Take a Chance on Gambling?

In the combox on the post Faith and Numbers, Novo wonders if, after saying no to casino gambling, "moderate gambling" might be considered all right as "a form of diversion." Good question!

"All things in moderation" they say: is that true? "All" might include things we wouldn't approve of even in moderation. Most of us would have no problem with someone having a cocktail before dinner but would would draw the line at snorting a line of coke as an appetizer. How about gambling? Is a moderate amount of gambling as entertainment, a diversion, ok?

Another blogger in the Archdiocese (Cardinal Sean O'Malley) has an opinion on this. You might want to check out the whole post in which he writes about the situation in Middleborough:

Like most Americans, I am very sympathetic to our Native Americans who in so many cases have been unjustly deprived of ancestral lands and resources. I realize that the government has attempted to compensate them by giving them privileges with regard to gambling. But I am opposed to that project and hope that Middleborough will not approve the proposal the town has received.

The Church’s stance on gambling is a nuanced one. We believe that gambling can be a legitimate form of recreation, like drinking alcohol. But, like alcohol, there are also dangers involved in gambling. Casino gambling, I believe, is fraught with many dangers for a community. First, it drains the resources away from other businesses and activities in the community. Second, it promotes gambling addiction, which is one of the worst addictions and one that is becoming more common...

If public works and projects in the Commonwealth need to be funded, there should be other ways to do that, perhaps by raising taxes. But relying on casinos makes us gambling junkies, and we become dependent on that money, which will result in many ruined lives, ruined businesses and ruined neighborhoods. So we unequivocally oppose casino gambling in the state.

I agree with the Cardinal's take on gambling here but can't help but wonder: is there a word missing in his comments? Can you think of what it is? what's that word? it's on the tip of my tongue... BINGO! That's it! How do we reconcile the reality of BINGO in so many parishes with the Cardinal's wisdom on gambling? To paraphrase: If works and projects in archdiocesan parishes need to be funded, there should be other ways to that, lest relying on gambling make us dependent on that money.

So, I think that gambling in moderation can be an entertaining diversion but, like many other diversions it has the potential for becoming a vice, an addiction. While a parish might occasionally have an event at which liquor is served or allowed, we'd reject the notion of a Catholic church having a weekly cocktail hour for fundraising purposes. Why do we make different rules for gambling in parochial life? Certainly it's time to rethink BINGO as a source of income for parishes and their schools.

Do you, or does someone you know, have a problem with gambling? Check here for information, answers to questions and help.

Just a suggestion...

This is just a suggestion!

A number of folks are commenting as "anonymous" and, as I've written several times, that's fine: NO ONE needs to know your identity.

However, as you continue to post your comments here, it might be nice for folks to have a name for you, even though they don't know your true identity. It also invites commentors to respond to you and not just to me.

So, think about the possibility of creating a "blog name" for yourself - not your regular screen name which others might recognize - something different. I know that when I respond on other blogs I use a name which is not my screen name and does not identify me in any way.

JUST a thought... JUST a suggestion... Anonymous is still fine!

Pondering Today's Word

Matthew 13:31-35

He spoke to them another parable.
“The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast
that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch was leavened..."

Let us pray...

God of kitchen counters,
guide our hands as we mix the yeast of faith
with the ingredients of our lives...

Teach us to follow the Word of your recipe,
measuring carefully
everything you call for...

Leaven us with wisdom
and make us rise:
loaves of love, bread for others...

Reconciliation

Image source: Tao Huang

Stories of forgiveness touch that place in our hearts where we most need to be forgiving, or be forgiven ourselves. This story about Patty Cyr's encounter with a young man at her son's grave in New Hampshire might touch us in just that way...

A mother's chance meeting in the cemetery with the teen accused of causing her son's death in a car crash has prompted a change of heart, and now she says she does not want the teen to go to jail.

Patty Cyr was reading the new "Harry Potter" book to her son's grave on Tuesday when Michael Ramirez walked into St. Patrick Cemetery. "When I saw him, I burst into tears," said Cyr, who demanded last month that Ramirez be jailed for causing the high-speed crash. "He asked me, 'Patty, can I please hug you?' I said 'yes,' and he hugged me so hard I thought I was going to break in half. He said he thinks about Nathan and prays to him every day, and that he's so sorry he hurt my family," she said.

They had not spoken since July 30, the night Ramirez's speeding car veered into the opposite lane on Old Derry Road and collided head-on with an SUV. The crash killed Hergenhahn, a football star at Alvirne High School, who was a passenger in the car. Prosecutors had reached a plea deal that would have spared Ramirez jail time, but they withdrew it last month after the victim's family found photos on a MySpace site showing Ramirez apparently participating taking part in an underage drinking party.

