I mentioned the other day that papal social teaching has steadily responded to the constant changing and the increasingly complex mode of international politics and economics. Pope Paul VI and John Paul II expanded in this field in a very excellent manner but I am especially interested in the last document to which I referred the other day, namely Pacem in Terris, Peace on Earth, by John XXIII.
In the fall of 1962, the world was facing the missile crisis and there was a very real chance of nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States. Both President Kennedy and Nikita Krushchev made use of John XXIII in a back channel manner. The pope clearly grasped the seriousness of the situation and urged both leaders to choose peace. Until his intervention, there was real risk of nuclear war. Happily, war was avoided and it is then that the elderly pope began to dream of a world that would develop structures that would ensure prosperity, cooperation and, most of all, peace across this planet. Out of his thinking and prayer came the historic document Pacem in Terris.
When we read the daily papers and watch the evening news there is so much information about wars and the threat of war, about killings, about dangers, risk and conflicts that it is hard to imagine that things really are better today but they actually are. The world of 2013 is a much better organized and cooperative and a more peaceful world than was true in 1962. First of all, human rights have surged to the front and negotiations among peoples all over the world. While there is much to be done, the issue of human rights has become a major factor in international law and diplomacy. Many new transnational agencies and organizations have sprung up. A form of global governance has begun and, like Henry Kissinger and George Schultz, who formally played nuclear brinkmanship but now are both pushing for the removal of all nuclear weapons. This new and profound interest in human rights certainly began to strengthen inside the life of the Church in a way that had not been present before 1962.
While Pope John XXIII was supposedly elected as an “interim” pope, he surprised everyone and was one of the most influential popes of the last century. While I write here today about Pacem in Terris, we must not forget that he is the man who had the courage and wisdom to convene the Second Vatican Council. That Council was a great gift to the Church but its work is far from being completed. Speaking just for myself, I pray fervently that Pope Francis will convene yet another Council in the near future.

Share on Facebook

The purpose of the Church is to reach out and draw all of its members to communion with God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Church does this by presenting age after age the message of Jesus and also joins us with Jesus through our sacramental life. In carrying out this mission, it tries to convey to the entire world a message based on truth and love, a message that has tremendous implications for justice and fairness. These virtues are affected by the economic system present at any given moment.
For most of the last 2,000 years virtually the entire world’s economy was based on agriculture. That changed with the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century bringing tremendous change to human life, including a vast increase in wealth and prosperity. But not everyone shared equally in these new developments. In the late 19th century, Pope Leo XIII saw that the Industrial Revolution and its later developments were inflicting tremendous pain and suffering on the poor workers in the urban centers of Europe and North America. He wrote his famous encyclical, Rerum Novarum which laid out a structure of responsibilities reminding employers of their responsibilities to be fair and just with their workers, and that those workers had the right to organize in order to defend their economic interests. In those days, that economy was mostly one of shops and small plants where workers and employers were often in face to face situations.
By the 1930’s, the world of the small plant by an individual or family gave way as nationwide industries developed and thus Pope Pius XI wrote the encyclical Quadragesimo Anno which built on the work of Leo XIII and dealt now with problems related to nation-wide economies.
After World War II with the decolonization of the people of Africa, the possibility of a one world economy expanded tremendously and as a result in 1963 that magnificent pope John XXIII wrote a document that had tremendous impact in the Church and on the world entitled Pacem in Terris, Peace on Earth. It dealt with this new worldwide economy many years before any of us were routinely referring to the reality of an integrated world economy. The document came out in 1963 and made a powerful impression on Church leaders all over world. Fifty years have passed since the encyclicals issued and in the next couple of days I will give you my opinion of the affect that it has had in this painful and agonizing half century.
 

