“Pay Close Attention…”

Dear brother bishops, dear priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, catechists, pastoral workers and all of you who are engaged in the field of educating young people: I fervently exhort you to pay close attention to those members of parish communities, associations and ecclesial movements who sense a call to the priesthood or to a special consecration. It is important for the Church to create the conditions that will permit many young people to say “yes” in generous response to God’s loving call.

The task of fostering vocations will be to provide helpful guidance and direction along the way. Central to this should be love of God’s word nourished by a growing familiarity with sacred Scripture, and attentive and unceasing prayer, both personal and in community; this will make it possible to hear God’s call amid all the voices of daily life. But above all, the Eucharist should be the heart of every vocational journey: it is here that the love of God touches us in Christ’s sacrifice, the perfect expression of love, and it is here that we learn ever anew how to live according to the “high standard” of God’s love. Scripture, prayer and the Eucharist are the precious treasure enabling us to grasp the beauty of a life spent fully in service of the Kingdom.

- Pope Benedict XVI

Message for the49th

World Day of Prayer

for Vocations

“Let the Children Come to Me”

My friends with young children have shared their dilemma regarding bringing their kids to Mass and the inevitable “disruptions” that they can cause during the liturgy.  The response to this has been everything from leaving the children at home with one of the parents to bringing them and completely ignoring their crying and acting out.  As a priest – and I speak for myself, but probably many others – I do not mind at all the “music” of hungry, tired or annoyed babies during Mass.  Most parents are prudent enough to simply remove the child from the pew until they can settle down.

However, the issue remains for the parents. There is a stigma that other parishioners sometimes put on them for having brought such a “distraction” to Mass; and most people don’t want to inconvenience others, so, more often than not, we see a distinct lack of infants and toddlers at our churches on Sunday.

About a week or so ago, our archdiocesan newspaper asked a question on their Facebook page about this very topic: should young children be brought to Mass? What do you do?  Since then, Rita Buettner, has received much positive feedback to her dilemma of bringing her boys to Mass – and she shared the wonderful advice that our good people have shared with her.  I want to echo their encouragement: BRING THOSE KIDS TO MASS!

Not only bring them – take them right to the front row (we’re Catholics, so there should be plenty of empty space up there!).

Earlier this week, I was in Long Island for a meeting of the National Conference of Diocesan Vocations Directors, and our executive director shared a link to a YouTube video that is the perfect illustration of why kids belong at Mass.  When they are there, they see things.  They ask questions.  They imitate.  They learn.  This video shows where vocations truly come from – not from some “magical,” out-of-the-blue experiences (usually), but from the lived experience of faith in the family and in the parish.

Do you hear that “noise” at Mass? Listen well – it’s the future of our faith!

Capturing the Parents

Our Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, Scott Miller, posted this interesting thought on his youth ministry blog. In that presentation is the following video:

Scott then observes that “I think Parents are the one area that will become the deal breaker for youth ministry in the future.”

His thoughts are valid for most activities of the Church, actually, and I include vocations in that. Certainly, our people expect our priests and religious to discuss vocations and the possibility of a call (although, sadly, not enough do). However, the true shapers of young people’s attitudes toward participation, practice and vocation are the parents of these kids. The Church even upholds this idea, recognizing that parents are the primary educators of children.

Therefore, how can we touch the hearts of our parents to help them underscore the value of vocation in their children’s lives? All people have a vocation, and many are called to be exactly like their parents in that regard (i.e., the vocation to the married life). However, just as possible is the call to the priesthood or consecrated religious life. How to we assist parents in recognizing and celebrating this vocation in their kids’ lives as well?

Too often, we look at “ministry” in the Church as those who do “church stuff” – “religious stuff.” Such a view misses the fact that this video stresses: parents have the keys to their children’s hearts, and they are more influential than they may ever know. The type of Christians these young people will be is shaped not by their ministers but by the example of their families. Our job as ministers must be to equip those whose primary task it is to share the excitement and joy of accompanying their child on an adventure of a vocation.

Breaking Through, Going Deeper

A few months before I was ordained, I took a trip with some friends to London. We enjoyed the sights, shows, and experiences; but by the end of the week, we were tired of each other. We needed an afternoon apart. One friend took the “Jack the Ripper tour” (don’t ask), one caught a movie, and I decided to visit Wimbledon – tennis fan that I am.

I saw the map of the Underground and noticed Wimbledon at the end of one of the lines, so I thought it would be an easy trip. Well, those maps are schematic – that means that the distances are not actual. It took me an hour to get to the Wimbledon stop, then I had to walk three miles through the village, out of the village, before I found the All England Lawn Tennis Club. By the time I got there, I had to turn around and head home, so I spent a grand total of eight minutes at Wimbledon – but I was there!

