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An Image of the Church From the Book of Ruth

Recently I preached a retreat for a good number of women here in our Archdiocese, and I based the the retreat on the Book of Ruth, a beautiful love story that is a kind of allegory for Christ and the Church. More specifically it is also an allegory of the individual’s salvation by Christ and relationship to Him.

The remote background to the text I want to share here is too lengthy to detail here. But a few points will help. The story features three main Characters: Boaz, Ruth and Naomi. Boaz is clearly a picture (or “type”) of Christ. He is Born, and lives in Bethlehem, and he acts, ultimately, as Ruth’s “kinsman-redeemer” by rescuing her from her poverty and paying the price to cancel her debt. This of course is just what Christ, born in Bethlehem, does for us: redeeming us by his blood and canceling our poverty and debt. And Ruth is a picture of the individual soul in need of Christ’s redemption and mercy. Naomi serves several roles in the book, but in the passage we will consider here, she is a picture of the Church, as she advises Ruth in what to do, and draws her to Boaz (Christ), her redeemer.

Consider the following text and then let us she how Naomi pictures the Church.

Naomi said to Ruth, Is not Boaz…a kinsman of ours? Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.” “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered. (Ruth 3:2-5)

The advice that Naomi gives is quite in line with the instruction that our Mother the Church gives us. For in our poverty, and under the debt of our sin, the Church exhorts us to seek our “Boaz” who is Christ. Observe the advice given by Naomi and consider how it sounds so like our Mother the Church. Namoi advises:

1. Be Firmly Convinced – Naomi says, Is not Boaz…a kinsman of ours? Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Ruth knows her poverty, her pain and her debt. Naomi does too, and she exhorts Ruth to seek for Boaz, for he is near, and can help. Boaz is wealthy and thus has the power to save her, to draw her out of her overwhelming poverty. He has the capacity, unlike any other to cancel Ruth’s whole debt. She is to seek him at the threshing floor where he is preparing and providing the bread that will sustain her. She must go, firmly convinced that Boaz will love her and save her.

And so too does the Church exhort us: Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near (Is. 55:6). Yes, there is one among us, a near kinsman, who is not ashamed to call us his brethren (Heb 2:11). His name is Jesus and he, as God, has the power to save and cancel our whole debt. Cast your cares on him, for he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). He is at the threshing floor of his Church preparing a banquet for you in the sight of your foe (Psalm 23:5). And the grain he is winnowing is the Eucharistic Bread of his own flesh. Yes, says the Church, Come to Jesus, firmly convinced of his love and power to save.

2. Be Freshly Cleansed – Namoi says next and simply, “Wash.” In other words, the first step in finding help from Boaz is to be washed, to be freshly cleansed.

So too does the Church draw us to Christ with the exhortation, “Wash,” that is, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). Yes the love of God will be poured forth on us, and the cancellation of our debt will take place as we are washed from our sins.

Here are some other texts wherein the Church, our Naomi, our Mother exhorts us to be Washed:

  1. James 4:8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
  2. 2 Cor 7:1 Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
  3. Is 1:15  Wash and make yourselves clean.
  4. Is 52:11 Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of the LORD.
  5. Acts 22:16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.
  6. Heb 10:22 Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.


3. Be Fragrantly Consecrated – Namoi says to Ruth “and perfume yourself” In other words: Be nice to be near. Come with an aroma that is sweet and pure.

So too does the Church, our Naomi,  exhort us to to be fragrantly consecrated. The fragrance we are called to is that of a holy life, which we receive in baptism. Like a sweet incense, or perfume, should our life in God be. Consider some of the following texts the Church gives us:

  1. Eph 5:2 – Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God
  2. 2 Cor 2:15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
  3. Song 4:12 [The Groom (Christ) speaks to his beloved]: You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain. Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard, nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices.
  4. Ex 30: 7 Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps.

4. Be Fitly Clothed – Naomi says to Ruth –  and put on your best clothes.

Here too does our mother the Church advise us to be fitly clothed. And for a Christian, to be fitly clothed is to be adorned in the righteousness that comes to us in Christ, by Baptism. In the Baptismal liturgy the Church says to the newly baptized of the white garment they wear: You have become a new creation and have clothed yourself in Christ. Receive this baptismal garment, and bring it unstained to the Judgment seat of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you may have everlasting life.

In other words, be fitly clothed, wear well the garment of righteousness that Christ died to give you. Scripture too speaks of the garment in which we are to be fitly clothed:

  1. Is 61:10 I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
  2. Rev 19:7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure”– for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

5. Be Fully Committed – Naomi says,  Then go down to the threshing floor, ….until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down.

In other words, Ruth place yourself at the feet of your redeemer. This action of Ruth was a way of saying to Boaz, I put myself under your protection. I am fully committed to you.

And so too the Church bids us to do the same, that we go to the threshing floor, to that place where the threshed and winnowed bread becomes the Eucharist.

Beneath, or near, every Catholic altar is the Cross. And on that Cross are the uncovered feet of Jesus Christ.