But Friday, Cyr told The Telegraph of Nashua that she's had a change of heart, and does not want Ramirez behind bars. "Our grieving for Nathan will never stop, but I also know that Mickey Ramirez loved him, too," said Cyr. "We don't want to see kids visiting Mickey in jail. It's not going to bring Nathan back." Cyr said she believes her son would have appreciated her graveside reconciliation with Ramirez.

For some, Patty Cyr's reconciliation will make no sense; others will wonder if they could ever do the same; and still others will hope that someone they have offended will one day be as forgiving as Patty was with Mickey.

Sometimes the hurt is so deep, the reconciliation so difficult that the offended one can only place the offender in God's hands, praying that God's mercy will heal what we have been unable to mend. How good is our God whose mercy knows no bounds.

Forgive us our trespasses, Lord, as we forgive those who trespass against us...

Correction

I inadvertently deleted the post titled Saint Anne, Part Two. It's informative and, at the end, a little playful. Please scroll down and take a look if you missed it.

Faith and Numbers

One of the perks of being on vacation is the time to sit back and leisurely read the Sunday papers leisurely. I noticed some interesting numbers in today's Boston Globe. The front page headline reports that the town of Middleboro has voted 2-1 to approve the possibility of a gambling casino being built in their community. A total of 3, 722 citizens of approximately 14,300 registered voters turned out on a Saturday in July to participate in a special town meeting. A casino isn't something I'd want in any suburban town where I lived but that's not my principal point here.

Tucked away on page B-3 was an article about Women of Faith's Amazing Freedom conference held at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston. Run by a Dallas-based "nondenominational" Christian group, the conference attracted some 10,500 women.

The Middleboro decision, of course, was a much anticipated event and has implications on many levels for the whole Commonwealth. Still, 10,500 people doing something out of the ordinary together just might merit page 1 in the City and Region section, not page 3.

Such editorial decisions aren't peculiar to the Globe but are typical in the media. Some news sells papers, other news doesn't. The archdiocesan weekly, The Pilot, operates on the same philosophy. Although I might not theologically endorse everything that was said at Amazing Freedom I do believe those 10,500 women made a better decision in attending the conference than did the voters in Middleboro.

Faith, however, did make a more prominent appearance in today's offering from Morrissey Boulevard. Another great op-ed piece by Elissa Ely does not hesitate to name a neighbor's Christian faith as the reason and source of the assistance he offered Ely's family after her father's death. Worth the read!

The Roo Bar

What's a roo bar?

roo-bar noun (Australia)
1. colloquial: A strong metal bar or grid fitted to the front of a vehicle as protection in case of collision with a kangaroo or other animal.

Roo Bar is also the name of a restaurant in Hyannis (and in Falmouth, Chatham and Plymouth). Although there's nothing Australian about the restaurants or their menus, the name stands.

I'm most familiar with the Roo Bar in Hyannis where the food is excellent. This evening the Roo had a jazz trio playing at dinner, followed by a rock group around 9:30. By 10:00 I was on my way out the front door but not until having had a great meal. For an appetizer I had a stuffed quahog with andouille sausage, set on a bed of summer basil greens with lemon: a bit of a bite due to the sausage but not too much for this guy who only tolerates "mild to medium" in the spice range. For an entree I enjoyed Cape Cod Codfish which was a good sized piece of perfectly cooked, flaky cod over an heirloom tomato and spinach salad with feta, and za’atar roasted potato and basil. The fish was perfect and the accompaniments perfect. For dessert I had a limoncello on the rocks. My only quibble with the Roo Bar (and other restaurants as well) is that the limoncello is refrigerated and not frozen, thus requiring ordering this wonderful summertime refresher on the rocks rather than straight up. But if a few ice cubes are your only complaint, you know you've found a great restaurant. Highly recommended!

Hearing the Lord's Word

My parishioners know that before the first and second lessons are proclaimed for the Lord's Day liturgy, I offer a brief context for understanding the text about to be heard. I base my intros on work done by the late Ken Untner, bishop of the Saginaw diocese in Michigan.

Would you like even more preparation for hearing the Lord's word?

Go to this site where you will find several informative and accessible approaches to the scriptures for the Lord's day.

Hope this helps!

J. Bryan Hehir

Michael Paulson has an excellent piece in today's Boston Globe on J. Bryan Hehir, outgoing president of Catholic Charities of Boston. Highly respected by his brother priests in the archdiocese, there's no exaggeration in suggesting that Bryan Hehir has been gifted with one of the finest intellects in today's Roman Catholic Church. His history as national head of Catholic Charities, as a key consultant to the US Conference of Catholic Charities and as the first Roman Catholic to serve as dean of the the Harvard Divinity School are but highlights in a remarkable resume'.