In Mark’s gospel, whenever we find Jesus in a house we are looking at an image of the Church. Today, we find Jesus, teaching and healing in a house, with so many people gathered that there is not enough room inside – folks spill out into the streets, crowd around the door and lean through the windows. They are hungry for an encounter with Jesus – even if only to see him or hear his voice.

The paralytic man can have none of that. Even if he could walk, there was no way for him to get near the house, let alone near Jesus. He, like so many that day, would have to remain on the edges.

Enter his friends.

Moved with compassion for the man, they pick him up and take him to the house. “Well, at least we’re on the right street.”

No.

They team up and lift him and his mat to the roof of the house. “Well, at least we’re at the right house.”

No.

Defiantly, it seems, they begin to tear away the tiles of the roof and make a hole large enough for a man. “Well, at least we can see Jesus now.”

No!

The men, together, gently, carefully, lower their paralyzed friend through the hole, right to the feet of Jesus. Our Lord, “seeing their faith,” reaches out to the man, and he touches his heart: “Your sins are forgiven.” At the protest of some scribes, Jesus goes further: “Rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” A complete healing of the man – that would not have been possible had it not been for the faith of those men who brought him to Jesus.

Friends, as I said, Jesus in this home is a symbol of the Church, gathered around Christ and his teaching and activity. Today, that “house” is indeed very large – a worldwide household of faith. But where are we in this scene?

Are we crowded at the door, happy to just hear his voice?

Are we leaning in a window, catching a glimpse of the Master?

Are we out in the street, content to simply be associated with the crowd that gathered?

Or, do we go deeper than any of that?

Faith is more than a casual association of “been-there-done-that.” It’s not a series of experiences we check off a list. It’s not just saying we are this or that. It is being. What good is it to say we are Christian when we never treat others with respect? Faith calls for a relationship – with Jesus and with others.

Those men went further. They didn’t just want this paralytic to see the scene; they wanted him to encounter Christ, because they knew that was meaningful and transformative.

As vocations director, that is my challenge to you. Your faith is more than an idea that you keep to yourself or reflect on here in church. Rather, it is a way of life – a way to life – life in the full. Our vocations – what God made us to be – can only be discovered when we deepen our relationship of prayer, ask those questions of God about what He wants for our lives, and then follow that call.

It might not be easy. Nothing worthwhile is. Those men could have stopped at the crowded street, or the blocked door, but they pressed on – for the sake of their friend – and others saw the glory of God revealed through Jesus’ forgiving and healing actions.

Those called to be priests or religious do the same thing: they show people Jesus; they bring people to Jesus; they share that encounter so that others can have life. I am sure that call is happening here and now.

Sure, I’ve been to Wimbledon – but I can’t tell you a thing about it for myself. Sure, some people went to that house in Capernaum, but they didn’t really encounter Jesus. Sure, we are here today. Are we just going through the motions, or do we realize the encounter that we have through this celebration?

Maybe it’s time we raised the roof too.

Seeing Red

As we in Baltimore celebrate the elevation of our most recent Shepherd to the College of Cardinals, it might be helpful to share a little about what this means.  The Cardinals are the pope’s chief advisers on Church matters, representing the Church throughout the world, as well as the various offices of the Roman Curia – the pope’s “cabinet,” if you will.  The College has its roots in the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, who would have been closed to the pope in medieval times.  Holding that the election of a pope should be a matter that is exclusively influenced by the Church and not secular authorities, these men became the electors of the Holy Father and therefore even more influential as his advisers.

Today, Cardinals are named throughout the world in order to advise the pope on issues of importance for the global Church.  Typically, a cardinal is a bishop, but some influential theologians who are priests have also been so elevated – such as the late Avery Cardinal Dulles. As a reminder to them of their essential role in promoting and protecting the Faith, the pope, when giving them their trademark “red hat” (or biretta), says these words:

To the praise of God, and the honor of the Apostolic See
receive the red biretta, the sign of the cardinal’s dignity;
and know that you must be willing to conduct yourselves with fortitude
even to the shedding of your blood
for the growth of the Christian faith,
the peace and tranquility of the People of God,
and the freedom and spread of the Holy Roman Church.

It is that “shedding of blood” stipulation that gives the cardinal the distinctive color of his robes.  By the way, the cardinals so loved by bird watchers were so named because their red feathers are reminiscent of these “princes of the Church.”

