The reason why one should never try to teach a pig to sing is that it is a waste of time and it also annoys the pig. For Catholic Christians committed to their faith and animated by that faith to honour life and their faith, engaging with those committed to fundamentalist Christian beliefs, and those committed to pro-choice beliefs tends to waste time as well, while begetting just another flurry of platitudes and rhetoric. Pro-choice advocates and Christian fundamentalists make strange bedfellows, and indeed they are, by and large, but their animus towards the beliefs that we, as Catholic Christians hold dear is very similar.
This past year, I have engaged in dialogue with a Christian fundamentalist over at Father Tim Moyle's blog "Where the Rubber Hits the Road". It proved to be a waste of time, and bore similar characteristics in responses to engaging pro-choice folks over there, as well. Both groups seem inclined to feed you their rhetoric; in the case of the fundamentalist it is focused on the errors of the Catholic Church. In the case of pro-choice folks, they label us as anti-choice, and then carry on their spiel about the evils of denying women the choice to do what they want with their own bodies. In both cases, they tend to get it wrong, factually. So, attempting to be honest and faithful to our Catholic heritage and beliefs, I have presented the truth as we/I understand it. There, a real similarity surfaced, that I found curious. Both groups when presented with something that does not fit their belief system, gloss right over it and move on to the next item on their list.
But, it brings me back to what this is all about. Ephesians 6:12, in the New International Version translation, says this:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
So, engaging as I have, for me at least, is a lot like taking a pocket knife to a gun fight, where the only reason you had the pocket knife in the first place was to clean under your nails.
My visits to Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, including the one I will set out for in a few minutes have reminded me that Jesus is what this is all about. As Catholic Christians, we have Jesus as Our Lord and Saviour. BUT, in that faith, we also have the Eucharist, which the catechism, referencing Lumen Gentium, the papal encyclical, describes as "the summit and source of our faith."
When Father Clement Agamba, or Father Tim Moyle, another priest or deacon, or an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist presents me with Holy Communion, he or she says: "Body of Christ." I respond: "Amen." It is so, nothing less. It is Jesus present here in this place, just as He said He would be. I take a brief moment to look at that wafer of bread, now transubstantiated into the body and blood of Jesus, My Jesus, Your Jesus, and allow Him to come into me.
At SEAS, they have Eucharistic Adoration Monday to Saturday, for an extended period of time. As I watched Father Clement prepare the altar for this Adoration, I could see the love He has for Jesus, and the love that Jack, a member of the parish, who was helping in the preparation had for Our Saviour, has for Jesus, and it started to become Clear, Crystal Clear.
Those in attendance are led in prayers to open Adoration by the priest, and then one particular woman leads us in the Divine Mercy Chaplet and other prayers. She ends the communal part of the prayers with prayers to end abortion and for the closing of abortion mills. And again, it becomes Clear, Crystal Clear for me.
Our greatest weapon against ignorance and bigotry is prayer. We pray to return love where we are hated and reviled. We pray to let Jesus shine through us so that He cannot be mistaken. We pray for forgiveness for our sins and sinful tendencies, those things that prevent others from seeing Him in us, and blind us to Him for ourselves. We pray to see Him in those who oppose us, for He is surely present in them.
Prayer changes things, and the first thing that must change is our own hearts, if we are to be witnesses to Christ in this world.
Earlier today, I posted a conservative perspective on the issues of Democrats and Republicans, which is really more easily described as left versus right. In Canada, we have the Liberals and the Conservatives, though with two other major parties, the left/right gets a little more muddled. Father Clement Agamba, a native of Ghana assured me in a note today that in Ghana it is also the same, where they have, as he said, the "National Democratic Congress who see themselves as social democrats, and National Patriotic Party, who believe in the individual working to create wealth for himself/herself." He also noted that this condition exists in all democracies around the world.
"Left wing" and "right wing" as terms to define political orientations first began with the French Revolution, where in the Estates General in France, the liberal deputies, members of the Third Estate, who were most interested in reform and revolution sat to the left of the president's chair. Those of the Second Estate, which comprised the nobility of France, were most interested in preservation, conservation of the status quo, counter revolutionaries, as it were.
It is interesting to note the matter of Estates in France. The First Estate, omitted above, were in fact, the clergy of the day, where the Bishops were the higher clergy, and parish priests and other religious were considered the lower clergy. But, moving on.
Father Clement in his homily today spoke of the 12 disciples, who Jesus picked to follow and become his apostles. Were they all carbon copies of each other? No, in truth they were not. In their midst was Matthew, a tax collector. A tax collector was an outcast. After all he robbed the poor to give to the rich, and was on the payroll to do so. No fancy IRS code, or Income Tax Act at his side. Things were a little more spontaneous for tax grabbing in those days.
And too, there was Simon the Zealot. The zealots as Father Clement explained in his note to me, and at Mass this morning, were nationalists. So, for Simon a nationalist to be called to come together with Matthew, a source of revenue for the occupying Romans is a stretch. But, we know it happened. By the grace of God, these two men from opposite ends of the spectrum became two of those who carried on the work of Christ on this earth.
Imagine how lively discussions between these two must have been in the early going. Natural enemies. Then, of course throw in the other ten, including the two sons of Zebedee, James and John, called in today's Gospel, "Sons of Thunder". A number of years ago, our parish priest at St. Joseph's Parish in London Ontario was Father Jim Williams. He was called Father "Tiny" Williams, though he was 6'4"tall. Somehow, I don't get the feeling that the Sons of Thunder were shy and retiring sorts, so they would have added to the mix.
Jesus was the first recorded herder of cats in history.
If we look at the desires of the liberal leaning members of our society, not with a jaundiced eye, but rather attempted to understand what it is they believe, those of us who are conservative in our leanings might learn something new. If the liberal leaning members of our society were to look, without prejudice at what conservatives are interested in, again something new might be learned.
But, most of us are too committed to positions to listen to reason, or to engage in meaningful dialogue. A televised presidential candidate or party leader debate during elections in the USA or Canada, does not qualify as sharing of beliefs and listening to each other.
But, there is a small wind of change happening here in the US next week. Republican and Democratic members of the House of Representatives will be intermingled for the State of the Union address by President Obama. We would be cautious to not see this as a kiss and make up occasion, where bygones will be bygones, but it is as opportunity for some fence mending, and some sharing of thoughts.
