Columnists

  • Our brothers and sisters in Christ

    On Tuesday, April 17th, in front of our Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, pastors and members of several congregations of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod gathered to present me with greetings and letters of support for the Catholic Church’s stand against the unjust mandate of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that violates our religious liberty.

    I was deeply moved by this wonderful gesture of solidarity from our Lutheran brothers and sisters. I thank them for their strong stance in defense of religious liberty and for their commitment to stand together with us in this important matter.

    In front of our cathedral, Reverend Daniel May, the Indiana District President of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and Reverend Charles Gieschen, Academic Dean at Concordia Theological Seminary, delivered eloquent speeches in support of our religious freedom in the face of the HHS mandate. Many area Lutheran pastors and others came forward with letters of support signed by members of their congregations and schools and presented them to me. It was a great public witness.

    In response to this wonderful initiative of our Lutheran brothers and sisters in Christ, I expressed my heartfelt appreciation. I shared how we are all rightfully worried that religious liberty in our country is being weakened, the most glaring example being the coercive action by the HHS to force religious institutions and individuals to facilitate and to fund products that are contrary to our moral teaching. I also shared how wrong it is for the government to purport to define which of our religious institutions are “religious enough” to merit protection of their religious liberty.

    In thanking our Lutheran friends, I stated that we must stand together in defense of our first liberty that is enshrined in the very first amendment of our U.S. Constitution. Religious liberty, protected in our Constitution, is a God-given right, a gift granted to us by God. The support of the Lutheran community has given me hope for the new birth of freedom we pray for in our beloved country.

    I encourage all to read the recent Statement of our USCCB Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty entitled Our First, Most Cherished Liberty (http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/our-first-most-cherished-liberty.cfm). In this statement we write: “As Catholics, we are obliged to defend the right to religious liberty for ourselves and for others. We are happily joined in this by our fellow Christians and believers of other faiths.” In our diocese, we are happily joined by our fellow Christians of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and many others. Together “we affirm that our faith requires us to defend the religious liberty granted us by God, and protected in our Constitution.”

    At the end of our statement, we invite our Catholic faithful to join us bishops in “an urgent prayer for religious liberty”:

    Almighty God, Father of all nations,

    For freedom you have set us free in Christ Jesus (Gal 5:1). We praise and bless you for the gift of religious liberty, the foundation of human rights, justice, and the common good. Grant to our leaders the wisdom to protect and promote our liberties; by your grace, may we have the courage to defend them, for ourselves and for all those who live in this blessed land. We ask this through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, our patroness, and in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, with whom you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

    Posted on April 24, 2012, to:

  • ‘God is Love,’ a theological feast

    Recently, I went back to school for three days. After all, the status of “emeritus” should afford some advantage. The Institute for Church Life at Notre Dame sponsored a convocation entitled, “God is Love: Explorations in the Theology of Benedict XVI.” Over three days, some of the finest Catholic theologians in the world presented different aspects of the teaching of Pope Benedict. It was truly a theological feast and I was moved by the dedication of the presenter to the teaching of Josef Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.

    I first discovered the theological writings of Father Josef Ratzinger when he was a young theologian teaching at Tübingen and I was preparing a course on faith, which I gave over many years in the 1970s at Saint John’s Seminary in Brighton, Mass. I read a book entitled, “Introduction to Christianity,” which has become for many a kind of classic. It was a series of lectures he gave to university students. What struck me most was Father Ratzinger’s understanding of the difficulties modern man experiences in surrendering to a life of faith. His clarity about the gift of faith, its challenges and its strengths, was striking. Here is a thought-provoking reflection by this young priest-theologian:

    “Just as the believer knows himself to be constantly threatened by unbelief, which he must experience as a continual temptation, so for the unbeliever, faith remains a temptation — a threat to his permanently closed world — in short, there is no escape from being a man.”

    Pope Benedict said in a recent interview that Pope John Paul II liked this book and implied it was responsible for his calling Cardinal Ratzinger to Rome to serve near him at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It was there that I had the great privilege of meeting the then Cardinal Ratzinger and getting to know him during the various visits “ad limina apostolorum” (“to the threshold of the apostles”). It was my privilege to visit with him at some length four times during his service at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and twice more briefly during his time as pope.

