Synopsis of Holy Father's Catechesis for Nov. 28

     Boo!  Are you frightened? Surprised? No?  Well, that’s ok.  It wasn’t really intended to scare you, just like the readings of the past four weeks aren’t really intended to scare anyone.  These readings were intended to reveal or uncover the truth about those “Last Things” that we must all face – death, judgment, heaven and hell.  And what is the Truth that has been uncovered?  Jesus Christ is King and Lord of the Universe!  And now we wait because He WILL come.  When will He come?  Probably not December 23^rd (remember last year’s excitement over the Mayan calendar?).  But HE WILL COME and is in fact coming!  And that is what we are about for the next few weeks.

     In the early Church there was a very real expectation that Christ would come in glory very, very soon.  And, it was supposed, that when He came it would be at about this time of the year – a time of darkness on the earth in which the heavens portend chaos and tribulation.  Then, as it became apparent that there would be no Second Coming that year, the people of times past turned in that last week to preparing for the celebration of Christ’s first coming.

     For us, this is no less important a time of preparation.  It is a real gift to us that each year we have this opportunity, having heard and pondered the readings of the last four weeks, to better prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ in Glory.  The fact is, none of us will probably see Christ coming on the clouds literally.  However, we WILL all see Christ coming for us at the end of our lives here on earth.  The question remains, “when He comes will He come as a welcome and anticipated guest or as a thief in the night?”  The question is an important one and will only be answered by our own actions and preparation.

     The wisdom of God is so wondrous!  He sends his only begotten Son into the world as an infant and thus gives us the perfect template for how we are to prepare for his coming again.  I don’t mean that we should be looking for Him to come as a baby.  That has already happened!  But our preparation should be as a family awaiting the coming of a baby – ready to welcome that child into our home, a wonderful example that we see played out in our community all the time.  That means preparing a place for the child in our home.  A room must be set aside and prepared.  Our home must be made “baby proof” – that is, anything that would be dangerous or even unhelpful in the welcoming of baby must be set aside.

     We would consider the family that just goes about their usual activities as if no baby is on the way to be, at best, rather foolish and, at worst, terribly irresponsible.  We could imagine the shock and surprise of that family when a woman all of a sudden finds herself unable to shake this feeling that something is wrong and then out comes baby, throwing the entire family into chaos, confusion, and even distress.  We might even be rather sad for them that they were caught unawares and have been thrown into such distress.  However, it need not be so with us!

     We have been given ample warning, we who have taken care to see the signs just as a woman who first notices her monthly time has not come and begins to more clearly understand the other signals her body has been sending.  Now it is only for us, as for her, to do something about it.

     I encourage all to give yourselves the “gift” of truly and faithfully observing this season of Advent.  I know that it is so easy to get caught up in the cultural observance of this time of year.  However, let us rise above the chaos and following let-down experienced by so many at this time of year by using this time, as God intended it, to be truly prepared to welcome Christ as an anticipated and honored guest (whose intention is to stay for a very long while – just like that baby!).  In this Year of Faith, we are reminded in a particular way that there is a real and wonderful reason for this season.  Let it not pass unattended.  Let us not be found unaware and unprepared at the coming of the Lord – for He does come!

Remember who you are!

Synopsis of Holy Father's Catechesis for Nov. 21

     As our Holy Father, Pope Benedict, continues his catechesis in this Year of Faith he continues and deepens his reflection on man’s deep down desire for God.  He begins by reminding us that it is God who takes the initiative in enlightening and guiding us and thus revealing Himself to us.  However, He also respects our free-will and thus He invites us into the intimacy of a relationship with Him.  Pope Benedict quotes St. Augustine, as he will several times throughout this catechesis: “it is not we who seek or possess the Truth, but the Truth that seeks us out and posses us.”

     Pope Benedict next recognizes that while there are paths within the human heart, signs that lead to God, there are also many road blocks.  The first of these is the allurements of the world.  He assures us that regardless of these God ceaselessly looks for us because of His love for us.  He tells us that ‘this is a certainty that must accompany us each and every day, even if certain widespread mentalities make it increasingly difficult for the Church and the Christian to communicate the joy of the Gospel…and lead all to an encounter with Jesus, the one Savior of the world.”

     Our Holy Father next recognizes that there are a number of obstacles to finding God.  He identifies a number of forms of atheism coming from many different avenues of thought and experience.  However, he singles out a particular form which is particularly troubling in those societies wherein the faith was at one time well rooted and a driving force within society.  He calls this form of atheism “practical atheism”.  By this he means a situation whereby people do “not deny the truths of faith or religious rituals, but simply considers them irrelevant to everyday existence….”  He goes on to observe that “people believe in God in a superficial way, but live ‘as if God did not exists’”.  He points out that “by obscuring reference to God (in our everyday lives), the ethical horizon is also obscured, to make room for relativism and an ambiguous conception of freedom, which instead of being liberating ends up binding man to idols.”

     Pope Benedict connects these “idols” to those experienced by Christ in His temptation in the wilderness.  It is necessary that, like Christ, we look beyond ourselves and, in placing God at the center of our lives find ourselves in right relationship with Him and with all of creation.  In quoting the Second Vatican Council’s Gaudium et Spes (19) he reminds that our human dignity is found precisely in our communion with God.  He sums up the antidote to these idols in three words: the world, man, and faith.

     First of all he reminds us of the teaching of St. Augustine that it is precisely in the beauty of the created world that we begin to perceive the beauty of Him who made them and Who, unlike creation, is possessed of an eternal beauty unlike the passing beauty of the created world.  Pope Benedict also quotes Albert Einstein who said that the laws of nature “reveal such a superior reason that all reational thought and human law is but a very insignificant reflection by comparison”.

     Second, we can recognize the call of God in our very heart.  Unfortunately, we live in the midst of noise and distraction.  Thus, in order to allow the voice of God to be heard we need to develop the ability to stop and take a deep and honest look within.

     Finally, faith is identified as “an encounter with God who speaks and acts in history and which converts our daily life, transforming our mentality, system of values, choices and actions.  It is not illusion, escapism, a comfortable shelter, sentimentality, but involvement in every aspect of life….”  Thus, we need to make room in our hearts and our lives for God to reveal Himself to us.

     I hope that we will all take these words to heart.  The New Evangelization of our society is dependant on Christians themselves living our lives in, with, through, and for God.  In so doing, not only will we experience a renewal of grace in our own lives, but we will become even more effective witnesses to God’s presence and activity in His creation.

Remember who you are and pray well!

Synopsis of the Holy Father's Catechesis for November 14

     In his third catechesis for the Year of Faith our Holy Father, Pope Benedict reflects on how the desire for God is written into every human heart.  This is a wonderful and timely message for us today although, as he himself recognizes, modern man, and especially we in the western world, are too often forgetful of this truth to the point of being unaware even that there is a hole in our hearts waiting to be filled by God.  Our Holy Father reflects on the fact that this desire is “mysterious”, that is, it has been built into our very nature and yet we too often cannot pin it down to recognize what it is, or from where it has come.

     Pope Benedict quotes St. Augustine of Hippo when he says that “my heart is restless until it rests in you, O Lord.”  If we know of St. Augustine’s life we can see that it is a sterling example of how one can look in so many places, achieve so much in life, and still not find true peace and satisfaction.  This same Truth is reflected in the Old Testament book of Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) wherein the “king” attempts to find satisfaction in learning/wisdom, in physical pleasure, and in absolute power.  Finally he recognizes that no one can contend with God.  I even recall a Beatles song about a man who had everything and yet committed suicide because of this enduring emptiness.

     Of course, I don’t think one has to look any farther than the average child up to about the sixth grade to see that there is indeed a desire for God planted in the human heart.  As I have experienced our children over my adult years I have far more often than not been able to stir in them this desire to know more about God.  I have experienced in my own ministry and have heard in the stories of others how our children get so excited when we tell them stories of God and of the saints.  This experience convinces me that there is indeed a desire for God planted deep within the human heart.

     Our Holy Father continues then to examine the reasons why this longing is so often pushed aside or explained away in our contemporary society – especially in the west.  He recognizes that, “[F]or large sectors of society He is no longer desired, expected, but rather a reality that leaves some indifferent and not even worth wasting one’s breath over.”  But then he goes on to examine those little clues, those very human experiences which open our hearts to the divine, to that which is outside ourselves.  He begins, very naturally with marriage and family life.

     He goes on to express a need for teaching ourselves and our children to have an “authentic taste for the joys of life”.  In this, he means those things which produce a “lasting satisfaction” in the heart and soul.

He recognizes in particular a need to re-acquire a taste for those joys which are found in “family, friendship, solidarity with those who suffer, renouncing of oneself to serve others, love for knowledge, for art, for the beauty of nature”.  He says that “this means exercising the inner taste and producing effective antibodies against today’s widespread trivialization and banalization. Adults also need to rediscover these joys, to desire authentic realities, purifying themselves of the mediocrity….”  He goes on to say that we must never “settle” for what has been achieved.  We must rather strive higher for the deeper good which will then reveal more and more to us that which is ultimately Good, True, and Beautiful.

     Pope Benedict recognizes that there are turns in the road of our human experience.  However, there is always also a way back to God who awaits us.  He also reminds us that we are not alone on this journey but that we are pilgrims on the way with “our brethren, our fellow travelers, even those who do not believe, those who are seeking.”  And he closes with the prayer that “in this year of faith, …God may show His face to all who seek Him with a sincere heart.”

     I can only say “AMEN!”

Remember who you are and pray well!

Synopsis of the Holy Father's Catechesis for November 7

     This third installment of Pope Benedict’s catechesis during the Holy Year of Faith discusses something about which you have heard me preach on over and over again.  It is an issue that strikes at the very heart of the most fundamental difficulties we experience even amongst Catholics in this modern world.  That about which I am speaking is the fundamental question of whether faith is personal or communal.  In fact, Pope Benedict began his catechesis with that very question, “Is the nature of faith merely personal and individual?  Do I live my faith alone?”

     The answer is so beautiful that I must simply quote our Holy Father.  He says, “[C]ertainly, the act of faith is an eminently personal act.  It is something which happens in the most intimate depths of my being and causes a change of direction, a personal conversion. …But the fact that I believe is not the result of solitary reflection, it is the fruit of a relationship, a dialogue with Jesus which causes me to emerge from my ‘I’ and to open myself to the love of God the Father.”

     So, he begins by recognizing that even in entering into a relationship with God we are entering into a relationship with a community of persons – the Blessed Trinity.  But this is only the beginning.  He goes on to say that, “[I]t is like a rebirth in which I discover that I am united not only to Jesus but also to all those who have walked and continue to walk along His path.  And this new birth, which begins with Baptism, continues throughout the course of a person’s life.”

     Pope Benedict goes on to point out that our faith does not come to us in a private dialogue with Jesus “because faith is given to me by God through a believing community which is the Church.  And faith makes me part of a multitude of believers bound by a communion which is not merely sociological, but rooted in the eternal love of God.”  So, this is not just a “me and the bible” proposition!

     I often point out to people in the midst of evangelization and catechesis that we find in the Acts of the Apostles (2:42) that the people of the early Christian community are described as “being devoted to the teaching of the apostles.”  Why, I then ask, are they not devoted to the teaching of Christ?  Well, of course, they are but THROUGH the apostles.  Our faith is something that is passed on as part of a very personal relationship – one person to another.  And yet, that one person through whom the faith is passed on stands in relationship, and catechizes on behalf of, the whole Body of Christ, the whole Christian community.

     Our Holy Father then ties this in with that about which he has spoken about over the last two weeks when he teaches that “[E]ver since the beginning, then, the Church has been the place of faith, the place where faith is transmitted.  The life of the Church, the announcement of the Word of God and the celebration of the Sacraments form an unbroken chain which has come down to us and which we call Tradition.  This gives us the guarantee that what we believe is Christ’s original message, as preached by the Apostles.  It is in the ecclesial community that personal faith grows and matures.”

     He concludes by saying that “[T]he tendency, so widespread today, to relegate the faith to the private sphere contradicts its very nature.  We need the Church in order for our faith to be confirmed and to experience the gifts of God together.  In a world in which individualism seems to regulate dealings between people, making them ever more fragile, the faith calls us to be People of God, to be Church, bearers of love and communion of God for the entire human race.”

Pray well, and remember who you are!

Synopsis of the Holy Father's Catechesis for October 31

     Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI continues in his catechesis in this Year of Faith by asking a series of questions which bring into focus the importance of a life of faith for “living life to the full”. (cf. John 10:10)  The first of these questions is “What is faith?”  Good question this is in a world that seems to know everything about everything but leaves questions of God to the subjective realm of opinion.  While faith does have some personal aspects it is not fundamentally so.  Faith is not merely opinions about God and His creation by which we may or may not live more or less consciously.  The content of our faith has been revealed to us by God Himself and it is lived in community.  Therefore, it is not in the realm of opinion, but rather it is facts to which we must choose to submit ourselves and which must be allowed to rule the whole of our lives.

     Faith is also not just content revealed by God.  It is also a content about which we order our lives thus the basis upon which we act, that is, the moral life.  This includes rules (commandments & precepts) of course, but it is more, for those who have truly fallen in love with God and desire an intimate relationship with Him, a way of life which preserves and grows that relationship of love.  Thus, it is not a burden and we are able to live almost as if there are no rules since we will try to anticipate one another in showing love for God and for our neighbor.

     Our Holy Father asks if it makes sense to have faith in a world dominated by science and technology.  He goes on to ask, “What does it mean to believe today?”  For so many people, especially those who like to belittle faith, this project is about providing explanations that will calm people who are ignorant and afraid living in the big world that so often seems cruel and cold; Marx’s “opiate of the masses”.  Our Holy Father points out that technological triumphs and scientific discoveries have not really lessened our suffering, especially our existential suffering.

     Existential suffering is that suffering brought about by our lack of answers and confidence regarding the really big questions in life.  “What is life’s meaning?”  “Is there a future for humanity, for us and for the generations to come?”  “In which direction should we orient our free decisions for a good and successful outcome in life?”  “What awaits us beyond the threshold of death?”

     In this year of faith we are called to recognize, celebrate, and proclaim to our neighbors that there are answers to these most important questions regarding our existence.  God has answered these questions in a particularly definitive way through the mystery of the Incarnation, that is, the taking on flesh (birth) of His only begotten Son, and through that Son’s Paschal Mystery, that is, His passion, death and resurrection.  We are called upon not merely to know about these things but to KNOW, that is, to be in relationship with the answer to our deepest longings – Jesus Christ.

     Ultimately, “having faith, then, is meeting this “You”, God, who supports me and grants me the promise of an indestructible love that not only aspires to eternity but gives it”  In this we see the truth of what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “Believing is possible only by grace and the interior help of the Holy Spirit.  But it is no less true that believing is an authentically human act…contrary neither to human freedom nor to human reason.”  Thus, led by the spirit, which is given to us as a free gift resulting from His establishment of a relationship of love with us, we give witness to this love, this relationship through our own actions.  In this exchange of “gifts” between God and man we come to understand what FAITH indeed is.

     May the ever-virgin Mary, and all the Saints in light, by the prayers and example help us to receive fully and respond to God’s invitation to each and all of us to be one with Him in the unity of the Trinity, now and forever.

Pray Well!