This and That:
How I See the Priesthood
Most know that Pope Benedict XVI has declared June 19, 2009 to June 19, 2010 a “Year for Priests.”
I have been looking for an opportunity to share some thoughts on priesthood. Last week I began a series of “This and That’s” with one priest’s testimony in this “Year of Priests.” My thoughts, this week and perhaps two additional weeks over the next month, will focus on “Our Catholic Theology of Priesthood,” “My Experience As a Priest,” “The Current Situation of the Priesthood,” and “Living Priesthood in the Church after the Second Vatican Council of the 1960’s.”
Our Catholic understanding is that the Sacrament of Holy Orders, like the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, confers what is called a “Sacramental Character” on the one ordained.
This “character’ is an indelible, spiritual mark. It is a change, a transformation of the person that happens not through our human effort, but rather through the action of God. Our Catholic understanding is that this “character” of Holy Orders is lasting, enduring, or permanent. That is why we always say that, “Once a priest, always a priest,” even if the one ordained is no longer functioning as such.
The effect or “character” of Holy Orders conforms the priest to Christ in a special way.
The Second Vatican Council and recent Popes have said that Holy Orders conforms a priest to Christ to preach the Word, celebrate the sacraments, and serve God’s people.
First, the priest is to preach the Word in the person of Christ.
To do this, he himself, as a person, must be immersed in God’s Word. The Scripture is to be central to a priest’s personal spirituality and prayer. We are to allow the Word little by little to have a leavening effect on us as persons, on our own humanity and our own faith journey. Only if we do this will we be able to relate the Word of God authentically to the rest of God’s people. We need to relate the Word of God to real life as it is today and to be sensitive to where people are in their own life journey.
Next, the priest is to celebrate Sacraments.
Jesus came to sanctify, that is, he came to make us holy, to make us God-like persons. He left us the Sacraments, with the Eucharist as paramount, as avenues to the grace or life and presence of God. Therefore, celebrating the Eucharist and other Sacraments is central to priesthood. The priest, acting in the person of Christ himself, must do this not as a prayer to be recited or a ritual to be performed, or an obligation to be fulfilled. Rather, he must lead Sacraments in the Spirit of Jesus himself, aware of God’s presence and action that is going on here, moved by the Spirit, and opening others to the Spirit’s presence and action.
Finally, the priest is to serve God’s People.
We have traditionally expressed this role of service with the image of a shepherd. The idea here is that the priest is to be a leader, a spiritual leader, a servant leader. In fact, this service dimension is to characterize all he does as a priest. Service requires sensitivity, respect, compassion, and selflessness. In this regard, I feel very strongly that a priest must see himself as one with others, with all of God’s people and he must never forget that. Holy Orders marks the priest as someone special and for a special role in the Church or faith community. However, this “specialness” does not make the priest above or apart from others. On the contrary, the priest, like Jesus the Good Shepherd, is to be fully part of and with God’s People. He must see himself that way – not better than another, not above another. This is crucial is a priest is to be a servant leader. Because there have been and are some problems with embracing this outlook, and because this point is so crucial, I will return to it again later in these reflections.
In this Year of Priests, I ask each of you to pray for me and for all priests that we may mirror the saving presence of Jesus in our ministry to you, our beloved people.
Fondly,
Father Nicholas
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Weekly HOMILY for February 7, 2010: The Place of Silence in the Mass
5th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
February 7, 2010
The Place of Silence in the Mass
(Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Too Much Speaking
There is a story told about a reunion of retired business executives.
Each of them was invited to give a brief, two-minute talk after dinner about their retirement. The toastmaster was instructed to rap his gavel when the two minutes were up.
Well, the first speaker was still going strong at the end of two minutes. The kindly old toastmaster just couldn’t bring himself to rap the gavel.
On and on the speaker droned until the other guests started murmuring and signaling the toastmaster to end it. [“Tap watch with finger; signal “cut”]
Finally, the elderly toastmaster gave in.
He wound up and brought the gavel down full force, but he accidentally missed the table lecturn and hit the head of the man seated at the table next to him.
As that man was sinking down under the table from the blow, he was heard to say, “Hit me again, I can still hear him.”
Speaking and Silence
That story helps us to appreciate one of the core lessons in today’s readings.
Speaking on and on really has its limits and it can actually turn the hearer against the message, no matter how good it is. The truth be told, the absence of speaking or silence has an important place in our lives.
We see evidence of this truth in each of today’s Scripture readings: Isaiah, Paul and Peter each have had an experience of God.
Isaiah alone in the temple; Paul being knocked off his horse on the road to Damascus; and Peter in the great catch of fish!
Each of them encounters God in an experience that has few words or no words at all.
And these experiences changed them as persons. They are transformed.
Silence in the Liturgy
For us, the liturgy each week or even each day is meant to be transforming.
In the Mass, we sing the words of the hymns. We speak the words of the prayers.
We listen to the words of the readings and the homily. All of this is good and important.
But in the Mass, there are also three major places for silence. These silent spaces are important places if the experience of the liturgy is to be transforming.
The Three Silences
The first major silence is at the very beginning of Mass. The priest calls us to be aware of God’s presence or to be mindful of ourselves and our sinfulness.
At this point we are invited to be in touch with who we are and where we are in our lives today. Am I tired or upset or worried or hopeful or happy or what?
What do I need today in my life and in my relationship with God? So, this silence at the beginning of Mass gives us a chance to situate ourselves here and now.
And then, the second major silence follows the readings and the homily. Here the issue is: What am I now thinking or feeling?
What did I hear or how did this Word of God touch me? Was I comforted? Or challenged? Or encouraged? Or just bored?
What do I see myself doing with this message and my feelings and thoughts about it? So, this silence after the homily gives us a chance to situate ourselves again after God has spoken to me in the readings and homily.
The third major silence comes after communion. In Communion, Jesus is becoming part of me and I am becoming part of Jesus.
Here we ask ourselves: where am I going now with this nourishment? What change needs to take place in me or in my relationships?