    However, I must say that my early contact with the writings of this extraordinary theologian were minimal indeed compared to the wide-ranging presentations given over three days at Notre Dame. There were 11 presentations, and I was able to attend 10 of them. “Dictatorship of Relativism,” a term that Cardinal Ratzinger used in a homily just before he was elected pope, was the keynote. Also, we studied the influence of St. Augustine on Pope Benedict and examined the book already referred to: “Introduction to Christianity.”

    The following were among the wide-ranging presentations, Pope Benedict XVI and non-Christian religions, especially Buddhism. Mary in the theology of Joseph Ratzinger. Papal Ecclesiology as understood by Pope Benedict. Culture and Conscience in the thought of Joseph Ratzinger. There was also a talk given by a professor of economics from Milan on Catholic Social Teaching as presented by the Holy Father in his recent encyclical “Caritatis in Veritate” (“Unity in Truth”) and a moving address entitled, “Faith, Reason and Reconciliation, a Benedictine Politics for an Age of Upheaval.”

    We heard a wonderful presentation on the pope’s teaching on the Eucharist. I recalled as I listened Professor Larry Cunningham telling me at the time of Pope Benedict’s election that he believed Pope Benedict was the greatest theologian to sit on the Chair of Peter since Pope Gregory the Great.

    The University of Notre Dame and its Institute for Church Life deserve great credit for presenting such an in-depth view of the teaching of Joseph Ratzinger over 60 years. All the articles will be collected and placed in a book to be published by the University of Notre Dame Press, and a copy will be presented to the Holy Father for his 85th birthday.

    I attended this symposium out of my respect for two men. First, Pope Benedict XVI, a Catholic theologian of extraordinary accomplishment and distinction and as the world is now learning a holy and courageous pastor. I have also found him insightful about the nature of the priestly vocation. When I preach retreats to priests, I always make available two outstanding articles he wrote on the priesthood many years ago.  More recently, I share his “Letter to Priests,” written at the outset of the Year for Priests and his homily at the closing Mass for that year with 15,000 priests concelebrating in St. Peter’s Square.

    The second person, who drew me to this event is John Cavadini, former chair of the Theology Department at Notre Dame and now the director of the Institute for Church Life. He is the one who initiated this event. I believe it is his intent to present a book containing these presentations to the Holy Father for his 85th birthday; and he has already received a letter of appreciation from the Holy See expressing the appreciation of the pope for this splendid seminar so appropriate for a Catholic university.

    Posted on April 18, 2012, to:

  • Continuing the mission of salvation

    3rd Sunday of Easter
    Lk 24:35-48

    The Acts of the Apostles again furnishes the first biblical reading. In this reading, Peter preaches to the crowds in Jerusalem.

    Americans are very accustomed to preaching. They hear it on the radio. They hear it on television. It is a product of this country’s Protestant heritage. For that matter, it is an essential part of the Catholic tradition.

    Preaching, however, at least in the biblical understanding, comes not with personal spontaneity but because of a divine commission. It is a personal duty, and it means authority. It is speaking in the very name of God, at the behest of God. (Catholic deacons, priests and bishops speak for the Church, and the Church can limit the right of ordained ministers to preach for this reason.)

    So, Peter stood before this Jerusalem crowd as the representative of God. Most importantly, he spoke in the place of Jesus. He preached the Good News of Jesus. This reading makes two points.

    First, it establishes the identity of Peter as an Apostle. Moreover, he is the chief of the Apostles, speaking on behalf of them all. Secondly, because of Peter and the other Apostles, the salvation given by Jesus still reaches humankind. They continue the Lord’s work.

    The First Epistle of John provides the second reading. The epistles of John are alike in their eloquence and splendid language. They are alike in the depth of their theology and revelation.

    This reading proclaims the majesty of Jesus, the Savior, but it cautions that accepting Jesus as Lord is more than lip service. It is the actual living of the commandments, by which, and through which, humans realize the perfection, love, order and peace of life in God.

