Church of St. Mary at Clinton Heights

03/13/2011

The ‘Campaign’ of our Lenten Season

[The following personal reflections ‘failed to make-the-cut’ and therefore never evolved into ‘homily’ form this weekend, but I wonder if a few parishioners will still find some benefit from my interior wanderings one afternoon…]

Since Ash Wednesdaypassed just a few days agoI have felt drawn to consider more intensely how the Church views Lent from the eyes and heart of our liturgical life. So, with that goal in mind, I thought it might serve me well to return to the very beginning of Lent and its first liturgy that we just recently experienced here at our parish. This led me to re-examine the opening prayer of the liturgies of Ash Wednesday (certainly, I thought, that will give me a clear sense of the newness of the season, and the goals it has in store for me and for us).

The opening prayer, voiced by those who presided at our liturgies, and offered by each person who gathered together in our rituals, stated: “Father in heaven, the light of your truth bestows sight to the darkness of sinful eyes. May this season of repentance bring us the blessing of your forgiveness and the gift of your light.” I pondered that for several moments and, although I realized some images coming to the forefront of my consciousness, I also felt an unease…or an inner pang of longing…an ache for more; the prayer just wasn’t resonating as much as I was hoping it might. So I waited a bit more.

Then something interesting popped into my little mind’s eye: I could see our community gathering in a different way…something had changed…and I realized that my simple imagination was pointing me toward consideration of the Roman Missal, 3^rd edition that I have been studying intensely over the last several months. “Great idea!” I whispered, as I feebly congratulated myself.

Anyway, I then looked at the opening prayer as it has been crafted for the revised missal which we will use in all future Ash Wednesdays, and I found a very, very different translation from the exact same Latin source as our current prayer. I was startled at the variances between the two and it opened up a deluge of thoughts and images that I had never honestly considered related, intertwined, akin to one another…. I share this new translation of the opening and first prayer of our season of Lent with you (from the newly promulgated 3^rd edition of the Roman Missal in English):

“Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of Christian service, so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils, we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint.”

Quite different from our current translation, right? Aside from making any qualitative judgments and arrogantly declaring which might be better or worse, more or less helpful or harmful; with all that aside, I just sat with it, and let the images come…and then the important personal questionsat least for me:

“is there really a battle that I am beginning to engage in?”; “am I really entering into a campaign of service?”; “and what about weapons that I am to take up?”; these were just a few of the questions, but eachI sensedwas going to be important for me to consider and discern, and then to decide how my responses to these questions are then going to impact my Lenten season. Of all of these, I’d like to simply consider one issue here: the issue regarding ‘battle’ or ‘campaign’, especially since I have a whole forty days and forty nights to consider the other issues that swirled around within me!

I had to acknowledge, almost immediately, that I had not considered myself engaged in battle. I am generally happy, content with my life’s little challenges and my personal responses to them; I am very pleased in my parish ministries and the wonderful people with whom I serve in priesthood; I have lots of fun teaching college students as a simple hobby; yes, all things considered, I had to admit I didn’t feel engaged in much of a battle.

And, of course, as I let my guard down, it then hit me like a sack of rotten, slimy tomatoes: “You fool!”

“Sure, maybe you’re not engaged in battle, but you should be!” “Look beyond your own little experience, because there’s lots rattling around you…and it might just surprise and throw you!”

And then a deep breath…the wheels engaged in their whirling and spinning…with lottery-like balls swirling around and poppingone by oneinto clearer view: something inside me was witnessing what should have been obvious to me all along and, of course, I’m ashamed to admit it, hadn’t yet caught my narcissistic attention. But I couldn’t look away now…my awareness was peaking: the gravity of our human condition.

• Our youth are preparing and collecting and organizing themselves for a Midnight Run.

• Egypt, Jordan, and now Libya…millions of people beaten-down, are now fighting to stand up.

• Six of our parishioners are in Afghanistan and/or Iraq…I wonder if they sense I’m hoping peace and blessing for them right now.