At election times, the will of the people surfaces to a small extent, but often gets blurred by political rhetoric and character assassination ads on television and in other media. The ads remind me so much of the family squabbles between siblings that happened in our family, and I hazard a guess, in yours. "Mom, she hit me." "Mom, he hit me first." "Did not." "Did too." You get the picture.
And so, the collective might of nations to govern themselves in the interest of the people gets lost, in childish power struggles and bickering.
Jesus knew how to make men of different backgrounds and leanings work together, even with their free wills. He gave us His Authority to use here on earth, to continue his work, to make the Kingdom of Heaven remain at hand. A successful marriage is the uniting of a man and a woman, and there is nothing more different than men and women, forging a unity out of their differences in love for each other.
Can we learn something from marriage, and from Jesus selection of the Apostles, that we can apply to the political realm in our two great North American nations, to quell the rancor and back biting that pervades our political climates?
As a humorous aside, here is a commercial shot a few years back about herding cats. If they can do it, we can too.
Liberals vs. Conservatives/Democrats vs. Republicans The following arrived in my email inbox today, and I find it interesting. It is a perspective, as is the quote from Margaret Thatcher and link to a NY Post article about Liberal Myths, and the truth about them.
What I found even more interesting was Father Clement Agamba's final prayer at the 7 am Mass at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton this morning. It was a prayer for peace, including peace between and among Democrats and Republicans, something that might be easier for him as a Ghanan citizen and me as a Canadian citizen to pray for than for the local citizenry.
A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very Liberal Democrat, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in Favor of higher taxes to support more government programs, in other Words redistribution of wealth.
She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the Lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.
One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to Higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to Be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by Asking how she was doing in school.
Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that She was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people She knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends, because she spent all her time studying.
Her father listened and then asked , 'How is your friend Audrey doing?' She replied, ' Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are Easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She Is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over.'
Her wise father asked his daughter, 'Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA, and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA.' The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, 'That's a crazy idea, how would that be fair! I've worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!'
The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, 'Welcome to The Republican party.' If anyone has a better explanation of the difference between Republican and Democrat I'm all ears.
If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!
If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one. If a liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.
If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.. If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.
If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life. If a liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.
If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation. A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.
If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels. Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.
If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church. A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced. (Unless it's a foreign religion, of course!)
If a conservative reads this, he'll forward it so his friends can have a good laugh. A liberal will delete it because he's "offended".
Here are the other two items a quote from the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, and a link to a NY Post article.
Margaret Thatcher, the former Conservative Prime Minister of Great Britain said in a TV interview for Thames TV This Week on Feb. 5, 1976, "...and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people's money. It's quite a characteristic of them."
Much of the problem that exists between Catholics and Protestants, is that our Protestant brothers and sisters have looked upon Christianity as a buffet, and not as a 10 course sit down meal served by Our Saviour. That has happened because the senses of mystery, including timelessness and adoration of Jesus, has been lost. But, in fact, who can blame them for moving in that direction? So many of the members of the Catholic Church who have always known and practiced the truth of the mystery of the divinity in ritual and prayer have not been good keepers and purveyors of this mystery. Shame on us, and shame on them.
Take the Catholic priesthood. The priesthood is a link to our Jewish brethren, and to the Great High Priest, Jesus. The ministerial priesthood is one of the great examples of the presence of Jesus Christ here on earth to this day.
Last week, something caught my eye at morning mass. At 7 am, there was a family with 6 boys ranging in age from 3-13 or so, and another family with two girls and a boy from about 5-8 or so. At communion time, the family of three children came over to the other side of the chapel, so that they could present themselves to the priest for a blessing as they had not yet received their first Holy Communion. After Mass, the celebrant, Father Clement Agamba stayed near the altar for a few minutes to greet the boys in the other family and shake their hands. These young boys then took time to pray kneeling in front of the alter and assisted in blowing out the candles.
This Sunday, I went to mass at Our Lady of Fatima parish nearby, and there saw little children jumping over to the line of Father Ray Ratzenburger so that they could receive communion from him or a blessing.
It brought to mind one Sunday morning when my own children were quite small, and we attended St. Justin's Parish in London, Ontario. The priest there was Father Pat Mellon, in his college days a big strapping tight end for the University of Western Ontario Mustangs, now deceased for many years. On this particular Sunday a little boy turned to his mother just after Father Pat passed him by and said in a loud voice: "There's God, Mummy."
At first blush these incidents are cute, and speak to the innocence of little children, but do they say more? Do these little children in that innocence know more than we do spiritually? Are they just not yet tainted by worldly knowledge? Jesus told us to come to Him as the little children.
I think the little ones have lessons to remind us of, if not to teach us of outright.
God had the Jews institute a ministerial priesthood to stand between the people and God imperfectly and ceremonially. When Jesus walked the earth, He did so as our High Priest, and so like the Jews he offered sacrifice, once and for all, to God for our sins. He stood in the gap as man and as God. Only God could come face to face with God, and only man could meet us here on the earth, since we could not be in the unblemished, and pure presence of God and survive.
But, He who was God every bit as much as He was man, chose to have man participate in His atoning sacrifice. How, you ask? Though as God he was every bit as capable as we were of nailing himself to the Cross, we had to do it, to participate in this atonement. We too, had to take Him down from the Cross, lay Him in a tomb, and go back to the tomb and see that He had risen from the dead, none of which was practically necessary for the God of the universe. And if one of us had been the only person on the planet at the time, the one would have had to do all those tasks. That's love, His not ours.
Our Protestant brothers and sisters say that His sacrifice was sufficient of itself, and we, as faithful Catholics should say a resounding Amen. Our Protestant brothers and sisters also say that only Christ can forgive our sins, to which we should again say a resounding Amen.
But, Christ gave his authority to the Apostles, with the intention of it continuing. So, we say in the Catholic Church that our priests, including Bishops and Cardinals are operating in persona christi, as it relates to the administration of the sacraments.
So, when a priest hears a confession, it is not he as himself, but he as Christ, Christ with skin on as it were, offering absolution, and conferring the graces of confession on the penitent.
When a priest comes to the altar of the Lord and offers the sacrifice for us during Mass, he is not doing it on his own, and he is not offering a new sacrifice. He is presenting again, and still the one sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, in the substance and form that Jesus prescribed at the last supper. In the persona of Our Saviour, this priest offers the elements to God for God to change them into the Body and Blood of Jesus so that we the members of the royal priesthood in attendance, can obey Jesus words to us to take and eat, and take and drink.
Children are not caught up in time and space, as we are. Therefor, they see things as they really are, not as we believe them to be as we get older and jaded by life in the trenches.
