November 23rd, A Note from Fr. Walt

Viva Cristo Rey – Long Live Christ the King by Fr. Walt…

       Today, on this last Sunday of the Church’s Liturgical year, we celebrate the feast of Christ the King.  At the culmination of this entire liturgical year of our worship, we honor Jesus Christ as the Lord of the Kingdom of Justice, Truth, Love and Peace.  Our idea of the Kingship of Christ is that at the ultimate coming of Christ, it will be to claim this world as his kingdom and invite all who profess belief in Him to join him in heaven.

       In our society today, we don’t think in terms of royalty with all its trappings and regal traditions, though many Americans are fascinated to watch the pageantry that takes place in other countries where monarchs still exist.  Well, there are other stories that tell us of how we honor Christ the King and one in particular is connected to the feast of a 20^th century martyr who became a martyr on this date, November 23^rd, in the year 1927.

       His name was Miguel Pro, a native of Mexico, who became a Jesuit priest.  He received his education and training in Europe where, of course, it was the custom for the clergy to wear the black cassock every day.  He did this religiously, but when he returned to his native Mexico, the country was going through a period of fierce anti-Catholic repression.  The clergy were forbidden to wear any religious garb in public.  If they were found out, they might be arrested by the military police.  Fr. Miguel went along with this restriction though he had become very well known as a priest, celebrating Mass, most often secretly, taking care of the sick and dying and teaching the young people about their faith.

     Naturally, he became a target of the anti-Catholic authorities who would love to have captured him; it would be a feather in their cap if they could silence him.  Miguel was a master of disguises and many times walked even in the presence of the police disguised in some way that they never took a second look at him.  This enabled him to go about the city visiting the sick, bringing Communion, hearing Confessions, anointing the sick and bringing comfort to the bereaved.

       His colleagues warned him that he was taking a great risk in his efforts to carry out his ministry in the presence even of the police; they told him that sooner or later, he would be found out and captured and God only knew what would happen to him.

       Well, the inevitable finally happened.  He was discovered and arrested and thrown into a dark prison cell.  He remained there without being formally charged and left wondering what would happen to him and when.  Without any forewarning, the soldiers came to his cell early in the morning of November 23, 1927.  They dragged him up into a courtyard and stood him in front of a firing squad.  They asked him if he had any last requests and he responded that he would like to pray.  When he finished praying, he stretched out his arms in the shape of a cross and shouted out, “VIVA CRISTO REY” …..LONG LIVE CHRIST THE KING!

       Not long before he was arrested, he wrote a letter to some friends.  He ended the letter with the following message, “Adios, Remember me to all, never forget me, and any time you lack someone for whom to say an “Ave,” know that I shall accept it with the greatest gratitude.”     

 
Fr. Walt Wainwright

November 9th, A Note from Fr. Walt

       There are several hundred churches in the eternal city of Rome.  Among them, of course, is the largest church in Christendom:  St. Peter’s Basilica.  Anyone who has visited the Vatican has stood in awe at the

magnificence of this basilica.  Among the other great churches we call basilicas are the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the Basilica of St. Paul outside the walls and the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

       Today, November 9th, we are celebrating one of those basilicas, the one that is dedicated in honor of St. John the Evangelist, more commonly called the Lateran Basilica.  It may seem unusual to us that the celebration of the Dedication of this Basilica should take

precedence over our regular Sunday Liturgy.  Another aspect that may seem unusual is that the feast has the title of ‘The Dedication of the Basilica of the Savior,’ yet it is the one and the same church dedicated to St. John the Evangelist.  It is only occasionally that this feast falls on a Sunday.  We probably wouldn’t take notice of it when it comes on a weekday.   

        So what gives this feast day such importance?  There are a number of reasons, among them is the fact that this particular church is also the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Rome.  Every Diocese in the world has a cathedral.  In Our own diocese, it is the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Rochester.  In New York City, it is the more famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  I am sure that in some remote areas of the world, the cathedral church is a very small church, perhaps due to the poverty of the area of its location.

       The significance of the Basilica of the Savior, or St. John’s Basilica, is precisely because it is a cathedral church.  It is the seat of the Diocese of Rome and consequently it is the mother church for the Roman diocese and Pope Francis is its Bishop.  Read over the texts of the scriptures for today’s feast and you will discover the importance of the cathedral church.