"The Rev. J. Bryan Hehir will continue to serve as a secretary in O'Malley's cabinet, and as a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, but his primary responsibility will be to advise O'Malley on a variety of public policy matters, including the archdiocese's relationship with the Legislature, its ownership of a struggling hospital chain, and the future of its school system. Hehir also will continue to serve as a primary troubleshooter for O'Malley... Church officials regard Hehir as a pragmatist who is valuable to O'Malley because of his analytical and negotiating skills... He joins the vicar general, the Rev. Richard M. Erikson, and the chancellor, James P. McDonough, in O'Malley's inner circle."

As a pastor in an archdiocese still bearing the brunt of the crises of sexual abuse and reconfiguration, those three names (Erikson, McDonough and Hehir) give me hope. In my 34 years as a priest I have never seen such leaders in such powerful positions. (Those looking for change in the church today need to respect the subtlety of such appointments. Change is unlikely to come in headlines but rather in articles like Paulson's which chronicle the shifts that really make a difference.) These three are realists who love the church and who have a decent and pragmatic sense about how to negotiate a limping Church's way through a troubled and thoroughly secular culture.

Also subtle but worthy of note is the appointment of Tiziana Dearing as Hehir's successor. Dearing is a former student of Hehir and since 2003 has been the executive director of Harvard's Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations. That Dearing will be the first woman to head Boston's Catholic Charities carries its own significance but of equal import is the stamp of approval her appointment imprints on Hehir's controversial tenure in that post.

Of local interest: J. Bryan Hehir once served as a priest "next door" at St. Elizabeth Parish in Acton.

About Prayer

An exchange about prayer in this combox reminds me that the Serenity Prayer, one of the greatest prayers ever written, might not be known by everyone. The short version is above in the graphic. Here's the longer version, followed by the original text written by Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971).

(Longer version)

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time:
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to his will,
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with him
forever in the next.
Amen.

(Original version)

God, grant us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed;
courage to change the things
which should be changed;
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time,
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
taking, as Jesus did,
this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it,
trusting that you will make all things right
if I surrender to your will,
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with you forever in the next.
Amen.

Pondering Today's Word

Exodus 20:1-17

In those days:
God delivered all these commandments:

“I, the LORD, am your God...
You shall not have other gods besides me...

“You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain...

“Remember to keep holy the sabbath day.
Six days you may labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God...

“Honor your father and your mother,
that you may have a long life in the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you.

“You shall not kill.

“You shall not commit adultery.

“You shall not steal.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife,
nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass,
nor anything else that belongs to him.”

The first reading at Mass today includes the 10 Commandments. Whether the courts decide that the decalogue may be posted in government buildings or not, the Commandments will be the core theme of our parish Vacation Bible School at the end of August. (More info available on the parish website.) The title of this year's VBS is a simple one: GOD RULES! We who are beyond the enrollment age for this summertime lesson plan might do well to consider both the text above from Exodus and the simple VBS theme and ask ourselves: "Who rules my life? What rules my life? Whose rules do I play by? What rules do I ignore? What rules have I changed?" GOD RULES!

What would you do?

This story in the Boston Globe tells of Kevin Weir from Medfield, MA, who, on a whim, gave a lottery ticket to Ray and Cheryl Heikkinen, friends who live in Maine. Turns out the ticket was a winner: $250,000!

Cheryl Heikkinen, 46, who runs a town recreation program, said the couple has used the money to pay off debts and make improvements to their house, among other things -- and they've given some back to Weir.

"He seems genuinely happy. ... Everybody just seems really happy for us," said Heikkinen, who has two grown children and a 16-year-old at home.

"I'm glad it turned out the way it did," said Weir. "Up in that section of the country they work hard for everything they’ve got. What am I going to do with it? It's just me and my dog."

The article doesn't say how much was the "some"of the winnings the Heikkinen's gave back to Weir but it occurs to me that if they had split it 50/50 (a fair decision) they or the reporter would have noted that fact.

What if you given away the ticket? How would you feel? What would you expect of your friends?

What if you had received the ticket? How would you feel? What obligation would you feel to the person who gave you the big winner?

Saint Anne, Part Two

Update: I inadvertently deleted this post from the blog - mea culpa! It's a bit lengthy but reading through it will help you appreciate the link to the painting at the end.

Part of enjoyment here is searching out artwork to illustrate the posts. It wasn't easy to choose which piece to use for the post on St. Anne and St. Joachim but I decided that Bro. McGrath's Whole Holy Family was just right. The runner up was a late 15th century oil painting by Geertgen tot Sint, entitled The Holy Kinship.

