Spring cleaning: Embracing and Releasing

See, I was ALL ready to post complaints about any number of people, places and things today; I'd had a few run-ins, both online and offline yesterday. I was feeling pretty self-righteous, and got the venom-laden blog post all set to go!

After a short prayer and a long walk, I changed my addled mind and wrote the poem which follows instead. As Lent approaches, I am inclined to think about what belongs in my life and what simply needs to go; a spring cleaning of the soul if you'll allow. So here's what I came up with:

EMBRACING and RELEASING
I embrace You, my God, my Love, my All,
With Your myriad faces
To release that which I know is not You or of You.
I embrace love, peace, understanding, and empathy
To release false guilt, shame, fear and conflict.
I embrace the tonics of creation, health, and life
To release the toxins of destruction, sloth, and death.
I embrace my true Family and Friends
To release those who have done me harm, and those I've done harm to.
I embrace forgiveness
To release vengeance.
I embrace the possible
To release the doubt.
I embrace the passions that make me the Man I am
To release the indifference that hinders my path.

Daily Mass Readings
Sirach 35:1-12
Psalm 50:5-8,14,23
Mark 10:28-31

A political...oh, h*ll, let's call it a RANT.

Like my moral/religious compass, my political compass tends to fluctuate wildly.

My political "home" that I keep coming back to is libertarianism: This country was founded on the notion of freedom from an oppressive and over-taxing government. The idea of being free to live as one pleases, as long as one doesn't infringe on those same rights of others while doing so, appeals to me and makes sense to me. I don't want the federal government telling me what I or my children can or cannot watch on TV, in the movies, or on the internet. I don't want the federal government dictating what I can consume, be it alcohol, drugs or fatty foods. I certainly don't want the federal government telling me who I can or can't sleep with, what acts are accpetable in my own home between consenting adults, or who I am allowed to set up housekeeping and legal documents with. I don't want the federal government monetarily penalizing me and my family should we choose not to buy into the healthcare system. And while I myself oppose abortion, I recognize that a government with the power to ban the practice outright paradoxically has the power to mandate it (Don't believe me? Check out China's '1-child policy')

Now...all that being said:

I also recognize that we are no longer living in the 18th century. We live in a complicated, interconnected world. When Thomas Jefferson made his wise quote "Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none", he couldn't imagine the complexities of dealing with oppressive regimes that we alternately bomb/impose sanctions upon and rebuild/do buiness with. Tom certainly could not foresee the stand-off that occured in the Cold War, stemming from the fear of 2 countries literally blowing each other off the planet.

And most importantly (to me anyway) I'd be willing to bet that Tom never for one moment envisioned the genocide going on in countries like Congo and the Sudan. The American libertarian ideal says that this is simply not our problem; we ought to simply donate to our charities and leave their own governments to sort the mess out. I won't go into the detailed atrocities the aforementioned regimes have committed - they are inhuman and well-documented. But in the name of God, don't such atrocities cry out for justice??? If similar events were taking place in say, Canada or Europe, American boots...scores of them...would have been on the ground long since. For better or for worse, we have the most massive and imposing military in history, many times over. If we wish to proclaim democracy and fairness, don't we owe it to not only to our light-skinned business partners or the folks with oil, but also to the dark-skinned people who perhaps don't have a lot in the way of "American interest"?

As a country of HUMAN BEINGS for Christ's sake, don't we owe something to these, our brothers and sisters in humanity, who by simple accident of geography are being starved out, poisoned, raped at gunpoint, shot, tortured, mutilated, and generally being killed off by agents of their OWN government??? It's hard for me to accept that because they're not Americans, it's simply none of America's business. To paraphrase Jacob Marley, "Mankind IS our business"

Well. I guess I just had a bit of a nutty. Again, my poltical views are currently in a state of sometimes incompatible flux; a lot of this I simply can't seem to get out of my teeth lately.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Daily Mass Readings
Isaiah 49:14-15
Psalm 62:2-3,6-9
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Matthew 6:24-34

Blessed are you, Simon bar Jonah

"Your are the Christ, the Son of the Living God" - Matthew 16

I love Simon Peter; so many all-too human qualities in the first Pope. Peter was the head of the Apostles, and the first to recognize who and what Christ was. As we read in today's Gospel, he became Cephas , the Rock upon which Christ would build His Church.

Simon Peter also made a blithering fool of himself trying to pitch tents when Jesus was transfigured in His glory with Moses and Elijah. He also lost faith is Jesus's power to sustain him, as he walked towards Him on the water. Finally, he ran from his Master and denied their friendship at the first whiff of trouble. Worse, Peter did so after blustering about his loyalty during dinner.

This gives me comfort, that Peter and those who followed - some saints, some scoundrels - up to and including the Holy Father Benedict XVI, are sinning, fallible men. I read somewhere that John Paul II had his own confessor he went to on a weekly basis, knowing his own sinning nature well enough to sacramentally confess to God regularly, setting an example for us all.

St. Peter, like all the Popes who followed, was a man. Not impeccable, not perfect. Just a man, with a very important task - to help ensure Christ's promise that the gates of Hell would not prevail against His Church. Those gates have been tested and tried over the centuries, by Schism, Reformations, Counter Reformations, and Scandal. The gates stand strong. The promise remains fulfilled.

Thank you Simon bar Jonah...for being the Man you are.

Feast of the Chair of St. Peter
Daily Mass Readings
1 Peter 5:1-4
Psalm 123:1-6
Matthew 16:13-19

A hard teaching

For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? - Matthew 5

I've written about this before; when today's Gospel passage comes up, I find myself challenged. It seems reasonable, does it not, to love one's friends and hate one's enemies? Sounds pretty much like the natural order of things to me. Why then, does Jesus ask this of me? It feels so much easier to be reasonable in this instance.

What's He saying to us in the above passage; that indeed it is easy to love those who also love us. Love is already there; there are no obstacles to it. Everyone, good and evil, can love those who love them in return.

"BIIIIIIIG deal!", I imagine Jesus saying.

What of the people we find irritating? Annoying? Downright reprehensible? The reasonable human response is to back away, gossip about, condemn such people, and perhaps worse. Jesus asks us to demonstrate His love by loving them as well.

This is a hard teaching for me. However, it reminds me that Jesus dwells in each and every person whether they know it or not, whether they like it or not, whether we always see it or not. We are to recognize that indwelling and inherent Love.

God, help me to help others see Your face, through my actions and reactions.

Daily Mass Readings
Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18
Psalm 103:1-4,8,10,12-13
1 Corinthians 3:16-23
Matthew 5:38-48

Will the Irish be called on to save the Church again?

Centuries ago as Europe plunged into the Dark Ages, it was the Irish monasteries that preserved the learning and culture of the Roman Empire and the Church...not to mention Sacred Scripture.

Today the Church in Ireland strives to preserve the credibility and integrity of the Church at large. From America Magazine:

A “listening program” has been launched across the 88 parishes of the Diocese of Down and Connor, near Belfast in Northern Ireland, intended to draw the counsel of parishioners in church affairs. Noel Treanor, the diocesan bishop, said, “The history of the church includes moments when the people of God are called to reform and renew the church. This is one such moment.” While the program is seen as a response to the widespread disappointment and anger felt by Irish Catholics in the wake of the scandal of sexual abuse by members of the clergy, Bishop Treanor insisted that “even if the scandals didn’t happen, even if there were just as many priests now as there were 50 years ago, this process would still be necessary.

"We have been grappling since the 1960s with the whole idea of how we make the church more participative,” he said. “This will be a step toward that, a step toward a church that is more open, transparent and where there is accountability.” Bishop Treanor said he wanted 'to live in a church where someone can feel free to say exactly what they think to a bishop and where a bishop can be free to say exactly what he thinks...'"

In a country such as Ireland, where the Catholic Church is intricately woven into the very fabric of day-to-day life, the thoughts and actions of one of its bishops is not insignificant. May more bishops such as Noel Treanor remember to care and minister their flock, rather than simply care and minster solely to the institution. First and foremost, the Church is the People of God.

Memorial of St. Claude de la Columbiere, S.J.
Daily Mass Readings
Genesis 6:5-8,7:1-5,10
Psalm 29:1-4,9-10
Mark 8:14-21

A blessing from Ekklesia

Lasts night, L and I attended the wedding of a dear

friend of ours, a neighbor from across the street. The wedding and ceremony was held at Oheka Castle in Huntington.

Okeka is a most impressive and grand structure (for you TV buffs, the Castle is a fixture in the USA show Royal Pains). It was a beautiful backdrop for what turned out to be a most unique and beautiful wedding ceremony.

After we arrived, we were escorted into a huge stone reception hall. A string quartet playing Chopin greeted us as we found our seats. As we anticipated the wedding party's entrance, we were able to watch the sunset from, I have since learned, is the highest natural point on Long Island. After the bridal party entered, the quartet switched to the familiar strains of Here comes the Bride. J was escorted down the aisle by both her proud parents. She looked stunningly beautiful.

The celebrant, Fr. Tom was not vested formally; he wore a simple clerical suit and collar. Fr. Tom left the readings of this simple ceremony up the the cherished family and firends of the bride and groom. The familiar wise words about love from Corinthians were heard, along with rich poetry from the likes of ee cummings.

After the traditional priestly blessing, Fr. Tom requested the congregation take some vows of their own. He asked up if we...as the family and loved ones of the bride and groom..would be there for support and advice. We said we would. He asked us if we would be present, if not in body then in spirit, for the couple. We said we would. In short, Fr. Tom was exhorting ALL of us, as representatives of God's Community or Ekklesia (Greek for CHURCH), to witness this collectively, to be the offical celebrant to the Sacrament along with him.

Then Fr. Tom asked us to raise our hands. He, in all our names, bequeathed our collective blessing on the newly married couple, that they may smile upon each other's lives and walk life's journey together. I have never felt so much a part of a wedding ceremony since my wife and I were married. A wedding is the recognition of Love from the community, the Church, the Ekklesia. Fr. Tom included us in that honor, that reponsibility, instead of simply relegating us to spectators.

An interesting note about the priest; Fr. Tom had been a Roman Catholic priest, actually served at my home parish when we moved ot Levittown. From what I understand, he fell in love with a woman, and so had to discontinue his ministry in the Roman Catholic Church. However, Holy Orders like Baptism leaves and indelible mark on the soul; Fr. Tom could not discontinue being a priest any more than he could become un-baptized. He continues to minister as an indpendent priest to those who need him, sacramentally and pastorally. Please follow the link to his website and learn more about this wise and courageous clergyman.

Daily Mass Readings
Sirach 15:15-20
Psalm 119:1-2,4-5,17-18,33-34
1 Corinthians 2:6-10
Matthew 5:17-37

Living simply

Living simply is key to living as a Franciscan. In that spirit, I offer the following from an unexpected source:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

- from Robert Fulghum's "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten"

There's nothing I can do to improve upon that so I won't even try. A blessed day to all!

Memorial of St. Scholastica
Daily Mass Readings
Genesis 2:18-25
Psalm 128:1-5
Mark 7:24-30