Author Archives: mcummins2172

Thoughts on the Sunday readings: God’s Strange Economics (Twenty-Third Sunday, A)

06 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by in 23rd Sunday (A), debt of love, economy of self-gift, God's love, sacrifice

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The Catholic writer and speaker Fr. Robert Barron begins a session in one of his video series by stating, “You are not necessary!  Neither you nor I are necessary!”  I have often thought that this would make for an ironic hallmark card.  On the front cover – “You are not necessary!” – and inside – “Have a nice day!”  But Fr. Barron is not being flippant in this; rather he is stating an important spiritual truth.  None of us, none of creation, everything that we see and discover around us – none of it is necessary.  All of it continually flows from God.  God alone is the one necessary; everything else from the largest galaxy to most finite speck of dust is dependent upon God and therefore not necessary. 
Whoa … this is heavy and it can quickly weigh heavy on one’s mind and life.  If all is dependent upon God then what happens if I really, really make him mad?  Does he need to be appeased?  Do I need to do absolutely correct every little thing that I think God wants done?  God seems then to be opposed to my thriving.  God, who alone is necessary, almost seems to be in competition with my freedom. 
This would be valid (Fr. Barron continues) were it not for one thing; “God is love,” writes St. John.  God is not the biggest unnecessary thing among other unnecessary things.  God is not the biggest part of creation among other parts of creation.  If these were indeed the case then yes, God’s presence would necessarily hinder my freedom, my thriving.  One limited thing always hinders, always limits another limited thing.  God is not one thing among other things; God is the source of all things and this source is love!  The presence of God in a person’s life does not hinder one’s freedom nor does the presence of God compete with one’s thriving because there is no competition! 
The quicker we learn this truth the better for us and the more easily we begin to grasp God’s economics.
No one likes debt.  I know that I don’t.  We want to be free of debt.  We work our whole lives to pay off debts – house, car, college – that we might one day be finally free of the weight of any debt.  In God’s economics there is a debt that we all carry, it can never be paid off and instead of denying life it brings life.  St. Paul, in his Letter to the Romans (Rom. 13:8-10) writes these words, “Brothers and sisters, owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”  We are all bound by the debt of love for one another, love for the stranger and even love for the enemy.  What a strange economics where debt brings life but when we live the debt of love then we, who are not necessary, participate in that which is necessary – the very nature and life of God!  
There is another component to the strange economics of God.  In this strange economics sacrifice displays wealth.  In God’s economics a large house, the latest gadgets, big toys (things which are not bad in and of themselves) are not the primary signs of success and wealth.  The surest sign of wealth in God’s economics is the willingness to sacrifice, the willingness to let go of self.  Authentic sacrifice is rooted in love for the other.  Parents sacrifice unreservedly for their children then, near the end of the journey of life, children have the opportunity to sacrifice unreservedly in love for their parents.  It may not appear on the cover of Fortune 500 but, in God’s economics, the surest display of wealth is sacrifice.  
The prophet Ezekiel tells us that we are to be watchmen (and women).  Part of being a watchman or woman in our day and age is to set our lives by God’s economics.  I think our Lord in today’s gospel (Mt. 18:15-20) invites us to carry this economics even into our dealings with one another in community and in family.  In God’s strange economics we all carry the debt of love and sacrifice witnesses to wealth. 

Fr. Michael’s "How to be Happy" list

27 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by in gratitude, happiness, prayer

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Recently I have noticed lists going around the social media-sphere regarding how to cultivate happiness in life.  I have decided to jump on the bandwagon.  Here is my list as of August 27, 2014 in no particular order.  What would be on your list?

