Author: Capital Catholic Happenings

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Speaking in Tongues

Last Wednesday, I attended ‘Breaking Open the Word’ at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. (Visiting parish young adult community events is part of my new commitment to stay in tune with the young adults with which I minister. Many of my upcoming posts will illustrate these visits.) This is a weekly study group of young adults who get together each week to read the upcoming Mass readings and discuss how they relate to our lives today.

As I entered the room cautiously and asked “Is this Breaking Open the Word?” I was warmly greeted by a young woman who sympathized, “This is my first time too!” Beside the two of us, there were four others who seemed to have known each other for a while. They shared the latest news (an engagement, a trip abroad, and a rehabilitation from an injury), and then we focused our hearts and minds by reading the Prayer to the Holy Spirit.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.


Let us pray.O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

The upcoming Sunday was Pentecost which made recitation this prayer a meaningful. The name Pentecost is taken the Hebrew tradition marking the 50th day after Passover when the harvest was brought to the temple (the feast of First Fruits) and is celebrated as the day that Moses was given of the Torah at Mount Sinai.

In the Christian tradition, Pentecost is celebrated as the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles.

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. (Acts 2)

This reading sparked a conversation about speaking in tongues, called glossolalia. While we had heard of people speaking in tongues and some of us had been present at charismatic prayer services where participants spoke in tongues, we were unsure of Catholic teaching on glossolalia.

To answer our question, one of the young adults whipped out the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Though glossolalia was not specifically mentioned in the index, this was as close as we got:

799 Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world.

800 Charisms are to be accepted with gratitude by the person who receives them and by all members of the Church as well. They are a wonderfully rich grace for the apostolic vitality and for the holiness of the entire Body of Christ, provided they really are genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit and are used in full conformity with authentic promptings of this same Spirit, that is, in keeping with charity, the true measure of all charisms.

801 It is in this sense that discernment of charisms is always necessary. No charism is exempt from being referred and submitted to the Church’s shepherds. “Their office [is] not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to what is good,” so that all the diverse and complementary charisms work together “for the common good.”

This seemed to be a sufficient answer for the young adults in the room, that an authentic gift of glossolalia will work together in charity for the common good. We ended the evening by praying together the Psalm for the upcoming Sunday: Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth!

All in all, it was a rich evening of prayer, scripture, questions, and answers that reminded me that even in this simple setting, on a Wednesday evening in this church basement, Christ keeps His promise: For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20)

The Following Video shows a choir of Young Adults Singing a song by Thomas Tallis called Loquebantur Variis Linguis The translation of the text is from Acts: The Apostles were speaking in Various tongues of the great works of God. Alleluia The frenetic quality of the song tries to capture the ecstatic moment when the apostles received the Holy Spirit! It is written in dance time.

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25…45…55…75…

wedding-feastI was reading the newspaper, enjoying a cup of coffee in a café on Capitol Hill when the conversation between two 30something women caught my attention. One woman was saying to the other that though she couldn’t be happier with her husband and she loves being married, she doubted she would remain married to him her entire life. Well, needless to say, I couldn’t help but keep listening. She went on to say that marriage was invented at a time when people did not live past 50 or so, and so one could imagine being married for twenty or thirty years but today, when people live to be ninety, you can’t really expect people to stay married to the same person for the rest of their lives.

Well, tell that to the more than 550 couples in the Archdiocese who will come together on Sunday at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to celebrate being married twenty-five years or more. 272 of these couples have been married fifty or more years. One couple, who can’t be at Mass on Sunday, but who will be honored at their parish has been married 75 years!

It’s probably safe to say that none of these marriages are perfect but all of the couples and have experienced the beauty of married love that has stood the test of time. As Helen Sewell, married 59 years shared “I know he’d do anything for me.”

If you are wondering what makes a marriage work, these are the people to ask. I think that they would have a multitude of reasons for what has made their love so enduring. If I had to guess, I would bet learning how to forgive, the importance of family life, praying together, laughter and not taking the small stuff too seriously would all be on the list.

While not a fan of country music, when flipping through channels one night, the refrain of the song that was playing was “saying I do, means saying “I will…” I’m not sure who sings that song but the couples we will honor on Sunday are the best proof we have that marriage is made to last a lifetime.

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Hearts as large as the World

handsTo Love is to Serve

Discovering our Catholic Hearts

When Catherine of Siena, an Italian Lay Woman and Doctor of the Church was a young adult she decided she wanted to love God with her whole soul, mind and heart.  She thought she could best do that by spending her days in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in a small room (she called it her cell) in her house. She left the house only to attend daily Mass.  After a short time of this practice, she heard God’s voice. She records in The Dialogue(the story of her life) a conversation with God. God says to Catherine, “if you want to love me as much as I love you, than you need to serve your sisters and brothers.” God, in a sense, pushed Catherine out of her cell and into the world.  Catherine discovered the face of Christ in those who were dying of the plague and Catherine preached peace to her sisters and brothers who were at war with one another. Catherine learned that to love God is to serve the world.