In the Introduction to Legends of St. Anne, Mother of the Virgin Mary, editor Sherry Reames offers some interesting background:

“Although the canonical books of the New Testament never mention the parents of the Virgin Mary, traditions about her family, childhood, education, and eventual betrothal to Joseph developed very early in the history of the church. The oldest and most influential account of this kind is the apocryphal gospel called the Protevangelium of James (which) fell under a cloud in the fourth and fifth centuries when it was accused of "absurdities" by St. Jerome and condemned as untrustworthy by Popes Damasus, Innocent I, and Gelasius. Jerome's most explicit complaint was that it explained the brothers of Jesus… as Joseph's sons by an earlier marriage. In the interpretation preferred by Jerome and the Western Church, the so-called brothers are interpreted as cousins of Jesus, sons of Mary's sisters, thus allowing both Joseph and Mary to be envisioned as lifelong virgins...

“Anne was initially just a minor character in the legend derived from the Protevangelium. But her role was capable of great significance because of what it could imply about the Virgin Mary and about the workings of God in this world. Christians were obviously curious from the start about when and why God had selected Mary for her unique position as the mother of the Redeemer. The legend attempts to answer such questions by borrowing from Biblical stories about other long-awaited children, including Isaac, Samson, John the Baptist, and especially Samuel; thus Mary becomes both a child of destiny, heralded before birth as a chosen instrument in the redemption of God's people, and a sign of God's favor toward her parents, a virtuous couple who had long been barren...

“Anne also played a useful role for medieval commentators on the Bible when they attempted to explain the extended family of Jesus. As mentioned earlier, Jerome had argued successfully that the "brothers" mentioned in the Gospels were Jesus’ cousins, sons of Mary's sisters. Biblical commentators in the early medieval West went on to identify those sisters with two other Mary’s mentioned in the Gospels, to take Anne as the mother of all three, and to explain the names of her second and third daughters by creating the theory of the trinubium, or three marriages of Anne. According to the trinubium, Joachim must have died soon after the birth of the Virgin Mary, so that Anne could marry a second husband named Cleophas, by whom she bore Mary Cleophas, and (after Cleophas's death) a third husband named Salome, by whom she bore Mary Salome. From these three daughters, the theory continued, came Jesus and all six "brothers" or cousins named in the Gospels. James the lesser or younger, Joseph or Joses, Simon, and Jude were explained as the sons of Mary Cleophas, who had married Alpheus; James the Greater and John the Evangelist, as the sons of Mary Salome, who had married Zebedee. Thus Anne became the grandmother of some of the most prominent apostles, as well as Jesus himself.

“The trinubium theory was condemned in the twelfth century and later by a number of theologians, who felt that multiple marriages and additional children were incompatible with the purity and holiness that must have characterized the Virgin's mother, and some Biblical scholars rejected it on the grounds that it depended on misinterpretations of particular names and details...”

Although rejected, the trinubium made its presence felt in art - and that brings us back to The Holy Kinship. This work plays out the theory of Anne's three marriages, depicting Anne on the left with a book in her lap and beside her are Mary and the Christ child. On the right are Elizabeth and her son, John the Baptist and in the background are various of Anne's apocryphal spouses and their children - all gathered together in church. Or, as I look it, this painting is a 15th century version of our Sunday 9:30 Mass!

(Repeated on July 26, 2008)

St. Anne and St. Joachim

For a longer post,
see the entry for July 26, 2008.

On the liturgical calendar today is the feast of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne: parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grandparents of Jesus and St. Joseph's in-laws. That's right: Jesus had grandparents and Joachim and Anne are fitting patron saints for our own grandfathers and grandmothers. (And I'm sure they wouldn't mind filling in as patron saints of in-laws, too!) The scriptures tell us nothing of Mary's parents but legend and tradition assign them the names this day celebrates.

It was in the womb of her mother, Anne, that Mary was immaculately conceived. Although many Catholics are confused on this point, the Immaculate Conception refers to Mary's conception in Anne's womb, not Jesus' conception in Mary's womb.

I have a particular affection for St. Anne for several reasons. When I was a child, my parents brought my sister and me to the shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre, just outside of Quebec city in Canada. My first assignment after ordination (1973) was to St. Ann Parish in the Wollaston section of Quincy. The people of there warmly welcomed a newly ordained priest who made plenty of mistakes in his first years in ministry! After five years in Wollaston, I went to study and work at the University of Notre Dame, returning in 1978 to begin nine years of campus ministry at Northeastern University and Emerson College at St. Ann University Parish in the Back Bay. Having been assigned to two parishes under the patronage of St. Anne, interrupted by four years at the University named for Anne's daughter, Our Lady, I was not surprised to be assigned in 1991 to St. Joseph Parish in Medway, named after Mary's husband.

From there I was assigned to another parish under Mary's watchful care, Our Lady Help of Christians, and then to Holy Family, a parish named after Mary, Joseph and Jesus! No small coincidence: St. Bernard Church is named for a saint who had a particular devotion to Mary and to whom is attributed the beautiful prayer, the Memorare:

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known
that anyone who fled to your protection,
implored your help, or sought your intercession
was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you,
O Virgin of virgins, my mother;
to you do I come, before you I stand,
sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in your mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

The icon above, Whole Holy Family, is a contemporary piece by Bro. Michael McGrath depicting Anne and Joachim, Mary and Joseph and the Christ Child.