  • Practice gratitude.
  • Smile and laugh.
  • Say “Thank you.”
  • Pet and speak to dogs, cats and animals you may come across.
  • Feed the birds.
  • Go outside when you can.
  • Use natural sunlight as much as possible.
  • Hum or whistle. 
  • Say “yes” when you can, say “no” when it is appropriate.
  • Make eye contact.
  • Stand straight.
  • Be curious – ask questions.
  • Read.
  • Always learn.
  • Enjoy friends.     
  • Pray.
  • Exercise but don’t care about how you look.
  • Eat well.
  • Get enough sleep.
  • Read the Bible and talk with God. 
  • Talk with the elderly, hold babies and play with children.
  • Plant and tend something.
  • Notice the poor, care about others and help them as you are able.
  • Recognize that you are only asked to do what you can and leave the rest to God and others.    

Thoughts on the Sunday readings: "Who do you say that I am?" (Twenty-First Sunday – A)

23 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by in Christ, grace, Kingdom of God, power to bind and loose, sin, St. Peter

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The Gospel passage we have heard (Mt. 16:13-20) is known as “the text regarding the primacy of Peter.” Yet, it is a Gospel passage that goes well beyond the theological debates of Peter’s primacy and questions the faith of each one of us. 

There are a number of lessons to be learned from today’s gospel.  As we reflect on this passage it is helpful to recognize the context in which it occurs.  After feeding the multitude and curing many people our Lord finds himself practically alone.  The crowd seems to be present when there is the possibility of healing from illness and when there is food to be had but then the crowd dwindles.  In a sense, our Lord, in this passage is left almost defeated.  After having so many people around and trying to make them into the People of God, he is now left alone – only with his small group of disciples.  Here is an important point to remember – the ways of God are not our ways.  God will not force his Kingdom.  Christ will usher in the Kingdom of God not through our world’s understanding of power, success and accomplishment but according to God’s terms nor will Christ usher in the Kingdom by seeking to cater to our every whim or entertain us with the latest fade.  Christ will always be authentic to himself, the Kingdom and the will of the Father. 

So, after the crowds have dwindled away, our Lord turns to this small and less-than-perfect grouping of disciples and asks, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  Then, he looks directly to them and asks, “Who do you say that I am?”  Our Lord is seeking to move this small band of followers beyond the limits of the world’s thought (in this case, the awaited messiah as a military leader and conqueror) into the truth of the Kingdom of God.  Will they be able to follow a crucified Messiah?  If they are to be his disciples they must begin to grasp the ways and the movements of God’s Kingdom.  

Peter, speaking for the community of disciples, responds, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.”  There is an important spiritual lesson here – Peter was not perfect when he made this proclamation of truth.  In fact, in the very next chapter Peter rebukes our Lord and is himself reprimanded.  “Get behind me Satan!  You are thinking not as God does but as human beings do!”  The lesson is this: in the life of faith it is more important to cling to Jesus rather than to seek to make ourselves perfect in the hopes of winning his acknowledgement and love or (another temptation) to present ourselves as perfect in the eyes of others.  (Christians who pretend to be perfect are like church buildings that have no windows; there might be a nice façade outside but within there is no light, no grace.)  We forget this all the time.  We want to have everything “perfect” – nice and neat – before we invite Jesus in.  Jesus does not expect everything to be perfect.  He just wants to be invited in!  Just let him in and then, by his presence, all will begin to be healed!

When we allow Jesus in, when, in our heart, we are able to proclaim, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God…,” we gain the true power of the keys of the Kingdom – the power to “loose” and to “bind”.  With Christ present, we gain the ability to loosen the bonds that hold us tight to our selfishness, our own love of self, our hurts, our petty indifferences and grudges.  These are the bonds that make us violent and like a slave.  When we let Christ in we learn to bind ourselves to that which gives true life – friendship, solidarity, integrity and service.  We bind ourselves to the ways of the Kingdom. 

In and through Christ, whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven.  Whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven

“Who do you say that I am?” is not some intellectual exercise that our Lord throws out there to test us.  Rather, it is an invitation which our Lord extends to each one of us.  It is an invitation to welcome Christ ever anew into our lives and into our hearts, that we might know life and become life for others. 