How does this Eucharist empower me to hang in there or to grow as a person?
So, this final silence after Communion gives us a chance to situate ourselves for the coming day or coming week.
Conclusion
These are the three major silences in the Mass: at its beginning, after the Word, and after Communion.
Those three “events” or “encounters” are each part of the transforming power of the liturgy.
We priests need to be careful to make room for this time of silence and all of us need to use these opportunities to allow God to work within us.
Our Lady of Grace
February 7, 2010
The Place of Silence in the Mass
(Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Too Much Speaking
There is a story told about a reunion of retired business executives.
Each of them was invited to give a brief, two-minute talk after dinner about their retirement. The toastmaster was instructed to rap his gavel when the two minutes were up.
Well, the first speaker was still going strong at the end of two minutes. The kindly old toastmaster just couldn’t bring himself to rap the gavel.
On and on the speaker droned until the other guests started murmuring and signaling the toastmaster to end it. [“Tap watch with finger; signal “cut”]
Finally, the elderly toastmaster gave in.
He wound up and brought the gavel down full force, but he accidentally missed the table lecturn and hit the head of the man seated at the table next to him.
As that man was sinking down under the table from the blow, he was heard to say, “Hit me again, I can still hear him.”
Speaking and Silence
That story helps us to appreciate one of the core lessons in today’s readings.
Speaking on and on really has its limits and it can actually turn the hearer against the message, no matter how good it is. The truth be told, the absence of speaking or silence has an important place in our lives.
We see evidence of this truth in each of today’s Scripture readings: Isaiah, Paul and Peter each have had an experience of God.
Isaiah alone in the temple; Paul being knocked off his horse on the road to Damascus; and Peter in the great catch of fish!
Each of them encounters God in an experience that has few words or no words at all.
And these experiences changed them as persons. They are transformed.
Silence in the Liturgy
For us, the liturgy each week or even each day is meant to be transforming.
In the Mass, we sing the words of the hymns. We speak the words of the prayers.
We listen to the words of the readings and the homily. All of this is good and important.
But in the Mass, there are also three major places for silence. These silent spaces are important places if the experience of the liturgy is to be transforming.
The Three Silences
The first major silence is at the very beginning of Mass. The priest calls us to be aware of God’s presence or to be mindful of ourselves and our sinfulness.
At this point we are invited to be in touch with who we are and where we are in our lives today. Am I tired or upset or worried or hopeful or happy or what?
What do I need today in my life and in my relationship with God? So, this silence at the beginning of Mass gives us a chance to situate ourselves here and now.
And then, the second major silence follows the readings and the homily. Here the issue is: What am I now thinking or feeling?
What did I hear or how did this Word of God touch me? Was I comforted? Or challenged? Or encouraged? Or just bored?
What do I see myself doing with this message and my feelings and thoughts about it? So, this silence after the homily gives us a chance to situate ourselves again after God has spoken to me in the readings and homily.
The third major silence comes after communion. In Communion, Jesus is becoming part of me and I am becoming part of Jesus.
Here we ask ourselves: where am I going now with this nourishment? What change needs to take place in me or in my relationships?
How does this Eucharist empower me to hang in there or to grow as a person?
So, this final silence after Communion gives us a chance to situate ourselves for the coming day or coming week.
Conclusion
These are the three major silences in the Mass: at its beginning, after the Word, and after Communion.
Those three “events” or “encounters” are each part of the transforming power of the liturgy.
We priests need to be careful to make room for this time of silence and all of us need to use these opportunities to allow God to work within us.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Weekly THIS AND THAT for December 27, 2009 Dignity and Respect in the Family of Jesus…and Our Families
Dignity and Respect in the Family of Jesus…and Our Families
The feast of the Holy Family (the Sunday following Christmas) celebrates the first community that blessed Jesus and was blessed by him. It would be easy to miss this quiet feast this year because it is celebrated two days after Christmas.
Following is a reflection on today’s Scripture readings by Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., a professor of New Testament at Weston Jesuit School of Theology:
For most Christians the family is the first school of spirituality. In that context we learn (or do not learn) the basics of morality and religion, and we develop our sense of responsibility and mutual respect. On Christmas Day we celebrated the birth of Jesus, through whom we believe that we have entered upon a new relationship with God. We are God’s children alongside the Son of God. This means that we should respect one another as God has respected us. The theme of our identity and dignity as God’s children runs through the readings for Holy Family Sunday, which we celebrate today.
Our first reading from Sirach 3 is an instruction for adults to care for their aging parents. That plea is based on the commandment to “honor your father and mother,” which was addressed originally to adults rather than to young children. We are to honor our aging parents not only out of gratitude for their gifts of life and care, but also because as children of God they deserve our respect and love.
In our second reading, we hear the household code from Colossians 3, in which husbands are exhorted to love their wives and avoid bitterness toward them. Likewise, parents are urged to avoid nagging their children, lest they become discouraged. Even within the patriarchal family structure assumed in the passage, there is an overriding emphasis on respect based upon our common identity and dignity as God’s children through Christ.
Luke’s account of the child Jesus teaching in the Temple area prefigures Jesus’ activities as an adult. He goes up to Jerusalem on Passover, engages the Jewish sages in dialogue and claims the Jerusalem Temple as his Father’s house. Yet there are some disturbing features. Jesus fails to inform his parents of his whereabouts, and he answers them in a “fresh” manner.
The child Jesus’ behavior reminds us that while the human family is an essential context of spirituality, it is not an absolute. Sometimes one’s obligations to God can supersede natural family duties (Luke 9:59-62). Later in Luke’s Gospel (8:21; 11:28) Jesus redefines his family as those who hear God’s word and act upon it. The final sentences in today’s reading affirm that Jesus participated fully and flourished in his family.
Christian family life begins with the recognition of our common identity and dignity as God’s children through Jesus the Son of God.
