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What Is Eternal Life?

I often think we haven’t done a very good job in setting forth the doctrine of Eternal Life. For most people the concept seems a rather flat one, namely, that we shall live for ever and ever and ever…. And frankly for many such a concept seems rather unappealing even if the place of it is heaven. Heaven too is often poorly understood. It is reduced to a rather egocentric notion of a place where I will be happy. I’ll have a mansion, I’ll see my mother again, I won’t suffer…. But most moderns in their description never get around to mentioning God. If God is mentioned at all he’s down on the list somewhere, not at the top where he belongs. This is sad for the heart of heaven is to be with God!

Pope Benedict in his Encyclical Spe Salvi also ponders the problem of the poor understanding of eternal life:

Perhaps many people reject the faith today simply because they do not find the prospect of eternal life attractive. What they desire is not eternal life at all, but this present life, for which faith in eternal life seems something of an impediment. To continue living for ever —endlessly—appears more like a curse than a gift. Death, admittedly, one would wish to postpone for as long as possible. But to live always, without end—this, all things considered, can only be monotonous and ultimately unbearable….The term “eternal life” is intended to give a name to this known “unknown”. Inevitably it is an inadequate term that creates confusion. “Eternal”, in fact, suggests to us the idea of something interminable, and this frightens us; “life” makes us think of the life that we know and love and do not want to lose, even though very often it brings more toil than satisfaction, so that while on the one hand we desire it, on the other hand we do not want it. (Spe Salvi, 10, 12).

My own pondering and experience of the concept of eternal life is that ultimately eternal life is not about the length of life, it is about the fullness of life. To enter eternal life mean to become fully alive. For now we are not fully alive. We experience much of death in these lowly bodies of ours. However, most of us do get glimpses of eternal life and can experience aspects of it even now. For example, have you ever had a day when you had all the energy in the world. Not only did you feel energetic but your mind was sharp and your day was efficient and effective. Everything seemed to click and there was joy and contentment. Most of us have days like that from time to time but they don’t last. 🙁 But it is a glimpse of what eternal life might be like multiplied by a factor of 10 Trillion.

Another experience I have of eternal life I hope you share too. At age 51 my body is not in prime condition. It is aging to be sure and death will one day come to it. But my soul is more alive than ever. I am more joyful, more serene, more confident, more prayerful, more content. Many sins that used to plague me are gone or greatly diminished. In effect, I am more alive at 51 than I was at 28. And wait to you see me at 68 and 88! As I get older I become more alive. What I am saying is that eternal life doesn’t just begin after we die. It begins now and should grow in us more and more. It’s fulfillment will only be heaven but I am witness (and hope you are too) that eternal life has already set deep roots in me.

So again, the main point here is that with eternal life the word “eternal” refers not so much to the length of life as to the fullness of life. To enter eternal life is to become fully alive with God forever, to experience untold joy, serenity and peace in an eternal embrace with God forever. And having our communion with God perfected we will also have our communion with one another perfected. Who really needs a mansion when you can live in the heart of God? That is our true dwelling place that the Father is preparing. It’s not about houses and seats of honor its about a place in the heart of the God who made us and loves us. It is to become fully alive and perfect as the Father is perfect.

Pope Benedict also has a very beautiful image of eternal life in Spe Salvi:

To imagine ourselves outside the temporality that imprisons us and in some way to sense that eternity is not an unending succession of days in the calendar, but something more like the supreme moment of satisfaction, in which totality embraces us and we embrace totality—this we can only attempt. 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. This is how Jesus expresses it in Saint John’s Gospel: “I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (16:22). (Spe Salvi, 12)

In the following video Fr. Robert Barron makes an interesting point, one that I have made elsewhere in these pages, namely, that when the Church fails to teach her doctrine well or casts aside her traditions, the world often picks them up but distorts them. In this rather Halloweenesque video Fr. Barron notes that as we have struggled to present well the concept of eternal life the world has taken up the notion of those “who can never die” in the vampire craze. Obviously the fact that they live forever is a horrible curse to them and any biblical notion of eternal life is absent. They are merely the “un-dead.” When the Church drops the ball the world pick it up but flattens and distorts it.