Thoughts on the Sunday readings: "…but all we have" (Eighteenth Sunday – A)

02 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by in Christ, discipleship, Giving, Kingdom of God, life, poor

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“…dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”  (Mt. 14:13-21)  It is a reasonable request, even considerate but God’s Kingdom is about more than our sense of propriety.  Christ wants to bring his disciples into a fuller way of viewing situations and living in our world.  “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” 
Christ knows that there is no one so poor that they cannot give something.  It is not so much the quantity of giving that matters as it is the quality of giving.  “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”  “Bring them here to me,” responds our Lord.  
We look at the violence and pain in our world, maybe even in our own lives, we look at the isolation, the fear and the hatred, we consider our own weaknesses, maybe our own sense of unworthiness and it is easy to say, “But, all we have…”
There is no one so poor that they cannot give something.  
“All I have are some old clothes and some used furniture.”  Well, for a week now I have watched cars and trucks deliver such items to our parish life center to the point where the space now looks like a department store.  I am told that for five hours next Saturday in a chaotic frenzy of shopping thousands will be raised to support ministries within our parish and local community, especially those that will aid the poor.  “All I have is some free time,” but in that little time communion and companionship can be brought to a sick or elderly brother or sister.  “All I have is a desire to live the faith and share the faith.”  Our young people need mentors and teachers; people willing to demonstrate what it looks like to be a Christian in our world today.  We see the violence and injustice in our world, we might even experience it or witness it firsthand; all we might have is the ability to not cooperate in this, walk away, and maybe even speak a word of truth and love.  We see a brother or sister in pain, all we might have is the ability to listen.    
“But all we have…”  “Bring them here to me,” says our Lord.  There is no one so poor that they cannot give something.  
For full disclosure I must admit that even though I shared about next Saturday’s parish rummage sale and all the good it does, I am going to be out of town when the chaos occurs.  It is not intentional, although I must admit I am not necessarily heart-broken.  Next weekend I will be in South Bend, Indiana to witness a wedding.  The groom is a friend of mine from the Boston Community of Sant’Egidio.  He is at Notre Dame finishing up his doctoral studies in Scripture.  The bride works at a Christian Community Development Corporation.  The reason I share about them is that in our last discussion they said that, even though they do not have much, they want their wedding and their marriage to be an expression of God’s love in our world.  “All we have is our love and our faith,” they are saying.  “Bring them here to me,” our Lord responds.  Christ will bless what they have to offer and my hunch is that our Lord will bring life to many through the love of Brian and Beth.  
Our Lord invites us to look in a different way at the very real problems and pains of our world and our lives.  It is very easy to look at the immensity of it all and throw up our hands and say, “But all we have…”  Our Lord says, “But you do have something, bring it here to me.”  
There is no one so poor that they cannot give something.  And in giving, life is found.      

Thoughts on the Sunday readings: Choices and Consequences (Seventeenth Sunday – A)

26 Saturday Jul 2014

Posted by in Choices, consequences, Kingdom of God

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Yes, we are free to make our choices but no one of us is free to deny the consequences of our choices.  We like the first part but we often do our best, individually and collectively, to deny the reality of the second half.  But all choices have consequences whether for good or for ill, whether immediate or some time “down the road”.  No person can escape the consequences of his or her actions. 

The key, for the person of faith, is to not only to choose for the Kingdom in a particular circumstance but to also develop the ingrained habit/discipline of choosing for the Kingdom.  I think that our choices are at the heart of the images that our Lord gives us regarding our relation to the kingdom of heaven in this Sunday’s gospel (Mt. 13:44-52).

Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a “treasure buried in a field” which, when once found, a person then sells all that he has in order to buy the field.  Or the kingdom is like a fine pearl which, again, a person goes and sells all that he has in order to buy it.  In both of these images the person makes a radical and extreme choice.  They sell everything, they let go off everything in order to acquire this one treasure!  Nothing is more important.  Reputation, security, wealth, relationships, advancement – they just don’t compare.  They do not matter in light of this one great treasure!
This is the choice for the Kingdom of God and there are consequences. 
…the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea … what is good (goes into buckets). What is bad is thrown away.  Thus it will be at the end of the age. 
All choices have consequences.  When we make the choice for the Kingdom, for God, for what is right – even if in the most trying of circumstances, even if not applauded but derided, even if in the face of persecution – we gain life.  The life of the Kingdom of God grows within us.  
In our first reading (1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12) Solomon was also faced with a choice.  God says to the young king, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.”  Solomon could have asked for anything and God knows this.  Solomon, aware of his role as a young king, asks, “Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and distinguish right from wrong.”  Solomon is blessed in his choice because he made a choice for the Kingdom of God.  He did not choose for himself – to build up his ego, his wealth or his power – rather, he made a choice for others – he asked for wisdom that he might serve and govern God’s people well and justly.  In so doing, Solomon mirrored the reality of God who is love who pours himself out for all of his creation and Solomon was blessed.  Life grew within him.
Yes, we are free to make our choices but no one of us is free to deny the consequences of our choices.  Our choices can help, our choices can heal!  Our Lord invites us to continually, in all situations and seasons, make the choice for the kingdom – that we might be blessed and have life within us and that his kingdom might continually grow in order to heal the pains and wounds of our world. 
The Lord was pleased with Solomon’s request and said to him, “Because you have asked for this – not for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but for understanding so that you might know what is right – I do as you requested.”          

Thoughts on the Sunday readings: The Grain, the Weeds and Tobit (Sixteenth Sunday – A)

20 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by in Kingdom of God, suffering, Tobit's Dog; sin, troubles in life

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This last week I read a book entitled, Tobit’s Dog written by Michael N. Richard.  The book is a retelling of the Book of Tobit set in the segregated South of the Depression era.  The Book of Tobit (not found in Protestant Bibles) is, in many ways, a reflection on sin, suffering and the question of why troubles come upon us.  Even if one does not go looking for trouble it seems that troubles will often come looking for us in life.  Why is this?  One thing that the Book of Tobit reveals is that even though God does not send troubles our way; God is willing to aid and help us learn from the troubles that we do encounter in life.  
At one point in the story the young Tobias is wondering about these matters while he and the archangel Raphael (going by the name “Ace Redbone” – a travelling musician) are on journey.  At this point, Ace offers some wise advice, “Tobias, life will have no happily ever after until that day when Heaven merges completely with the created world around us.” 
In this Sunday’s gospel (Mt. 13:24-43), our Lord gives us three images of the Kingdom of God – the grain growing alongside the weeds, the growing mustard seed and the active yeast.  What is helpful is recognizing that all of these three images are in process, they are active.  We are on journey toward the Kingdom of God, we are not there yet, and not only that but all creation is also on journey toward the fullness of the Kingdom of God.  Last Sunday, in his Letter to the Romans (Rom. 8:18-23) St. Paul wrote, I consider that the sufferings of the present life cannot be compared with the Glory that will be revealed and given to us.  All creation is eagerly expecting the birth in glory of the children of God.  The resurrection, the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God is active; it is transforming us and all of creation also! 
“Tobias, life will have no happily ever after until that day when Heaven merges completely with the created world around us.” 
We are on journey.  In this life there will be no ultimate “happily ever after” no matter the messages we are sold.  There will be troubles but we can learn from the troubles of life and we can praise God even in the midst of them.  One truth to be gained from the parable of the grain and weeds, I believe, is that we should not be frightened by the fact that an evil plant grows rather, what truly counts on our part, is to make the good plant grow as much as possible.  
If we, in our lifetime, can help to make the Kingdom of God grow even to the smallest fraction then we have done well. 
God is bringing about his Kingdom.  We are on journey.       

