The pope looks back on his pastoral visit to the US

Cindy Wooden of Catholic News Service reports on comments Benedict XVI made today regarding his recent pastoral visit to the US:

Pope Benedict XVI said his April 15-20 visit to the United Nations and the United States was an opportunity to give -- and to receive -- a witness to the power of hope and faith.

...

(T)he pope said the hope that flows from faith in Christ can vanquish even the darkness cast by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Christian hope, "stronger than sin and death, animated a moment filled with emotion, which I passed in silence in the abyss of ground zero, where I lighted a candle, praying for all the victims of that terrible tragedy," the pope said.

The pope began his general audience by publicly thanking the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and President George W. Bush for inviting him, and all those who greeted him with affection and offered prayers for the success of his visit.

Particularly when celebrating his third anniversary as pope with an April 19 Mass in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, he said "it was a moving moment in which I experienced in a tangible way all of the support of the church for my ministry."

Addressing the 20,000 people who had gathered in St. Peter's Square for the audience, the pope said he set out on the trip "to confirm Catholics in the faith, to renew and increase brotherhood with all Christians and to proclaim to all the message of Christ our hope."

Speaking in German without his prepared text, the pope said that everywhere he went in the United States "I was able to experience the fact that the faith is alive, that Christ is there today among the people, that he shows them the way and helps them to build the present as well as the future."

The pope told the German speakers that God gave him an opportunity to try to strengthen the faith of others, "but at the same time, I was strengthened and came back strengthened."

In his main audience talk, Pope Benedict said that the United States, from its founding, was built "on the foundation of a felicitous joining of religious, ethical and political principles, which still today constitutes a valid example of healthy secularity."

The United States, he said, is a place "where the religious dimension in all its variety is not only tolerated, but is valued as the spirit of the nation and as the fundamental guarantee of human rights and responsibilities."

Modern life and global realities continue to challenge the country, he said, and the Catholic Church has an obligation to offer its voice in order to help citizens build a society worthy of the human person and one that uses its resources to help others.

...

As he did throughout his trip, the pope also spoke at his audience about the clergy sex abuse scandal that rocked the U.S. church.

"Thinking of the painful affair of the abuse of minors committed by ordained ministers, I wanted to express my closeness to the bishops, encouraging them in their commitment to bind up the wounds and to reinforce relations with their priests," he said.

...

Respect for human rights and peace can flourish only where there is justice, "an ethical order valid for all times and all peoples," which can be summarized with Jesus' phrase, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

- - -

He ascended into heaven...

The Ascension of Christ by Kulmbach (click on image for larger version)

A number of paintings depicting the Ascension feature two feet at the top of the canvas, sometimes over a group of disciples staring up at them, sometimes including heavenly hosts awaiting the Lord's return to the Father's right hand. Dali's contemporary rendering is above, Kulmbach's classical version is below.

You can find the scriptures for Ascension Day here. The Preface prayer for Ascension day (is it Ascension Thursday or Ascension Sunday? Answer here) offers a brief theological summary of what the Church celebrates on this 40th day after Easter. The theology is in the verbs!

Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks and praise.

Today the Lord Jesus, the king of glory, the conqueror of sin and death, ascended to heaven while the angels sang his praises.

Christ, the mediator between God and humankind, judge of the world and Lord of all, has passed beyond our sight, not to abandon us but to be our hope. Christ is the beginning, the head of the Church; where he has gone, we hope to follow.

The joy of the resurrection and ascension renews the whole world, while the choirs of heaven sing for ever to your glory: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

-ConcordPastor

A 14th century saint for our own times

Icon by Robert Lenz


Catherine of Siena was the 24th child of a prosperous Sienese wool dyer. From childhood she felt called to a life dedicated completely to spiritual pursuits and resisted all efforts to push her towards marriage. She became a habited Dominican tertiary when she was 16 years old, and after three years of solitary prayer, took up a life of apostolic work. She worked at first as a nurse among the sick of Siena. Miracles of all sorts accompanied her prayers.

She became renowned as a peacemaker and was able to mediate between squabbling individuals, families, political factions and even city states. A group of disciples gathered around her. As she traveled through Italy, crowds came to meet her, and many changed their lives for the better.

Between 1377 and 1378 she dictated her Dialogue, a compendium of everything she had learned about the spiritual life. This work was written in Italian and has a concrete, earthy flavor.

The last years of her life were devoted to trying to re-establish peace in the Roman church. Several weeks before her death as she was praying before a mosaic in the original St. Peter’s Basilica, she saw Peter’s fishing boat leave the mosaic and land on her shoulder. It crushed her to the ground and she had to be carried home. She was virtually paralyzed until her death on April 29, 1380.

In the icon above she is shown with a mighty ship on her shoulder, a symbol of how St. Peter’s ministry had been changed by the medieval papacy. As she carries that ship, so did her prayers carry the hierarchy of her time. She is a patron for all those who feel crushed by religious institutions, as well as a great teacher for those drawn to a life of mystical prayer. (Icon available and text from: Trinity Stores)

Catherine makes a strong patron saint for our own times in the world, in the Church. There are so many ways in which the ship of the Church's life is borne on the shoulders of women.

