves and we have the ability to be concerned about others. This allowed the early Christians to live differently. We can see it in the martyrdom of many early Christians. While they may have felt fear for how death was coming they were comforted by the fact that death was not their end.

A more modern example is St. Josephine Bakhita, whom Pope Benedict sites. She was an African woman taken into slavery. Her hope early in life was to be with a less abusive master. She was finally sold to someone who introduced her to Christianity. She found “the great hope: ‘I am definitively loved and whatever happens to me – I am awaited by this Love. And so my life is good.’” She later enters the Congregation of the Canossian Sisters. She wants everyone to know about this hope.

Pope Benedict wants to know this great hope that we have. He also wants us to know that the challenge of God is a lofty goal. Sometimes I think we set goals that we know that we can reach and take joy in an empty accomplishment. We might think about priesthood, but be discouraged by apparent lack of skills or perceived short coming in needed qualities, so we look to skills and qualities that we demonstrate rather easily and ask ourselves what can I accomplish in life with these. This cheats us from an experience that God really wants us to have. Don’t be satisfied with mundane goals, we need to cooperate with God and seek after divine goals.

Why I want to be a priest

I suppose that I have poor blogger etiquette being that I am trying to blog Monday through Friday and have only accomplished that once. Hopefully you will forgive me for being inconsistent and continue to come back as I work on being consistent. I do need to work to bring this set to a conclusion on why I want to be a priest.

The best answer for why I want to be a priest is that over time I have discovered that deciding to cooperate with God is far better than trying to move through life on my own. I have not abdicated my freedom. In fact, it is just the opposite. In freedom I have discovered that when I cooperate with God’s grace, then I know the joy to the fullest.

It took a number of years to discover this. Thanks to my parents I knew that obedience was a good virtue to practice. Thanks also to my parents I knew that I could trust in authority. I did not spend much of my youth in rebellion but I spent much of my youth knowing that my parents and grandparents loved me. I suppose this was why it was easy for me to enter the seminary and why I enjoyed many parts of the seminary.

I did spend much of college always looking around for what I thought would be fun or interesting to do. Much of the time this was my own perception and ideas. It was not until I considered Theology school that I began to answer the question about being a diocesan priest or a religious priest. The answer finally came to me mid way through my senior year in college. I knew that God wanted me to be with my diocesan brothers and not in some other community. So through pray and releasing my selfish tendencies I was finally able to hear and know what God wanted.

This led to what has been the happiest day of my life. It was the Ordination to the Diaconate. It was happy because I had finally arrived at what I had been working for so long. I was being ordained at the Josephinum with good friends and I had family and friends to witness the event. Ultimately I was happy because I had what I can only describe as a surplus of God’s grace. I am certain that I knew that God was happy and that made me happy. To this day I still have some of that joy with me.

There have been tough days as a priest. There have been some days that I would not want to repeat. But there has not been a day where I regretted cooperating with God. I truly understand the passage 15:11 from the Gospel of John.

Why I want to be a priest

Unfortunately sometimes when we look at careers we have a tendency to see if we are attracted to the actions of the job or what the job will allow us to do. When I was young I always dreamed about working for George Lucas and helping in the Star Wars movies. Being part of the Star Wars Production seemed to be the ideal job. As I got older, I realized my skills would probably not lend me to be able to have a career for Lucas. In high school I did find one of my talents, that is the gift of speaking. I was able to overwhelm my sisters with the strength of my voice, which seemed to give me more joy than them.  So I took notice that part of the Mass was the homily, the priest speaking to the people in the Church. I think this was first started my attraction to the priesthood. I admired that Fr. Arnold, Fr. Dunn and Fr. Trenor were not only sincere men of prayer, but they were wise men that knew how to relate the world and the Church together. As I listened to them more I began to see myself potentially as a priest. This insight allowed me to start thinking that being a priest was not only possible but would be a worthy task.

Preaching is an activity that I very much enjoy as a priest. In fact, I am sad when I look at the schedule and see that the deacons are preaching. It is an activity that takes work and effort, but it is a labor that I enjoy. It requires several things. First and foremost it requires grace. Preaching is not what I think people need to hear, but what the God and the Church need people to hear. Second it takes a daily prayer life. You have to go to God daily, so that you know Him and are receptive to the information. It takes an education from the Church. Just speak with any of the seminarians; being a priest has an academic component that must be completed. It also takes a great knowledge of the community; you must know your parishioners. It also takes a listening ear on the part of the preacher. I know that I in need of the message of the homily myself.

Sometimes when I look back on what I wanted to do with my life, when it was just what I thought possible or wanted, I laugh at myself. Now when I look at what I am able to do because of answering God’s call I see how what He wanted is far better than I could have imagined. I think most young boys dream of doing a job that is of service to society, then when they get into high school, the world presses them to be concerned about what they can do for themselves to survive in the world. Grace is what should inspire us to see how we can make what God wants for us with what we want and then accomplish more than we could dream.

Why I want to be a priest

A commodity today besides money is time. There never seems to be enough time. In talking with people one of the points I hear over and over again is I don’t have enough time to be…. And the list is long that can come after the “be.” Whether it “be” a better golfer, “be” a better husband, “be” a better child, etc. We seem to realize that we have not made enough time to fulfill a commitment in our lives.

As a priest I hear from people that they don’t pray enough or that they are not the person that they should be. I encourage people to place prayer in their schedules.  Sometimes we taken it as a given that prayer needs to occur, but we never write it into our daily routines, so our daily life slips by and we never accomplish this task that we know as important.