• Catholics are lobbying the State this week for those who are voiceless around us.

• Our local parishes and we ‘leaders’ have been in a bit of a fiery cauldron these last several weeks because of some foolish, really foolish, thing.

• I bought groceries yesterday and didn’t even notice the final price tag…I’m really, really lucky that I’m not worried right now about the eventual credit card bill.

• Catholic Schools are in crisis: the State isn’t going to respond to various financial and systemic injustices, leaving the heroic families of our students to foot higher and higher bills…all so that they can try their best to do good by their kids…but isn’t that what the state should be trying to do as well?

• I haven’t seen one of my people at Mass in a long while…I wonder if something has happened.

And on and on it went.

 

Moments later, waking from the rapid-fire slideshow of my imagination, my initial question again came to mind, “am I engaged in a battle of some kind or another”? My answer was, “No, clearly not”. As others go homeless and unfed, I’m comfy in a rectory and quite sated. As people battle injustice…as others compromise and long to resolve differences…as families with young children fear rising costs and even higher unemployment…as some suffer illness and face painful losses…and on and on. As all this and more happens around me, I am here wondering what ‘battle’ might mean and whether or not a campaign exists.

I wondered then what to make of myself. Thankfully, before too long, I returned to the opening prayer that started my mind sprinting, and I am relieved to see that there is a renewed reason for Lent…in and around me.

Recall the opening of that simple yet concise prayer: “Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of Christian service…” Whew. The Lordin His goodness, thankfullyis giving us this new seasonjust begunso that I can ‘begin’ this campaign, a campaign that has been ongoing, yet was still waiting to be fully joined with my own service, my own authentic engagement and response.

And so: my Lenten Journey begins; my campaign starts.

A blessed ‘renewed beginning to this campaign’ for each of you as well.

Fr. David

03/06/2011

To Listen with the Heart

One of my students at Siena College was surprised this past week by the mid-term exam!

I’m not sure how:

• …I had stated clearly in the syllabus and in the course calendar that the Midterm exam was going to be conducted on Thursday, March 3^rd.
• In fact, on Tuesday, I repeated that information and conducted some simple review with them.

Of course, when she protested on Thursday that she thought it was next Thursday I was tempted to ask her “what part of March 3^rd don’t you understand?”

She knew the rules and she heard my words…just like every other student in the class! But apparently that isn’t enough! How right that statement is!

Our first reading from Deuteronomy echoed this sentiment: It is not enough to merely know God’s commandments. And our Gospel affirms that it is also not merely enough to hear Jesus’ words. The “more” that is needed from each one of usbeyond simply knowing and hearingis to listen with the heart and respond. We must put the spirit of these commandments, of these words of the Master, into action. For faith demands action…it’s ‘action’ that proves the mettle of faith and stands up to the pressures that face us day in and day out as we move throughout the created world.

Surely, if we are to look at any single day, we’ll be able to see just how hard it is to put our authentic faith into real action. We can easily spot where we take the easy way, or the fastest shortcut or the simplest route to a goal…and if we’re honest, we’ll see that we regularly let faith step aside for convenience, or expedience, or plain old laziness.

This Wednesday, as we begin lent, there are 3 traditional ways that we might use in order to not only know God’s commands, but work to hear his words and keep His law of love.

The three traditional disciplines are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Why these three? …In order to maintain our right and just relationships with God and with the world and one another. First, one’s relationship with God is sustained by prayer. Then, being sure one is available to and ready for the Lord, we fast so that we make room for God in our hearts, so that we hunger for His grace. And finally, once we are restored, we go forth from within ourselves to love others, to care for their needs, to give them a share in our own blessings (almsgiving). These disciplines of Lent are not mere gestures or pithy acts to be performed: no, they are intendedand ableto help each one of us be restored to the likeness of God.

In the coming days, may we recall God’s commandments, hear Christ’s words of encouragement, and put our renewed faith into action…proving anew that “we believe”.