The most sacred place on earth is at the feet of Jesus Christ. And to that place, to that altar, beneath the uncovered feet of Christ, the Church, our Naomi, bids us gather each Sunday. The Church says just what Naomi said, “Place yourself at the feet of your Redeemer.”

6. Be faithfully Compliant – Naomi says to Ruth, confidently and succinctly: He will tell you what to do.

And here too the voice of the Church echoes what Mother Mary also said long ago regrading her Son: Do whatever he tells you (Jn 2:5). How can our Naomi, the Church, say anything less or anything else? The Church has one message: Do whatever Christ, your redeemer tells you.

So Naomi is a picture of the Church, Boaz a picture of Christ, and Ruth a picture of the soul in need of salvation.

How does the Story end? Well I am tempted to to tell you to read it for yourself. But since Boaz is a picture of Christ, you already knows how it ends. Ruth, firmly convinced and having been freshly cleansed, fragrantly consecrated, and fitly clothed, fully commits herself to Boaz and is at his feet. Boaz who saw and loved Ruth before she ever saw or loved him (cf Ruth 2:5), arises and takes her as his bride, paying off all her debt, and giving her a new life. Sound familiar? It is the story of salvation if we have eyes to see it.

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If the Lord is our Shepherd, I guess that makes us sheep. A brief meditation on what it means to be the Sheep of the Lord

Yesterday was Good Shepherd Sunday and a chance to meditate on the King of Love, Jesus who is our Shepherd and Lord. But of course there is the clear implication that we then, are compared to sheep.

What is the significance of this? In this meditation I do not propose a deep theological answer to the question of significance, just a pastoral one. A reflection that is, for us both humbling and, I pray, encouraging.

Lets begin with the thought that it’s not all that complimentary that the Lord calls us sheep. Consider that He could have said: we are strong and swift as horses, beautiful as gazelles, or brave as lions! But, instead he said we are like sheep.

No come on reader, get a little indignant with me here! 🙂 The Lord is comparing us, not to the swift eagle, the mighty bear, or the clever and intelligent dog. No, he looks at us as says we’re like sheep. Hmm… While reality may hurt, the truth can liberate. So let us consider four qualities about sheep that may help illustrate, at a pastoral level (pardon the pun) what the Lord is teaching.

1. Sheep are WAYWARD – It means that they just tend to wander off. It just grazes awhile then looks up, and looks around and says, in effect, “Where am I?” A sheep will nibble here and browse there and get lost lost, he doesn’t know how to get back to the sheep fold unless the shepherd goes and brings him back. Sheep just keep on going and don’t come back. Dogs and cats can find their way home, The horse can find the barn, But not the old sheep. It doesn’t know how to get back to the sheep fold unless the shepherd goes and brings him back.

Now don’t tell me that doesn’t describe us. All we like Sheep have gone astray, every one to his own way (Isaiah 53:6). This is how it is with us. We get easily lost. We need the sheep fold of the Church and we need the Shepherd, who is Christ, ministering through his Pope, bishops and priests. Otherwise we just wander here and there.

2. Sheep are WITLESS – That is to say they just plain dumb. Ever hear of a trained sheep? We train dogs and birds, horses and even lions. But the sheep cannot be trained! Now we human sheep like to think we are so smart. Sure we’ve been to the moon and we have all this technical computer stuff. But too many of us aren’t even smart enough to pray every day, get to Church on Sunday, and follow God’s basic directions for life. We’re so witless that we even do things that KNOW harm us. Even the simplest directions from God we either confuse or get stubborn about. We cop an attitude and say “We know a few things too.” That’s right, we do know a very few things. We’re so dumb, we think we’re smarter than God! We think we have a better way than God’s way. No that’s really dumb.

3. Sheep are WEAK– A sheep just has no way to protect himself. The mule can kick, the cat can scratch, the dog can bite, the rabbit can run, and the skunk…you know what he can do. But the old sheep? Without the care of the Shepherd and the sheep dogs, the sheep is history. The wolf comes and all he can do is stand there and get killed.

And so it is with us, if it were not for the care of Jesus the Good Shepherd,  the world, the flesh and the devil have got us cornered. And if it were not for the Lord, and the power of his grace, we would be toast.

We like to think we’re strong. We have armies, we amass political power, monetary power, star-power. It all gives us the illusion that we are strong. But then the slightest temptation arises and we fall. We need the Lord and his grace and mercy or we don’t stand a chance because by our self we are weak and prone to sin.

AND YET…

4. Sheep are WORTHWHILE animals. The sheep is a valued animal. In Jesus’ day many a man counted his wealth by sheep. Sheep give meat and milk, produce lambs and wool. Shepherds made many sacrifices in Jesus’ day to breed, herd, and protect these valuable animals. And so it is with us. We may not feel worthy at times, but apparently we were worth saving because the Lord paid the price of our redemption. He saw the price, and paid it all. And not with any diminishable sum of silver and gold but with his own precious blood (1 Peter 1:18-19).