Thoughts on the Sunday readings: The Generosity is God’s (Fifteenth Sunday-A)

12 Saturday Jul 2014

Posted by in Uncategorized

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In today’s Gospel (Mt. 13:1-23), the disciples ask the Lord why he speaks to the people in parables.  It is a fair question and one that can help us get at the heart of what a parable is meant to be about and meant to do.  A parable is not a set of engineering manuals which yield precise directions and formulations once we figure out the proper “code”.  Rather, a parable is better viewed as an invitation to a grand feast.  It is an entrance into which we are called to enter and it is then in the context of this “feast” that life is found – we encounter others, relationships are born or nourished and all of a sudden there are new insights or possibilities gained that we could never have predicted.  A parable is a living reality that we are meant to enter into, move about and even sit within, which then brings us insight into how to live Christian discipleship more deeply and truly.  A parable does not need to explain itself and neither are we meant to pry and wring truths out of parables by our own effort.  Parables speak.  We are to listen. 
Through this Sunday’s parable of the sower and the seed our Lord is inviting us into the mystery of encounter with himself (which occurs according to our Lord’s own generosity) and the mystery of keeping our hearts open and cultivated because we know neither the time nor the hour. 
Our gospel parable might be fleshed out more by the use of another parable – a commercial put out a while back by Catholic Charities in the Philippines.  In the commercial a businessman enters into a crowded subway.  He is hurrying to work and is carrying his sack lunch for the day.  He notices a homeless man sitting on the ground in a corner of the station.  The man is dirty and obviously in need.  At first the businessman makes to walk past him but then he stops, walks over the homeless man and gives him his lunch.  
Now, a second scene – the next day – once more the businessman enters the station carrying his lunch.  Again, he sees the homeless man.  He tries to walk by but his conscience will not allow him.  He heads over and gives the man his lunch but things change and instead of seeing the face of the homeless man the businessman sees the face of Christ.
A third scene – this time from the viewpoint of the homeless man sitting in the station.  We see the businessman coming forward to give his lunch but now it is the businessman’s face that changes and in its place the homeless man sees the face of Christ. 
In both the commercial and the parable we are invited into the great feast of Christian giving and receiving and encountering Christ within that living dynamic. 
It has been pointed out that an aspect of the parable of the sower and the seed is the almost remarkable carelessness of the sower.  This is not a farmer who has to have perfect soil for his supply of seeds!  
Without saying it, Jesus is comparing the sower to himself.  His generosity in sowing seeds is entirely his, not ours.  The sower does not calculate nor measure his generosity … there is no part of the soil that he does not consider worthy of attention. (Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia)
At the heart of the mystery of encountering Christ and experiencing the Kingdom is a gratuitousness that can neither be programmed nor predicted on our part.  The generosity is God’s and not ours.  One factor of note though in this mystery is the condition of the inner terrain of our hearts and the need of being “good soil”.  This is important as the parable teaches us that the sower can sow at any time and in any circumstance – from a church pew on Sunday to a busy subway station during the week.  The generosity is God’s and not our own. 
The power of the Catholic Charities commercial is that it does not need to explain anything.  It just portrays a moment and it that moment the man’s heart was good soil.  He made a decision and in that decision the Kingdom was able to break through and each recognized the face of Christ in the other.
God’s generosity is sowing seeds is entirely his, not ours.

The Eucharist and the Burning Bush of Exodus: Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

21 Saturday Jun 2014

Posted by in Body and Blood of Christ, burning bush, Eucharist, Moses, Pope Francis

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Recently, Pope Francis offered these words during his Sunday Angelus address. 
Every Sunday we go to Mass, we celebrate the Eucharist together and the Eucharist is like the ‘burning bush’ in which the Trinity humbly dwells and communicates itself: this is why the Church has placed the feast of the Body of the Lord after that of the Trinity.

