Words on Work for the Weekend

WORK is what I:
do and avoid
love and hate
need and ignore
thrive on and put off
look for and hide from
want and reject
relish and despise
overdo and skip
share and possess
begin and quit


WORK:
frees and rules me
strengthens and weakens me
connects and separates me
fills and empties me
gratifies and annoys me
energizes and saps me
defines and destroys me
lifts and dispirits me
develops and consumes me
saves and ruins me

If it's not too much work for you... do you have any "pairs" to add?

Here's a short history of Labor Day from (where else?) the Department of Labor.

Ave Maria - 2

The youngest readers may not recognize the voice of Perry Como here but some of us feel like we grew up with him and his variety show. (Let me know if you remember this: Letters, we get letters, we get stacks and stacks of letters! Dear Perry, would you be so kind, to fill a request and sing the song I like best...)

Perry's rendition of Schubert's Ave Maria comes with many images of the Madonna and some readers here will recognize them as holy cards we placed in our Sunday missals. (As you might guess, I'm partial to the icons.)

This post is a reminder of the concert, Chosen From All Women, which will be presented by our cantor, Lauren Sprague (soprano) and accompanist, Carol Messina (piano) on Sunday night, September 9 at 7:30 p.m., following Evening Prayer at 7:00 p.m. Please join us and plan to bring at least one friend with you!

For more information and another setting of the Ave, check this earlier post.

Ave Maria Numbered Series

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

If you've been reading the press or listening to talk radio, then you've heard some commentators suggest that because Mother Teresa had a life-long struggle with God in her spiritual life, the process leading to her canonization should cease. This is some of the fallout from a TIME magazine article on a new book in which Mother Teresa's long dark night of the soul is revealed.

For some 34 years I have been offering spiritual counsel to others, and receiving it myself from spiritual directors. I can assure you that rare is the individual who does not experience moments, days, weeks and even long years when they question the presence, even the existence of God. The questions I am most often asked are these: Where is God in my life? Has God forgotten about me? Does God hear my prayer? Why doesn't God answer my prayer? Where is the God I used to believe in? Have I lost him or has he lost me? These are the struggles of believers who long and thirst for an experience of God in their lives but who pass through the spiritual equivalent of a desert where the parched soul longs for just a taste of the waters of the Spirit of God.

Such "deserts" are sometimes connected to personal suffering (physical and/or emotional) or sometimes to the suffering or loss of loved ones. Sometimes the desert seems to rise up out of nowhere and takes the soul by sudden and sad surprise.

If many of us are surprised that someone like Mother Teresa should have suffered through such arid times in her prayer life, then let us not be surprised that many around us are experiencing the same. And if that is the case and I am the one in the desert, then perhaps I might take some comfort in knowing that I am not alone - even if it seems that God has forgotten about me.

Wondering if God has forgotten... feeling abandoned by the Lord... desperately wondering if any prayer is heard, let alone answered... these are experiences shared by many who want to know and love God, and to be known and loved by God.

Sometimes the scriptures and our prayers at Mass and the songs and psalms we sing can taste bitter in the mouths of those whose thirst is parched for the touch of God's presence. A homilist must always take care not to speak so blithely about the spiritual life that those "in the desert" feel themselves even more remote from the Divine.

The psalms are sometimes called The Prayerbook of the Bible and rightfully so. Over the 150 psalms one finds the whole range of human experience with God from the pits of desolation and abandonment (Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication) to the heights or praise and glory (Give praise with crashing cymbals, praise him with sounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath give praise to the LORD! Hallelujah!). Most of us live somewhere in between those two ends, but not without experiencing both many times in our lives.

With others, I believe that Mother Teresa may become even more of a saintly model for our own times than she was in her lifetime. While many of us may have found it impossible to follow her example in giving her life to the poor, we may find her easy to follow in the spiritual life, knowing that even her soul's great struggles did not keep her from seeking God and doing the Lord's work.

Do others here recognize Mother Teresa's desert of faith? Do others here find in Mother Teresa a beacon of hope for their own spiritual difficulties?

The Birthday of Jesus' Mother, Mary

Kathleen Battle and Christopher Parkening Performing Live at the 1987 Grammy Awards: Bach-Gounod Ave Maria

Do you know the date of Mary's birthday?

Take a minute or two to figure that out before reading on...


Not sure? Well, you can figure it out from the church calendar. You know the day when we celebrate Mary's Immaculate Conception - December 8. Now, just count 9 months across the calendar and you’ll land on Mary's birthday - September 8 which this year falls on a Saturday.

Just the next day, September 9, two of our music ministers, Lauren Sprague (soprano) and Carol Messina (piano) will present a concert in honor of the Blessed Mother's birthday. Lauren is one of our cantors and Carol one of our accompanists. The program they have prepared presents a variety of pieces written for and inspired by Mary including: a 9th century chant setting of the Annunciation; a piece entitled “Mary Alone,” written from the perspective of a mother whose son has been killed in war; a contemporary song, “Breath of Heaven” in which Mary sings of her concerns about becoming a mother; as well as a number of musical settings of the Ave Maria prayer by lesser known composers and, of course, the two most familiar settings (Schubert and Bach/Gounod). The repertoire is quite diverse and offers something for everyone.

We will sing Evening Prayer at 7:00 p.m. and the will follow, around 7:30 p.m. There is no admission fee, but all free will offerings will benefit Rosie’s Place, a sanctuary for poor and homeless women in Boston.

Each day between now and the concert, I will post a different rendition of the Ave Maria, with a reminder about the upcoming concert date.

Ave Maria Numbered Series

Preaching the Word

Ambo at St. Bernard Church, Holy Family Parish, Concord
Photo: B. Dupont

My thoughts are turning to my homily for this coming weekend. Here are the scriptures we'll be hearing. I'm working on my homily, the lectors are practicing their readings, the music ministers are rehearsing the songs we'll sing: how are you preparing to celebrate Mass this weekend? One of the best ways to prepare for worship is to read over the passages you'll hear proclaimed at Mass.

If you have comments on these texts which might spark some homiletic ideas, please leave them in the comment box.

If you'd like some background on these texts you might try the St. Louis University site for Sunday liturgy. After entering the site, click on Get to Know the Readings.

