The media have made much of the obvious humility and simplicity that will mark the character and mode of operation of our new Holy Father Pope Francis. He has extraordinary gifts that will stand him in good stead as he exercises the extraordinary power and influence that comes directly or indirectly from the papacy.
With those virtues seemingly well-developed in his character and personal habits, I want to pray that in utilizing them he will see a very much-needed result flowing out of his leadership and administration. I am referring to the virtue of being able to easily admit that one is wrong. We all make mistakes, lots of mistakes, and anyone who knows any Church history understands that the Church has made lots of mistakes. Beginning with the persecution of the overpowered pagans in the 4th century, the cruel treatment of native populations in the New World, the issue of slavery, theft and torture in the Spanish Inquisition, the participation in the murderous wars over religion following the Reformation, etc., etc., etc.
Happily, none of these things or even a vestige of them are in our future, but policies and judgments will be made and occasionally they may be insensitive and counterproductive as far as good pastoral care is concerned. Simplicity and humility are virtues which will allow a person no matter how powerful to admit that they have made a mistake. Let us pray that our new pope both has and utilizes that gift.
May God bless Pope Francis. Viva el Papa Francisco!

Share on Facebook

Nearly all of us were watching. We saw it happen. On my desk is a picture dated October 16, 2002 which shows President George Bush sitting at a desk signing the Iraq War authorization flanked by smiling congressmen. That is a photograph of a tragedy, a terrible tragedy.

Ten years have passed. We know now what we knew then. There was no credible evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Members from the International Atomic Energy implored the United States to go slow; not to attack until their search could definitively be completed. However, the United States did not heed their cautionary urge.

Countries make mistakes. Big countries make big mistakes and the United States certainly was guilty of an agonizing error at this time. Prior to our attack, political leaders of that area were aware of the fact that a U.S. invasion would almost certainly result in a bloody insurgency, the uncapping of Islamic extremism and terrorism and that dangers increase with extremism and terrorism based on religion on ethnicity. Were we surprised when all of those warnings would come about? The cost of this mistake to Iraq is incalculable – countless deaths, a destroyed economy and a wrecked social structure. The United States had roughly 20,000 deaths of young American men and women and trillions of dollars.

As I write this, we have withdrawn from Iraq but the war, although officially ended, still generates agonizing violence. The war in Pakistan continues unabated and with horror we witness careless talk around the United States about what we ought to do to and with Iran. Remember Paul VI at the United Nation, “No more war. War, never again!”

Share on Facebook

Church bulletins provide a wonderful source of humor as the very human secretaries slip up in their typing…enjoy some today!

Don’t let worry kill you off- let the Church help.

For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

This evening at 7pm, there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the church. Please bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.

Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands!

The Pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the church would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.

Potluck supper Sunday at 5pm. Prayer and medication to follow.

Share on Facebook

Everyone makes mistakes. I may write a magazine article on that subject someday since I feel so experienced in that area. Regretfully, a troop of U.S. Marines recently stumbled into a major mistake hopefully due to ignorance of modern history.

A troop of about 12 Marines posed in Afghanistan in front of a flag bearing the SS emblem, the shape of lightening blots. The SS was the police arm of the Nazi Party. A lot of terrible things happened in the Second World War but the SS ranked at the top for cruelty and brutality. The best explanation of this embarrassing and humiliating event was that those 12 grown men, American citizens all, did not know anything about the SS. In this instance, they are guilty of bad manners and ignorance but it is a reflection of a bigger problem for life in the United States.

I am told that most Americans do not know the maiden names of their two grandmothers. If we don’t know our own story, that is regrettable but if we don’t know our story as a nation, that is dangerous.

The generation of the fathers of these 12 men lost their lives by the tens of thousands fighting the SS and what it stood for. All of us are living today but need to be planning for tomorrow. I don’t think you can successfully plan for tomorrow unless you have a fairly strong understanding of what happened yesterday. A knowledge of what has happened before can help us avoid repeated mistakes.

Onward through the fog.

Share on Facebook

October 30th, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
We are gradually working our way through that long section of St. Matthew’s Gospel in which day by day Jesus teaches the crowds his basic message of how we are to live in relation to our Heavenly Father and toward the brothers and sisters with whom we share life. Today we see that our Lord gets very tough on the Pharisees and all religious hypocrites.

We all have weaknesses. We all have foibles. We all make mistakes. Because we all share in human frailty, most of us tend to be rather patient with each other. One quality, however, that always turns everyone off is hypocrisy. All hypocrisy is despicable but religious hypocrisy is by far the worst. When we see people who are living behind a false front of holiness and fake spirituality and then we find out that they are actually mean and cruel, we naturally react with great negativity. We have no obligation to go around telling the whole world about our mistakes and weaknesses. We have a right to privacy. However, we should not project the image that those weaknesses are not there while basking in a spirituality that is a mere charade.

Speaking of the Pharisees, who knew a little bit about hypocrisy, Jesus says, “There words are bold but their deeds are few…all their works are performed to be seen.” “…whoever exalts himself shall be humbled and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”

Share on Facebook

Yesterday I made a brief comment about the common human failure of “carrying a grudge”. This typically flows from a single source that many of us experience. We have been hurt, and sometimes when we are hurt we tend to put the worst possible movitation on the person who generated that hurt. The fact is that most of these little social mishaps are accidental or unintentional. Even if we know a person intended the slight, it’s usually not an important thing to us except that our overly sensitive ego reacts and our pride is hurt.

So what? Go back to the opening statement. Mistakes are made, left and right. Some generated by us; some by friends; and yes, some by enemies. Will it matter tomorrow? Choose not to let it matter.

Don’t let those grudges pull you down!

Share on Facebook

Forgiveness is one of the countless gifts given by God to the human condition. Life is difficult. Mistakes are made. Errors committed. Sinfulness happens. Forgiveness is the gift that allows us to get past these hurdles. If we want advice in this area, take it from Jesus, who said “Forgive, forgive, forgive.”

Share on Facebook