Archive for

2009

  • Epiphany calls us to God

    Epiphany of the Lord
    Mt 2:1-12
    This weekend, the church celebrates the ancient feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, reflecting upon the visit of Magi “from the East” to the crib side of the newborn Savior.

    The first reading is from the third and last section of Isaiah. After four generations of exile in Babylon, survivors or descendants of survivors, of the long past Babylonian conquest of the Holy Land finally were able to return to their homeland.

    It was because Persia, in turn, had overtaken Babylonia. Persia’s King Cyrus allowed the exiles to leave Babylon and to return to the Holy Land. However, homecoming was bittersweet. The land to which they returned after so many years was desolate and unyielding.

    The prophets insisted that, in spite of this desolation, times would change for the better, because God would not forget the Chosen People.
    This reading rejoices in God’s salvation. God will vindicate the people, delivering them from all their woes. So, the prophecy predicts a great new day!
    In the second reading, from the Epistle to the Ephesians, is the frank and direct statement that God intends salvation not only for the Chosen People but also for the gentiles. No one is beyond the range of divine love and mercy.

    St. Matthew’s Gospel furnishes the last reading. Among the four Gospels, only Matthew and Luke refer to the conception, birth and very early life of Jesus. Mark and John are silent on these subjects.

    Between Matthew and Luke, only Matthew has the story of the Magi. This story is one of the most profound and expressive revelations in the New Testament. Better to understand it requires recognizing the symbols and images contained in the passage.

    First, the Gospel speaks of visitors “from the East.” “From the East” was a phrase referring to much more than a direction of the compass. It meant a distant and unknown place. What was the origin of these visitors? All that is known is that they were “from the East.”

    Who, and what, were they? Scholars have not agreed on a translation. Some think that they were astrologers, in a time when astrology was heavily associated with theology and philosophy. Others think they were nobles, or kings. Another term is Magi, its meaning unclear.

    How many were in their number? We do not know, because Matthew does not tell us. Art and legend have seen them over the centuries as three in number.

    Regardless, they were gifted, learned and very sincere, earnestly seeking God.

    Herod tried to remove any competition this newborn king might create. He discovers that according to the Scriptures, the Savior indeed will be born in Bethlehem.

    Central to the story is that in searching for the Lord, the Magi followed a star in the sky. God was guiding them.

    Reflection:
    A modern Christmas song has an especially relevant message for Epiphany. The song is “Beautiful Star of Bethlehem,” words by Adger M. Pace, music by R. Fisher Boyce and arrangement by Tom Fettke.

    In effect, it prays that by following the beautiful star of Bethlehem in our own lives, we will reach the “land of perfect day.”

    The Epiphany is much more than a commemoration. It is a call to follow God’s beckoning to live in a place of endless light and warmth, the kingdom where Jesus reigns supreme.

    Too often we allow ourselves to slip into the role of Herod. We ignore, or outright reject, life in God by choosing to live as our instincts or limited human understanding suggest to us.

    We live in darkness and in coldness, for many of us literally speaking. The wonder is that there is a land of perfect day, and Christ, the light of the world, guides us to it.

    Posted on December 31, 2009, to:

  • Column is a conversation with the people of the diocese

    Coming to an end; and yet, a new beginning
    It is late Sunday afternoon and I am sitting in my office watching the snow increasing in intensity and looking at our beautiful Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. I just celebrated Mass there for the feast of the Holy Family and preached on this beautiful feast. It is hard to believe that this is (I think) the second last column that I will write as the bishop of this diocese. I began this practice as soon as I became bishop; and somehow by the grace of God, I have written a column every week missing only once a year while on vacation.

    The idea of this column has been to tell you what a bishop does and to share with you the extraordinary activity that goes on in our parishes. This is what I will remember most and cherish most, and what I hope to still enjoy; namely, the throbbing, spiritual life of the diocese. I usually prepare these remarks late on Sunday evening, sometimes after I have returned from South Bend. I always wondered what I would write about, but once I started taping the remarks they came full-force. There was always something interesting and joyful. There was always the life of the diocese and of parishes. There was always the splendid example and sacrifice of our priests.

    People seem interested
    I was always encouraged in meeting people around the diocese who spoke to me about these columns and how they enjoyed them. I have no illusion that it has been great literature or deeply insightful. I always saw it as a conversation with the people of the diocese, an attempt to teach and to bring alive for everyone all that was happening so that our love for the Catholic Church might grow.