We may find it difficult to find time for prayer during this season when we are out of our normal routine. We may be spending more time with our immediate family or getting together with extended family or friends. With focused attention, we can let many very ordinary parts of our days become prayerful and rich with grace. Imagine how different this Christmas Season would be if we let every handshake, touch on the arm, every hug, every kiss, be an opportunity - even for a few brief seconds - to turn to God in thanksgiving and with a prayer. "Thank you so much for Ann; she is such a gift. Please give her your freedom and peace." "Chris is such a wonderful partner.
Please fill our marriage with faith, generosity and self-sacrificing love." "Lord, you know the struggles I have with Michael; let me be as compassionate and loving with him as you are." In these or similar brief prayers, our very ordinary gestures of greeting might be transformed and full of faith. Any other activity can become a ritual, if I let it have meaning: turning on the Christmas tree lights, ("Lord, let your Light brighten this house this day."), opening the front door to guests, ("Lord, we open our house and our hearts to the gifts you bring us.").
Even as we encounter strangers, we can remember that each person is our sister or brother because Jesus has brought us all into relationship as God’s children.
May every family experience the blessings of God’s love in Jesus during this holy season and may we extend the love of our families to the whole human family in the year to come!
The feast of the Holy Family (the Sunday following Christmas) celebrates the first community that blessed Jesus and was blessed by him. It would be easy to miss this quiet feast this year because it is celebrated two days after Christmas.
Following is a reflection on today’s Scripture readings by Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., a professor of New Testament at Weston Jesuit School of Theology:
For most Christians the family is the first school of spirituality. In that context we learn (or do not learn) the basics of morality and religion, and we develop our sense of responsibility and mutual respect. On Christmas Day we celebrated the birth of Jesus, through whom we believe that we have entered upon a new relationship with God. We are God’s children alongside the Son of God. This means that we should respect one another as God has respected us. The theme of our identity and dignity as God’s children runs through the readings for Holy Family Sunday, which we celebrate today.
Our first reading from Sirach 3 is an instruction for adults to care for their aging parents. That plea is based on the commandment to “honor your father and mother,” which was addressed originally to adults rather than to young children. We are to honor our aging parents not only out of gratitude for their gifts of life and care, but also because as children of God they deserve our respect and love.
In our second reading, we hear the household code from Colossians 3, in which husbands are exhorted to love their wives and avoid bitterness toward them. Likewise, parents are urged to avoid nagging their children, lest they become discouraged. Even within the patriarchal family structure assumed in the passage, there is an overriding emphasis on respect based upon our common identity and dignity as God’s children through Christ.
Luke’s account of the child Jesus teaching in the Temple area prefigures Jesus’ activities as an adult. He goes up to Jerusalem on Passover, engages the Jewish sages in dialogue and claims the Jerusalem Temple as his Father’s house. Yet there are some disturbing features. Jesus fails to inform his parents of his whereabouts, and he answers them in a “fresh” manner.
The child Jesus’ behavior reminds us that while the human family is an essential context of spirituality, it is not an absolute. Sometimes one’s obligations to God can supersede natural family duties (Luke 9:59-62). Later in Luke’s Gospel (8:21; 11:28) Jesus redefines his family as those who hear God’s word and act upon it. The final sentences in today’s reading affirm that Jesus participated fully and flourished in his family.
Christian family life begins with the recognition of our common identity and dignity as God’s children through Jesus the Son of God.
We may find it difficult to find time for prayer during this season when we are out of our normal routine. We may be spending more time with our immediate family or getting together with extended family or friends. With focused attention, we can let many very ordinary parts of our days become prayerful and rich with grace. Imagine how different this Christmas Season would be if we let every handshake, touch on the arm, every hug, every kiss, be an opportunity - even for a few brief seconds - to turn to God in thanksgiving and with a prayer. "Thank you so much for Ann; she is such a gift. Please give her your freedom and peace." "Chris is such a wonderful partner.
Please fill our marriage with faith, generosity and self-sacrificing love." "Lord, you know the struggles I have with Michael; let me be as compassionate and loving with him as you are." In these or similar brief prayers, our very ordinary gestures of greeting might be transformed and full of faith. Any other activity can become a ritual, if I let it have meaning: turning on the Christmas tree lights, ("Lord, let your Light brighten this house this day."), opening the front door to guests, ("Lord, we open our house and our hearts to the gifts you bring us.").
Even as we encounter strangers, we can remember that each person is our sister or brother because Jesus has brought us all into relationship as God’s children.
May every family experience the blessings of God’s love in Jesus during this holy season and may we extend the love of our families to the whole human family in the year to come!
Weekly HOMILY for December 27, 2009: Deacon Preaching Sunday
This was Deacon Preaching Sunday and Deacon Jim Prosser preached at Father Nicholas' Masses.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Weekly THIS AND THAT for January 31, 2010: One Priest in This Year of Priests
This and That:
One Priest in this Year of Priests
In this “Year of Priests” I’ve been reading the testimonies of various priests for Spiritual Reading. The following of Father John Jay Hughes struck me as especially memorable. Father Hughes is the author of 12 books and hundreds of articles. The following is an excerpt from his memoir, “No Ordinary Fool: a Testimony to Grace.”
Fondly,
“Priests who like being priests are among the happiest men in the world.” Those words by the Chicago priest and sociologist, Father Andrew Greeley, lifted me out of my chair when I read them a few years ago. “Andy, you’re right,” I e-mailed him. “I can confirm that from my own experience.”
The son and grandson of priests in the Episcopal Church, I grew up in a world in which public worship and private prayer were as much a part of daily life as eating and sleeping. From age nine I was a choirboy at New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, then a kind of American version of Canterbury Cathedral or York Minster in England. We sang the psalms at daily Evensong (Vespers), and on Sunday’s anthems and the musical portions of the Eucharistic liturgy. I loved it.
From age 12 I knew that I wanted to be a priest. Required when I went away to boarding school to write an essay on, “What I expect to be doing in 20 years,” I wrote about serving as a missionary priest in Africa. This idea, to which I had previously devoted not a moment's thought, must have come from the school chaplain, a priest of the Anglican Order of the Holy Cross, which had a mission in Liberia.