    St. Luke’s Gospel, the source of the last reading, offers another Resurrection Narrative. It begins with the two disciples with whom Jesus had walked to Emmaus and who had recognized the Risen Lord in the “breaking of the bread,” or Eucharist, reporting the event to the Apostles.

    Then, Jesus suddenly stood among them, no longer bound by location or time, victorious not only over death but over the limitations of earthly existence. He showed them the pierced hands and feet. He still was human, as were they, but also the everlasting Son of God.

    Jesus stressed that God’s mercy had been fulfilled. Humanity had been redeemed!

    Reflection

    The Church continues to summon us to the joy of Easter celebration. He lives! As Paul said, the Resurrection is the bedrock of our belief.

    The last reading, from St. Luke’s Gospel, quite bluntly presents us with a reality common to all human beings. All humans are subject to the limitations of human nature and of earthly existence. In the reading, the disciples who had walked with Jesus to Emmaus arrive. Limited, they had not recognized the Lord until the “breaking of the bread.” The Apostles, to whom these disciples had come, were bewildered and unsure. They too were limited.

    By contrast, the Risen Lord suddenly appears, not at all held by the constrictions of space or time. Son of God, Jesus still is human. His hands and feet show the wounds left by the nails driven into them on Calvary.

    Yet, Jesus is Lord, having defeated death itself, the greatest of human limitations.

    For humans, sin creates the most daunting limitation, as it destroys for the sinner that most precious of gifts, eternal life and even peace in life in this world.

    Uniting with Jesus, rejecting sin and sinning no more, is freeing. It is empowering. It is life-giving.

    Finding Jesus to establish this personal union is not impossible. Jesus commissioned the Apostles to continue the mission of salvation, offering it even to each one of us in our own place and circumstance.

    Posted on April 18, 2012, to:

  • The Masterworks of God

    Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades greets the newly ordained Holy Cross Father Matthew Kuczora at his Ordination Mass of on April 14 at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame.

    I have frequently been asked what is my favorite activity as bishop. Without hesitation, I answer that the most joyful and fulfilling tasks of my episcopal ministry are preaching the Word of God and celebrating the sacraments. I think our priests would agree that these are the most fulfilling aspects of their priestly ministry. As bishop, I have the special privilege of being the minister of the sacrament of Holy Orders and the ordinary minister of Confirmation.

    This past weekend, I celebrated four Confirmation Masses as well as an ordination Mass. This week I have an additional six Confirmation Masses on my calendar. I love visiting our parishes to celebrate the sacred liturgy, and particularly in these weeks to confirm hundreds of our young people. I enjoy meeting the young candidates and their families and sponsors, and most importantly, serving as God’s instrument in the conferral of the grace of Confirmation. Bishop D’Arcy is also busy during these weeks celebrating Confirmation Masses in parishes throughout our diocese, for which I am deeply grateful.

    The ordination I celebrated this past Saturday was my first ordination of a Holy Cross priest, Father Matthew Kuczora. I ordained this fine young man a deacon last August. Since then, he has been serving as a missionary in a Holy Cross parish in Mexico. The ordination liturgy in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame was truly beautiful. I believe there were about 100 Holy Cross priests who concelebrated and laid hands on the newly ordained. At the end of the Mass, I joked about an error in the liturgical program which had the initials “C.S.C.” after my name — indicating that I was a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross! I told them I was ready to take the vows! How blessed our diocese is by the presence and ministry of so many members of this religious congregation, founded by Blessed Basil Moreau, whom we pray will soon be canonized a saint.

    Newly ordained Father Matthew Kuczora will return to Mexico to begin his priestly ministry at the parish where he served as a deacon: Nuestra Madre Santísima de la Luz Parish in Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. He is much loved by the people there. A few members of the parish were able to come for the ordination on Saturday and shared with me how happy and grateful they are for the gift of this fine young priest and for the ministry of the Holy Cross priests there. As you may know, the U.S. Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross serves missions in Mexico, Chile, Peru, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

    May the Lord bless the Congregation of Holy Cross with many more solid and strong vocations!