We have been jaded by priests who have not taken their vows of chastity and continence seriously, and have fallen to temptation. Though the statistics show that the percentage of priests who fall into sexual sin is not greater than other parts of society, their sin destroys for many the image of in persona christi. They are called to live lives of holiness, like Jesus, and to present Him to us. When a priest leaves the priesthood to marry, or commits a crime, or even when he tries to be just one of the boys, rather than being set apart, we all suffer. (The problem is not being one of the boys, but being just one of the boys.)
We are their families, you and me. They have a responsibility to be Christlike for us, to show us the way, but it is not all on their shoulders. WE owe them the responsibility to pray diligently for them, because the temptations are great, and without proper prayer cover from the faithful, the road is very hard indeed, not impossible, but very hard.
Father, as a great gift to us, you call many men to be ordained to the Catholic priesthood, and many listen to and follow that call. Sadly, some have fallen by the wayside, and without our prayerful support more will fall. But, that is not as it should be Father, and so we, the royal priests, intercede on their behalf with you Father, for their protection, for their encouragement, for their sanctity.
Mother Mary, surround these precious brothers of ours with your mantle of protection, as they strive daily to represent your Son, Jesus for us in daily life.
Saint Michael and our guardian angels, come defend them (and us) in battle, Be their (and our) safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray, and do thou o prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of their (and our) souls. Amen.
Yesterday was the funeral of Christina Taylor Green, a precious 9 year old who went to meet her Congresswoman to learn more about the American political system. Caught in the midst of a senseless shooting by a deranged man, she and 5 others were murdered, while the Congresswoman and 12 others were wounded.
Yesterday, I touched on some of the tangible Signs of the Arizona Tragedy that I witnessed as I went to Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton church for morning mass. The funeral was held in mid afternoon.
This morning, I went up once again for morning mass, not knowing what to expect, but thinking something might be up, with today being the funeral mass for respected Federal Judge John Roll, and it also being scheduled for mid morning.
All was quiet as I parked my car in the north parking lot, rather than the south as per yesterday, and approached the chapel entrance. The only sign of anything in the early hours of the still dark morning was that the door was locked and had to be opened for me by a parishioner. My prayers and the prayers of others in the chapel at the time before mass for those involved in this tragedy were uneventful, and Mass proceeded as the Mass does. Father Clement Agamba was the celebrant, and was clearly under some direction to get on with it. There were no prayers of the faithful,the homily was brief, and Mass was over a few minutes early.
As I made my way to the parking lot to get my car, I noticed across the street, that news trucks for many stations were already assembled there, and police were directing traffic already.
I pondered this as I drove, and listened to Gus Lloyd on the Catholic Channel during the last half hour of his morning show. However, as I drove south on Interstate 10 through the heart of Tucson to our winter home, Gus had an interview with Bishop Gerald Kikanas, the Bishop and shepherd of the Diocese of Tucson.
A couple of years ago, I was here in Tucson, and was involved with 40 Days for Life, praying in front of abortion mill with other Tusconans. On the 40th day, there was a special prayer vigil led by one of the priests of the diocese, but Bishop Kikanas made an appearance. He had just arrived the day before from the periodic visits that groups of Bishops make to the Holy See, and so was jet lagged and clearly fatigued. Yet, he made an effort to greet and speak briefly with all gathered there. As he shook my hand, made eye contact and greeted me, I felt blessed to have met the local shepherd.
This morning his leader's faith and love reached out to me and to anyone listening to their satellite radio at the moment. This gentle man of faith has reached out to his flock in this time of tragedy. When the tragedy occurred, Bishop Kikanas was once again overseas, in Jerusalem this time, and immediately made arrangements to return home to be with his people. Even before he left Jerusalem, he had sent a letter by email to the parishes of the diocese, expressing his deep sorrow and desire to be one with those he loves so much. This letter was read at the masses at SEAS last Sunday.
When Bishop Kikanas arrived home, he went to the hospitals and visited with a number of the sick, and reached out to the families of the deceased.
The Bishop presided yesterday at Christina Taylor Green's funeral, and spoke of the liturgy that was held to bid her body adieu. He made mention of the selection of the passages from Ecclesiastes about a time for every season, a time to live, a time to die, and spoke about her love of dance, and love of sports. She was a pretty good baseball player, better than most of the boys her age. Her pedigree as the grand daughter of former major league pitcher Dallas Green, and daughter of an LA Dodgers scout probably helped with her ball playing. He told the children who sang with her in her church choir that though they are pretty good, and she loved singing with them, that she is now singing in the celestial choir.
Last evening, he was at the wake for Judge John Roll. He spoke of how Judge Roll was looked up to by other lawyers in the community, as a mentor, and how his participation in things of faith in the community and in the judicial aspects of the community will be missed.
He related how he had phoned the judge's wife from Jerusalem when he heard of the tragedy, and of her conversation with him. Mrs. Roll stated that her husband told her that morning that he was going out to mass, and would stop by to see Congresswoman Giffords on his way home, because she was going to be just a few blocks away from their residence. He never made it home, at least not to that home.
Today, Bishop Kikanas will preside at Judge Roll's funeral, and will have the opportunity to bid adieu to his mortal remains as well.
As the Bishop spoke, my eyes welled up with tears, to hear his love for his community, and to hear how he and other faith leaders in the community had gathered to discuss joint responses to what has happened.
It has been said that: "That which does not kill you, makes you stronger." But, as well, that which kills you, can only kill the body, and so in faith we know that Christina Taylor Green and Judge John Roll are with our Saviour in heaven. We hope and pray the same for the 4 others killed so senselessly in Tucson last Saturday.
For those who were injured, we pray that they will be made stronger, stronger in the seeds of faith that are inside them, stronger in their respect for human life in all its stages, and that they will become witnesses of the healing and saving power of God.
The tragedy has passed. The healing has begun, and those who mourn today will one day laugh again.
When President Obama was here in Tucson on Wednesday, he spoke words of healing, and did not point fingers. In fact, he was a leader of the people, not a politician. He left partisan politics and policies behind and came to be with a wounded section of the American people.
All will be well. All will be well. All manner of things will be well.
Here in sunny Arizona, I have lots of time to ponder my life, with a focus on Life in My Saviour Jesus Christ, but also on the wonderful marriage I share with My Dear Wife, and the many other blessings that come my way regularly, whether I happen to notice them or not.