Every time I served Mass I thought: “One day I'll stand there. I’ll wear those vestments. I’ll say those words.” The idea of a missionary vocation soon faded. But priesthood never. I went straight toward that goal, like a steel needle to a magnet, until, 12 years later, I achieved it. Following my first Mass on April 4, 1954, I was so happy that I recited the whole of the “Te Deum” aloud in the sacristy.
During six happy years of parish ministry, I found priesthood all that I had hoped for, and more. My personal religion was “Catholicism without the Pope.” My studies had taught me that the modern papal claims to universal jurisdiction and infallibility were illegitimate additions to the faith of the ancient Catholic Church. Popular Catholic tracts claiming that the Pope was some kind of oracle “who gives us the answer to every question” (a caricature of authentic Catholic belief) confirmed my rejection of papal infallibility, so defined. During those years I visited countless Catholic churches on both sides of the Atlantic. I found the silent and rushed Masses, the Latin (when you could hear it) so gabbled and garbled that it might have been Chinese, an off-putting comedown from the reverent Anglican liturgy which I loved, with full congregational participation, including fervent hymn singing which I continue to miss to this day.
I always realized that Anglicanism was a theological house of cards. But it was my house. It was where the Lord had put me. You don't leave the place God has assigned you without very serious reasons. Doing so became a possibility only when I discovered, during a lengthy European trip in 1959, that the Catholic Church had a different face from the one familiar to me in the United States. This launched me on a period of agonized study and reflection, accompanied by lengthy daily prayer. For close to a year the questions of the Church, and of my conscientious duty, were not out of my mind for two waking hours together.
My final decision, at Easter 1960, to leave the Anglican Church, which I loved (it had taken me from the font to the altar), and enter an alien world, which still had little outward appeal to me, was the hardest thing I have ever done. Looking back years later (but only then), I recognized that it was the best thing I have ever done.
I became a priest for one simple reason: so that I could celebrate Mass. Doing so was wonderful the first time I did it, almost 56 years ago. It is, if possible, even more wonderful today. Celebrating Mass and feeding God’s holy people with the bread of life is a privilege beyond any man's deserving. To prepare, it has been my practice for years to spend a half-hour waiting in silence on the Lord who told Moses at the burning bush: "Put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground" (Exodus 3:5).
Priesthood has other rewards as well. There is the joy of preaching the Gospel: feeding God's people from the table of his word. An evangelical hymn defines the preacher's task thus: “Tell me the old, old, story / Of Jesus and his love.” John’s Gospel says it more briefly, in words once posted inside pulpits for the preacher to see: “Sir, we would like to see Jesus” (John 12:21). His story, and Jesus’ words, uphold us when we are down, rebuke us when we go astray, and fill our mouths with laughter and our tongues with joy (to use the Psalmist’s words) when the sunshine of God's love shines upon us.
There is also the joy of pastoral ministry. Like priests everywhere, I have witnessed miracles of God’s grace in the people we serve. Not 10 years ago a man came into my confessional bruised and bloodied from a failed marriage. Then one of our CEO Catholics (Christmas-and-Easter only), he is today a daily communicant, and a frequent penitent. Every priest has stories like that, many of them more dramatic.
Have every one of my almost 56 years of priesthood been happy? Of course not. That does not happen in any life. A widow spoke for married people when she told me: “Father, when you walk up to the altar on your wedding day, you don’t see the Stations of the Cross.”
Priesthood has brought me suffering as well as joy. For seven years I was without assignment and literally unemployed. Subject to a German bishop, but resident in St. Louis, I was like an army officer who has got detached from his regiment. The clerical system didn’t know what to do with me. The Church for which I had sacrificed everything seemed not to want me. I survived only by prayer. To anyone who asks, however, whether I have ever regretted my decision for priesthood, I answer honestly and at once: Never, not one single day.
Writing in April 2005 to my former teacher during my doctoral studies in Münster, Germany, Joseph Ratzinger, to express my joy at his election as Pope, and assure him of my prayers, I closed the letter, “In the joy of our common priesthood.” What more can one say than that? From age 12, priesthood has been all I ever wanted. If I were to die tonight, I would die a happy man.
One Priest in this Year of Priests
In this “Year of Priests” I’ve been reading the testimonies of various priests for Spiritual Reading. The following of Father John Jay Hughes struck me as especially memorable. Father Hughes is the author of 12 books and hundreds of articles. The following is an excerpt from his memoir, “No Ordinary Fool: a Testimony to Grace.”
Fondly,
“Priests who like being priests are among the happiest men in the world.” Those words by the Chicago priest and sociologist, Father Andrew Greeley, lifted me out of my chair when I read them a few years ago. “Andy, you’re right,” I e-mailed him. “I can confirm that from my own experience.”
The son and grandson of priests in the Episcopal Church, I grew up in a world in which public worship and private prayer were as much a part of daily life as eating and sleeping. From age nine I was a choirboy at New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, then a kind of American version of Canterbury Cathedral or York Minster in England. We sang the psalms at daily Evensong (Vespers), and on Sunday’s anthems and the musical portions of the Eucharistic liturgy. I loved it.
From age 12 I knew that I wanted to be a priest. Required when I went away to boarding school to write an essay on, “What I expect to be doing in 20 years,” I wrote about serving as a missionary priest in Africa. This idea, to which I had previously devoted not a moment's thought, must have come from the school chaplain, a priest of the Anglican Order of the Holy Cross, which had a mission in Liberia.
Every time I served Mass I thought: “One day I'll stand there. I’ll wear those vestments. I’ll say those words.” The idea of a missionary vocation soon faded. But priesthood never. I went straight toward that goal, like a steel needle to a magnet, until, 12 years later, I achieved it. Following my first Mass on April 4, 1954, I was so happy that I recited the whole of the “Te Deum” aloud in the sacristy.