Vocations: The Gift of the Love of God

Pope Benedict released his message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, to be celebrated on Good Shepherd Sunday (April 29, 2012).  His message this year focuses on the theme of “Vocations, the Gift of the Love of God.”  Insofar as each of us is created by the love of God, our particular calls are the product of that love as well.  There is much to be digested in the pope’s message, but of interest is his emphasis on the personal connections that are essential to any proper relationship: the relationship of faith, the relationship of the Eucharist, the relationship of the local church community, and the relationship of family.  All of these have their particular role in encouraging and fostering vocations in our world:

The task of fostering vocations will be to provide helpful guidance and direction along the way. Central to this should be love of God’s word nourished by a growing familiarity with sacred Scripture, and attentive and unceasing prayer, both personal and in community; this will make it possible to hear God’s call amid all the voices of daily life. But above all, the Eucharist should be the heart of every vocational journey: it is here that the love of God touches us in Christ’s sacrifice, the perfect expression of love, and it is here that we learn ever anew how to live according to the “high standard” of God’s love. Scripture, prayer and the Eucharist are the precious treasure enabling us to grasp the beauty of a life spent fully in service of the Kingdom.

 

It is my hope that the local Churches and all the various groups within them, will become places where vocations are carefully discerned and their authenticity tested, places where young men and women are offered wise and strong spiritual direction. In this way, the Christian community itself becomes a manifestation of the Love of God in which every calling is contained. As a response to the demands of the new commandment of Jesus, this can find eloquent and particular realization in Christian families, whose love is an expression of the love of Christ who gave himself for his Church (cf. Eph 5:32). Within the family, “a community of life and love” (Gaudium et Spes, 48), young people can have a wonderful experience of this self-giving love. Indeed, families are not only the privileged place for human and Christian formation; they can also be “the primary and most excellent seed-bed of vocations to a life of consecration to the Kingdom of God” (Familiaris Consortio, 53), by helping their members to see, precisely within the family, the beauty and the importance of the priesthood and the consecrated life. May pastors and all the lay faithful always cooperate so that in the Church these “homes and schools of communion” may multiply, modelled on the Holy Family of Nazareth, the harmonious reflection on earth of the life of the Most Holy Trinity.

Here’s a great look at a typical trip through a priest’s day. The cool Aussie accent helps too!

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The Value of Catholic Schools

I always get nostalgic around Catholic Week, which begins this year on Sunday, January 29.  I recall my days at St. Agnes School, being reminded of our Catholic identity and celebrating everything from Rosaries to nuns and priests to the big Mass for the whole school.  It was part of my culture growing up, and I am certain this culture is a big part of why I am a priest today.

But when we consider Catholic Schools today, a shadow of the future seems to loom a bit ominously. How long will this or that school remain open?  Will I be able to afford to send my children to my local parochial school?  Is it worth it?

These are valid questions for anyone who cares deeply about the present and future of Catholic education.  So much of many Catholics’ ties to their parish come through the school.  When the young ones make their first Reconciliation or Communion, many parents find their way back to the Church that nurtured them as youths.  There are many reasons to fight for the future and salvation of our great schools.

But the real “product” of Catholic Schools should always be upheld and put forth as the reason for their existence.  Catholic schools do not exist solely to create young people versed in Shakespeare or Hemmingway or even Flannery O’Connor; they don’t exist to give us the next Steve Jobs or Bill Gates; they are not about hypotenuses, logarithms, and multiplication.  Math, science, literature, grammar, history, geography, et cetera – these are all by-products of Catholic education.  Certainly, in many cases, these items can be learned and integrated even better in “public” schools.

No.  The true “product” of Catholic Schools is faith.  That is the reason they exist; that is what we strive to teach.  This faith helps to form our young people – tomorrow’s leaders – in values that will make them conscientious and holy writers, mathematicians, scientists, presidents, mothers and fathers.  This is the “salt-of-the-earth” approach to forming young people that is the hallmark of true education in the first place.  In this regard, it is also important to remember that “Catholic education” is not only limited to our parochial schools but also takes place in our fine programs of Religious Education.  Too often, these children and their catechists receive second-class attention.  They are just as Catholic as the rest of us, though.

Yes, the information that they must learn and assimilate is necessary and important.  God has authored an entire world of creation, ready for discovery.  But it is our faith – our relationship with that same God – that helps us to encounter that world respectfully and reverently – aware that we are all part of something much bigger than ourselves.

I am grateful for my Catholic education.  I will always believe in its value to inspire the faith of our young and old alike.  After all, this education can only open a door.  It is the faith that we learn that helps us step through it with hope.

