Pastor's Desk Archive (September 2009)

Of Many Things (9/6/2009)
Journey of Faith (9/13/2009)
Civil Discourse...A Lost Art? (9/20/2009)
Renewing Our Sorrow For Our Sins At Mass (9/27/2009)

Of Many Things (9/6/2009)

I got a lot of rest and relaxation during my first week in Boston. I also got a lot of reading in and a lot of walking as well. On Sunday evening I found myself in the frenetic but joyful company of a houseful of kids at my niece’s home. It was Jackie Curleys seventh birthday and a bunch of his cousins and friends were on hand along with his three sisters. We “oldsters” could only look on with amazement at this whirlwind of energy. My two year old niece Catherine kept asking me over and over, “what’s your name?” I could tell she was trying to process the connection between my name and her brother’s. I just don’t know how parents of four energetic children maintain their sanity. But John and Kerry are truly wonderful parents and I have nothing but admiration for them.

I had lunch with my 83 year old “Uncle Walter” who is now the sole surviving Feehily of his generation after losing two of his siblings this year (my Aunt Emily and my Uncle Frank). When he got in the car I asked him how he was doing and he responded, “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be here.” I told him that neither do I. This past Friday I picked him up for a visit to my cousin Claire for the annual lobster and seafood feast which she always prepares while I’m home. Later on the same day I was slated to enjoy an evening with my brother Johnny and his wife, Patty.

By the time many of you will be reading this, a slew of my brothers and other family members will be gathering for a Labor Day weekend fiesta that Michael & Janet are holding in my honor. It should be a great occasion. All my brothers and their families will be there.

In case any of you heard that I was back home at St. Andrew’s briefly on Wednesday and Thursday, it’s true. I came home to celebrate the Mass of Christian Burial for Joanne Ballou. I have grown very close to her and Don during her 15 month battle with cancer and simply wanted to be here for them. Joanne faced her death with grace and dignity; and I felt honored to be one of those who accompanied her on her journey home to the Father. May she rest in peace.

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Journey of Faith (9/13/2009)

One reliable sign of a truly vital parish is its ability to attract adult converts. Who are these people and how do they become members of the church? Some of them are individuals who didn’t grow up with close ties to any particular faith community and may never have been baptized. More frequently, they were baptized and grew up as Baptists, Methodists, or one of the other Protestant denominations. A good number of them are, in fact, married to Catholics and may have been coming to Mass for quite some time. Some of them were even baptized as Catholics but received little or no further religious education. What they all have in common is a desire to explore and develop a relationship with God that may lead them to become faithful followers of Christ in the Catholic Church. Those who make that choice will experience the Rites by which adults are initiated as Christians or RCIA for short.

The road to and through those rites is aptly described as a Journey of Faith. Accompanying them on that Journey are Catholics who wish to grow in their own knowledge and practice of the faith so that they can be better examples and mentors (what sponsors actually do). Some parishioners come year after year and come to experience it as a form of service they have grown to love.

So, where do the potential converts come from? Well they don’t just drop down out of the sky, I can tell you that. They are invited to come by members of our parish family who realize they have an obligation to pass along the faith to others. Everyone knows people with little or no tie to any church community. And many parishioners are related to those we describe as fallen away Catholics who are also prime candidates for JOF.

Many Catholics are reluctant to share their faith by inviting the unchurched to JOF. They seem to think that this is someone else’s job—maybe the priest’s. But the truth is that All Catholics have an obligation to pass on the faith to others. They were given the power to do so when they were baptized. No one is offended to be invited to inquire about the faith of Catholics. YOU CAN DO IT. NOW IS THE TIME!

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Civil Discourse...A Lost Art? (9/20/2009)

A glance at the television or the newspaper, or tuning on a little talk radio reveals that there are lots of angry and confused people. Many folks seem to be steaming mad at officeholders whom they accuse of wasting vast sums of money while piling up an endless debt to leave to our children and grandchildren. Others are upset by the sky high unemployment rate and fear for their own jobs or the jobs of those they love. Still others just don’t know what to make about the constant drumbeat for “health care reform”, and the huge reaction against it. People are raising their voices and talking over each other rather than communicating in an effective manner. Yeesh!

The other night a Congressman from South Carolina may have allowed his passions to get the best of him when he shouted out “You lie” during the President’s address to the joint session. It didn’t take long for him to apologize nor for the President to graciously accept it. But Washington is a town famous for its “gotcha” politics. In due course, Mr. Wilson was reprimanded by his colleagues but mostly by members of the democrat party who came off, in my view, looking like a lynch mob.

Next it was Jimmy Carter’s turn (remember him?) to weigh in on the motives of those who criticize President Obama. He was certain that a lot of “white people” are angry because they just don’t think an “African American” has what it takes to be President. Didn’t we just have an election in which more white people voted for Mr. Obama than four years earlier for John Kerry—a white guy. The President’s margin of victory was not slim either in terms of the popular vote or the electoral college. It was a truly historic achievement. The problem is when it comes to politics even otherwise well educated people can say some pretty stupid things.

How about “Bush lied and people died”. Have we forgotten this and the other incredibly hateful remarks directed at Mr. Bush. The truth is that nobody (at least nobody that counted) directed critical remarks at the last president because he was white. And nobody that counts is directing critical remarks at Mr. Obama because of the dark skin he inherited from his Kenyan father. Are there racists in America? Sure there are, but in no where near the numbers that most of us older folks can vividly recall from the past. Was the black musical artist, Kanye West, a racist for jumping on stage during the CMA awards to publicly berate a young white artist because she won an award over Beyonce? I think he was just being drunk and incredibly rude. Taylor Swift came off as gracious as did Beyonce later in the show. West ended up looking like an ass. Civil discourse, anyone?

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Renewing Our Sorrow For Our Sins At Mass (9/27/2009)

At the beginning of nearly every Sunday Mass, we are invited to renew our sorrow for our sins. This is followed by a short period of silence after which the deacon or priest leads us in a short litany acclaiming God’s mercy. At its conclusion, the priest prays: May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us everlasting life. This all may sound pretty straightforward, but I believe there are a lot of people who may be either unclear or mistaken about the purpose of this penitential rite.

I submit that there are countless Catholics who think that this is an alternate form of the sacrament of penance in which we can confess our sins directly to God without having to tell them to a priest. Those who think this are simply mistaken. To renew our sorrow for our sins at the beginning of Mass and to confess our sins as we do in the sacrament of Penance are two related but different actions. The whole purpose of the Penitential Rite at Mass is to help us realize more fully that we are sinners who are called to become saints. We renew our sorrow for all our sins—confessed and unconfessed—so that God may stir up in our souls the grace of our baptism. This is the very grace that saves us from our sins and from everlasting death. Can we ever be sufficiently grateful for this Saving Grace? Isn’t this the very reason that we offer our Thanks & Praise to God each and every week in the celebration we call The Eucharist?

It is absolutely true that Christ died on the cross so that sins may be forgiven. But that forgiveness only becomes effective in our lives when we admit, name, and confess our sins to Christ who is present in the ministry of priests—“whose sins you forgive they are forgiven”. This is why I always invite people during the Penitential Rite at Mass to ask God for the willingness and the courage to turn away from our sins. It is not enough to just name or confess or even renew our sorrow for our sins, we are called to turn away from them. We are called to become like the One who loves us with a love beyond all telling. And we are offered the grace and the power to make progress on our way to God’s kingdom.

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