In the Ordination to the Diaconate there is an examination of the candidate in which the man must answer, “I am” to a series of questions. One of the questions is:

Are you resolved to maintain and deepen a spirit of prayer appropriate to your way of life and, in keeping with what is required of you, to celebrate faithfully the liturgy of the hours for the Church and the whole world?

The man then answers, “I am” to the Bishop asked the question. This is another great reason to be a priest. It is our responsibility and job to pray. I encounter many people who state that they do not enough time to pray and devote themselves to God.  And here I have been called to a life where I actually can and I am held accountable to this ideal.

As a priest I have the responsibility to have my own prayer life, but I am also charged with praying for the Church and for the world. People expect a fireman to put out the fire, they expect the police to uphold the law, and they expect a priest to be a man of prayer. I know that I am graced to have as a daily priority what so many people want in their life, but don’t always accomplish.

Why I want to be a priest

In some jobs it is obvious why someone wants to do it. When I saw the movie Top Gun I wanted to be a naval aviator; being shot off a carrier and flying at incredible speeds who would not want to do that. Watching fire trucks rush by I think makes everyone think about fighting fires. Just recently I was watching Mythbusters with my dad. He was confused about the plot of the show for about ten minutes before he understood and now watches regularly. Watching a priest does not always inspire someone to think about answering the call to priesthood. It is a decision that is less obvious. But being less obvious does not means that it does not have some great aspects.

One of my favorite aspects of the priesthood is the Eucharistic Prayer. It is a prayer that I did not really understand until I was ordained and began to pray it actively for the Church. I understood the words from when I was a little kid, but I never really listened to the concept. It was always a time that I felt disconnected from the Mass because it was something the priest said and I had to wait patiently until he was done. I learned about it in college seminary and in theology. I began to understand it from an intellectual standpoint. When I was ordained to the diaconate, I knew it well because now I was turning the pages of the Sacramentary for the priest. But it was not until I was a priest that it really dawned on me what was taking place.

On the altar are the gifts that God has asked for, wine and bread. By the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest, states the prayer of Jesus to the Father and by means of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God accepts the gifts and transforms them and returns them to us. There are a couple of parts that always cause me great joy. In the second Eucharistic Prayer the priests states:

Lord, You are holy indeed, the fountain of all holiness.

I get to stand right next to the font of holiness. I can see how a fountain is always throwing water up into the air and some of that spray gets carried by the wind. I have been to Victoria Falls in Africa and felt that powerful spray that can be seen for miles. So everyday I stand next to the font and am doused in holiness. In the third Eucharistic Prayer the priest states:

And so, Father, we bring You these gifts. We ask You to make them holy by the power of Your Spirit…

Sometimes people ask me as a priest where is God in this world. One answer is that God is present on that altar every time Mass is celebrated. In the first Eucharistic Prayer it states:

Then, as we receive from this altar the Sacred Body and Blood of Your Son, let us be filled with every grace and blessing.

I know that I need all the help I can get and in the Eucharist prayer we have God giving Himself in the Eucharist. God is giving Himself to help us to be conformed to His image.

Being a priest means cooperating with the Divine rather than the mundane of a jet or an explosion.

the Best Gift

The second Christmas Preface reads:

Today You fill our hearts with joy as we recognize in Christ the revelation of Your love. No eye can see His glory as God, yet now He is one like us. Christ is Your Son before all ages, yet now He is born in time. He has come to lift up all things to Himself, to restore unity to creation, and to lead mankind from exile into Your heavenly kingdom.

Pope Benedict preached the following in his Inaugural homily:

[Jesus] leaps to His feet and abandons the glory of heaven, in order to go in search of the sheep and pursue it, all the way to the Cross. He takes it upon His shoulders and carries our humanity; He carries us all…

During this season of Christmas it is easy for us to lose sight Christ for a variety of reasons. But during this season of Christmas we must work to people who give thanks for God and the birth of Jesus. The description of Jesus leaping to His feet and landing in the womb of Mary to walk ultimately to the Cross is the best gift. It is the gift that we MOST need.

This season should inspire us to act as Christ. Pope Benedict closed the homily with these words:

Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and He gives you everything. When we give ourselves to Him, we receive a hundred fold in return.

Finding Jesus

In Advent we looked at the theology in the Prefaces of the Eucharistic Prayer. As we are now well into Christmas we will do the same. There are three that we use up to Epiphany.

The first one reads:

In the wonder of the Incarnation Your eternal Word has brought to the eyes of faith a new and radiant vision of Your glory. In Him we see our God made visible and so are caught up in the love of the God we cannot see.

This preface teaches us that we are privileged to be able now to see God. That the long awaited Messiah announced by the prophets in the Old Testament has finally emerged on earth among humanity.

It also highlights one of favorite teachings in the Catholic Church and that is the beatific vision, “contemplation of God in His heavenly glory (Catechism, 1028).” This is a great reason to attend Mass. That is to be in the presence of the Eucharist, Christ Himself. The more we are around Him, the more we will know Him, become like Him and aspire to act as He acts. The more we around Him, the more grace we will receive which will motivate us to draw ever closer to Him.

Pope Benedict talked about the fear of eternity in his latest encyclical. The fear arising from the not know what will occupy us and our time in heaven for such a long time. The beatific vision will satisfy our needs. The problem is that it will happen in a way beyond what we can imagine now. But if we work on the ability to be in awe of God now we will be reassured on how this will take place by God’s grace giving us wisdom, courage and peace.

Discernment is an activity and it requires action. During this season of Christmas find Jesus!