(repeated on July 26, 2008)

Pondering Today's Word

From the scriptures for today's Mass: 2 Cor 4:7-15

Brothers and sisters: We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.

Sometimes we are surprised that good people suffer, perhaps thinking that faithfulness to the Lord and his Word should somehow shield us from life's difficulties. But if neither Jesus nor his Mother, Mary, were spared human suffering can we expect our lot to be different?

The "treasure" we hold in the fragile, earthen vessels of our lives is the presence of Jesus. If we follow in his footsteps the path will lead us to the Cross and if we stand at the foot of the Cross the Lord will lead us to new life in him. It is on account of such faith that we can say:

We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.

Do you remember the song, Earthen Vessels? Here's the refrain:

We hold a treasure, not made of gold,
in earthen vessels wealth untold:
one treasure only, the Lord, the Christ,
in earthen vessels...

Let us pray:

O God,
even when the fragile vessel of my life
is chipped and cracked,
help me to trust that you will mend
these broken shards and make me
healed and whole again
in your love.
Amen.

Quote of the Day

"We Irish have a streak of pessimism
which sustains us in times of joy.”

- Raymond Boland (above), Bishop emeritus of the Kansas City-St. Joseph, MO diocese, in his homily at the Mass marking the 50th anniversary of his ordination in June

Lord, when did we see you?

Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ... And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' (Matthew 25:37-40)

The retired archbishop of Washington said he hopes the United States will admit more refugees from Iraq.

"The United States is starting to receive" refugees from Iraq, but "I hope they will accept more," Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick told Catholic News Service July 13 in a telephone interview from Beirut, Lebanon, where he was touring Middle Eastern host countries of Iraqi refugees...

A survey released July 11 from the nonprofit, private U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants reported that for the second consecutive year Iraq was the source of the most new refugees worldwide.

While the United States has admitted fewer than 800 Iraqi refugees for resettlement since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, in 2006 Syria admitted 449,000, Jordan 250,000 and Egypt 79,800, the report said. Lebanon became the host country for 13,200 Iraqi refugees last year, it said.

Describing the state of Iraqi refugees as "a real man-made disaster" and "emergency situation," Cardinal McCarrick expressed concern over two groups of Iraqi refugees: Christians and those who have worked with the U.S. military or government, putting their lives in danger.

Pondering Today's Word

Exodus by Joseph Matar

From the scriptures for today's Mass: Exodus 14:21—15:1

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD swept the sea with a strong east wind throughout the night and so turned it into dry land. When the water was thus divided, the children of Israel marched into the midst of the sea on dry land, with the water like a wall to their right and to their left.

Let us pray...

O God,
so many of us stand before rough seas
storming with tempests and trials,
keeping us from the freedom we long for
in our flesh, our minds and our hearts.

Send the strong wind of your Spirit
throughout the dark nights of our souls
and sweep the teeming seas
with the power of your healing broom.

Lead us, your children,
through troubled waters
and be yourself the dry land
upon which our steps become sure
and our paths finds purpose.

Deliver us, Lord,
and be our deliverance.

Amen.

The Pope Speaks About War

The Pope is on vacation but at the praying of the Sunday noon time Angelus he offered a strong message about war and peace. Rocco over at Whispers provides a translation.

The image above is a well known painting by Jean-Francois Millet titled Angelus. It depicts two peasants stopping in the field to share some food and to pray as the noon time Angelus bell rings from the steeple of the church in the distance.

At the end of the Pope's reflection you will find the first few words of the Angelus in Latin. Here's the whole prayer in English:

The Angelus

The angel of the Lord brought news to Mary
- And she conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary...

Behold the servant of the Lord
- Let it be to me according to your word.
Hail Mary...

And the word was made Flesh
- And dwelled among us.
Hail Mary...

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God
- That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Lord, pour forth your grace into our hearts
that as we have known through the message of an angel
that your Son became human,
so by his cross and suffering
may we be brought to the glory of his rising
through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.

May God's help be with us always
and may the souls of the departed faithful
through the mercy of God rest in peace.
Amen.

Two Views on a Disputed Topic

Here are two essays on the topic of homosexuality and the Church published recently in the journal Commonweal. The articles are by Luke Timothy Johnson and Eve Tushnet.

Johnson is the R.W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins in the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.

Tushnet is a freelance journalist in Washington, D.C. and blogger.

Links

Many of you have told me that coming to this blog is your first experience in the blogosphere! I hope you're finding your way around the place. If you're having trouble, leave a question in the comment box on this post.

Here's a little tidbit you might find helpful: in the sidebar column you'll find two links.