During six happy years of parish ministry, I found priesthood all that I had hoped for, and more. My personal religion was “Catholicism without the Pope.” My studies had taught me that the modern papal claims to universal jurisdiction and infallibility were illegitimate additions to the faith of the ancient Catholic Church. Popular Catholic tracts claiming that the Pope was some kind of oracle “who gives us the answer to every question” (a caricature of authentic Catholic belief) confirmed my rejection of papal infallibility, so defined. During those years I visited countless Catholic churches on both sides of the Atlantic. I found the silent and rushed Masses, the Latin (when you could hear it) so gabbled and garbled that it might have been Chinese, an off-putting comedown from the reverent Anglican liturgy which I loved, with full congregational participation, including fervent hymn singing which I continue to miss to this day.
I always realized that Anglicanism was a theological house of cards. But it was my house. It was where the Lord had put me. You don't leave the place God has assigned you without very serious reasons. Doing so became a possibility only when I discovered, during a lengthy European trip in 1959, that the Catholic Church had a different face from the one familiar to me in the United States. This launched me on a period of agonized study and reflection, accompanied by lengthy daily prayer. For close to a year the questions of the Church, and of my conscientious duty, were not out of my mind for two waking hours together.
My final decision, at Easter 1960, to leave the Anglican Church, which I loved (it had taken me from the font to the altar), and enter an alien world, which still had little outward appeal to me, was the hardest thing I have ever done. Looking back years later (but only then), I recognized that it was the best thing I have ever done.
I became a priest for one simple reason: so that I could celebrate Mass. Doing so was wonderful the first time I did it, almost 56 years ago. It is, if possible, even more wonderful today. Celebrating Mass and feeding God’s holy people with the bread of life is a privilege beyond any man's deserving. To prepare, it has been my practice for years to spend a half-hour waiting in silence on the Lord who told Moses at the burning bush: "Put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground" (Exodus 3:5).
Priesthood has other rewards as well. There is the joy of preaching the Gospel: feeding God's people from the table of his word. An evangelical hymn defines the preacher's task thus: “Tell me the old, old, story / Of Jesus and his love.” John’s Gospel says it more briefly, in words once posted inside pulpits for the preacher to see: “Sir, we would like to see Jesus” (John 12:21). His story, and Jesus’ words, uphold us when we are down, rebuke us when we go astray, and fill our mouths with laughter and our tongues with joy (to use the Psalmist’s words) when the sunshine of God's love shines upon us.
There is also the joy of pastoral ministry. Like priests everywhere, I have witnessed miracles of God’s grace in the people we serve. Not 10 years ago a man came into my confessional bruised and bloodied from a failed marriage. Then one of our CEO Catholics (Christmas-and-Easter only), he is today a daily communicant, and a frequent penitent. Every priest has stories like that, many of them more dramatic.
Have every one of my almost 56 years of priesthood been happy? Of course not. That does not happen in any life. A widow spoke for married people when she told me: “Father, when you walk up to the altar on your wedding day, you don’t see the Stations of the Cross.”
Priesthood has brought me suffering as well as joy. For seven years I was without assignment and literally unemployed. Subject to a German bishop, but resident in St. Louis, I was like an army officer who has got detached from his regiment. The clerical system didn’t know what to do with me. The Church for which I had sacrificed everything seemed not to want me. I survived only by prayer. To anyone who asks, however, whether I have ever regretted my decision for priesthood, I answer honestly and at once: Never, not one single day.
Writing in April 2005 to my former teacher during my doctoral studies in Münster, Germany, Joseph Ratzinger, to express my joy at his election as Pope, and assure him of my prayers, I closed the letter, “In the joy of our common priesthood.” What more can one say than that? From age 12, priesthood has been all I ever wanted. If I were to die tonight, I would die a happy man.
Weekly HOMILY for January 31, 2010: Love: Its Modeling and Empowerment
4th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
January 31, 2010
Love: Its Modeling and Empowerment
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
The Sign of Jonah
Shortly after World War II, a Lutheran minister wrote a play entitled “The Sign of Jonah.”
The play takes place in a Germany that is still reeling from World War II. A group of refugees are arguing about who is to blame for this horror.
Various people blame Hitler, the manufacturers of munitions, or others, and then, one man shouts, “God is to blame. He created this world and placed all this power into unworthy hands; He allowed all this to happen.”
And little by little everyone takes up the chorus: “God is to blame! God is to blame!” What happens next in the play is that God is put on trial and found guilty.
The judge says: “This crime is so serious that it demands the worst possible punishment. I hereby sentence God to live on this earth as a human being.”
The judge then directs three angels to execute the sentence. The first angel declares, “I’m going to see that God knows what it’s like to be obscure and poor; there will be shame about his birth.”
The second angel vows, “I’m going to see to it that God knows what it’s like to fail and suffer.”
And the third angel swears, “I’m going to see to it that he will die the most painful and humiliating death possible.”
God’s Love
The audiences who saw this play – The Sign of Jonah – and even we today, know that God has already served his sentence.
God has become human and lived on this earth as Jesus. And Jesus has suffered and died for us, out of love.
The message of the gospel, and even the underlying message of the play, is that God became what we are and experienced what we experience. And God has done this so that we can better understand who and what God is – that God is love itself, pure love, nothing but this outpouring of love.
Our Love
This, Sisters and Brothers, is the basis for Saint Paul’s classic description of love in our second reading.
Is it easy to be such a loving person? Definitely not!
How can we do it? How can we become this kind of person?
We can do this with (1) The example and (2) The empowerment of Jesus. Paul does not say it, but this is the grounding of all that he says here today.
Jesus is our (1) Example, model or template. And (2) His presence with us through the Holy Spirit and the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, is our empowerment or strengthening for doing this.
Archbishop’s Annual Appeal
This weekend, all celebrants in the Archdiocese are asked to speak at the Masses in our parishes.
Archbishop O’Brien has asked us to reflect on what is called the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal. And what better way to do this than in the context of Paul’s passage on love today!
The Archbishop’s Annual Appeal invites us to help with the services and ministries that are beyond the level of any single parish. They are services that the Archdiocese itself leads and supports.
They include things like hospital chaplains, college campus ministries, assistance for schools and religious education programs in financially poor areas, homeless shelters, and relief to the impoverished and ravaged country of Haiti.