    A heart that is full
    This is a great transition in my life and it is the intensity of prayer, for me personal prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, which helps me to understand this precious moment. On the one hand, there is the difficulty of laying down a precious responsibility. I am currently reflecting and putting together in my mind some thoughts that I will share with my beloved priests when I meet with them on Jan. 5 at Sacred Heart, Warsaw; a place where we have met so many times over the years. Over 24 years, I have made every Day of Recollection with priests except one, and part or all of every retreat. In addition, we have met to ponder difficult things and to give thanks to God at special moments. This meeting will be to share with them some things in my heart.

    A responsibility of love
    It is the laying down of a responsibility of love that is on the one hand difficult and on the other hand beautiful. The responsibility, so sacred, is something you carry in the center of your being. Indeed, the same could be true of any good pastor of a parish. I think it is somewhat like being married. Indeed, that is the ancient image which is given of the relationship of a bishop to his diocese. The episcopacy has been described as an “Officum Amoris,” an “Office of Love” or a “Work of Love.” The Second Vatican Council had as a central focus the spiritual renewal of the Office of Bishop. It has been said that the bishops who left Rome after that extraordinary meeting realized that the Office of Bishop would never be the same again.

    Challenges to be met
    My strongest realization as I live out these final days filled with joy, but also trying to comprehend every thing that has happened, is to put it all in the context of God’s love. I find myself not concentrating so much on those times when I should have done better, areas of incompleteness. I am aware of them, but the grace I am receiving is one of gratitude to God for all that has been accomplished.

    In my prayer, I place these years into the hands of Christ and of his mother, the Blessed Mother Mary, as my mother called her when she prayed to her at night alone in her room after she had lost her husband. Our Lady has been with me since I was a boy, and I can remember riding my bicycle during the month of May up to Our Lady of Presentation Church to attend May devotions.

    A period of time
    The realization that the church does not belong to any of us. The parish does not belong to the pastor and the diocese does not belong to the bishop. There is a temptation to think it so. Both the parish and the diocese belong to Christ. What an extraordinary gift it is, that the diocese is placed in the hands of a bishop and the parish in the hands of a priest for a period of years. It is important when the time comes to give it up, and to do so with joy and acceptance. It is a time to give thanks to God that he allowed me to care for this diocese in the name of Christ for so many years.

    Almost a quarter of a century. In my prayer, I have always felt unworthy of such a gift and that has intensified as the days slip down to a precious few. Unworthy, but at the same time very grateful and thankful to Christ and his mother for their constant protection.

    The promises made
    On the anniversary of my ordinations: Feb. 2, 1957, as a priest; Feb. 11, 1975, as a bishop; and May 1, 1985, as bishop of this diocese; I always try to sit down with the Ordination Service and read over the beautiful words.
    I will do it again on or near the Installation of our new bishop and this time with immense gratitude; sorry for my sins and failings, but trusting always in God’s mercy.

    Rise; let us be on our way
    Those words taken from the Gospel of Mark represent the striking title of a book Pope John Paul II wrote about his years as Archbishop of Krakow. He was sentimental about those years, but grateful and filled with thanksgiving. So am I. Pope John Paul II even referred to his guardian angel that protected him. I am also grateful to my guardian angel for, among other things, bringing me back and forth, often late at night, between our two major cities. I believe that this beloved angel kept me from serious accidents, sometimes just barely. However, in his special angelic wisdom, he chose not to protect me from an occasional speeding ticket.

    I remember one night, after the chrism Mass, when I had stopped as a result of an invitation to visit briefly with the Holy Cross priests at their provincial house. They had been to the chrism Mass and renewed their promises. So it was very late when I approached Fort Wayne, and I was trying hard to get home at a reasonable hour. Suddenly the lights flashed behind me, and I will never forget the words of the firm, but gracious, state trooper as he gave me a slip, “Be careful now, Bishop, this is a warning. After all, I cannot give a ticket to the man who gave me the sacrament of confirmation.”

    Recent events
    I am grateful to Mike and Dee Dee Dahm, and Steve and Marilyn Steckbeck, and a number of other people who have worked to prepare the house where our new bishop will be living. It is where the legendary priest, Father Tom O’Connor, lived next to the historic St. Mary’s Parish. They have done a wonderful job. It will be a comfortable, but modest, home for our new bishop. I will be meeting with Bishop Rhoades this week, and I hope he can attend two events related to vocations: The luncheon of the Serra Club and The Andrew Dinner — we have two, one in Fort Wayne and one in South Bend, and this has been a great instrument for the recruiting of priests.