The first link will bring you to a calendar and clicking on any date there will bring up that day's scripture readings from Mass. This is a great way to preview the scriptures before you hear them proclaimed and preached in church. That calendar is on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and from the calendar page you can explore the whole of the Bishops' site.

The second link will bring you to the website of Holy Family Parish in Concord, MA.

UPDATE:
You'll see that I've just added a third link for Whispers In The Loggia. This blog is the work of a young layman in Philadelphia, Rocco Palmo. He is also the American correspondent for the British Catholic Journal The Tablet. Rock has his pulse on what's new in the Catholic Church around the world and in the US.

And now... I've added three more links, for the Archdiocese of Boston , the Vatican and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. See "Links" in the sidebar.

A Little Irish Trivia

Want to win a bet?

Challenge a friend that she doesn't know when St. Patrick's Day is next year. Chances are she's going to say, "March 17." But she will be wrong!

Because March 17, 2008 falls on Monday of Holy Week, the Vatican (through the office of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments)has moved the feast of St. Patrick to the previous Saturday, March 15 (the Ides of March!). Here's the whole story.

Of course, this means that St. Patrick's Day in 2008 is on the eve of Palm Sunday! You might find yourself going to the Saturday 5:00 Palm Sunday Mass, hearing the proclamation of the passion and death of Christ and leaving church, palm branch in hand, for a St. Patrick's Day Dinner of corned beef and cabbage and green beer.

Didn't anyone in the Vatican suggest delaying the shamrock party until after Easter?

Erin go bragh!

Quote of the Day

"God comes to me everyday disguised as my life."

- Richard Rohr, OFM

Old Friends

Sunday morning, some old friends were at Holy Family and it was joy to see them across the Lord's table and to pray with them.

Fred, Shirley, Helen and Billy were here from Medway, MA and California. I know them from my time at St. Joseph Parish in Medway (1991-1994) where I was assigned before I came to Concord. While I see these friends occasionally, our lives and schedules don't make getting together as easy as it was "back in the day" when I lived around the corner on Barber Street. After Mass this morning we had brunch at Serafina and the conversation and laughter were as filling as the omelettes and home fries.

Also here this morning was the Lord-Remmert family from Illinois. I met Chris (Lord) and Steve (Remmert) when I was in campus ministry at Northeastern and Emerson College (1982-1991). Chris was an intern in campus ministry and I served as her supervisor. I've only seen them twice in the last 15 years! While living in the Boston area they welcomed their first born, Cassie and since then Chet (15) and Patrick (12) have been added to the family. They arrived Saturday afternoon and we had dinner at Vincenzo's that evening - a wonderful evening of catching up with Steve and Chris and for me to get to know the Lord-Remmert offspring.

With some friends there is the great blessing of being able to "pick up right where we left off" even when years have passed since last you were with them. When friendship is deep and love is strong, no distance in time or miles can break the bonds that have been forged. Getting together with these friends this weekend makes me wish that I still lived around the corner from them but that just isn't so, and while I hope that I will see them all again very soon I know that may not happen. Still, even should time and distance once again keep us apart, I rejoice in what we share so deeply.

Absence does, indeed, make the heart grow fonder...

Double Happiness!

I presided yesterday at the wedding of Patrick Morrissey and Juan Lu who is from China and has adopted the English name Karen. It was a lesson in rituals for me to hear Karen and Pat describe how weddings are celebrated in China. I was pleased to reference some of those customs in my homily. The cover of the program for the wedding included the Chinese character for "double happiness" which you can see here.

The character for happiness is one half of what you see here and when that character is doubled it becomes the character for marriage: the union that is meant to be a doubling of your happiness. I spoke of this beautiful symbol and of the Christian understanding that marriage is that relationship in which both spouses put the happiness of the other ahead of their own. In doing so nothing is lost and everything is to be gained. If each is dedicated to the other's happiness, a mutual selfless love develops, born of the sacrifice of self-interest.

On the day of a wedding in China, the groom and his friends go to the bride's home and must beg for entry at her family's door. The groom then sips a drink through a straw through the door and the drink is made of elements sweet, sour, bitter, salter and pungent: a reminder of all the realities of life which he and his wife will experience and need to cope with. St. Paul would not have known of this custom but his words to the Corinthians capture the same when he writes Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all thing, endures all things. (1 Cor 13:7)

Karen's parents and niece were able to come from China for the wedding and they kindly told me (through an interpreter) that my pronunciation of their names was good!

Please keep Karen and Pat in our prayer as they begin their married life, remembering that every wedding is a time to pray for all married people and especially for those experiencing those sour and bitter times, hoping that sweeter days will be their's again.