There is a full listing of everything that the Appeal supports in the flyer enclosed in today’s bulletin.
Some Specifics
Many of us have given to this Appeal in past years and some of us have already given this year.
On behalf of Archbishop O’Brien, I thank you very much for your generosity. And now, I will wrap up with just a few specifics.
First, each parish is assigned a goal or target that equals 9% of its annual offertory income. Our Lady of Grace’s target for this year is $46,000, but that is a target, and in the end, we give what we can give.
Second, I think it is fair to say that our giving to Our Lady of Grace comes first. The Archbishop does not want this appeal to hurt our weekly Offertory Collection.
Third, the parish Development Committee and I are recommending that we contribute to the Appeal an amount equivalent to 10% of what we give to the parish each year. So, if you contribute $1,000 a year to the parish, try to consider a gift of $100 to the Appeal and this gift can be made as a pledge and spread out over the next ten months.
Finally, each parish will receive back 25% of what it gives. So, 25% of what we as Our Lady of Grace give will be our share for special needs that we designate.
Our parish committees have decided to use our share for two equal purposes. One half for our sister parish of St. Cecilia’s in Baltimore City and one half for tuition assistance for parishioners going to Our Lady of Grace School. Regarding tuition assistance, the Archdiocese will match whatever we designate for this.
Conclusion
In conclusion I would ask each of us to approach the Archbishop’s Appeal as an expression of faith and of living the love that Saint Paul talks about today.
As always, I know that we will do our best. Thank you very much.
Our Lady of Grace
January 31, 2010
Love: Its Modeling and Empowerment
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
The Sign of Jonah
Shortly after World War II, a Lutheran minister wrote a play entitled “The Sign of Jonah.”
The play takes place in a Germany that is still reeling from World War II. A group of refugees are arguing about who is to blame for this horror.
Various people blame Hitler, the manufacturers of munitions, or others, and then, one man shouts, “God is to blame. He created this world and placed all this power into unworthy hands; He allowed all this to happen.”
And little by little everyone takes up the chorus: “God is to blame! God is to blame!” What happens next in the play is that God is put on trial and found guilty.
The judge says: “This crime is so serious that it demands the worst possible punishment. I hereby sentence God to live on this earth as a human being.”
The judge then directs three angels to execute the sentence. The first angel declares, “I’m going to see that God knows what it’s like to be obscure and poor; there will be shame about his birth.”
The second angel vows, “I’m going to see to it that God knows what it’s like to fail and suffer.”
And the third angel swears, “I’m going to see to it that he will die the most painful and humiliating death possible.”
God’s Love
The audiences who saw this play – The Sign of Jonah – and even we today, know that God has already served his sentence.
God has become human and lived on this earth as Jesus. And Jesus has suffered and died for us, out of love.
The message of the gospel, and even the underlying message of the play, is that God became what we are and experienced what we experience. And God has done this so that we can better understand who and what God is – that God is love itself, pure love, nothing but this outpouring of love.
Our Love
This, Sisters and Brothers, is the basis for Saint Paul’s classic description of love in our second reading.
Is it easy to be such a loving person? Definitely not!
How can we do it? How can we become this kind of person?
We can do this with (1) The example and (2) The empowerment of Jesus. Paul does not say it, but this is the grounding of all that he says here today.
Jesus is our (1) Example, model or template. And (2) His presence with us through the Holy Spirit and the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, is our empowerment or strengthening for doing this.
Archbishop’s Annual Appeal
This weekend, all celebrants in the Archdiocese are asked to speak at the Masses in our parishes.
Archbishop O’Brien has asked us to reflect on what is called the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal. And what better way to do this than in the context of Paul’s passage on love today!
The Archbishop’s Annual Appeal invites us to help with the services and ministries that are beyond the level of any single parish. They are services that the Archdiocese itself leads and supports.
They include things like hospital chaplains, college campus ministries, assistance for schools and religious education programs in financially poor areas, homeless shelters, and relief to the impoverished and ravaged country of Haiti.
There is a full listing of everything that the Appeal supports in the flyer enclosed in today’s bulletin.
Some Specifics
Many of us have given to this Appeal in past years and some of us have already given this year.
On behalf of Archbishop O’Brien, I thank you very much for your generosity. And now, I will wrap up with just a few specifics.
First, each parish is assigned a goal or target that equals 9% of its annual offertory income. Our Lady of Grace’s target for this year is $46,000, but that is a target, and in the end, we give what we can give.
Second, I think it is fair to say that our giving to Our Lady of Grace comes first. The Archbishop does not want this appeal to hurt our weekly Offertory Collection.
Third, the parish Development Committee and I are recommending that we contribute to the Appeal an amount equivalent to 10% of what we give to the parish each year. So, if you contribute $1,000 a year to the parish, try to consider a gift of $100 to the Appeal and this gift can be made as a pledge and spread out over the next ten months.
Finally, each parish will receive back 25% of what it gives. So, 25% of what we as Our Lady of Grace give will be our share for special needs that we designate.
Our parish committees have decided to use our share for two equal purposes. One half for our sister parish of St. Cecilia’s in Baltimore City and one half for tuition assistance for parishioners going to Our Lady of Grace School. Regarding tuition assistance, the Archdiocese will match whatever we designate for this.
Conclusion
In conclusion I would ask each of us to approach the Archbishop’s Appeal as an expression of faith and of living the love that Saint Paul talks about today.
As always, I know that we will do our best. Thank you very much.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Weekly THIS AND THAT for December 27, 2010: Lessons for a New Year
That and That:
Lessons for a New Year
When we enter this world we come into it with nothing; we leave in the very same way. What remains of us between our entrance and exit is how we treated other people. The following are five important lessons for the New Year.
Fondly,
Father Nicholas
1st Important Lesson – The Cleaning Lady
During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?” Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50’s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. “Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say “Hello.” I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned that her name was Dorothy.