5. Sheep WALK together – Sheep flock together, and thus are safer. To be a solitary sheep is dangerous. It’s a good way to get devoured. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). The scriptures also say Woe to the solitary man! For if he should fall, he has no one to lift him up (Eccles 4:10). Sheep are not supposed to go off on their own, neither are we.

We are called to part of a flock and to be under the care of a shepherd. Most of us realize this in a parish setting. But in the wider sense, we are under a bishop’s care and ultimately the care of the Pope who is the chief Shepherd and the Vicar of Christ, the Good Shepherd.

The Lord Jesus said there is to be one flock and one shepherd (John 10:16). God wants us to be in the protection of the flock with a shepherd watching over us. An old spiritual says, “Walk together children. Don’t you get weary. There’s a great camp meeting in the promised land.” Now too many like to say, “That old Pope doesn’t know this or that.” But again please consider that to wander from the care of the flock and the Shepherd is a mighty dangerous thing.

6. Sheep are WARY– Jesus says, He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. (John 10:11-14). Sheep have the remarkable quality of knowing their master’s voice and of instinctively fearing any other voice and fleeing from it.

In this matter real sheep are smarter than most of us. For we do not flee voices contrary to Christ. Instead we draw close and say, “Tell me more.” In fact, we spend a lot of time and money to listen to other voices. We spend huge amounts of money to buy televisions so that the enemy’s voice can influence us and our children. We spend large amounts of time with TV, radio, Internet.

Yes, we can so easily be drawn to the enemy’s voice. And not only do we NOT flee it, but we feast on it. And instead of rebuking it, we turn and rebuke the voice of God and put his Word on trial, instead of putting the world on trial.

The goal for us is to be more wary, like sheep and to recognize only one voice, that of the Lord speaking though his Church, and to flee every other voice.

Just a few thoughts on being compared to sheep. Humbling? Yes! But true, and therefore, liberating and instructive.

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The King of Love My Shepherd Is: A Meditation on the Gospel for Good Shepherd Sunday

On this fourth Sunday of Easter we turn a corner of sorts. Up till now we have been reading of the resurrection appearances themselves. Today we begin to see how the risen Lord ministers to us as the Good Shepherd. In effect, the Lord gives us four basic pictures or teachings of how, as the King of Love he shepherds us. Here than are four portraits of his love:

I. Passionate love – In the text Jesus says, I am the Good Shepherd, a good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Purely gratuitous love is a hard thing to come by in human relationships. In one sense we are too needy to be able to give it purely. In another sense our motives tend to be a mixture of self love and love of the other. This is our human condition that few of us rise above in a consistent way.

But Jesus loves us purely, gratuitously, and for our own sake. His love is passionate in the sense that it is sacrificial.  He lays down his life for us. And he does this while we are still sinners and often alienated from him. He dies for us though we cursed, mocked and ridiculed him.  He loves us and lays down his life us, though he gets nothing out of it.

The hired shepherds on the other hand work for pay, and seek above all else their own good. When there is danger to the sheep, they will not risk themselves to rescue the sheep. Theirs is a service based on pay, and is subordinated to their own needs and safety.

Only one Shepherd died for you – In this world there are many people, politicians, music and movie stars, political parties and organizations that seek our loyalty, our votes, our membership and our dues. They also make us promises in return, even as they want to influence us and exercise leadership over us . None of this is necessarily wrong. People form relationships and seek leaders for any number of reasons. But note this important difference: none of these leaders or “shepherds” ever died for you. Only Jesus died for you.

For there remains this problem, that many Christians give greater loyalty to their political  leaders, to musicians, to movies stars and the like, than to Jesus Christ. Too many tuck their faith under their politics, and give greater credence to what popular figures say, than to what Jesus says in his Word and through his Church.

Only Jesus died for you. Human beings and hirelings too easily bring their own needs and agendas. Only Jesus Christ loves you perfectly, only he died for you. Only he is deserving of the role of Chief Shepherd of your life.

II. Personal love – Jesus says, I know my sheep and mine know me. No one knows you like Jesus Christ, As God he knew you before he ever formed you in your mother’s womb (cf Jer 1:4). He has always thought about you, he created you, knit you together in your mother’s womb, and every one of your days was written in his book before one of them ever came to be (cf Ps 139).

Never been Unloved – No matter what you think you may have done to cancel his love, he knew you would do it before he ever made you. And still he made you. Do not doubt his love for you, or that he knows you better than you know your very self.

And old hymn says,

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
But yet in love He sought me,
And on His shoulder gently laid,
And home, rejoicing, brought me.

He also says his sheep know him. And that is both our invitation and our call. We often like to quote the 23rd Psalm “The Lord is my Shepherd” But this is not a slogan, or merely a psalm of consolation. It is a psalm of confession that I am one of the Lord’s sheep. But the Lord says “My sheep know me.” He does not say we merely know about him.

Do you know him? To be in the Lord’s flock is to be in a life changing, transformative relationship with the Lord. To know the Lord is to be seeing our life changed by that very relationship.