Take some time with Catherine's marvelous imagery for the Trinity and Eucharist in her own reflection:

And I shall clothe myself in your eternal will,
and by this light I shall come to know
that you, eternal Trinity,
are table
and food
and waiter for us.

You, eternal Father,
are the table
that offers us food,
the Lamb, your only-begotten Son.

He is the most exquisite of foods for us,
both in his teaching,
which nourishes us in your will,
and in the sacrament
that we receive in Holy Communion,
which feeds and strengthens us
while we are pilgrim travelers in this life.

And the Holy Spirit
is indeed a waiter for us,
for the Spirit serves us this teaching
by enlightening our mind's eye with it
and inspiring us to follow it.
And the Spirit serves us charity for our neighbors
and hunger to have as our food.

-ConcordPastor

Upon the palms of my hands...

Photo by John Souza; click on image for larger version

My thanks to Rocco for pointing us to the online treasure of images from "The Book of Names" Cardinal Sean O'Malley presented to Pope Benedict XVI at his meeting with the 5 Boston victims of clergy sexual abuse. Two pages are above and below, others are here and provide a great opportunity for reflection and prayer...


Photo by John Souza; click on image for larger version

Psalm 151

Canticle of the Washing Machine

Be praised, my Lord,
for the washing machine,
whose swingle flails the soiled and stained.

And he ministers to the splot, the blotch, the spattered cuff.

Be praised, my Lord,
for your spirit that comes upon him,
for his jump and and jug, jug, jug.

(My infant son slept on his shaking back.
The meek love him and cling to his sides.)

For the flange, which shakes the floorboards,
sends the cat beneath the bed.

Be praised, my Lord, for the agitator,
through whose pivot and plunge into tub
many of the most smudged are cleaned.

Be praised, my Lord, for the delicate cycle,
in which lace and wool can be soaked.

Blessed is the soapy breath
that sweetens each room of my house.

Praise and bless the Lord,
whose will is done by these God's servants:
wringer, pulley, drum.


-by Anya Silver in America, Vol. 198, No. 14, April 28, 2008

Anya Silver has published poetry in Image, Christian Century, Crab Orchard Review, Cream City Review, and Southern Poetry Review. A chapbook, Saints of Autumn, was published by Redbone Chapbooks. She teaches in the English Department at Mercer University in Macon, GA, where she lives with her husband and son. She is a survivor of inflammatory breast cancer.

Hello? Is anybody there?

How should I pray?

What should I say to God when I pray?

Should I hear God answer me when I pray?

How do I know if God hears my prayer?

These are common questions from those who want to pray or learn to pray. While there are no easy answers to these questions. Each one admits of many responses and wisdom rests in fidelity to the desire to pray... But here's a little gem I found in an email from the pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Church just across the street. His email "signature" always includes a quote worth pondering, like this one:

Poet Scott Cairns recounts a Dan Rather interview with Mother Teresa in which he asked her what she says to God when she prays. "I don't say anything," she said. "I just listen." Rather then asked what God says to her. "He doesn't say anything," she responded. "He just listens."



-ConcordPastor

Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter

Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter
Acts 6:1-7
1 Peter 2:4-9
John 14:1-12

There are plenty of people around the world who disagree with the pope
and with the teachings of the Church he represents.
But last week, hundreds of thousands, even millions of people,
including many of his critics,
found their hearts touched by Benedict’s words and deeds.

How did this man gain access to peoples’ hearts?

True enough: as challenging as were some of his remarks,
his words were equally comforting and often consoling.
True enough: his deeds,
especially meeting with the victims of clergy sexual abuse,
were telling and compelling.
But something else was at work in his visit,
something more subtle than any of his words and deeds.
Most people recognized in Benedict,
a man who truly loves in God;
who wants more than anything else to follow Jesus;
a man who trusts God’s Spirit to guide him.
Or, to put it in the words of Peter which we heard in the second reading:
in Benedict, people found a man who is:
“ready to give an explanation to any who ask,
to give a reason for his hope
and to do so with gentleness and reverence.”

It’s this in Benedict that people of all faiths - and people of no faith –
intuit, recognize, appreciate and warm to:
even many, though certainly not all,
who have strong disagreements with him and the Church.
He didn't settle all our disputes; he didn't answer all our questions;
he didn't fulfill all our wishes.
He did share his faith and the reason for his hope.

Benedict not only has hope;
he knows his hope, personally, because his hope is Jesus.
And this pope came among us last week to share his hope
with gentleness and with reverence for us in our struggles.

When the pope landed at Andrews Air Force Base
he landed with a lot of baggage:
the baggage of 2,00 years of Christian faith
and trunk loads of a heritage passed down to us
by our Jewish ancestors in the faith.
He stepped off the plane as a living icon
of all that has been true and grace-filled in our Catholic history
and he walked down the stairs to the tarmac as a living dart board,
a target for all the anger and hurt and questions
that burden the hearts of God’s people.
An icon is an image for prayer and devotion;
a target offers a bull’s eye for marksmanship.
Benedict is both – and he knows it. And we know it, too.
Still, he walked among us as a man of hope, hope in Jesus.
He doesn’t put his hope in church history, or in church teaching,
or in the office of the papacy.
The only explanation for his hope is in the Word of God,
given to us in Jesus.
I believe what helped so many warm to Benedict’s presence
was his reminding us gently, with reverence, over and over again,
of our need for a relationship with God,
for the peace God offers us in Jesus,
and for trust in God's Spirit in our lives.
Benedict reminded us that faith in Jesus is our greatest hope.