So, as I lay on my bed the other morning, some thoughts came to me about the year that has recently passed into the record books. The Coles/Cliffs notes version can be summed up quite simply in the Don Moen song, God is Good at the bottom of this page.
Here are just a few things that come to mind about 2010.
In early 2010, on January 5, I had the opportunity to get together with an old friend, a wonderful priest by the name of Father Michael Prieur. I bumped into him at a gathering in our parish a few months before, and had cause to defend him here on my blog. On this particular day, I was going to see him to discuss the matters that had been contentious over the Internet, though knowing there were issues greater than I had any right to ask about or question, our time together became so much more. Father Prieur is a priest I have loved and admired for many years. I know him as faithful, prayerful and committed to working for his bishop, and for the good of our Church in all that he does.
We had a delightful time sharing how our lives had evolved since we had last met several years prior, and I became aware that we were not alone in the parlour where we met, but were in the presence of Jesus as well. I wrote about it at the time.
As I met with Father Prieur on January 5, and the spiritual high and revelation of the profound nature of our meeting welled up in me and burst forth on January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany in the Church calendar, it was for me another one of those epiphany moments that have happened to me on that particular Feast Day from time to time.
As I have stated on this blog many times, I have a great and growing affinity for our ordained priests, and Father Prieur is at or near the top of my list of those I hold in highest regard.
My Dear Wife and I then left for Arizona and spent most of 2 months enjoying the sunshine and beauty of that state. I enjoy particularly spending time with her when we do not have to share it with others, and once more cannot wait for her to join me here; soon I hope.
While we were here, I went to daily mass at Our Lady of Fatima parish nearby, but also travelled up to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish on the north side of town, where Father Clement Agamba, formerly the Associate at OLF is now situated. One particular morning, after I had had a fight with My Dear Wife, which happens seldom, I went to mass there and met Father Clement for confession after mass.
When we returned to Canada, it was Lent, and I was invited by my prayer partners, Wayne Zimmer, Deacon George Sebok, and Dennis Rivest to join them for morning prayer. We met almost every weekday morning at 6 am for the remainder of the year, praying the Liturgy of the Hours, sharing what was going on in our lives, and praying for needs that we were aware of. We sat in front of the tabernacle in the small chapel at St. George Parish in London, and were blessed many times during our prayers.
Although it was Lent in March, we had a family gathering to celebrate my 60th birthday. It was a treat to spend time with my family on that day.
My Dear Wife and I were to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary this past summer, and one thing was missing. We had been married 10 years earlier in Newfoundland. We had basically eloped, and had not been married by a Catholic priest. It was something we regretted and wanted to correct, but these last several years have been very difficult health wise for both of us, and so time had passed with no resolution. We agreed that the most important thing we could do for our 10th anniversary would be to correct the error, and be joined sacramentally and properly within the Church.
We met with our pastor, Father John Pirt, and in front of family and friends ministered the sacrament to each other, just prior to our anniversary. One particular blessing for us on that day was that Father Tim Moyle of Where the Rubber Hits the Road, said mass for us that afternoon at his cottage, and the blessing from that traveled over time and space and was gratefully received by us.
In mid September MDW and I set out on a journey to see Arizona in the fall, as well as some other sights along the way. We were able to get together with her son Cameron in Topeka Kansas, where he was working at the time, and enjoyed dinner with him there. We saw some of the beauty of Colorado, and northern Arizona particularly, and made our way back to our stomping grounds here in Tucson, with the purpose of purchasing a park model trailer for our winter use, since the motor home seemed to be shrinking on us, and felt very cramped.
Herself had to return home to London shortly after we arrived in Tucson, but not before we had found the park model we wanted. I was forced to stay here in Arizona for a few weeks without her, while she attended to some matters at home. Forced, I tell you, to soak up the sunshine and glorious weather here at the time.
I had discovered the Catholic Channel on XM Radio, which the new car we had purchased prior to our trip had come equipped with. I particularly enjoyed it on my drive back to Canada, and then had it in the house for a time as well. The highlight of listening to XM in 2010 was the Drain Me of Me prayer that the host of Seize the Day on the Catholic Channel, Gus Lloyd, received and shared with listeners in November. That has become a staple of my daily prayers and also became one for our morning gatherings for Liturgy of the Hours, after I returned. You can see it over on the left of this blog, and I wrote about it here.
The year drew to a close with enjoyable Christmas celebrations with our family and extended family over 3 days.
Then I headed for Arizona on my own, as MDW had to remain behind for a sudden doctor's appointment, scheduled for later this week, and we had a transaction to complete on the park model we had purchased. I arrived on December 29, took possession of the park model late on the 30th, and woke up on the last day of the year with the intention of going up to SEAS to attend mass at 7 am.
As I looked up from my prayers when mass was beginning, I saw Father Clement enter from the side entrance to the altar to say the mass. As there are several priests who share the masses at SEAS, I had no expectation that he would be the celebrant.
Father Clement says mass with a wonderful reverence for the Eucharist, the real presence of Our Saviour, and I was caught up in the wonder of it all. As I approached him for communion, he gently placed the host in my hand. At that instant, as I gazed at Jesus present in my hand, I wanted to clutch Him to my breast, as tears started to form in the corners of my eyes. But, I received the host and swallowed it, knowing that the unknowable had just happened, that He, His Body and Blood, in the form of bread, had entered my body.
After mass, I stayed to pray for a few minutes, and then got up to leave as my phone was suddenly vibrating in my pocket. I missed the call, (though I returned it minutes later), which was from herself, but by leaving the church at that moment, I was greeted near the entrance by Father Clement with his beautiful smile of Easter joy. Father Clement, being from Ghana, is very darkly complected, so when he smiles, the whites of his eyes, and his teeth contrast with the ebony of his skin, and his face lights up. We hugged, chatted for a few minutes, and then both of us had to go on our way.
I ended the year more in love with My Saviour than I could have imagined, and more desirous of receiving Him in the Eucharist than ever before. I ended the year more in love with My Dear Wife than ever before, and I cannot wait to see her. I ended the year more in love with our devoted Catholic priests, not only the ones I know, but the many, many others who faithfully serve Our Lord in the courage of their vocation. Finally, I ended the year more in love with the fine men who have been my prayer partners during this past year, and those who will join me in prayer in 2011, and with all those I encountered last year, particularly our family and friends.
As we celebrate World Priest Day, 2010, I offer my prayers and heartfelt gratitude to all the priests who have in one way or another touched my life, those who have celebrated the sacraments with me, those who have written things that have inspired me, those who have prayed and worked to overcome the challenges that have come their way that would crush weaker men.
