May we have hope!

It has been rather a long time since I’ve written. I think a random article of my own musings seems appropriate. Much continues to change, evolve, and grow throughout the world. As always, I welcome your comments.

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The 112th Congress began last Wednesday 5 January 2011. Republicans control the new House of Representatives with a 49 seat majority. Democrats still hold the Senate but with six less seats. I have much hope for the new Congress and pray that it makes true progress in the next two years.

Four years ago I watched Rep. Nancy Pelosi take the post of Speaker of the House on television and cringed at the giddy hypocrisy of her power grab. She quoted the Prayer of Saint Francis and claimed pride in her Catholic heritage merely out of utility. She spent the next four years supporting legislation clearly against Catholic doctrine, even stating the Catholic Church could not be clear on the abortion teaching.

Compare that with Wednesday morning. The new Speaker of the House, Rep. John Boehner, attended Mass before going to Capitol Hill. Because I am making this comparison I can almost guarantee that you, my readers, will have a laundry list of things Boehner has done or said of which the Catholic Church would not approve. Regardless, there was a stark comparison in their opening remarks. Boehner quoted the Ash Wednesday Roman Catholic Liturgy, calling on the new House of Representatives to “Remember, you are dust and unto dust you shall return,” that the power newly given by the people of the United States can be taken away just as easily. I listened to parts of the speech on Rush Limbaugh’s show. Limbaugh immediately commented that Boehner was calling the Democratic Party dust but I think Limbaugh misinterpreted Boehner’s comment. Enough with partisanship! Boehner spoke in warning to his own party as much as to the Democrats. Humility instead of egocentrism. Let us begin! Let us pray.

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This month I am taking an independent study J-Term class, Christian Worship. This class involves writing four papers, a total of 31 to 45 pages over the course of the entire month. I am able to personalize my topics to include art and architecture, liturgical and sacred music, and Eucharistic theology. One of the papers will include an observation of a service at an Episcopal Cathedral. I look forward to all the learning ahead of me and sharing bits and snippets of what I learn with you.

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An article in the Wall Street Journal on Friday 7 February 2011 pointed to the terrible persecution felt by Christians in the Middle East especially Iran. The persecution we read about from Christianity’s early centuries still exists throughout the world. Let us pray for our Christian brethren that they may be strong through continued persecution. Let us also pray for deep respect of our fellow men beginning with their God-given dignity as His creation. May we offer thanks for the Freedom of Religion practiced in the United States of America.

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Lastly for this post, I would like to express my desire for hope! It is one of the theological virtues and lacking throughout our world in a distinct way. I hear from fellow Catholics as well as others the horrible things that are happening in the world. All we see is doom and gloom around us with no end in sight. We as a society (and we as CATHOLICS!) need to make a particular resolution to point out and celebrate that which is good, holy, and sacred. It is all a matter of perspective: the surest reason for our hope is actually the bloodied and broken body of Our Lord on the Cross of Calvary because three days after His death He got up again. Christ can bring good from any hopeless condition. He never promised us worldly happiness but he certainly did promise us joy! Let us take our suffering, our broken lives, and our fallen world and lay it at the feet of the One who has already won the war. They never were ours anyway.



The photograph is a relief sculpture from the doors of the Cathedral in Milan, Italy. Taken by Kellen O'Grady, © April 2010.

Miss Bernice Carroll

14 October 1919 - 25 November 2010

Bernice Carroll will always stand out in my mind as a deeply devoted member of Saint Peter Parish. I can picture right where she sat everyday at daily Mass and led the rosary. I enjoyed listening to her lector simply because she radiated Christ. She is one of those people who made an impression on me as I grew up by her silent witness and as such, witnessed to the whole parish how the Faith can, should, and must be lived.