And I believe we wanted to be reminded of that.

We so easily put our hope in passing things
and there is often precious little in our culture
to lead us to put our hope in Jesus.
But we know, deep in our hearts,
that faith in God is the only reason for our hope
and that trust in Jesus is the greatest hope
that we can hope to have.

For that reason, we gather at this altar to celebrate our faith in Christ
who loves us gently, with reverence for our struggles,
for in the bread and cup of this table we find the reason for our hope
in the body and blood of Jesus… Jesus… Jesus…

ØIn the morning when I rise… give me Jesus!
Give me Jesus, give me Jesus,
you may have all this world, give me Jesus!

ØIn my troubles ‘long the way… give me Jesus!
Give me Jesus, give me Jesus,
you may have all this world, give me Jesus!

ØOh, and when my days are done… give me Jesus!
Give me Jesus, give me Jesus,
you may have all this world, give me Jesus!

(I ended my homily by singing Give Me Jesus, inviting the assembly to
join in on the chorus. The verses I sang differ from those in the video above;
the singer/guitarist is Justin Adams.)


-ConcordPastor

Word for the Week of April 27

I've chosen just one verse from Sunday's second lesson from 1 Peter. It's a verse that prompts many questions for our prayer and consideration...

What is hope?

Do I have hope? Does my world have hope?
In what, in whom do I place my hope?

Is Christ my hope? If my hope is in Jesus - what does that mean?
Do I continue to trust in Jesus even when my dreams are dashed?
Does my hope extend beyond this life?

Who has helped me to hope when I had no hope?
Whom have I helped to hope?

Have I ever shared my hope in Christ with someone else?
How would I speak about my hope in Jesus if I were to share that with someone, gently and with reverence?

-ConcordPastor

Pulpit Control!

Image by Dave Walker

Kate Connolly of The Guardian reports on the problem of plagiarising preachers in Poland. In particular, Polish Pastors are poaching homilies off the Internet.

In the US, and I'm sure around the world, there are many "homily services" to which a preacher can subscribe. Some of these services provide whole homilies and others a collection of ideas and illustrations on which a preacher can build. (For the record: I am not a subscriber or reader of such materials.)

As a blogger, I receive reports on my blog's cyber traffic. Although such reports never reveal the identity of who is visiting my site, I can find out other things about my readers. For instance, I receive a report on what other Internet sites referred readers to my blog. A good number of these come from Google searches and the report tells me what a particular reader Googled that resulted in landing at ConcordPastor's blog. From Wednesday through Saturday every week I note a number of readers who visit after having Googled phrases such as homily sixth Sunday Easter. I never post my homily until after I have preached it over the weekend schedule but my posts urging you to preview the Sunday scriptures always include such words as "sixth Sunday Easter" and so homily-hunters land on this blog.

Another flock of like referrals comes on Sunday and Monday but my guess is that these are folks who are looking to see how the scriptures were homiletically addressed in homilies other than the one they heard in their home parish.

While agreeing that a preacher owes the parish a basically original effort, methinks that the possibility of incarceration means the Polish Preaching Police may be going a bit too far!

(BTW: there's an error in Connolly's column. A homilist is not necessarily an "expert in the art of religious discourse." A homilist is anyone who delivers a homily.)

Poland's 28,000 Roman Catholic priests have been told by church authorities that they may be fined if they are discovered to have plagiarised their sermons from the internet, and could even face up to three years in prison.

The church has published a self-help book on writing sermons to lure parish priests away from the growing habit of stealing the words of their fellow clergy.

Father Wieslaw Przyczyna, the co-author of To Plagiarise or not to Plagiarise, told Polish media that the guide had been written to address what had become an increasingly common problem, as more churches put their sermons online and an increasing numbers of priests used the internet.

Przyczyna, a sermon expert at Krakow's Pontifical Academy of Theology, added that the book's aim was to shame culprits and prompt them to confess what they had done.

"Unfortunately the practice has become more usual than not," he said. "But if a priest takes another priest's words and presents them as his own without saying where he got them from, this is unethical and against the rules of authorship."

Responses to the self-help guide suggest that the problem also exists in other parts of the world, particularly in Britain and America, where the practice has been dubbed "pastoral plagiarism".

...

Homilists - or experts in the art of religious discourse - argue that while it might be a popular view that no sermon is necessarily based on original thought, a priest should be encouraged to convey ideas in his own words to help foster better dialogue with his congregation.

...

The church authorities have said they will start to carry out systematic checks in an attempt to clamp down on the practice and will rely on sharp-eared parishioners to compare online texts with those in Biblioteka Kaznodziejska, a monthly magazine that publishes sermons which have been delivered from the pulpit in Poland. Church heads are also discussing the possibility of teaching trainee priests about the concept of intellectual property.

The main culprits are said not to be older priests, who often do not have access to the internet, but their more youthful counterparts.

Young priests turn to the web when they are less than proficient at public speaking, and particularly on a Saturday night when they are panicking about having nothing to say at mass the following morning, said Przyczyna.

...

-ConcordPastor

The most important thing he did...

Jesuit priest James Martin of America magazine and author of fine book, My Life with the Saints, was a recent guest on Steven Colbert's program, The Colbert Report. Now, as you watch the video and before you get down on Colbert, know that he's an active Catholic by faith and a comedian by profession. And he holds Fr. Martin in high regard. But he's still a comedian!

I draw your attention to this because of one sentence Martin speaks towards the end of the clip above. Speaking of the pope's meeting with the sexual abuse victims he says, "Ironically, the most important thing he did while he was here was the least public. If he had done only that, it would have been enough."

Those are telling words and I'll bet many readers might agree with them.

What strikes me in that quote is that some of the most important things the Church and its ministers do are the least public. Since the revelations of abuse in January 2002, the public life of the Church has been the object of much-deserved anger, disappointment and mistrust. And yet, over these past six years, the Church has continued both its public and its hidden mission to millions of people around the world, across this nation and even here in Boston, the infamous epicenter of the crisis. In spite of everything, the Catholic Church has continued to serve as the second largest provider of social services in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts - second only to the state itself. And it has continued to do that with far less financial support than in previous years. In every city and town, under the crippling dark cloud of the abuse crisis, parishes have continued to serve the needs of Catholic parishioners and the needs of so many who come to the Catholic faith community and its ministries for help.

The headlines reporting the Church's failures can easily obscure the good that continues to be done quietly, in and outside the public 's eye. This past week, the papal visit beautifully attended to both the public and the private. Benedict's words and deeds were witnessed by millions the world 'round but the most important words and the most important encounter took place behind the closed doors of a chapel where a remorseful shepherd tended to his wounded flock.

Ironically,
the most important thing he did
was the least public.
If he had done only that,
it would have been enough.

-ConcordPastor

Whence your hope?

From this week's first scripture...

Have you done your scripture homework? Remember: it's due, at the latest, by the time you arrive for Mass this weekend.

You can find the scriptures and background materials on this weekend's text at the St. Louis University liturgy site.

Got kids? Then you'll want to go here for some help with preparing them for Mass this weekend.

The "theme" for the papal visit was Christ Our Hope and that's just where this Sunday's first lesson leads us.

Don't let "spring fever" keep you from taking a look at the Lord's Word before you come to prayer this weekend.

-ConcordPastor

Going a New Way...

If you don't understand the illustration above: ask your grandparents!

As I noted in an earlier post, three members of my Parish Pastoral Council were in Florida this week for a national summit conference sponsored by the Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership Project. Catholic News Service reports on the summit (complete story here) and includes some daunting statistics (emphasis by ConcordPastor):

New models of pastoral leadership will be required for a U.S. church that has changed significantly from a generation ago and will continue to change.

The changes include an increase in the number of Catholics, a more-educated laity, a decrease in the number of priests and vowed religious, an increase in permanent deacons and professional lay ecclesial ministers, and growing cultural diversity in the church.

Those changes were identified in a four-year study conducted in response to ongoing shifts in the Catholic Church. The study, commissioned in 2002 by a coalition of six Catholic national organizations, received a $2 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to conduct the study and to assess its findings.

Marti R. Jewell, project director of the Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership Project, addressed the major findings of the study April 21, the first full day of a national summit in Orlando to review and build upon the findings. An attentive audience of nearly 1,200 participants representing all six groups listened, eager to hear the results.

"For those of you who like to flip to the last page of a book, and read the end of a story right away, I'll tell you what the research concluded," Jewell began. "Parish life as we have known it has changed."

With about 28,000 diocesan priests, 70 percent of whom are older than 55, the United States is moving toward clusters of parishes under the care of a single pastor, she said. Indeed, nearly half of all U.S. parishes already share their pastor with another parish or mission.

Alan Whitson, a deacon in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, was surprised to learn how many pastors are assigned to dual parishes. "The realization that nationally we're losing priests underscores the need for the laity to step up and live the baptismal call to discipleship," he said. "It is a challenge to all the baptized."

...

Maggie McCarty, president of Education for Parish Service, a lay education program in Washington, wasn't surprised by the study's conclusion that parishes need to be made more welcoming, and not just with greeters and handshakes.

She said a mega-Christian church moved next door to her parish, drawing some members of her congregation.

"Some of our parishioners have gone over and remarked on the sense of welcome they feel as they walk in the door" of the mega-church, said McCarty. "They long to feel the same as they walk into our church."

...

The participating groups were the National Association for Lay Ministry, the Conference for Pastoral Planning and Council Development, the National Association of Church Personnel Administrators, the National Association of Diaconate Directors, the National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association and the National Federation of Priests' Councils.

-by Debra Tomaselli, Catholic News Service

-ConcordPastor

Other survivors, moved by presence and prayer...