    Congratulations to Father David Voors and the people of St. Mary, Decatur, for the erection of a beautiful facility — a gymnasium for their school with a beautiful hardwood floor. It was a joy to bless it this week. That parish is very devoted to the continuation of their school and it was a joy to be among them.

    And I will look forward to seeing you next week in this same place for the final time. God bless you all.

    Posted on December 31, 2009, to:

  • Podcast: January 3, 2010

    This week’s issue offers a tribute to Bishop John M. D’Arcy with his 24-plus years of shepherding the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. The diocese has announced the following: lifting of suspension of the distribution of the Most Precious Blood from the cup beginning Jan. 10; Masses of thanksgiving Jan. 3 in South Bend and Jan. 10 in Fort Wayne honoring Bishop D’Arcy; blessing of the St. Mother Theodore Guérin statue on Cathedral Square on Jan. 6. Bishop D’Arcy celebrated Christmas Masses at both cathedrals. We have another installment introducing Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades.
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    Posted on December 31, 2009, to:

  • Pope’s Christmas marked by calls for charity, security incident

    By John Thavis

    VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Christmas with a call for unselfish charity and solidarity with the suffering, and underlined the message two days later by lunching with the poor at a Rome soup kitchen.

    The pope’s Christmas was marred by a security scare on Christmas Eve, when a mentally unbalanced woman rushed the 82-year-old pontiff and knocked him to the marble floor of St. Peter’s Basilica. The pope was unharmed but French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray suffered a broken hip when he fell in the confusion.

    The incident occurred as the pope processed into the basilica at the start of the 10 p.m. Mass. Amateur videos posted on YouTube showed a woman wearing a red sweatshirt leaping over the security barrier and grabbing the pope’s vestments, as Vatican security guards swarmed above them.

    The alarmed congregation inside the basilica broke into applause when the pope quickly rose to his feet and continued the procession down the main aisle, looking somewhat shaken. The liturgy proceeded without further incident.

    Vatican sources confirmed that the woman was the same person who attempted to rush the pope at Midnight Mass last year, but was tackled by guards before she could reach the pontiff. The woman, 25-year-old Susanna Maiolo, an Italian and Swiss citizen, was taken into custody for psychiatric evaluations.

    In his Christmas Eve homily, the pope said conflict in the world stems from the fact that “we are locked into our own interests and our desires.” He said many people have become “religiously tone-deaf” and unable to perceive God, absorbed by worldly affairs and professional occupations.

    “For most people, the things of God are not given priority…. And so the great majority of us tend to postpone them. First we do what seems urgent here and now. In the list of priorities God is often more or less at the end. We can always deal with that later, we tend to think,” he said.

    Despite this mentality, he said, a path for discovering and appreciating God exists for everyone. It is a path marked with signs, he said, and at Christmas God’s sign is that “he makes himself small; he becomes a child; he lets us touch him and he asks for our love.”

    On Christmas Day, the pope delivered his message and blessing “urbi et orbi” — to the city of Rome and to the world — from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. He prayed for peace in world trouble spots like the Holy Land, Iraq, Sri Lanka and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    In Europe and North America, he said, the church “urges people to leave behind the selfish and technicist mentality, to advance the common good and to show respect for the persons who are the most defenseless, starting with the unborn.”

    The pope said the church began with Christ’s birth “in the lowly cave of Bethlehem” and through the centuries has become a light for humanity, most recently as it has experienced a “grave financial crisis” and a more general moral crisis.

    The pope then offered Christmas greetings in 65 languages, saying in English: “May the birth of the Prince of Peace remind the world where its true happiness lies; and may your hearts be filled with hope and joy, for the savior has been born for us.”

    The pope’s Christmas message included a call for “an attitude of acceptance and welcome” for the millions of people who migrate from their homelands, driven by hunger, intolerance or environmental degradation.

    On Dec. 27, the pope lunched with a mostly immigrant group at a Rome soup kitchen and language school run by the Sant’Egidio Community, a Catholic lay organization. The white-robed pontiff came with a carload of gifts that he presented to more than 30 children served by the center.

    The pope was cheered as he entered the dining room for a meal of lasagna, meatballs and lentils, followed by cake and spumante. He listened during the meal to personal stories of persecution, arduous immigration routes and homelessness.