Eternal Rest, grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Name:
Miss Bernice Carroll

Date:
October 14th, 1919 - November 25th, 2010

Visitations:
5:00PM to 7:00PM on Monday, November 29th, 2010 at Daley Murphy Wisch Chapel (map/driving directions)

Services:
11:30AM at St. Peter Catholic Church on Tuesday, November 30th, 2010 (map/driving directions)

Obituary:
Miss Bernice Carroll, 91, of Footville, WI, and formerly of Beloit, WI, died Thursday, November 25, 2010 in St. Elizabeth Manor Assisted Living Facility. She was born October 14, 1919 in Avon, WI, the daughter of Edward and Elizabeth (Murphy) Carroll. Bernice was a 1935 graduate of Brother Dutton School and a 1938 graduate of Beloit High School. She received her nursing diploma in 1941 from St. Elizabeth School of Nursing, Chicago, IL. Bernice also received her certificate of Public Health from Marquette University, Bachelor of Science Degree from Loretto Heights College of Nursing, Masters Degree in Public Health-Mental Health Nursing from Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. and a Masters Degree of Science in Education-Media Specialist from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL. Bernice was a WWII veteran of the U.S. Army serving with the Army Nurse Corps as a charge nurse. Bernice had many employments which include the staff nurse at Beloit Memorial Hospital, supervisor at Beloit Health Department, school nurse at St. Catherine’s Indian School, Sante Fe, New Mexico and New Mexico State Normal School, El Rito, New Mexico. She was an Assistant Professor at Loyal University School of Nursing, Chicago, IL and a Media Specialist Instructional Programmer at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Bernice was also the coordinator for the Learning Resource Center, College of Nursing, Lewis University, Romeoville, IL. She retired in June of 1980. Bernice’s hobbies were painting, photography, traveling and proud to be of Irish Descent. She was a member of St. Peter Catholic Church. Survivors include her brother, Thomas (Bernice) Carroll of Beloit, WI; numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, great great nieces and great great nephews. She was predeceased by her parents and brother, Joseph. Funeral Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, November 30, 2010 in St. Peter Catholic Church, 620 Blackhawk Blvd, South Beloit, IL. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday in the Daley Murphy Wisch & Associates Funeral Home and Crematorium, 2355 Cranston Road, Beloit, WI, with a Rosary at 4:45 p.m.

Memorials:
In lieu of flowers, Memorials may be given in her name to Hospice.

Cemetery:
Calvary Cemetery
Colley Road
Beloit, WI 53511

Source: www.daleymurphywisch.com

New Dialogue

I opened up the The Wall Street Journal on November 22nd to find a rather misinformed article on the Holy Father’s latest comments on condom use. The quotes of the Holy Father are cited from a “book-length interview over the summer with the German writer Peter Seewald that will be officially released this week.” Needless to say, they had quotes of those who think the Church is finally accepting condom use alongside the Vatican’s clarifications; a friend posted another story from Zenit on my Facebook wall in which Dr. Janet Smith, an expert on sexuality and bioethics not to mention a consultor to the Pontifical Council on the Family, clarified what exactly the Holy Father meant. Church teaching has not and will never change!

The Holy Father’s (not so) controversial quote said: "There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants.”

All he is essentially saying is that the use of a condom might be the first step away from free-for-all sexual activity; the user of the condom (and he cites a male prostitute), might have made one step toward fully understanding his sexuality. The Church is not condoning condom use. All the acts for which they are used are NEVER moral including contraception, preventing a pregnancy between heterosexual couples, and preventing disease among (unmarried) hetero and homosexual couples. It isn’t really the condom at the root of the problem. It’s the actions that make people think the condom is “necessary” in the first place. The ideal sexual situation, the only moral sexual act as taught by the Church, is between a married man and woman. There is no fear of disease or fear of an unwanted child. This scenario provides the greatest of sexual freedoms, giving oneself to the beloved freely, totally, and fully. Why is abstinence until marriage the best option? It is the only way to be entirely free, guiltless, innocent, and pure.