The Archdiocese of Washington is taking up the theme of service and love in a one day Social Ministry Conference on Saturday June 13.   See www.adw.org/service for more information.

The day features keynote presentations and break-out sessions on the Church’s mission to proclaim the Good News of Christ’s love for the poor and how the Church carries out this mission, locally, nationally, and internationally. There are workshops for teens, young adults and adults. Participants will have a chance to gather with Catholics from all over the Archdiocese of Washington and to explore the relationship of theology, prayer and service. The day will conclude with a prayer service with Archbishop Wuerl.

Catherine’s experience of taking her love for the Lord to the streets taught her that her “cell” was within her, that she could stay close to the Lord in midst of the noise and distractions of  daily life. Most of all Catherine discovered a heart as large as the world. She discovered a Catholic Heart!

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26.2 for the building up of the Kingdom of God

banner_vocations2

Calling all marathoners, runners, walkers, and wanna-be runners. Are you looking for a better reason to get out of bed and go for that morning run? Are you looking for any reason to take your work-out more seriously? How about running for the building up of the kingdom of God? The Archdiocese of Washington’s Vocation Office is sponsoring a run for vocations to assist in the spiritual and financial support of our seminarians—and that is a great cause.

I am not a serious runner these days and so when a couple of people with whom I eat lunch said they were going to sign on, I thought, well, why not? It might make me more disciplined about my running if I have to “confess” my progress to Msgr. Panke and my colleagues.  Not the most spiritual of reasons but it got me to an informational meeting.


Spiritual Motivation

At the meeting I heard some really beautiful stories about how much this run means to people. One woman spoke of how a serious accident confined her to home for a long period. Her pastor was so great about bringing Communion to her, that she volunteered to run and raise funds as a way to thank God for the gift of her pastor. A man spoke of how his running was sporadic and grinding but he couldn’t say “no” to Msgr. Panke when Msgr. Panke asked if he would run the marathon. He talked about how much more meaningful his running became when he began offering it up for the cause. Some people spoke of the new friends they have made and how much it has meant to them to get to know the archdiocesan seminarians.

It’s not too late to sign-on. We are looking for as many people as possible to run or walk the Marine Corps Marathon and 10k on October 25, 2009. Our Young Adult Ministry is putting together a team and groups for practice runs are forming in Upper Montgomery County and in the city.


The Promise of Prayers

Now, you can join a lot of running groups and even fundraising running programs but none of those programs through in the promise and power of prayer with training tips. If you are interested, please contact the Vocations Office at 301-853-4580 or www.adw.org/vocations.

As of this posting you have 157 days and 16 hours to train. Surely, you can find the time. See you at the finish line.


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Bearing Witness to all that is good and true

Pope Benedict’s trip to the Holy Land is a great lesson in  the Church’s commitment to inter-religious dialogue. Catholics have two very different relationships with Judaism and Islam and if you follow the papal trip to the Holy Land you will learn quite a bit. 

Pope John Paul II liked to speak of the Jews as our older sisters and brothers highlighting our shared roots.  With regard to Islam, Pope Benedict highlights our common values.

We often think that dialogue is meant to highlight what we share in common and while that if often a good starting point, dialogue is also understanding our differences in order to have a better understanding of the other and a better understanding of ourselves. I had a professor who once said that good dialogue helps us learn more about ourselves and more about our partner in dialogue.

Pope Benedict in a speech in Jordan speaks of Islam and Christianity as “natural allies in defense of common values and a positive role for religion in society.” He added that Muslims and Christians must also “bear witness to all that is good and true, especially the common origin and dignity of  all human persons.” This foundation offers many possibilities for collaboration. In his speeches though, he also raises the areas in which the two faiths have quite different perspectives. He affirms that Christianity rejects extremism with regard to religious freedom.  Pope Benedict would like to see more freedom for Christians living is Islamic countries both with regard to worship  and civil issues like employment.  He will speak of this often during his trip.

This trip to the Holy Land will both highlight the beauty of these three major faiths whose home is the Holy Land and the differences in the answers we have to life’s biggest questions.

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Navigating the high school years in faith, hope, and love

When my sister was a new mother and learning how to be the best Mom and the best employee, she was given one piece of advice that she didn’t forget. She was told that though popular opinion is that it is more important to be at home when your kids are young (if you are fortunate enough to be able to have a choice), most experts on raising children will tell you the high school years are the most critical. Why? It’s when our kids are beginning to have more freedom, when they are spending more time with friends and when they are beginning to really think seriously about how they want to “shape” their personalities. It is then that parents need to be really attentive to what is going on in their child’s world. What Mom or Dad doesn’t talk about how much they learn driving their kids around and listening to their kids’ conversations when the kids forget that the chauffer might be listening!