       In the first reading from the Book of Ezekiel, the imagery is very rich in speaking about the flowing water that comes out from the temple, running into the sea; and when the rich pure water reaches the salty water of the sea, it gives life to all the creatures of the sea.  The trees and plants that grow along the banks of the river are watered by the life-giving springs that nourish these plants.  Both the water which gives life and the plants that have healing powers represent the sacramental life of the church that nourishes and heals.  The sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist, Confirmation and Anointing, all give and sustain life.  The sacrament of Reconciliation brings healing to the sinner.

       In the passage from the Letter to the Corinthians, our second reading today, St. Paul reminds us that we ourselves are the temples of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of God dwells in us.  This tells us that we are not only celebrating a structure in today’s liturgy, but the life-giving Spirit of God that is within us.

       Finally the passage of the Gospel, taken from the Gospel of St. John, gives us the scene where Jesus cleanses the temple in Jerusalem.  The words of Jesus give strong evidence for his love for the Father’s house.  “Take these out of here and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” 

        Jesus, by his action, is reminding us that every place

of worship is a sacred place and that we should remember this and remind ourselves at the same time, that we are living temples and the Spirit of the Lord dwells within us.

Fr. Walt Wainwright

November 2nd, A note from Fr. Scott

          Not long ago, I read an article written by a woman who said that when she was young she would read all the Reader’s Digest Condensed Books.  It wasn’t until years later that she realized that “condensed” didn’t just mean “shortened”.  The proper people at Reader’s Digest Condensed Books also removed any offensive material, especially language.  She cited as an example William Shakespeare’s classic “MacBeth” in which Lady MacBeth, overwhelmed with guilt, would cry out, “Out, d___ spot!” (taking a cue from the proper people of Reader’s Digest Condensed Books I will let you fill in the blank).  The Reader’s Digest version read, “Out, crimson spot!”

          As the author of the article recalled the Condensed Books I couldn’t help but think of the time (early 70s) when my mother read the condensed version of Erich Segal’s “Love Story”.  It was a rather sad and moving story and her reading of it made her want to see the movie, so she went with her sisters.  Of course, the original book was rife with vulgarities and the movie followed suit, much to my mother’s dismay: she would have preferred the cleaned-up condensed version.

          I thought of that article while I was on my annual retreat last week.  I go to Stella Maris Retreat Center in Skaneateles, NY, and take part in a silent directed retreat.  Silence is kept except for participation at daily Mass and a daily meeting with one’s director for about 45 minutes.  The rest of the time is spent praying, sleeping, eating, reading, and going for walks around the neighborhood.  (If it sounds like a vacation, it’s not.  Deep prayer is hard work.)  It happened to be a rainy week, so walking around the neighborhood involved avoiding raindrops and negotiating wet sidewalks. 

          One day I went for a lengthy walk up and down the small inclines strewn throughout the area.  As I started down a small incline, I must have been deep in thought, for I didn’t notice that part of the sidewalk was slate or shale or something of that nature—petrology/geology is not my strong suit.  At any rate, whatever it was, it was extremely slippery when wet!  My foot slipped, I lost my balance and subsequently fell to the ground.  (When one is 60ish, falling is not a pretty picture.  I admit I lack the grace of a ballet dancer—or even someone on “Dancing with the Stars”.)  I didn’t fall on my backside, thank goodness, or even face-first—also thank goodness.  I fell on my left knee, twisting my toes in an odd way to prevent further descent, leading to some limping for a few days.  But all in all, my pants took the worst of it, especially around the left knee area: dirt and what looked like black soot.  I decided I would just let it dry and wash it when I got back to Elmira.

          After returning home, I sprayed the pants with “Oxi Clean”, let it soak in for a while, echoed Lady MacBeth’s “Out, d___ spot!”, and then threw them in the washer.  They came out less than clean.  The stains remain.  I don’t know what was on that wet sidewalk, but it was like indelible marker.

          While my pants will no doubt forever be stained, fortunately the Catholic Christian life reminds us that no matter what sins may stain our immortal soul, God is the great stain remover—as long as we acknowledge our sinfulness, ask for forgiveness, and are truly sorry, there is nothing God won’t forgive.

          Years ago I remember reading a spiritual writer who said he tried every religion the world over before he decided which one he would embrace.  He became Catholic, because, he said, it’s the most forgiving of all faith traditions.