The Holy Father has given us some wonderful images to reflect upon on this Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ (traditionally known as Corpus Christi). 
If we look to the third chapter of Exodus (verses 1-6) we read of Moses’ encounter with God revealed in the burning bush.
Meanwhile Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock beyond the wilderness, he came to the mountain of God, Horeb.   There the angel of the Lord appeared to him as fire flaming out of a bush.   When he looked, although the bush was on fire, it was not being consumed. So Moses decided, “I must turn aside to look at this remarkable sight. Why does the bush not burn up?” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to look, God called out to him from the bush; “Moses! Moses!” He answered, “Here I am.” God said: “Do not come near! Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground!”   “I am the God of your father,” he continued, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”  Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. 
We are told that Moses wonders why the bush is not consumed and only after he decides to “turn aside and look” does God speak to him.  God waits for the moment when we are ready for him to speak to us.  We, for our part, must learn how to “turn aside” from all that distracts us, from the illusions, sad logic and passing fancies of our world in order to then be ready to encounter God.  God is present and is waiting to reveal himself if we just turn aside to look.  In the Eucharist – celebrated on the altar, reserved in the tabernacle – the fullness of Christ is present.  On every altar during the celebration of the Eucharist and in every tabernacle we can say that the burning bush is present waiting for us to just turn aside and look. 
The bush was not consumed.  God is not opposed to creation nor limited as creation is limited.  The presence of God does not negate my freedom nor does it negate my possibility.  God is not simply another actor within creation whose very presence necessarily limits my own space.  God is rather the source of all creation, the one who is pure love and who is non-competitive with his creation.  Christ is fully present within the Eucharist.  The bread and wine truly becomes the body and blood of Christ yet it is neither consumed nor lost.  When we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, we also are neither consumed nor lost nor oppressed; rather we are transformed into the very thing which we consume.  Through the presence of God, we are fulfilled. 
“Remove your sandals from your feet; for the place where you stand is holy ground!”  The Eucharist is holy.  This is why we reverence it, adore it, place it in a special place of reservation and come before it in prayer.  Our sandals are what carry us through our day-in and day-out lives.  Our sandals are the mundane and profane trappings of life (profane not in the sense of “anti-sacred” but rather in the sense of common and ordinary).  We are meant to remove our sandals, we are meant for more than just the ordinary!  We are meant for relationship with God!  In the Eucharist we meet Christ, we know him and we receive him.  The fullest form of friendship and communion is given to us in the Eucharist.
“I am the God of your father,” he continued, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”  Just as we receive Christ in the Eucharist so do we regain ourselves.  Moses had forgotten who he was, God remembered for him.  “I am the God of your father…”  Life can wear down, confuse and distract.  We need food for the journey.  We need help remembering who we are.  In receiving the Eucharist we are reminded again of who we are – a child of God, beloved of the Father, brother and sister to Christ our Lord!  And once we encounter God and remember who we are then we are ready for mission in our world.  Moses needed to know who he was before he could ever go before Pharaoh.  The same is true for us.  Before the pharaohs of our world (violence, sin, greed and all the sad logics that seek to divide and oppress life) we need to be constantly reminded of who we are, who our brothers and sisters are and who our Father is. 
Jesus said to the crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” (Jn. 6:51)
“…the Eucharist is like the ‘burning bush’ in which the Trinity humbly dwells and communicates itself.” 