III. Persistent love – The Lord says, I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold, These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. Jesus is not content merely to shepherd a few thousand Jewish disciples in the Holy Land. He wanted his love to spread to the whole world. He wants to embrace, and hold close, every one he has ever made. He wants to call every human person into a saving relationship.

Part of our journey as disciples, as sheep of the Lord is to experience  the call to evangelize. But that call will only take flight when the love of Christ for everyone fills our heart.

Christ has a persistent love to embrace and hold close to him everyone. Do you sense that love? He wants to draw others to him, through you.

IV. Powerful love – Jesus says, I lay down my life, in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, I lay it down on my own. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again.

We see how Jesus does this for himself. But as Lord and Shepherd of our life he does it for us too. Our old self was crucified and died with him. We have also risen with him to new life. And this life is the totally new and transformed life that Christ died to give us.

He has the power to crucify our old and sinful self, and the power to raise it up again. And it is not merely our old self that rises, it is a new, and transformed humanity that the Lord takes up on our behalf. He has the power to do this, for his love powerful.

I am a witness of this, and I pray you are as well: he has the power!

Thus, as King of Love, Jesus, the Risen Lord shepherds us with a love that is passionate, personal, persistent, and powerful. No one loves you more than Jesus with his Father and the Holy Spirit. He is the King of Love and He is your Shepherd. The final line of the beautiful Hymn The King of Love My Shepherd is says,

And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise
Within Thy house forever.

Here then. is that hymn, one of my favorite hymns: The King of Love my Shepherd Is. It’s peaceful strains amount to a king of musical onomatopoeia (a word, or in this case a song, that sounds like what it describes).

Here is an another magnificent musical onomatopoeia:

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Can You Hear Me Now? What a Commercial has to teach us about listening for God

The video below takes an interesting twist on the usual cell-phone commercial which emphasizes strong signals, numerous “bars” of signal strength, and the memorable question, “Can you hear me now?”

But this commercial seeks a very different kind of “connectivity” using the cell phone, as its owner is desperate to get away, and not be heard or seen.

Suddenly the “bars” are not about connectivity, but are prison bars. The signal strength is more about the strength of the world to hold us captive. And the incessant question “Can you hear me now” comes to represent the din of a world that never stops its intrusive distractions and the need to hear another voice, the voice of God.

We moderns have many creature comforts, and a standard of living unimagined by our ancestors. And yet we also have levels of stress and a pace of life that would terrify most of them. Today, I put 110 miles on my car going about my day on numerous priestly errands. Two hundred years ago, it was quite possible that a person never journeyed more than 50 miles from their birthplace in their entire life.

Imagine the shock to a denizen of the 18th Century, magically transported to our time. There he would be with me in the car as I traveled at almost 70mph down the highway, merging in and out of traffic at speed, a speed almost unimaginable to him (70 miles in one hour? he thinks, Really? Is that possible?). And all the while:

  • A voice out of thin air, from a device they call a “radio” sounding with a fast-paced announcer,
  • And a “metal box they call a cell phone” ringing and conversations taking place with an unknown interlocutor by some magical process.
  • And there we would be, pulling into a hospital, 43 miles away, in less than an hour (how is that possible?!), in what was to him a distant city.
  • Overhead fly “airplanes” from the nearby Airport, the planes whisking overhead at 300 mph.
  • Suddenly it is back to the big city, a quick lunch with food that is heated, not by fire but in some magical box with a high-pitched hum.
  • And it’s off to another meeting across town weaving and whisking through traffic.
  • Everywhere in that city people rushing about, phones ringing, radios playing, cars tooting horns, construction noise, the sound of loud buses, and, overhead, still more planes and helicopters.
  • Despite what was to him breakneck speed, still there is me, complaining as to the slow pace of traffic and that we’re going to be late.

Soon enough our friend from the 18th century begins to shake with trauma, and cover his ears from all the loud noise and the constant interruptions. Magically transported back to the 18th Century, and shaking with trauma, he tells his friends of his visit to hell, where people rush about in metal devices at dizzying speeds and complain that they are late. And the noise! Oh the noise! And the terrifying fact that the people are required to travel over 100 miles a day before they can rest,  and they must be in multiple places and do multiple things all at once: Being forced to talk into metal devices whenever they ring, and still hold conversations with people around them, even as another voice coming out thin air (which they called a radio) speaks of bad things like murders, and no jobs and rising prices, and then it blares music. And the little metal box keeps ringing, and they keep talking into it, and rushing down roads at high speed and wondering if they’ll be late again.

Well you get the point. Can you imagine how quiet it would seem if we magically went to the 18th Century?

In the hours after 9/11 here in DC, nearby National Airport ceased operations, and most businesses closed here, and most people stayed home, glued to their TVs. Most cell phones fell silent too;  the still new technology overwhelmed by demand, simply shut down. There was an eerie silence outside. Only the strange smell of burning jet fuel from the nearby Pentagon reminded of the horrible mayhem that preceded this eerie peace. No cars, no phones, no planes over head. All in stillness.