 

Given what our kids confront in high school, who wouldn’t want the best possible school environment. Catholic High Schools offer a great environment and the gift of faith. Our Catholic schools are steeped in the great tradition of Catholic education that is at the heart of the Church’s mission. Just a year age, Pope Benedict XVI spoke to American Catholic Educators at Catholic University and said:

             God’s revelation offers every generation the opportunity to discover the ultimate truth about its own life and the goal of history. This task is never easy; it involves the entire   Christian community and motivates each generation of Christian educators to ensure that the power of God’s truth permeates every dimension of the institutions they serve. In this   way, Christ’s Good News is set to work, guiding both teacher and student towards the objective truth which…points to the universal and absolute that enables us to proclaim with confidence the hope which does not disappoint (cf. Rom 5:5). Set against personal  struggles, moral confusion and fragmentation of knowledge, the noble goals of scholarship and education, founded on the unity of truth and in service of the person and the community, become an especially powerful instrument of hope.

 

 If you are thinking about the value of Catholic education and are wondering what sets our Catholic High Schools apart, please plan to come to one of our school fairs to learn more and to see how faith, hope and love come alive in our schools.

2009 Regional Catholic High School Fairs:

Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center
5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, MD 20852
(White Flint Metro; use Executive Boulevard entrance for complimentary parking)

  • Thursday, April 30, 2009, 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
    Marriott Greenbelt
    6400 Ivy Lane, Greenbelt, MD 20770
    (Greenbelt Metro; Beltway Exit 23-Kenilworth Avenue, left onto Ivy Lane; complimentary parking)
  • Sunday, May 3, 2009, 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
    Trinity University’s     Main Hall
    125 Michigan Avenue, NE, Washington, DC
    (Brookland-CUA Metro; complimentary parking on-site)

For more information go to www.adw.org/education

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Using Your Noggin

A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1800)

 

The Catholic Church puts a lot of emphasis on our conscience. It allows us and even invites us to wonder, question, and disagree. So what exactly are we supposed to do when our conscience disagrees with Church teachings?

 

The answer again comes from the Catechism:

 

A well-formed conscience will never contradict the objective moral law, as taught by Christ and his Church. (Catechism, #1783-5, 1792, 2039)

 

This echoed what a priest said at a retreat I attended two weekends ago. Someone asked the priest what we’re supposed to do if we disagree with something the Church teaches. He said, “Assume the Church is right, first of all. Then ask yourself where in your line of thinking you start to diverge from what the Church teaches. Take that one point, and learn more about it through diligent reading and talking to your spiritual director.”

 

Does this mean that in the process of forming our conscience and learning about the moral law, Christ and his Church, our disagreement will cease? Yes! We make a pretty bold statement when we say that Church teachings are infallible, that the Church is the fullness of the Truth, and that if we gain knowledge of that Truth we will end up in line with Church teachings, but that’s what we believe!

 

So if we have questions about and disagreements with what the Catholic Church teaches, we must ask, study, and pray! Obviously, learning our faith and forming our moral conscience is a daily and lifelong process. Thankfully we have the lives of the saints to give us hope and encouragement!

 

FWI: This website offers a concise and valuable explanation of moral conscience.

http://www.beginningcatholic.com/conscience.html

 

 

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In celebration of the ministry of priests

priest

 

As Msgr. Pope’s blog says, tonight is the night that the Church celebrates the ministry of priesthood. It is an opportunity for us to give thanks for the blessing that so many priests have been in our lives. Many of us can think of a time when the words of a homily, or a visit with a priest in a moment of crisis or a conversation we had as we were leaving church made a huge difference in our life.

 

One Tough Job

 

Arguably the ministry of the priest is one of the hardest jobs there is. It is 24/7, the phone does ring in the middle of the night, lots of people want a piece of your time, and everyone wants excellent preaching every week. The pastor is shepherd, CEO, CFO, CIO and maybe even the IT guy. We expect excellent homilies, the perfect prayer for every occasion, and that they are at the office when we need them. We’re happiest if they like everything in the parish that we like and not like all the things we don’t like. We want them to be human “just like us” and we want them to be just like Jesus.

 

I am fortunate to be able to say that some of my most favorite people in the world are priests. It was a priest, over pizza at Domino’s who first suggested that I might have a gift for parish ministry and theology. He helped me find a theology program that was right for me and was present when I defended my dissertation. In my first job in parish ministry when I told him that I went to visit a woman in the hospital and she asked to pray the Memorare, and I had to admit I didn’t know it, he made me a palm size copy of the prayer so that it would never happen again!

 

Sharing the Love

 

I’ve studied with priests, I’ve worked with priests, I’ve taught priests and so I’ve learned a lot about what they most like. With a nod to the more famous Top Ten list, here is a Top Ten list for sharing some love with our priests.

 

10 For no good reason drop off their favorite snack or a fresh cup of coffee

9.  Before you tell them it was the wrong decision ask how they came to that    decision    

8.  Write a thank-you note

7.  Support a new initiative Father wants to try in the parish

6.  Invite Father over for dinner or to a family celebration

5.  For every criticism you have to share, share a compliment

4   Help Father be faithful to taking a day off, going on retreat and getting   away

3.  Offer to meet a need before Father needs to ask

2.  Know that they are holy and let them be human

1.  Pray often for your pastor and for all of our priests