They have included Father John Pirt, our pastor at St. George Parish here in London, Ontario, who celebrated with My Dear Wife and I and gathered friends and relatives, this past summer, the convalidation of our marriage in the Catholic Church. Of course, I think also of Father Sam Johnston, the 84 year old retired priest of our diocese, who challenged me (and My Dear Wife indirectly) to get on with it, and Father Tim Moyle, the author of Where the Rubber Hits the Road blog, who on the day of our convalidation said his own mass for us.
Other priests have ministered to me or us over the recent years, our former pastor Father Jim Mockler, and Father Clement Agamba, of Tucson, by way of Ghana.
One priest has stood out in my mind for many, many years, Father Michael Prieur, of St. Peter's Seminary, a priest faithful to his vocation of teaching young priest aspirants in the ways of our beautiful Church, and who has so often shared his smile, and wisdom with me, even if I was not listening, or if he thought I was not listening with my heart.
Over the years, I have met priests at St. Peter's Seminary who have become bishops, Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary, and Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto. I also have had the opportunity to meet and speak with the retired Bishop of London, Ontario, John Michael Sherlock, both prior to his retirement and subsequently. These men do not really know who I am, as my encountering them was brief, but they touched me with their faith and faithfulness, and their humanity.
I have encountered some priests by their faithful writing in defense of Holy Mother the Church on the Internet, including Monsignor Charles Pope of the Archdiocese of Washington, Father James Farfaglia of Corpus Christi, Texas, and the afore mentioned Father Tim Moyle of the Diocese of Pembroke Ontario.
Some have left the priesthood, Father Chris Beausoleil, who was a close friend, and who taught me much will remain in my heart as a priest, for the priestly way that he loved and encouraged me for many years.
And there are two priests for whom I have an ache in my heart. They are Father Gordon MacRae, and Father Mark Gruber.
Those who have read this blog and the These Stone Walls blog Father Gordon writes, will know of the case of this faithful priest, who now ministers in the New Hampshire state prison, where he is an inmate, having been falsely charged and convicted of phantom child molestation, during a money grab by litigants, and failure to protect him by his own diocesan administration over 16 years ago.
You may also have read the strange and frustrating case of Father Mark Gruber, whose archabbot has removed his priestly faculties, in essence because someone used his computer (and subsequently confessed) to view homosexual pornography. There, of course, is more to the story than meets the eye, and you can google it and find out more of the truth, or you can use my search box to find what I have written and linked here at Freedom Through Truth.
These two men are living the Crucifixion daily, and joining their sufferings with Our Dear Saviour in a way that most of us do not have to, and maybe could not even.
But, all the above priests in their station in life, are "Alter Christus", and bring Jesus to us in the Eucharist, and in the other sacraments instituted by Christ to bring grace to His people.
Deacon Greg Kandra came across a posting of this rendition of the Litany of the Saints, and I offer it up for you, along with my daily prayers of the Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet, and Liturgy of the Hours, along with the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as I attend.
You, Dear Fathers in the Lord, are loved. May God Bless you all, and all other priests who have touched my life, and indeed all priests throughout the world, both living and those who have gone before, in your ministries to the people of God.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in your love for all these men, and all men who have taken Holy Orders. Mother Mary, you our mother, who love all the priests who are Alter Christus for your Divine Son here on earth, surround them with your mantle of protection and frustrate the powers of Satan in their lives and in the lives of their loved ones.
St. Michael and their guardian angels, come defend them in battle against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou Oh prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil ones who roam through the earth seeking the ruin of their souls.
My Dear Wife and I arrived in Tucson two weeks ago tomorrow, and had a number of things we had to get done, and some things we wanted to do as well. One of the things on our list was to see Father Clement Agamba, who was at Our Lady of Fatima Parish here, when we arrived, and who was an inspiration to us. He now is Parochial Vicar over at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in the north section of Tucson. Well, due to some family issues at home, MDW had to return to Ontario last Wednesday, cutting her part of our trip short. We agreed that I would stay on to complete some matters that we had started, and since she knows how much I love to be here.
Last night she called late, as some of the things she had to attend to were not working out as she hoped, and after we spoke I stayed up for some time praying for her success, and missing her too.
Then this morning I awoke about 8 am, and had on my heart to go over to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton for morning mass at 9 am. I hoped that Father Clement might be the celebrant, and I would get to at least greet him after mass. So, I threw on some clothes, brushed my teeth, and got out the door and into the car in short order. There Garmin gave me directions to make my way to church.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is about a 25 minute drive from Rincon where we stay. As I got near Church, the road was blocked off for repairs, and I had to circle back and find another route. Garmin cooperated and gave me new directions, except that the new directions sent me to a dead end. I circled back again, and then found another way to get there, with Garmin's help. It seemed a metaphor for life. We sometimes have to alter our directions, but not our objective.
I arrived in plenty of time, and found a seat. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is obviously a well to do parish. It is a magnificent structure, and for my Evangelical friends has padded pews too. My Evangelical and Pentecostal friends would also have been impressed with the Worship band. They have excellent leadership, beautiful voices, a piano player whose fingers flew all through the Mass, and a nice mix of bass, guitar, and sax to complement.
One of the charismatic gifts I received over the years, the first one actually is the gift of tears, not what you would normally think of as a gift, and certainly small in comparison to the gift of salvation and faith that Jesus gave me. Whenever I am in God's presence, I tear up, not balling my eyes out tears, but moist eyes and a catch in my throat that prevents me from singing or joining in a prayer at the moment.
I cannot count how often that happened today between the beginning of Mass and its conclusion. The mass was beautiful, and the participation of the congregation was inspiring. The tears came to me a few times during songs that were sung at the various parts of the mass, and at two other occasions during the celebration.
After the Gospel, Father Joseph Lombardo, the Pastor called the small children to join him at the altar, as he wanted to speak to them. He bravely asked them questions, as did the Deacon who did the formal homily after Father concluded his time with them. I say bravely, because you never know what children will say. His interaction with them brought a tear to my eye.
As the Gospel was about the healing of 10 lepers, only one of whom, a Samaritan came back to thank Jesus, Father asked the little ones about the blessings in their life. It was obvious that he loves the children, and that calling him Father is very appropriate, for he is their spiritual father, a vocation that he takes very seriously.