I sometimes wonder if the Church is in the wrong place most of the time. Churches dot the geography of cities and towns as gathering places for believers who are already part of the flock. It's not that those outside the flock don't slip in the front doors and join us for word and sacrament, but it strikes me that the very place where believers gather is the last place many outside the fold are likely to ever step foot.

Some of my most interesting and rewarding pastoral moments have been far from the shadows of a church buildings, in places and conversations where someone eventually asks me what I do for work and I tell them I'm the pastor of a Catholic church.

Some of my most rewarding moments with parishioners have occurred not at the altar or in the confessional, but on the street, in a grocery store, pumping gas, sitting in a restaurant or at a bar, picking up a cup of coffee or waiting in line at the post office.

I wonder what it would be like if, for a year, all Catholic priests were forbidden to step a foot inside their office for a year but were instructed to simply walk the streets of their parishes...

Might be as helpful and healthy for the priest as it would be for the people he encountered.

What do you think?

On Retreat

Sotto Voce over at Clerical Whispers has gone on retreat. But he left behind the interesting advertisement above for Coke Light - which you probably won't see on TV in the U.S.

Update: I've been told that this ad has already appeared on U.S. TV!

Texting the Parish!

Pondering Today's Word

Hangad is a Filipino a capella group heard hear performing You Are Near. Search YouTube for more of Hangad!

It's been a while since I've offered a post on Pondering Today's Word. The psalm from today's Mass is Psalm 139 which many will recognize in the musical setting, You Are Near (see below). Composer Dan Schutte beautifully distills the meaning and language of Ps. 139 but chose not in include the sense of several verses near the psalm's end:

If only you would destroy the wicked, O God,
and the bloodthirsty would depart from me!
Deceitfully they invoke your name;
your foes swear faithless oaths.
Do I not hate, LORD, those who hate you?
Those who rise against you, do I not loathe?
With fierce hatred I hate them, enemies I count as my own.

These are strong words and speak of the troubles that the enemy can bring. The psalmist is not reluctant to bring his problems and suffering before God. It's important, when reading some of the most beautiful passages in scripture, to remember that the faithful witnesses in the bible experienced the same trials and tribulations we do today. In spite of such difficulties, the psalmist is able to pray, Your hand is upon me, protecting me from death, keeping me from harm.

Yawheh, I know you are near,
Standing always at my side;
You guard me from the foe
And you lead me in ways everlasting.

Lord, you have searched my heart
And you know when I sit and when I stand;
Your hand is upon me, protecting me from death,
Keeping me from harm.

Where can I run from your love?
If I climb to the heavens you are there.
If I fly to the sunrise or sail beyond the sea,
Still I'd find you there.

You know my heart and its ways,
You who formed me before I was born;
In the secret of darkness, before I saw the sun,
In my mother's womb.

Marvelous to me are your works,
how profound are your thoughts, my Lord.
Even if I could count them, they number as the stars,
You would still be there.

Name That Tune!

Our parish music director has just asked me to review the weekend repertoire for late summer early fall. You might be interested in how the songs we sing on Sunday are chosen. Our music director plans weeks/months in advance by looking at the scriptures for each week, choosing psalms and hymns appropriate those texts and giving a copy of the draft program to me for review. It's in this planning process that we might decide to introduce a song new to the parish. Of course, seasonal planning (Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter) are a large part of this work.

This past weekend was a good example of how beautifully this can all come together. Our music director had chosen In Christ There Is No East or West as the recessional for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 26 this year). He made that choice based on texts from Isaiah and Luke for that date. Although I hadn't consulted his program since I reviewed it at the beginning of the summer, my homily, based on those same texts, fit hand-in-glove with the choice of our closing song. As I was singing the recessional at our Saturday 5:00 Mass, it occur ed to me that it was a wonderful musical summary of the day's scriptures and how I had bro keen them open in the homily.

When reviewing the draft I might make some suggestions for changes. Then, sometimes on a particular weekend (sometimes in light of my homily) it will occur to me that a particular song doesn't fit, or that another song might have been the perfect choice. Almost always our fine music ministers are willing and able to accommodate my last minute changes - for which I'm always grateful!

Here's a chance for you to indicate what are some of your favorite hymns and psalms for use in the liturgy. If, in addition to titles or first lines, you'd like to comment on why a particular piece is a favorite - please do so.

Now, I can't promise that you'll hear your favorites next Sunday! But it will be helpful for me and our music ministry to have an idea of the selections that especially help you to pray.

Talk about your holy family!

The Saint Taken to School by Saint Monica
Nicolo di Pietro, approx. 1415

No, not THAT Holy Family - not the one my parish is named for. This holy family includes the two saints pictured above, mother-and-son-saints: Monica whose day on the church calendar is August 27 and Augustine whose day is August 28.

This early 15th century painting above shows Monica taking Augustine to school. As mothers and fathers prepare their children for that dread post-Labor Day event, I thought it might be good for us to contemplate this scene. Augustine was not always a saint -far from it. His loose living saddened his mother and she prayed for a long time for Augustine to be baptized. (Curiously, Augustine's doctrine on original sin led to the widespread practice of infant baptism but in his own lifetime, baptism was very often delayed long into adulthood.) Augustine was about 33 years old when he came to faith in Christ and asked to be baptized, along with his 11 year old son whom he had fathered out of wedlock and whom he nonetheless named Adeodatus which means gift of God.

Monica is a patron saint for mothers and all who know the difficulties as well as the joys of raising a child. Given her story as mother of Augustine, she is especially the patron of mothers and fathers who work hard at sharing their faith with their sons and daughters. When he was baptized Augustine was already a well know teacher but it was not until after his conversion that his knowledge and wisdom shone in his writing and preaching.

As parents and children prepare for the opening of school, we should pray for them: especially that parents will take seriously their responsiblility to raise their children in the school of faith.

At all the Masses on the weekend of September 8-9, we will have our annual blessing of students, teachers and school personnel. We have prepared special bookmarks for all who come forward for the blessing. The bookmarks have a beautiful background sunrise scene with a daily prayer for young scholars.

I write this on the eve of St. Augustine's day and it happens that Augustine is my patron saint. (The Gaelic for Augustine is Aibhistín {awv-ishteen} which comes into English as Austin.) I remember that when I was a child my father (also named Austin, after his uncle in Ireland) would sometimes call me Aibhistín. My patron's work on original sin was no small chapter in rewriting the baptismal practice of the Catholic Church and I'm not always grateful to him for that. But a prayer of his, written just after his own baptism) is a favorite of mine and one I return to often, and always when on retreat. Perhaps you will make these words part of your prayer as we celebrate Monica and Augustine.

Too late, have I loved you,
O Beauty ever ancient, ever new,
too late have I loved you!

You were with me, and I was not with you;
I was away, running after beautiful things which you created;
things which could have no existence except for you,
and yet they kept me from you.

Then you called, you cried out, and you pierced my deafness.
You enlightened, you shone forth,
and now my blindness has vanished.

I have tasted you; now I hunger and thirst for you.
You breathed your fragrance upon me;
I drew in breath and now I long for you.
You have touched me,
and I am on fire with the desire of your embrace.

Grasp Saving Grace

Sculpture by Guy Martin a Beckett Boyd

You enfold me, entwine and embrace me.
You handle me, hide me and hold me.
You wrestle me, welcome and want me.

Your chin by my ear,
your hand in my hair,
your arm ‘round my back,
my arms ‘rounding you,
my face on your chest:
I’m held in your warmth.

Your eyes keep close watch,
mine close in deep peace.
Your fingers stroke softly
my head’s numbered strands.
Your grip is a gift,
your grasp saving grace.

"You are mine," you whisper,
"I call you by name:
you are found and forgiven,
brought home and beloved."

"Yes, I am," I breathe back,
"shaped and healed by your hand.
You call me by name:
I am yours, you are mine."

- ConcordPastor

Sunday Homily

"Christ at the Door of Heaven" by Elizabeth Wang

Homily - 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time – C
Isaiah 66:18-21
Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13
Luke 13:22-30
Earlier this summer,
the Vatican issued a brief document, only three pages long, entitled:
Responses to Some Questions
Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church.
(The title is almost as long as the document!)

Because of the way the media reported on this,
I have heard many people saying:
“I can’t believe the Vatican is saying
you have to be Catholic to be saved!”
Well, the document doesn’t say that at all.
In fact in one place it states that
“the Spirit of Christ does not refrain
from using (these separated churches and ecclesial communities)
as instruments of salvation…”
Seems pretty clear to me:
the Holy Spirit uses separated churches and ecclesial communities
as paths to salvation.

What the document does assert is that the Catholic Church
is the Church established by Christ.
Not too much new in that claim.
We believe we’re right about some things
and that others are wrong about those same things.
Guess what?
That’s just what those
“separated churches and other ecclesial communities” think, too!
They think that they’re right about some things
and that Catholics are wrong about those same things.
Are they reticent to claim that? Not at all.
They became separated churches by protesting
that the Catholic Church was in error.

Do these differences matter?
Yes, they do!
If they didn’t matter, we’d all still be one Church.
The differences matter enough that groups within the Body of Christ
have split off, one from another.
Christendom is a divided kingdom and that is a scandal,
that we fail Christ’s desire
that we all be one as he and his Father are one.

The scriptures today also get at the question of who will be saved
and give us several answers.
Isaiah envisions God’s people being gathered together
to make one offering of worship, together, to the one God,
in Jerusalem.
Jesus echoes this when he says,
“People will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God.”
But he also says that the door into the banquet hall of heaven
is a narrow one.
What’s it to be, then?
Will only a few be saved by squeezing through the narrow door?
(in which case - I’m in trouble!).
Or will the banquet hall be immense and the table so long
as to accommodate all God’s people?

Here’s the answer:
the hall is big enough and the table long enough
to seat every man, woman and child ever created by God.
The door is narrow but remember: the narrow door is only an image.
The narrow door is not a door but an image of a person,
and the person is Jesus.
We will enter heaven through our relationship with Christ -or-
for those who have never known Christ:
through lives lived sincerely in love and justice,
such that they will immediately recognize Christ
not only as the door to life eternal
but also as the perfect mirror
of all that was good and true in their lives.

The question, then, is not so much,
“How many will be saved?” or “How narrow is the door?”
The question is much more
“Will I recognize the door when I stand before him?
Will my life and how I lived it, will my faithfulness to Christ
(at least my fidelity to goodness, truth and justice)
enable me to recognize the door and the One who it for me?”

Some of you may have heard this story:
A woman was praying and said,
“Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like."
The Lord led her to two doors.
He opened the first and, looking in,
the woman saw a great table with many people seated at it.
In the middle of the table was a large pot of delicious, savory stew
with more than enough for anyone.
But the people sitting around the table were thin and sickly.
They appeared to be famished in spite of the feast spread before them.
They were holding spoons with very long handles
and while each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew
and take a spoonful,
the handle was longer than their arms,
and so they could not get the spoons back to their mouths.

Then the Lord opened the second door.
The woman saw exactly the same scene:
the same feast, the large pots of stew and the same long spoons
but here the people were well nourished and plump,
laughing and talking.
She said, “Lord, I don’t understand.” "It’s simple,” he answered. "It requires just one thing. You see, these people know how to feed each other. They dip their long-handled spoons into the pot and feed each other across the table.”

The door to heaven, through which ALL are invited to pass
opens to those whose lives mirror
the self-giving life and love of Christ,
to all who learned in this life to serve and nourish the neighbor.

Christ gave us the altar of sacrifice,
this table of his sacrament,
that we might “rehearse” for when we are seated at his table
in the kingdom of heaven.

Christ is the door.
Christ is the altar; Christ is the sacrifice.
Christ is the table; Christ is the supper.
Christ is the server; Christ is the food.
Christ is the bread and wine.

If you recognize him here, come and share even now
in the banquet he has prepared for you - and for all.

-Rev. Austin Fleming

In Christ There Is No East Or West

Here are the lyrics to our closing song at Mass today and the video is a cover of John Fahey's beautiful setting of this hymn.

In Christ there is no east or west,
In him no south or north;
But one great fellowship of love
Throughout the whole wide earth.

In him shall true hearts everywhere
Their high communion find;
His service is the golden cord,
Close binding humankind.

Join hands, disciples in the faith
Whate'er your race may be!
Who serve each other in Christ's love
Are surely kin to me.

In Christ now meet both east and west,
In him meet north and south;
All Christly souls are one in him
Throughout the whole wide earth.

VBS!

Our parish Vacation Bible School begins on Monday of this week and concludes with Mass on Thursday night with the children and their parents - and anyone else who would like to join us for prayer.

Please pray for the children this week and for the VBS team who have worked so hard on planning this great opportunity.

Word for the Week of August 26

Whether or not scholars or pilgrims can locate a particular sermon at a particular location is an issue worthy of discussion, however a number of factors lend credibility to the so-called "Mount of Beatitudes" being a place where Jesus taught the multitudes. Centrally located amidst the places of Jesus' Galilean ministry, it is a large hill with ample space for crowds, and early pilgrims built three churches at the base of the hill.

You'll see that I've posted the new Word for the Week at the top of the sidebar. The suggestion for this week's text came in a comment on one of the posts below.

Here are two articles on the Beatitudes by Jim Forest. The first centers on the meaning of the word blessed in this text and the second, The Ladder of the Beatitudes, is a brief but insightful commentary on this scripture. For Forest's book, The Ladder of the Beatitudes, check here.

Any suggestions for next week's Word for the Week?

Still more from down under...

Bishop Manning anoints altar with Sacred Chrism
at the dedication of St. Patrick Cathedral, Parramatta, AU

Take a look at Rocco's post, commenting on the news being generated by Australian bishops and follow his link to the interview with the Bishop Kevin Manning, of the diocese of Parramatta, AU. The interview with Manning is available on audio. (As the note at Catholica Australia indicates, you may have trouble playing the recorded segments, but following the simple instructions I was able to listen to them.)

Not your father's Baltimore Catechism!

There's a new addition to the links in the sidebar: Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Some of us remember the Baltimore Catechism, the paperback text used for religious education for decades in the United States up until the mid 1960's and Vatican Council II.

The Baltimore Catechism would fit in a coat pocket, certainly in a school bag (this was in the days before backpacks). The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), even in paperback, is a much more ambitious work. It was written as a guide to church teaching for bishops, pastors and catechists. The introduction to the CCC indicates the Vatican's intention that different Conferences of Catholic Bishops would design other editions of the Catechism accessible to and intended for adults in general. The American bishops have thus produced the US Catholic Catechism for Adults. The Vatican has produced yet another edition of the CCC, this one the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. What's the difference between these three editions? I'm glad you asked! The US Conference of Catholic Bishops offers this response:

The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults is designed to complement the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Each chapter in the USCCA directs the reader to those places in the Catechism where they can learn more about a particular topic. It follows a similar four part structure – Creed, Sacraments, Moral Life, Prayer – but is arranged in a somewhat simpler chapter structure. The chapters in the USCCA also contain sections designed not only to teach the reader about the faith but also to reflect on that teaching and how it might apply to their lives. While the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is also designed to complement the Catechism of the Catholic Church it does so in a manner different from the USCCA. The Compendium is a universal document while the USCCA is meant for adults in the United States. While the Compendium also follows the same four part structure as the Catechism and the USCCA, it is arranged differently, in a question and answer format. The primary intended audience for the Compendium is youth and young adults. In the appendices of the Compendium there appear traditional prayers and formulas of Catholic doctrine which places more emphasis on the importance of learning certain basic information about the Catholic faith and the practice of that faith through memorization.

The link in the sidebar is to the complete CCC, online, with a handy search feature to help you find what you're looking for. The Vatican has an online version of the Compendium, unfortunately without a search feature. You can order the USCCA here.

And here's to you, Bishop Robinson...

Bishop Robinson celebrates Mass at University of Technology, Sydney

No, not the Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson but the retired Roman Catholic Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, former bishop of Sydney, Australia. (What's with these Catholic bishops down under?)

THE Catholic Church is still not serious about confronting sexual abuse, only "managing" it, according to the Sydney bishop who headed Australian efforts to tackle abuse.

Bishop Geoffrey Robinson says the Catholic Church needs to reverse 2000 years of teaching on sex and power as part of radical reforms from the Pope down.

While it refuses to look at some fundamental teachings — including sex outside marriage, women priests, homosexuality and papal power — the culture that produced and protected abusers will continue, he says.

These explosive claims — unprecedented for a bishop — are in a book to be launched tomorrow: Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church.

Bishop Robinson, 70, who was abused as a child, headed the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference professional standards committee for a decade until he retired because he was so disillusioned in 2004...

"I'm aware of how radical the call I'm making is. I'm looking for a very different church," he told The Age.

He said the response of the church, especially the Vatican, to the sexual abuse crisis did not go deep enough. "The most profound factor about sex is that the church has had a morality for 2000 years based on offences against God and I find that quite inadequate. I ask if we should move to a morality based on relationships, on good and harm to people..."

On sexual issues, the book asks questions rather than making statements. Bishop Robinson said this was because he did not want to suggest he had the answers and because it was harder for the Vatican to condemn questions...

"The responsibility appropriate to adults must not be reduced to the obedience appropriate to children, and too often that happens in the church. I don't think God does that..."

(for the rest of the story...)

I bring your attention to this article (and to Bishop Power's article) to give a broader picture of events in the Roman Catholic Church. Here on the blog and in other forums, some of my readers have asked if anyone is listening to other voices in the church, if any other voices are speaking. Well, here are two bishops, one still active in his diocese and another retired, who are doing just that. I encouraged you to write (pro or con) to Bishop Power. Perhaps you'd like to write to Bishop Robinson, too. I couldn't find his email address but his snail-mail is: Most Rev. Geoffrey Robinson, 126 Liverpool Road, Enfield NSW 2136

The present Archbishop of Sydney is Cardinal George Pell, an internationally well-known conservative who will be host next year to Pope Benedict XVI and World Youth Day. Given the ecclesiastical climate in Sydney, I wouldn't be surprised if Bishop Robinson could use your support.

Like Butter

morning sun pours
through wide open windows,
warming my legs,
loosening my limbs

a golden mercy
melting, softening me
like butter
for batter, for baking

fold me into your arms,
sweet morning Jesus,
fold me into your arms,
sweet Jesus man!

- ConcordPastor

Preaching the Word of God

Well, the weekend is upon us and that means I'm working on my homily. Here are the scriptures for this Sunday. I'm open to receiving any ideas, comments or questions you have. That's not a promise that I'll incorporate them, but just knowing how these scriptures sound in your ears, hearts and minds helps me prepare.