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What are you really afraid of? An answer from the Bible

What is it that really hold us in bondage? What is it that is truly the source of our problem, our sins, our selfishness, our anger, our lust and pride? Original Sin? Yes but where does the wound of sin really set up shop in us and stay open for business? What does it tap into for its strength? Scripture has an interesting answer to this question:

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Heb 2:14-15)

Now this passage is clear enough that the first origin of sin is the devil. But it also teaches that the devil’s hold on us is the “fear of death.” This is what he exploits to keep us in bondage.

When I explore this teaching with people it is difficult for many to understand at first. For many, especially the young, death is kind of theoretical. It is not something many people fear on a conscious level. Every now and then something may shake us out of our complacency (perhaps a brush with death) but as a general rule the fear of death is not something that seems to dominate the thoughts of many. So what is meant by the “fear of death” and how does it hold us in bondage?

Well, what if we were to replace the word “death” with “diminishment”? This can help us to see what this text is getting at. It doesn’t take long to realize that each diminishment we experience is a kind of “little death.” Diminishments make us feel smaller, less powerful, less glorious.

What are some examples of diminishments we might experience? At one level, a diminishment is anything that makes us feel less adequate than others. Maybe we think others are smarter, or more popular. Perhaps we do not feel handsome enough, pretty enough, we’re too tall, too short, too fat, wrong color hair. Maybe we hate that others are richer, more powerful, better spoken, better looking. Maybe we are older and wish we were younger and stronger, thinner and more energetic again. Maybe we are younger and wish were older, wiser, richer and more settled. Maybe we feel diminished because we think others have a better marriage, nicer home, better kids, or live in a better neighborhood. Maybe we compare ourselves to a brother or sister who did better financially or socially than we did.

Perhaps you can see how the fear of diminishment (the fear that we don’t compare well to others) sets up a thousand sins. It plugs right into envy and jealousy. Pride comes along for the ride too since we seek to compensate our fear of inadequacy by finding people whom we feel superior to. We thus indulge our pride or we seek to build up our ego in unhealthy ways. Perhaps we run to the cosmetic surgeon or torture ourselves with unhealthy diets. Perhaps we ignore our own gifts and try to be someone we really are not. Perhaps we spend money we really don’t have trying to impress people so we feel less adequate. And think of the countless sins we commit trying to be popular and fit in. Young people, and older ones too, give in to peer pressure and do sometimes terrible things. Young people will join gangs, use drugs, skip school, have sex before marriage, pierce and tattoo their bodies, use foul language, gossip etc. Adults too have many of these things on their list. All these things in a quest to be popular and to fit in. And fitting in is about not feeling diminished. And diminishment is about the fear of death because every experience of diminishment is like a mini death.

Advertisers too know how to exploit the fear of death (diminishment) in effectively marketing their product. I remember studying this in the Business School at George Mason University. What advertisers do to exploit our fear of diminishment is to actually diminish us. The logic goes something like this: you are not pretty enough, happy enough, adequate enough, comfortable enough, you don’t look young enough, you have some chronic illness (depression, asthma, E. D. diabetes) , etc. So use our product and you will be adequate again, you won’t be so pathetic, incomplete and basically diminished. If you drink this beer you’ll be happy, have good times and friends will surround you. If you use this toothpaste or soap or cosmetics, beautiful people will be around you and sex will be more available to you. If you drive this car people will turn their heads and so impressed with you. Message: you are not adequate now, you do not measure up, you are not perfect (you are diminished) but our product will get you there! You will be younger, happier, healthier and more alive. Perhaps you can see how all this appeal plugs into greed, pride, materialism, worldliness, and the lie that these things will actually solve our problem. They will not. In fact appeals like this actually feed our fear of diminishment and death even more because they feed the notion that we have to measure up to all these false or unrealistic standards.

OK, got the point? Fear of Death (diminishment) is the fundamental drive that keeps us in bondage. Now the text above says that Jesus died to free us from all this. So if freedom is available where do I find it? Let me recommend the following steps:

  1. Recognize the demon, name it: “Fear of Death” or if it helps “Fear of Diminishment.” Learn its moves, tactics, hidden appeals (like we discussed above). And when you see the ugly little demon rebuke him in the name of Jesus.
  2. Ask the Lord for the gift of gratitude; the gift to be grateful for what he has given you, how he has made you, the talents and abilities he equipped you with, the home, family and life he has granted.
  3. Beg for the grace to experience that you are mightily loved by God. That you are unique and irreplaceable.
  4. Watch less TV, draw back more from popular culture. Draw deeply from the font of Scripture and Catholic Tradition, read time-tested classics and edifying materials (like this blog ( 🙂 ).
  5. Accept that there are people who have gifts you do not have. Pray for the gift to rejoice in their gifts and that the Lord can bless you through the gifts and talents of others. Realize that you have gifts others do not have and bless them with these gifts too.
  6. Remember that we can only see the outward appearance of things. Often when we size other people up as having a wonderful life we don’t really know what we are talking about. Many people have hidden sorrows, sins and setback of which we know little.
  7. Realize that you are going to die. But realize too that if we die in Jesus we are not diminished, we gain everything. Allow this understanding of physical death to be vision you have of every true diminishment, large or small. It is not ultimately death, it is humility. And without humility we will never get to heaven.
  8. Enjoy what you have.

Please note I have published this in greater detail in a Carenotes Pamphlet. More on that here: Carenotes

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A Reflection On the Benedictine Vow of Stability

Most Catholics are familiar with the three vows taken by most religious of poverty, chastity and obedience. To these three, St. Benedict (whose feast we celebrated Wednesday), added a fourth for the Benedictine order, the vow of stability. Our summer seminarian who had considered joining the Benedictines at one time spoke to us today after Mass about this vow of stability and I have taken his observations and adopted them here.

Stability for Benedictines involves the promise to remain and live out the rest of one’s life in the monastery community which they enter, not moving about from Monastery to monastery, or place to place. One Benedictine community describes their vow this way:

We vow to remain all our life with our local community. We live together, pray together, work together, relax together. We give up the temptation to move from place to place in search of an ideal situation. Ultimately there is no escape from oneself, and the idea that things would be better someplace else is usually an illusion. And when interpersonal conflicts arise, we have a great incentive to work things out and restore peace. This means learning the practices of love: acknowledging one’s own offensive behavior, giving up one’s preferences, forgiving. [1].

It is a very profound insight to describe our constant search for a more ideal situation as a temptation and an illusion.

Instability is pandemic in our culture and it has harmed our families, our communities, our parishes, and likely our nation. Almost no one stays anywhere for long. The idea of a “hometown” is more of an abstraction or a mere euphemism for the “town of ones birth.”

The layers of extended family that once existed were stripped away by the migration to the suburbs and the seeming desire to get as far apart from each other as possible. Old city neighborhoods that for generations nourished ethnic groups and identities emptied out, and now, most neighborhoods, cities or suburban, are filled with people who barely know each other and who seldom stay long in one place anyway.

The economy both feeds and reflects this instability. Gone are the days when most people worked for the same company or even in the same career all their life. Accepting a new job or promotion often means moving to a new city. Businesses often relocate to whole new areas of the country. Lasting professional relationships are threadbare as well as long-standing relationships between businesses and customers, tradesmen and clients. The American scene and culture has become largely ephemeral (i.e. passing and trendy).

And in our private lives too we reinforce this attitude:

1. Marriages – Spiritually everyone who enters into a marriage takes a vow of stability to be true and faithful to their spouse in good times and bad, in sickness and health, in riches or in poverty till death. And yet more than half of marriages fail to realize this vow. Many want their marriage to be ideal and if there is any ordeal, most want a new deal. And, frankly most who divorce and remarry  are the most likely to divorce again. As the Benedictine statement above says, Ultimately there is no escape from oneself, and the idea that things would be better someplace else is usually an illusion.

2. People do this with faith too, often moving from faith to faith, or at least from parish to parish in search of a more perfect experience of church. And while some are actually following a path deeper into and toward the truth, most who church-hop are looking for that illusive community where the sermons are all good, the people friendly, the moral teachings affirm them, and the liturgy perfectly executed according to their liking. It is a kind of “designer church” phenomenon. And yet again, the problem is often as much within as without: Ultimately there is no escape from oneself, and the idea that things would be better someplace else is usually an illusion.

3. The older practice of buying a home, settling in a neighborhood and living their your whole life there is largely gone too. Most people own several homes in a lifetime and thus live in several different neighborhoods as they move about. Never mind that this means a lot of uprooting and harm to relationships. People who are just passing through and waiting to find a better home are thus less committed to improving their communities, schools, and Churches. Children too have relationships with schoolmates, and neighbor friends severed by all this mobility. There may at times be a real need for a larger home or a safer neighborhood, but even without these needs, most seem to have the goal to “upgrade” and the emphasis seems more on the bigger house than real relationships.