2nd Important Lesson – Pickup in the Rain
One night, at 11:30 pm, an older African-American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960’s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance, and put her into a taxicab. She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his Address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man’s door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A Special note was attached. It read: “Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband’s bedside just before he passed away. God Bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.” Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole. You never know who the recipient of your kind may be. Jesus said it was he, himself.
3rd Important Lesson – Always remember those Who serve
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae?” he asked. “Fifty cents,” replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. “Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. “Thirty-five cents,” she brusquely replied. The little boy again counted his coins. “I'll have the plain ice cream,” he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table down. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were stacked two nickels and five pennies. You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.
4th Important Lesson – The obstacle in Our Path
In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the King’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but no one did anything about getting the stone out of the way. A peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. When the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand! Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.
5th Important Lesson – Giving When it Counts
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes, I’ll do it if it will save her life.” As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away.” Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.
Lessons for a New Year
When we enter this world we come into it with nothing; we leave in the very same way. What remains of us between our entrance and exit is how we treated other people. The following are five important lessons for the New Year.
Fondly,
Father Nicholas
1st Important Lesson – The Cleaning Lady
During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?” Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50’s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. “Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say “Hello.” I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned that her name was Dorothy.
2nd Important Lesson – Pickup in the Rain
One night, at 11:30 pm, an older African-American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960’s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance, and put her into a taxicab. She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his Address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man’s door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A Special note was attached. It read: “Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband’s bedside just before he passed away. God Bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.” Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole. You never know who the recipient of your kind may be. Jesus said it was he, himself.
3rd Important Lesson – Always remember those Who serve
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae?” he asked. “Fifty cents,” replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. “Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. “Thirty-five cents,” she brusquely replied. The little boy again counted his coins. “I'll have the plain ice cream,” he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table down. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were stacked two nickels and five pennies. You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.
4th Important Lesson – The obstacle in Our Path
In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the King’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but no one did anything about getting the stone out of the way. A peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. When the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand! Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.
5th Important Lesson – Giving When it Counts
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes, I’ll do it if it will save her life.” As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away.” Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.
Weekly HOMILY for December 27, 2010: Deacon Preaching Sunday
Deacon Jim Prosser preached at Father Nicholas' Mass this weekend.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Weekly THIS AND THAT for January 24, 2010: Responding to Haiti = Living the Gospel
Responding to Haiti = Living the Gospel
We have all been bombarded with news and images of the devastating earthquake that took place in Haiti on January 12th. As disciples of Jesus Christ, our response is not simply about providing humanitarian aid. Rather, our response to our brothers and sisters in need is our response to the Gospel. In today’s Gospel, Jesus quotes Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.” Jesus then tells his hearers that he himself fulfills this Scripture passage. (Luke 4: 16 – 21) As baptized believers, living in the Spirit of Jesus, we are called to continue his mission in our world. This is what we are doing as we respond to Haiti. And we do this not just as individuals, but as a Church – as the Body of Christ throughout the world. In our second reading for Mass today, Saint Paul teaches the Corinthians that we are the Body of Christ and “if one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it.” (1 Cor 12: 26)
This understanding of our membership in the Body of Christ is the reason that Pope Benedict and bishops called their people to a united response to those in desperate need. Our response is one of solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Christ and is made manifest in our prayer for those who have died, for those who are suffering, and for those who are assisting the victims, as well as in our financial and material aid.
Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Vatican's apostolic nuncio in Haiti, told the Vatican missionary news agency Fides: "Port-au-Prince is completely devastated. The cathedral and the archbishop's residence, all the big churches, all the seminaries are reduced to rubble. I found priests and nuns on the street, who no longer have homes. The rector of the seminary survived, and so did the dean, but the seminarians are under the rubble. Everywhere there are cries coming from under the rubble." He said a study institute for men and women religious had collapsed, with many students inside as they attended a conference. The nunciature withstood the quake, and there were no injuries there.
On January 13th, the Catholic News Service reported that “Pope Benedict XVI prayed for victims of a massive earthquake in Haiti and urged the international community to provide generous assistance to the stricken population of the Caribbean nation. The victims included Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot of Port-au-Prince.
Pope Benedict said, "I appeal to the generosity of everyone, so that our brothers and sisters receive our concrete solidarity and the effective support of the international community in this moment of need and suffering." He also said that the Catholic Church's charity organizations would immediately move into action to assist those most in need.
Caritas Internationalis, the Vatican-based umbrella organization for Catholic charities, said it was mobilizing to provide immediate assistance to Haiti. On Jan. 13 it had already assembled an emergency relief team to fly to Haiti to assist Caritas members already working in the country.
Caritas Internationalis humanitarian director Alistair Dutton was leading the emergency relief team. "There is a strong Caritas presence in Haiti. We already know that Caritas staff will be providing support to survivors of the earthquake, such as food, shelter and comfort through churches and parish networks," Dutton said. "Caritas runs more than 200 hospitals and medical centers in Haiti. It is experienced and prepared to respond to humanitarian disasters there as a result of the frequent hurricanes."
Caritas also said the U.S.-based Catholic Relief Services had been in communication with its staff in Haiti. The local CRS office was still standing and CRS staff present at the time of the quake were safe, it said. Catholic Relief Services operates out of its national headquarters here in Baltimore.
On the local level, Archbishop O’Brien asked all parishes to conduct a collection for the relief of victims in Haiti, reminding us that our Archdiocese has a sister-diocese in Haiti. Here at Our Lady of Grace, your overwhelming generosity was manifested in the $8,047 that you donated to the special collection last weekend. Keep in mind that your prayers and your contributions are two of the many ways that you live the Gospel this very day! We, like Jesus, can say that the Scripture is being fulfilled in our hearing. Let us continue our solidarity with those in need of the Good News each day – those right around us as well as those far away!