For some background and reflection on these texts, go to the Center for Liturgy at the University of St Louis, and click on "Get To Know the Readings."

Why have you abandoned me?

Nocturne xii by John Paul Caponigro

Most believers experience times in their spiritual lives when it's difficult, even impossible, to connect with God in prayer. Some times God seems present, at hand, within... and some times God seems distant, absent, gone...

It's not unusual for those experiencing such dryness in their spiritual lives to turn with envy to those who seem to know God so well, whose faith seems always unshaken. But the greatest saints, like all of us, have known the what St. John of the Cross called the "dark night of the soul" when the soul feels abandoned by its Maker.

This week TIME magazine offers an article on Mother Teresa which you can find here. Mother Teresa is perhaps the individual in our own times to whom those who ache in prayer point as the model to which they aspire. And yet, it seems, Mother Teresa identified not only in her lifestyle with the poorest of the poor but also in her spiritual life with those whose hearts hunger for God and who seek the Lord's sheltering embrace.

A new, innocuously titled book, Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light (Doubleday), consisting primarily of correspondence between Teresa and her confessors and superiors over a period of 66 years, provides the spiritual counterpoint to a life known mostly through its works. The letters, many of them preserved against her wishes (she had requested that they be destroyed but was overruled by her church), reveal that for the last nearly half-century of her life she felt no presence of God whatsoever — or, as the book's compiler and editor, the Rev. Brian Kolodiejchuk, writes, "neither in her heart or in the eucharist." That absence seems to have started at almost precisely the time she began tending the poor and dying in Calcutta, and — except for a five-week break in 1959 — never abated. Although perpetually cheery in public, the Teresa of the letters lived in a state of deep and abiding spiritual pain. In more than 40 communications, many of which have never before been published, she bemoans the "dryness," "darkness," "loneliness" and "torture" she is undergoing. She compares the experience to hell and at one point says it has driven her to doubt the existence of heaven and even of God.

This will be an interesting addition to the shelves of books on spirituality and a counterpoint to the many books on atheism currently drawing attention.

Perhaps most of all, it will be a book to help all those who, with Mother Teresa, have known times in their lives when it seems that the Shepherd has forgotten one of his sheep.

The power of Power

Some folks look at the Church only through American and Vatican lenses, forgetting that we have brothers and sisters around the world shaping the reality we call Catholicism.

Here's an interesting letter from Bishop Pat Power, the bishop of Canberra and Goulburn in Australia. Bishop Power is responding here to a petition sent by two Catholic men to the bishops of Australia. Not only does Bishop Power have some good ideas - he has also tried to move the Church in a new direction.

The petition signing process clearly indicates that only Australian Catholics are invited to participate. However, you might want to send an email of gratitude and support, or critique, to Bishop Power. Here's his email address: pat.power@cg.catholic.org.au

UPDATE: I gave you an incomplete email address for Bishop Power. The corrected address is above.

Obviously, no one can promise that such efforts will result in change. On the other hand, it's doubtful that failure to try will bear much fruit.

Harvard vs. Brown vs. God

The Boston Globe (8/17/07) reports a religious conflict in the Harvard University football schedule:

Under pressure from season ticket holders and alumni, Harvard proposed yesterday to move the date of its first nighttime football game from a Jewish holiday to another day that would not conflict with the religious observance... When Jewish fans pointed out that the date conflicts with the eve of Yom Kippur, known as Kol Nidre, Harvard initially told them they could exchange their tickets for another game. Fans complained that the university was forcing them to choose between synagogue and football. And Harvard relented.Yesterday, Harvard said it had asked Brown to move the game to Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m. Yom Kippur ends at sunset that day. "We understand the sensitivity, and we want as many people as possible to be able to come to the game," said Harvard's athletic director, Robert L. Scalise.

Michael Simon -- associate director of Harvard Hillel, a campus Jewish organization -- applauded Harvard, saying the new date would allow Jews to attend services and catch the game."Clearly, they understood there was a problem with having it on the highest of holidays in the Jewish calendar and are clearly making an effort to correct their mistake," said Nancy K. Kaufman, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston...Scalise said Harvard has no official policy on scheduling games on holidays. He pointed out that the baseball team has played on Easter Sunday...Harvard reversed course yesterday and said it hoped that Brown would agree.Harvard also has Jewish football players."This is about what does it mean to try to balance religious observance and the expression of your American values and it's very much a part of the challenge of modern life," Simon said.

Two days later, however, a letter to the editor from Rabbi Y. A. Korff offers a different point of view:

While we applaud those who wished to see Harvard's opening football game moved from Yom Kippur eve, the fans are missing the point when they complain, as reported, that the university was forcing them to choose between synagogue and football.Life is about priorities and making choices, and for educated, informed Jews in this situation the priority, and the choice, should be obvious. More important, however, they are missing the point of Yom Kippur itself, the Day of Atonement, which bids us to atone for violating Jewish precepts and to return to observances such as the Sabbath. The holiest day in the Jewish calendar is the weekly Sabbath, not the one-day-a-year Yom Kippur.Thus to return to attending sports games on Friday nights or Saturdays during the year is a striking contradiction and negation of their very Yom Kippur observance, making the current controversy a bit specious. As long as we have the freedom to practice our faith free of discrimination, Jews living in a largely secular environment should take advantage of schedule conflicts such as this to assert and demonstrate their proper priorities and commitment, rather than insisting that the world make adjustments that will preserve all of our options and eliminate the need to make any "difficult" choices.

Jesus ( a Jewish rabbi, himself) said, "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath." (Mark 2:27) Of course the sabbath, a day of rest, was intended as a gift to humankind, not as a religious burden but as a break from the burden of work, freeing God's people for their greatest work and responsibility: the praise and worship of God.

Believers of all faiths face such a dilemma just about every weekend: how to juggle the schedules of work, family, play, arts, sports and relaxation with the schedule of one's house of worship? I know this is the case in my parish. But at least at Harvard it came down to "both/and." All to often on the local scene it ends up being "either/or."

My own thought is that the Catholic Church made a huge error in introducing the "anticipated Mass" on Saturday evenings. Nothing says the Sabbath is dispensable like moving the obligation to worship to another day.