“Can you hear me now?” Yes Lord, I can hear you now. I can hear you you in the stillness. A still, small voice, a whisper in the heart, a pause in the action, giving room for God. Yes, Lord, I can hear you now. I can hear you.

In this commercial four men seek for a place where there is “No Signal” from the world. The Ad says, “Chevy runs deep.” Yes, but God runs deeper, in that place where God says, “Be still and know that I am God.”

Where is your place of no-signal? Where is your place that you can hear God say, “Can you hear me now?”

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The Dignity of Humanity as Observed in a Thousand Points of Light

In the video below you will see a visual representation of Worldwide Airline Traffic in a 24 hour period. Each plane is represented by a small dot of yellow light.

As you view the video consider some of the following:

  1. Every dot is a plane that carries hundreds of people.
  2. Each individual has a story.
  3. Some are joyful and flying out to attend a wedding or family event.
  4. Some are sad and flying to funerals.
  5. Some are nervously flying to a job interview in a distant city.
  6. Others are flying to conferences or preparing to give business presentations.
  7. Each dot is a plane filled with people who have both gifts and struggles.
  8. Their lives intersect with hundreds of other people.
  9. Some are influential and well known.
  10. Others live more hidden lives, but are very precious to others.
  11. There are mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, children, spouses, young and old.
  12. Some of the people on those planes, represented by those dots, will die soon.
  13. Others are just beginning their lives.
  14. All of the people on these planes have lives that are swept up into the great mystery of God’s unfolding plan.
  15. None of them are accidents, or surprises to God.
  16. Each have the dignity of being an intentional and loving creation of God.
  17. Each is known to God more then they know themselves.
  18. God knows everything about every person on every plane represented by every tiny dot.
  19. He knows their past, their present and their future.
  20. He sustains every fiber of their being.
  21. Before they were ever formed in their mother’s womb, God knew them, loved them, intended them.
  22. Every one of their days was written in God’s book before any of those days came to pass.

Each dot, a plane. Each dot, a gathering of people. Each person with a history and a destiny unfolding, known to God, loved by God, sustained by God.

Behold the mystery and the dignity of of Humanity as seen in a thousand points of light:

A Prayer for travelers: O God, Who didst cause the children of Israel to traverse the Red Sea dryshod; Thou Who didst point out by a star the road that led the Magi to Thee; grant us we beseech Thee, a prosperous journey and propitious weather; so that, under the guidance of Thy holy angels we may safely reach that journey’s end, and later, the haven of eternal salvation.

Hear, O Lord, the prayers of Thy servants. Bless their travels. Thou Who art everywhere present, shower upon all, the effects of Thy mercy; so that, insured by Thy protection against all dangers, they may return to offer Thee their thanksgiving. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Congressman Ryan on Being Guided by Catholic Social Teaching

In yesterday’s National Catholic Register Congressman Paul Ryan, a Catholic, takes up the topic of how Catholic Social teaching can guide our discussion on public policy. Since we have recently discussed this very topic here in the Blog I’d like to present some excerpts of the Congressman’s reflections and add a few of my own. As is often the case, the original comments by Mr Ryan are in bold, italic black text. My comments are in red plain text. The full article can be read here: Applying Our Enduring Truths To Our Defining Challenge

The Catholic Church offers a rich overview of its thought, summarized in the Compendium of Social Doctrine, to guide Catholics in bringing truth to society’s problems. In his introduction, Cardinal Renato Martino, then president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, wrote, “This area belongs in a particular way” to those lay faithful who are active “in the social sector.”

Here is an essential point. It is the special role of the laity to apply these social principles and teachings in the temporal order. We have had many discussions here on this blog of how the renewal of the temporal order is the special arena of the lay faithful. And while Catholic laity may sometimes disagree at the policy level how exactly to best apply these principles, it is their special role to apply them.

Principles as such, will usually present general norms, which then require specific application. Clergy will do well to encourage the lay faithful to take an active interest in the temporal order, especially, as the Congressman notes, those who have special expertise or roles in the social sector.

Clergy too, having once annunicated principles, do well to entrust the lay faithful with their rightful task and seek counsel with them as to various ways the principles can be applied. Clergy will also do well, it seems to me, to avoid excessively critiquing the details, but rather, to allow the lay faithful to interact with each other as to the details of how best to implement Catholic social principles.

Surely this will involve the lay faithful actively engaging the legislative and political sector, as well as the business and other private sectors. At times the process will be conflictual, and involve compromise, and gradual movement toward goals. But here again, after principles are annunicaited, the clergy ought to allow the laity their rightful role in influencing the temporal order and actively engaging it.

…. As chairman of the House Budget Committee, I am tasked with applying these enduring principles to the urgent social problems of our time: an economy that is not providing enough opportunities for our citizens, a safety net that is failing our most vulnerable populations, and a crushing burden of debt that is threatening our children and grandchildren with a diminished future.

There is no doubt, and it would seem that all agree that we are in a significant fiscal crisis that requires creative and bold solutions.