4. A strange phenomenon to me personally is how popular the idea of moving to Florida or to the south is among retirees. In so doing they usually leave behind all their friends, much of their family, their church, and all that is familiar. Why is this so popular,  and does it also bespeak a kind of great divorce where family and obligations to friends and communities are seem more as burdens and part of the work that one retires from?

Well, you get the point. We have very little stability and it effects how well we can hand on the faith, and transform our culture. Our lack of stability is not wholly our fault but we do cooperate to some extent with its contours.

In the gospel for this coming Sunday Jesus counsels: Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave. In other words, settle down and don’t go from house to house looking for a better deal or a better meal. Pick a house and stay there, set down roots in the community where you minister, eat what is set before you and develop the deep relationships that are necessary for evangelization and the proclamation of the gospel.

Stability, though difficult to find in our times is very important to cultivate wherever possible and to the extent possible. In particular, the gift to seek is the kind of stability that is content with what God has given and is not always restlessly seeking a more ideal setting. For again, as we have noted: Ultimately there is no escape from oneself, and the idea that things would be better someplace else is usually an illusion.

Perhaps a parable to end: Sometimes there would be a rush of noisy visitors and the Silence of the monastery would be shattered. This would upset the monks; but not the Master, who seemed just as content with the noise as with the Silence. To his protesting disciples he said one day, “Silence is not
the absence of sound, but the absence of self.”

Stability, an oft neglected virtue, and one to cultivate.

Here’s a video that depicts the sad dislocation that often results from economic downturns and changing technologies:

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Catholic and American

Fr. Isaac Hecker, a convert and founder of the Society of Saint Paul (Paulist Fathers) once remarked “I am a better American because I am Catholic; I am a better Catholic because I am an American.” He came to the faith and the life of preaching during a time in which Catholics were held in great suspicion and Catholicism was thought to be something from the “old world” that did not really have a place in the new world that was the United States. These words crossed my mind as I prayed and sang and celebrated the gift of faith and freedom with Catholics from all over the archdiocese at the Archdiocesan “Celebration of Freedom” held Sunday, June 24.

Freedom

The afternoon (and you can see the video that framed our celebration here) was meant to be a reflection on the source and meaning of freedom. One can only be free if freedom is rooted in truth. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it “Freedom accords with the sense of what is true and the good that God has put in the human heart” (CCC, 1742).  Our founding fathers agreed with the Christian principle that the right to the exercise of freedom, especially in religious and moral matters is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of the human person and that natural right has been protected in the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Gratitude

Sunday was a day for me to give thanks that I am a better American for being Catholic. Belonging to a church that is universal makes me appreciate and value the cultural diversity that is woven into the fabric of our country. I want to live in a community that reflects the face of the world. The United States garners enormous respect throughout the world for its generosity to other nations in the face of adversity. Making a contribution to a disaster relief fund or contributing time to a neighborhood project is an opportunity to practice a work of mercy. My Catholic faith is stronger for the commitment of the Christian disciple to service and the United State’s heritage of voluntary service for the greater good of the community. Service opportunities abound and any would agree it is part of being a good citizen.

And I am a better Catholic for being American. I was raised in an era in American history in which communities of faith were free to publicly practice the faith. May Processions wound through the church neighborhood. Public displays to celebrate certain feasts were never questioned. At community events at where people of different faiths and Christian communities were present, prayer was welcomed. It seems a natural part of life to practice one’s faith publicly and so today, I both welcome the opportunity to do so and want to live in a community in which people of every faith can do the same.

I have lived in countries in which class distinction, even among people of the same faith, colors relationships both professionally and personally. In Italy, I remember the shock of an electrician who was finishing work in our house around lunch time and we invited him to have lunch with us. He commented that this kind of thing would not happen in an Italian household. My Christian sense of hospitality and my American sensibility of the unimportance of class distinction made the invitation a natural response.

As I watched the video that traced the story of the Catholic Church in the United States, I appreciated that it was the promise of freedom that brought the first Catholics to the U.S. It is the protection of freedom that drove and drives Catholics to serve in every branch of the armed services and fight in every conflict. American Catholic faith was strengthened in the face of discrimination and perhaps made Catholics all the more desirous of  opening the doors of our schools, hospitals and social service agencies to anyone seeking our services, not because they are Catholic but because we are Catholic. Catholics have made huge contributions to every aspect of American life, and our faith is what gives us the courage today to stand for religious freedom..

