         
Pastor's Desk Archive             
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Pastor's Desk Archive (August 2009)Race In America (8/2/2009) Race In America (8/2/2009)We have recently had to endure days on end of media coverage of the incident in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Now that the “beer summit” at the White House is past us, we all can move on to the next tempest in a teapot. But first I have some observations to make which may or may not interest you. If the police are responding to a report of a possible break in or burglary at my house, I would hope to be grateful and cooperative. But after they look around to make sure everything is OK, and after showing the officer my driver’s license as proof that I am, in fact, the person who lives here, I would expect that they would leave. Unless, of course, I began to demonstrate an “attitude”. Having grown up with a police officer and after certain other encounters with “the law” over the years, I have learned that if there’s one thing policemen like least, its “attitude”. From all the facts I have been able to glean about the Cambridge incident, the Harvard professor chose to treat the police call as a racial issue. In retrospect, maybe the officer should have turned a deaf ear to what he heard as abusive name calling and left the scene. But after warning Dr. Gates that he was, in effect, disturbing the peace he made the decision to arrest him. He did this in the presence of a black police officer who had also responded to the call. That officer has stated unequivocally that what officer Crowley had done was a legitimate response to the loud and abusive language of the professor from Harvard. Another black (female) officer who knew the facts and Officer Crowley, also stated in an interview that she fully supported his action. Of course, we would have known nothing of this incident had it not been for President Obama’s remark at a televised press conference in which he said the Cambridge police had acted “stupidly”. While in retrospect he seems to have regretted his choice of words, the genie was out of the bottle and a media frenzy was unleashed. I am not naïve enough to believe that discrimination (including inappropriate racial profiling) has disappeared in America. But I have lived long enough to have seen a sea change in the way that people of every race get along. It’s hard to discriminate against a “group” when you have friends and many acquaintances that happen to belong to that group. People are people, and we all have assets and shortcomings. But when it comes to race, it seems to me there’s only one that counts to God: The human race. May God help us all! Health Care Reform (8/9/2009)The debate has really heated up in recent weeks as the White House and Congress have pressed for “health care reform”. The problem is that a great many people are using that term to describe some very different goals. Some speak about “Universal Health Care” and others of a “public option”. Still others state their hope for a “single payer” solution. A lot of people are confused and many are angry. Maybe we should step back from reacting to fear and confusion long enough to sort some things out. First of all, it is a fact that the costs associated with the present health care system have been spiraling upwards for years. It is arguably the best system in the world, but its rising costs are unsustainable in the long run. Anyone who has incurred medical expenses knows what I’m talking about. I’ve had my share over the last eighteen months and I can hardly believe how much things cost. $1800 for a ten mile ambulance ride to the hospital. $1300 for an emergency room medication. Health care premiums have been on the rise and many employers are straining to maintain benefits. So the question arises: Is the finest health care in the world something that everyone is entitled to or just some? We should keep in mind that almost no one could afford the medications, treatments, and hospitalizations if we had to pay for them out of pocket. Doing nothing is not likely to help the situation. What about the uninsured? First of all, their numbers appear to be greatly exaggerated and leave out the fact that some people who could afford insurance have—for the time being at least—decided against having it. Then there are the unemployed and the genuinely poor and disabled. In critical matters, considerable—but limited—care is available through emergency rooms. But there’s no cancer treatments at ER’s, nor can you get heart surgery or angioplasty there. Is there an affordable way to get more people covered by insurance without ending up with a single payer system like those in Canada and England? Can it be done in a way that addressed the spiraling costs of health care? It would be wonderful if we could trust our President and elected representatives in Congress to take the time to study these issues thoroughly to come up with solutions that would be acceptable to most Americans. Alas, they all seem to be part of the problem. I suggest we all pray for wisdom and clarity of thought in ourselves and in our leaders. And let’s be careful to avoid hysterical reactions to rumors. The Internet hosts a multitude of “sins”. "Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above" (8/16/2009)About ten years ago, the United States Catholic Bishops ruled that when the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (and some other Holy Days) falls on a Saturday or Monday, the faithful are not obligated to attend Mass. Here at St. Andrew’s, the 5pm Mass on the 15th was celebrated in honor of Our Lady of the Assumption. This feast is, as a matter of fact, the oldest of all the feasts that honor Mary. In the Eastern Orthodox Churches it is known as The Dormition of Mary. This points to the long held belief that at the end of her earthly life, Mary didn’t die but fell asleep while her body—which had borne the Savior of the world—was taken up into heaven. While this is a most unusual and unique occurrence, it is certainly no more difficult a feat for God Who raised Jesus from the dead on the third day. Non-Catholics like to ask where in the scriptures they can find proof for the Assumption of Mary. They suppose that everything we believe as Christians needs to have been written down on the pages of the New Testament. The truth is that there is also an Oral Tradition through which some important beliefs were handed down from one generation to the next. The Assumption is one of them. But it is a belief that is supported by reason. In believing that Mary was conceived without sin so that she could provide a perfect human nature for God’s Son, we are setting the stage for belief in her Assumption. For if the wages of sin is death and Mary is without sin, then she is not required to undergo death and can enter heaven without delay. Belief in this doctrine also reminds us that by definition a human person has a body and soul. Our destiny, then, is to one day live forever with God with both body and soul so that where Jesus is we may also be. It is nothing less than a lovely belief that Mother and Son are already united at the right hand of the Father. Hail, Holy Queen, enthroned above. O Maria. Hail, mother of mercy and of love, O Maria. Triumph all ye cherubim, Sing with us ye seraphim. Heaven and earth resound the hymn. Ave, Ave, Ave Maria! Looking Back, Looking Ahead (8/23/2009)On the night I was ordained, a priest who had been ordained fifty years knelt down in front of me and asked me for my first priestly blessing. In that very humbling moment, I remember thinking that I would have to live to be 82 in order to celebrate 50 years as a priest. At 31 that seemed like a long, long time away. So here I am 36 years closer to that goal. I am very grateful today that over the course of those years, I have learned to live only one day at a time. By focusing on what is before me today, I am freed up from living in both the past and the future. Because of my experience with working the Twelve Steps I have come not to regret the past but rather to appreciate its many mistakes and failures as learning opportunities. I’ve also learned what Jesus meant when he told his disciples not to worry about tomorrow since today has sufficient problems of its own. This doesn’t mean, however, that I can’t make prudent plans or have dreams about what may come. I’m looking forward right now to my upcoming vacation in Boston. It will be great to spend a couple of weeks with my brother and sister-in-law, Michael and Janet, at their home overlooking Boston Harbor. I’ll also be visiting my many other family members all of whom live in Greater Boston. That will include a visit to my Aunt Josephine who only recently lost her husband, my Uncle Frank, after 59 years of marriage. And I’ll also visit with Uncle Walter who at 82 is now the sole surviving sibling of my late father. How vividly I recall those times long past when my grandparents, parents, many aunts and uncles, and a host of cousins were all to be enjoyed at family gatherings. I dream of seeing them again when the Lord calls me home. I’m especially grateful today for all the people I have known and served over these past 36 years. Their love and prayers have sustained me through good times and bad, through sickness and health. I will never be sufficiently grateful for all the blessings which God has chosen to bestow on me. I’m grateful for all of you. Thank you for your many prayers and kindnesses. May God reward you! Thank You Very Much! (8/30/2009)I want to thank and commend Debbie Friedt and all the members of the Parish Life Team for doing such a wonderful job with my anniversary celebration last Sunday! I think this may have been the best anniversary I’ve had since the big shindig at the OU Ballroom for my 25th. As if their labor of love were not a sufficient present, the committee also presented me with a magnificent collage containing the kind wishes of a great many parishioners who took the time to write short notes. WOW! I also want to thank the hundreds of parishioners—men, women, and children—who brought enough food to the potluck for a true banquet! Thanks for honoring me with your attendance and for waiting patiently in the long line. Your loving presence was a fantastic gift! Thanks also to the many of you who went out of your way to send emails, cards, and gifts. Thank you cards are on their way. I hope I didn’t miss anyone, but if I did, please forgive my oversight. Roses are Red, |
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