These problems are related: The debt is weighing on job creation today, closing off the most promising avenues for the poor to rise….We cannot continue to ignore this problem. The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has rightly termed this attitude “living in untruth … at the expense of future generations.”

Yes, here too is a principle that must be considered. It is critical in analyzing the problem that, although we want and need to care for the poor among us today with the social safety net, we cannot ignore future generations either, and fail to realize that we owe them substantial consideration. As is frequently declared by those in the environmental movement, justice cannot only regard the living today, it must also act with concern for those who will live tomorrow.

In approaching this problem as a lay Catholic in public life, I have found it useful to apply the twin principles of solidarity (recognition of the common ties that unite all human beings in equal dignity) and subsidiarity (respect for the relationships between individuals and intermediate social groups such as families, businesses, schools, local communities and state governments).

This is exactly what I was saying in the post last week. Namely that subsidiarity and solidarity are twin principles, not opposed ones. Both are need to support and and complete the other.

It is not as though Republicans and Conservatives can only follow Subsidiarity and Democrats and Liberals follow Solidarity. The principles are both rich enough to include wide application and they are surely not polar opposites.

Both should richly guide public policy, along with other principles that flow from them and support them as well, such as the universal destination of goods and the right to private property, commutative justice and distributive justice, and so forth.

When applied in equal measure, these principles complete and balance each other. But when one is applied exclusively, the result can be harmful….We need a better approach to restore the balance, and the House-passed budget offers one by reintroducing subsidiarity, which the Holy Father has called “the most effective antidote against any form of all-encompassing welfare state.” Our budget…us[es] a federal subsidium to empower state and local governments, communities and individuals — those closest to the problems of society….When solidarity and subsidiarity are in balance, civil society is revitalized, not displaced. We rightly pride ourselves on looking out for one another — and government has an important role to play in that. But relying on distant government bureaucracies to lead this effort just hasn’t worked.

And while there are other Catholics who may disagree with Mr. Ryan and what exact level of government, private, federal and local balance is required, it is nevertheless good to have Catholic principles as an essential part of the discussion.

Catholic laity who agree or disagree with Congressmen Ryan’s application are free to engage him in the public and legislative debate.

Again may I say, as for we who are clergy, I think we owe it to the laity to allow them to work in the temporal order and to use their skills to apply these principles without a lot of interference and amateur commentary from us.

There is enough diversity among the Catholic laity, it seems to me, that the discussion can be both vigorous and complete without lots of pulpit commentary on the specifics. Finding the balance that the Congressman speaks of is both critical and always on-going. Course corrections are needed at every stage of our history to avoid losing that balance.

But pray God that Catholic principles, which are both solid and balanced will continue to influence and guide the discussion. I am happy in this case to see Mr. Ryan specifically and clearly pointing to these principles as an essential guide and a kind of schema for the discussion.

In the discussion that I hope you will participate in, I am going to try and follow my advice and stay back from the details allow you, most of whom are laity, to engage the issue that is rightfully yours. I will limit myself to addressing only comments that are directly addressed to me.

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Turn Down that Microphone and Preach from your Soul! How the excessive use of microphones has adversely affected preaching

OK, so I tried a couple years ago to float the idea that microphones have had an overall bad effect on preaching. As I recall, I was largely overruled by those who considered the idea. But let me try again.

In my own parish I largely preach without a microphone. That said, I have a large cavernous Church, built of stone and plaster and both music and voice resonate well. Only with with a fairly full church at our principle liturgy do I use a little amplification. Not only do people say they can hear better (less echo), but I also experience an energy that comes from it.

Yes, generally I like to preach the old fashioned way, I belt it out.

How powerfully the modern use of microphones has affected preaching and to some extent singing. Consider, that to preach without a microphone means to preach with elevated volume and it requires one to strongly project the voice. In effect one has to preach authoritatively and passionately. Without a microphone I have to speak boldly. And as I preach in this manner, the physical requirement affects the message. As adrenaline began to build, enthusiasm and a kind of confident joy overtakes me.

Now I am not generally known for a quiet style of preaching anyway 🙂 but preaching in this manner strengthens my message even more. Body and soul are fully engaged in proclaiming the message.

Ah what power the preachers of old had to have! Imagine Jesus preaching out in the open to thousands. He surely did not speak gently, he needed power to project.

I have discussed with brother priests before the concern I have at how too much microphone harms our preaching. Too much microphone causes the priest to adopt a gentle, lyrical style of preaching. His style too easily becomes suggestive, rather than using bold proclamation. The suggestive and conversational tone of many a modern preacher can, if not balanced by other things, amount to an “uncertain trumpet.” St. Paul warns, “For if the trumpet produces an uncertain sound, who will muster for battle?” (1 Cor 14:8) It is a sure fact that many of the Catholic faithful have no readiness or appetite for battle and this can partially be laid at the feet of uncertain and uninspired preaching and teaching.

