Monday, February 11, 2013, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, began quietly enough at least as far as the Church was concerned. There were lots of problems in the world but nothing particularly newsworthy as far as ecclesiastical affairs were concerned.
Then came the bomb!
Benedict XVI, the 265th successor of Peter as Bishop of Rome, announced that he was resigning from his office effective February 28th. Suddenly if you turned on the television set, all you saw was that story hour after hour. Commentators and reporters were hard-pressed to develop the story in any meaningful manner since it came as a complete surprise to everyone. They did not seem to have effective backup material in their archives.
Why should it have been such a surprise that a man in his late 80’s should retire from a leadership position in an organization of one billion, two hundred million scattered across nearly 200 countries? It was a surprise because frankly it comes very close to never happening. The last resignation, that of Gregory XII, was in 1415 and there have only been two or three such resignations in the entire 2,000 years of the Church’s existence.
I heartily congratulate our Holy Father. He assumed the responsibilities of the papacy at a very difficult time in the life of the Church. The numbers of priestly personnel were pathetically inadequate across the world. Both clergy and laity were frequently divided along the lines of being conservative or liberal, and the definition of those two words depended on who was using them. The pope mentioned his failing health and seeing him over the last five years on television made it obvious that the strain and the burdens were taking their toll. What to do now?
Speaking just for myself, I am hopeful that the Holy Father will enjoy a few more years of tranquility, prayer and study. I also pray that the transition process will work quickly and efficiently in bringing to the Church a new supreme pontiff who will have the vision, courage and stamina to lead the Church forward effectively during these extraordinarily difficult times.
May God bless Benedict XVI. May God guide the electors. May God bless the papacy.

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When I was a kid back in the 1930’s Roman Catholics were a real political force and they were taken very seriously at election time. However, whatever power or influence Catholics had came from its domination of the Democratic Party. So there were lots of Catholic mayors. A top person in the machinery of the Democratic Party was usually a Roman Catholic. There was even an unwritten rule that one member of the president’s cabinet would be a Roman Catholic. However, today, the situation has changed dramatically.
The majority of Catholics still considering themselves to be Democrats has dropped from 80% or 85% to down to barely 50%. On the other hand, in the recent election, both vice presidential candidates were of the Catholic faith and, wonder of wonders, today six of the nine members of the United States Supreme Court are Roman Catholics.
What is the significance of all this? Well, from my perspective, it is not too clear. I would like to refer to two decisions the court made recently that reflect dramatically different positions on social issues. Chief Justice John Roberts made the difference in the court’s decision to endorse the Affordable Care Act of the Obama Administration thus ensuring more than 30 million additional Americans being covered by health insurance over the next five years. On the other hand, Chief Justice Roberts, joining the majority of the Court, opened the flood gates of big money to influence our already battered political system. The case was Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission. Catholics on the court voted on both sides on both issues documenting that there is no automatic Catholic vote on public policy issues. The ratio is the awesome divisiveness that is present within the citizenry of the Republic. As 2013 unfolds, conservatives will be doing everything in their power to block effective implementation of the Affordable Care Act while more liberal Americans have already launched a sizable effort to amend the United States Constitution and overturn Citizens United.
Actually, Roman Catholic moral theology is pretty clear on the general principles of both of these issues. Throughout the last one hundred years, bishops of the United States have urged the right of all citizens to participate actively in the political system. The principles are clear but how to do it is not that obvious. Needless to say, I have strong views on both subjects.
 

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Everyone likes to be active. It’s normal to want to participate in the events going on around us. The Church in its wisdom has long known this, and therefore fosters participation. Think about it- not just choirs and altar servers, but bringing up the gifts at the offertory, processions, etc., etc.

The season of Advent offers many opportunities and symbols that can engage the whole family. Yesterday, I mentioned the Advent wreath that should adorn our kitchen tables as well as our churches. Today, I’d like to mention Advent calendars. This tradition of counting down the days till the birth of Jesus of Nazareth is especially fun for kids. Advent calendars give children in the family their own personal symbol of Advent, and they enjoy the changes that occur day by day, as they move closer in their excitement towards Christmas. Whether they are the vintage window-paper style, more elaborate modern versions, or even chocolate, let’s get the kids opening up those doors-Jesus is down the corridor!

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First Sunday of Advent
Welcome to Advent!Today and for the next three Sundays, tens of millions of Catholics view a short, simple ceremony in their churches just before the beginning of Sunday mass. They look up there at the altar and see a small stand with four candles protruding from a Christmas wreath. Either the priest or the deacon mumbles a few prayers and lights one of the candles, and then mass begins.

Tragically, Catholics are used to seeing symbolic activities that they do not understand, but there are no questions in their mind. This is a shame, because this simple ceremony is saying another long period of time has passed, and we are moving towards an important destination. It would be truly beautiful if those present in church understood that each candle symbolized  one thousand years, the total of four thousand years being the time period  which people used to think was the period of time between Adam and Eve and the coming of Jesus.