          It’s not really a faith tradition that’s forgiving; it’s God that’s forgiving—the Holy Spirit has clearly revealed that to the Church—because God wants to free us from the burdens that sin places on our hearts.  Even if the head denies sinfulness, the heart knows and sin leads to a restlessness of spirit within us.  Such restlessness can stain us for life (we all know people who never seem at peace), unless we turn to God, the great stain (of sin) remover.

          Have a blessed . . . and God-filled . . . week . . .

November 16th, A note from Fr. Scott

          Years ago I realized that no one does anything without a reason.  We don’t always like to admit our motivation—sometimes we aren’t even sure what our motivation is—but there is a reason for doing what we do.

          I watch “Revenge”.  Or to be more accurate, I DVR “Revenge” and watch it at some later time.

          It’s not my usual preference in television programming.  Just the title goes against most everything in which I believe.  There’s no room for “revenge” in Catholic Christianity if we understand the Gospel correctly.  The acting in the show is less than riveting; the plot lines strain credibility to the max; there is probably one likable character in the whole menagerie (who isn’t even the centerpiece of the show).  It seems preposterous to me that it’s in its 4^th season on television.

          So why do I watch?

          For one simple reason: I know one of the screenwriters.

          Or I did know one of the screenwriters some years ago.

          His name is Joe and he was a student at Ithaca College.  He had a difficult time the first month away from home—homesickness affects many a student in the beginning, but he toughed it out and did very well.  Early on he became part of the Catholic community and we hired him to work in the Catholic offices at Muller Chapel. 

          Joe was bright, had a great sense of humor, was a terrific worker, and loved all things entertainment: movies, music and television.  I don’t remember the exact title of his major, but it had to do with television.  Joe watched a lot of TV growing up—I was amazed at how many television theme songs he knew by heart!  He also had a wonderfully compassionate heart (something missing from the characters on “Revenge”).  He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do in television, but his dream was to work in television.  I remember him telling me one time that one of his professors suggested he pursue screenwriting. 

          When he first went to LA, he got a job working with the crew on the long-running show “ER”.  He never wanted to be an actor; he wanted to work behind the scenes, although one time “ER” used him as an extra in a scene.  And then came “Revenge”.  A friend told me that Joe was writing for the show, so I started to watch in the second season.  I’m not sure how the writing works because different people get credit for different segments.  Somehow they must work together plot-wise, although the strained plotlines might suggest lack of communication.

          Anyway, Joe is the reason I watch “Revenge”.  It takes me back to my years at Ithaca College.  I never wanted to go there as a chaplain and yet it turned out to be a great experience.  I loved working with young adults, so filled with hope and determination, questions and compassion.  I had a great rapport with the other Catholic Chaplain, Mary.  Those were good years.

          But I wouldn’t want to go back.  Because we can’t recapture the past.  We can learn from the past and we can be inspired by the past, but we can’t recapture it.  We can only go forward.  Jesus once said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”  In other words, if you are plowing a field and keep looking behind, you’ll never keep to a straight path; you’ll go off course.  We follow Jesus Who leads from the front, not from the back. 

          Nostalgia has its place, but we’re doomed to failure if we try to recapture the past.  We can only go forward.  While the past may look a lot better than the present in some ways, that doesn’t mean the future can’t be bright.  With eyes and ears and minds and hearts set on Jesus ahead of us, we can only be people of hope.  With eyes and ears and minds and hearts set on Jesus, revenge truly makes no sense.  With eyes and ears and minds and hearts set on Jesus, our motivation will be positive—and incidentally, we’ll be going in the best direction possible.

          Have a blessed week . . .

October 26th, A note from Fr. Scott

          As I drive around the area I frequently listen to the radio (except for during Lent when I give up listening to the radio as an act of self-sacrifice).  While my car radio has the capacity to program 18 different radio channels, basically I listen to 6.  (The other twelve I programmed long ago when I travelled a bit more and they are tuned to radio stations whose signals do not reach the Elmira area.  Also long ago I forgot how to program the radio which is the real reason the stations remain as they are—yes, I could probably figure out how to do it again, but 6 is actually enough, especially since I also have a CD option.)