God bless you,

Fr. David

02/27/2011

Sufficient for a day…is its own worries

We have three baptisms today at the 11am Mass…and if I was a gambling man, I’d bet that the 3 moms and 3 dads have each already experienced lots of joys from the little ones. Of course, who wouldn’t crumble at a little baby’s new smile? Or what about when they first start to grab hold of your little finger for dear life? …precious little exchanges! But those moms and dads are probablyat the same timefeeling lots of anxieties and natural worries: will my job be able to support my family? Will the snow let up and winter pass more quickly so that heating bills won’t consume our paychecks? Do we have enough diapers and baby clothes and toys and formula and…all the other stuff to last us next week? What about the next week? …and the next?

Although these worries are quite natural and provisions ought to be planned for, still, they may not be our best focus or our highest driving force in life. If our gospel today wasn’t clear enough, maybe a little fable from Aesop will help: recall the goatherd caught in a snowstorm. Herding his goats toward a cave for shelter, the goatherd found the cave already occupied by a herd of wild goatslots more than his own. Devious and greedy at increasing his own wealth, the goatherd took great care of his wild find…going so far as to even give them the fodder/food intended for his own goats. Well, in time the storm passed and, alas, the goatherd found he had nothing: his own goats vanished with starvation, the wild goats had all run off to the hills and woods, and he had nothing left. The foolish man had made a foolish gamble and poor choice: neglecting what was securely his own to try and gain what would only be lost anyway.

“Sufficient for a day…is its own evil” says the Good Shepherd in today’s gospel. There will be plenty of anxieties or temptations each and every day that we might choose to worry about or be concerned with. But so many of them are merely that: temptations. They need not be our real concerns. If we do not choose to gamble with them, if we choose to keep our hands to the plow of a good and virtuous life, so many threats and so many worries will fall away and never approach us to do us harm.

• • “Look at the birds of the air.” Our heavenly Father feeds them.
  • “Look how the wild flowers grow.” God clothes them with great splendor.

So, if God cares so much for the birds, the grass and the wildflowers…surely, God also knows our deepest need and cares for us. Let us not worry so much about our immediate needs, being shortsighted and quite impoverished: those immediate needs will always be with us and, in due time, we’ll be able to receive our need.

Rather, let’s keep always before us the great plan of God, His kingdom and His righteousness: for with that priority, our wealth is always assured. From our first reading, we know that the wealth God offers is that He is ever faithful and will never forsake us. May we know of His loveeven in our anxiety and worryand that His greatest and fullest desire for us is to be one with us, now and always. May we seek the real and lasting value of lifethe only authentic wealth and prizethe Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

God bless you and all whom you love,

Fr. David

02/20/2011

Be Perfect…Be Whole…Be Pure in Heart

It’s no secret that every so often I battle with perfectionism and obsessive tendencies. Of course, those obsessions remind me that I’m not so ‘perfect’ after all. Recently, while out socializing with several of our diocesan priests, we were laughing about some of our imperfections and curious tendencies and, thankfully, I was reminded by one of my brothers that I was not the only one who suffered from perfectionism: sure I would often catch myself saying, “Any job, big or smalldo it right, or not at all”, but it was Bishop Maginn (former bishop of Albany) who was always reminding his priests, “Good, better, best…never let it rest; till the good is better, and the better is best.”

This weekend’s gospel passage places this invitation on the lips of our Lord, “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48). In all of our dealings with all others, especially those in need, we are asked to exercise authentic justice in our generous stewardship; we are encouraged to act out of a severe and austere love, a love that abandons our own self interest and seeks to respond to the authentic need of others.