Why is that third one pink? There is a wonderful explanation. In the Church’s optimism, it doesn’t want to give the whole period of Advent over to simply a period of preparation and penance. So, on the third Sunday, we celebrate. The text opens with “Gaudete” (REJOICE!). In practice it may not work out, but it’s a great concept.

Why wait till Sunday morning? Each family should have an Advent wreath! Bless it repeatedly at every evening meal, and let the children take turns in lighting the candles. BUT- please tell them why!

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Two weeks ago, I wrote with shock in this space about my disbelief that the German bishops had issued a decree refusing the sacraments to Catholics who stopped paying a Church membership tax. I was not the only one who was incredulous. That reaction has spread across the world. Global media coverage has brought into clear focus the unique situation in Germany that most people knew nothing about until this issue arose.
Since the middle of the 19th century, the German central government has collected a small tax on both the Lutherans and the Catholics in Germany, transferred the funds to the churches for use in providing schools, hospitals, youth centers and other excellent programs. Today in Germany many Catholics are angry with the Church and don’t like the tax and they have signed documents taking themselves out of the Church. So much for that but now the bishops say that such persons can be denied the sacraments!
I have no doubt that this situation creates a real financial problem. In a short period of time, the Church has to do a better job of raising its own money but it is hard to imagine the Catholic Church denying someone baptism, the Eucharist or a funeral because of a failure to pay a government tax. Something is wrong and I hope that it will be corrected very quickly. Until then, I pray with all my heart for the German Church which is truly a great Church but faced with organizational difficulties.
Luther, there is still tension on the Rhine!

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When the United States of America began at the end of the 18th century the right to vote was restricted to white male property owners and, in certain places, voting was difficult for Roman Catholics or Jews. While that was taken for granted for a while, our nation saw a gradual and determined effort to expand the right to vote to all citizens. First of all, some of the property restrictions were dropped. After the Civil War, freed slaves were theoretically given the franchise (they would not really get this until the 1960’s). Then came the long, difficult battle for women’s suffrage which was achieved in the 1920’s. Native Americans were granted this right only in the 1940’s. Some of the logistical problems were eased out only in the last twenty years by permitting early voting and voting by mail. It is a story of slow but steady progress!

So the dream of the young Republic has gradually moved towards complete fulfillment until NOW. Since President Obama’s election in 2008, Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin have passed laws to make voting more difficult. These laws require government issued ID cards to vote and have approved a number of other restrictions on voter registration. WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON? Why this sudden explosive surge to protect us from alleged voter fraud which is so miniscule as to be ridiculous? Many of these laws are based on model legislation drafted by the Public Safety and Election Task Force of the American Legislative Exchange Group. This is a lobby-funded association of Republican legislators.

What will be the effect of these restrictions? One in ten of the voters in all these states do not have the required photo ID. Among the groups that tend to vote Democratic, higher percentages lack the required voter identification – 25% of African American, 16% of Hispanics and 18% of Americans over 65 years of age.

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Two weeks ago, men and women who really knew and loved the Church from all over the world suffered the loss of one of the greatest bishops of the last 100 years. It was Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, the retired Archbishop of Milan. Even though he has been gone from the diocese for ten years, 200,000 faithful attended his funeral ceremonies.

Why did 200,000 people turn out for one man’s funeral? There are many reasons but the underlying reason was that he was so loved and was such a beautiful, pastoral bishop. Prior to becoming a bishop, Cardinal Martini was rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. The Biblical Institute is the greatest school of Scripture studies that the Church has and under his leadership, it flourished tremendously. The man did his work based on God’s word and an awesome gentleness in exercising the office of bishop.

He made a tremendous impact on young people. While Archbishop of Milan, Martini preached every Sunday night in the Cathedral at a Mass celebrated for the youth of the city. The average attendance was approximately 5,000.

I knew about this man and knew what a wonderful shepherd he was, and twice when the papacy was vacated by death, I prayed fervently that he would be elected pope. That was not to be and I wonder what would have been different if this man had led the Church for the last third of a century. We will never know. What we do know is that love, gentleness and scholarship have a tremendous impact. Martini had these gifts and used them extraordinarily well. Legalism for some reason does not produce the same results inside the life of the Church. I know of no one who has joined the Church because of their admiration for canon law.

May God bless and reward this saintly bishop.