Pope Francis, the Community of Sant’Egidio and their mutual friend

14 Saturday Jun 2014

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This coming Sunday (May 15th), Pope Francis will visit with the Community of Sant’Egidio at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastavere in Rome and will then walk a block to the Chapel of Sant’Egidio where the community is headquartered.  The heart of this visit by the Bishop of Rome will be an encounter with the poor.  Pope Francis’ friendship with and care for the poor is well known and is shared by the Community of Sant’Egidio.  When Andrea Riccardi along with a group of his friends in 1968 (all young high school students) heeded the summons of the Second Vatican Council to pick up the Gospel and read they quickly discerned that to be a Christian meant to be friends with the poor.  This realization led them to the slums of Rome where they began the first “School of Peace” – a daycare for the children of poor families.  Since then the Community has continued to walk with the poor and forgotten around the world and continues to learn the lessons that only the poor can offer any disciple of Christ. 
In one sense it is no wonder that Pope Francis and the Community of Sant’Egidio are having this encounter because it is the poor who are bringing them together.  It is like a mutual friend saying, “Come, I really want you to meet someone!”  The poor are the mutual friend bringing the two together.  Truth be told, this is not the first encounter of Pope Francis with the community.  Pope Francis has been a friend to the community since his days in Argentina.  In his role as cardinal of Buenos Aires he was supportive and encouraging of the work of the community.  But, even more so, he has himself been a friend of the poor throughout his own priesthood and life of faith.  From his biography we learn that Cardinal Bergoglio was not adverse to the slums and, in fact, that he encountered his Lord and Savior in the faces of his poor friends, brothers and sisters.  Pope Francis also walks with the poor and has learned the lessons that they alone have to offer.  
Being brought together by their mutual friend the poor is the key, I believe, to this coming encounter between the Bishop of Rome and this particular community of disciples.  Many people are talking about the “Francis effect” – meaning how Pope Francis has caught the attention and imagination of the world.  A danger in such talk is to try to determine his “technique” or, maybe worse, create a narrative which proposes a technique which can then be learned and copied.  I do not think Pope Francis has a technique in this regard; I think he just has friends and he loves his friends and wants to be with them.  Pope Francis is authentic and authenticity always attracts. 
As a diocesan priest and a member of the Community of Sant’Egidio I have found that my own priesthood and life of faith has been strengthened and often reinvigorated by my friendship with the poor.  The key word is “friendship”.  The poor are not clients, they are not a once or twice a year encounter (usually around the holidays), they are not a service project rather they are friends and this has implications.  I want to be with my friends, I enjoy their company, I do not have to pretend I can solve their problems it is enough just to be together, I trust that they also have something to offer me.  One of the greatest gifts that the poor have to give is the desire to just be together.  “When are you coming back?” is a question often asked by my poor friends.  
Currently, I am in a time of transition in my priesthood.  I am returning to parish ministry after seven years in specialized ministry.  A year ago I was also reassigned to a different part of my diocese (an area from which I am now moving).  The gathering of Sant’Egidio that I had begun at a Newman Center in this new location was just beginning its service and friendship with the poor in a low-income residence when we had to cease for summer break.  I find that my own priesthood and discipleship is not as strong and resilient and is easily turned inward when I do not have a continuing and faithful relationship with the poor.  There is a lesson here, I believe, both for the priest and the parish and it is a lesson that I have heard both Pope Francis and the Community share.  We can easily turn inward and become self-absorbed and stagnant in the life of faith and we therefore need something that continually turn us away from self and toward others and this means more than just our own particular circle of friends.  The poor do this and it is not a technique, it is an encounter.  It is friendship. 
Once settled, I hope to begin a gathering of Sant’Egidio in my new assignment.  I will do this both for the parish and for my own discipleship.  As I look to my new assignment and as I look to this upcoming meeting of Pope Francis and the Community by their mutual friend I wonder how things in the parish might be different as we realize friendship with the poor.  As Pope Francis has often said, “A Church of the poor and for the poor.”  I do not have the full answer to this but I am willing to find out. 
(If you are interested, the meeting of Pope Francis with the Community of Sant’Egidio will be live streamed on Sunday, May 15th, beginning around 3 p.m. Rome time.  To watch, go to the community website at www.santegidio.org.)                  