So, is this perfection achievable? If so, is it advisable? Although at first hearing it is potentially troublesome for people like me, Jesus is not speaking here of a perfection in the sense of absolute moral perfection, an impossible ideal for mere human beings to attain. On the contrary, our Lord is inviting us to be untarnished by concrete involvement in the material world. It is precisely amid the relativities and ambiguities of concrete action in our living, worldly existence that the disciple is called to be perfect. Moreover, we’re encouraged not to fulfill the law for the sake of the law, but rather for the sake of our “wholeness”, that goodness which involves both actions and right intentions, intentions that are not merely for our own wholeness, but the wholeness of others in our midst. Yes, to be perfect, is to serve God wholeheartedly; to be single-minded in our devotion to God.

So while I might be distracted by my obsessive need to be perfect (maybe I should let go of some of my old sayings…like, “measure twice, cut once!”)something completely unattainableI now find myself in need of something greater: the perfection of wholeness and holiness. And the only way I can ever attain that is by being open more and more to seeing the needs of all those around me and, by helping to alleviate suffering and injusticeall in the name of GodI might then reach the antithesis of Christ’s preaching: I might then, and only then, share in the blessings given to “the pure in heart” (Mt. 5:8).

God bless you and all whom you love,

Fr. David

01/31/2011

This is a First

Well, it has finally happened: I have accepted the invitation to write my first of many weekly blog entries! Eighteen months agoin my usual, helpless styleI asked one of our beloved young adult parishioners to read an article concerning evangelization and the use of technology to speak with the language of young adults and college students. My goal was to learn some of the “new fangled language” of this millennium so that I might better understand my growing appreciation for these upcoming generations. Ultimately this wise parishioner shared with me the hunger that so many young adults and college students face: a longing for meaning and connection; a thirst for appreciation and integration of their faith traditions; a deep, lasting desire for union with God and others…yes, all this, but within the confines of limited time, hectic responsibilities, the influx of so many doubts and fears, uncertainty about the present and concern for the future. These, and so many other challenges of contemporary daily life yetas this young man told methey are still drawn to something deeper, something longer-lasting, something most meaningful and worthy of their devotion, commitment and lively care. I was told that evening, that to meet these young people in the arenas in which they delve would be a wonderful opportunity to let them know of our care, of our desire for them to share our lives of faith, and hope and love, and to allow them to feel welcome to meet us, pray with us, know us and share in cherishing each other as disciples on the journey.

And so, after many months of grappling with this new process, and working with some of our generous parishioners who have shared countless hours helping me to develop this new website and the many treasures that are beingand will continue to be shared throughout this site, I am actually not as nervous as I thought I would be posting this entry.

You see, I believe strongly in the lived experience of the Church because, if I’m honest, that’s where I find myself supported and challenged to be a disciple: seeking holiness and virtue; seeking justice and peace; striving for union with God and his good people.

And so, I’m posting my first weekly blog. I hope to regularly share here some of the thoughts from our Sunday liturgies. I’ll do this for a couple of reasons. First, a lot of our parishioners regularly ask me to write a few comments each week in our bulletin…I don’t often do that simply because I speak with them during the homily at each Mass. Second, and following closely on the heels of the first reason, a lot of the time our young families are on the go, our older families are visiting family out-of-town, and all of our others are faced with scheduling conflicts and the like. In other words, there are times when our regular parishioners just aren’t here on a given weekend and they never want to miss anything. They’ll stop by or call and ask, “so, Father, what d’ya talk about this Sunday?”…this new blog will answer that question more readily!

Thirdand probably my most pressing reason for beginning this weekly blog: I want those who are afraid to come into our church, those who may feel strange coming into a new place and a new gathering of folks, …I want each and every one of them to know that they are welcome here. None of us is any better or any worse than another: we simply are a people who are trying to respond to God’s invitation to love and serve.

Hopefully, this posting has given you a little bit of a sense of who I am as the parish priest here at St. Mary’s. Moreover, I hope that hasn’t scared you! In fact, I’d be so happy to welcome you to our parish anytime you wish to visit…or maybe even stay awhile…maybe even a lifetime! Here at our parish, we are a joyful, humble people who are professing faith, imparting hope, and bestowing love. And we welcome all who wish to share our prayer and our life.

God bless you and love you always,

Fr. David