Blessings,
Sister Mary Therese
We have all been bombarded with news and images of the devastating earthquake that took place in Haiti on January 12th. As disciples of Jesus Christ, our response is not simply about providing humanitarian aid. Rather, our response to our brothers and sisters in need is our response to the Gospel. In today’s Gospel, Jesus quotes Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.” Jesus then tells his hearers that he himself fulfills this Scripture passage. (Luke 4: 16 – 21) As baptized believers, living in the Spirit of Jesus, we are called to continue his mission in our world. This is what we are doing as we respond to Haiti. And we do this not just as individuals, but as a Church – as the Body of Christ throughout the world. In our second reading for Mass today, Saint Paul teaches the Corinthians that we are the Body of Christ and “if one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it.” (1 Cor 12: 26)
This understanding of our membership in the Body of Christ is the reason that Pope Benedict and bishops called their people to a united response to those in desperate need. Our response is one of solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Christ and is made manifest in our prayer for those who have died, for those who are suffering, and for those who are assisting the victims, as well as in our financial and material aid.
Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Vatican's apostolic nuncio in Haiti, told the Vatican missionary news agency Fides: "Port-au-Prince is completely devastated. The cathedral and the archbishop's residence, all the big churches, all the seminaries are reduced to rubble. I found priests and nuns on the street, who no longer have homes. The rector of the seminary survived, and so did the dean, but the seminarians are under the rubble. Everywhere there are cries coming from under the rubble." He said a study institute for men and women religious had collapsed, with many students inside as they attended a conference. The nunciature withstood the quake, and there were no injuries there.
On January 13th, the Catholic News Service reported that “Pope Benedict XVI prayed for victims of a massive earthquake in Haiti and urged the international community to provide generous assistance to the stricken population of the Caribbean nation. The victims included Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot of Port-au-Prince.
Pope Benedict said, "I appeal to the generosity of everyone, so that our brothers and sisters receive our concrete solidarity and the effective support of the international community in this moment of need and suffering." He also said that the Catholic Church's charity organizations would immediately move into action to assist those most in need.
Caritas Internationalis, the Vatican-based umbrella organization for Catholic charities, said it was mobilizing to provide immediate assistance to Haiti. On Jan. 13 it had already assembled an emergency relief team to fly to Haiti to assist Caritas members already working in the country.
Caritas Internationalis humanitarian director Alistair Dutton was leading the emergency relief team. "There is a strong Caritas presence in Haiti. We already know that Caritas staff will be providing support to survivors of the earthquake, such as food, shelter and comfort through churches and parish networks," Dutton said. "Caritas runs more than 200 hospitals and medical centers in Haiti. It is experienced and prepared to respond to humanitarian disasters there as a result of the frequent hurricanes."
Caritas also said the U.S.-based Catholic Relief Services had been in communication with its staff in Haiti. The local CRS office was still standing and CRS staff present at the time of the quake were safe, it said. Catholic Relief Services operates out of its national headquarters here in Baltimore.
On the local level, Archbishop O’Brien asked all parishes to conduct a collection for the relief of victims in Haiti, reminding us that our Archdiocese has a sister-diocese in Haiti. Here at Our Lady of Grace, your overwhelming generosity was manifested in the $8,047 that you donated to the special collection last weekend. Keep in mind that your prayers and your contributions are two of the many ways that you live the Gospel this very day! We, like Jesus, can say that the Scripture is being fulfilled in our hearing. Let us continue our solidarity with those in need of the Good News each day – those right around us as well as those far away!
Blessings,
Sister Mary Therese
Weekly HOMILY for January 24, 2010: Deacon Preaching Sunday
Deacon Jim Prosser preached at Father Nicholas' Masses this weekend.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Weekly THIS AND THAT for January 17, 2010: Lessons for a New Year
That and That:
Lessons for a New Year
When we enter this world we come into it with nothing; we leave in the very same way. What remains of us between our entrance and exit is how we treated other people. The following are five important lessons for the New Year.
Fondly,
Father Nicholas
1st Important Lesson – The Cleaning Lady
During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?” Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50’s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. “Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say “Hello.” I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned that her name was Dorothy.
2nd Important Lesson – Pickup in the Rain
One night, at 11:30 pm, an older African-American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960’s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance, and put her into a taxicab. She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his Address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man’s door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A Special note was attached. It read: “Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband’s bedside just before he passed away. God Bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.” Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole. You never know who the recipient of your kind may be. Jesus said it was he, himself.
3rd Important Lesson – Always remember those Who serve
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae?” he asked. “Fifty cents,” replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. “Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. “Thirty-five cents,” she brusquely replied. The little boy again counted his coins. “I'll have the plain ice cream,” he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table down. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were stacked two nickels and five pennies. You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.
4th Important Lesson – The obstacle in Our Path
In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the King’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but no one did anything about getting the stone out of the way. A peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. When the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand! Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.
5th Important Lesson – Giving When it Counts
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes, I’ll do it if it will save her life.” As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away.” Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.
Lessons for a New Year
When we enter this world we come into it with nothing; we leave in the very same way. What remains of us between our entrance and exit is how we treated other people. The following are five important lessons for the New Year.
Fondly,
Father Nicholas
1st Important Lesson – The Cleaning Lady
During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?” Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50’s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. “Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say “Hello.” I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned that her name was Dorothy.
2nd Important Lesson – Pickup in the Rain
One night, at 11:30 pm, an older African-American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960’s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance, and put her into a taxicab. She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his Address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man’s door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A Special note was attached. It read: “Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband’s bedside just before he passed away. God Bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.” Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole. You never know who the recipient of your kind may be. Jesus said it was he, himself.
3rd Important Lesson – Always remember those Who serve
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae?” he asked. “Fifty cents,” replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. “Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. “Thirty-five cents,” she brusquely replied. The little boy again counted his coins. “I'll have the plain ice cream,” he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table down. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were stacked two nickels and five pennies. You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.
4th Important Lesson – The obstacle in Our Path
In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the King’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but no one did anything about getting the stone out of the way. A peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. When the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand! Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.
5th Important Lesson – Giving When it Counts
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes, I’ll do it if it will save her life.” As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away.” Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.
Weekly HOMILY for January 17, 2010: Father Nicholas is on "Christmas Break"
Father Nicholas is on "Christmas Break" this weekend.
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