Three deficits brought to light by the Harvard "black mass" incident

17 Saturday May 2014

Posted by in black mass, Eucharist, Harvard, sacrament, society

≈ 2 Comments

It is interesting how an incident can bring seemingly rambling thoughts and intuitions together into clarification.  This has been the case for me as I have reflected upon the whole “black mass” incident at Harvard.  I believe that the proposal for a black mass and how it seemingly developed as well as the uproar it caused in response reveals some very real deficits in our current secular world and understanding.
The first deficit is a lack of comprehension in our society in terms of what defines “religion” and therefore a much needed societal discussion on both “religion” and what constitutes “freedom of religion”.  This is a discussion Americans don’t like to have and prefer to avoid if at all possible.  “You believe what you want and I will believe what I want and we will call it even,” is very much the doctrine of our day.  To some degree there is good in this.  Better tolerance than religious wars.  Yet, when people just assume that a black mass must be tolerated and even condoned by a university then something is lacking in our understanding of religion and religious tolerance.  Here is where things get messy, “religious” groups and activities can and should be evaluated and judged.  Not every group who claim the title “church,” “temple,” “shrine,” etc. should be automatically considered religious and therefore protected under freedom of religion.
We lack the language (and will perhaps?) to enter into this discussion and this is a real deficit in our time.  I am not here proposing a comprehensive answer but I do believe that as a society we need to have the discussion and develop the language and clarification needed.  To this discussion I would add this thought: I think it can be argued that a true religious practice protected by freedom of religion will not need to denigrate another religion in order to fulfill its purpose.  A true religious practice will have the ability to stand on its own merit.  A black mass cannot do this because it is meant, by its very purpose, to be a profanation of the Catholic Mass.  It is meant to be the anti-Catholic Mass.  In the black mass a consecrated host from a Catholic Mass is profaned – somehow a consecrated host has been obtained by either theft or deception and is then desecrated in the black mass.  Therefore, a black mass is not neutral to other religions, specifically Catholicism.  A black mass, in its very structure and purpose, is an act of hatred toward Catholicism.  Because of its inability to stand on its own, it can be held that a black mass should not be considered a religious act protected by freedom of religion.  Further, due to the fact that it’s foundational act is dependent upon an act of deception (falsely acquiring a consecrated host in order to conduct an anti-Mass), it can be demonstrated that it is an act of hate which, although it might be protected under freedom of expression, should never be condoned by a public institution such as Harvard.
The second deficit is an almost criminally negligent naivety about things spiritual and sacramental.  This was witnessed in abundance throughout the Harvard black mass incident.  Apparently the organizers could not even begin to comprehend why desecrating a consecrated host or even reenacting such a desecration (even if the host was not consecrated) would cause such an uproar and reaction from people.  Why should this bother people?  It is just another cultural experience we are exploring, similar to the tea ceremony we also sponsored.  That attitude of “just another cultural experience” demonstrates a profound lack of spiritual and sacramental sensibilities.  If one is seeking a prime example of living in a time dominated by a purely materialist understanding of reality then you need look no further.  This is it.  Further, on the other side, why should we worry about a Satanic Mass?  It is just a cultural expression.  There really is nothing to it after all.  Who believes in the devil anyway?  What real affect can it have?  In this incident we find either total obliviousness to any possibility of a spiritual dimension to reality or, more troubling, an attitude seeking to denigrate a view of life that incorporates the spiritual dimension and those who profess it. 
The third deficit is the university system itself.  Something is fundamentally off-kilter on our college campuses.  The weak response given by the administration at Harvard to the whole black mass incident is one example and it should give people pause.  Yes, I am aware that the university president publicly condemned the choice of the Harvard Extension School’s Cultural Studies Club to co-sponsor a black mass on campus and that she attended a public Eucharistic procession in personal rebuttal to the black mass but does it not demonstrate a deficit in the university system itself that something like this (which can clearly be demonstrated as an act of hate) could not be stopped outright?  Another recent incident that should raise concern is the White House having to call colleges and universities to task for laxity in preventing and truly prosecuting sexual violence incidents on campus.  A further pause can be found by reading College, the Great Unequalizer, a recent opinion piece in the New York Times by Ross Douthat where he highlights the book Paying for the Party by Elizabeth A. Armstrong and Laura T. Hamilton who explore how higher education and the “party-pathway” through college contributes to inequality in our society.  Here is a quote from the article by Douthat regarding the party-pathway as a mechanism of inequality: The losers are students ill equipped for the experiments in youthful dissipation that are now accepted as every well-educated millennial’s natural birthright. The winners, meanwhile, are living proof of how a certain kind of libertinism can be not only an expression of class privilege, but even a weapon of class warfare.  I have witnessed this mechanism of inequality on college campuses and I have counselled its victims.  There is a deficit in our current system of higher education and it needs to be discussed and brought to light.
This black mass incident has brought to light some troubling deficits of understanding in our society; hopefully we can find the backbone to move beyond the superficial to a true discussion that would begin to answer these very real deficits.