Share on Facebook

Seventh Sunday of Easter, May 12th
Once again, a reading from Acts of the Apostles gives us an opportunity to see something of great importance that was taking place in the early Church. Last week’s excerpts had two important points – that there was theological confusion from the very beginning and the apostles claimed guidance by the Holy Spirit in order to be able to maintain the purity of the teachings of Jesus.
Today is another first – martyrdom! The text tells the story of Stephen, one of the first deacons. Stephen has been effectively preaching the new joyous message of Jesus of Nazareth and needless to say, it stirs up strong resentment among those who had rejected Jesus. At this point, the sacred author has Stephen giving a long, very long, homily about the story of salvation history. Towards the end of it he points out that their ancestors had rejected the prophets and now they have rejected Jesus and they are making a big mistake. You can well imagine that the crowd was infuriated and, cheered on by the Sanhedrin, the crowd begins to execute Stephen by stoning him. Again, the sacred author makes Stephen very similar to the death of Jesus. His enemies bring forth false witnesses to accuse him of false crimes and as he begins to die he prays, “Lord do not hold this sin against them.” And with these words he “fell asleep.”
From the very beginning the Church saw martyrdom as a mysterious blending of one’s own death into the death of Jesus Christ and making that person one with Christ for all eternity.
An interesting sideline is that there was a man standing there that seemed to have some importance and we will see that later on but it was that Saul was there as a witness and approved of what was happening. A little farther along in Acts we will see that Saul is commissioned to travel up to Antioch and arrest any other followers of “the way” that he might find in that city. On the road he will find that he experiences a very interesting horseback ride.

Share on Facebook

The new Bishop of Rome, Pope Francis, is still getting a lot of press and people continue to be fascinated by his down to earth approach to his work and the papacy itself. When you see that he is referred to as the 266th successor of St. Peter, it is almost impossible to imagine all that is has been jammed into the story of the preceding 2,000 years. I just want to talk a little about one today that to me is really fascinating. That is Saint Pope Pius V. We celebrated his feast on April 30th. I have special interest in it since the first parish to which I was assigned after ordination was that of St. Pius V Parish in Pasadena, Texas.
Pius V began his pontificate with the announced intention of carrying out the decrees of the Council of Trent and were those decrees needed! The Church was in an awful mess. Nepotism was rampant and many bishops from other parts of Europe did not reside in their dioceses but came to live in Rome supported by their dioceses back home. Pius V sailed into this corruption with powerful drive. The Church seemed to be completely coming apart – Lutheranism in Germany, Henry VIII’s problems in England, caused by the beginning of the Anglican Church in England, and John Calvin drawing thousands and thousands of former Catholics into the Presbyterian Church in France and in Holland. There is always difficult activity on the political and military fronts. Pius V had all of Italy praying the rosary as the Christian and Muslim fleets faced each other at Lepanto. The Christians won an extraordinarily successful victory and temporarily at least halted the movement of the Muslim faith into Europe. Pius V was given credit for the victory but he properly gave that to the Blessed Mother and put up a special feast in her honor called the Lady of Victory. Another pope, somewhat more sensitive, would change the title of that feast to that of the Most Holy Rosary.
On the liturgical front, a great deal was accomplished. Following the dictates of the Council of Trent, all liturgical books were reworked and improved tremendously. Those books were still in use until the Second Vatican Council when they were reworked to more fittingly reflect the speech and modes of expression of the 20th century.

Share on Facebook

Most Catholics are quite familiar with the actions that take place around the altar at mass- after all, most of us have been going for years and years. Nevertheless, it saddens me that there are so many people who see with their eyes, but do not follow deeply enough with the symbolism that is present there.

I’ve been teaching about the Catholic Church for approximately 60 years, and anyone who knows me well knows that I always push simplicity. If the Church uses a symbol (and it uses many) the viewers ought to be able to effortlessly comprehend the meaning and the message. Did you know that there are only two essential movements or actions within the mass? But each of those movements is duplicated so there are four: From the opening sign of the cross at the beginning of mass, we begin to talk TO God. And it is a good beginning, because we start off by saying we are sorry. Why are we sorry? Because He is so wonderful. That’s why we glide into the Gloria. We are exuberant. We are exalted! We are thrilled, because our God is so wonderful. The response? God talks to us. Just as we prepare to sit, we hear the priest say “let us listen thoughtfully to God’s Holy Word”. Then, with awe, we listen to a very specific message from God, coming through the inspired authors of the Bible, teaching us about life and God’s love for us. That’s the first half of the conversation.

The second half is about giving. From the back of the church, two or more people suddenly appear coming down the center aisle, bringing bread, wine, and frequently, money. Together those instruments represent ourselves, our talents and our work of the last seven days. They are carried forward and laid upon the altar. In our name, the priest raises the bread and wine and prays that God will accept our simple, inadequate gift. But, with them, we present also our hearts. Sursum cuerda (lift up your hearts).

Then, we move to the center of everything, whereby the power of ordination, Jesus Christ changes the bread and wine into the real presence of Jesus Christ, once again giving to us. Very shortly thereafter, we come forward as people on a journey to receive the bread of life and be one with our Brother, Jesus.

So we talk to God, and He responds. We give to God, and He gives back in the most awesome manner. Back and forth flows this beautiful current.

Next Sunday morning, mentally step back from the altar as mass proceeds, and try and grasp these two simple movements as you celebrate mass.

Share on Facebook

April 28th, Fifth Sunday of Easter
As I have said for several weeks now, this is really a delightful time of the liturgical year starting Sunday after Sunday with excerpts from Acts of the Apostles that enables us to jump over 2,000 years and in a sense walk with the very first followers of Jesus, the first Christians.
One of the reasons that I enjoy this experience so much is that it shows that although 2,000 years have elapsed since the scenes described in Acts, the problems in the Church continue and because the Church is so much bigger the problems tend to be larger as well. In today’s excerpt, you have the apostles complaining that logistical responsibilities get in the way of their prayer and preaching. “Is there a pastor with a soul so dead who never to himself has said this is my own, my native land….” Oops. This wonderful poem doesn’t really fit there. But pastors do complain about administrative responsibilities that block them from more effective ministry. I don’t believe that this was ever very true. The Church of yesterday often found it far easier to “run the parish” than to study scripture and prepare great homilies, but they did have an excuse because they had virtually no staff.
In my parish at All Saints in the 1930’s, the staff consisted of three priests, eight sisters and a janitor. There were no secretaries, no professional counselors, no business managers. Today, however, things are very different. Larger parishes at least are so much better staffed can we assume that the preaching has improved tremendously? Let’s hope.

Oops. I almost forgot about the deacons. Today’s first reading tells us how this level of Holy Orders came into being. It was to help the Church run more effectively. It was wonderful that the Second Vatican Council re-established the diaconate. Isn’t it interesting that there are three levels of ordination in the Church? They are bishops, priests and deacons, and the deacons have been around longer than the priests!
Onward through the fog.

Share on Facebook

April 21, Fourth Sunday of Easter
Back in the Middle Ages when most of the Christians of the world were illiterate, the Church used other means to convey the message of the Gospels to its people. One of those wonderful and beneficial, and still very much used today, was stained-glass and the Church learned to use glass in order to portray extraordinarily beautiful scenes from the life of our Divine Lord. In the Catholic Church, you could get a great deal of Christ’s message worked into awesomely beautiful stained-glass. From an early age, little children would come to church and their parents and teachers would explain each scene so that they could get the basic message of Jesus Christ, namely God’s love for the human family.
What in your opinion would be one of the most popular scenes portrayed in stained-glass windows? Naturally, in this holy season, we would think of the Resurrection. We would think of scenes portraying the resurrected Jesus and I would yield to that. However, I also think that one of the most popular scenes would be Jesus, the Good Shepherd, as walking forward with a frightened, formerly lost sheep over his shoulders and other sheep following close behind.
In today’s Gospel, we see our Lord describing himself in that manner. Jesus states that He is the shepherd, He is the protector. He knows us, we know him and through him we find our way to salvation. In religious tradition, we have many beautiful stories relating to Jesus carrying us. We are so busy, we have so much to do, but today we ought to think about Jesus not only as our savior, but as our shepherd and the one who will make the difference as we journey on.
 