A Striking and Unusual Funeral

Here's a video of the funeral procession for Ollie Lawrence on Saturday, July 14, 2007. Ms. Lawrence was not a member of our parish but in the video you'll see parishioner Glen Burlamachi (in the top hat!) and his wife, Beth - and some shots of our parish church as the procession passed by on its way to the cemetery.

Remember this Song?

Here's a song from Tom Rush which several people have forwarded to me this week. I think they're trying to tell me something...

Today!

Since only a limited number of people know of the existence of this blog, I know that I can say that ALL of us are familiar with the phrase: This is the day the Lord has made - let us rejoice and be glad!

Look out your window... Make sure that window is open, too... Not too many summer days will be as beautiful as this one so be glad and rejoice in it - it's a day the Lord has made for you!

Make a promise to the Lord (and to yourself) that you'll get out there today and find a way to enjoy and celebrate July 21 as a gift from God!

(I'm celebrating a marriage at 3:00 this afternoon - can you imagine a more beautiful day for a wedding? While you're out there enjoying this day, remember the bride and groom, Karen and Patrick, in your prayer...)

An Interesting Comparison

Fr. Richard McBrien of the theology department of my alma mater, the University of Notre Dame, has this interesting article in the current edition of the National Catholic Reporter.

UPDATE: The link I provided to McBrien's article required a subscription - here's what many of your were unable to open:

Between the Two Extremes

By RICHARD P. McBRIEN

No matter how many times church authorities address the matter of homosexuality and ministry to gays and lesbians, it never seems to come out right. Ultraconservatives are satisfied with nothing less than absolute condemnation, exclusion of gays from seminaries, and, if they had the means, expulsion of gays from the priesthood and the hierarchy. Those on the extreme left are satisfied with nothing less than a moral embrace of homosexuality as something as “normal” as heterosexuality and a condemnation of anything other than that embrace as a virulent form of homophobia.

The debate between the two sides closely resembles the recent debate over immigration reform in the United States. One extreme opposes all forms of “amnesty” under whatever guise and favors -- without offering a practical means of implementation -- the expulsion of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. The other extreme favors the immediate legalization of the 12 million but offers no practical solution to the problem of the seemingly endless flow of illegal immigrants into the country. If some compromise is created eventually on immigration reform legislation, those involved in the parallel debate about homosexuality ought to take notice. In the meantime, we have to do the best we can.

Even when some of our bishops who are unencumbered by rigid ideology attempt to address this thorny issue, their statements are usually filed away, never to surface again. Two years ago I did a column in praise of Bishop J. Terry Steib of Memphis, Tenn., who had announced in his diocesan newspaper that he was inaugurating a new ministry to gay and lesbian Catholics “to be sure that we do not leave anyone behind,” and to make clear that “all are welcome in their own home.” “It is no secret,” I wrote in my column, “that any discussion of homosexuality -- particularly one without the standard condemnations -- makes many people uncomfortable, inside and outside the church. It is also no secret that those who write and speak as Bishop Terry Steib has done are perceived by many others as a threat to the faith itself. In fact, Bishop Steib’s initiative was viewed as so much of a threat that the editor of the weekly paper in a nearby diocese was explicitly forbidden by his own bishop to publish anything about Bishop Steib’s column and his inauguration of a diocesan ministry of outreach to gay and lesbian Catholics.”

Around the same time, an openly gay priest was ordered by his provincial to excise a reference to his sexual orientation in a book that he was about to publish on Catholic spirituality. The subsequent reviews were uniformly positive and the book itself received a few awards. That would almost certainly not have been the case if the reference had remained in the text. Not too long beforehand, a high-ranking Vatican spokesman, who has since retired, suggested that homosexuals cannot validly be ordained. “Wherever the fault might lie,” my column concluded, “many gay and lesbian Catholics feel like strangers in their own home -- unwelcome and looked down upon, just as Bishop Terry Steib had said. If there were more bishops like him, that situation would surely begin to change.” Almost two years later, there is no evidence that it has.

Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., is the latest to try his pastoral hand at dealing with the presence of gays and lesbians in the church. Like Bishop Steib, Bishop Kicanas expressed himself in his diocesan newspaper. He noted approvingly that unlike in earlier years, “homosexuality is out of the shadows.” He also acknowledged that he has encountered the same extreme positions on the issue that were cited above. The church is still accused of being either too harsh or too tolerant. While agreeing with most people that ministry to gays and lesbians needs to be compassionate, Bishop Kicanas now believes that “we should be doing more.” In pursuit of the “more,” the bishop has met with a group of pastoral leaders and parishioners to reflect on the matter, after which he pledged to continue to explore ways to make clear to everyone that the good news of Jesus Christ is for all people, that each person is a child of God, deserving of respect and dignity, and that “there are no gradations within God’s family: All are his beloved daughters and sons.”

But the unspoken question remains unanswered: If God created these “beloved” daughters and sons with a homosexual orientation, how can the church be so sure that God also gave them the charism for lifelong celibacy?