The Deacon then addressed the kids and had them help him out with a part of his homily before dismissing them to their lessons. His focus was on what would be good reasons for missing mass, and of course, concluded that "crying baby", "headache", and several others were not good enough. The kids had some good ideas why they were not sufficient excuses. The last excuse was "dying", and that was not a good excuse either for missing mass. Who needs the mass, or particularly the Eucharist more than those who are dying?
He like Father displayed his love for Jesus and for the congregation as he spoke.
At SEAS, they reserve a section of the first pew for returning military personnel, complete with a yellow ribbon. Two fine young members of the USAF were present having returned from Korea, with one scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan soon. They were in camos, and he invited them and two parents to come up to the altar for a blessing from him and the congregation. Yep. Tears again. The love the congregation poured out to these two fine young men and their families was palpable, and continued after the Mass was completed, as they left the Church.
The Mass continued with a beautiful celebration of Eucharist, more tears, as Father consecrated the elements into the Body and Blood of Our Dear Beloved Saviour, and then shared them with us.
I didn't get to see Father Clement, though I did get blessed by going there, and I will look forward to catching up with him soon, I hope.
I love being a Christian, and I love being able to receive Jesus Body and Blood at the Eucharistic celebration.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in your love for all the people of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish, and particularly for those members of the parish who are serving in the military, and may be in harm's way.
The most difficult vocation I can imagine is that of being a Priest, Deacon or Religious in the Roman Catholic Church.
Over at Illegitimi Non Carborundum, the blog of Father James Farfaglia, the Catholic priest and writer from Corpus Christi Texas, Father wrote about Celibacy and Authenticity here. His thesis for the article is: "The charism of celibacy has to be lived out with authenticity." It is well worth reading for those of you who are celibate in vocation, as well as for those of us who, as parishioners, should be celebrating that special charism with you, and encouraging you in that calling.
Meanwhile, Monsignor Charles Pope of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, has written "On the Silence of Pastors and a Call to Prayer" at the diocesan blog where he does much of his writing here. He laments the state of preaching in the Church, and quotes the writings of Pope St. Gregory the Great, who was considered Great in part for some very solid teaching, like the excerpts quoted by the good Monsignor.
It is his conclusion that rings most true for me and should for all faithful Catholic Christians. It is a call to prayer:
Pray, Pray Pray! Well you know what you need to do. Pray for us who are clergy and leaders. An old saying is true, corruptio optimi pessima (the corruption of the best is the worst) or again, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered (Matt 26:31). It is easy to criticize the clergy and well we deserve some of it. But realize this too, Satan has targeted the clergy, your bishop and your priests. It is easier for him to knock out the leaders than to go after the whole flock. Hence he targets bishops, priests and deacons. Send up your prayers as a hedge of protection around us. Pray for clergy who have become distracted and worldly. Pray for clergy who fear man more than God. Pray for clergy who have fallen under the burden of office. Pray for clergy who have been deceived by the evil one. Pray, pray, pray!
I know many priests, some better than others that I have met over the years. I have not met one who I have any reason to believe take his vow of celibacy with anything but the utost seriousness, nor have I met one who is not committed to his vocation to the very best of his ability.
The priests I have in my heart and mind right now include Father Sam Johnston, an 84 year old retired priest of our London Ontario diocese, who has gotten almost more active since retirement than he was as a very active parish priest, our pastor here at St. George Parish in London, Father John Pirt, who convalidated our marriage with us this summer, and Father Tim Moyle, who gave us the gift of saying mass for My Dear Wife and I on the day of our convalidation while several hundred miles away. I think of one particular priest who brings a smile to my face each time I think of him, Father Michael Prieur, a wonderful teacher at St. Peter's Seminary here in London, also a friend of the family, Father Jim Mockler, the pastor of St. Peter's Cathedral Basilica, here in town, and Father Clement Agamba, of Ghana and the Diocese of Tucson, who's prayerful gentle faith has inspired us. Then, of course, there is Father Francis Jayaseelan, formerly the assistant at St. George's Parish, a Rosarian priest, and the two younger priests, who followed him here to our Diocese from Sri Lanka to take on the responsibility for the Diocesan Shrine. There are others who I have only encountered through their internet ministry, like Father Dwight Longenecker of Greenville SC, and in particular those quoted above, Father James Farfaglia, and Monsignor Charles Pope, whose writings and faith are an inspiration.
And of course, in pondering and praying for those who are active in ministering their vocation in the free world, I cannot forget Father Gordon MacRae, who ministers from the New Hampshire State Prison, not as a visitor, but as an inmate. Father Gordon was wrongly accused of sexual molestation, as even a cursory review of the evidence demonstrates, and has spent more than 16 years as an inmate, yet remains faithful to the Church, and faithful to his vows.
These good men have all been called to serve God in a special way, and have been given the charism of celibacy, which helps them in their service. It is wrong for us to think that the charism of celibacy and the other components of the vocation to priesthood exempts them from temptation, and from being sinners as we are. They need us to love them, to serve them in turn, to encourage them in their vocation, and above all to pray for them, as Monsignor Pope has asked. In fact, we should not have to be asked. This we should know and should do as part of our vocation.
In the morning Liturgy of the Hours which my prayer partners and I pray together, there is a time of intercession as a part of the liturgy. We add special intentions that come to mind at the conclusion. A particular intention that I have had on my heart and have voiced regularly lately, and will continue with is somewhat as follows:
We pray for all priests, religious and deacons, as well as those currently in formation, or discerning a call to vocation, that they will follow the Spirit of God in directing them in the path they are to follow in their vocation. We pray that God will send His angels to minister to their needs, to intercede for those needs to the Father of us all, and that warring angels will protect them from all evil that would come against them to separate them from their vocation. We pray also that Our Blessed Mother, and all the angels and saints would intercede on their behalf to the Father.
Let us not forget these men, who like our Saviour have laid down the parts of their lives that we the laity take for granted, to be alter Christus for us.
This morning, as My Dear Wife and I were preparing to go and meet with Father John Pirt at our Parish of St, George, here in London, I was also reminded of other priests who have come into my thoughts lately.
Last week, Both MDW and I received a group email from our friend Father Jim Mockler. It was only a note that his email address had changed, but was a small connection that resulted in us speaking of him for a few minutes, and remembering how he has touched our lives over the years.
I also received an email from Father Clement Agamba, the Ghanan priest who lives in Tucson, who was such a blessing to us and to the people of Our Lady of Fatima Parish when we were there. He is now a blessing to the folks over at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish. He told in his note of a friend who had passed away, and it was good to hear from him and that he is well.