During the afternoon we asked people to tweet what religious freedom means to them. We are still asking people to tell us what religious freedom means to you!  You can add your thoughts via a tweet at #SacredProperty

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Sacred Heart of Jesus

This entry was written by Sr. Mary Dolora Keating, R.S.M., Delegate for Consecrated Life, Archdiocese of Washington.

Sacred Heart of Jesus

Blessed Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus!

I would like to present 3 points for your reflection as we participate in the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, Ireland:  1) the Theme of the Eucharistic Congress for this Solemnity; 2) Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus; and 3) Devotion to the Most Holy Eucharist.

The Theme

Today is the 5th Day of the Eucharist Congress in Dublin, Ireland which, as you know, has the theme of, “Communion in Suffering and in Healing.”  The daily congress theme informs both the presentation/workshops and Liturgies of each day.

In his words of Welcome at the Opening Mass, His Excellency Most Reverend Diarmud Martin, Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland said that “. . . the Church in Ireland is suffering” and that each member may, in this time of prayer at the Congress, turn to the Lord who will renew, heal, and strengthen them in their faith.  He reminded us that the graces flowing from this Sacrament would offer the members of the Catholic Church in Ireland the love, peace, hope and courage to accept their own share in suffering at this time.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,

And let the one who believes in Me drink.”  John 7:37

The mystery of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is both gift and choice.  This gift given by Jesus Christ requires an assent of faith both to come to the Sacred Heart and then to drink of the Precious Blood pouring forth from His Pierced Heart on the cross.  Will we allow Christ and His Love to be the primary Mover in our heart?  Will we allow Him to reveal all that hinders this intimate exchange and then do all we can to protect, preserve and nourish this life of grace within us?  May all else be secondary to receiving Christ’s Love from this wondrous Fount of our Salvation!

Pope Pius XII wrote in the Encyclical, Haurietis Aquas, On Devotion to the Sacred Heart, of 1956 the following:

 “. . .it is beyond question that this devotion is an act of religion of high order; it demands of us a complete and unreserved determination to devote and consecrated ourselves to the love of the divine Redeemer, Whose wounded Heart is its living token and symbol” [P. 6].

It is a great gift that this Solemnity occurs during the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, Ireland.  Through the fervent participation in this marvelous devotion, may many graces be bestowed upon the Church of Ireland.  At His General Audience on Wednesday, June 13, 2012, His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, asked all members of the Church to pray for the success of the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin as he said,

“I invite you to remain spiritually united to Christians in Ireland and the world, praying for the work of the congress, that the Eucharist may always be the pulsating heart of all church life.”

 Devotion to the Most Holy Eucharist

Because the Congress Theme of this day is “Communion in Suffering and in Healing,” I will address briefly how the Blessed Sacrament is a great remedy for our hearts most in need of healing.

We often say to one another, “I will pray for you.”  This is most fitting for us to pray both for the living and deceased.  We also ask the saints’ intercession for particular needs.  It is noteworthy, however, to recall that the Blessed Sacrament is the actual Presence of God without any intermediary.  He alone can heal our every infirmity of mind, soul or spirit.

St. Thomas Aquinas teaches in Summa Theologiae, III, q. 73, art. 1, that, as in the body, it is necessary that our physical life be maintained through nourishment, so too, in the spirit, our life as adopted children of God must be nourished by the Holy Eucharist. As vegetative life needs nourishment both to be preserved and grow, so too does our spiritual life need food to sustain the life given us in Baptism and called to the perfection of growth through the Sacrament of Confirmation.

I close with the prayer to the Most Blessed Sacrament recited customarily at the North American College in Rome,

 “May the Heart of Jesus

In the Most Blessed Sacrament

Be Praised, Adored, and Loved

With Grateful Affection

At every moment

In all the Tabernacles of the world

Now, and until the end of time. 

Amen.”

We thank sister for the photos as well!

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Living Eucharistic Lives

Written by Sr. Revelacion Castaneda

It is 10:30pm and the sun is just setting in Ireland.  Last night, as we concluded the Eucharistic Procession during the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Ireland, thousands of children, youth, adults and seniors (some even in wheelchairs and with canes) processed behind the Blessed Sacrament in the streets of Dublin for close to three hours. This public demonstration of our faith in the Real, True, and Substantial presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament follows a rich tradition the Catholic Church has had for centuries.