Share on Facebook

April 14th, Third Sunday of Easter

The Catholic Church has many blessings and many weaknesses. One of the weaknesses of which most of us are very conscious is that the Church of the last two hundred years has not put a stress on the importance of good preaching. Some priests are naturals and their parishioners should thank God. A large percentage of us don’t work at it hard enough and some of us should never be allowed into the pulpit.
I know nothing about how seminarians are trained in today’s world in the art of preaching and I no longer have the opportunity to hear or evaluate the outcome of that process. However, I have listened to people for the last few decades and wonder that so many Catholics are so faithful to Sunday Mass. Theology is important, tremendously important, but if you can’t get people excited and motivated about what you say about it on Sunday, a potential strength and spiritual blessing is being lost. Priests can do many other things in the life of the Church – run schools, deliver social services, raise money, etc., etc. If the candidate cannot preach at all, he can be ordained but he should not be in the pulpit too frequently or too long. Needless to say, an exception has to be made in the case of a priest who is extraordinarily holy; the Cure of Ars, for example. Ordinarily, however, for most of us sanctity is in short supply.
The first reading today records a public homily in the life of the early Church. It is by St. Peter on Pentecost Sunday. It was moderately effective. Three thousand people joined the Church that first day. The response to today’s preaching is somewhat more modest than that.
 

Share on Facebook

The Church has a glorious history in support of the fine arts. Early on, Church leadership recognized that the arts provided a wonderful teaching mechanism and learning experience for the people. I referred last week to the importance of stained-glass in this story and, of course, statuary and music were powerful forces to help people feel or experience being uplifted in their prayer life. Appreciation of the fine arts began in the early Middle Ages and continues to this day, at least in Europe.
This story is a little weaker as far as the United States is concerned. Catholics poured into the United States from Europe from the middle of the 19th century until the middle of the 1920’s. They brought with them the Church’s appreciation and love for the fine arts, but they didn’t have money. Working men and women would make tremendous sacrifices to build enormous churches but they would cut costs when it came to art. Thus, they developed the industry of making vast numbers of statues from plaster of paris molds. All of us grew up with those statues – St. Joseph on one side, the Blessed Mother on the other. Throw in a statue of the Sacred Heart, St. Anthony and St. Therese of Liseux. There we are. Everything is set!
There was nothing wrong with those statues but it could not truly be called art. I am happy to see that over the last few decades there has been a real awakening within the Church in the United States of the need to utilize the best talent available from American artists and happily there is a great deal of it. The problem is that artists, like the rest of us, have to make a living and must be properly compensated for their years of study and practice.
Art is made on consignment for individual churches or organizations. It can be expensive but the difference in the results is awesome, and many churches are willing to make those sacrifices. I sometimes think in the world of art that human beings make their greatest effort to reaching towards God in a material way. At Easter, we celebrate the fact that God has come down to us. Let us respond by lifting up the very best that we have in his honor.
The Diocese of Austin is blessed to have an excellent Fine Arts Council providing leadership and professional assistance in the area of art. If someone wants to follow up, they can do so by contacting Craig Kanewske at craig.kanewske@gmail.com or Cheryl Maxwell on the diocesan staff at cheryl-maxwell@austindiocese.org .

Share on Facebook

As you drive by practically any Catholic church in the world, you will see a cross atop the steeple or over the front door. A cross will be on the back wall of the Sanctuary. Beautiful walnut pews will have crosses carved into them. As we go into the church, we bless ourselves in the sign of the cross, reminding ourselves of our baptism- but more importantly- of the fact that Jesus suffered for us. The cross is everywhere. Sometimes, it’s deceptive. You see crosses that are elaborately designed to be works of art. There is nothing wrong with that, but we should remind ourselves that the first cross was simply two large beams attached to each other, large enough to have a body nailed to it. The verb is nailed. Sometimes we don’t like to think about that fact. We don’t want to visualize a human being hanging in agony for hours until death slowly overcomes that person. It may make us uncomfortable, but this is what Good Friday is all about. This wonderful Jewish carpenter- this rural preacher- is executed to atone for the failure of the human family. He offers His heavenly father infinite obedience and love, and He does it for you and me today. We wont dwell too long on this agonizing scene, because our faith and our hope pulls us forward to the greatest of all events in history- the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Sunday we will cry out, and sing, and laugh! But not yet…

Share on Facebook