So when's the Harvard-Brown kickoff? You guessed it: September 22 at 7:30 (note: after sundown on the sabbath). An interesting footnote: if you go online for the Harvard schedule, you'll find this explanation: The Athletic Department, in consultation with our colleagues at Brown, felt that Saturday night would allow the maximum number of fans to attend this historic event without conflict. And what's historic about this game? It's the first game under the lights at Harvard's stadium. The "conflict" with the sabbath is not mentioned.

When you have a conflict with Sunday worship: what do you decide? how do you decide?

Feels like fall!

I'm sure these cool August days will yield to warmer ones but there's something of fall in the air that leaves me feeling, well, autumnal.

My soul warms to the spring, hopes for the summer, delights in the fall and simply endures the winter. So my delight in these cool days and even cooler oh-so-good-for-sleeping nights has been teased to an early awakening.

Makes me wonder how the many climates of life around me season my experience... how the climes of my presence season the lives of others... how one can have a wintry soul in July and a summery heart in January... All mysteries - as tomorrow's weather usually is...

Seasons: revealing God's raining, shining, snowing, blowing upon us..

All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord.

Sun and moon, bless the Lord;
stars of heaven, bless the Lord.

Every shower and dew, bless the Lord;
all you winds, bless the Lord;

Fire and heat, bless the Lord;
cold and chill, bless the Lord;

Dew and rain, bless the Lord;
frost and cold, bless the Lord;

Ice and snow, bless the Lord;
nights and days, bless the Lord;

Light and darkness, bless the Lord;
lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord.

Let the earth bless the Lord,
praise and exalt God above all forever.

(Daniel 3:59-66)

Hidden beauty

A story I read recently in the Globe has been on my mind and I had to go back and find it.

For years, art scholars pondered a mystery: Did Vincent van Gogh create a painting that matches a sketch in Amsterdam's van Gogh Museum?

Now a conservator at the Museum of Fine Arts has discovered the lost painting, but museum goers will never be able to see it: The painting lies underneath another van Gogh long on display at the MFA, the museum announced yesterday.

The Dutch master created the lost painting, "Wild Vegetation," in 1889, during his stay at an asylum near Saint-Remy, France. The hidden work was found by chance when conservator Meta Chavannes X-rayed the MFA's painting, "The Ravine," about a year ago as part of a research project.

Chavannes found evidence of an image that didn't match "The Ravine," a moody landscape with swirling brush strokes of blue, gray, and green. A few weeks later, Chavannes shared the X-ray with Louis van Tilborgh, a curator at the Van Gogh Museum. He immediately recognized the image as being similar to a drawing in the museum's collection.

Van Gogh had sent the drawing, a riotous depiction of flowers and wildlife, to his brother, Theo, an art dealer in Paris...

In his early years, van Gogh often reused canvases or turned them over and painted on the other side to make the most of his limited funds. But by 1889, a year before his death, he was being supported by his brother. Van Gogh painted over "Wild Vegetation" not because he couldn't afford to buy another canvas but because Theo was slow to send along new canvases...

Read the whole story here.

Some people live their lives the way van Gogh used his canvas. Buried in the moody grays and blues of a ravine lies wild vegetation, a veritable riot of flowers and wildlife painted over by hurt, disappointment and God knows what experiences thick enough with pain to obscure something bright and beautiful. How unfortunate, in the comparative illustrations above, that the lush is dulled and the ravine almost brightens... It took an x-ray to discover what lay hidden in Vincent's ravine. Perhaps all we need to do is to look more carefully at the lives of those around us -and at our own canvases- to see through to the life that may be just below the surface, the beauty that longs for the light of day.

The headline on this article read Mystery Painting Stays Hidden Under Another. Such mysteries deserve to be explored and solved lest their secret beauty be lost.

It's likely that each of us will pass by some hidden masterpieces in the gallery of this day's experience. Let's keep our eyes open...

Paul Turner has an article on celibate priesthood with more info than my thumbnail sketch above. Take a look!

Got angels?

"There were a bunch of people right around there helping everyone. Angels is what I call them."

- Jaime Winegar, a Houston woman who was on the Interstate I-35 Bridge in Minneapolis when it collapsed into the Mississippi River.

Angels...

In a post on the Assumption I wondered if a woman I visited just before she died might have been seeing angels around her bed...

Here's what the Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say about angels.

The angels Jaime Winegar spoke of were corporeal, not pure spiritual beings, but in a real sense angels nonetheless: messengers of God's presence, love, touch and deliverance.

Where have you seen angels?

Where are the angels in our life?

Sunday Homily

Homily for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10
Hebrews 12:1-4
Luke 12:49-53

More often than not Jesus is the consummate man of peace,
but sometimes, like today, he puts on a hard hat,
picks up a sledge hammer
- and comes out swinging!

Believe me:
it’s much easier to preach the Prince of Peace
than to homilize the hard hat Jesus.

So, what’s all this talk about division?

We need to remember that, in Jesus’ time,
attachment to one’s immediate and extended family
was a matter of life and death:
your existence (shelter, food, support)
depended on your family connections
and without them you had no standing in society.

(That’s why, in the scriptures,
the plight of widows and orphans gets so much attention.)

To be separated from family
was to jeopardize all of your relationships and your life itself.
But that’s just what Jesus invited his listeners to do.
When he beckoned, “Come follow me!”
he was asking people to leave their own family and to join his.
And he warned them that if they did this,
they would inevitably suffer separation from those who did not.

I think we’d like to believe that we’re beyond all that,
and the need for such dire warnings.

Maybe… maybe not…

Perhaps, after 2,000 years, all we’ve really achieved
is a mutually agreed upon mutual silence about faith:
a kind of “don’t ask, don’t tell” regarding religion
that keeps social bonds from being disturbed
by differences in belief and practice.

On the other hand, there are at least some religions
that are regularly subject to criticism and to some degree, ostracism.

Take Christianity.

There are some who are comfortable being identified as Christian -
as long as that identification also dissociates them
from particular forms or branches of Christianity.
"I’m a Christian - but –
not like the ones you see on TV"
or,
"not like the right-wingers,"
or,
"not like the politicians who are Christian-in-name-only,"
or,
"not like…"
well, the list can go on and on.