What the Holy Father is doing (and this will be overlooked by many) is reaching out to meet sinners, ALL OF US, where we are as Christ reaches out to us. He is not judging us but reaching out to meet us as the Vicar of Christ on Earth, pulling us up from the muck, and showing that conversions happen by the grace of God and in many situations, by a long process. Dr. Smith explains: “Christ himself, of course, called for a turning away from sin. That is what the Holy Father is advocating here; not a turn towards condoms.”

The Holy Father has done something new: he has gone a step beyond the typical doctrine. He has moved beyond the usual rhetoric and opened a new conversation. This requires, though, that we understand the Church will never change her teaching. The teaching merely acts and the foundation of the new dialogue. In the ever evolving interaction of the Church with the world, we may be entering a new chapter.

Photo from wsj.com.

Are you voting?

In this age of iPads; laptops; instant news; blogs; and all things digital, religion and politics polarize our opinions when we try to put our faith into action. As students we also lose touch with the world around us. These four years of university study are completely revolved around self and our own “moving up” in the world.

Believe it or not, one of our duties as citizens is just over two weeks away! November 2nd is Election Day. Campus Ministry would like to encourage you to take some time in the next couple of weeks to take a look at the world around you. Delve into issues of our day and see what political candidates best match a worldview seen through the eyes of Faith.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has put together a website full of voter information, thought provoking articles, and resources for all Catholics, leaders, and youth.
www.faithfulcitizenship.org

The Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office website provides information and resources on how to register, and when and where to vote. In Minnesota, you can register to vote the day of the election by providing proof of residence.
www.sos.state.mn.us

Faith-informed voting is the responsibility of all Catholics and it has never been easier! See you at the polls!

This article, written by Kellen O'Grady, originally appeared in "The Good News", the Sunday bulletin of Campus Ministry at the University of Saint Thomas.

Archbishop Burke Clarifies Some Lay Roles

An article from the Catholic News Agency posted by EWTN, "Lay Eucharistic Ministers Not Entitles To Position, Archbishop Burke Clarifies" describes a number of clarifications Archbishop Raymond Burke made in the preface of a commentary on Pope Benedict’s moto proprio, “Summorum Pontificum”.

The article writes, “…the archbishop explained in the preface that due to the motu proprio’s papal origins, it is not just an act of liturgical legislation brought about as a ‘favor’ to a specific group for the celebration of the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, the Mass in Latin, but one that applies to the entire Church.” The article goes on to say, “[Archbishop Burke] wrote, among the ‘rights’ of the baptized, assistance by ‘persons of the feminine sex’ at the altar is not included. Additionally, serving as a lector or as an extraordinary distribution [sic] of communion is not a right of the laity, he noted.”

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Archbishop Charles Chaput gave related comments about the active participation of the laity in the liturgy when he delivered the Hillenbrand Lecture at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. A portion of my own summary is reprinted below from my blog post of 1 July 2010, “Is modern man capable of the liturgical act?” A link to the full text of Archbishop Chaput’s lecture can be found at the end of that blog post.

“There is one final point which I was thrilled to hear clarified: the Second Vatican Council’s calls for “‘active participation’ of the laity in the liturgy”. This is one of the most misinterpreted phrases of the council. This is used as an excuse for “external activity, commotion and busy-ness” in the Mass when it actually “refers to the inner movement of our souls, our interior participation in Christ’s action of offering of his Body and Blood”. Sacred silence, pause for reflection, is crucial and is a very evident part of Papal Liturgies, even written in red in the Mass booklets. Active participation is not forcing the Congregation to sing against their will because some liturgist or musician has a narrow, selfish, and self-inflated view of their position in the parish. It is orienting our hearts to God in the Mystical and Sacramental Body of Christ.”

A Call to Compassion

The events of September 11, 2001 remain raw nearly nine years later. For Americans and people around the world, those acts of terrorism and hate changed the global atmosphere in uncharted ways. Emotions and suspicion continue to run high.