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Several weeks ago, I commented on the Roman Catholic Church’s extraordinary commitment to maintaining the unity of the faith across the world. The responsibility for unity flows from one of the last messages from our Divine Lord when he prayed that his followers would be ONE even as he and the Father are one. The pursuit of that unity has been extraordinarily successful but has come about only because of constant struggle to maintain it. In this 2,000 year effort, the single greatest aid to that unity has been the office of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. Buy yourself a good one-volume history of the Catholic Church and you will see that in these last 2,000 years the Church’s constantly pursued unity is threatened time after time after time. There are many reasons, many causes that threaten the Church’s unity across the planet but I want to touch on the biggest three realities that have threatened the Church’s unity and endeavored to render the seamless garment for which the Church is ever in pursuit. Those three are heresy, schism and apostasy.

Just a few words about heresy. Heresy is defined as the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed and accepted according to the universal magisterium of the Church. And what are those truths? Well, essentially and implicitly it is the creed of the first generation of the Church, the Apostles Creed, and later refined in the beginning of the 4th century as the Nicene Creed. These two documents contain implicitly all that is necessary to believe about God’s revelation of himself in history.

For 400 years, Catholics and Protestants have fought, argued and frequently killed each other because of their different views about what was and what was not heresy. The problem continues but with the passage of time and cooler minds there is a beautiful understanding sweeping Christianity across the world to see that although there are very sharp and real differences in certain segments of our Christian beliefs, there is also an extraordinary unity. People committed to the unity of the Church are continuing to expand our deepening understanding of Christ’s revelation and joyful reality that we are really not as far apart as once we thought that we were. We all believe in God, the reality of God’s creation, human nature, sinfulness, redemption through Jesus, the necessity to live a good moral life and utilize the gifts that Christ has given to his followers.

The terrible split of the Reformation shattered Christian unity 400 years ago, and disunity is still very much with us but we are moving in the right direction. There are, of course, other causes of disunity and tomorrow let’s take a look at schism.

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Recently, I was commenting on one or another of the six Catholic colleges in Texas. I endeavored to touch very briefly on each one of them. While there are only six Catholic colleges in the entire state, three of them are located in San Antonio. How did this come about? Shouldn’t they have been scattered across the state more effectively?

This reality was generated by historical factors. For the last half of the 19th century San Antonio was the city that had the highest number of Catholics within its boundaries. The Germans, the Belgians, the Irish were there in goodly numbers and, of course, there was a very large Hispanic population. In the last half of the 19th century, priests and religious had come from France, Ireland, Belgium and Germany to help establish and strengthen the Church and many of them ended up in San Antonio. For this reason three colleges were established there, namely, St. Mary’s University, Our Lady of the Lake and the University of the Incarnate Word. In addition, of course, there are three other educational institutions functioning at the college and university level. They include Assumption Seminary, sponsored by the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Oblate School of Theology, sponsored by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and finally, the Mexican American Catholic College. That is a lot of schools!

Another interesting aspect about the city of San Antonio and the archdiocese thereof is that in many ways it could be considered as the Hispanic Catholic capital of the United States. There are far more Hispanics in Los Angeles than there are in San Antonio but they do not have the impact on the larger community that those living in San Antonio do. If all of this was not enough, throw in the history. San Antonio began in 1718 and the Church has been there every single day for the last 294 years and so has generated great gifts in theology, literature, art and beauty for which we should all be grateful.

May God continue to bless the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

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I’m 82 years old, or as a rather insensitive friend said to me last week, “not right, John, you are actually only 8 years from 90″. That mathematical switch went through me like a knife. I thought it over and realized that while the math was identical, the emotional response varied somewhat.

I wonder if it’s because I am in the ninth decade that I am suddenly becoming aware that people I have known for so long have a tendency to move on ahead of me. It certainly is food for thought…and I’m thinking!

I have been molded and formed by the Roman Catholic faith, and although it has many rough edges, it is extraordinarily optimistic. Catholicism has always held that human nature is essentially good, but weak. Martin Luther, on the other hand (who has a moderate amount of influence in the Christian story) always taught that human nature was essentially corrupt, and only faith in Jesus Christ could overcome the evil that was innate in the human condition. These thoughts pass through my mind as I find myself journeying from funeral to funeral. Funerals are profoundly important. They bring together people who have not seen each other in years. They create an atmosphere that calls for reconciliation. Tears flow. But laughter abounds!

All of this is even more true for people who are Irish. “Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy which sustained him through temporary periods of joy” (W.B. Yeats).

If I said that I enjoyed funerals, I would be misunderstood, because they are usually connected with sadness. But, if a person is committed to the Christian faith, that sadness should be seen as a short term, immediate reality, and beyond the pain is a vestibule opening into eternal life & eternal joy.
There is so much real tragedy, so much agonizingly unnecessary suffering in the world, that we Christians should give an example of hope, optimism and joy when someone we love escapes into eternal life.

Does that mean we are not to cry, not to shed tears when we experience the agonizing loss of a loved one? Not at all. But with the eyes of faith, look beyond that casket. See through that tombstone. See the purpose for which each one of us came into being, which is now being fulfilled.

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