So perhaps a suggestion….Use less microphone for the preaching moment and for the proclamation of the Word. It is a very different type of preaching that emerges from such a context, and I think, a far better, bolder and braver preaching. The lectors too will benefit from a louder and bolder style.

It is a true fact, not all churches, (especially the ones built after 1970 and until recently), are well suited for this option. But many are, and we surely need bolder preaching today and trumpet that is more certain. Some of preaching simply comes down to the physicality of the moment. If a priest needs to project his voice he is affected by that very fact and his message inevitably turns bolder and braver. He will feel the very voice of the Prophets echo though him.

Lectors too will find a whole new experience for they will not merely read the Word of God, they will proclaim it. And those in the pew will be less sleepy and the authority of the Word of God will reach them in a whole new way.

And finally, music will also benefit. Too much modern Church music, if you ask me (and I know you didn’t but I’m saying it anyway), is rather sing-songy and lyrical. Meditative music is nice and has its place but we also need a return of some of the bold and brave singing enshrined in the hymns of the past; before heavy use of P.A. systems influenced us to sing more softly and in a more folksy manner. Different musical styles all have their place but good gutsy singing has taken something of a hit and I blame the loud microphones for some of it.

Less mike and more manpower may well re-energize the proclamation of the Word, the preaching of it and the singing of praise to God. A certain trumpet can awaken even the dead! (cf 1 Cor 15:52).

You will say, not every preacher has a booming voice. Perhaps, but I didn’t either. To some extent the technique can be learned. All I am saying is don’t just rule it out. At least consider the possibility of less mic, and in some cases, like mine, no mic.

This video shows Jesus preaching to an unruly crowd in the synagogue. No Microphone in those days!

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Clarifying Certain Misunderstandings About Confirmation

Yesterday we discussed a bit about baptism and some of the pastoral practices surrounding it. Today in a kind of companion piece I’d like to address some of the distortions and confusion that often surround the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Some one once said that Confirmation is the Sacrament in search of a theology. While not true, the statement does capture that there is a lot of incorrect and sometimes silly teaching about this sacrament to young people. And since it is the season for Confirmations, it may be helpful to explore what the Catechism teaches about the sacrament.

It will also help to exclude certain common, but incorrect notions about Confirmation.

1. Confirmation is not a Sacrament of Maturity – Canon Law (891) states that Confirmation is generally to be administered at about the age of discretion, which age is understood to be seven (Canon 97.2). It may be administered earlier if there is “danger of death” or for another “grave cause.” The same Canon allows the conference of bishops to determine another age for reception of the sacrament. While one may argue that a later date for the Sacrament is pastorally advisable, (e.g. to keep young people engaged in catechetical instruction) one simply cannot argue that it is a “Sacrament of maturity” when Church law generally presupposes its celebration at the age of seven. This is made clearer by the fact that most Eastern Churches, and the Orthodox confirm infants.

2. Confirmation is not “becoming an adult in the Church.” – This is just plain silly. I was taught this as a mere seventh grader, and found it laughable even then. Seventh graders are not adults. They are children and remain so even after Confirmation.

3. Confirmation is not a sacrament where one claims or affirms the faith for himself – Baptism confers faith. To claim that Confirmation “allows me to speak for myself” is to imply that this is how faith comes about. It is to imply that baptism somehow did not actually give real faith, or at least gave inadequate faith,  and now I am getting it by “speaking for myself.” No, Faith is a gift, it is not something I cause by speaking for myself, it is something I receive as an unmerited and free gift of God. It is true that the grace of faith mysteriously interacts with our freedom. But faith is received at baptism. Confirmation strengthens faith that is already there, but it does not cause it. Further it is a bit of a stretch to say that seventh or eighth graders really “speak for themselves.”

4. Confirmation does not “complete Christian initiation” and “make me a full Catholic.” – One of the problems with delaying Confirmation is that the three Sacraments of Initiation are celebrated out of proper order. The proper order of celebration is: Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion. Hence it is Holy Communion that completes initiation, not Confirmation. That we celebrate it out of order creates a lot of confusion and makes initiation a little murky. The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults observes the proper order. Some diocese in this country have returned to this for children as well. In a couple of diocese of which I am aware, the bishop comes to the parish and confirms the seven year old children and then, at the same Mass, gives them First Holy Communion. While this preserves the order of Initiation, and there are pastoral advantages in this regard, it  must be clear that each Bishop is able to set the policy that makes most sense for his diocese. He will obviously weigh a number of pastoral concerns in making his decision.

So what is Confirmation?

1. Confirmation is the Christian’s Personal Pentecost – The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, The sacrament of Confirmation is the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost (# 1302) Before Pentecost, the Apostles were fearful, confused and secretive, gathering only behind locked doors.

But, Suddenly from up in the sky there came a noise, like a strong driving wind which was heard all through the house where they were seated. Tongues as of fire appeared which parted and came to rest on each of them. All were filled with the Holy Spirit. They began to..make bold proclamations as the Spirit prompted them. (Acts 2:1-4)

Consider the change in these men! They had been fearful and confused. Now they are courageous, boldly proclaiming Christ, with insight and an effectiveness so great, that three thousand were added that very day to their number. This is what can happen when we really yield to the power of the Holy Spirit.