    Among those seated at the pope’s table was Qorbanali Esmaili, a 34-year-old political refugee from Afghanistan; Roukia Daud Abdulle, a 63-year-old Somali woman who came to Italy so that her disabled son could receive care; and Boban Trajkovic, 24, who lives in a Gypsy camp on the outskirts of Rome.

    The event in the popular Rome quarter of Trastevere drew hundreds of residents who cheered the pope when he arrived and watched video pictures of part of his visit on a giant TV screen outside. They applauded when the pontiff greeted 25-year-old Aniello Bosco, who gets around the neighborhood in a wheelchair; he was abandoned by his family because of a disability.

    “I am here to tell you that I am close to you and I love you, and that your experiences are not far from my thoughts,” the pope said in a speech, before being serenaded with a Christmas carol.

    Outside the center, the pope stopped to personally greet many of the residents who packed the adjacent street. Despite the Christmas Eve incident at the Vatican, no attempt was made to keep people at a distance from the pontiff.

    Earlier Dec. 27, the pope marked the feast of the Holy Family at his noon blessing at the Vatican, saying that like modern immigrants, Jesus, Mary and Joseph endured many trials and hardships. He emphasized that the family is the primary “school” of values for younger generations today.

    One of the best services Christians can offer is the example of a sound family, “founded on marriage between a man and a woman,” he said.

    On Dec. 26, the feast of St. Stephen, the pope noted that the saint, known as the first martyr, was also the church’s first deacon, who gave special service to the poor. His example shows that love for the poor is a privileged way to live the Gospel and witness it credibly to the world, he said.

    Posted on December 28, 2009, to:

  • Pius XII sainthood cause not ‘hostile act’ toward Jews, Vatican says

    By John Thavis

    VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican has defended Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to advance the sainthood cause of Pope Pius XII, saying the late pope’s eventual beatification would not represent an endorsement of all the choices he made during World War II.

    While Jewish groups are understandably sensitive to all historical actions during the period of the Holocaust, the church is evaluating Pope Pius on another level — primarily that of inner virtues, grace and the witness of a Christian life, the Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, said in a statement Dec. 23.

    Given Pope Benedict’s respect for Jews, his signing of a decree of the “heroic virtues” of Pope Pius “should in no way be seen as a hostile act against the Jewish people,” it said. Once a miracle has been attributed to the intercession of Pope Pius, he can be beatified, the next step on the road to sainthood.

    The Vatican statement came in the wake of criticism from several Jewish groups, which said the advancement of Pope Pius’ sainthood cause was premature because the historical record of his pontificate — particularly during World War II — is incomplete. Most of the archival material from his 1939-58 pontificate remains sealed.

    The Vatican statement acknowledged that it would take several more years to catalog and prepare those archival documents for consultation by scholars. But it said the scholarly review of Pope Pius and World War II was a separate question from his beatification, which focuses mainly on “the fact that the candidate has lived the Christian virtues in an eminent way and has manifested his faith, hope and charity at a superior level.”

    It quoted a point made by Pope John Paul II in 2000 during the beatification of Popes Pius IX and John XXIII, that “in beatifying one of its own, the church does not celebrate the specific historical decisions he may have made.”

    That principle holds true in the case of Pope Pius XII, the Vatican said. While a sainthood cause must take into account the historical circumstances in which a person lived, it is “not a judgment on the historical effects of all his operative choices,” it said.

    An eventual beatification of Pope Pius XII, the Vatican said, was not aimed at limiting the historical discussion of his actions during World War II. It added, however, that “the concern of Pius XII for the fate of the Jews — something that certainly is relevant for the evaluation of his virtues — has been widely attested and recognized even by many Jews.”

    Taking issue with some commentators, the Vatican statement also said the fact that Pope Benedict had approved the “heroic virtues” of Popes Pius XII and John Paul II on the same day did not represent a “pairing” of the two causes, or indicate that they would eventually be beatified together. The two sainthood causes are “completely independent and will each follow their own path,” it said.

    The statement expressed the hope that the advancement of Pope Pius’ cause would not be considered an obstacle in Catholic-Jewish dialogue. It said Pope Benedict’s planned visit to Rome’s synagogue in mid-January should provide an occasion for “reaffirming and strengthening” the ties of friendship and respect he has formed with the Jewish people.

    Posted on December 23, 2009, to: