General

Channeling John Adams…

• “Doubting” Thomas (a moniker that didn’t appear until well into Modernity): this future saint had plenty of company in his doubt (of his fellow Apostles, not of his Savior), since the eleven doubted Mary Magdalene’s report of the risen Jesus. This is just one example of many doubters.
• Mary Magdalene: Despite being falsely labeled as a prostitute, hoar, sexually sinful woman, etc, no such evidence exists for that libel. The Bible only reports that Mary had seven demons exorcised by Christ. If anything, this reference strongly suggests either possession or mental illness.

Servant of God, Dorothy Day

Scorned for her sexual libertinism and its consequences, branded a Communist, Socialist and anti-patriotic pacifist, Dorothy Day’s cause for canonization has roiled the waters of the Catholic world. So, how can her opponents justify this vitriol if they also pray to, say, Augustine of Hippo, Mary of Egypt, Angela of Foligno, Blessed Bartolo, St Peter (the Betrayer) and many others? And can we reconcile her cause for sainthood with the knowledge that she seems to have sacrificed the faith of her only child and that of her child’s nine children on the altar of discipleship to Christ, seeming to demonstrate her complete devotion to him in the context of our Lord’s exhortation to his disciples as Luke describes in the 14th chapter of his Gospel: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters–yes, even their own life–such a person cannot be my disciple.” (my emphasis). We no doubt have an incomplete translation of the Aramaic, because Jesus did not literally mean “hatred” and Dorothy did not hate her family. But, our Servant of God clearly did not evangelize her bloodline.

So, to quote my theology mentor, Joseph Gower: “It’s complicated.”

Bohemia became her early address

With flagrant rhapsodies.

Then moved on from there, seeking something,

Not yet, brought to her knees.

Her lovers would not be forevermore

absent the sacramental.

One gave her child 

but womb became tomb,

not yet to become parental.

Then…

Binging O’Neill under the table

confused about love, recalling Babel

Missing something, “I am not able…

Help!”

Two failed attempts at ending the pain,

stayed by the Hound, “I make you my claim!

The Sinful Wo-man, aren’t you all?

So go shed your tears, then remove the pall.”

“‘Behold,” claimed my Son, “I make all things new,’

the paralyzed man, and many like you.

Take hold of my hand, we have so much to do…

Now!”

“Let’s fight for the poor and care for the sick,

meet the imprisoned, love the heartsick,

beatify meek by turning our cheek

feed the hungry, shelter the lame,

Do all this and more, always in my name.

Why…?”

“Acclaim? You sought not, neither Servant nor Saint,

Man’s titles, given by Rome.

Opponents, barely showing restraint,

holding tight to their moralist stones.

Forsaken for me was Tamar and her brood,

sacrificed for the Kingdom.

Instead you saw me in your sisters and brothers,

And gave them your heart and a home.”

Amen

Underneath my 1974 high school senior yearbook photo I wrote the following caption, “Fear is the enemy, trust is the armor!”, after hearing that expression by Shaolin Temple Master Po to his student Kwai Chang Caine during an episode of the popular television series “Kung Fu.” My photo is very forgettable, but that phrase has stayed with me for almost fifty years. I loved that program, as I had great interest in martial arts and the Eastern philosophy behind it. Only one other phrase from that program has stayed with me all those years, that one spoken by Master Kan to the same young Caine: “Sometimes a stranger known to us for a moment can spark our souls to kinship for eternity.” That is the essence of this post.

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In August of last year, I drove up to Saint Benedict Abbey with my radio co-host and dear friend, Dan Duddy (and his wife, Maura), so that he and I could lead a retreat for men in the area of Harvard/Still River, Massachusetts. We received the invitation from Mary Ann Harold, founder of EWTN affiliate WQPH Radio, the station and platform that hosts our “13th Apostle” program. We had a wonderful experience! One reason for that outcome stems from the spark of such a friendship as described above, with Deacon Chuck Kelley.

In the days leading up to the retreat, Deacon Chuck called me to offer his assistance in preparation for our gathering and throughout it, noting that he would also participate as a retreatant. His offer of service testifies to the purpose of his diaconate as defined by the Church: “Deacons are ordained as a sacramental sign to the Church and to the world of Christ, who came ‘to serve and not to be served’” (emphasis added). While we knew about the good Deacon as a colleague because he, too, hosted a program on WQPH, we did not know him let alone share a friendship. 

As my car approached our destination on that warm Friday evening, we marveled at the created beauty all around us: God’s, attested to by the rolling hills of many colors, and man’s, by the beautiful architecture of the Abbey (some parts dating back to the 17th century). Both gave glory to the Creator and brought to mind Psalm 65:

“You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing…”

As we emerged from the car, we received a warm greeting by Father Augustine Senz, a monk of the Abbey and one whose titles include “Guestmaster.” His friendly welcome made me understand that title. Soon after that introduction Deacon Chuck arrived, at which point the good Father ushered us into the Abbey kitchen where we broke our fast with a delicious meal prepared by the monks. Good conversation accompanied our meal, and I began to get a better sense of our colleague.

Early the next morning, I walked out to the far edge of the driveway and took a much longer look at the created beauty of forests, floral meadows and more rolling hills near and far. These moments are special and necessary, because the imminent burdens of our daily lives often obscure our recognition of the transcendent, the Divine, and therefore interfere with our relationship with it, a relationship that brings joy to our life and gives it a deeper meaning and purpose. Among The Transcendentals, Beauty evokes an immediate and overwhelming response from our whole being–but not one of comprehension. So, this reality is, like a mystery, something that we can perceive but not yet–or ever– fully describe or understand. Saint Thomas Aquinas and others put the theological stamp on Plato’s pagan philosophy, explaining that the Transcendentals are attributes of God and help communicate Himself to humanity and thus help to divinize His greatest creation (1 John 3:1-3; 2 Peter 1:3-4). The Divine surely communicated with us during this retreat.

Soon, Deacon Chuck joined me in the driveway, and after a minute of silent awe as we took in the scenery, he simply said, “The Shire…”. He could not know the impact of that comment on me or the prophetic nature of it, but he soon would. A kindred spirit? Perhaps.

I often use music to accompany my retreat presentations and witnessing, because its beauty helps move my message deeper into the listener. That’s important, since all participants in a retreat should give something of themselves and receive something of the others. We should walk away from a retreat richer because of that exchange of gifts. We don’t just sit passively to someone giving a lecture. Very different!

In my morning offering, titled “The Unsung Hero,” Deacon Chuck graciously loaned us his speaker system and agreed to press the “play” button at my signal. Not long after my opening remarks I gave him the nod, and as soon as he heard the opening violin strains of “Samwise the Brave,” from “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”, he smiled knowing that we both recalled his “Shire” remark just a few minutes back. Kindred spirits, indeed.

I opened the afternoon session with a much more personal witness, one that required a painful self-offering (as did Dan, to close out the day) but one that also testified to the blessings that result from trusting in God. At the conclusion, I moved toward my seat; but before I could get there, our “servant” had moved toward me to give me a strong hug and a brief prayer, gifts of great consolation to the desolation revealed within my presentation. Kindred spirits and friends.

Two months later, Deacon Chuck accepted my invitation to visit New Jersey and give his witness to the men of “Sons of the Father,” a group that I had started at Discovery House under the spiritual direction of Monsignor Michael Mannion. I titled this retreat “Jacob: Wrestling with God,” and selected eight men to testify about their wrestling experience. The Deacon accepted my invitation, and at his turn he described his struggles about his father’s death and his discernment of a call to the diaconate. He affected all of us, but none more than my dear friend Jim because of his long struggle with the unexpected death of his middle-aged father and with the “God” he said, “who took him from me.” Two months after that, Deacon Chuck again made the trek to New Jersey, this time to witness to that same group for our Advent retreat. 

During both visits, he stayed at my house and would lead us in prayer with the Divine Office Liturgy of the Hours. In the evenings, we would engage in spirited and wide-ranging conversations about faith, doctrine and Sacred Scripture and how to live faithfully and pastorally in a messy and complicated world. As a faithful and ordained son of his Mother the Church, Deacon Chuck dutifully hews his positions to its Catechism, the most comprehensive and consequential manual of answers that emphasize how one can live a moral life (he lives such a life). He tends to see life as a bit more black and white than I do, and therefore emphasizes justice over mercy (by, say, 51% to 49%). As a pastoral theologian, I prefer to emphasize the “queen of sciences” because it asks the great questions that emphasize why one should live a moral life, especially in a world replete with gray. So, mercy over justice (51% to 49%). These slight differences no doubt result from the differences in our personality and training. 

We absolutely should “preach to the choir”, because believers in the Gospel need encouragement and support to also become better doers of the Gospel message (e.g., Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy). But I also know that, increasingly, too many people have not entered a church let alone its choir to learn the “how” because they have no understanding of the “why”.

So, we presented each other with scenarios to play out and questions to answer, arguing the matter and each other upward to God in the spirit of the Latin arguere,“to make bright and to lighten” our way to the truth. 

Here are some of the questions we posed:

• • If God willed Jesus’s passion and death, then did Pontius Pilate and Judas Iscariot help to fulfill God’s will?
  • Is Hell empty?
  • Why do we disparage Barabbas, when he fought the Roman oppression just as Moses fought the Egyptian oppression and just as Americans fought the English oppression–and killed people in the process?

I don’t often have these types of conversations, probably because most people do not want to wrestle with matters of faith that they think are both settled and self-evident truths. I can think of Dan, Jim, and my great theology mentor Joseph Gower as able partners. But the empty pews of churches and synagogues coupled with the increasing misery in our youth and rampant deaths of despair urge a response from those who remain inside to those outside, to give as St Peter taught: “…a reason for the hope that you have.” (1 Peter 3:15). So, my dear friend has proven his mettle by willingly, thoughtfully, and lovingly engaging with me, in the belief that we can not only bring each other upward to God but bring others along with us.

I have many reasons for gratitude, and one of them is technology such as Zoom. Because thanks to that technical breakthrough, I can continue to argue upward with my friend even though he and his family have moved much further away after he discerned a call to join the EWTN enterprise in the Deep South of Irondale, Alabama. That move took courageous faithfulness, especially from loved ones who perhaps responded only to his call.

As Jesus prepared his disciples for life without his physical presence, he gave them a definition of friendship unlike anything known before or since (John 15:15), and then modeled it with the greatest example of love ever imagined (John 15:17). My deacon friend has lived that definition and that example, to the glory of God and the benefit of all in his life. Argue Upward! 

Amen.

“Man Praying” Vincent Van Gogh (1883)

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• “For you bless the righteous, O Lord…” (Ps 5:13)
• “When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me…” (Jer 29:13-14)
• “He calls his own sheep by name, and they follow him.” (Jn 10:3)
• “Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.” (Jn 17:3)
• “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Mt 7:7)
• “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!” (Psalm 90:17)

• Adam
• Eve
• Noah
• Abraham
• Jeremiah
• David
• Mary
• Jesus
• Peter, Paul & all the Apostles
• Nuns of Compiegne
• Mother Teresa

“Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years“

so Luke the physician/evangelist tells us early in his Gospel.

I wonder what the good doctor thought about Elizabeth’s inability to have children? Or did my use of “inability” unfairly blame her rather than Zechariah?  After all, she isn’t the first “barren” woman described in the Bible (think of Sarah, Abraham’s wife). Perhaps no one bore any responsibility. Did Luke have the not-uncommon thought at that time that this unnatural state might be the punishing result of her sins?

However crude and primitive medicine was at that point in history, Luke’s use of the refined Koine Greek language along with his many references to the Old Testament traditions in the Greek and his authorship of the Book of Acts clearly show the literary skills and mind of a learned man rather than a man of superstition. But his Gospel tells us nothing about the cause of Elizabeth’s barren state. Perhaps he thought Elizabeth’s emptiness was just another unfortunate consequence of the sin of the world (aka, “The Fall”)

Or, perhaps her condition was like that of the blind man cured by Jesus in chapter 9 of the Gospel of John, a suffering not brought about by anyone’s sins, Jesus tells his disciples, but only so that the subsequent miracle would glorify God.  Jesus removed the scale from that man’s eyes, just as he removes the hardness from our hearts. The Gospels do not say those who received miracles had no more problems throughout the remainder of their lives. I’ve no doubt Mary and Elizabeth had many problems throughout their respective son’s lives leading up to their greatest trials, just as all mothers do. But God would follow their greatest agonies with their son’s greatest glories (John’s martyrdom and Jesus’ self-offering). So, Elizabeth’s difficulty could be just another example to reinforce Jesus’s earlier teaching in Matthew’s Gospel, which we could apply to any of his miracles, when in response to his disciples’ concern about the difficulty getting into Heaven, our Lord said, “With man, this is impossible; but with God, all things are possible”

If we look throughout the Bible, we regularly see God’s glory manifesting out of suffering, such as with Job. That is our salvation history, the greatest inerrant thread in His Sacred Scripture!

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Angel Gabriel Announces to Zechariah that Elizabeth will bear a Son

This painting shows Gabriel gesturing with his message to an overwhelmed and humble man of God. Yahweh, or G_d for observant Jews, sends his messenger when Zechariah is alone in the inner sanctum of the temple. The artist depicts the holy setting by showing the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament, to Christians) while holding a thurible to incense the sacred room. This appearance is the first Advent miracle. He’s coming…

Zechariah left the encounter in stunned silence. Wouldn’t we all love to hear a prophecy, a promise, that our sons “will be great in the sight of the Lord…filled with the Holy Spirit…and will prepare a people fit for the Lord.”  Perhaps my father thought that about his four sons. I make that prayer for mine, and for my daughter. Zechariah eventually returned home, and he and Elizabeth conceived John the Baptist. This conception is the second Advent miracle. He’s coming…

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“The Annunciation”, by Fra Angelico

“Hail, favored one, the Lord is with you!” the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary. While Luke tells us that Zechariah and Elizabeth were advanced in years, he doesn’t tell us they were chaste. But Mary’s pointed question to the messenger, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” reveals herself to be chaste.

Once again, art helps to teach us moderns in the same way it taught the illiterate peasants of 15th century Florence, by beautifully illustrating Sacred Scripture in way that touches the heart as it informs the mind. This painting by the Italian friar is one of the most famous in the art world; and, it tells us that, one again, the Holy Spirit has broken into the world of man, gracing Mary and all of us in a way unique to God, “…for nothing will be impossible with God.”  This passages give us the third and fourth miracles: angelic visit and the Immaculate Conception. He’s coming…

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“The Visitation” by Domenico Ghirlandeio

Church tradition tells us that Elizabeth and Zechariah lived in Ein Kerem, a hilly area in the region of Judah. Some references say they lived 5 miles from where Mary and Joseph lived while others say 60. No matter the distance, the love and respect that Mary obviously had for Elizabeth impelled her to make the trek so she could visit her elderly friend. Sacred Scripture doesn’t say what this painting shows; but knowing that the holy Spirit had inspired Elizabeth, one can easily understand how the artist could have imagined the humble and awe-inspiring genuflection by the elder to her young visitor, especially after she cried out, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”

I emphasized “fruit”, because of how the Gospels would describe Jesus eventually doing likewise in an effort to teach how his disciples should demonstrate their faithfulness to God in building His kingdom: “By their fruit you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? (Mt 7:16; Lk 6:43-45) Or, “I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:4-5). Elizabeth would go on to honor her young friend, and help continue the message of Gabriel that would ultimately lead to the second most famous prayer in the Christian world: “Hail Mary, full of grace…”

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“Ave Maria”

Ave Maria, by J. S. Bach

Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above

Salve Regina

Who is this humble girl from “Nowhere”, Galilee, to be given the greatest honor and blessing of any human?