In our morning prayers recently, Father Michael Prieur of St. Peter's Seminary came up in discussion, fondly of course, as all of us in attendance know him and love him.
Father Sam Johnston of Ridgetown, our retired priest friend, comes to mind often. Though I have been unable to work on his blog for the past few weeks, his love of God and energy at 82 years of age is a blessing.
Of course, I am personally blessed to meet with Deacon George Sebok, a very dear friend most mornings, and share prayer time with him.
I have great admiration for these men, and for all the faithful priests and deacons who have touched our lives and continue to touch them.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in your love for these men I have mentioned and for all priests, deacons and religious, who have given their lives to love and serve you and to be a witness to us of the royal priesthood.
Sacred Heart of Jesus fill them and us with your blood.
Today, we celebrate the death of Our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Celebrate!! It would not be much of a celebration if we did not have Easter Sunday to look forward to, because in this death is the seed of His Resurrection, when without a doubt, sin and death had been conquered by God made man.
But, on this day, and in this year set aside to pray for and to honour our faithful priests, our alter Christi, I came across a meditation by Jesuit priest Father Karl Rahner, which a priest friend of ours, who was at one time our pastor, had on his prayer card for the day of his ordination, May 8, 1971. This particular priest is Father Jim Mockler, and here are Rahner's words:
"The priest is not an angel sent from heaven, he is a man chosen from among men, a member of the Church, a Christian.
Remaining man and Christian, he begins to speak to you the word of God.
This word is not his own, no, he comes to you because God has told him to proclaim God's word.
Perhaps he has not entirely understood it himself, perhaps he communicates it poorly, but he believes and despite his fears, he knows that he must communicate God's word to you .
For must not someone say something about God, about eternal life, about the majesty of grace in our sanctified being; must not someone speak of sin, of judgement and of the mercy of God?
So my dear friends, pray for him. Carry him so that he might be able to sustain others by bringing to them the mystery of God's love revealed in Christ Jesus."
But also on this day of all days, we are reminded of many priests that we know and love, as they seek to do God's will in their daily lives, in the midst of criticism, usually unfounded, but as mere men, ordained by God to bring good news to the captives, to set them free. We lift up in prayer particularly in no particular order, but all having a place in our hearts:
Father Sam Johnston of Ridgetown, Ontario
Father Jim Mockler of St. Peter's Cathedral in London, Ontario
Father Michael Prieur of St. Peter's Seminary in London, Ontario
Father John Pert of St. George Parish in London, Ontario
Father Francis Jayaseelan, C.R. of St. George Parish in London, Ontario
Father Clement Agamba, Parochial Vicar, of St, Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Tucson, Arizona
Father Tim Moyle, of St. Anne's Parish, Mattawa Ontario
Father Dwight Longenecker, Chaplain to St Joseph’s Catholic School in Greenville, South Carolina
Father James Farfaglia, of St. Helena of the True Cross of Jesus Catholic Church in Corpus Christi, Texas
and all the other fine priests that we have known over the years, and who have influenced our journey of faith.
Though it is the year of priests, we should also remember those who have been called to minister as Deacons in the Church, and we remember particularly in our prayers:
Deacon Keith Fournier of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia, and Catholic Online
Deacon George Sebok of Holy Family Parish in London, Ontario
Deacon Jim Donovan-Panchaud of St. George Parish in London, Ontario
Deacon Bob Hartman of St. George Parish in London, Ontario
and all the other deacons who have been bringing the good news of salvation to those they encounter.
Yesterday, My Dear Wife shared with me a complaint that she had about something I had been doing for quite some time, that she felt was not honouring to her. She was bang on, by the way, and I was saddened that something I was doing unknowingly, was hurting her. It is not what I want to be doing in my life. I truly love her very deeply. I did apologize, but not clearly, and not without reservations. Consequently, the day got worse and worse, and I confess to you dear readers, that I did less as the day continued to honour her, and make it better. We did not go to bed happy, to say the least.
During the night, I awoke to revelation from the Lord about what I had been doing. Over the last few months, I think my writing has been pretty good, and the Lord has allowed me to see things clearly from time to time for others, and I was a BIT full of myself. Along the way, I started to forget where all the inspiration came from. Also, recently, some areas of temptation in my thought life had been occurring, and I was aware of it happening, and did not put an end to it, but in fact went along with it. So, what I was operating in was pride, spiritual pride. In that pride, I had hurt the woman that I share my life with, and the one person I know on earth, who when she speaks to me, speaks truth from God's lips to her ears, to her mouth to my ears. This particular time I had only listened half heartedly BECAUSE . . . because my pride was hurt.
The last part of the revelation that came was the need to get myself to Confession, and to do that to go and see Father Clement Agamba, way up the road in north Pima County at St. Elisabeth Ann Seton Parish. Father Clement is a priest from Ghana, who had been at Our Lady of Fatima, when we were there last year, but was moved when we were back in Canada. His holiness and reverence for Our Lord had been inspirational to us, and I had gone to him previously for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
I got up early, and quietly left for Church, not at Our Lady of Fatima, a few minutes away, as I usually do, but at St. Elisabeth Ann Seton, 30 minutes away. When I arrived, I marveled at this beautiful Church and facilities, and followed some of the parishioners into a lovely side chapel, where they were praying the rosary. I joined them, and then they left the chapel, and I followed them again. They entered the main church, which had a few hundred people in it preparing for mass. The large numbers were attributable to the Parish lenten mission that was starting today, and to the attendance thereat by the youth of the parochial school attached to the Church. I had had no knowledge of this prior to coming. The priest, who was going to preach the mission, was saying mass before commencing, and I thought that I would not then have an opportunity to see Father Agamba, but remained in place.
The mission theme is "Forgiveness is the Best Revenge", and the priest gave a homily about Peter, as today is the Feast of the Chair of Peter, and his disobedience, followed by Jesus making him the head of the Church, not because he was perfect, but because there were, and are, none who are perfect. Today, particularly I can relate to that. So, I was thinking that maybe I just needed to know that for today, and would have to go to Confession some other time.
But, I persevered, and after mass did not stay for the mission, but went to the church offices. It was about 9:30, and the receptionist was on the phone with someone, so I stood and waited while she spoke with a person who needed her attention. As she was about to hang up the phone and as I was about to ask her if Father Agamba was in or expected soon, I turned to see him come in the door.