And then there’s,
"Well, I’m a Catholic – but –
let me tell you all the things about Catholicism I disagree with…"
I hear this all the time:
Catholics who define their faith
in terms of their disagreements with it.
Many of you have been asked by family members and friends,
"Why are you still Catholic?
Why do you still go to church?
How can you still believe in all that stuff?"
And, sometimes, as much as you wanted to answer,
you found it difficult to respond.

Such questions seldom divide families or friends
but they can draw an uncomfortable line of separation
between the inquirers, who go away shaking their heads,
and the Catholics, who may not know what to say.

Perhaps some of us suffer from a religious inferiority complex.
We have been embarrassed by blatant hypocrisy,
the scandal of sexual abuse,
and incompetent leadership
and often confused by Church teachings that run absolutely counter
to what our culture holds up as good.

Judging from the media
you would think that the whole mission of the Catholic Church
was centered on sexual and biological morality –
and that, of course, is not true.
As important, as difficult and as controversial as such issues are,
what the Catholic Church is truly centered on
(as is the whole of Christianity)
is the person of Jesus Christ, the life he offers us
and the fire of faith he invites us to share.

People ask me questions, too:
“Why do you remain a Catholic priest?
Do you believe in all that stuff.”
My answer is that I’m a Christian precisely because
I believe in “all that stuff” in the gospel of Jesus.
And I’m a Catholic because I believe that this Church has,
for 2,000 years, struggled to preach and live Christ’s gospel.
And I freely acknowledge that this struggle
has known sad, sinful and tragically regrettable times
as well as times of wisdom, truth and grace.

But most of all, I am a Catholic Christian
because of what we are doing here, this morning,
in word and sacrament.
I am blessed to be part of a community of believers
which traces its beginnings
to a supper, one night in an upper room, in Jerusalem
where Jesus, a faithful Jew, took bread and wine for Passover,
and broke, blessed and shared it with his friends
and asked them and now us to do the same in memory of him.

That’s the heart of it all for me
and at the heart of that meal
is the loving sacrifice of the heart of Jesus.

May the faith which has gathered us together at this table
open itself widely and warmly to welcome many more to join us.

May that faith be like a fire in our hearts:
a flame ignited by Christ and fueled by his Spirit.

And in the words of the Letter to the Hebrews, may we
“persevere in running the race that lies before us
while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,
the leader and perfecter of faith.”

-ConcordPastor

So: why are YOU still a Catholic? why do YOU go to Mass? do YOU still believe in "all that stuff?"

Word for the Week

The illustration is by Susanne Moore and is from the St. John's Bible.

It's time to change the Word for the Week in the sidebar. I've chosen Philippians 4:4-9, a portion of which is sometimes read in the liturgy for Advent: The Lord is near!

The text includes a wonderful list of things we should ponder: whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, excellent and worthy of praise...

My hope is that we all might refer to these Word for the Week texts day to day and use them for prayer.

Remember: if you have a suggested text for this spot, I'd be happy to consider it for posting.

Polls

Regarding the poll questions...

Occasionally you see the message on the sidebar:
"Oops... Polls are currently not available, please come back later."

Just want to let you know that it's Blogger.com who does that and not yours truly.
Fortunately, the polls reappear soon after the "Oops" message.

Hundreds have died and more than 1,500 people were injured in the earthquake. Health workers abandoned an industrial strike to treat the casualties.

The pope has sent a telegram of concern to the bishops of the victims of the earthquake in Peru. Along with Catholics and peoples of many faiths around the world, there will be an opportunity to make donations for the relief of those suffering from this natural disaster. In our archdiocese, a special collection will for this purpose will be taken up on the weekend of August 25/26.

FYI: The link above takes you to Zenit.org, an international source of news on the Catholic Church, from a Catholic perspective.

The Preacher's Task

Just as I break the bread of the Eucharist each Sunday, so is it my task to break open the bread of the Word. It was St. Augustine who said that the liturgy feeds us from two tables: the table of the Word and the table of the Sacrament.

In breaking open the Word it's my task to nourish our assembly with both comfort and challenge. It has been said that the scriptures are intended to "comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable." Like all easy divisions of the world into two halves, that saying is incomplete even as it makes a point worth pondering.

In this week's scriptures, Jeremiah (the prophet, not the bullfrog) gets into trouble for afflicting the comfortable. I'd like to tell you that by comparison the Jesus in this Sunday's gospel brings comfort to the afflicted, but this week Jesus has a hard hat on and he comes out swinging a sledgehammer!

This is one of those week's when the preacher's job isn't easy. I don't own a hard hat and I've got very little experience with heavy tools. Pray for me and for all who break open the Word this week that we'll be both faithful to our task and nourishing of our people.

Things fall apart, but...

Sotto Voce over at Clerical Whispers posted a piece on Joseph Kurtz, the new archbishop of Louisville. The story of the statistics cited for this Kentucky archdiocese is disheartening:

When Joseph E. Kurtz takes over as archbishop of Louisville on Wednesday, he'll face the challenge of finding more people wanting to take up the priesthood.

Kurtz is stepping into an archdiocese that, for the second time in two years, has ordained no priests.

For the last 10 years, the archdiocese has ordained an average of less than two priests per year, even though the Catholic population has grown 7%.

The archdiocese has 88 active (full-time) priests, roughly one-third the number in 1970. And the average age of all priests -- including retirees, some of whom continue to work part-time -- is 63.

The archdiocese has merged 17 parishes and told dozens of others to share priests because of those numbers and population shifts.

As bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville since 1999, Kurtz has garnered a reputation for recruiting a relatively high percentage of priests for that diocese's Catholic population.

The diocese, one-quarter the size of Louisville's, has ordained about 10 priests in the last four years.

While the numbers here are probably reflective of the relative Catholic population in the area, the situation repeats itself all over the US and in other parts of the world as well.

Catholic parish life as we knew it earlier in our own lifetime will likely never be the same again - and much of that reality is not necessarily bad. Still, if Sunday Eucharist is to remain the heart church life for us then some very important questions must be opened for discussion: mandatory celibacy; the ordination of women; and the return of priests who have left, married and still believe themselves called to active ministry. (A poll to accompany this post can be found on the sidebar.)