Photo by Todd Heisler: The New York Times
(Click on image for larger version of this scene at Ground Zero)

"ned," a faithful reader and frequent commenter, has sent me the picture above and the following words which I'm very pleased to pass on to all of you:

I wanted to share this picture from the pope's visit with some other "survivors".... those who survived 9-11... The woman in the center of the survivors (black suit, red scarf) is a friend I met through a class we are both taking.

When I saw her this week, she spoke poignantly about how this opportunity to pray with the pope at Ground Zero, to have him firmly grasp her hand and address her individually, provided the peace, the ability to finally begin to move forward and the closure that has eluded her all these years.

She also shared with me that while the families of victims have been invited to Ground Zero on a few occasions, this was the first time that survivors had ever been invited. It was clearly a powerful and healing experience for her.

While I personally held little hope for this papal visit it has changed me and left me bathed in hope.

-ned

Spring has sprung in Boston!

Photo by David L. Ryan: The Boston Globe (Click on image for MORE springtime!)

When the Swan Boats are a-paddlin' in the Public Gardens and the flowering trees are in bloom, you can breathe a sigh of relief and know that spring has not passed us by...

Here's an E.E. Cumming's poem, just right for spring...

Xaipe 65

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings;and of the gay
great happening ilimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any - lifted from the no
of all nothing - human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
Right now might be a good time to click on the sidebar for one of those songs for spring time...

-ConcordPastor

More on The Meeting...

Thanks to Rocco for bringing our attention to this remarkable report from Patricia Rice whose complete article can be found at the St. Louis Platform.

Olan Horne, 48, a survivor of clerical sex abuse, believes that Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United States marks a turning point in the way victims of sexual abuse are treated in the Catholic Church. "I saw it in his face, heard his voice. He understands," said Horne, one of six survivors who met Thursday with the pope. He spoke with the St. Louis Beacon from his Massachusetts university food service office.
...

"Benedict told the bishops to meet with survivors as he had; this pope gets it," said Horne. "I like to say that I'm from Missouri and you are going to have to Show Me. Benedict showed me."

...

"I never gave up, I always had hope. I didn't have much faith, but I always had hope," said Horne who has not attended Mass in years and baptized his children but never took them to church or allowed them to make their First Communion.

Bernie McDaid, 52, another Boston survivor who is a painting contractor in Boston, tried to tell his story to Pope John Paul II in 2003. He traveled to Rome but saw only Vatican officials, he told the Beacon from a Boston construction site. This time was different.

About two weeks before the papal visit, Horne and McDaid were invited to meet the pope privately with other survivors in Washington, D.C., at the residence of Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Vatican's diplomat to the U.S.

The six survivors of childhood sex abuse who accepted the invitation also were invited to the papal Mass at the new Nationals stadium before the gathering. Afterward they were whisked in a van under police escort to the meeting. Those who didn't know the other victims were introduced only by first name.

The pope entered the residence's small 25-by-15 foot chapel and immediately knelt in silent prayer. Then he spoke to the survivors for what Horne recalled was about 20 minutes. Then, each of the six had a private face-to-face visit with the pope.

A woman on the Boston archdiocesan victims' assistance staff handed the pope a book with 1,600 first names written on its pages. Cardinal Sean O'Malley explained to the pope that the list was of all victims of clerical sexual abuse in the Boston archdiocese who had asked its bishops for pastoral care. Pages were left blank to symbolize those victims who had never voiced their tragic complaints, O'Malley explained.

"The pope was shocked at the number," Horne said. "You could see the sincerity of the shock on his face. Benedict had never known that there was that many in Boston. He was stunned. So was the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Pietro Sambi. That was a moment. They do have a tough role."

O'Malley asked the pope to pray for the victims listed in the book, and the pope promised to do so.

...

The pope spoke for about 20 minutes, asking forgiveness and speaking of his personal shame over the depraved priests who crushed the innocence of children, Horne and McDaid said.

The most dramatic moment of the gathering came when the only woman victim's turn came for her private time with Benedict, Horne said. With all the others' heads turned to give her privacy, she stood facing the standing pope. She wept as words escaped her.

"Her sounds were filled with sorrow, like an aria," said Horne. "So sorrowful, yet the sweetest sound, as if it were being exhaled. There was complete reverence around the room. No one interrupted. No one said anything like 'it's going to be all right.' Her sobs floated around the room, settled around all of us in the room. Then it was expelled. You saw the pain in Benedict's face."

Tears came to many eyes in the room, Horne said.

Horne surprised himself at what he said to the pope after years of calling for meetings between popes and survivors.

Since he became an adult, he has rarely gone to Mass. A couple of hours before the visit, Horne went with his college-age daughter to the Papal Mass at Nationals Stadium.

"At that Mass, I realized that I hadn't given my daughter faith, but I could give my daughter something," he said. "I could show her never to give up. There was the head of the whole Catholic Church. And in an hour he was prepared to meet with me and other survivors. I had never given up hope that things might change. Given up faith sometimes, but never given up hope."

Ten minutes before the pope arrived, Horne asked a priest to hear his sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, popularly called confession. Catholics believe that in this sacrament Jesus directly provides the grace of healing and forgiveness.

When Horne faced the pope, he found himself telling the pope about his spontaneous preparation.