He remembered me from OLF, and invited me into his office. He has nice digs there, and we spoke briefly, catching up on the last year. Then, he graciously took the time out of his day to hear my Confession. It is a wonderful experience to confess to a priest with a heart like his. He is definitely an alter christus.
After Confession, I left and made my way back to our motor home, and to My Dear Wife, with a well softened heart, and a shriven conscience. There I asked her to forgive me for my sinfulness towards her, and graciously she did.
I have some things that I need to work on to better honour this dear woman that I love, and I also have a need to be more mindful of the temptations that come my way, and of my ability through the grace of the confessional to resist.
I have discovered over the last few years, that if I go for Reconciliation regularly, that my strength to resist temptation is greater, and the longer I am between Reconciliations, the weaker is my resolve to avoid temptation and sin.
What a blessing it is to be able to receive the graces of this wonderful sacrament, and to be reconciled to God so that we can be reconciled with our fellow man.
This is the last View from the Pew from this venue for several weeks. My Dear Wife and I will be driving to our winter location in Tucson Arizona, commencing tomorrow morning, arriving there on January 15, and returning some day in the not too distant future. From there, I hope to write View from the Pew about our winter parish Our Lady of Fatima, and/or possibly St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish where Father Clement Agamba, who I have mentioned in some recent posts, was moved while we were back home in Canada.
Today was about Baptism, and of course was punctuated by the Baptism of the two newest members of our Parish, two infants. What got my attention was when Father Francis said to the babies and all of us in earshot, "I claim you for Christ." Wow, that says it all for me.
Deacon Bob Hartman preached the homily today, inviting us all to live out our Baptismal promises. He shared with us that we are Christ for others and that is an important responsibility, not one that we do on our own, but through Christ who lives in us.
In other words, this Sunday, which bridges the time of our celebration of the arrival of Our Saviour on this earth and Ordinary Time is a reminder to us that we are not to put away the true spirit of Christmas when we put our ornaments and trees away. Instead, we are to put on Jesus Christ each and every day of the year, so that we might be Christ for each other and see Christ in each other.
My mother often told the story of the Christmas when I was about 3 years old. That morning, I awoke in my pajamas with the flap in the back, trundled off to the bathroom, and realised as I sat on the toilet that it was Christmas Day. Being 3, I did not rest on ceremony, but jumped off the toilet, and ran to the front room of our small house. There I saw presents under the tree that had been left by Santa Claus. With my pajama drawers flapping in the breeze along with my self, I rushed in to my parents bedroom, yelling out: "He's been here."
I awoke at 4 am this morning, excited that today was Christmas. Unlike at age 3, I don't have back flap drawers any more, but for the first time in many, many years I am so excited about Christmas that I could almost burst. But, my excitement is not for Saint Nicholas, but for the Saviour of St. Nicholas, and of you and of me. He's Been Here, Jesus Christ, the baby in the manger, who grew up and gave himself as a ransom for ME, and YOU. HE'S BEEN HERE. I want to shout from the roof tops, or at least from the Blog Top.
This excitement started for me over a year ago. I remember the moment that it began. I had been in Arizona at our motor home by myself for about 7 weeks, and went to confession to one of the holiest men that I have ever met, Fr. Clement Agamba at Our Lady of Fatima parish, before coming home. He is from Ghana, and has been a parish priest in Tucson for a few years. He has the most delightful smile on his face, that comes from this deep love he has for God. The grace that came through him from God to me during the sacrament was almost able to be touched, it was so real.
I have loved my wife through our challenging marriage and before, but I was never in love with her. I had never been in love with anybody, though I loved my kids, their mother, my parents, my dear wife etc. But, I was never in love. I loved God too, but I wasn't in love with Him either.
But, suddenly I was in love. The first person that I noticed I was in love with was my wife. I mean, I was ecstatically in love with her. I started to really notice how beautiful she is, how charming she is, how wonderful she is. This has built up over the last year. Now, I am over the moon in love with her. When I awake in the middle of the night I just want to hear her breathing. When I leave the house for some purpose, I can hardly wait to see her again.
When I had been going to daily mass in Tucson, there was an 80 or so year old couple Jimmy and Joanna who sat near me in church. At the sign of peace, Jimmy always calls Joanna "Deary" and looks with love into her eyes. That love of theirs was contagious. At the sign of peace, when my dear wife and I are in Church, I always touch her cheek, look into her eyes with all the love that I have, and kiss her lightly and lovingly. I call her my "dear" wife in this blog out of respect and reverence for her.
I also have fallen in love with our children and their loved ones, and our grandchildren. I love to hear their voices, and see their faces.
But, I have fallen most in love with the source of Love, the Holy Trinity. So, celebrating the birth of Jesus is now even more special to me than ever. Reba McEntire sang a song "Love isn't love" with the following chorus:
Love isn't love till you give it away Love isn't love till it's free The love in your heart Wasn't put there to stay Oh love isn't love till you give it away
That's what happened to us this year. We have been giving away our love. to each other of course, but to others. We started really getting Christmas in September, when we gave school bags filled with school supplies to poor kids, then gave quilts we made to the battered women's shelter, and place mats to Meals on Wheels.
But, specifically for Christmas, we gave shoe boxes to a charity that sends them to third world countries so children will receive a reminder of God's love for them on Christmas Day. Also, we bought food hampers for 2 families through our Church, and for a third family, we bought a food hamper and lots of presents for all of the family members. The other night my dear wife told me that the nicest night of love making we have had in some time, was the night we listened to Christmas carols, while we poured ourselves a drink, and then wrapped up the presents for the family we were helping out. By the way, there was no sex involved, but I agree with my darling. It was wonderful. The best Christmas gift we got this year, was that a family in need allowed us the privilege of getting the food and gifts for them in their humility.
So, I awoke this morning feeling so blessed, so loved by God, and so in love with God and my dear wife that I could almost burst. In my mind, I can picture the family we supported, and hope that they feel 1/10th as blessed by our support as I feel having had the privilege of sharing the abundance that God has given to us.
Thank you God for the gift of love that you sent to us, in Your Son Jesus Christ. Thank you Mother Mary for saying yes to the Father, and Thank you Jesus for coming into our hearts and lives.
May that gift of love that You gave us of yourself, burst forth from us all in this Christmas season, and throughout the year. I pray that that spirit of self giving love that you brought to us on the first Christmas Day will wash over all of us and our loved ones this day and every day of every year for the rest of our lives, until we come to join you in heaven. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the World.