In article in the August 12 New York Times, Things Fall Apart, but Some Big Old Things Don't, Matthew L. Wald compares the collapse of the 40 year old I-35W bridge in Minnesota with the Brooklyn Bridge which has been in service since 1883. Some big old things were more solidly built and last longer. I couldn't read this article without thinking about the big old thing we love and call the Church. Like all analogies this one limps but it's not without its interesting points of reference:

A 40-year-old bridge in Minnesota collapses... Makes one wonder: Is the country relying too much on decaying infrastructure, the capital investments of generations long gone? Maybe, but there is a good reason why big old things — pipes and bridges, nuclear reactors and even spaceships — stick around. In many ways, they are like your grandmother’s dining room set: big, bulky and hard to remove. And in a lot of ways, it makes more sense to keep the old stuff than replace it with something from Ikea... Generally, the bigger an object, the longer it survives, because it has economic value, and has usually become intricately connected to things around it. Replacing the Brooklyn Bridge, in service since 1883, would mean years of disruption, and the possible replacement of all roads that lead to it... In many ways, big old things are also more dependable... models that have already had the bugs worked out of them. Of course, there are several prerequisites for big old things to attain eternal life. One is knowing what you’ve got... Eternal life also requires that big old things survive changes in the surrounding environment. Anything that sits around long enough will experience earthquakes, which weaken foundations... Of course, not all big old things will survive...

As I said, all analogies limp - and I'm not suggesting that the big old thing we call the Church may not survive. I believe it will and I trust that with the help of God's Spirit we will weather whatever comes our way. Still it makes one wonder: do we sometimes depend on a decaying infrastructure no longer capable of supporting the weight of today's traffic? how do we decide what we need to keep from grandma's dining room set and what we need to build anew? what things are intricately connected to the big old thing deserving of preservation? what things can be let go of? what roads leading to and from the Church must be kept open? what new roads need to be built? what bugs have 2,000 years of experience worked out? what bugs still remain? do we really understand "what we've got" or are we fascinated by an image, a memory what what we wish we had? what must we do, with the Spirit's help, to survive what has weakened us and build on what strengthens us?

Big questions - deserving of our open minds and hearts.

I was out to dinner a few nights ago and ran into a couple from the parish whom I've known for some years. In the course of our conversation I came to learn about the number of ways this husband and wife reach out to the needs of others in our community. They weren't bragging or trying to impress, we were just talking as folks do and I learned a lot about how generous these two people are with their time and talents.

It's not unusual for me to have such experiences because there are so many people in our parish who work quietly behind the scenes, reaching out to others and making a difference in people's lives. Praise God for such men and women, for the work they do and for the example they set for all of us.

We are about to have a parish Vacation Bible School and it's another example of what great things can come of the hard work of those who give their time and talent on behalf of others - and this time it's on behalf of our children. Our VBS will begin on Monday, August 27 and conclude on Thursday night, August 30 with Mass. An extraordinary amount of time effort and talent has gone into this effort and I'm most grateful for all of it.

And for all of you who reach out and give of yourselves in small and hidden, and in large and public ways - thank you and God bless you!

Introibo ad altare Dei

This comes a little late but on July 18 the archdiocese released a statement regarding the recent document issued by Pope Benedict regarding the use of the Tridentine rite of the Mass. If you follow the link you will read what the media at large often have missed: that this permission was given by the pope in hopes of convincing disaffected Catholics that it is time for them to return to full union with the Church. Internationally, there are several large movements of Catholics who have broken away from the Church and for whom liturgical ritual is one among several serious points of contention.

As you will read in the statement, Cardinal O'Malley does not expect this decision by the pope to have much impact in the New England area. The cardinal was one of about 30 bishops who were called to Rome just before the release of this document for a preview of its content and discussion with the pope. A number of European bishops have been vocal in their opposition to this permission for celebrating the liturgy in the former rite.

Finally, in the archdiocesan statement you will find a link to the cardinal's blog. Yes, he has one, too!

Happy 37th Anniversary!

As I mentioned a few days ago, August 15 is not only the feast of the Assumption, it's also my sister's and brother-in-law's wedding anniversary - this year, their 37th. And I did remember to call them with anniversary greetings! Mindful of what they're celebrating, let me share with you one of the beautiful texts of the pre-Conciliar liturgy which, unfortunately, did not survive the reform. This is the "instruction" the priest addressed to the bride and groom just before they exchanged their wedding promises and rings:

Dear friends in Christ: As you know, you are about to enter into a union which is most sacred and most serious, a union which was established by God himself. Because God himself is thus its author, marriage is of its very nature a holy institution, requiring of those who enter into it a complete and unreserved giving of self.

This union is most serious, because it will bind you together for life in a relationship so close and so intimate, that it will profoundly influence your whole future. That future, with its hopes and disappointments, its successes and failures, its pleasures and its pains, its joys and its sorrows, is hidden from your eyes. Yet you know that these elements are mingled in every life, and are to be expected in your own. And so, not knowing what is before you, you take each other for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death.

Truly, then, these words are most serious. It is a beautiful tribute to your undoubted faith in each other, that, recognizing their full import, you are nevertheless so willing and ready to pronounce them. And because these words involve such solemn obligations, it is most fitting that you rest the security of your wedded life upon the great principle of self-sacrifice. And so you begin your married life by the voluntary and complete surrender of your individual lives in the interest of that deeper and wider life which you are to have in common. Henceforth you belong entirely to each other; you will be one in mind, one in heart, and one in affections. And whatever sacrifices you may hereafter be required to make to preserve this common life, always make them generously. Sacrifice is usually difficult and irksome. Only love can make it easy; and perfect love can make it a joy. We are willing to give in proportion as we love. And when love is perfect, sacrifice is complete. God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son; and the Son so loved us that he gave himself for our salvation. "Greater love than this no one has, than to lay down one's life for one's friends."

No greater blessing can come to your married life than pure conjugal love, loyal and true to the end. May, then, this love with which you join your hands and hearts today, never fail, but grow deeper and stronger as the years go on. And if true love and the unselfish spirit of perfect sacrifice guide your every action, you can expect the greatest measure of earthly happiness that may be allotted to us in this vale of tears. The rest is in the hands of God. Nor will God be wanting to your needs; he will pledge you the life-long support of his graces in the holy sacrament which you are now going to receive.