          5 of the stations are tuned to various music genres.  2 are oldies stations (yes, I am of that era), 2 are contemporary pop/soft rock, 1 is country, and the 6^th is tuned to a talk radio station.  Clearly music is my preference as I like to sing (while I appreciate classical music, I can’t sing to it so it doesn’t make my regular play-list).

          Quite frankly I abhor talk radio in general, mostly because my (limited) experience has been that of exaggerated opinion, whether it’s sports or politics or conservative vs. liberal viewpoints.  Opinions are fine, I suppose, but I prefer non-biased facts to opinions, which are rarely balanced.  I see little value in blustery opinions that tear others down in order to “prove” their point.  (I equally abhor political attack ads on television—we’ve sunk very low on the maturity scale when our main message is to point out others’ faults instead of presenting viable plans for a better future.  But I will admit, that’s just my opinion.  Others may think differently.)

          The talk radio station to which I do listen is the Catholic Station, called the “Station of the Cross”.  I’m not even sure where it is on my radio dial, only that it’s programmed between an oldies station and a contemporary pop/soft rock station.  I catch bits and pieces as I drive around.  I know the station broadcasts Mass at 8:00 am and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at 3:00 pm, and at some point on the weekend does offer some contemporary Christian music, but what I really like are the call-in shows during which people ask for clarification about Church teaching or ask for ways to deal with family problems.  The hosts of the program as well as the guest experts offer solid information that can be both enlightening and supportive of our faith tradition.  I like the pastoral approach that seems to be a common thread throughout.  The news presented on the station also reflects things Catholic.

          For those who haven’t discovered the “Station of the Cross”, you might like to try listening sometime.  Not every program offered will capture your attention in the same way, but it’s nice to know we have a resource on local radio that can help us live out our Catholic faith—and our baptismal call.  Baptism begins a journey for us all, a journey of deepening our relationship with God through our own prayer life and the wisdom of the Church, a journey of continuing discovery of all the ways God loves and enlightens us. 

          Have a blessed week . . .

October 19th, A note from Fr. Scott

          It’s happened again.

          The best teams in baseball didn’t make it to the World Series.  (When I was growing up, baseball was the national pastime and there were no play-offs, just the World Series involving the winningest team in each league.  Today, every sport has multiple team and lengthy play-offs primarily because of the economic benefit.) 

          The American League Los Angeles Angels had the most wins of any team in baseball during the regular season, but they were quickly eliminated by a wild-card team, the Kansas City Royals (kudos to them as they hadn’t made the playoffs since before most of the team members were born).  The Washington Nationals had the best record in the National League, closely followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Neither survived their first play-off round, losing to the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals respectively.

          It hardly seems fair.

          But isn’t that why we like our sports so much?  The so-called “best” don’t always win.  There’s great excitement about David defeating Goliath in our modern sports.  Media headlines often use words like “Stunned” or “Shocked”, but that smacks of sensationalism in our world of competitive sports.  Upsets happen all the time.  We ought to be surprised only when there are no upsets.  (Nearly 100 years ago, the great thoroughbred race horse, Man O’ War lost one race—appropriately to a horse named Upset.)

          If we don’t take our sports too seriously (seeing them as an end in and of themselves), there are great life lessons to be learned from sports.  Teamwork, dedication, learning that losing/failure isn’t the end, sportsmanship—all great lessons in life.  Another one of those life lessons is to expect the unexpected. 

          In my life I’ve learned through various means that God is a God of the unexpected.  God is a God of surprises.  In sports we pride ourselves on anticipating what our opponent is going to do before they do it.  That’s key if we are to be victorious.  Unfortunately, we sometimes think of God in the same way: as an opponent whose ways we must anticipate.  We think we know God and what God asks of us.  When young, we are taught to keep the ten commandments; that’s what God wants.  And we know that if we mess up, God is ready to punish us in some way.  That’s what we know about God.

But is that all there is to God?  I don’t think so.

I must admit that I don’t remember anyone ever using the word “fun” in relation to God.  In fact, my youthful recollection is that God didn’t really approve of fun; God was more of a buzzkill (I hope I’m using that word correctly!) when it came to fun. 