Humor often relies on contrast, and so does awe. We see the majestic mountain peak or some other awesome force of nature in relation to ourselves, and feel a combination of awe and humility. So we can only make feeble attempts at imagining the same response from Mary who, upon receiving a visit from a messenger of God, trembled in fear. No wonder her humility! My dear friend Fred, a man of faith and of significant stature–much larger than Mary–was driven to his knees in awe and humility from receiving a message from God–and changed his life. He, too, said “Yes” to God. But in contrast to Notre Dame, he–like me and like the rest of us–dropped to his knees because of times when he had said “No” to God. He became a man after God’s own heart. Mary always was a woman–the Woman–after God’s own heart.

In his letter to the young church he founded at Philippi, the first such Christian community in Europe, St Paul emphasized the importance of humility in its service to God through the service of each member to the other. His model for that church community and for us is, of course, Jesus Christ, “…Who, though He was in the form of God did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, He emptied Himself…” (Ph 2:7). In her humility, Mary emptied herself, and became the vessel for the Savior of the world.

Righteous men are moved to greatness in honor for the women they love. When I think of the kind and tender-loving heart of my daughter, Maureen, I am greatly moved to cherish and protect her–as is Kevin, her older brother (“Maureen” is Gaelic for “Little Mary!”). Artists have penned great hymns, chiseled magnificent sculptures, and brushed the most sublime paintings in their honor and love for our Blessed Mother. Pope Pius V exhorted Christendom to pray the Rosary, for Mary’s intercession in the famous and decisive battle of Lepanto against the invading Muslims. As if to carry on that tradition, the U.S. Naval Academy’s Glee Club gave what I believe to be the most moving rendition of  “Ave Maria” I have ever heard.

How did these men in turn achieve their great feats of artistic and military prowess? Because they humbled themselves to God just as Mary had done in her faithful response to God’s offer via His messenger. Why did they think their efforts might work, or would work? Because they trusted in Mary’s relationship with God, and that our Father would respond to Mary’s humble intercession in the same way that any loving and devoted father would respond to his daughter’s plea for help: with total commitment.

In Mary’s Magnificat, she borrowed from her Jewish ancestors, and sings the Psalm of praise.

The ultimate result of Mary’s acceptance of God’s offer?  Joy, to the world! Gloria in Excelcius Dei! God makes his offer to those at the fringes of society, to move with him to the center. He raises the lowly. He reverses  our misfortunes. He fulfills the promises made in the Old Testament through the prophets. He makes all things new! But first, He needs a trailblazer…

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“Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight His path!”

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“The Nativity” by Caravaggio

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Thanks to John’s trailblazing, the Word spread…

12th-century Sicilian mosaic

“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on Earth nations will be in disarray, perplexed by the roar of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”

Thanks to my fellow Sons of the Father, of Discovery House, who participated in our recent Advent Retreat, either in person or in spirit. They help bring me to deeper levels of humility, fellowship, and faith, so that I, too, can say “Yes!” to God:

Monsignor Mike Mannion, S. T. L. (“Fr Mike”), Dan Duddy, John, John, Jesse, Shaun, Mike, Mark, George, Kirby, Newmie, Mike, Fr Jim, Fred, Phil, and Vincent. God bless you, Brothers! Thanks also to my theology mentor, Joseph Gower, PhD and my classmate Paul. Merry Christmas to all!