"I told him that I had not gone to confession in 35 years, but I went 10 minutes before I met him to ask forgiveness because I had hated him for years, I hated the church, I hated my God. I told him I wanted forgiveness so that I could be in the same place that he was when I met him. So I could have an open heart."

Pain fractured the pope's face like a man standing before a jury, Horne said but as he finished Benedict smiled and grabbed Horne's hand.

Horne asked the pope to work to protect all children. "For a long time I have said that the church can show the world how to deal with this, how to protect children from abuse. The pope, the head of the whole church, has spoken out."

...

"I think the pope is ready to lead on this issue; I have been saying that for years," Horne said.

McDaid rehearsed for days about what he might say to the pope. Then, he put most ideas aside and simply said that as an altar boy of 11, a priest had sexually abused him in the sacristy of his parish church.

"In the place where I prayed I was sexually abused," he said. The abuse was not just of his body but of his spirit because it came from someone the boy saw as a spiritual authority. McDaid told the pope that, at that moment, he lost his belief system and his respect for all authority, including his parents. For years he fought depression, addictions as well as his parents' wishes.

"The pope looked very sad, he looked me eye to eye, looked down at the floor, looked at me and held my hand, didn't let it go," McDaid said. "I saw his body language, his eyes, heard the sadness in his German (accented) English. I didn't have to say, did you get it?"

McDaid feels a sense of accomplishment that Benedict has listened to their stories. McDaid only regrets that such a meeting had not happened years earlier. Instead of opposing each other, bishops, lay Catholics, priests and victims must now begin to work together, McDaid said.

"We have to work collectively to help those who have been abused and to protect children from this treacherous abuse that steals your spirituality."

...

Patricia Rice of St. Louis is a freelance writer who has written widely on religion.

Art in the Reign of Philip III - and on blogs!

One of the elements of blogging that I enjoy the most is searching for illustrations for my posts. (This sometimes consumes more time than did writing the post!)

In the course of this work I've been fortunate enough to learn a little bit about art and artists and even to develop some favorites. There's an exhibition currently at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston featuring the work of an artist I've used here on my blog: El Greco.

I'm looking forward to getting away some afternoon by myself to see the exhibition. As vivid as are the reproductions here and as amazing as it is to have such art as a resource, I'm looking forward to seeing some of the work of this master in its original, not virtual, form.

-ConcordPastor

Word for the Weekend

This is for real!

It's the sign in front of the First Baptist Church in Hyannis Center. It's been there since yesterday so I don't think it's a case of someone playing with the letters and moving them around.

This is either a church with a lot of problems or a pastor given to public confession of his faults - or both!

Wish I could be there on Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. to see and hear what happens!

And speaking of Sunday morning... it's time to look at the Word for the Sixth Sunday of Easter. You can find the scriptures and background materials on this weekend's text at the St. Louis University liturgy site.

Got kids? Then you'll want to go here for some help with preparing them for Mass this weekend.

One of the best ways to prepare for Mass is to read and pray with the scriptures ahead of time!

-ConcordPastor

Reflecting on the Papal Vist - 15

High above the "Altar of the Chair" is Bernini's artistic conceptualization of the Chair of St. Peter in St. Peter's in Rome.

On a radio talk show last week I heard a caller say of the pope: "He thinks he's God - and he's not!"

While not trying to read Benedict's mind, I'm confident that he doesn't think he's God. Nor does he think he's Jesus. What our Church does teach is that he's the Vicar of Christ. I wrote about this in an earlier post:

Catholics understand the pope to be Christ's Vicar on earth. From the Latin vicarius, vicar means "one who acts in the person of." The pope's ministry is to act and speak in the person of Christ among us. That is also the bishop's ministry in the diocese and the pastor's ministry in the parish. By virtue of our baptism, each of us is missioned to act and speak in the person of Christ in our daily lives. But the pope deserves a capital V on his title - not because of who he is personally but because of the office that is his. Thus, his words and deeds have a special claim on our attention as Catholic Christians.

What is this "office" that Benedict holds that puts such a serious claim on our attention?

While the pope does not believe he's God or Jesus, he does believe, as the Church teaches, that he is Peter among us, the people of God. The pope's ministry is often called the Petrine ministry since he is first among equals in the college of bishops as Peter was first among equals in the circle of apostles gathered around Christ. (After Christ's name, the name Peter is the one most frequently mentioned in the Christian scriptures.)

It will remain only a curiosity for many, but in the ecclesiology of Catholicism, the bishop of Rome is the successor not of Jesus but of Peter. In this way, it was Peter who came to visit the Church in America last week.

While I'm familiar with all of this, I'm trying to think it through again as I ponder the impact of Benedict's visit. Who was this 81-year-old man in strange costume, from mitered head to red-toed shoes, who won the hearts of Americans both in and outside the ranks of Catholics? Although it waited until Benedict was back in Rome for nearly two days, even The Boston Globe editorialized (4/22/08) positively about the papal visit. Morrissey Boulevard opines that the pope:

...connected with Americans of many faiths through his simple preaching and pastoral work. Whether addressing diplomats at the United Nations or praying with victims of clergy sexual abuse in a Washington chapel, he took exquisite care to uphold the dignity of every person... it was Benedict who advanced healing in shaken parishes from coast to coast by expressing the church's deep shame and contrition... It's not every visitor who stays less than a week and leaves his hosts thinking about a kingdom of justice and peace.