The International Eucharistic Congress focuses on renewing our faith in the Blessed Sacrament, “source and summit of the Christian life” (CCC 1324). “Apart from me you can do nothing,” says the Lord to His disciples the night of His betrayal (Jn 15:5). All our good works are empty—all our efforts in vain—unless our souls are filled with Christ. We will not be authentic witnesses—missionaries of the Good News—unless we draw all our strength and life from our communion with Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Out of all the seven sacraments, the Holy Eucharist is the greatest of all the sacraments because it contains Christ substantially (cf. Summa Theologiae III, 65, 3). Our lives must be Eucharistic—ones which we daily unite to the offering of Christ and which we allow His grace to transform in order that we may become more like Him. Last night, as parts of the Gospels were read and petitions were made for the Church both in Ireland and around the world, I could not help but recount of the innumerable souls who have given their lives for professing Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and imitated Him until the end.

“The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father” (Ad Gentes, 1). All our missionary efforts are aimed at union of the soul with His Creator. Communion with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament allows us to enter into this intimate relationship as long as we are in a state of grace and have rid ourselves of all the barriers of mortal sin. The life of the sacraments, especially Confession and Communion, give us the opportunity to enter more deeply into this communion with God which He Himself initiates. Our heart must grow to desire these two sacraments of grace just as our bodies seek nourishment to stay alive. Our love for Christ will grow in the proportion we know Him and spend time with Him present in the Blessed Sacrament. During this Eucharistic Congress, churches throughout Dublin (and I imagine in other parts of Ireland as well) have encouraged the faithful to participate in extended hours of Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.  Today, our youth group visited St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral where Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament continues to draw in hundreds of pilgrims.

Our communion with Christ should impel us to share Him with others. The faith we have freely received in God’s Providence through other individuals must be likewise freely given by us to those who do not know Him or have grown lukewarm in their faith. “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:19). Through our baptism, we have all been marked as missionaries for Christ and are called to preach the Gospel with our lives for His glory.  He promised to remain with us until “the close of the age” (most particularly manifested in the Blessed Sacrament) and assures us of the aid of the Holy Spirit in order that we may do great deeds in His name (cf. Mk 16:17).We see this reality at work in the lives of countless missionaries whose footsteps have trodden Irish soil, such as Saint Patrick, Saint Charles of Mount Argus and Saint Mary MacKillop, who through a deeper conversion to Christ Crucified were able to enflame the faith in the hearts of those whom they served.

“The Year of Faith will also be a good opportunity to intensify the celebration of the faith in the liturgy, especially in the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, mystery of faith and source of the new evangelization, the faith of the Church is proclaimed, celebrated and strengthened. All of the faithful are invited to participate in the Eucharist actively, fruitfully and with awareness, in order to be authentic witnesses of the Lord” (Note on Pastoral Recommendations for the Year of Faith made by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). As we approach this Year of Faith and embark on a journey of evangelization and renewal of the Catholic faith, let us beg of these great Irish saints the desire of greater union with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament among all the faithful in order that, filled with His life and grace, we may be able to bring more souls to Himself.

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Don’t miss the signs

Signs and symbols are key to Catholic spirituality and ritual.  Using John’s Gospel as a text, Archbishop Robert  LeGall, OSB, Archbishop of Toulouse, France spoke of how gestures within our liturgies and rituals open the believer up to a greater perspective, a reality that takes us beyond the gesture itself. Archbishop LeGall is one of a number of bishops who are serving as catechists at the Congress.

Symbols

Archbishop LeGall pointed out that in Greek, symbol means “to put together” and in John’s Gospel, particularly in chapters 1-12, Jesus is using gestures and signs to help people put together the concrete symbol with the deeper meaning. By way of example, he spoke of the parable of the multiplication of the loaves.  The miracle of providing enough food to feed the people gathered was not the main point. Jesus was preparing people to make the connection between he providing bread and he who would become bread. The Archbishop reminded us that indeed, Jesus later reprimanded the people for missing the point, they couldn’t get beyond the obvious and the concrete.  Jesus says “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled” (John 6:26).

To appreciate our sacraments, to grow in the spiritual life, we need to explore the signs and symbols of our faith–we need to go deeper and put together the “material and the mystical” so to speak! Another example in the talk was from John 19 in which we read “And bowing his head, he handed over the Spirit.” On first reading we understand that he died, reading this with the eyes of faith, we are invited to see in this gesture, that Jesus is also, in his death, transmitting his Spirit.