Fr. Richard McBrien is the Crowley-O’Brien professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame.
National Catholic Reporter, July 20, 2007

McBrien raises a concern that many pastors and parishioners face. It may be that McBrien's take on the issues is too simple, or its simplicity may recommend it for our consideration. Certainly the questions of how we welcome immigrants and how we Catholics welcome our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters are both issues with moral content.

What do you think?

So far, so good!

Well, this little experiment is going well! I got the site up and it seems to be functioning. I sent notice of it to about 30 people, many of whom have visited and some of whom have left comments.

I remember when I first visited a blog how unsure I was about posting a comment!

It's easy, and it can also be anonymous. Although I get a report of how many visits/comments have come in, I have no way of knowing who the commentors are, unless they self-identify. Visitors to the blog should feel free to comment on other people's comments as well as on the material I post.

If you have any questions about posting a comment, you can email me at FrAustinFleming@aol.com.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Rainy days...

Whether it's a perfectly gorgeous summer day or a rainy day: a day off is a day off - and that alone makes it a great day...

Yup! I'm having a wonderful, soggy day off!

Pondering Today's Word

From today's scriptures
I am concerned about you
and about the way you are being treated in Egypt;
so I have decided to lead you up out of the misery of Egypt
into the land of the Canaanites...
a land flowing with milk and honey.
-Exodus 3:17-17

The Lord is concerned about every one of us -and all of us together- and his desire is to lead us out of misery and into that land flowing with milk and honey.

Eventually, the Israelites came to the promised land but the journey there was not an easy one. Still, the Lord accompanied them every step along their way, whether the people were faithful or unfaithful to his love and word.

Whatever might be my misery today, the Lord is leading me to a better place. The journey there might have its own difficulties but the Lord walks every step of it with me - when I'm confident in his presence as well as when I fear or think he has abandoned me.

The Lord walks with me in many guises... who walks with me in the Lord's name? whom does the Lord ask me to accompany in his name? One way of defining the Church is this: the people who walk together in the Lord's name and offer mutual support that together they may find and enter the land flowing with milk and honey. Who has the Lord put at my side to support me? Whom does the Lord ask me to walk with along the way?

Changes in West Concord

On July 8, I was at West Concord Union Church for the 10:00 Service at which Pastor John Hudson preached and led the people of WCUC in prayer for the last time before moving on to become pastor of Pilgrim Church in Sherborn, Massachusetts. I was grateful that this coincided with the weekend when we had a visiting missionary priest at Holy Family, freeing me to worship with a church community who were so much a part of my first 10 years in Concord.

John's sermon on his last Sunday was, as usual, well-crafted and challenging. All faith communities face challenges of one kind or another and John was direct in calling the people of WCUC to face theirs and to continue to become the church the Lord calls them to be. I was grateful to have a moment in the service as a visiting pastor to voice a prayer for John and for the people he served so well in West Concord.

Only days later I would be reading the most recent document from Rome which deals with the question, "Who is the Church of Jesus Christ?" The Vatican's answer is very defined and, unfortunately, its effort to lift up important truths may have been obscured by a vocabulary easily read as denigrating of other Christian faith communities. What I know from my experience two Sundays ago is simpler and more easily simply put: the people of West Concord Union Church are the body of Christ, gathered for prayer and worship and committed to proclaiming and living the message and justice of the gospel. In their sanctuary that morning the Spirit of God was alive and well and filling the hearts of believers who had gathered to bid farewell to a man they loved, a man who had served them so very well. My prayer goes with John as he moves to Sherborn and to the people of WCUC as they begin the process of searching for a new pastor.

Bad News for preachers of the Good News!

Have you heard that radio stations are now selling blocks of adveristing time in units of adlets and blinks? Adlets are 5 seconds long and blinks only 2 seconds! Folks are tuning out and changing stations more quickly than ever before.

As an indication of people's dwindling attention spans, this is bad news for the homilist trying to hold the attention of an audience ranging in age from toddlers to elders for 5 to 15 minutes. After how many minutes -or seconds- are the people in the Sunday assembly tuning out the homily and tuning in a spectrum of other thoughts?

It's true that it's more difficult to write a good short homily than it is to write a good long one - and perhaps therein lies the answer to the preacher's dilemma: less may indeed be more!

Let's see how this goes...

I have often thought of starting a blog and this rainy afternoon has provided an opportunity for me to give it a try. I don't know if I have or can make the time to keep this fresh but I do know that if it becomes stale, it will disappear. (I'm not even sure I'll be able to set this thing up and get it online!)

To post a comment: click on COMMENTS below and then you have three choices:
1) you may establish a Google account (not necessary)
2) you may comment by "name" (which name you can invent!)
3) you may comment as "anonymous"

So, let's see how this goes...