Benedict's preaching was simple or, as I described it, eminently accessible. And the pastoral work accomplished through his words, presence, encounters and gestures was capped by his prayerful, positive and appreciative tone, even when about the business of critiquing and challenging us and our culture.

As accessible as his speeches were, they managed to communicate volumes more than their relative brevity might suggest. In fact, his talks and homilies provided a series of pastoral plans for the Church's ministry in America nationally and parochially. As poignant and personal as his encounter with the abuse victims was, there was something about it that was larger than life. It was so much more than a man, even a very important man, meeting with five of his flock. Who was this man? What makes his words and deeds so powerful? There is a dynamic here that exponentially raises simple moments to the level of critically important events and there is the intuition of millions of people that there is in this man something more than the man himself. Although only people of faith, perhaps only people of the Catholic faith might name it as such, the energy here is not simply that of Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger, but rather the energy of Peter, of the office of Peter, of that long line of ministers called pontifex maximus and servus servorum Dei: greatest bridge-builder and servant of the servants of God.

It's not just the man, or his vestments, or the cadre of cardinals trailing him everywhere he goes. It's the understanding that somehow this man connects us (builds a bridge) across some 2,000 years of history back to Peter: the man upon whom Christ promised to build his church; the man who thrice denied the Lord in Jesus' hours of greatest need; the man commissioned by Christ to "feed my lambs, feed my sheep." It was precisely the pope's coming among us as one who desiring to build bridges and to serve the servants of God that won our hearts over - not to him- but to something greater, larger, deeper than him.

You see, that's the thing here! What we experienced last week was greater, far greater than the sum of its parts. In Catholic theology we call that a symbol. A symbol is a word-event that gathers together in itself and shares of itself more than the word and event could possibly hold within itself. In that sense, the papal visit was sacramental: an outward sign, a gift of Christ, through which God's people received grace and blessing.

If The Boston Globe can, if only for a day, lay aside its animus towards the Church and acknowledge a gift of grace when it pours forth in a message upholding the dignity of every person in a kingdom of justice and peace, can anything less be expected of us Catholics?

-ConcordPastor

(Post on Pope as Peter)

A brassy welcome to Spring!

Just added to the top of the sidebar is a triumphant musical welcome to spring from the first movement (Andante un poco maestoso – Allegro molto vivace) of Schumann's Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, op. 38.

Question: why are pansies used as an image of weakness when, indeed, these hardy blossoms are among the first to brave early spring chills and seem to survive just about everything? We placed pots of pansies on our windowsills in church for Easter and I worried that they wouldn't last long being situated over the radiators and right next to the windows. They're still there!

-ConcordPastor

Parish life and leadership...

Last week's papal visit included flourishes of hierarchical pomp and circumstance with cardinals, bishops, priests and deacons all over the place! The casual observer might have been led to think that there are plenty of ordained Catholic clergy ministering in the Church. We know, of course, that such is not the case and that the number of ordained ministers is shrinking quickly. While prayer and work for vocations is a serious responsibility for all of us, we have other calls to answer and they cannot be put off.

This post offers just a slice of the work the Church in America faces.

This week three members of my Parish Pastoral Council are participating in a conference in Orlando organized by the Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership Project. Check here for a summary of the Project's mission and goals.

It becomes increasingly apparent to me that the remainder of my active ministry will need to be dedicated in great measures to working towards structures of parish life and ministry supported largely by lay leadership. In a nearby town the retirement of the pastor of one of two Catholic parishes will soon lead to the other priest being named pastor of both faith communities. Before my own retirement, a decade away, it's more than possible that I would find myself in a like situation.

While the appropriateness of lay parish leadership is not born of the dwindling number of priests, it is precisely that situation that brings us to the strategic brink where ownership of parish ministry by the laity will become the reality or else the parish structure will cease to exist.

Our parish staff, councils, commissions and ministries have begun a serious effort at looking towards the parish of 2018 and preparing for it. A Pastoral Planning Study commissioned by the Archdiocese of Boston (see sidebar for link), start sacramental statistics for the archdiocese and the recent Pew Forum Survey on the Landscape of religious life in the US are some of the resources from which we are working.

Since the readership here is far broader than the Boston area, perhaps others with more experience might share some experiences and thoughts on these issues.

-ConcordPastor

More music for the season...

Photo by Paul at CapeTownDailyPhoto
(Be sure to click on image for a larger version of this beautiful breaking morning!)

I've posted another audio at the top of the sidebar: Morning Has Broken, by Judy Collins. A great song for prayer as the spring time breaks upon us - I hope you enjoy it!

If you have any thoughts or suggestions about my posting music here, please leave a note in the combox.

-ConcordPastor

Spring!

Jonquils by Georgia O'Keefe

Spring is having a hard time making its way into my neighborhood -- but a few warm days are predicted and I'm looking for jonquils everywhere I go!

When spring truly arrives here, I'll share with you the lyrics of a little spring song I wrote years ago and which a friend recently brought to mind and heart...