Perhaps these horrific events are not as raw as they ought to be. Perhaps they are even dull and soft. The immediate days, weeks, and months following September 11th found Americans patriotic, unified, and praying. We joined with our neighbours and shared tears, sorrow, and a newfound hope for peace and love. Our country realized what faith, hope, and charity truly mean. We stumbled underneath the overwhelming compassion from around the world. Global allies flew the American flag in solidarity. At the changing of the guard outside Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth II ordered The Star Spangled Banner played. The world unified against a common enemy: those who would do us harm for living freely, justly, and righteously.

Pure evil motivated the acts of September 11th. Evil cannot be tolerated and must not be accepted or excused. In the past nine years a new evil has crept around the world. From local parishes, to national politics, to global consideration, division separates us from our crusade for good and separates us from each other. We look suspiciously at our neighbour. We condemn them for what we know nothing about. We care only for our own point of view and never see through the eyes of another, much less the eyes of God.

One of the strongest examples of this division is the proposed mosque which might be built two blocks from Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan. We are presented with two options: accept the mosque as a first amendment right or reject the mosque as an attack on America and all the good for which she stands. I feel caught between a rock and a hard place. I believe in the rights of all Americans especially freedom of religion. (What would life be like if I weren’t permitted to attend Mass openly and receive Holy Communion regularly?) Yet, I cannot just ignore the serious allegations and suspicion against the organization pursuing the Lower Manhattan mosque, questions about funding, practical issues of proximity to the Muslim population in New York, and ties to radicalism.

Any forms of radical religion must be condemned. Radical Islam is in a jihad against everything good and virtuous about Western culture solely because it is not Islamic. Disliking something about a particular culture is one thing but violence and murder for the sake of your belief must end. If Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the leader of the proposed mosque, is tied with radical Islam, he cannot be allowed to spread his dangerous and violent work.

That being said: We cannot let this division continue! Division is the work of Lucifier. He has striven to tear apart all the good and virtue that rose from the terror on 9/11. We can, however, easily heal this division with one thing: compassion. Atticus Finch, the Southern lawyer in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird explained it well to his daughter, Scout, when he said “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”

Let us remove ourselves from the Manhattan mosque controversy to a similar yet more distant situation. An interesting, yet anonymous and possibly amateur, article about The 1998 War of the Crosses explains argument and bitter fights over the placement of crosses and Jewish stars at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concencration Camp. All each side wanted to do was honour their own dead and rightfully so. For one reason or another, they argued that the other side should not have that chance and took offence when they did. If only they reached out with compassion, they would realize they were fighting for the same thing. It is worthy to note Carmelite nuns were forced to leave a building they had turned into their convent on the site of the Concentration Camp because it was deemed inappropriate due to the number of Jews who died there. Even the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI could not escape scrutiny. The article explains that even though he attempted to make the necessary concessions while visiting the site, avoiding his native German language and speaking in Italian; avoiding disputed sites of "The War of the Crosses”; and paying due homage to all victims regardless of faith, one statement was interpreted to have an incorrect motivation and accidentally insulted a number of Jewish people: “In a place like this, words fail; in the end there can only be a dread silence, a silence which itself is a heartfelt cry to God: Why, Lord, did you remain silent? How could you tolerate all this?” A statement meant for solidarity was twisted into a statement that deflected blame from the millions of Catholics and Germans who remained silent. A fallible man is expected to be as infallible as his office. When did we begin to demand the impossible of each other?

Back in Manhattan, New Yorkers and all Americans must keep an open mind until their reasonable concerns are confirmed or denied. Muslims must be aware of the pain and suffering the radicals who claim Islam cause. For the love of all you believe in, help each other understand! Have compassion!

"Vatican Sets New Rules for Abuse Cases"

"Church Weighs Additional Guidelines on Reporting Allegations; Victims' Groups Say New Standards Don't Go Far Enough."

Please see The Wall Street Journal Website link for the full text of the article.

Title and Subtitle quoted from the article.