The Pope Speaks to Seminarians

On Friday, Pope Benedict visited the seminary for the Diocese of Rome, known as the Caprican College.  His words to the seminarians bear repeating, as they speak to the heart of priestly formation and preparation for a life of service in conformity to Jesus, the High Priest.  Here is a salient selection:

Priestly formation requires integrity, wholeness, ascetic exercise, heroic fidelity and constancy, in all its aspects; at its foundation there should be a solid spiritual life animated by an intense relationship with God in a personal and communal level, with particular care in liturgical celebrations and in attendance at the sacraments. The priestly life requires a growing desire for holiness, a clear openness to the sensus Ecclesiae and fraternity without exclusions or partiality.The path of holiness of the priest is also his choice to deepen, with the help of God, his intelligence and commitment, a true strong cultivation of himself, the result of a passionate and constant study. Faith has its own intellectual and rational dimension which is essential. For a seminarian and a young priest in the midst of academic study, is [the need] to negotiate the synthesis between faith and reason that is peculiar to Christianity. The Word of God became flesh, and the priest, the true priest of the Incarnate Word, must become more transparent, vibrant and profound, just as the eternal Word which is given to us. He who is mature in this global cultural training may [then] be a more effective educator and promoter of that worship “in spirit and truth” of which Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman (cf. Jn 4.23). Such adoration, which is formed by listening to the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, is called to become, especially in the Liturgy, the “rationabile obsequium” of which the Apostle Paul tells us, a worship in which man himself in his totality as a being endowed with reason, becomes adoration, glorification of the living God, and that can be achieved not by conforming to this world but by being transformed by Christ renewing the way we think, to discern the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Rom 12,1-2).

Oh Wow!

Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, died on October 5, this past year. The man who gave us the iMAc, iTunes, the iPod, iPhone, iPad and Pixar Studios is universally acknowledged as a modern visionary who could look at something and immediately begin to find ways to improve it. When he died, it seemed that a bright light had gone out.

In her eulogy for him, Steve’s sister wrote about his last hours, and how her brother’s sense of wonder never really died. She wrote:

But with [Steve’s] will, that work ethic, that strength, there was also sweet Steve’s capacity for wonderment, the artist’s belief in the ideal, the still more beautiful later.

Steve’s final words, hours earlier, were monosyllables, repeated three times.

Before embarking, he’d looked at his sister Patty, then for a long time at his children, then at his life’s partner, Laurene, and then over their shoulders past them.

Steve’s final words were: OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW.

“Oh wow!”

This is what we are celebrating today – not Steve Jobs, but that sense of wonder and how God uses it. Today, on the Epiphany, we celebrate that moment in time when God-made-man, Jesus, is revealed to the world.

The wise men, we are told, consulted their charts, watched the sky, and wondered at the new star that they saw – the star that rose with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Seeing this, they set out in search of its meaning, confident that they were being led by some transcendent light. They probably knew nothing of Israel’s history, the prophets and the promises of God. They did not realize that a people in the west longed for a Savior. But they knew that something special was now happening.

So, they followed.

It’s wonder that brings us here. It’s wonder that keeps us coming. It’s wonder that will send us forth to be signs to others and bring them to Christ as well.

How is God at work here – in our lives? With what gifts has He blessed us? It often takes wonder to see it, and this is why God gifts us with that blessing through the Holy Spirit. Wonder allows us to be blown away. It brings us to a level so far beyond ourselves, and yet so near, that we almost can’t believe what we find.

This is what a vocation is, too. We often want to believe that we have everything figured out – that we know exactly what’s happening and what’s happening next. We’ve got “the plan,” and we like it that way – until that plan is upset, and we are thrown into confusion, maybe a little despair, and then the realization that we were never really in control anyway.

God has the plan, and when we allow ourselves to be abandoned to that, we realize the great things He is working out through us.

The wise men came from afar, with grand ideas and fancy gifts, camels, entourages and tents. However, what they found was nothing like they expected: a stable, a baby and His poor parents in a tiny hamlet in Palestine. The newborn King of the Jews.

Their journey started with wonder at what that star might have meant – their first “oh-wow” moment. Following that wonder, their journey ended in wonder at discovering the Messiah.

When we consider what God has called us to be – ordained minister, consecrated religious, married or committed single life – we can sometimes think that we’ve got that figured out. However, if this is not part of our prayer – part of our open conversation with God about what He wants – then that journey will not end in our complete happiness. We might feel good about it, but that will be it.

However, when we stop and think about the adventure of faith that we are on – that journey of wonder and awe that recognizes that God has made us to be someone special and knows exactly who that is at the moment of our creation – when we discover that call in our lives through honest prayer and giving ourselves over to God’s will – the result is spectacular. Words fail us at that point. We can only look on in awe.

Oh wow!