Until then, you'll have to be satisfied with the work of another priest, Antonio Vivaldi's Le Quattro Stagioni: Concerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8 -- or, as most of us know it, "Spring, from The Four Seasons." Check the top of the side bar and click on the arrow for some sounds of spring.

And here's the poetry on which this piece is based. Listen and read and see if you can imagine the musical picture Vivaldi was painting for us...

Allegro
Springtime is upon us.
The birds celebrate her return with festive song,
and murmuring streams are softly caressed by the breezes.
Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring, roar,
casting their dark mantle over heaven,
Then they die away to silence,
and the birds take up their charming songs once more.

Largo
On the flower-strewn meadow,
with leafy branches rustling overhead,
the goat-herd sleeps, his faithful dog beside him.

Allegro
Led by the festive sound of rustic bagpipes,
nymphs and shepherds lightly dance
beneath the brilliant canopy of spring.

Perspectives on Abuse and the Church's Response...

There are a variety of perspectives on the papal visit and perhaps no one event has elicited more response than the pope's time with the 5 survivors of clergy sexual abuse from Boston. I've already provided this link to an interview with three of those survivors (Olan Horne, Faith Johnston and Bernie McDaid) in which they discuss their own histories and their meeting with the pope. Here's a link to Jim Braude's interview of abuse survivor and author Gary Bergeron and Anne Barret Doyle of BishopAccountability.

-ConcordPastor

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye ...

Photo by Damon Winter/The New York Times

The complete texts of all the pope's talks and homilies are available at the special USCCB Papal Visit site. You'll also find links there to video of all the events during the visit. Video is also available at Boston's CatholicTV.

As you probably know, there is a fair amount of difference of opinion regarding the value and import of the pope's visit, what he said and did here - and what he didn't say and do, as well. I've tried to provide here an ongoing look at what the pope's visit might mean for Catholics from a pastor's point of view. I've given you excerpts from texts, links to the full texts and some personal comment on what has transpired.

I urge you to read some if not all of the full texts of Benedict's messages. I trust you will agree that those who judge the papal visit based on sound bytes, film clips and talk-show comments are not giving a fair hearing to what has transpired since last Tuesday. So many people, mostly-but-not-all Catholic people, have developed a respect and affection for this man over the past week.

About a week ago I invited you to pray that Benedict would open his mind and heart to the American people and that we would open ours to him. I believe that prayer has been answered and for that I give thanks to God. Now I pray that the good work begun in this papal visit will be brought to a fruitful harvest...

-ConcordPastor

Reflecting on the Papal Visit - 14

Benedict XVI greets the crowd at Mass at Yankee Stadium.
Image by: Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

The pope's message today at Yankee Stadium in NY is as masterful a piece of weaving the scriptures into a homily as you will find. Once again, I direct you to Rocco's place for the complete text.

One paragraph particular stands out as I read Benedict's homily because it so clearly addresses us on the parish level as we deal with the disappointments and tensions of parish closings and mergers in dioceses around the country, including the Archdiocese of Boston:

Today's first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, speaks of linguistic and cultural tensions already present within the earliest Church community. At the same time, it shows the power of the word of God, authoritatively proclaimed by the Apostles and received in faith, to create a unity which transcends the divisions arising from human limitations and weakness. Here we are reminded of a fundamental truth: that the Church's unity has no other basis than the Word of God, made flesh in Christ Jesus our Lord. All external signs of identity, all structures, associations and programs, valuable or even essential as they may be, ultimately exist only to support and foster the deeper unity which, in Christ, is God's indefectible gift to his Church.

We all have a long way to go in understanding and accepting this message but it contains an undeniable truth. The future of the Church in America will, no doubt, witness more change in our "external signs of identity" and we will need to continue to learn that our unity is rooted not in these but in the Word of God, made flesh in Christ Jesus our Lord.

-ConcordPastor

Reflecting on the Papal Visit - 13

Benedict XVI prays at Ground Zero: image by Telegraph.co.uk
(Click on image for larger version)

Prayer of Benedict XVI at Ground Zero, April 20, 2008

O God of love, compassion, and healing,
look on us,
people of many different faiths and traditions,
who gather today at this site,
the scene of incredible violence and pain.

We ask you in your goodness
to give eternal light and peace
to all who died here—
the heroic first-responders:
our fire fighters, police officers,
emergency service workers,
and Port Authority personnel,
along with all the innocent men and women
who were victims of this tragedy
simply because their work or service
brought them here on September 11, 2001.

We ask you, in your compassion
to bring healing to those
who, because of their presence here that day,
suffer from injuries and illness.

Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families
and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy.
Give them strength to continue their lives
with courage and hope.

We are mindful as well
of those who suffered death, injury, and loss
on the same day at the Pentagon
and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Our hearts are one with theirs
as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering.

God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:
peace in the hearts of all men and women
and peace among the nations of the earth.
Turn to your way of love
those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred.

God of understanding,
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,
we seek your light and guidance
as we confront such terrible events.

Grant that those whose lives were spared
may live so that the lives lost here
may not have been lost in vain.

Comfort and console us,
strengthen us in hope,
and give us the wisdom and courage
to work tirelessly for a world
where true peace and love reign
among nations and in the hearts of all.