It is in the Sacrament of Confirmation that we called to experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us for our mission of spreading and defending our faith. The very word, Confirmation comes from the Latin word Confirma, meaning to strengthen.

2. Confirmation strengthens and quickens our faith for witness and mission – The essential grace (or gift) of the Sacrament of Confirmation is that we should be strengthened equipped for mission. And what is that mission? Again the Catechism teaches, Jesus Christ has marked a Christian with the seal of his Spirit by clothing him with power from on high so that he may be his witness (CCC # 1304). The Catechism also teaches how the sacrament accomplishes this great strengthening within us: Confirmation…is the sacrament which gives the Holy Spirit in order to root us more deeply in the divine filiation, incorporate us more firmly into Christ, strengthen our bond with the Church, associate us more closely with her mission, and help us bear witness to the Christian faith in words accompanied by deeds (CCC # 1316).

See too how this sacrament is given to us not only for our own sakes but also for the world: …enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit…the [confirmed] are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith…( # 1285) Further, A candidate for Confirmation…[must] be prepared to assume the role of disciple and witness to Christ, both within the ecclesial community and in temporal affairs [i.e. “the world”] (CCC # 1319).

3. The Biblical roots of the Sacrament – Jesus had promised to send the Holy Spirit. For example He said,

Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you….I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. (John 16:7ff).

He also told them, But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8) And yet again, Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high. (Lk 24:49)

Within days, while they were gathered in prayer, the Holy Spirit descended on them like tongues of fire (See Acts 2:1-4 recounted earlier). The Apostles began to boldly proclaim the gospel from that day on.

Those who believed in the apostolic preaching were baptized. But in addition to baptism these Apostles also laid hands on the faithful that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Sometimes this was done at the time of baptism and sometimes it was done later. Consider for example these two texts.

When the Apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down to these people and prayed that they might receive the Holy Spirit. It had not as yet come down upon them any of them since they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. The pair, upon arriving imposed hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 8:15-19)

This text shows some separation between the time of baptism and the time of confirmation (the “receiving of the Spirit). The text also explains our Catholic tradition of generally reserving the sacrament for the bishop to celebrate since, in the early Church, the Apostles made it part of their mission to impose hands for the outpouring of the Spirit. Phillip the Deacon had performed the baptisms in Samaria but he waited for the apostles to confirm them in the Spirit.

This next text shows the Apostle Paul baptizing. Because he, an apostle is present, there is no delay in confirming the newly baptized in the Spirit

“When they heard this, [Paul’s preaching] they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. As Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came down upon them and they began to speak in tongues and utter prophecies.” (Acts 19:5-6)

Thus we see the Biblical roots of the Sacrament of Confirmation. Jesus promised the Spirit and did in fact send Him on the day of Pentecost. The Apostles understood that they were not to keep this experience to themselves. So, as the catechism teaches, From that time on the apostles, in fulfillment of Christ’s will, imparted to the newly baptized by the laying on of hands the gift of the Spirit that completes the grace of Baptism….The imposition of hands is rightly recognized by the Catholic tradition as the origin of the sacrament of Confirmation, which in a certain way perpetuates the grace of Pentecost in the Church. (CCC # 1288)

4. The Importance of our Confirmation – More than ever, we need to take the power of God given in this sacrament seriously. All too frequently many Catholics are hindered by fear and confusion from proclaiming the Gospel to the world. This need not be so. There is just too much that needs to be done in proclaiming the Kingdom. We must speak boldly for Christ and announce his salvation day after day. [F]or God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self control. Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord..! (2 Tim 1:7-8) And this gift is not just for some; every member of the faithful is called to receive a special out-pouring of the Holy Spirit.

We have a mission to spread the Gospel in union with the Church by what we say and what we do. It is tragic indeed that so many have seen fit to leave this essential task to others. There is a saying that is sadly true: “Evil triumphs when the good remain silent.” Is this not what has happened in our day? How could a nation with so many Christians living in its midst have so many confused and lost sheep?

If the Apostles could be so changed for their mission by the Holy Spirit, so can we. We are called to spread that faith handed down from the Apostles to our family, friends, co-workers and neighbors. And we must do so in season and out of season. In our Confirmation Christ unites us more firmly to himself and his Church, increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit within us and gives us special strength to live holy lives and to spread and defend the faith (cf CCC # 1303).

It is in Confirmation especially that Christ lays his hands upon us to strengthen us for this mission of evangelization. The task may seem daunting but this is exactly why Christ himself strengthens us so that we can truly say I can do all things in Christ, who strengthens me. (Phil 4:13)

This Blog Post is available as a PDF Document here: The Sacrament of Confirmation

Here’s a little video I put together for the youth on Confirmation. The Song says, “You should be a witness. Why don’t you testify? Stand up and be a witness for the Lord! Don’t be afraid to be a witness!”