What helps us catch the signs? How do we begin to open ourselves up to a greater perspective? Not surprisingly, the Archbishop suggested full and active particpation in the liturgy and the practice of Lectio Divina which helps us to read Scripture prayerfully and to listen in a way in which we begin to see differently.

In the question and answer period that follwed, a young man asked if we also face a challenge in the reality that not only do believers need to explore the meaning of symbols,  we seem to face the same problem in secular culture as well. Some gestures and symbols go unrecognized for their deeper meaning.  Do you think this is true? How have you come to understand the symbols of our faith in a way they have brought a new perspective?

The Congress is unfolding in a really beautiful way. As we contemplate the Eucharist as the source and summit of the faith, we are doing that by focusing on its relationship to one of the other sacraments on each day. Monday was Baptism, Tuesday, through Marriage, today we celebrated Holy Orders. Thursday is Reconciliation and Friday, the Sacrament of the Sick.

(the photo is a shot of particpants enjoying lunch on the  Green and is courtesy of the Congress Press staff)

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Dublin’s Pilgrim Walk

One of the unique events of this Eucharistic Congress in Dublin is the Pilgrim Walk. Noting the revival of people’sinterest in pilgrim walks, the Congress committee created the route around seven of the oldest churches in Dublin. Readers of this blog from the Archdiocese of Washington know of the annual Seven Churches Walk sponsored by our Young Adult Ministry and this Dublin walk is very similar.

I began my walk with Mass and the  Reconciliation at St. Mary Pro-Cathedral, the mother-church of the Archdiocese.  I wound my way through the city, stopping at St. Anne’s, founded in 1723 where Irish poet and writer, Oscar Wilde was baptized. At St. Anne, there is a bread shelf located by the choir. It was a tradition to stack the shelves with loaves of bread which the hungry and poor were welcomed to take.  From St. Anne’s, I headed for Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, home of the Carmelite Fathers and established in 1279. Here pilgrims had a chance to venerate the relics of Saint Valentine.

From St. Anne, on my way to St. John’s Lane Church I passed the house where Frank Duff founded the Legion of Mary in 1921. St. John was built by the Augustianians in 1280 and this year has been a special one for the parish as it celebrates the 150 Anniversary of the “Solemn Blessing and Laying of the Foundation Stone,” on Easter Monday in 1895. Not far from St. John’s and in the very neighborhood that is home to Guinness’s Beer world headquarters and plant is St. James church, St. James, founded in 1844, has a special link to the Camino de Santiago as many Irish pilgrims have their Camino passport stamped at St. James before starting out for Camino de Santiago de Compostela.

The sixth visit was to the Gothic style Church of St. Mary of the Angels, which started as a chapel site around 1689, following the Battle of the Boyne. This really beautiful church with a rich wood ceiling was established in 1868. I ended my pilgrimage at the parish of St. Michan, the oldest parish in Dublin. Historical records show the presence of a Christian Shrine dating back 1,000 years, though the present church was not constructed until 1730. The presence of a chapel for some 1000 years has some support in the fact that at the Episcopal Church also named St. Michan, in the same neighborhood, there are catacombs with graves that have been dated at 800 years.

This pilgrim walk was not just a history lesson, but a time for extended prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament. A number of the Churches have extended hours of Exposition during the Congress and many added Masses so that pilgrims can take full advantage of this time of walking with Our Lord. In prayer, one is able to recall themes from the homilies and catechetical sessions that come alive in private prayer and to pray for God’s blessing that the fruits of the Congress will be carried to the home dioceses and parishes of the pilgrims. At each church, pilgrims end their time of private prayer with this prayer:

Lord Jesus, you were sent by the Father to gather together those who are scattered.

You came among us, doing good and bringing healing, announcing the Word of Salvation and giving the Bread which lasts forever. Be our companion on life’s pilgrim way.

May your Holy Spirit inflame our hearts, enliven our hope and open our minds,

So that together with our sisters and brothers in faith we may recognize you

in the Scriptures and in the breaking of the bread. May your Holy Spirit transform us into one body and lead us to walk humbly on earth, in justice and love, as witnesses of your resurrection.

In communion with Mary, whom you gave to us as our Mother at the foot of the cross, through you may all praise, honor and blessing be to the Father in the Holy Spirit and in the Church, now and forever. Amen