          Imagine my surprise when I realized that God has no problem with “fun”, although I suppose it depends on our definition of “fun”.  If “fun” has to include disrespect or harming others (or the self) or the need to be superior or if it involves immoral or sinful behavior, then God no doubt has objections.  If “fun” is the goal of life, then God no doubt has objections.  However, God has no problem with leisure activity that we enjoy and that re-energizes us.  That’s a basic human need (not just for kids), although I suppose many of us have a tendency to go overboard about it.

          Just to be clear: God never wants to be our “opponent”, our “adversary” (the word “satan” actually means adversary and God is the opposite of that).  God wants to be on our team, on our side.  If God isn’t, it’s not God’s choice; it’s ours.   

          God can surprise us in many ways: by giving us the grace to forgive others and let go of grudges; by giving us the grace to refocus on the values that truly matter in life; by giving us the grace to handle adversity; by teaching us that winning is not the most important thing in life; by teaching us to love God with our whole being and our neighbor as ourselves.  There are other surprises, none of which happen in the purely human realm.

          And one more thing: while God is on our team, God is also on every other team.  God wants the best for everyone.  Maybe that surprises us also!

          Have a blessed . . . and surprising . . . week . . . 

October 12th, A note from Fr. Scott

          On a recent morning my car radio reported a story of a group of young people who had stolen a statue of Jesus from a Catholic church somewhere in Oklahoma.  There was a video from the church surveillance camera showing two cars pulling up, 5 persons getting out (apparently teen-agers), and then stealing the statue from the garden, getting back in their vehicles and departing.

          This wasn’t just a free-standing statue, stolen as a result of a night of over-indulgence; it was a corpus of Jesus on the cross.  The crime was clearly pre-meditated as they had tools to pry the body off the cross.

          My first reaction was anger: how could anyone do such a thing!?  Is nothing sacred?!  It’s a direct affront to Catholicism and religious faith in general!  Punishment is required!

          Then I calmed down a bit. 

My second reaction was to feel sorry for the perpetrators of the crime.  What kind of values do these young people have?  Do they have any moral values at all?  Are they so unhappy in their lives that they have to try and hurt others with their mischief?  It must be difficult to go through life without being centered in Someone Who gives meaning and purpose to life.

Then I calmed a bit more.

My third reaction was to wonder if the individuals didn’t mean to be hurtful as much as funny.  Young people sometimes are fond of pranks and the reaction they elicit.  (Older people are sometimes fond of pranks and the reaction they elicit.)  I can remember being young (quite some time ago) and what I laughed at then isn’t what I laugh at now.  I prefer to hope that I’ve matured somewhat in my outlook and now realize that many forms of “funny” are actually hurtful.  Still, it took time to reach that realization.

As it turned out, some days later the corpus was returned to the church, apparently a college prank more than anything.  The church community, happy to get the corpus backed, declined to press charges, although the college may deal with the students internally.  I applaud the church for their willingness to forgive—forgiveness is always the right course of action, never out of style; but I’m not opposed to the college meting out some form of chastisement—everyone needs to learn there are consequences to their actions; we do have an effect (positive or negative) on others whether we want to or not.  It’s the reality of life.

I do have to say that my initial reaction bothers me a bit.  While I know that anger and the desire to retaliate are normal human reactions to being hurt or offended (it wasn’t even a directed hurt toward me, though I felt my beliefs were attacked), I also know that turning those emotions into action is wrong.  As someone once said, “If we live by the motto ‘an eye for an eye’, soon the whole world will be blind.”  (Jesus had something to say about that!)  Fortunately, the grace of God can stop us from taking that next step.   

The next step ought to be a sense of compassion for those who don’t have a relationship with our God, Who so beautifully revealed Himself in His Son, Jesus the Christ.  It seems to me that any act of hurtfulness or violence comes from a person who is very unhappy in their lives.  (Contented people never wish harm on anyone else.)  The Source of true happiness is God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Not that we achieve perfect happiness in this life, but we get glimpses of it through our relationship with God, sort of a sneak preview of heaven!

We can’t force others to believe, but we can be a voice of evangelization by the way we live and react to life.  When we model Jesus for others, we help to plant seeds that may one day grow.  When we pray for those who hurt us, we plant seeds.  What happens to the seeds depends on the person’s free will choices as well as God’s grace.  We have no control over that, but we do have control over our own actions and reactions.  We can make no better choice than the choice to be Christ for one another, even when—especially when—we don’t feel like it.

Have a blessed . . . and Christ-like . . . week!