    I titled this column “the masterworks of God,” an expression used in the Catechism to refer to the seven sacraments. “They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in Christ’s Body, the Church” (CCC 1116). As I travel throughout the diocese these days celebrating the Eucharist, Confirmation, and Holy Orders, and also other sacraments on various occasions, I see and experience the Holy Spirit at work. I am often filled with wonder, awe, and gratitude at these masterworks of God, gifts of Christ to His Church, to sanctify us and to strengthen us with His grace. God meets us in every sacrament and communicates His love to us. We are blessed as Catholics to have received from the Lord the full sacramental life. The sacraments are indeed the masterworks of God! They confer the grace they signify. They are efficacious. Christ is at work through the Holy Spirit. Of course, the fruits of the sacraments in our lives depend also on our openness to receive the grace Our Lord bestows upon us in the sacraments.

    As we prepare for the Year of Faith, let us be renewed in our appreciation of the masterworks of God in the new and everlasting covenant: the seven sacraments, instituted by Christ and entrusted to His Church. And let us celebrate the sacraments with faith, reverence, and devotion, giving glory and praise to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

    Posted on April 18, 2012, to:

  • Giving over

    During a rather passionate discussion on the multidimensional aspects of grief, a friend and I recently determined that we would have to agree to disagree. Our issue of contention? The idea of letting go.

    Frank had lost his wife four years ago after a long and arduous fight with cancer. They had been happily married for 29 years and he felt truly lost in the wake of her death. Now after three years of walking in the wilderness of grief, learning the lessons only loss can teach, Frank felt it was time to let his beloved wife, Julia, go.

    “I feel as if I’ve made a new life for myself. But I miss her and think of her still, though admittedly not as often. Why can’t I just let her go and get on with life?” he pleaded.

    His hope, I suspect, was that as he did his grief work and found his new course in life without her by his side, her memory would be laid to rest never to surface again.

    I have learned that our in psychologically-savvy culture, with its new age lexicon, we are sometimes led to believe that letting go means never having to revisit the issue again. By definition letting go requires a release of sorts. But while releasing pain is one of the goals of healing work, loss has its own agenda. Unfortunately, that only becomes clear years after the convoluted road of grief has been navigated successfully, with understanding and compassion.

    In my experience with loss I have found that even after the years of grief I charted following the death of my husband, Trent, that certain situations would unexpectedly draw grief to the surface of my heart. I had consciously created a new life for my girls where I felt confident and secure. I believed I had “let Trent go.”

    But I soon discovered that no matter the timeline, I would revisit my grief when it was called for naturally. On one occasion I found myself bursting with pride while weeping with undiluted grief at all that was missing as my sweet daughter graduated from high school. Then uncharacteristic rage surprised me when I was faced with a complex car repair — this because Trent was always my go-to car man — and where was he now that I needed him? You get the picture.

    With those situations came a distress over my feeling that I must not have grieved well or let him go if I was still revisiting my grief. Over time however, I learned that as we mourn the loss of a dear one in healthy and appropriate ways, that grief and the memory of our loved one finds their rightful place in our lives. The intensity of grief diminishes as our hearts heal, but our loss is forever. We will never forget them.

    Fortunately we are designed to live life to its fullest and the pain of loss does soften over time as we mourn. But I don’t believe to live fully again after loss requires a complete release of our memories or our past. On the contrary, I have come to believe complete release in grief is not possible. For me, as fully engaged in life as I am now, there will always be situations that occur even 22 years after his death when I will miss Trent, revisit my grief and readjust my worldview once again. And that’s okay.

    I have recently become familiar with the wisdom of the principle of giving over. At first glance it may seem a matter of semantics when the concepts of letting go and giving over are set side by side. But with a closer look we can begin to see the truth for ourselves.

    Letting go requires a release of all that is the issue, a somewhat final determination. Giving over only asked that as we do, we accept a sharing of the burden that we carry, knowing that, though healing is taking place, it is an on going and natural process. Because our loss is forever, we will revisit our feelings of grief when the occasion calls for it.

    I like this new idea of giving over. Shared grief is a lifted burden. I’ll always remember Trent, but my grief over his loss does not drive my life any longer. It only visits occasionally when there is a need. And I can live with that.

    Posted on April 11, 2012, to: